Prologue: This Again

Prologue: This Again

The luminescent colours of rainbows graced the sky in every direction and stayed without fading. The entire sky was no longer a sickly yellow, cleared of its smoggy haze. Even the smoke-filled crater where Megaton once thrived was completely and utterly void of smoke. For once in the Capital Wasteland, there was peace.

Observing this sight were two inhabitants of the Wasteland, Jericho and Aeron. Both knew what caused it, and both couldn't help but gaze at it as if it were a gift from God himself. They were residing on the balcony of Tenpenny Tower, and both were respectively drinking to what they accomplished: saving a lost creature from another dimension and sending her home.

"Isn't it beautiful, Jericho?" Aeron's head turned slightly to Jericho, but didn’t completely take his eyes off the sight before him.

"Yeah. Never seen the sky so... blue. Gotta hand it to that little flyer. She really changed a lot around here." Jericho smiled as he drank his beer - some of it dripping down his bearded chin.

"That she did... quite a lot." Aeron sighed sorrowfully.

"Something wrong, Aeron?" Jericho turned his gaze away from the rainbow and over towards Aeron.

"Using my name for once is one thing." Aeron chuckled, as did Jericho.

"Well, you seem bummed. You should be happy that we don't have to protect her anymore. Least we can keep our supplies to ourselves." Jericho had a big grin on his face as he raised his beer bottle. Aeron brought his own up, and the two lightly chimed as they collided.

After taking another drink, Aeron spoke, "That's true... but, I can't help but wonder..."

"Wonder what?" His companion raised a brow.

"How did she get here in the first place?" Jericho shrugged.

"No idea, kid. No idea." Aeron nodded, and just relaxed in the dimming sunlight.

After an hour or two of enjoying the victory - as Aeron enjoyed calling it - of the month, Aeron went inside the suite and started to take off his battered Talon armour. He unbuckled a strap on his waist which kept the bottom portion together, and it slid off, revealing his undergarments. The top portion slide off almost like a sweater - only ten pounds of extra metal was upon it.

The only reason I joined up with Talon Company was for this armour. Very easy to get into and easy to get out of. Thank God it's comfy. Aeron then walked to his bed and laid down, closing his eyes for some much-needed rest.

Aeron awoke from his deep sleep in darkness. He felt lighter than normal, almost as if he was travelling within a vertibird, and his arms and legs seemed to move more freely than usual. Looking down, Aeron could see that he was suspended in a void, rather than laying on his bed. Confused, he looked around to try and find answers.

"Hello?" Aeron called out, receiving a low hissing noise as a response.

Greetings, Wanderer Aeron. The hiss changed to an audible voice. A feminine one, as well.

"Is there a reason why I'm sitting in--... floating in the void? Is this a dream?" Aeron crossed his arms, amused by the feeble attempts at driving his sanity away.

Simple. I'd enjoy playing a game with you, Aeron. One that will involve you and that filthy rat Rainbow Dash. There may be others involved, too. The voice giggled in its female tone, spinning wildly through Aeron's mind.

"You think Dash is a rat, now? Amusing. I'm pretty sure she's a bit stronger than that." The voice just cackled at his response.

She is a mover, not a thinker like you. She prefers to fly away from her problems and avoid them, rather than face them like you do, Wanderer Aeron. Now, would you like to hear where I'm bringing you to?

"If you stop insulting Dash, I'd love to hear where I'm going," he replied sarcastically to the voice, only making it giggle once more.

I'm bringing you, Wanderer Aeron, Dash, and a few others to play in a little maze I constructed for you. Well, not so much a maze, more of a... labyrinth. The giggle continued and started to annoy Aeron.

"Uhg. I really hope this is a dream. Your laugh is a nuisance." The voice grunted.

You insult me? Pfft. Anyways, I hope you enjoy your fun. I'm giving you a few weapons, but good luck finding food. If you don't escape, you'll just starve. Ta-ta! A snap was let off, echoing in the void.

Aeron floated there as the echo continued. It snapped again. And again. And again. The snapping soon dimmed down to a low hum, slowly raising in its pitch to a screech. It sounded worse than when he was stunned by a shock charge. Covering his ears and closing his eyes, Aeron screamed in agony...

... and then, there was silence.

Luna's night had befallen the town of Ponyville and gently embraced all of the land's denizens by putting them to rest. Within Golden Oaks Library, the newly returned Rainbow Dash was getting more acquainted with her lover, Twilight Sparkle.

"Mmmrmm... Rainbow..."

"Heh... Right there...?"

"Yeah... Oh... Celestia..."

"Didn't think I could do this properly, do you?"

"Not at all... Wow!... Where did you learn to do that?"

"Oh, it's natural. Helped a lot back in the Wasteland."

"Dear Celestia, don't stop... Oh, yes..."

Spike couldn't stand it. Rainbow Dash and Twilight had sex before, he’d heard it; but that's because they thought he wasn't home. This time, he knew they knew he was home, and he had to deal with it anyways. Standing up, Spike made his way to Twilight's door and opened it up.

"Twilight, what are you--"

He was stopped by the sight of Rainbow Dash laying on top of Twilight. Her hooves were pressed into Twilight's back, and her magenta eyes gazing over at him. Twilight whipped her head over to the small dragon.

"Spike! Knock first?!" Twilight glared daggers at him.

Spike shook his head. "Thought you two were... at it, again."

"At wha--... Oh... Wait, how do you know about that?!" Rainbow Dash gave him a look of confusion and inquiry.

"One: you just told me. Two: I've heard it enough. Three: I live in a dang library. You think I haven't read a book or two? Sheesh, it's like everypony around here thinks I'm stupid." Spike grunted, crossing his arms. "Anyways, what are you two doing?"

Rainbow Dash blushed. "Heh, giving Twi a little massage. She said her back ached, and I picked up a few tips and tricks from the Wastes."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, keep it down and get some rest, you two. Some of us have to do a lot of work in the morning and don't want to deal with two mares moaning all night."

With that, Spike closed the door, and left Twilight and Dash bewildered. Twi turned her head to the Pegasus, and she only shrugged.

"Beats me. Getting quite moody. Should we spank him with The Paddle?" Twilight giggled profusely.

"Rainbow! That's our secret!" The mare just laughed at Twilight's response. "But Spike is right. We should get some rest. I have to tell Shining Armour and my family about you tomorrow. Would be awful if I left them out of the loop. Celestia knows what they'll think."

Twilight sighed as she pulled herself from under Dash and rested her head upon the pillow. The Pegasus joined and laid next to the unicorn only to have her roll over and look away.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Rainbow questioned.

"I'm worried what my family might think. Shining Armour was always one for being a bit... disapproving towards same sex dating and marriage... My parents never cared, but they always thought of me marrying some stallion of nobility..."

A small bulge held in Dash's throat. "Are... a-are you saying I'm not good enough for them?"

Twilight immediately rolled back over and shook her head, "I'm not saying that at all, Rainbow! I'm just worried they won’t approve of our relationship together. I love you, Dash, and I'm really happy you're back. I just hope to Celestia they think the same way."

Twilight's forelimbs made their way around Rainbow Dash's neck and brought the two into a tight embrace. Rainbow returned the gesture and snuggled closely to her lavender lover. The unicorn's horn sparkled gently as the lights in the room went out and the two quietly drifted to sleep.

You two always looked cute together, a hissing voice said from afar.

Dash arose from her slumber to see darkness all around her. Numbers were floating in the air and she felt suspended in the air; much like in the many dreams she had endured before. Her eyes widened and her pupils went to the size of pinpricks.

Ah, remember these things still? the voice asked, sounding feminine to Rainbow.

"Get away from me! I just want to live in peace, already! Haven't I been through enough?!"

Oh, quite the contrary, Rainbow Dash! You haven't! I find that you need more of a beating to truly know what is enough! And I'm not talking about The Paddle, here. Dash let off a blush, but immediately shook her head at the voice’s response.

"Please, I'll do anything! Just let me stay at home! I don't want to go back! Please!" the Pegasus yelled, only receiving a laugh in response.

Oh, please. I'm not sending you back to the Wasteland. That would be far too boring. I'm sending you to a beautifully constructed maze filled with monsters! Great, isn't it?! the voice giggled.

But you are not the only one to join in. Wanderer Aeron will be with you, and a few others that I've dragged from quite a few dimensions as well. I can't wait to see whether you kill each other or not! Howling laughter boomed in every direction and made the numbers vibrate.

"What happens if we get out?"

Answering the inquiry, the voice spoke swiftly, I let you go back to whence you came, no harm done. It's all fair and boring and I'll never bug you again. If you get out.

Now... Let the games begin! The voice let off a sadistic laugh as the sound of fingers being snapped echoed through Rainbow’s ears.

The echo changed to a low whisper... and soon, an audible voice. Constant bickering and echoes of the same pattern that Dash knew far too well...

Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five... Four... Nine... Five...

...and then, everything went black.

A Deathclaw raised its head up, sniffing at the air when it thought it heard something…

*BANG*

The suppressed anti-materiel rifle roared as a fifty caliber round shot out of its barrel. The left side of the Deathclaw’s face exploded and its whole body began to fall towards the ground. The Deathclaw slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, sending some dust into the air. The woman carrying the rifle quickly reloaded her weapon and kept her eyes open for any more Deathclaws. To her relief, she didn’t see any, but checked her Pip-Boy to make sure. Two vertical, red dashes stood together on her compass.

“Mother and Daddy,” the woman said softly to herself. Rumors of a new Deathclaw Alpha and Mother were floating around in New Vegas, and its leader came to the place where the rumors had told of their new home.

“Well, time to show them the warm-welcoming party.” The women put down her duffle bag, opened it, and started to ruffle through it. She found what she wanted, and pulled out a Stealth Boy. “Too bad they won’t be able to see it.” She strapped the Stealth Boy on and flipped the switch, turning it on. In the blink of an eye, her body and gear vanished into a ghostly, transparent aspect of herself. An invisible smile formed on the woman’s face as she crouched down and headed towards the two Deathclaws.

Her footsteps made no sound of any sort as she hastily tread through the cave she was in, only the dripping of water from what little moisture there was echoing quietly in the darkness. After a few twists and turns she came upon an open cavern, where her two targets lay. The dark tan Alpha was lying next to the dark blue Mother, who was lying next to what looked like a nest of eggs.

The woman frowned at this. The rumor of these two wasn’t even a day old, and yet the two already had time to start a family. It’s a good thing I came when I did. The women removed the armor-piercing magazine and the bullet in her AMR, working in a new magazine of explosive rounds. She made sure not to make too much noise with her rifle, fearing the keen ears every Deathclaw had.

She successfully managed to pull out the old magazine before emptying the chamber, catching the bullet before it hit the ground. She loaded the explosive magazine in and pulled the firing lever back, loading a single round into the rifle. The woman smiled at her progress as she slowly pushed the lever back to its resting position. She then began to squat into a firing position and took aim at her first target.

The crosshairs of her scope began to line up onto the Alpha’s head, with the intersection right upon the Alpha’s closed eye. The woman took in a deep breath, let part of it go, and held the rest in as she slowly put pressure on the trigger. Her body went rigid, and once she had the sight steady and where she wanted it, she pulled on the trigger.

A loud boom echo through the small cavern as an explosion engulfed the Alpha’s head. The force tore his head apart and knocked his body back a few inches. Shrapnel punctured into the Mother as she drew her head up at a ravenous speed, looking at what remained of her mate. She let out a furious roar before her head was also hit by another explosion. The Mother’s body fell not far from her mate, and remained motionless.

The woman let out her held breath and took in a deep breath, recovering her normal state of mind, but she didn’t lower her rifle. The woman was now looking at the batch of eggs that were lying in the nest. Some were already cracked, due to the two explosions that killed their parents. She was thinking of what to do with the rest of intact eggs. She wrestled with the question, but came to a conclusion after a moment. Her rifle came to life once more as it spat out another explosive round, and every egg shattered into a big, gloopy mess.

The woman lowered her rifle and let out a sigh, turning her Stealth Boy off. “Well, mission accomplished.”

And what fun it was watching you. A cheerfully girly voice spoke out from nowhere. Going all sneaky on those animals and taking them out one by one without them knowing what hit them.

The woman drew her rifle up again and rapidly scanned the cavern for the source of the voice.

I mean I knew you were stealthy, but not this stealthy; though you did cheat with that toy of yours. Need to remember not to let you have any, otherwise it’s not a real challenge for you - and that’s boring.

The woman looked at her Pip-Boy, but it said she was the only one in the cavern.

You can stop looking for me, Scarlet; I’m not in this cruddy cave of yours.

Scarlet glanced up from her Pip-boy with an irritated look on her face. She remembered a similar experience of a voice talking to her, but with no one around to be the source of the voice, the only way for something to happen was through magic. “Let me guess, you’re a friend of Celestia’s.”

An amused chuckle reverberated eerily inside Scarlet’s head. Oh, but you are so wrong. I’m friends to no mortal, especially to some stuck-up horse. But I’m glad that your limited mind is able to piece something relevant together.

“So then, who the hell are you?”

My name is Katastrofí̱s, but many of you mortals have just called me Kata.

“I see, so what do you want?”

Straight to the point, I like that. You see, the realm that I used to entertain myself has recently become an uninteresting sight to watch. It’s one of those times where I have to put in something fresh into it to spruce it back up again, and during my search through worlds I’ve spotted yours, and another, and noticed the interactions between the two. That’s when the idea of what I need to do hit me. I’m bringing you along with a few others to bring new life to my realm.

“No,” Scarlet flatly stated. “I don’t entertain others and I’m not going to.” Scarlet got up and started to leave the cavern, but a noticeable pressure started to grow in her head, and she froze in place.

Oh, I believe you misunderstood me. It wasn’t a request, but a statement.

The pressure increased more and more, causing a mind-splitting headache to form beneath her skull. Scarlet winced, gripping her head as she began to lose consciousness. The last thing she heard was Kata’s unholy chuckle of amusement.

A thank you letter, a thank you letter, an adorable picture made by a filly, another thank you letter... ah, here’s that bill. Celestia unscrolled the piece of parchment and grabbed a quill, going back to revising it. It was a long and mentally-tiresome day for her. Only three months had passed since the incident with Cadbury’s return, but it felt as though it had only happened yesterday. The aftermath of his wild scheme was still partly affecting the lower half of Equestria, but from what her top mages told her, they would have it shortly removed in the following two months.

Of course, it could’ve ended a lot worse if it wasn’t for Alpha and Scarlet’s help. Celestia stopped writing. I wonder how she’s doing. While it had been nearly three months in Equestria, Celestia suspected that only a week or so had passed for Scarlet. And knowing the Wasteland from personal experience, a lot could’ve happened during that week. Celestia shook her head. I’m sure she’s fine, she’s too devoted to protecting Vegas to do anything else, so she wouldn’t do anything too risky. Celestia went back to her editing.

By the eternal Void, this is boring. How can you handle doing this all day? a filly’s voice questioned in a bored tone.

Celestia stopped writing once again and looked around her room. “Hello?”

I mean, don’t you miss when you were a warrior, taking down anyone who stood in your way?

Celestia frowned as the filly mentioned a dark part of her past. “No, I put aside those ideals long ago, and I’m no longer like that.” Celestia’s horn flared up in a yellow glow as she magically scanned for the filly.

Hmph, that’s not what I saw three months ago. You looked like a warrior to me.

Celestia’s scans came up with nothing. “That’s because of how limited my choices were, and I regretted doing it.”

Well you better start liking it soon; otherwise, you won’t last long in my realm.

Celestia gave a puzzled look to the air. “What do you mean?”

The sound of a gong ringing filled the room as the air in front of Celestia shimmered into a gaping portal. Celestia eyes went wide when she saw what was on the other side: Scarlet lying on the floor, passed out.

I believe you already know Scarlet... she was reluctant in coming to my realm willingly, so I had to do it the hard way of bring her here. However, I’m giving you the chance of doing it the easy way. So summon your spear and walk through the portal, please.

Celestia didn’t answer right away, but just looked through the portal. She reached out with her magic to the portal, trying to see if she could grab Scarlet, to no avail. “And if I refuse?”

The filly’s voice dropped down several octaves as it threateningly stated, Then I’m going to kill Scarlet in the most vile, inhumane way, and make you watch it for the rest of your life. The filly took in a deep breath and returned to her normal tone. Please don’t be the one who’s going to spoil my fun.

Feeling that her magic was being blocked on the horizon of the portal, Celestia let out a repressed sigh. Her horn flared up once again, and there was a bright flash as her Flare Spear and Corona Shield materialized before her. She grabbed hold of both items and started to walk towards the portal.

Ah ah ah, only your spear, leave your shield here.

Celestia looked once more around her room. She let the shield dissipate and continued on walking towards the portal. Whatever is going on here, it’s not normal and reeks of chaotic magic. Soon, Celestia stepped through the portal and was standing over the unconscious Scarlet.

“Good God, it’s a nice day, Sparky,” Ethan said with a smile as they walked down the cracked concrete road.

The sun was shining happily above them, and there wasn’t a cloud in the Wasteland’s normally-obscured sky. Ethan’s brown duster billowed in a pleasant breeze that also sent his unruly brown hair dashing across his blue eyes. The riot gear he wore beneath the duster was clean and well-repaired as always, although unlike any of his old suits, this one also had a thin layer of chainmail running between the ballistic plates and the inner padding.

His sword, a red-bladed bastard sword that was a gift from a dragon, and his magnum, the Blackhawk, sat on either side of his hips, waiting to be drawn. His Xuanlong Chinese assault rifle was slung across his back, quietly minding its own business. A half-dozen stimpacks lined his duster pockets, ready to assist Twilight if she got hurt. Ethan, for his part, was fairly unworried about himself as far as injuries went; he was hard to kill.

“Tell me about it; this is the first time that I’ve ever seen things look this nice before.” Twilight agreed with a smile.

Her blue robotic eye scanned the area for hostiles as she walked next to the man who was about twice as tall as she was on all fours. Her purple coat was mostly obscured by the green combat armour that she wore, although she’d chosen to forgo the helmet for the time being in order to allow her eye better vision. Her mechanical right foreleg stepped in perfect synchronization with the others as she walked; a small Pip-Boy was attached to the robotic leg, and it glowed with a bright green light.

Twilight’s muzzle had a few scars as well, but at this point they were mostly hidden underneath her fur and were only really noticeable if one knew where to look. A plasma defender was strapped to her waist, along with a standard plasma pistol for the times when she was too tired to use any type of magic more advanced than her telekinesis.

“So speaking of the sun, how’re you and Sunny doing?” Ethan asked her with a small smirk on his face.

“We’re doing great; Tia’s been teaching me so many interesting things,” Twilight replied with a happy sigh.

“That’s not what I meant, Sparky,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“I know; I was deliberately misunderstanding the question,” Twilight told him.

“Fine, let me be more direct. How are you and your fuckbuddy doing?” Ethan asked as they continued down the road.

“We’re fine Ethan, and you know I don’t like it when you call Tia that,” Twilight replied with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I do it,” Ethan told her with a smirk.

“Oddly enough, I’m not exactly surprised about that,” Twilight said with another roll of her eyes.

“Are you implying something about me, Sparky?” Ethan asked with a faux wounded expression on his face.

“I’m implying that you’re an idiot,” Twilight replied evenly.

“You wound me, Sparky. What would Sunny think if she heard you say such terrible, hurtful things?” Ethan asked.

“I think that Tia would find it funny, and then she’d add that you’re also a moron,” Twilight replied with a slight snort of laughter.

“Hmm… you might be right about that,” Ethan replied with a smirk as they wound their way down the ruined street and into the main plaza. “Okay, we’re here, keep a lookout for anyone in black power armour who looks like they want to kill us.”

“Won’t that be everyone in black power armour?” Twilight snarked.

“Good po-” Ethan’s sentence was interrupted as a trio of green spheres of glowing energy slashed through the air inches away from his nose. “Sonuvabitch!” he shouted as he dove for cover behind a nearby bench. Twilight didn’t waste time on words and instead opted to simply dive into cover next to him.

“Why is it that every time I go somewhere with you, we end up getting ambushed?!” Twilight shouted at him as around five bolts of plasma shot into the metal bench and began to melt it.

“Because my personality is so disarming,” Ethan replied as he drew his assault rifle.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Twilight told him as she brought her plasma defender up to float next to her face.

“Well people always seem to have that problem when they’re around me,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “You see, they keep losing their arms.”

Twilight just groaned before they both leapt to their feet, or hooves, in her case, and sprinted towards one of the many abandoned stores that littered the plaza. Plasma ate into the concrete as they ran, but Ethan didn’t spare the men firing at them from concealed locations a backwards glance. As one the man and the pony leapt through the empty window frame. Plasma splashed off of the wooden edges of the frame, burning several holes through it.

“The Enclave sure are tenacious bastards, but they’re horrible shots,” Ethan told Twilight as he took cover behind the store’s checkout counter. Twilight joined him moments later.

“It seems like it,” Twilight agreed. “So now what?”

“Well, you see, if we were facing anyone else I’d just charge in, soak up a few bullets, and then kill all of them,” Ethan said with a slight frown. “The problem is that they’re using plasma weapons, and my healing doesn’t protect me against being turned into goo.”

“I could shield us, I’ve done it before.” Twilight told him thoughtfully.

“Yeah, that could - ” Ethan was interrupted as the sound of a heavy incinerator firing filled his ears and several a large balls of fire suddenly smashed into the front of their cover.

A wave of heat washed over Ethan, and he let out a muted curse. They had hellfire troopers; of course, they just had to have hellfire troopers. He wouldn’t have minded them that much before his trip to Equestria, but of course, that was before he’d gotten roasted alive by a dragon…

“This cover isn’t going to last us long, and if we’re not careful the convection will kill us,” Twilight told Ethan frantically.

“Well, fuck that noise. Come on, Sparky, let’s go show them why they call me the Crazy-Son-of-a-Bitch,” Ethan told her with a large grin that he saved for when he was about to do something suicidal, which was usually around twice a day.

Twilight groaned internally but prepared to follow the man without complaint. Ethan had seen her through much worse than this ambush, and she was confident that he’d keep on doing it until she learned better than to follow him into dangerous situations.

Ethan dashed out from behind the cover of counter and dodged around the fire that still burned where the incinerator’s projectiles had landed and leapt back into the plasma. His HUD showed him that there were at least ten enemies spread out all the plaza, all of whom had been taking potshots at them from inside the upper stories of several nearby buildings.

Instead of standing there like a moron, he began to run towards one of those buildings, dodging the searing strafing of plasma and fireballs. Twilight ran next to him, occasionally erecting a quick shield to stop any stray bolts of plasma that were a little too close for comfort. They came to the first occupied building, and Ethan’s steel-toed booted foot smashed into the metal frame, sending it flying open. The bottom floor of the building was dark and windowless.

He was met by a very surprised Enclave officer who was clutching a plasma pistol to her chest. Her eyes went wide, for apparently she hadn’t been expecting for Ethan to get to them so quickly. Ethan’s rifle roared out a quick three round burst and the young woman’s head exploded, sending flecks of brain and skull fragments in all directions.

Ethan didn’t have long to celebrate as the menacing sound of a ripper slashing at his chest forced him to roll to the side. Twilight’s horn glowed purple and she sent a wave of force at the black-clad, ominously faceless figure standing in front of her. Much like a wave in the ocean, the man was picked up and flung into the back wall of the building where he landed in a crumpled heap.

Another power-armour-wearing foe charged down the stairs towards them, this one wearing Tesla armour. Ethan rolled to his feet before unleashing a stream of lead into his metal chest. The first few 5.56 rounds didn’t penetrate, only warping the metal. The Enclave trooper responded by firing a blast of plasma at Ethan, forcing the man to roll to the side in order to avoid it. Twilight’s pistol shot a bolt of plasma at the trooper’s sparking back, and he turned to regard her with an evil, emotionless visage. He aimed his plasma rifle at her head and started to pull the trigger.

Twilight’s eyes widened and she began to hastily prepare a shield spell. It proved unnecessary as the tip of Ethan’s red blade suddenly appeared from within the man’s chest. The tip had stabbed straight through the power armour. The trooper looked down at the sword blade in his chest and had just enough time to curse before he fell to the ground. Ethan pulled his blade out of the man’s back and let out a slight sigh.

“Remind me to thank Jonathan again next time I see him,” Ethan told Twilight as he wiped a small bead of perspiration off of his forehead.

“And Tia, too. She’s still not exactly happy that you have that sword,” Twilight reminded him.

“Yeah, her too,” Ethan agreed with a nod.

The Enclave trooper with the ripper regained his feet and charged at Ethan while his back was turned. On the bright side, it’s hard to run quietly while wearing power armour. Ethan spun and blocked the incoming chainsaw with his sword. The mini-chainsaw’s teeth slapped impotently off of the blade and Ethan’s arm began to vibrate. Twilight’s horn began to glow again and the ripper was yanked out of the trooper’s grasp. He grabbed for it, but Twilight kept it out of his reach; Ethan’s sword decapitated the man moments later.

“Well, that was more difficult than killing raiders,” Twilight told him as she let out a slightly shaky breath.

“Yeah, and we still have around seven of the bastards left to kill,” Ethan said with a small frown.

“Let’s get to it, then. The sooner we’re done here, the sooner we can go home and I can see Tia again,” Twilight told him.

Instead of answering her, Ethan simply nodded and strode over the dead Enclave troops until he stood directly in front of the door. Then, he dashed outside, Twilight hot on his heels. The remaining seven Enclave focused all of their firepower on the pair as they made their way towards the next building, and this time, when Ethan kicked the door in, he was greeted by salvos of plasma from four plasma rifles.

He stumbled backwards as the burning plasma did its best to get at him beneath his armour.

Luckily, his armour held up, and Ethan returned fire, this time using his Blackhawk and the power of VATS. Time seemed to freeze as the man calmly lined up four shots, his magnum ringing out four times, followed by the sound of shattering glass bullets tore through the visors of three out of the four troopers, their helmets suddenly shattered along with the skulls inside of their helmets. The final trooper attempted to blast Ethan again but Twilight called up a small shield to protect her friend, and the plasma spattered harmlessly against the glowing purple barrier.

Ethan nodded his thanks to the unicorn before he holstered his pistol and charged the last Enclave trooper with his sword. The trooper dove backwards in an attempt to avoid the blade, but Ethan swept the blade down and through the man’s power-armoured neck, severing the head in a spray of blood.

“Okay, three left,” Ethan said with a smile as he cleaned his sword and sheathed it. They dashed out into the street and headed for the last building. A dozen fireballs met them on their way there, but surprisingly, there was no plasma fire at all.

When they reached the last building, Ethan prepared to kick the door in, but someone on the inside beat him to it. The door rocketed open, and a large hellfire trooper barreled into Ethan, power-armoured shoulder first. The trooper threw Ethan to the ground, and before either he or Twilight could respond, the trooper brought its heavy incinerator to bear on his face and pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to stop as Ethan’s eyes widened in fear and the trooper’s incinerator began to fire. Twilight’s eyes slammed shut, and her horn began to glow. Suddenly, time resumed as Twilight appeared directly in front of the trooper, horn blazing away with white light. The trooper changed targets and focused on the unicorn as the first ball of flame leapt from the heavy weapon’s fiery maw. Twilight batted away the fireball with ease and sent a lance of kinetic energy out of her horn that slammed into the hellfire trooper’s helmeted head, sending him flying heedlessly to the ground.

“Thanks, Sparky. You know, from this angle, I can see why Sunny likes you so much,” Ethan told her, and Twilight suddenly realized that she was standing on him, her butt above his head.

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized as she quickly leapt off of him.

“Don’t mention it, Sparky, you just saved me from about a week of nightmares,” Ethan replied with a smile. Suddenly, a silky voice assaulted their minds; it was impossible to determine exactly how old the speaker was, other than the fact that it was obviously both young and also female.

Oh, you’ll both do so nicely; I just can’t wait to see how you and the others get along! the voice said.

“Who are you and how the hell are you talking to me in my head?” Ethan asked in annoyance.

Oh, but that would spoil it, wouldn’t it? the girlish voice said mockingly.

“Well then, I’m just going to call you ‘the invisible cunt’, or maybe ‘the inviscunt’. I’ll get back to you on that,” Ethan told her with a slightly forced chuckle.

You’re in so far over your head that you can’t even see the surface! Oh, this is going to be fun! the voice replied casually.

“I am Princess Celestia’s personal student, you’d better tell me who you are and why you’re screwing with us or I- ”

You’re so cute, and this’ll make things even more interesting! the voice all but squealed, cutting Twilight off mid-sentence.

“Listen up, you cun- ” Ethan began.

Save it for someone who gives a damn; you’ll need your energy for later, the voice told him with a giggle. Oh, and I suppose you can call me Kata, if you want; it’s short for Katastrofis, the voice added with a slightly more mature chuckle.

“When I find you I’m going to shove my boot so far up your ass that - ” Ethan began again.

Oh, you’re both so feisty! I really can’t wait to see how you get along with the others.

Before either Ethan or Sparky could respond, their vision failed, and they passed out to the sound of evil, girlish laughter.

Though he loathed to admit it, Thomas was a bit too accustomed to waking up in strange places with no idea of how he even got there. Being so, his reaction to awakening in what looked like an abandoned cave was nothing more than an annoyed grunt. “God damn it.”

Oh, goody, you’re awake! a young female voice happily exclaimed in his head.

“Oh, great, now I’m hearing voices,” he muttered, taking a look at his surroundings. He seemed to be at the very end of a tunnel, and there was only one way to go.

Oh, don’t sound so enthusiastic, the voice said sarcastically. Surely you’re wondering how you got here.

“I either got very drunk, or I got kidnapped. Again.” Thomas stood up, only now noticing what he was wearing. “Why am I wearing my duster?”

That’s not all you have with you. I shall explain later. For now, though, I suggest you get moving. This won’t be any fun to watch if you just sit there the whole time.

“Wait, watching? Where are you?” he asked loudly, looking around. When the voice refused to answer, he took quick stock of what he had with him. It came to no surprise when he found his Sequoia on his hip, but he was a little alarmed to find a brush gun in the sling on his back. “How did I miss that?” he muttered to himself. When he reached over to turn his Pip-Boy’s brightness up, he noticed how heavy his right arm felt. He groped at his wrist with his opposite hand and was a little shocked at the unexpected cold. “Why do I have a power fist?” He shone the light over it and saw how it was blue instead of a normal grey. The Saturnite logo was also visible. “Ah, one of these.”

As he did what the mysterious voice had instructed, he started thinking. This place didn’t feel like anywhere in the Mojave, or anywhere else he had been. And he knew for a fact that he didn’t really like the Saturnite weaponry he had picked up in the Big Empty. So why did he have one now? And both the Sequoia and a brush gun? They used the same rounds, so he had to be careful to conserve his ammunition.

“What was I doing before?” he asked himself, coming to a stop. “Something about Vipers...” The Vipers had taken control of Red Rock Canyon after the Khans had abandoned the area shortly before the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. The few remaining Fiends had decided to join forces with them, actually making them a credible threat to Outer Vegas. There was only so much Raul could do, and the last attack had seen him shot. “Right, I had made camp near Vault 19, and I was gonna - ”

I didn’t bring you here so you could sightsee, you know, the voice interjected suddenly, cutting off his train of thought. Or talk to yourself.

“How about some fucking answers?” Thomas asked calmly, unholstering his Sequoia.

Oh, put that away, it won’t do you any good, the voice said.

“Where am I, who are you, and why am I here?” Thomas was doing his best to keep calm, but the last two times something like this had happened had not been pleasant. A large part of him just wanted to scream and rage.

I am Katastrofis, and this is my realm, the voice answered with a giggle. As for why, well, I need fun.

“If you need fun, why didn’t you take someone from the Gomorrah?” he asked. “I’m not a prostitute.”

Not that kind of fun! the voice shot back. This place has gotten boring, and I need entertainment. So I decided to bring you and a few others here.

“Others?” Now he was worried. If he had been given weapons, he was expected to fight. And if he was expected to fight, he had to be prepared for something big or powerful. Probably both.

Oh yes. I wouldn’t just bring you, though it would be fun to watch you go mad, the voice said, a hint of sadistic glee in its words. No, I brought someone you know.

“Someone I know? This is either very good or very bad,” he muttered, quickly pulling up a mental list of significant people who were still alive. When he saw who the voice was referring to, he could only stare. “Still not sure which this is,” he said carefully.

Luna looked around her room carefully, trying to find the source of the voice. “Reveal yourself.”

Feisty, aren’t you?

“I will not sit here and let you continue to taunt me!” the alicorn yelled, grabbing a large flail in her magic from the other side of the room.

Yes, you’ll do nicely, the voice said.

“Who are you!?” she yelled.

I don’t take orders from angry ponies, the voice retorted, all of its civility gone.

“And I do not take kindly to anyone who has the audacity to even think of hassling me!” Luna raised the flail threateningly.

Not even to tell you that someone you care about is in danger? The voice seemed to smile at the dumbfounded look on the princess’ face. That’s what I thought.

“Tell me who you have taken,” Luna said, her voice low and filled with fury.

Oh, wouldn’t it be more fun to show you? With the sound of tearing fabric, a small void opened in front of Luna, causing her to step back in alarm. Do you recognise him?

Luna peered into the black portal, her brow creased. “Is that... Thomas?” She leaned back, snorting. “Please, you seek to make me believe that he needs help?”

Oh but he does, the voice said. Could you live with yourself knowing that you abandoned him to a painful death?

“He has proven that not only would he prevail, but he would make you regret even trying.” Luna rolled her eyes. “Now, leave. I will not partake in your foolishness.”

I’m sorry, did I say you had a choice? The portal suddenly stretched wider, going from something the size of a hand mirror to easily twice the midnight alicorn’s height.

Princess Luna froze in shock as the tear enveloped her. “Oh fu - ”

When she could see again, the first thing she saw was a strange figure, shrouded in shadows. Instinctively, she swung with her flail. “Back, foul demon!”

“Holy - !” Thomas ducked as the great spiked ball nearly collided with his skull. “Fuck, Luna, it’s me, it’s me!”

The alicorn froze at his words. “Thomas?” She dropped the flail with a clang. “Are you okay?”

“Much better now that you’re not braining me,” he shot back. “Those whackjobs at the Big Empty did that once already, and that was once too many.”

“Where are we?” Luna asked, looking around the darkness.

You’re trapped in my realm now, little pony.

“YOU!” Luna shouted, her voice echoing in the small space. “Why have you brought us here!?”

Just for a little fun. Don’t worry, I’ll let you go, the voice said soothingly. If you survive.

“If we survive?” Thomas asked, looking around nervously.

Oh yes. You didn’t think you had to just walk through this labyrinth, did you? the voice asked. No, that would be far too simple.

“Thomas...” Luna whispered, her ears flat against her head. The man simply clutched his revolver tighter. Further down the tunnel the sounds of something shuffling could be heard.

Have fun, she said as the shuffling came closer.

Wanderers and Couriers

View Online

Wanderers and Couriers

“Scarlet, wake up,” Celestia’s voice called out fuzzily. Scarlet moaned as a headache pulsed painfully through her head. She opened one eye to see Celestia standing over with a concerned look on her face.

“I hope this isn’t one of your past rivals wanting revenge again?” she griped as she pushed herself up.

Celestia stepped out of Scarlet’s way as she stood up. “Your guess is as good as mine. All I know was some voice sounding like a filly, a young girl in your terms, told me to walk through a portal in order to save your life.”

“I see,” Scarlet said as she straightened a creak in her back. “Well, she calls herself Kata, and I can already tell that she’s a crazy son of a bitch. Apparently, she brought me and you along to entertain herself in her realm.” Scarlet looked around the area she was in. It was a dull, dark-gray stony color, not much different from the cave she was only recently in. In her scan of the area, she spotted her duffle bag and anti-materiel rifle lying on the floor.

“Now I can see why she said you were unwilling to come here,” Celestia said as she watched Scarlet walk over to her stuff.

“Pfft, unwilling? More like a straight-up denial.” Scarlet knelt down and started to rummage through her bag, checking its contents. “So thanks, I guess, for coming here even though you knew it was some sort of trap.”

“I couldn’t just let you die, not after your role in saving my kingdom. Besides, she didn’t give me much of a choice.”

“Hmph, ain't that the truth.” After finishing her analysis of her bag, a dissatisfied frown formed on her face. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“I’m missing three of my weapons along with the ammo that goes with them. But I still have everything else that I packed.” Scarlet grabbed the leather strap on the duffle bag and started to holster it up onto her back. “But my main problem is that I don’t have any good mid-range weapons to defend myself with. Only my AMR and Maria. I’m limited on ammo for my rifle, as it is, and Maria is only good against people who don’t wear any armor.”

“You still have your blade,” Celestia pointed out.

“Yeah, but I mostly use the gladius to cut my meals. I rarely fight in close quarters combat situations, and if I did I would have preferred to have a spear instead of a machete.” Scarlet let out a sigh as she placed a hand on the back of her neck, softly rubbing it. “Still, it’s better than the last time I was knocked out and woke up in different place.” She then noticed Celestia had her spear with her. “I see you brought a close friend of yours.”

Celestia glanced at the spear, then back at Scarlet. “Yes, she wanted me to have my spear, and my spear only. I don’t know why, but I guess it’s so her entertainment won’t be spoiled too soon.”

“Well then,” Scarlet began as she bent down once more and picked up her rifle. She quickly checked the magazine and firing chamber, and let it settle into both of her hands. “Let’s not disappoint her.” Scarlet started to walk forwards with Celestia trailing right behind her.

Aeron woke up in complete darkness. He was laying against a hard, jagged, and quite rough surface. Feeling his arms, he found the button to his Pip-Boy and illuminated the area around him. There were large walls stretching quite literally to the skies of wherever he was. Looking around some more, he found a familiar pony laying next to him. It - she - was a bright blue colour, had a rainbow lightn-

"Rainbow Dash?" Aeron called.

"Urgg... " she responded groggily.

Aeron moved closer and gently shook the pony, who awoke and looked around slowly. "Uhg... this isn't Twilight's house... "

"Rainbow Dash, it's me. Aeron." Aeron gently turned the Pegasus' face to his and her eyes widened in horror.

"Aeron?! I-... I'm not back in the Wastes again, am I?! Please, don't tell me I-"

"Rainbow, calm down. You're not in the Wasteland," Aeron shined the light around in, what appeared to be, a corridor.

"Then where are we... ? I had this really weird dream... This filly told me I'd be put into some maze or something... I was sorta hoping it would be a nightmare... " Rainbow rubbed a hoof on her forehead.

"I guess that's where we are. The same girl told me of such. Didn't know she'd pair me up with you, though." Aeron sighed and stood up.

"She said there'd - "

" - be others, I know." Aeron scratched the back of his head, and felt the muzzle of something familiar.

"It also appears I have weapons... I assume she wants us to either fight them, or something else in this place. Did she tell you anything that might be important?" Aeron withdrew his assault rifle and saw two clips attached to it.

"If we find the exit, we go home... She doesn't expect us to... " Rainbow Dash sighed, sitting on her haunches.

Aeron felt around his person and finally realized he had his combat armour on. Alongside that he found a 10mm pistol and a combat knife with him.

"Did she give you anything? Your sniper, perhaps?" Aeron asked.

Dash looked around as Aeron shined his light against the walls. There was nothing.

"It appears I am the only one armed. I highly suggest we get moving a bit and start planning. Who knows what we might find in here." Aeron started walking down the corridor, and Dash followed suit.

As the two made their way through the corridor, they stopped at an intersection. They had the option to keep going forward, or turn left. Aeron looked down to Dash, who only shrugged in response.

“Which way, Dash? It’s best we formulate some sort of team while we’re here.” Dash rolled her eyes.

“Flip a cap?” Sighing, Aeron searched his pockets to find one bottle cap with the scratched out “Nuka-Cola” label upon it.

“I don’t believe in luck. You’re lucky I believe in chance. Heads forward, tails leftwards.” Aeron then flipped the small cap and watched as it landed on the jagged flooring.

He flashed his Pip-Boy’s light upon it to see it landed on the side with the label - base sticking upwards.

“Looks like it’s tails. Let’s head left.” Leaning down, Aeron picked up the bottle cap and the two proceeded down the left hallway.

Upon making their way through a portion of it, Aeron noticed what looked to be a doorway. Making a light jog over to it, it revealed a large room with an illuminated green goo laying to the right of where he entered. The pip-boy’s geiger counter started to tick gently, but Aeron wasn’t too worried.

“What is that?” Dash was at Aeron’s left side, looking over at the goo.

“Radioactive waste. Harmless if we keep our distance. Might obtain a few rads. Altho-”

Hissssssss....

Aeron was cut off by that sound. The pounding of large feet could be heard nearby. Flashing his light around the room, he found a large gecko-like creature pacing its way towards him. It was mostly purple in colour, save for its white underbelly. Its eyes were a sickly fire-orange, and what Aeron would assume to be its scaly skin, was replaced by bark.

“What is that?!” Dash hushed herself immediately. The large gecko proceeded forward.

“A gecko of some sort. Didn’t think they existed. Especially this large.” Aeron stood calmly, but gripped his rifle tightly.

Hissssssss... The gecko repeated. Its tongue slivered gently out of its mouth.

“What do we do?” The Pegasus looked up at Aeron, searching for answers.

“We - ”

Before he could answer Rainbow Dash, the gecko had released a spray of flame directed at them. Luckily, Aeron and Dash ducked in time to avoid it.

“Dear God that was close!” Aeron yelled.

“Shoot it!” Dash urged.

“I will not. It’s a waste of ammunition,” he retorted.

“Do it anyways! We’ll die if you don’t!” she pushed him again.

The gecko had cornered Dash and Aeron against a wall. It took in a deep breath, about to unleash another torrent of flame...

Well... this was a good run, Dash. Aeron thought as he awaited his death, clinging to the wall for dear life.

An explosion erupted at the back of its head, causing the head to burst in a mess of brain and bone. The body fell towards the ground, and parts that were made of wood collapsed. Aeron and Dash looked down the hall to see two figures at the other end.

“Isn’t that Celestia?” Dash questioned.

“Who’s the woman next to her?” Aeron added.

Celestia and the woman were walking towards them. “Well, if it ain't Rainbow Dash,” the woman yelled out. “How’s it going?”

Celestia, on the other hand, called out, “Rainbow are you alright? And who’s that next to you?”

“Of course I’m alright.” Rainbow Dash grinned at Celestia, then pointed a hoof over at the woman next to her. “But who is that?”

The woman gave an insulted look. “Wow...I save your life, twice, and you already forgot about me? It’s Scarlet, hot shot.”

“Saved my life? The only one to do that is Aeron!” Dash’s hoof pointed up to the man wearing black armour. A shimmering white symbol could be seen upon his left breastplate.

“I’ve never seen you in my life!” she stated.

Both Scarlet and Celestia were baffled by Dash’s statement. “What the hell is going on?” Scarlet asked Celestia.

“I don’t know, but we’re soon going to find out,” she replied. Celestia looked at Aeron. “I believe you’re from the Wasteland, yes?”

Looking at the large mare, Aeron nodded. “Indeed I am. I’ve never seen you before, but Dash apparently knows you.”

“I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. Dash is one of my many subjects, and a friend to my student.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scarlet interrupted, “but why doesn’t she remember me?”

Celestia pondered on the thought for a few seconds. “I believe she’s from a different Equestria,” Celestia answered.

“Different Equestria?” The Pegasus stared upwards at the pony princess with confusion in her eyes.

“Although it sounds confusing, there are many realms in which there is an Equestria. Many of them have share similar ponies and history, but with some major or minor differences. This goes the same for all worlds in different realms and universes. Quite confusing, but live over a few millennia and you get used to it,” Celestia giggled softly.

“That explains why you weren’t startled when you were sent to Earth,” Scarlet stated.

“For the most part,” Celestia replied.

“Well, very informative. I guess proper introductions are in order. Hello, I’m Aeron - from the Capital Wasteland. This is Rainbow Dash, from some alternative universe.” Aeron crossed his arms sarcastically.

“Scarlet from the Mojave Desert, leader of New Vegas.” Scarlet emptied the magazine from her rifle and changed it out with another. “So, I guess you’re from a different Earth.”

“It would appear so,” Aeron stated bluntly. “However, I think it’s best if we start trekking out of here. My rad meter is going up slowly, and I don’t think I want radiation sickness without some proper aid.”

Scarlet looked at her Pip-Boy. “Good idea,” she said, pointing behind her. “There’s a room not far from here, we were about to head into it before we heard the gecko’s roar and your voices. You’re welcome to tag along.” Scarlet turned around and walked out of the room.

Celestia looked at the two. “Come, whatever is going on here, it’s better stay together. Strength in numbers, after all.”

“Right. Numbers.” If I had a bottle cap... Aeron thought as he gestured for Scarlet to show him the way, Dash trotting next to the Princess.

The four proceeded through an exit across from where Aeron had entered. They started walking through what seemed like an endless tunnel, an awkward silence among them. After what felt like several minutes, they appeared in yet another room. Columns of jagged, solid, stone tore up from the ground, each and every one of them coming out at a different angle. There was a single path leading through them, but it was very narrow, only big enough to allow them to continue in a single-file line.

“I don’t like the looks of this,” Scarlet stated. “This is screaming ‘trap’. But it’s either this or the radioactive room.”

“Indeed. If it is a trap, at least we’ll die knowing it was.” Aeron kept faint optimism in his voice, holding back a sarcastic laugh.

“Then,” Celestia held up her spear, “let us proceed with much caution in our steps.”

“You’re forgetting who you’re talking to,” Scarlet griped as she holstered her rifle and pulled out her golden 9mm pistol.

“Yeah, well, credibility is completely lost here.” Aeron slowly pushed his body against the narrowing walls.

“Oh, shut up, Aeron,” Dash deadpanned.

The four uncomfortably made their way through the path. After a few minutes of narrowly going through, they made their way to the other side, which opened up considerably.

“I think Dash touched my ass,” Aeron complained.

“What?!” the Pegasus yelled.

“Yeah. I felt it. Kind of weird.” Aeron stifled a laugh, a small smirk upon his face.

“Don’t get cocky yet,” Scarlet said as she pointed an arm up. “This is just a breather.” Her arm led to another narrow path. “And if what my guts are telling me is true, an ambush.”

“Always the gut feelings. Gotta love those,” Aeron stated.

A faint creak of metal echoed through the room. “Yeah, always brings comfort to the mind.” Scarlet said as she held up her pistol.

Aeron did virtually the same; he placed his rifle upon his back and withdrew his 10mm from its holster, readying it for whatever was ahead. The creak of metal only got louder, as well of the grinding of metal against stone. “Whatever it is, it’s close,” Scarlet stated, “I just can’t tell from where.”

“Real helpful,” Aeron replied bluntly.

“Hush,” Celestia ordered, “it’s here.”

The absence of the metal noise made the air stiff and in some strange way, cold. Suddenly, something landed hard on the ground next to Aeron and Dash, and in a reddish blur, rushed by them.

“AHHHHHH!” Dash screamed in pain as she held a hoof to her side, blood pouring from four neatly-cut lines.

“What in God’s name was that?” Aeron looked over at the wounded Pegasus, then around him, keeping a vigilant eye out for the reddish blur.

Celestia instantly knelt down, her horn blazing to life. A soft yellow glow washed over Dash as the wounds began to close, but Dash was still wincing in pain. “There, that should stop the bleeding.”

“Celestia, behind you!” Scarlet yelled out.

Celestia’s eyes went wide as she took her spear and swept it a full 270 degrees. It slammed hard against something, flinging it away from the group and out into the open. The combined lights from Scarlet, Aeron, and Celestia gave the group a good look of their attacker. It was long and slender with red scales; its face was that of a night stalker - a snake being its head - with four robotic legs with which lead to it having metal claws on each of them. The stalker both growled and hissed at them, then lept onto the nearest column and ran up it.

“Alright, seeing as it can climb, I suggest we figure out how to get it the hell down,” Aeron suggested.

“Celestia, you think you can hold it down with your magic?” Scarlet asked as she kept looking upwards.

“Only if I see it,” Celestia answered as she held her spear to her side.

“Well, you know. Complete darkness and whatnot, I think that’ll be a bit hard.” Aeron tried flashing his Pip-Boy light upwards, only for it to end with darkness.

“Lets hope it can’t cloak as well...” Scarlet added.

“It looks quite fast with all the scrambling I hear up there. I think Dash is the one to keep up with it.” Aeron look over at the Pegasus, who nodded in response.

“Once we see it, Dash will try and get a hold of it and keep it on the same field as us. Then, Celestia can do her work.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Scarlet acknowledged.

The scraping of metal ceased once again as silence filled the air. The sound of metal smashing against a rocky surface resounded right in front of Scarlet, and the stalker pounced onto her. The force brought Scarlet to the ground, and the sounds of tearing fabric and the screech of metal against metal was heard. The stalker leapt off her with blinding speed, heading for another column. “Dash, NOW!” the Courier yelled.

Rainbow Dash took her cue and bounced off the floor, rocketing towards the mutated beast. Speeding up to the column itself, she dove onto its body and drove it completely away from the pillar. Hissing and the sound of metal scratching rocks could be heard as the Pegasus turned the stalker around.

“Got it! Celestia, your move!” she yelled, the stalker running full throttle towards the group.

In the blink of an eye Celestia’s horn burst forth with light, and the stalker was engulfed in a yellow aura. The vile mutation was lifted up into the air, and it desperately swung its legs, trying to grab hold of something. Suddenly a spear was embedded into its throat, and a hard yank pulled the head from its body. The head rolled for a couple of feet before coming to a stop - its lifeless eyes glaring up at the group. “It is done,” Celestia said.

“Well, that takes care of that. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Aeron holstered his pistol, gesturing Dash to come to his side.

“Sparky, it happened again, didn’t it?” Ethan asked with a groan as he rolled over onto his stomach and then rose to his knees.

He looked around himself as he rose to his feet; he and Twilight were in a small, stone room, dimly lit by a few torches. There was only one visible exit in the form of a rectangular hole on the wall, which looked like it lead to a short tunnel and a large room beyond. Ethan couldn’t make out anything in the room from where he was standing, so he turned his attention to his companion who lay on the ground next to him.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Twilight replied with a groan of her own as she got to her hooves.

“Fuck me, kidnapped. Why am I always kidnapped? Did God wake up one day and decide that I needed to be kidnapped at least once a month?” Ethan continued as he began to run his hands over his body, checking to see which gear he’d have to retrieve from whoever it was that had kidnapped him.

“Knowing you, that’s exactly what happened,” Twilight replied sourly. “And you’ve passed it on to me, too, for which I’m forever thankful,” she added.

“You’re the one who keeps hanging around with me, I’d say that it’s at least seventy-five percent your fault,” Ethan replied as his hands reached into his pockets and began feeling around for ammo.

“Oh, shut up,” Twilight told him grumpily as she pulled her plasma defender out of its holster and looked over it with a critical eye before holstering it with a satisfied nod, once she saw that it appeared to be in good condition. She repeated the process with her backup plasma pistol, as well.

“Well, I’ve got around two hundred rounds of five-point-fifty-six, and maybe sixty rounds for my Blackhawk, so I have the oddest feeling that I’ll be relying on my sword a lot during this escape,” Ethan told the unicorn, who merely shrugged. “I also have twelve stimpacks.”

“I’ve got about two hundred energy cells,” she replied. “Oh, and around ten stimpacks.”

“Good, so we’ll be set for - ” Ethan cut himself off when he glanced at his Pip-Boy screen and suddenly swore. “Fuck! Who-, or what-, ever kidnapped us drained my rads,” he growled.

“So no immediately repairing broken limbs?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, and it means I heal slower too, shit,” Ethan said with an obvious note of frustration entering into his voice.

“Speaking of who or whatever it is that kidnapped us, what do you think it wants with us?” Twilight asked.

“Well, it sounded like a little girl, an evil one, but still a little girl, so this could all just be a misunderstanding,” Ethan said.

“You don’t believe that for a second, do you?” Twilight asked him.

“Nope, but wouldn’t it be great if it were true?” Ethan asked with a slightly rueful chuckle.

“I think it said that its name was Katastrofis, and you’ll have to excuse me if I’m disinclined to believe that anything with a name like that is a peaceful little girl,” Twilight countered.

“God, Sparky, you’re getting as cynical about this stuff as I am! If you’re not careful, you’ll start to think like me, too!” Ethan replied with a smirk.

“Faust above help me if that ever starts to happen,” Twilight snarked. Any further conversation was cut off by the distinctive sound of a forty-five/seventy Government-issue round being expended from the barrel of a gun. It came from the room at the end of the hallway.

“Well, break’s over, Sparky. Duty calls,” Ethan said cheerfully as he drew his sword.

“We’re just going to charge in there without any idea of what’s going on, aren’t we?” Twilight asked.

“Damn right we are,” Ethan replied with a grin.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Twilight replied with a slight chuckle. “Well except for the way that involved planning and forethought, anyways,” she added playfully as they began to sprint down the corridor.

“Speak not such heresy in my presence, Sparky!” Ethan replied with a smirk before they both stepped into the room.

“What are the fuck are these things!?” Thomas roared over the sound of his Sequoia, the rifle round tearing through his target with ease.

“I do not know!” Luna yelled, swinging her flail into a second, pulverising it and sending shards of bone everywhere.

The things looked vaguely human, sharing the appropriate body shape. But no humans had heads like these things did. The brows were far too small, the jaws too large and the teeth... They were horrible, pointy things, like daggers thrust into place with all the love and care of a madman. They seemed to be clad in the patchwork armour of raiders, metal spikes and leather straps barely covering their bodies.

Thomas and Luna stood close to each other as they fought off the wave of monstrosities that tried to claw and bite at them. “Luna, watch the magic!” Thomas shouted worriedly as his Pip-Boy started to tick in response to the alicorn’s radioactive magic.

The mare didn’t answer, instead focusing her magic on tearing one of the abominations apart. Thomas’s revolver roared again, and one of the monster’s heads exploded, showering the ground with blood and giblets as the large bullet punched through the deformed skull. His revolver clicked as he tried to fire it again, causing him to swear.

As he attempted to reload his large revolver, one of the monsters that had managed to get behind the pair lunged at him, making him drop his gun with a yelp. “Get the fuck off me!” he yelled, managing to roll over and send his Saturnite Fist into the creature’s jaw. To his relief, it let go. To his horror, a lot of the viscera ended up on his face, in particular his mouth. “Oh god!”

Luna barely spared the man a glance as he picked himself up, instead flinging one of the shambling horrors into the nearest wall. Before it could do anything, its existence was cut short by her flail impacting its stomach at near-supersonic speeds. “Begone, foul beast!” she yelled, watching grimly as it fell lifelessly to the ground.

“How many of these fuckers are there?” Thomas asked, reaching back to grab his brush gun. He could see at least ten more, and swore he could the silhouettes of another ten. He didn’t know how much ammunition he had with him, but he didn’t want to use any more than he really had to.

“Just focus on the fight,” the princess commanded, suspending one of the monsters in the air as she tore it limb from limb. Unfortunately, this attempt at intimidation failed completely.

Suddenly, there was a blast of force from a hallway that Thomas hadn’t seen before, and several of the creatures were sent flying away. A man in a leather duster charged into the room, a red sword held at the ready. The man quickly launched himself forward at one of the monsters and decapitated it with single strike.

The shape of an armored unicorn stepped out of the same hallway that the man had emerged from, its horn glowing with a strangely familiar purple light. One of the abominations charged towards the unicorn, but a blast of kinetic energy smashed into the creature and then passed out the backside, taking a large chunk of the creature with it.

“Hello there, this is the Ethan Smith’s Abomination Rescue Service, and I’m Ethan Smith,” the man told Thomas with a wide grin as he closed the gap between the two of them. He ducked under a claw that was coming in from the right, and stabbed his sword into the abomination’s stomach without batting an eye. “Anyways, we were in the neighborhood and decided to drop by to see if there was anything to do, and damn, I struck a goldmine!”

Thomas just stared at him, his hand still resting on his rifle’s stock, unable to come up with an appropriate response. Luna simply followed his example.

“The lovely unicorn back there is named Sparky-Sparky Boom-mare, but you can call her Sparky for short,” the man continued, seemingly oblivious to Thomas’s confusion.

“Ethan, stop talking and get back to fighting, dammit!” the unicorn shouted in a mare’s voice that was at once familiar and different from one that Thomas recognized.

“Is that who I think it is?”

“It can’t be... ”

“Fine, Sparky, I was just letting you have a little fun, for once,” Ethan shouted back while ignoring Thomas as he readied his sword. “So, want to help?” he asked, turning back to Thomas with a grin.

Thomas unslung his rifle and quickly raised it to his shoulder, obliterating one of the monsters with a pull of the trigger. “Yeah, but I’m gonna want some damn answers,” he growled, pumping the lever and ejecting the spent shell.

“You want answers? Fuck, so do I. All I know is that some bitch kidnapped Sparky and me, and then we woke up back there,” Ethan replied with a slight growl.

“Why are you with Twilight Sparkle, stranger?” Luna asked, eyeing the man with unease.

“Oh, hey there, Lulu, I didn’t notice you over there. It’s been a while, you still fucking that cat?” Ethan asked with a chuckle.

In any other situation, the sight of Luna’s eyes bugging out would have been hilarious. “What are you talking about!?” she screamed. “I have never even thought of treating a cat like that! How dare you accuse me of such things!”

“Umm, Lulu, last time I checked you fucked just about anything that moved. Come on, you remember him, I think his name’s Kane, he’s an assassin, ring any bells up there?” Ethan asked before ducking under a claw and slicing off the arm.

“Firstly, my sister is the one who sleeps around, though she keeps it a secret. Secondly, the only assassin I have ever slept with would be the one who served under me over a thousand years ago, and he was a unicorn named Shadow Strike, not some cat named Kane!” She took out her anger on one of the monsters, her flail reducing it to a pile of gore and bone on the ground as she pummelled it repeatedly.

“What the fuck happened to Twilight!?” Thomas asked loudly, catching sight of her prosthetics for the first time.

“Missile to the face, or maybe it was a grenade, it was awhile ago. Wait, how do you know her?” Ethan asked in confusion.

“Long story short, I stopped her brother from becoming a murderer.”

“Who, Shiny? Yeah I can see it, who’d he almost kill?” Ethan asked as he dodged a claw swing from one of the abominations before he sliced its belly open.

Thomas sent a right hook at one of the monster’s jaws, knocking its collection of teeth and most of its skull flying. “Changeling queen. Revenge.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense, I’m not exactly surprised after the whole ‘sex curse’ thing she put him under,” Ethan said with a nod.

“Sex curse? What the fuck are you talking about?” Thomas asked, glancing at the man. “He had an entire squad of unicorns put together for the purpose of killing her after the whole wedding invasion attempt.”

“Perhaps this can wait until we have fought off these things!?” Luna asked loudly, flapping her wings and sending one of them stumbling.

“Fucking finally!” Twilight shouted; a swarm of the monsters were attempting to swamp her, but she was sending them flying away with progressively weaker blasts of kinetic energy.

“Oh right, coming Sparky!” Ethan shouted as he took off towards the embattled unicorn at a sprint while he dodged incoming claw-ended limbs.

Thomas instead opted to stand his ground. Somehow, he managed to grab one of the horrors by its throat, and was holding it arms length. “Fucking! Die! You! Piece! Of! Shit!” he yelled, each word punctuated by a strike from his Saturnite Fist.

“Somehow I don’t think yelling at them is going to work, good luck, though,” Ethan shouted over his shoulder as he rolled under an arm and came up with his sword embedded in one of the monster’s backs as it was about to hit Twilight from behind.

The black man quickly scooped up his rifle and dropped to one knee. With expert precision he eliminated three of the monsters trying to claw at the unicorn, one round in each of their skulls.

“Heh, not bad, kid, thanks for the help!” Ethan called over to him.

“Yes, thank you very much,” Twilight agreed once she caught her breath.

There was the sound of crunching bone and Luna panting behind them. “That is the last of them,” she muttered, pulling her hoof from the skull she had just stomped through.

“Thank Faust, I thought they’d never stop coming,” Twilight grumbled. “Oh, and I’m covered in blood again, fucking terrific.”

“Relax Sparky, you look good in red,” Ethan snarked.

Thomas went over to his dropped Sequoia and knocked loose the six spent shells. As he reloaded it, he turned to the man. “Okay, I said I wanted some answers. Who are you?”

“The name’s Ethan Smith, I told you that,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “And I’m the Lone Wanderer.”

Thomas raised his revolver and pointed it at his face. Luna tightened her grip on her flail. “Liar. I’ve met the Lone Wanderer, and you are not her,” he growled.

“Um, yeah, I am. I was raised in Vault 101, my father was one of the scientists who created Project Purity, and I killed the fucking Enclave to a man,” Ethan retorted with an annoyed snarl.

The black man and the midnight alicorn glanced at each other. “Isn’t that what Dom told us?” Luna asked.

“Yeah. This doesn’t make sense.” Thomas lowered his revolver.

“Oh good, you put the gun down, a few more seconds there and I would’ve cut your hand off,” Ethan replied casually with a smile.

“I’d like to see you try,” Thomas replied confidently.

“Okay then, let’s go kiddo!” Ethan said as he raised his sword.

“GIRLS, CALM DOWN!” Twilight shouted, grabbing Ethan in her magic and pulling him away from the black man. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but what I do know is that fighting each other isn’t the right way to get out of it!” she shouted.

“Twilight is right,” Luna said serenely, calmly stepping forwards. “We were all brought here against our will, and the only way we can possibly escape is through teamwork. Put aside your petty differences.” She shot a glare at both men.

“Relax, Lulu, we’re just testing each other, it’s how men work,” Ethan told her with a chuckle. “Friends?” he asked while extending his hand for Thomas to shake.

“You do not have the right to call me that,” she muttered angrily. “And ‘allies’ would be the better word.”

Thomas grabbed the other man’s hand and tried to crush it. “Yeah. ‘Friends’.” Ethan just smirked at him and did the same.

“Stallions.” Twilight said dismissively with a shake of her head at the men’s behavior. “This reminds me why I’m with Tia,” she added.

“Yes, they can be quite - what!?” Luna squawked as the words actually registered.

“And here I thought it was the great sex,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

“Well that too, but mostly because she’s amazing,” Twilight replied.

“What are you two talking about?” Thomas asked, relinquishing his grip on the other man.

“Sparky over there is Sunny’s fuckbuddy,” Ethan replied with another chuckle and a shrug.

“That’s not possible. My sister hasn’t been in a relationship with another pony in centuries,” Luna replied, still a little shocked. “Non-ponies, on the other hoof...”

“Well you haven’t been paying much attention then, I’d think you would’ve noticed all of Sparky’s shouts; seriously, she’s loud as hell!” Ethan replied.

“Hey it’s not my fault... ” Twilight said with a frown at the man.

“Hang on.” Thomas raised his hand. “You’re not the Lone Wanderer I met, and you’re not the Twilight I met. Do you know the Courier?” he asked Ethan.

“Know her, she’s my wife!” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Scarlet red hair, beautiful green eyes, and a penchant for castrating raiders that I find absolutely adorable.”

“That just confirms it.” Thomas sighed. “We’re not from the same Wasteland. And they’re not from the same Equestria,” he added, pointing at the ponies.

“So, am I hot where you come from?” Ethan asked after a moment of thinking.

“Dom showed me an old photo. She was hot, before she became a ghoul.”

“I do not understand human values of beauty,” Luna added under her breath.

“You and me both,” Twilight agreed quietly.

“I’m a ghoul?” Ethan asked in surprise. “Oh, now that’s odd, kind of kinky, but really, really odd...”

“She also lost her left arm to an Enclave sniper. Has a fake one. A bit like Twilight there,” he added, nodding at the unicorn.

“Hmm... Well, she got handed the short end of the stick. If I’m ever in the neighborhood, I’ll have to drop by and say hi.”

“Ethan, how the hell are you so casual about this?” The Courier just stared at him in confusion. “And don’t we have more important things to worry about?”

“Kid, once you’ve been abducted by aliens, had a really, really, really odd trip through the swamp, and stared down a virtual Chinese tank, not to mention everything I’ve done with Sparky over there throughout the years, meeting someone from a different dimension isn’t that surprising,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “As for more important things to be doing; well, do you see an exit? Because I don’t,” he asked.

“Firstly, I’m 38, not some kid,” he retorted angrily. “Secondly, you haven’t had to stare down the entire Diamond Dog military. Thirdly, for all we know there is no exit. This could be some sealed deathtrap that this ‘Katastrofis’ bitch just wants us to die in.”

“Kid, I’m 40, I have a wife and two children. And when you’ve faced the fucking Nightmare and kicked it out of your mind, then you can talk to me like that,” Ethan replied.

“Can you two please stop comparing your dicks for five minutes?” Twilight asked in annoyance.

“Yes, please.” Luna rolled her eyes, already starting to regret responding to the voice in her chambers.

“You’re all just jealous of my raw animal magnetism,” Ethan replied with a smirk. Twilight sighed and facehoofed.

Thomas just stared before turning around. “I’m not even gonna bother,” he muttered. “Can’t argue with idiots... ”

“Well then both of you SHUT up!” Twilight said irritatedly.

“But Sparky, you can’t let him have the last word!” Ethan protested.

“You can and will,” Luna commanded, finally sick of the two men’s bickering.

“And here it was just getting fun,” Ethan said with a pout.

Not bad.

“You again?” Luna asked, glaring at a point in the ceiling.

“Hey, invisicunt, fuck off!” Ethan told the voice.

But why would I do that? she asked, sounding hurt. After all, the fun’s only just begun.

“Because the longer you keep us here the more aggravated I’m going to get with you, and you don’t want to know what happened to the last bitch who thought she was strong enough to fuck with me like this,” Ethan replied with a growl. “You might’ve known her as the Nightmare.”

Her? That arrogant wannabe? Oh please, that’s the best you have? she replied dismissively. You’ll need to do better than that if you want to impress me.

“Well I did have coffee with Faust, if that counts for anything,” Ethan added with a smirk. Luna raised an eyebrow at this statement.

That old nag? Please, the voice snorted contemptuously.

“Well she was a whole hell of a lot more impressive then you are, coward,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “I mean, what kind of cunt just kidnaps people, and doesn’t have the manners to at least give them a face to attach the hate to?”

“Ethan,” Thomas muttered, “I’d really appreciate it if you would just shut the fuck up.”

“Why?” Ethan asked in confusion.

“Because the last thing I want her to do is get angry enough at you to send a pack of Deathclaws in power armour at us.”

Ooh, how did I not think of that? Katastrofis muttered.

“Okay that’s it, neither of you are talking again until I say so,” Twilight said with a growl. Her horn flashed and both of the mens’ mouths were magically closed with zippers.

Thomas immediately began to struggle, trying his best to remove the impediment. “Twilight! how could you!?” Luna yelled at the mare.

“What? It’s a simple spell,” Twilight asked.

“Our magic is harmful to them!” the princess shouted, gesturing at Thomas.

“Um no, no it’s not.” Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow. Her horn began to glow and Ethan was suspended in a magic field, he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, waiting impatiently for her to finish. “See, no problems.”

“His magic detector must be broken.” Luna looked over at Thomas, now much calmer, and enveloped his left arm in magic. His Pip-Boy burst into life, the geiger counter’s ticking imploring him to get away.

Ethan undid the magic zipper, breathed in a huge breath of air, and then shouted. “Your magic is like radiation, fuck yes! This means that my healing will be back to normal in no time!”

STOP IGNORING ME! Kata shouted in their heads. Her girlish voice was loud and sounded extremely annoyed.

Luna quickly removed the zipper from Thomas’ mouth, letting him speak. “What do you want from us?”

I want to see you break. I want to see you suffer. I want to see you die.

“Mhm, colour me unimpressed,” Ethan told her. Twilight just groaned; this was like what happened with Jonathan, only much, much worse.

“Do you take anything seriously?” Luna asked.

“Marriage proposals, the fucking Enclave, and the occasional dragon,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

Thomas looked at the ceiling. “Yeah, can you give us someone else to work with?”

Sorry, you’ll just have to make do, for now at least, Kata added before she broke off into a sinister laugh which slowly faded away until the room was silent once more.

“Sparky, I’m beginning to think that these two don’t like me much,” Ethan told Twilight with a hurt look and a nod towards Thomas and Luna who were glaring at him. The unicorn rolled her eyes and sighed, it was going to be a long day.

Tranquil Crossroads

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Tranquil Crossroads

“You sure you’re okay Scarlet?” Celestia concernly asked before the two humans and ponies recover from their fight.

“I’m fine, that stalker just scratched the already fading paint on my armor,” Scarlet answered, as she began to walk towards the entrance of the other narrow path, starting to squeeze her way into the cracked gap between the columns.

“Dash, what about you?” Aeron went over to Dash, who was looking over her hoof.

“Celestia fixed it up. But, it kind of stings... I thought you could do better than that, Princess.” The pegasus’ magenta eyes gazed up at the pony ruler in inquire.

“It was spur of the moment healing, I can fix it better if you want.”

“Alright then.” Dash held out her hoof, awaiting the magic to fix the scarring.

Celestia’s horn basked in its yellow glow as a light washed over the hoof, but nothing changed.

Celestia frowned at this. “Something’s not right.” She tried once again with the same result.

“Don’t tell me that little moment in the radiation is already affecting your magic,” Scarlet said as she stopped fidgeting to get through the opening.

“No, it takes more than a few rads for my magic to start fading already ,” Celestia stated. She thought for a moment. “As I was entering into this realm, I sensed very powerful Chaos magic flowing freely in the realm, maybe that’s what is affecting my powers.”

“Great,” Scarlet sorely said, “it’s a good thing you have your spear at least.” Scarlet went back on trying to move through the path. “A bit tighter than before,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Hrm. Intriguing. Radiation will affect the magic of your species. Wonder what else it does. Besides mutation.” Aeron noted, tending to Dash’s hoof.

“Only in high levels though, roughly five hundred rads for me, two hundred and fifty for anypony else.”

“I’m intrigued how you know that much. But, perhaps we should press forward and question it later. I feel like we have something far more interesting in that room ahead of us than in this one. Last thing I want to deal with is another robotic monster.” Aeron stood up and brushed his hand through Rainbow Dash’s hair - who gave him a frown in response to doing so.

The four lead themselves through the dark and pillared room and to its exit. Upon leaving through its small doorway, a rock door closed and encased them in the next room. Surprised, Aeron scanned the room with his light, seeing six torches of varying colours - blue, green, red, yellow, orange, and violet. Under each torch was a different object - a gold necklace, a stone carving of a human head, a rainbow quilt, a broken tv, a rotten apple and a rusted bicycle. Next to all the torches, at the far left, was a radio.

Well, well. Just in time for the show! The voice of Kata had appeared to them. The same cackling followed it.

“What do you want, lady?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Yeah. Pulling us here to be little puppets isn’t fun.” Aeron crossed his arms in annoyance.

“Plus, considering we’re going to shoot you on the first sight, you better let us go.”

Girls, girls, calm down! Oh, right, there’s a boy here. The voice giggled, mocking Aeron. Anyways, you’re all here because I’m bored. Thought I told you this? Also, this room is a fun little puzzle I set up. If you can figure out what all these items and torches link to, and touch them in the correct order, you get to leave this room!

“And if we don’t?” Rainbow frowned.

Let’s say a very painful death will greet you. Another giggle, Below you is a bunch of holes. Each hole contains large spikes that will force their way up upon you guessing incorrectly. You get two guesses at this, and then BOOM, you’re dead!

A horrid laugh filled the room, literally making it shake. The flames upon the torches all swayed in a non-existent wind blowing through the small room, then the laughing stopped.

Anyways, I got stuff to do, so, I’ll be watching! Bad luck to all of you! Hope you die!

Scarlet looked at the others. “Well, any idea how to guess the right combination without getting impaled through the ass? There’s only a thousand different combinations to try.”

“Well, we coul--” before Aeron could finish, the radio sparked to life, emitting a very irritating tune.

“What the fuck?” Aeron glared at the radio, the tune instantly becoming irritating.

“What kind of music is that?” Scarlet crossly inquired.

“Sounds like something my mother would listen to...” Rainbow Dash facehoofed, folding her ears back in annoyance.

Did I mention that this would be playing? Good luck! Childish laughter imbedded itself into their minds as the voice announced its presence once more.

Scarlet glared bitterly at the radio. “Well,” she pulled out Maria, “this is one problem I know how to fix.” She aimed down the sights and targeted the radio.

Celestia’s spear pushed against Scarlet’s arm moving the gun away. “I think that would be a bad idea, considering this is part of Kata’s plan, it might set off the trap prematurely.”

“I have to agree with the Princess,” Aeron started, “for all we know, that radio is a key to this puzzle. Sadly, that music is annoying and we have to deal with it.”

“Fine,” Scarlet reluctantly replied, “but if I hear any beeping noise, I’m shooting it anyways.” She holstered her pistol and crossed her arms as she studied the items in the room..

Aeron approached the items, examining each one with his eyes. Half of them look like they’re found in the Wastes. The other half, he’s never laid eyes on before.

“There’s something that connects these to the torches, and to each other. The stone head, TV and bike are all found in the Wastes. I’ve never seen the other things before.” Aeron looked at the torch’s flickering flames.

“The others are a golden necklace commonly found in Equestria, the apple is the remains of a zap apple, also found in Equestria, the rainbow quilt well, it could also be from Equestria.” Celestia stated.

“So they come from both of our worlds, how does that help with finding the right order,” Scarlet asked.

Aeron looked them over once more, then back to the torches, “If they relate to us, that’s a little bit of a clue. Somehow, they relate to these torches, and must be touched in some sort of order.”

“Well,” Scarlet looked up, “they’re the colors of the rainbow so in the order they appeared on a rainbow is my guess.”

“Hrm...” Looking over at Rainbow Dash, Aeron gazed at her mane - it being closest to that of a rainbow, “looks like we’re in luck. So, the order is that of Dash’s mane. Its a matter of what order we touch the items in, now. We only have two chances, so...”

Aeron decided to take a chance. He gazed at the order of Rainbow Dash’s mane - red came first, and the quilt was underneath that torch. Touching it, it let off an annoying tune that appeared to match the radio’s. However, a loud buzz was let off as if he got it wrong.

Ooo, there goes one! C’mon, fail! Let me see you die! More childish laughter filled the room and added to the nuisance of the music.

“Uhg... It’s already annoying to deal with this music. Can’t you shut up?” The pegasus cringed as the music started to repeat itself.

“Wait...the music itself might be the answer...,” Scarlet mumbled out.

“Well, now the order is completely screwed up. I guess we need to listen to the song if we’re to figure this out... sadly.” Aeron sighed as he sat himself on the floor.

Scarlet paced as she listened carefully to the music. “That quilt made a noise that matched one of the tones in the song...maybe each item does the same thing. If we play it in the order of the song, that might be it.”

“Hrm. That’s probably what it is... colours make different notes of music, as well. Anyone here know how music correlates to colours?” Aeron glanced at the three others in the room.

“I’ve only played with a harmonica, and that’s mostly by ear,” Scarlet stated.

“If the song relates to the tones that the items play, then why not place them in the category of weight, rather than the colours? I mean, the stone head would be a heavier note than the necklace.” Aeron just stared at Rainbow Dash when she gave such an answer.

“Wow, Dash. Didn’t expect that to come out of you.” Dash blushed softly, letting out a tomboyish giggle.

“Yeah... Hang around a egghead long enough, you get used to it.” Aeron nodded, and looked to the others.

“So that means the apple has the highest tone, the quilt will be lower than that, then the necklace, the bike, the TV, and then finally the head.” Scarlet stated orderly.

“Well. It’s either that, or die. So, are we up for trying that?” Aeron questioned.

“Yeah,” Scarlet closed her eyes as she closely listen to the music once more, “let’s do this.” She opened her eyes and walked towards the necklace, took a deep breath and reached her hand out. A tone rang out, but not a familiar buzz. A sigh of relief came out Scarlet lips. She went to the next item, the bike, and touched it, again no buzz.

“Doing good so far...” Aeron bit his nails in anticipation.

Scarlet then went to stone head, then the apple, quilt, and finally the TV. There was a ringing of a bell and a door opened.

Well poo... you solved it. Well that just means you get to face my other deadly rooms later on, have fun.

A smirk formed on Scarlet’s face. “And Boone said my harmonica playing would get me nowhere.”

“Well done everyone,” Celestia praised as they left the room. The song was still playing on the radio, but the sound of single gunshot echoed its way around the room and the front of the radio erupted apart, filling the air with peaceful silence.

A hole in the wall of the room had opened shortly after Kata’s voice had vanished and without any other leads, the group set off down the dark corridor within. Thomas and Ethan had simultaneously decided that they’d be the one to take the lead, luckily the hallway was wide enough for them to walk side by side without any real issues. An uneasy silence had fallen over the group and Twilight was the first to break it, albeit quietly.

“Sorry about Ethan, he’s nice once you get to know him,” Twilight whispered to Luna.

“I see,” Luna replied evenly as she glanced at the man walking beside Thomas. “Is he always this arrogant and foolish?” she asked

“Yes, although most of it is an act,” Twilight replied with a shake of her head.

“An act?” Luna asked in surprise.

“Yes, an act,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “Ethan’s not the kind of person to take things seriously, but he’s not as stupid as he appears to be. In fact, he’s a lot smarter than he looks.”

“Then why does he act so...” Luna trailed off hoping to avoid offending Twilight.

“Stupid, irrational, idiotic?” Twilight filled in with a small smile.

“Yes... that,” Luna said.

“Honestly Luna, it depends on the situation. Sometimes it’s to catch people off guard, sometimes it’s for his own enjoyment, and sometimes it’s a defense mechanism. Not that he’d ever admit that of course,” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“A defense mechanism from what?” Luna asked curiously.

“He’s been through a lot, Luna, he may not show it, but he’s damaged. He keeps up the happy and unpredictable act so that no one sees it. I worry about him...” Twilight said softly.

“You care for him a great deal, don’t you?” Luna asked.

“Yes, he’s been with me through a lot of shit and made sure that I came out safe on the other side,” Twilight replied.

“For a loose definition of ‘safe’,” Luna said with a nod towards Twilight’s leg and eye.

“No one’s perfect Luna, no matter how much he wishes that he were.” Twilight said with sigh. Then she shook her head to clear it of depressing thoughts and asked. “So what’s the deal with you and Thomas?”

“The first time he came to Equestria, he helped us deal with the Changelings. The second time, he, the Lone Wanderer and Scribe Veronica fought alongside Equestrian and Griffic forces against the Diamond Dogs,” Luna replied.

“Ah, but what I meant is; why are you here with him instead of somepony else?” Twilight said.

“Well... I’m the pony that he knows the best, except perhaps for Knight-Commander Armor, so I suppose that that’s why I’m here,” Luna replied with a nod.

“Wait, do you mean Shining Armor, as in my brother?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, he now leads the most magically-powerful force of unicorns in the Guard,” Luna explained. “He had them formed shortly after his wedding.”

“I’ll have to mention that to my brother, he’s always looking for ways to improve the Guard,” Twilight said with a nod. “Anyways back to Thomas. You fucked him, didn’t you?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Wha-but-how?” Luna sputtered. “How would you know about that?” she asked once she’d regained her voice.

“Because it’s what our Luna wanted to do with Ethan before she found out that he’s happily married,” Twilight said with a shrug. “To be honest Luna I was joking,” she added with a light chuckle.

“You are not like the Twilight I know at all,” Luna said with a shake of her head.

“Blame Ethan for that,” Twilight replied with a small chuckle. “Well blame him, and my time in the Wasteland anyways,” she added with a frown.

“It was... traumatic, I take it,”Luna guessed.

“In more ways than one” Twilight replied with a slight shudder. “I woke up to the sight of several raiders trying to eat me, and then Ethan showed up and killed them without breaking a sweat, things got worse from there,” she told the alicorn who regarded her intensely. “By now I’ve killed more people than anyone else in Equestria with the exception of Tia and my Luna, and the only reason that they’re ahead is the fact that they’ve been alive a few thousand years longer than I have.” Twilight continued. “The odd thing is that... with only a few exceptions I’ve stopped caring about the killing, it’s stopped affecting me. Sometimes it makes me wonder...” The unicorn trailed off in a small quiet voice.

Luna looked at the purple unicorn in concern. “Twilight Sparkle I may not know who you are here, but where I come from Twilight Sparkle is an amazing mare with a good heart. There is no reason for you to be any different. Don’t doubt yourself, Twilight,” Luna reassured her with a smile. Twilight shook her head once.

“Thanks Luna; sorry that I’m being melodramatic enough to make Rarity gag right now,” she said with a chuckle.

“It’s quite alright Twilight,” Luna replied. Meanwhile a completely different conversation had been taking place between Thomas and Ethan.

They’d been walking for several minutes in silence when Ethan heard Twilight begin to talk to Luna, so he took the initiative and turned to Thomas who regarded him with a raised eyebrow.

“What?” Thomas asked.

“Well... I kind of want to apologize,” Ethan said as he scratched the back of his head with his off hand.

“And they say miracles don’t happen,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah, sorry, I get like this when stuff as crazy as this happens,” Ethan replied with a chuckle of his own.

“I don’t even want to know what the hell you’ve been through before.” Thomas looked at the other man warily.

“Would you believe me if I told you that being abducted by aliens is actually one of the more sane things?” Ethan asked with a smirk.

“Considering where we are right now, I actually can. And that worries me a little.” He stuffed his hand back into his duster. “And I don’t have much ammo left, either.”

“Well you looked pretty good with that power fist, that one of those saturnite ones from the Big Empty?” Ethan asked with a nod towards the gauntlet.

“Yeah. I’d prefer a displacer glove right now, though. I don’t even want to get too close, though. Who knows what’ll happen if one of those things bites us.”

“You’re immune to poison though, right? So you shouldn’t have to worry about that at least.” Ethan said with an upbeat smile.

“Actually, I’m only safe against spinal injuries right now. Got the fake heart switched out last time I was at the Think Tank. I’m regretting that now.”

“Yeah I can see why; Cassie always keeps her fake stuff in, says that she’s so used to it that she can’t tell the difference anymore,” Ethan replied.

“Really? The fact that she doesn’t have a heartbeat isn’t weird to you?” Thomas asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well kind of, but honestly if it keeps her alive then I’m willing to put up with a little weirdness,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“This Cassie, your wife. What’s she like?”

“Intense. Really, really intense. But she has a soft side once you get to know her, and she’s the most beautiful girl i’ve ever met; although that could be a bit subjective,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “She’s a real demon in bed too,” he added with a wag of his eyebrows.

“I don’t want to know about your sex life, thank you very much,” he replied flatly. “And that wasn’t what I meant. What did she do with Vegas? Being a woman, she wouldn’t have handed it to Caesar...”

“Oh, that’s what you meant. And no, she did not hand it over to Caesar,” Ethan said with a hard grin. “No, she’s the current Queen, although she hates it when I call it that.”

“She took over? Hell, I have enough trouble keeping the local raiders in check and making sure the Lucky 38 makes enough money.”

“Remember what I said about her castrating raiders? Well that’s only the tip of the iceberg as far as her punishments go...” Ethan said before he trailed off. “Besides she lets Yes Man do the small stuff and she handles the bigger problems.”

“That creepy robot? I shot him three times before I decided to stop wasting armour-piercing rounds.”

“Yeah I can understand that, Yes Man is pretty damn creepy. But she keeps him under a tight leash and she runs the city and the surrounding area better than the NCR could. Besides, they’ve got more than enough land as it is,” Ethan said.

“I dunno, between the Followers and the Kings keeping them in check the NCR is doing a decent job in my Vegas. I have to step in every now and then, though.” He chuckled softly. “And I kept the Platinum Chip. They make the wrong move, and I have an entire army of robots.”

“It definitely comes with some advantages,” Ethan said with a nod. “So, and ignore me if this is too personal but I’d like to know if you’re willing to share, but does the name Elijah ring a bell to you?”

“Elijah?” Thomas asked back before chuckling darkly. “I gave that bastard everything he deserved. When I was done, he couldn’t even put himself out of his own misery.”

“Ah, well I’m not exactly surprised that you did that. If everything that my wife told me about the bastard is true then he deserved everything he got,” Ethan told him with a shrug, then he caught sight of a doorway ahead. “Hey it looks like we’re coming to a new room, look alive everyone!” He called back to the two mares.

The four walked into a room that was very unlike the stone hallway that they’d been traveling through. It looked like a slightly dusty, pre-war living room. There were several objects that stood out, scattered around the room in plain sight. A Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle, an Equestrian Royal Knight helmet, a microfusion cell, a dress saddle draped over a small table, a baby carriage and a bouquet of colourful flowers in a small vase.

“Oh fuck, not this, anything but this!” Ethan moaned, “Not only is she copying Braun’s creepy voice gimmick, but she’s copying his fucking puzzles too. You could at least try being original for once invisicunt!” He shouted at the air.

I thought you’d like it, Kata said, her obnoxiously sweet voice in their heads.

“Does this mean that when we solve it an army of unkillable Chinese holograms are going to attack us?” He asked with a role of his eyes.

No, that’s what happens if you can’t solve it, she replied sweetly.

“And I thought the damn Sierra Madre was bad enough...” Thomas muttered. “At least it can’t get any wor- ” He cut himself off at the last second, a moment before Ethan’s hand leapt over to cover his mouth.

“Never, ever, ever say that,” Ethan told him in a dangerously quiet voice. “It’s just asking for the Wasteland to bitchslap you.”

“That’s why I cut myself off,” he replied, removing the other man’s hand.

“If you two would stop your bickering, perhaps we can begin to solve this dilemma?” Luna questioned, looking at them irritatedly.

“Actually Luna, he’s right, you never say things like that.” Twilight told the alicorn with a shake of her head. “Bad things happen when you say them...”

“I’m well aware of that, Twilight Sparkle, but arguing will get us nowhere.” The princess turned to the Wanderer. “How was this puzzle solved before, Ethan?”

“Umm, about that...” Ethan said trailing off.

“You just pressed random ones until it worked didn’t you?” Twilight asked with a sigh.

“Yeah...” Ethan admitted with as his cheeks turned slightly red.

I wouldn’t advise that this time, Kata suggested.

“Did we ask for your opinion?” Ethan retorted.

All right then, fine, the voice replied. Don’t come crying to me when you get killed because you decided to ignore me when I tried to inform you of the rules.

“Ethan, shut up,” Thomas ordered. “Now.”

“She probably would’ve lied, we’re here so that she can torture us after all.” Ethan replied with a shrug.

But it’s more fun to watch you die when you came so close to success instead of just flailing blindly in the dark, Kata retorted.

“Nonetheless, we should listen,” Luna said. “Even if she lies, she may reveal the method we need to use to pass this... puzzle.”

“Fine, oh Miss Invisicunt, would you kindly explain the rules of this little game to us? We’d be ever so grateful to you if you saw fit to bestow this knowledge upon us,” Ethan asked in a sickly sweet voice.

Oh, it’s very simple. You just need to touch the objects there in the right order, she explained as a light came from nowhere and illuminated the random clutter. You do that, and you get to progress.

“And how are we meant to know the correct order?” Luna questioned.

A song in the key of lock, she answered cryptically.

“A musical tone will sound when you touch each thing,” Ethan told Luna while ignoring the invisible voice. “I don’t remember the proper order though so that’s about all the help I’ll be, this isn’t my area of expertise.”

“How are we meant to know what the ‘key’ will be?” Thomas asked loudly.

Oh, I’m glad you asked! Kata all but squealed. Without any other warning, music began to play from hidden speakers.

Luna just stared at a wall for a moment. “... What.”

“This is by far the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Thomas muttered.

“Make it stop, good God please make it stop!” Ethan shouted clutching his ears in pain.

“Ethan it’s just a song, calm down,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “Although it has got to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard,” she said with a nod to Thomas.

“Enough delaying,” Luna said “Let us solve this so that we may continue on our way.”

You have two chances. Make them count. Kata taunted over the music.

“Typically, we’re meant to get three,” Thomas countered. After ten seconds without a response, he turned to the things. “We don’t even know what sounds each thing makes.”

“It’s rigged,” Ethan said with an annoyed growl. “So anyone got any ideas?”

“Well...” Twilight began before trailing off as she scanned the room. “...It looks like there are six objects, three from Equestria and three from the Wasteland, so that could be significant.”

“How the hell is an empty bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla significant?” Thomas asked, reaching out to grab it. The moment his hand brushed it, there was a strange noise akin to a someone blowing into an empty bottle. “Huh?”

“That’s the sound that we’re looking for, good job kid,” Ethan said with a nod to the black man. “Just be careful, I doubt that we’ll be that lucky in the future.”

Just thought you should know, this counts as your first guess.

“How is that fair!?”

When did I ever say I was going to play fair? Kata asked with a dark chuckle.

“Well Invisicunt, you’re the one who said that you wanted us to get farther, so if you want that to happen then you should give us more hints, I mean there’s not much fun in watching us get killed by holograms is there?” Ethan asked with a small smirk.

Not when I can resurrect you again. And again. And again... She trailed off before laughing.

“Well then there’s no point in us even trying is there?” Ethan asked “After all if you can just revive us repeatedly then - ”

Just solve the puzzle! Kata told him angrily, obviously annoyed with the man’s constant questions.

“Ethan please shut up,” Twilight told him with a roll of her eyes. “Okay, here’s what we know so far. There are six objects in the room that make a musical note when we press them in the right order. Two are obviously from Equestria, although I don’t know where that helmet is from although it’s clearly Equestrian by design, and three are from the Wasteland,” Twilight said

“That’s one of the Knight helmets,” Thomas explained. “What it’s doing here, though...”

“Hmm. I’ll just chalk it up to Kata screwing with us,” the unicorn replied with a shrug before she continued. “Anyways thanks to Thomas we know that the bottle is the first thing we need to press. We also know that we have two tries, one of which we’re in the middle of. That means that we only have five objects to go and two mistakes to make.”

“Good summarization Sparky,” Ethan told her with a chuckle. “Alright so, what now?” He asked.

Thomas brushed a hand against each other object, making sure to memorise the sound they all made. And that’s your first guess wasted, Kata said suddenly.

“Not exactly wasted, we now know which ones make which sound,” Twilight replied with a small smirk.

“Yes, but we still don’t know the proper order,” Luna said with a frown.

Thomas just stood there, nodding his head in tune with the music. Then his eyes widened and he smiled. “I think I’ve got it,” he exclaimed.

“Really?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. The annoying song playing right now has the same tune as the objects. The only thing we could possibly do is match the tune of the song,” Thomas stated academically.

“And here I thought Sparky was smart,” Ethan snickered, Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I’m not exactly well versed in music, Ethan, and that song is so annoying that I’m having trouble believing that my ears aren’t bleeding right now,” Twilight replied with am annoyed snort.

“And how exactly do we know that it will work?” Luna questioned.

“You’ll just have to trust me,” Thomas replied. He rubbed his hands together before he strode over to the Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle and touched it.

The accompanying musical note sounded and the man nodded to himself. He moved among the objects at a calm pace touching each and every one of them in a very specific sequence. After the bottle came the Knight helmet. Following that was the microfusion cell, then the baby carriage. The vase of flowers came next, then the dress saddle, and finally the small vase again. As he touched them the objects emitted a different sound that matched the tune of the song playing in the background. Once he was done the song finally stopped, opening a door in the wall

Well done, you solved it, you should feel honored that you’re all among of the hundreds of thousands of beings that I’ve brought here who’ve managed to solve my little puzzle, congratulations, Kata said sarcastically. Now you get to move onto my more dangerous rooms!

“Nice going kid,” Ethan told Thomas with a grin.

“Yes, exceptional job Thomas,” Luna agreed with a nod.

“Thanks, now let’s get out of here,” Thomas said with a nod towards the doorway.

Kata’s voice suddenly spoke as they started towards the doorway. ’\Play nice out there, she said told them with a giggle.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Ethan asked.

“I do not know,” Luna answered with shake of her head. “However I doubt that it is a sign of good things to come.”

“Well whatever the hell she meant we won’t find it out waiting in here, let’s go,” Thomas said.

“Yes, let’s,” Twilight agreed with a nod.

“Hey Aeron, is your Pip-boy losing its map data?” Scarlet asked as she stared at the RobCo device strapped on her left arm.

Aeron glanced at his Pip-boy and switched to its map function. The screen showed a green outline of the short hallway that they’d just finished walking through in order to get to their current room. The room that they were in was bold and clear on the screen but even as he watched the hallway behind them was starting to fade away entirely.

“It’s lost all of it completely. But what do you expect for being in a different, dark, and uncharted area?” The man asked with a snort.

“Well I was at least hoping to see where we’ve been so far while trying to figure out this maze.”

“We could use thread. That worked for a lot of people in ancient history,” the black man replied.

The woman glanced up with a “are you serious” look on her face, rolling her eyes. However, her eyes soon stopped on her compass. “I’m picking up others on my radar.”

“So am I,” Aeron said “They don’t appear to be hostiles.”

“Still,” Scarlet pulled out her sniper rifle and armed it, “it never hurts to be cautious.”

“Agreed.” Aeron said as he pulled out his own rifle. Celestia also nodded her head in agreement and readied her spear.

Suddenly one of the nearby walls split open and slowly slid down to reveal a group of four.

“TIA!” One of them shouted in a mare’s voice, before a blur of purple shot by the other three’s vision and charged Celestia muzzle first.

“Twilight!?” Scarlet cried out, recognizing the mare instantly as she sped by

Twilight Sparkle reached Celestia, who had a look of shock on her face at the sight of her student, and then pulled the taller mare’s head down into a deep kiss. There was tongue involved, or there was from Twilight anyways.

Scarlet’s mouth dropped open in awe while Celestia eyes shot wide open in bewilderment. Rainbow Dash caught one look at the kiss and turned away from the sight. Thomas, for his part, hastily moved his hand to cover the growing bulge in his pants. Luna caught sight of this and rolled her eyes in disgust.

“Sparky, by the shocked look in her eyes I’d say that that’s not your Tia, but go for what you can get, I guess,” an amused man’s voice said from the whole in the wall as a brown haired man in a suit of riot gear stepped through the gap and into the room. He was followed by a black man and an alicorn who appeared to be Princess Luna.

Twilight finished her kiss with Celestia and pulled her head away from the still shocked Sun Princess. A deep crimson blush was playing its way across her face and she nervously backed away.

“Um, sorry, heh, heh, I thought you were somepony else...” Twilight stuttered before she trailed off.

Celestia was still speechless, almost as if she couldn’t process what had just happened to her. Scarlet walked up to her and placed a hand on the back of Celestia’s neck. “Wow, I knew Twilight looked up to you, but not that much.”

“It’s... It’s okay Twilight,” Celestia finally said shaking her head as if to shake a thought off her mind.

“Well now that we’ve got that bit of awkwardness out of the way,” the man in the riot gear said as he stepped forward. “I suppose that it’s time for introductions, the mare who just did the tonsil tornado with Sunny over there is Sparky, aka Twilight Sparkle,” He said with a nod towards Twilight who was still blushing furiously. “The man with the power fist is Thomas the Courier with his version of Princess Luna,” he continued with a nod towards them. “And I’m Ethan Smith, the Lone Wanderer, sup?”

Scarlet’s eyes narrowed as Ethan mentioned Thomas as the Courier. “The Courier?” Her eyes studied the man’s gear, deftly spotting the NCR Ranger Sequoia. “Funny, that’s one of my names, but I mostly go by the name Scarlet.” She steadied her rifle down, but still held it with her finger not far from the trigger.

“Well given the way that the groups appear to be split up, that would mean that the dirtbag wearing the Talon Company armor would be the other me,” Ethan said. “Fucking perfect,” he added under his breath.

“Quite intelligent of you to point that out. How many brain cells did you lose doing so? And the name is Aeron by the way.”

“Not too many considering that you’re wearing that armor.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Hey, why is that Rainbow Dash crying?” He added catching sight of the distraught pegasus.

Aeron glanced back, “Most likely Twilight is her companion back in her world.”

“Oh, well she shouldn’t be upset about it, that’s not her Twilight.” Ethan said with a shrug before turning his attention to Scarlet. “So you’re a courier too huh?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Was. Head chairman of New Vegas is my main job now.” She replied as she looked over at Ethan. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh well you look like my wife is all; all you’re missing is the green eyes and the fact that Cassie doesn’t have a scar like you do,” The man replied with a shrug.

“Well, it’s a small world then. You also look like someone I know, though you’re missing the Arroyo spear, tribal tattoos, and the leather armor.”

“I’m more of a swordsman myself.” Ethan told her with a chuckle. “And I graduated out of my leather armor the second that I killed my first Talon Merc.” He added with a smirk aimed towards Aeron. “Besides, would you want me to deface a handsome face like mine with a tattoo?”

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “Define handsome.” She quickly raised a hand up seeing Ethan was going to answer, “That was a rhetorical question.”

“Heh, I like you Scar.” Ethan said with a chuckle.

Scarlet suddenly gave Ethan a hard glare . “It’s Scarlet, not Scar. I don’t need a nickname for a nickname.”

“Whatever you say Scar.” Ethan told her with a shrug, either missing or entirely ignoring the woman’s obvious agitation.

“Don’t try to fight it,” Twilight called. “It saves you a headache in the long run,” she added with a shake of her head from where she was talking to the other three ponies.

“Fine Vault Boy, if you want it to be that way.” Scarlet retaliated.

“Vault Boy huh?” Ethan asked. “Well honestly I prefered Toaster Repair Man, that was a title with some meaning behind it, but I suppose Vault Boy isn’t too bad.” He finished with a grin.

Scarlet rolled her eyes once more as she looked towards the other Courier, who was staring right back at her. “So, I’m guessing you sided with the NCR in taking over Vegas?”

“Yeah, you have a problem with that?” Thomas asked.

“A bit, but it really doesn't matter, it’s not my Vegas to worry about. I’m just glad you’re not part of the Legion otherwise you would’ve lost your head the moment I saw you.”

Thomas snorted in disgust. “Fuck the Legion. Child-raping pieces of shit...”

A smile from on Scarlet’s lips. “At least we agree on something.”

Aeron and pulled Rainbow Dash away from the group and decided to tend to the pegasus. He was kneeling down next to her; his hand gently brushing up and down her back.

“Everything alright?” He spoke softly.

“Yeah. Just hurt to see that happen.” She sighed.

“It’s not your Twilight, Rainbow. So, don’t worry about it.” Dash looked over at him and nodded.

“Yeah, good point. I just miss her already.” Aeron let off a small smile to the pegasus.

“You’ll see her in good time.”

Standing back up, Aeron watched Rainbow Dash rejoin the group, his arms crossed as they all conversed.

That’s my alternate-self. By the looks of it, one of the “good guys” back home. Just puts a bigger burden on my already insane mind, Aeron sighed deeply as he clicked through his Pip-Boy, looking over some basic information.

As he scanned through, he realized that all of the accumulated radiation from the room with the gecko in it had dropped to zero. It wouldn’t have been odd if he’d taken a rad-away, but, he hadn’t.

Rejoining the group, Aeron continued to fiddle with his Pip-Boy, before realizing that it wasn’t giving inaccurate data.

“All of my radiation has dispersed from me entirely.” Aeron stated.

“What, from the gecko room?” Scarlet raised a brow to him.

“Indeed. I would’ve guess I collected one-hundred rads. Now, I have zero. I assume the maze blessed us with that.” He then crossed his arms and looked towards the others for response.

“Blessed?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. “More like cursed in my opinion, it means that my bones won’t immediately snap back into place and that my healing factor is much lower...” The man continued with a grimace.

“Since when do people rely on radiation to do their healing? Still if you ever get hurt Vault Boy I can always patch you up.” Scarlet said.

“I’ve relied on it since Moira’s experiment ‘backfired’ while i was helping write the Wasteland Survival Guide.” Ethan replied with a shrug. “I still have the scars that writing that book gave me...”

“Wait, the Wasteland Survival Guide? You co-wrote it?”

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed,” Thomas said. “The Wanderer where I’m from was at least sensible.”

“Yep.” Ethan said with a grin as he pulled out his mini version from a pocket in his armor and handed it to her to look at.

Scarlet look at the cover and indeed it was the same copy as the ones in the Mojave. “Wow, I guess if I ever meet the Wanderer from my world I should thank him. It did give me some help, especially with the land mines.”

“Ah Minefield, nothing I like better than a morning spent crawling along the ground disarming mines while a crazy old asshole shoots at you with a sniper rifle.” Ethan replied with a shake of his head.

“It’s a good thing the person didn’t know how to use a sniper rifle properly. You’re still alive.”

“Well he was like sixty, also he wasn’t exactly shooting at me at first, he was just shooting cars, which then exploded... which then made the mines explode. I still have shrapnel from that place lodged in me...” he said before trailing off with a grimace.

“Age really has nothing to do with it, I met a sixty five year old man who could still hit a bloatfly with a 9mm. And Celestia met a man in his late seventies who could still kill raiders like he was still young.”

“One of Arcade’s old ‘friend's’?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The man I met was a former NCR ranger, Celestia’s was just some wanderer she ran into 75 years ago, in my world’s perception of time of course.”

“Oh time, what a crazy thing eh?” the man asked with a chuckle. “Anyways it’s nice to meet you Scar,” he said.

“Yeah, it was nice talking to you too Vault Boy,” she replied. Then she turned to Thomas. “So how do you feel about all this?” she asked the other Courier.

“If you mean who we’re with, then I’m not exactly happy being around him,” Thomas replied, nodding at Aeron. “I’ve heard about some of the things Talon Company did. On par with the Legion, only they’d do it for money. If you mean where we are, then we need to work together.”

“Yeah fuck Talon Company, but I agree, we’ve got to work together if we want to get out of here alive.” Ethan agreed with a nod.

Meanwhile the ponies had been talking among themselves as well.

“So um, sorry again Sunny.” Twilight told Celestia with another blush. “I’ve been under a lot of stress since we got here so when I saw you...” She trailed off with another small blush. “Oh and you’re not a bad kisser,” She added with a small smile.

“It’s alright Twilight, I understand. You just took me by surprise, though I must say I wasn’t even trying with our little...incident.” Celestia trailed off with last word. She shakes her head, “but that is all behind us now.”

“I guess it just comes naturally to a goddess,” Twilight said with a shrug. Luna snorted. “But yes, it’s all behind us.”

Celestia slightly wince when Twilight mentioned goddess. “I would prefer for you to not to use that word, I am no goddess. Just a pony who was given a special gift.”

“Who can also raise the sun by herself.” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

“Any pony who is very skilled in magic can.” Celestia answered.

“The rules must be different where I’m from Sunny, because my Tia is definitely a goddess.” Twilight replied with a slightly dreamy smile on her face as she thought of her lover, then she coughed and blushed again.

Doubt rose in Celestia’s mind, but she didn’t show it. “Well, it appears so...”

“Rainbow Dash, how is it you are associated with... him?” Luna asked, glancing at the man in the black combat armour who was standing apart from the other three humans.

“Yeah, he doesn’t exactly look like the trustworthy type,” Twilight agreed. “Although that could just be because my first run in with someone wearing Talon armor involved one of them holding a gun to my head,” she added with a shrug of her armored shoulder.

“Heh... Well...” Rainbow Dash looked over at Aeron for a moment - he was standing with his arms crossed in inquiry, only listening to the other humans.

“I kind of went flying one day - it was a real storm, and somehow I was dragged to his world. I don’t understand how it worked out, but, the force that brought me there thought I was some crazy religious being.” The pegasus sighed softly.

“Aeron and I have been through a lot... He’s taught me and showed me things I’ve never wanted to experience, but they’ve bettered me in a way,” looking back over to the ponies, she smiled softly, “he’s really a nice guy, in my opinion. He’s just... Misunderstood. He did all he could to get me home and in return, I did what I could to learn and survive. In the end, I was transported back by some ancient book, and I was really happy. I owe him my life, really.”

After finishing, Rainbow Dash just sighed, and awaited for the others to response.

“I understand, aspects of good and evil are not as clear in their world as they are in ours. War has devastated their world, and it’s aftermath is still affecting them. Even if someone wants to bring order, they can be as evil as the person who kills for fun.” Celestia said with a sigh.

Rainbow Dash nodded to Celestia, deciding to ask her own question, “So, who exactly are the others? They don’t look too fun to me, either.”

“Well the asshat who introduced us is named Ethan, he kept me from being eaten, raped and then killed by a group of raiders, yes in that order, when I first got thrown into the Wasteland and then helped me get back home,” Twilight said with a shrug. “He seems like an idiot but trust me, he’s a lot smarter than he looks,” She said. “Oh, and he helped prevent a war and kicked the Nightmare’s ass.” She added with a chuckle.

“The Nightmare? As in Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow Dash’s brow raised slightly in confusion.

“No, just the Nightmare, the Moon part implies that Luna was involved.” Twilight replied with a shrug. Celestia turned to regard the man talking to Scarlet with a raised eyebrow.

“That is most... surprising. Ethan must have a strong will to resist a Nightmare’s will.” Celestia said.

“Yeah, he is,” Twilight said with a small smile. “So how about you Celestia, how did you end up with Scarlet over there?” Twilight

“Scarlet was pulled from her our world into mine by an old foe of mine, who wanted her to complete his plan for a new version of Equestria. She actually met with Applejack, Braeburn, and Strongheart first before I ever met her. Applejack sent a letter asking for my help, and I knew what a human from what the Wasteland could do. I hastily flew to Appleloosa to check on her to make sure she wasn’t a threat to my subjects. To my relief, I could tell that she wasn’t a bad woman the moment I could study her eyes.”

“They are the windows to the soul.” Twilight agreed with a nod. “Of course if you try that with me then you’ll only be able to see half of it.” She added with a self deprecating chuckle as she brought her metal hoof up to her robotic eye and tapped it gently.

“How did that happen? Luna asked. “Your companion was rather vague before.”

“Well we were walking along the road to the Citadel, no sign of trouble anywhere when suddenly a missile came out of nowhere and smashed into the road in front of me. It took my eye and my leg with it in the explosion and I’m lucky to be alive.” Twilight replied with a shrug. “Ethan made the Brotherhood of Steel replace my missing pieces with these prosthetics and I’ve had them ever since.” Twilight finished with a smile

“Did you ever find out who caused you so much pain?” Luna asked

“Yep, and I pulled one of her legs off and stabbed her through the eye with the joint of said leg.” Twilight replied with a smile. A pregnant pause followed this remark as the other three ponies stared at her with various expressions of shock on their faces.

“What?” Twilight asked. “The bitch totally deserved it, besides she almost managed to kill Ethan, his wife, my brother, and me at the same time while she regenerated constantly. I just wanted to make sure that she would stay dead,” Twilight said with a shrug. “Oh, and I thought that the irony was a nice touch,” she admitted

“You are definitely not the same Twilight that I know...,” Celestia said. She turn towards Luna. “So what’s the story behind Thomas?”

“Thomas appeared in our world after a mishap with a device called the ‘Transportalponder’,” Luna explained. “After saving Rainbow Dash from a pair of manticores, he led a one man assault on a Diamond Dog warren to rescue your friends’ sisters.”

“Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?” Twilight inquired.

“And a third, Scootaloo I believe,” Luna said with a nod.

“Well it’s not like you can keep the three of them away from one another.” Twilight said with a small chuckle.

“Quite, their friendship is unbreakable,” Celestia added.

“It sounds similar to what happened when Ethan first came to Equestria,” Twilight said with thoughtful look. “Of course Applebloom almost died then, but she’s made a full recovery since then,” She said with a shrug.

“I’m glad to say the three fillies haven’t met any fate like that, but Rarity has... she’s still lost in her mind but is slowly coming back.” Celestia sorrowfully said.

“A mind is a terrible thing to lose, and get lost in as the case may be.” Twilight agreed with a nod. “How’d that happen? If you don’t mind me asking.” The unicorn asked.

“Cadbury, the pony who brought Scarlet to Equestria, captured her without me or her friends ever noticing. He used her as a focus in opening the portal between Equestria and Earth. By the time we rescued her she along with a few others were almost dead, from both weariness and radiation poisoning.”

“Well I hope you killed him.” Twilight said with a slight snarl at the idea of someone hurting one of her friends that badly, even if it wasn’t ‘her’ Rarity.

“Don’t worry, he’s long dead now, Scarlet made sure of it. The problem is, long ago I had the chance to finish him, but I didn’t... now many of my ponies have paid the price of my misjudgment.”

“Do not blame yourself sis-Celestia, nopony can see the future. I should know that better than most,” Luna told Celestia comfortingly.

“I know, still it doesn’t ease the pain in my heart.”

“Mercy is the mark of a great pony, few know what it is like to have that same mark twisted in such a cruel manner.” Luna said with a slight sigh.

“So, onto happier topics that shouldn’t cause angst, how are your love lives?” Twilight asked changing subjects. “I mean I know that Luna over there is already fucking Thomas, and I’m sleeping with my version of Celestia, but what about you two?” She asked looking at Celestia and Rainbow Dash.

Celestia looked towards Luna, slightly shock of the info she was given. “I’m with no one. I haven’t bothered to pursue any sort of relationship since I became an Alicorn.”

“I feel sorry for you Sunny.” Twilight told her with a kind smile.

“You shouldn’t be, Twilight, my love for my subjects has given me more joy than with just one pony ever could.”

“Well that’s good I suppose,” Twilight said. “And what about you Dash, you’ve been silent?” Twilight asked the pegasus.

“Well,” Dash rubbed the back of her neck, “In my Equestria, I guess, I’m with you, Twilight.”

A small, unnoticeable, blush gently arose to her cheeks.

Twilight’s mouth formed a very small ‘oh’ of understanding before she shut it again.

“Also, I’m just being quiet because it’s weird... I’ve already experienced enough of fighting in the Wasteland just to come back to another version of it.” She sighed, brushing a hoof through her mane.

“I can see why that would make you quiet.” Luna said with a small nod. “It must be very disheartening to be right back where you started in a sense.”

“Yeah... I just hope nothing too bad happens between all of us...” The pegasus gently gazed over at Aeron, who was still in his “thinking” pose.

“Oh I’m sure things’ll be fine, Ethan only kills people if they give him a good reason, or out of principle, or if- actually nevermind....” Twilight said trailing off.

“If Ethan has had experiences similar to what Paladin Dominica went through, then caution would be best,” Luna suggested.

“Scarlet might act cold and menacing, but she is okay once she warms up to you, as long you don’t attempt to look too deep into her past,” Celestia stated.

“That could be a problem with Ethan, he makes it his prerogative to learn about your past when you travel with him. He says it keeps problems from sprouting up later on,” Twilight said with a slight frown.

“It may be in your best interests to not ask about Thomas’ time in the Sierra Madre...”

“If it’s anything like Scarlet’s time in the Madre, I understand.”

“Sierra Madre, that’s the place that’s the place that Ethan said gave his wife nightmares for weeks.” Twilight said with a shiver.

“Sounds awful...” Dash stated.

“At least it sounds slightly better than what Ethan’s told me about the Dunwich Building,” Twilight muttered.

“Please, don’t talk about that place...” The pegasus shivered severely at the mention of its name.

“Did this Dominica mention it?” Twilight asked turning to Luna.

“Not to my knowledge, no,” the alicorn replied.

“I think we’ve had enough small talk. Maybe we should go back to the others?” Dash suggested.

“Couldn’t agree more,” Scarlet’s voice spoke out. The four ponies turned towards her voice to see Scarlet standing not far from them along with the other three humans. “Now that introductions are over, we should continue making our way out of this maze.”

An excellent idea Scarlet. Kata’s voice said from overhead. Now I’m going to test something that some of you hold very dear, your morality! The voice said with a slight giggle at the word dear. Up ahead is a room full of hostages, how you deal with them is up to you, but you must do it without magic, have fun. the voice called before vanishing once more, leaving silence in its wake.

“‘Test our morality’?” Thomas asked, looking at the other humans. “Why does that sound bad?”

“Probably because one of us doesn’t care too much,” Aeron sighed softly.

Ethan gave the man a hard look but sighed. “If they’re unarmed don’t kill them,” was all he said.

“Unarmed doesn’t mean harmless,” Thomas said in response.

“Whoever the hostages are, have your guns ready,” Scarlet said readying Maria. “Kata has some sort of twist to this, and we might need to kill the hostages no matter what.”

“Yes, but that’s not our first response, there’s almost always a better option than that,” Ethan said sternly.

“It’s my only option.” Aeron stated bluntly.

Ethan just gave a steely glare at Aeron but a doorway materialised in the wall in front of them before he had time to say anything. “Well lets see what’s in store for us,” Scarlet was the first to enter through the door.

As they walked through the doorway Ethan and Thomas let out horrified gasps at what they saw.

Waning Lamplight

View Online

Waning Lamplight

Everyone made their way into the room to see what Ethan, Thomas and the ponies gasped at and were surprised at what they spotted, while Scarlet stared in silence.

“You have got to be kidding...” Aeron pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

The room in front of them was long and narrow with a slim doorway clearly visible on the other end. However that wasn’t what they were gasping about. Scattered around the room were a dozen human children wearing bomb collars. There were also several foals intermixed among the group. Regardless of species they all looked malnourished, confused, and utterly terrified.

Thomas let out a low sound at the sight and Ethan’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Celestia’s eyes widened as she caught sight of the foals and a low snarl formed in Twilight’s throat. Luna simply looked ready to throw up.

Oh, did I mention the hostages are children? Kata’s voice sang mockingly.

“I’m ending you,” Ethan said softly.

I’m sorry? Kata asked with girlish laughter. I didn’t quite catch that She continued mockingly.

“You... you bitch. I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna fucking kill you.” Thomas tried to sound threatening, but the shock was just too much.

Oh, is that all? Kata inquired curiously. Whatever, I’ve faced threats from much more dangerous things than you. Anyways the rules are simple, get to the other end of the corridor and you win.

“What’s the catch?” Scarlet asked.

Catch? I knew I forgot something! Kata said gleefully. There’s always a catch!

“And that is?” Aeron asked boredly.

Simple, the children are all wearing proximity mines around their necks that are set up to explode when they come within two feet of you. So if you want the children to live then you’ve got to sprint to the other side of the room, Kata explained, her voice filled with cruel delight.

“Why would they come near us if they’re wearing the collars?” Celestia asked.

Because I’m making them. Oh, and remember no using that pesky magic. Now I’d recommend starting, chop chop, she said fiendishly before her voice left once more.

As one of the children and foals turned to regard them, tears still in their eyes. Without warning, a young boy began to run towards the group.

Aeron withdrew his pistol and aimed it at the first child. Without warning, he fired it, and the child collapsed to the ground.

“I really hate wasting ammunition...” He sighed.

Thomas and Luna could only gape in shock at how effortless it had been for him.

Ethan gave the coldest of glares to Aeron, as both of his fists clenched tightly, and his brow furrowed angrily.

“Why did you do that?!” he asked angrily as he rounded on the other Wanderer.

Aeron looked at him with a look of uncaring. Ethan’s jaw was clenched tightly and his eyes were shining with rage as he glared at the man. The others only stared in horror at what Aeron had done.

“How... could you be so heartless?” Twilight looked at him in shock.

“It’s not being heartless. We’ll die if those children reach us.” Aeron shrugged. This time, a foal stood up and began to unwilling walk slowly to the group.

Another shot ranged out, but the bullet hit the foal’s leg and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his wound.The group looked over to see Scarlet holding Maria up.

“I think we should worry about what Aeron did later. Right now, we have to get out of here.” Scarlet stated.

“Fine, but once we’re done here....” Ethan spoke coldly while directing another glare at the man.

Scarlet looked over at Celestia and Luna. “You think you could carry us over the children by flying us over?”

“Rainbow, fly to the other side of the room. All things considered, you shouldn’t have to worry about us.” Aeron looked over to the pegasus, who nodded and darted high above the children, and began to wait impaitently near the room’s exit.

“Alright, I think I could just stroll on through and kill them all. Unless you prefer I ride a magical being above them.” Aeron inquired sarcastically.

Thomas regarded him angrily and ground his teeth. “You shoot to incapacitate or you don’t shoot at all. You’re riding on the magical horse,” he said.

“Of course that’s only if you don’t have the skills to shoot to incapacitate.” Twilight told him with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, I have the skill. I just didn’t care so much about their lives. It’s inhuman to leave them here to rot.” Aeron holstered his pistol as he said this.

Another shot rang out and a blond girl went down, screaming in pain as her right leg crumpled under her. “Look, I agree with you, but I don’t kill children like this, so get on the horse!” Scarlet shouted.

Aeron sighed as he hopped onto Celestia’s back. Ethan let out a sigh before his eyes hardened.

“Unfortunately the asshole has a point, we either kill them humanely now , or we let them suffer through something worse. I’ll do it.” He said as he unholstered his magnum

“You don’t have the courage to do it.” Aeron said as he got off Celestia who looked vaguely offended about being called a horse.

“Watch me.” Ethan growled. Time stopped for a moment, and then suddenly there were six small dead bodies on the ground. “Still think I’m not courageous?” His eyes hardened and a flash of grief and pain shot through his them but disappeared a moment later.

Shots rang out and every child and foal that was still alive dropped dead with a hole in their heads, their ends mercifully quick. “Let’s get out of here,” Scarlet said reloading her pistol, her voice bared no emotion to it. She began to walk towards the exit with Celestia not far behind her.

“Kata is going to fucking pay for this shit.” Thomas growled.

“Yeah.” Aeron said to Ethan as he walked towards the exit, keeping a decent distance away from the dead children and rejoining Rainbow Dash.

Thomas and Ethan exchanged a long, uncomfortable, look before they walked after the man.

Aeron was bent down and whispering to Rainbow Dash as the others joined him. After a moment, he stood up and gave everyone a look of distaste, before he proceeded into the next room.

Celestia compassionately looked at Scarlet and was about to say something. “Don’t you dare start talking Celestia,” Scarlet warned her.

“I hate the Wasteland,” Twilight said softly, not really directing it anyone.

“Mmm.” Rainbow Dash was sitting on her haunches, looking sorrowfully towards Aeron - who was standing in the next room.

“It is truly a vile place, from what I have heard, and I wish it upon no-one,” Luna agreed with a tired sigh.

“Only to those who let it consume them,” Celestia said with a look at Aeron .

“He never let it consume him, Princess. You just don’t look at him the way I do.” Dash defended the man in the next room.

“I know that Dash, I see in him a light struggling to stay lit in a roaring tempest of darkness.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “Because I see someone who’s asking to have their head popped like a balloon in a blast of telekinesis,” she growled.

“Aeron has plenty of justification, Twilight. You don’t know enough about him to understand.” The pegasus growled.

“Then enlighten us,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow. “Because at the moment I’m inclined to agree with Twilight.”

“He’d have to tell you. I promised not to tell anyone, or anypony, about what he told me...” Dash sighed.

“Proof is standing right before us. he kept Rainbow Dash alive. If he was as evil as the other Talon Company mercenaries, then she wouldn’t be standing with us.” Celestia stated.

Twilight snorted. “Say whatever you want about him, but one step towards Ethan and he’s going to be one less problem for us to deal with,” she said.

“Stop saying he’s a ‘problem’. He isn’t!” the pegasus retorted.

“Stop it you two!” Celestia said in a hard tone as she slammed the butt end of her spear on the ground. She looked over at Twilight, “I know it’s difficult for you to accept, but you need to let this go. We need to work together to get out of here, and to do so we need forgive their deeds. No one is perfect. Scarlet, Thomas, Ethan, and Aeron have all done things that are not right.”

“Indeed sis-Celestia, as distasteful as I find it he is indeed an asset to us,” Luna said with a frown

Twilight sighed and shook her head before sending a worried glance towards Ethan. “I worry about him sometimes. The last time that something like this happened it turned him into an alcoholic mess,” she said softly.

“Rainbow Dash, would you come here a moment?” Aeron called, gesturing her to his side.

Dash looked to the others, and then trotted into the next room with him and the other humans who were exchanging hard looks.

“Yeah, Sparky you come in here too.” Ethan called, there was a hard edge in his voice. “The last thing we want to do is give this bitch a reason to separate us.” He growled darkly.

“Ethan’s right,” Thomas called to others. “Might as well get your asses in here.”

Scarlet remained silent. Instead of conversing, she was rummaging in her bag for something. She found what she wanted and pulled out a MRE.

“You wouldn’t happen to have more of those, would you?” Ethan asked as he saw her pull out the meal.

“I only got three of them, plus a few slices of gecko meat, some corn, five bottles of water, and half a bottle of whisky,” she replied. She looked up at everybody, “There’s enough in this MRE here for all of us to share.”

“Rationing. Good idea,” Aeron said, not directly facing the group.

“Yeah, I wish that we had some deathclaw eggs and some cheese, I make a killer omelette.” Ethan said with a grin that looked a little too brittle to be real. Twilight let out a small, almost orgasmic moan at the thought, while Scarlet scoffed at the irony of Ethan’s statement. Thomas gave him a long look before shrugging.

Scarlet began to get the meal’s packets to cook while thinking on what portions everyone should have. “Ponies can eat meat right?” she asked in thought.

“Well there’s nothing really stopping us, but it’s not something that we generally do,” Twilight answered thoughtfully.

“I’ve been gifted the ability to eat meat, but I haven’t done so since I was stranded in the Wastes,” Celestia said.

“Both horses and ponies eat meat. Although I highly recommend not feeding it to them.” Aeron added onto Twilight’s thought.

“I... I would rather not eat meat,” Luna mumbled hesitantly.

“So most of us can eat meat, that’s good.” Thomas said with a nod.

“Alright then, so we’re going to be sleeping here right?” Ethan asked the others.

“Not all at once,” Scarlet said.

“No kidding Scar, we’ll take watches, obviously.” Ethan told her with a role of his eyes.

“Also,” Scarlet pointed at Luna, “you don’t invade our minds, or at least mine.”

“Of course not.” Luna replied seeming a little miffed at the accusation, “And I would hardly call it ‘invading’,” she added.

“Okay, so I’m thinking that we should all pair up, take the watches in shifts of two.” Ethan said as he reached for his portion of the MRE. “Not only that, but we should switch things up a little bit and not be with the pony or human we came here with. That way we can all get to know each other a little better.”

When offered the MRE, Aeron declined. “Wonderful idea.”

“Really?” Ethan asked. “I’m surprised you think so.”

“There’s a lot you might be surprised about me. Assuming I bother telling you, or if you care.” Aeron yawned, sitting down on the stone floor.

“Oh that reminds me, and I’ve always wanted to try this but until now I haven’t had the chance to do ask anyone who’d actually know what I meant,” he said with a small grin crossing his face. “So Aeron, what does the name Gary mean to you, and does it haunt your dreams as well?”

“Ah, the Gary clones. Dash and I had a little fun speaking to them. They weren’t as hostile as I thought they would have been. Although, they did provide a few comedic acts for me, on top of a lot of information about the Vault.” Aeron smirked softly as Dash let out a giggle.

“I’m sorry, but what the fuck are you two talking about?” Thomas asked.

“Fucking Gary, man.” Ethan replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

“Leave the two vault dwellers alone, if the vaults on the East coast are anything like the ones in the West, it’s best not to know.” Scarlet said giving Celestia and herself the last portion on the MRE.

“I was born in a vault and raised in it. I had the right to do a little exploring while Rainbow Dash was providing support. Which she did effectively when I learned she could hide in clouds.” Aeron brushed a hand through Dash’s mane, making her frown.

“Stop doing that!” She snapped.

“It’s fun.” Aeron snickered.

“Wait, if you’re another version of me then you would’ve been born in Project Purity, not Vault 101.” Ethan said with a slightly confused look.

“My mother resided in the vault at the time of conception. She died shortly afterwards. My father, however, was at the project at my conception. Which was a bit rude of him.” Aeron sighed.

“Huh, so we’re different, and yet we’re the same, odd...” Ethan said with a small thoughtful nod.

“That is true. Although, I may have gone about doing certain tasks a lot differently than you have.” Aeron folded his hands in his lap as he stated this.

“Leave it to Ethan to get an introspective discussion going at a time like this,” Twilight told Luna with a chuckle.

“So who’s up for taking first watch?” Thomas asked the group.

“I’ll do it, I’m not tired yet,” Scarlet said even though her eyes told otherwise.

“I can manage, I’ve got the robotic one to make up for my tired eye.” Twilight said with a nod to the woman.

“I deserve some rest after what I’ve been through,” Aeron said as he laid himself on the stone flooring. Dash snuggled against him.

“Don’t get too close, Dash.” Aeron chuckled, only to have her smack a hoof against his armour.

“Hey Sunny do you mind if I use you as a pillow?” Ethan asked the alicorn hopefully. Celestia gave a sour glare at him. “What? I’m not asking for anything sexual, it’s just that your back looks softer than the floor. I am married after all” Ethan added.

Celestia raised an eyebrow as a smirk formed on her face. “Shouldn’t you be used to the hard floor then?” she teased. Twilight started to giggle and Ethan stared at the two for a second before he joined in the laughter, Thomas and Luna joined a few seconds latter, even Scarlet chuckled a bit. It was as if any of the lingering tension from the room before had evaporated, for the moment anyways.

“Seriously though, pillow?” Ethan asked after the laughter had died down.

“Okay, but nothing else.” She said.

“I’m not into horses Sunny, besides if I was I’d be gunning for Sparky and her cute purple ass,” Ethan replied with a smirk as he rose to his feet long enough to reposition himself so that he was laying against Celestia’s side. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“You wish Ethan.”

“I already gun for that now.” Dash giggled.

“Well then you have excellent taste.” Twilight told her with a chuckle.

“Thanks alternate universe Twilight,” Rainbow Dash yawned, pushing herself against Aeron some more.

“You’re welcome alternate universe Rainbow Dash,” Twilight agreed as she walked over to sit beside Scarlet.

“So Luna, would you mind being my pillow?” Thomas asked the alicorn.

“I’m not nearly drunk enough for that right now,” Luna replied cooly.

“Oh come on Luna!” Thomas protested. She sighed.

“Fine, but I’m only a pillow.”

Sweet dreams! Kata’s voice said from out of nowhere.

Sit and Dream

View Online

Sit and Dream

It had been about half an hour since their watch had started and Scarlet and Twilight were sitting next to each other with their backs to the wall of the room. Scarlet had Maria resting in her lap and her anti-material rifle lying in front of her, ready to be used. Twilight’s plasma defender sat in its place on her hip while her robotic eye scanned the darkness around their little campsite. The rest of the group were sound asleep and men’s snoring could be heard easily in the otherwise deathly silent room. Finally, tired of the silence Twilight turned to Scarlet and tried one of Ethan’s patented conversation starters.

“So um Scarlet, gotten laid recently?” the purple unicorn asked.

“No,” she replied coldly.

“Oh, sorry, that always works for Ethan when he wants to start a conversation,” Twilight said with a blush.

“I’m probably different from a lot of people you’ve seen; I don’t seek sex for comfort or for fun.”

“You’re looking for Love?” Twilight asked inquisitively.

“Not anymore.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” Twilight said looking away.

Silence fell between the two once more. Twilight rallied and tried another approach.

“If you wouldn’t mind me asking, what am I like where you’re from?” she asked

“Pretty much like Celestia, she tries to always see the positive side of everyone and tries to be nice. Of course she broke down when she saw Celestia stab a minotaur right through the heart. I don’t know about your Celestia, but their Celestia gained the image of being a just and fair ruler who’s never killed a single soul.”

“My Tia has taken lives before, she’s fought in wars and she and Luna were originally charged with fighting off demons and locking them in Tartarus. Of course not everypony knows that last bit, but the first part is fairly common knowledge. On the bright side it’s been many years since the last war in Equestria.” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“Well good for you, though I doubt your peace will last long.”

“Oh I think it will. It’s not every day that a country comes along who thinks they can attack Equestria, especially thanks to our tight diplomatic ties to the griffins, courtesy of Rainbow Dash.” Twilight replied with a small smirk.

“Water doesn’t carve a river in a matter of days, so war doesn’t have to be big and sudden. War through politics can be just as deadly as war on the field, and it can take its time. That’s how the Old World started to fall apart,” Scarlet replied.

“That’s true I suppose,” Twilight said with a nod. “Although I highly doubt that Tia would let that happen, she’s several thousand years old and by now she knows the signs of war on the horizons, and more importantly how to prevent them,” she added.

Scarlet scoffed. “Then explain how a single earth pony almost took down your entire nation right in front of Celestia’s nose.”

“It never happened in my Equestria, so I can’t tell you,” Twilight replied. “She probably just got careless, or something just slipped by her. Nopony’s perfect,” Twilight added with a shrug. “Even my Tia makes mistakes sometimes.” Twilight then muttered something and Scarlet thought she heard the words, ‘ucking wedding’.

“Still, it only takes one person to make or break a nation. I should know.”

“Heh, I guess you would if you’re anything like Ethan’s wife,” Twilight replied with a light chuckle.

“Wait, Ethan’s wife is the Courier from your world?”

“Well it’s more like my dimension or universe than world specifically, but yes, yes she is,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Hmm, interesting.”

“How so?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Because I find it so, and the reason is none of your business.”

“If you say so Scarlet,” Twilight replied with a roll of her eyes.

The still of air came between them once more; however, Scarlet asked, “So how’s ED-E in Ethan’s world?”

“The little eyebot?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.”

“Apparently Ethan found his creator when he was cleaning out the Enclave in the Capital Wasteland and put the dots together once he met Cassandra and ED-E,” Twilight said. “He’s a very peppy little guy.”

A smile formed on Scarlet’s lip. “Yeah, even for a robot he has a noble soul. I’m happy to hear he was able to reunite with his creator. Maybe one day I’ll get my ED-E back East, if we get out of here of course.”

“If? Scarlet, this Kata bitch doesn’t know who she’s messing with.” Twilight said with a smirk. “I mean we have two goddesses with us, the fastest flyer in Equestria, me, and the four of you who fight armies routinely, even if it’s not easy we’ll make it through this.”

Scarlet remained silent. “That was his way of thinking too...” she mumbled under her breath.

“Who’s way of thinking?” Twilight asked inquisitively as her ears flicked forward.

“The Arroyo Tribal Boy I met, he always believed there was no situation that couldn’t be overcome. He was filled with the legends of the Vault Dweller and his Elder leader of how they took down two dangerous threats to the Wasteland. The Dweller in defeating the Master and his army of Super Mutants, and the Chosen One on taking down the Enclave and their Super Soldier. Now he’s buried under a ton of rubble.”

“Ah, the dark and troubled past,” Twilight said with a nod to herself. “You loved him?” she guessed.

Scarlet didn’t answer right away. “I’m not saying that I’m giving up hope, I’m just saying don’t solely rely on everyone’s personal legends.”

“It’s not exactly the same in this case.” Twilight replied with a shrug. “I’ve seen Ethan level more than one army before, and I know that I’m the most magically powerful unicorn in Equestria. From what you’re saying he was drawing on someone else’s legend instead of his own,” Twilight said dismissively.

“He was not weak!” Scarlet yelled unexpectedly, “He might’ve been foolish and stupid sometimes but the one thing he was good at was fighting. I saw him take down several Deathclaws singlehandedly. He could strategize attacks and be an inspiring leader. He...just got over his head, and now he’s dead.”

A sad smile crossed Twilight face. “If that’s not love speaking then I’m a stallion,” she said with a sigh. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry for your loss Scarlet, but take it from me, the longer this festers the worse you - goddesses I sound like Tia...” Twilight interrupted herself with a facehoof. She took a deep breath before she continued. “Sorry, once you start routinely having sex with an alicorn a little bit of the attitude begins to rub off on you,” she said as a small blush crossed her face.

“The thing is Twilight, I can never forget it. Every night I see how he dies by...by my own hands... I can’t... I can’t forget how even in my hands he said it’s okay, how it’s not my fault...” Her voice began to grow unsteady. “And to make sure our daughter gets raised to know that he loves her...” Tears rolled down Scarlet’s cheek.

Before the woman knew what was happening Twilight had wrapped her in a firm hug.

“It’s okay Scarlet,” she said quietly as she held the woman.

Scarlet was a bit surprised, she was caught off guard by the unicorn’s action. “How can you say it’s alright? The day I lost him I lost everything, my home, my future family, my name. Katherine died that day, and Scarlet was left to watch her bleed out,” She pushed the unicorn away.

“Because I’ve been friends with Ethan long enough to know the look on your face.” Twilight told her sternly. “That’s self-loathing at its finest right there. Sure you made a mistake, yes people that you loved died and Hell it could’ve been your fault, but for fuck’s sake the longer you think like that the worse it’s going to get!” Twilight continued. “Do you think your love would’ve wanted to see you like this, crying your eyes out to a purple unicorn who you’ve known for less than a day because she asked you a single question? If so then he wasn’t worth your time,” Twilight told her coldly.

Twilight felt something cold rest on the side her head. “Don’t you dare fucking say that.” Scarlet’s voice was low and menacing. “Jason loved me, and I loved him. I just can’t let go of the wrong I’ve done, of how I let the Legion trick me into killing him. This is one sin I can’t forget, not ever. That’s why I took the name Scarlet.” The cold object left Twilight’s head. “Let’s get the next pair up.”

“It’s a little late for that, and if you ever put a gun against Twilight Sparkle’s head again I’ll decapitate you before you can pull the trigger.” Ethan said without a fraction of hesitation in his voice. He was standing beside the woman with his red sword held in a relaxed grip.

“I was wondering when you were going to announce yourself, I’m guessing you’re taking the next shift,” Scarlet said without any indication of Ethan’s threat.

“Nope, I’m just a light sleeper.” Ethan said with a shrug as he lazily fingered the hilt of his sword.

“Ethan, you know you don’t have to defend me right?” Twilight asked him. “If worst came to worst then I could’ve just put a small shield inside of the barrel of the gun so that when it fired the bullet would deflect off it. I also could’ve just broken her wrist,” Twilight added.

“Doubt it since your magic will have no effect on me,” Scarlet said as got up and walked towards Celestia so that she could wake her for her shift.

The second that she’d left Ethan whirled around and got on his knees in front of Twilight. “Just what the hell were you thinking egging her on like that Twilight, she could’ve killed you!” Ethan whispered intensely.

“I was doing what you’d do,” Twilight replied with a hard look.

“Twilight, I can survive a bullet to the brain, you cannot!” Ethan murmured with angry eyes

“Alright, alright. Settle down children. It’s my shift, so get settled in, will you?” Aeron asked as he rose to his feet.

“I trust you will heed my word next time Twilight,” Celestia said as came up into view.

“I would’ve been fine Sunny,” Twilight replied with a yawn. Ethan just sighed and shook his head before he went back to where he’d been lying, Twilight followed him.

“Thanks for being a good pillow Sunny.” Ethan added before he lay down again and Twilight snuggled up next to him.

“It was no problem, though don’t expect it to happen every time,” she replied.

“Of course not, we’ll have different shifts next time.” Ethan said with a chuckle before he leaned into Twilight’s chest. “Night Sunny, heh heh oxymoron.” He chuckled before he closed his eyes.

Aeron sat in silence as his eyes wandered around the room. Snoring echoed behind him as the others slept. He was paired up with Celestia to keep the watch for the next hour. Every now and then, he’d look over to Celestia, or back at Rainbow Dash, seeing if either were alright - never speaking a word.

“You really care for Rainbow Dash don’t you?” Celestia said while still keeping her eyes on guard for any threats.

“Indeed I do. She’s been through a lot, and I’ve been reassuring her lately. Especially with the others not approving of my actions. They’ll never understand.” Aeron sighed as he folded his hands in front of him.

“That’s because they only look at your appearance and not your heart.”

“My heart died a long time ago. If they really judged me on my appearance, I think they wouldn’t be able to see me.” Aeron joked at the last part of his statement and gave off a small chuckle.

Silence shortly grew upon them. Celestia decided to break it. “So you grew up in a vault?”

“Indeed. My father wasn’t there for my birth, and my mother died shortly after. He never told her his goodbyes as they turned her to ash.” Aeron looked at his Pip-Boy for a moment, before returning his gaze at the empty hallway.

“So you blame your father for your pain?” Celestia questioned.

“My father was a man of pride and work. He died for the Wasteland and was labelled a hero. I was just a curse for him, destroying his work by implementing a virus in the water to kill off half of the population along the East coast,” Aeron coughed lightly before continuing, “but, to answer your question, I do not blame him for my pain. My pain comes from what I let grow around me, and then spawn inside me. It speaks to me, sometimes. When I have no more things to think about.”

“I see, but you haven't fully let it control you. You still know what’s right and what’s wrong.” The princess stated.

“I do. But I fail to care. What’s the point of me being directed by someone labelled as ‘good’ to kill someone labelled as ‘bad’? It’s a crime either way, I’m only a little more liked because I killed a ‘bad guy’. It changes nothing with what I do.” Aeron was twiddling his thumbs currently - a sign of being nervous.

“True, but you care. You tried to prove something to someone, either to your father or to the Wasteland itself. If you were truly “bad” I don’t see any reason why you kept Dash alive. Any other person would’ve made a meal out of her.”

Aeron thought for a moment, thinking over her statement. He never questioned why he protected her whilst she was in the Wasteland and never bothered to do anything other than return her home.

“... I’ll get back to you on that one... I do not know why I kept her alive at all. I felt no reason to.”

“Take your time, besides, it’s not for me to know anyways.”

“I’ve only shared most of my life with Rainbow Dash. I don’t know why I did. Perhaps it was because she was a stranger, and I didn’t know her well enough at the time. I only bothered to get to know her on our trip to get her home.” Aeron pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply.

“True friendship starts without knowing anything about each other. And through that friendship a strong bond of helping them out in time of trouble naturally comes.”

“I’m not sure what I consider her,” Aeron spoke softly, “she is more than a companion... But I’ve never bothered to make friends with anyone. I’m not sure what she considers me to be.”

“You could always ask. The way she defends you against the others, it shows that there’s already a strong bond between the two of you.”

“She defends me? I thought she would’ve been sick of me by now. Then again, I have been wrong before.” Aeron looked over at his Pip-Boy. Surprisingly, an hour had passed since they’ve started.

“The other accused you of being a heartless person, but she says they’re wrong. I can see why, you do have a heart Aeron.”

“Not much of one. I’ve been called many names, and heartless barely phases me anymore. I know it’s true.” Aeron stretched a moment before standing up and dusting off his leggings.

“An Old Man once told me names can be easily changeable, it just depends on the person, and on how they want it to be changed.” Celestia stated before standing up. “You’ve done a lot of wrong, but that can be fixed.”

“Destroying a town, nuking a portion of the Wasteland, killing innocent bigots, murdering a few hundred children, violating many laws of nature and polluting purified water can no longer be justified.” Aeron looked at Celestia with a cold look before returning to the small “camp” and waking up Ethan.

Celestia let out a small disheartened sigh before returning to the group and waking Luna.

“Ethan,” Aeron shook Ethan’s form, “your shift.”

Ethan awoke with a start and his hand darted for his magnum out of reflex when he saw the Talon Armour, then he saw the man’s face.

“Oh, sorry. Old habits die hard. Very hard apparently,” he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

“It’s fine. Not the first time.” Aeron stated, laying back down next to Rainbow Dash and quickly falling to sleep.

Ethan sat against the wall, his red bladed sword across his lap, a rag in his hand moved up and down the blade as he cleaned a small smudge of abomination blood that had somehow escaped his notice earlier. Luna sat near him.

“So...” Luna didn’t really know what to talk about. She was used to keeping vigil at night, it had practically been all she had done before the Nightmare Wars. But she had typically done so alone, with others occasionally coming and going with reports.

“Yeah, it’s been a long night to go with a long day,” Ethan agreed with a shake of his head. Then he smiled and went decided to use his old fall-back conversation starter. “So Luna, gotten laid recently?”

“I fail to see how that is any of your concern,” she retorted. However, she couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Thomas, an expression of fondness briefly flashing across her features.

Ethan noticed the glance and chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes, more than casual?” He asked changing topics slightly.

“Again, that is not your concern.” Luna kept her expression neutral, staring straight ahead.

“Come on Lulu, give me the dirt girl,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “I’m not going to spread it around, I’m just curious is all, and honestly what else is there to talk about right now?”

“Firstly, you do not have the right to call me ‘Lulu’, and there are indeed other things we could talk about.” The alicorn turned to the man. “How? How could you do that?”

“The kids?” Ethan asked in a low sad voice.

“Yes. How could you just... just...” Luna trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

“Would you rather us have left them there for that bitch to torture for all eternity? Would you rather us have attempted to disarm the collars that were obviously never built with a disarming feature? Would you rather us have to go through the pain of seeing their skulls explode?” He asked with a growl

“I would have wanted to find a way to get them home,” she replied sadly. “Especially those foals, I can’t imagine what their parents are going through.” She bowed her head, doing her best to hold back her tears.

“I wanted to find another way, I didn’t see one. I wanted to rescue them, I couldn’t. I didn’t want it to happen again but it did,” Ethan replied sadly in an angry voice.

“That is why it hurts so much. To see something like that again...” Luna sighed, letting a tear fall.

“You too huh?” Ethan asked sadly.

“I doubt it was the same for you, though. You’ve been to Equestria, so you know the tale of Nightmare Moon.” Luna didn’t give him a chance to answer. “I’m not sure how it goes in your Equestria, but for me, a demon possessed me, using my bitterness and jealousy to gain a foothold. I could only watch, a... a prisoner in my own body, trapped in a prison of my own making.”

Ethan gave her a broken smile. “I know the feeling Lulu, it almost happened to me,” he replied sadly.

“No, you don’t know the feeling,” she retorted bitterly. “You weren’t a prisoner for a thousand years, forced to listen to the words of a being of pure malice and hate as it tried to destroy you from within.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Ethan replied with a sigh, he hesitantly reached out an arm and almost began to stroke her neck but Luna stopped him with a hoof.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but it would be best that you did not. Like you said, my magic is like the radiation from your world. There’s every chance that touching my mane could be fatal.”

“Right, sorry, thanks Lulu,” Ethan said with an embarrassed look on his face. “Anyways I take it that foals were a prime target for the Nightmare?”

“It... it was worse than that,” she replied. “A holiday, Nightmare Night, sprung up some time after my banishment.”

“I’ve been to one or two, not too bad.” Ethan said

“Then you know the belief that she would devour any foal who did not give her a suitable offering?” Luna asked, sadly.

Ethan’s mouth opened and then shut rapidly. “I- I thou-...” For once in his life Ethan was truly at a loss for words.

“The demon was a monster, even worse than Discord, at least in terms of the pure malice it contained. Under its control, I... I...” Luna burst into tears, unable to go on.

This time Ethan didn’t stop as he pulled the alicorn into a deep hug. “Fuck it, I can take a little radiation,” he muttered even as his Pip-Boy screamed at him.

Luna gently pushed him away, not wanting him to hurt himself for her sake. “Seeing those foals, it brought back terrible memories. I still remember the expressions of them, forced to watch as - ”

“Lulu, I’m hardly one to advise counselling, trust me I need almost as much as you do, but... you really need to talk to someone about this, have you tried Sunny?” He asked softly.

“My sister knows about this very well. She has tried to talk to me, but there’s no one who I can relate to. I am lucky, though, that it has faded into myth, a story parents tell their children to make them behave.”

Ethan let out a sigh. “Yeah, I can understand that. If the ponies remembered - never mind, let’s talk about something else,” he said quickly before changing topics. “So Lulu gotten laid recently?”

Luna couldn’t help but chuckle. “You are impossible,” she said, wiping at her tears.

“You’re damn right I am, and proud of it!” Ethan replied with a grin.

“If you must know, then yes. Alcohol was involved,” she answered.

“Now was that so bad?” Ethan asked with a chuckle. “So any chance of things being more than casual?”

“No, he has to prevent this Republic from making the people of his city too angry.”

“Ah, the NCR. Tell me about it. Cassandra kicked their asses out of the region and she still has to deal with the cunts,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“Thomas said he saw them as an asset, much how they saw him. That, and the invaluable tourism trade is helping rebuild the city.” Luna looked off into the distance. “He hopes to someday restore it to its pre-War beauty, he says.”

“Yeah, out of all the things that Cassie wants, a rebuilt Vegas is on the top of her list,” Ethan agreed with a nod. “Personally I think she’s thinking too small, but that’s just me, and I’m an idiot,” he added with a chuckle.

“I can certainly agree with that,” the alicorn replied, chuckling along with him.

“So, just out of curiosity, what’s your world’s Twilight like?” He asked.

“Compared to the one you brought with you? Much more innocent. She still has some difficulty believing that her brother is a deadly warrior.”

“Yeah, I kind of wrecked Sparky’s innocence. Of course I like to think that the Wasteland deserves more credit than I do,” he replied.

“Dominica told us about how she lost hers, on her first day no less,” Luna said. “I can sympathise.”

“Mine got destroyed when I killed the Overseer in a fit of bloodlust; not my proudest moment,” Ethan said with a sorry shake of his head.

“Dominica did not mention such a thing, she must have escaped his notice,” she mused.

“Well he had my fiancée, his daughter, tied to a chair and was interrogating her, violently. I just couldn’t control myself,” Ethan said.

“His daughter? Then she was likely in little danger, it takes a very special kind of evil to hurt one’s own child.”

“Tell that to my nineteen- year-old, testosterone-addled brain,” Ethan said with a rueful chuckle before his face darkened. “When she pulled me off of him there wasn’t much left of his face besides a bloody, bloody stain in the vault floor. Needless to say Amata called off the engagement,” Ethan said with a detached chuckle, but when Luna looked in his eyes she saw a great wave of grief wash over the man despite his apparent uncaring nature. Then the grief vanished and his face was once again cheerful.

“I am sorry,” Luna replied.

“Don’t worry about it Lulu, it was a long time ago, and I’ve been over it with both Cassie and Twilight a few times. It’s just an old bad memory of mine,” Ethan said with a sigh.

“Is she still alive?”

“Amata? Yeah, last time I checked,” the man said with a shrug. “She runs the Vault now and has been doing a good job of it from what I’ve heard.”

“Sounds like what Paladin Dominica told us. And you are luckier than her. I suspect she lost much more than you did,” Luna commented.

“Yeah, I know that there are people much worse off than me backstory wise, like Cassie for instance. Doesn’t change the fact that it hurts, but I’m not the type for self-pity,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Yes, such behaviour befits no-one. All we can do is live with our failures. That was a lesson that Knight-Commander Armor learned the hard way.”

“He tried to kill me when he first met me,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

“I’m sure Celestia would have done the same had she seen me in the same state Twilight Sparkle is in now,” Luna replied.

“Hell, if that happened to someone I cared about while they were traveling with someone else then I’d try and kill them too. Of course the fact that I insulted him and called him a horrible brother couldn’t have helped things...” Ethan said, trailing off with a slight chuckle

“You enjoy conflict, don’t you?” she asked flatly.

“Yep, it keeps me from thinking about things,” the man replied with a shrug.

“You must find another way to amuse yourself, such self-destructive activities aren’t healthy.”

“Well I tried drinking, but surprisingly that didn’t help much, so I think that I’ll stick to violence and self-deprecation,” Ethan replied with a toothy grin.

Luna rolled her eyes before refocusing on her vigil.

“Hey Lulu, sorry if this comes out of left field, but is your mother named Faust, or is that just from where my Twilight’s from?” Ethan asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

“I’m not sure ‘mother’ is the right word. In a way, we always ruled over Equestria, it was only quite recently that we were forced to play a more direct role. Faust is to many a story, the World-Mother, responsible for all who walk and breathe. Neither benevolent nor malicious, simply... there,” the alicorn explained. “As for how we are related, I am unsure. My sister and I may control the sun and moon, but the Griffon Tempesta has much control over the weather and the Diamond Dog Terra’s domain is the earth and mountains. They remain impartial parties to their races, simply content to watch, but we were forced to take part.”

“Huh, how about that, I met the Faust in Sparky’s world. She seemed nice, if a little busy at the time,” Ethan said with chuckle. “She almost spilled coffee on my crotch, although that may have been because of something I said about Sunny and Sparky being a bit too loud,”

Luna snorted. “I’m not surprised in the slightest.”

“That kind of thing seems to happen to me with a shocking amount of regularity, and yet I can never figure out why,” the man told her with another chuckle.

The alicorn turned to him and gave him a flat stare. Words weren’t needed to convey how stupid she thought he was.

“Well it’s been nice chatting with you Lulu, it looks like it’s time for the next watch,” The man said as he got up from his position against the wall. “I’ll get Dash.” The man said as he walked towards the pegasus and nudged her awake. She awoke with a slight start but calmed down once she saw Ethan and nodded to him before she took off towards where they’d been sitting.

“I shall wake Thomas, then.” Luna stood up and carefully walked to him. “Wake up. I said wake up.” When he reached out and hugged her leg, she carefully extricated it before leaning over him. Her horn touched him and suddenly he jolted awake.

“What the hell, Luna?” Thomas asked, rubbing the spot she had jabbed him.

“I had to wake you. So I did,” she said simply.

“That doesn’t mean you can electrocute me,” he growled.

“T’was a small shock, barely noticeable.” With those parting words, Luna lay on the ground and closed her eyes, ready to drift back into slumber.

“Oh young love, you’ve gotta love it kid,” Ethan told Thomas with a chuckle as he returned to his spot next to Twilight and lay his head against her back before closing his eyes. Thomas just glared at him.

Thomas sat calmly on the ground, his rifle resting on his lap as he looked into the darkness. “God I need a drink,” he mumbled.

Rainbow Dash looked curiously over at Thomas before shaking her head, “is it me, or do all people in the Wastes just drink too much?”

“Not much we can do for fun, unless you want to take pot-shots at animals or merchants. And they tend to fight back,” he added.

“I think I’ll pass on that one...” Rainbow sighed before resting her head within her hooves.

The pair sat in silence for some time, neither knowing what to say. Eventually, Thomas managed to break the silence. “Why do you trust him?”

Rainbow’s ears perked up a bit before she responded. “Who, Aeron?”

“Yeah. I’m not gonna take Ethan’s word for it, but I’ve heard stories about Talon Company. None of them good.”

“He’s not even a part of Talon Company. He just likes the armour. He joined up for a bit, but quit after killing the leader.” Rainbow’s eyes rolled in annoyance as she corrected the rumour.

“Huh.” Thomas kept quiet for a few moments. “Guess it’s not so bad then.”

“What else does Ethan oh-so-good say about Aeron?” the pegasus questioned.

“Frankly, I’m still trying to sort the facts from the bullshit,” the man replied calmly. “But I can tell you that as long as Aeron does good by me, then I won’t go out of my way to hurt him.”

Thinking for a moment, Rainbow Dash decided to answer the original question. “I don’t know why I trust him. Something about him just... I don’t know, makes me feel safe.”

“So you haven’t got a clue?” he asked. Thomas chuckled before continuing. “I just think you can’t put the words together. You remind me a bit of the Rainbow Dash I met, you know?”

“Uh, not--... Now you’re confusing me.” The pegasus shook her head back and forth. “I just don’t know why I trust him. Believe what you want.”

“I saved her life, and she did everything she could to try and defend me. Even after... Applejack, I think? Even after she kept labelling me a murderous psychopath, Rainbow kept arguing.” Thomas sighed and looked up. “You don’t really get that in the Wastes.”

“He saved my life. He could have just left me to die. Or be eaten by Jericho... Err, his companion, if he hasn’t told you yet.” Rainbow let off a small laugh.

“I don’t think he has. And the best friendships you have are the ones forged in fire.”

“I don’t even know what I consider Aeron to be at this point. I don’t even think he considers me a ‘friend’. He told me he only had one friend in his entire life.” Rainbow shivered slightly as she mentioned this.

“Everyone has friends. They might not admit it, or show it, or even know it. The fact that you call him a friend is enough.”

“Well... I don’t know... But, back to something you mentioned - you said you saved another version of me?” The pegasus moved her body so she was directed more towards Thomas, rather than away.

“Yeah. Don’t know how you ended up nearly getting eaten by a manticore, lucky I showed up when I did.” Thomas chuckled. “Of course, you freaked out when I killed it...”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t let a stupid manticore try and eat me. I’m not that stupid or weak.” Rainbow muttered.

“I think you’d just crash-landed or something. Your wing looked pretty bad,” he explained.

“Uhg. Don’t remind me of broken wings... Hated that week sooooo much...” Dash groaned softly.

“Heh, I know the feeling. I was stuck in a bed for days too. Absolutely sucks.” Thomas leaned back and sighed. “Still, two bullets to the brain, lucky it wasn’t worse.”

“Two bullets to the brain? What caused that one? Fall on your gun?” Rainbow giggled at her comment.

“I used to be a courier. Got ambushed while delivering a package. Woke up with my hands bound, a gag in my mouth and a man in a suit pointing a pistol at my head. Shot me twice, then had me buried in a shallow grave.” Thomas straightened up. “I tracked him down, and emptied every bullet from that same gun into his.”

“Guess that’s a simple way to do it...” She stated with a slight raise in her brow.

“Nothing makes revenge sweeter than a little irony,” Thomas said with a chuckle. “Got the package back, but then I was at a loss. Then I had to follow that damn radio broadcast...” he muttered angrily.

“Uh, do I want to ask about the second part...?”

“Imagine a place where the air is toxic, shambling unkillable horrors roam the streets and you’re stuck in a bomb collar that’ll go off if you get too close to the wrong thing. Couple that with barely any food or water, the nutjob that brought me there and three other people who might have killed me at any opportunity and you’ll get an idea.”

Thinking for a moment, she shook her head, “I’ll pass on that, too. Sounds worse than what I had to deal with.”

“Then there was the whole thing with the Big Empty. Fucking whackjobs took out my brain,” he said, pointing at his head. He parted his hair and found the scar, showing it to the pegasus.

“Why the heck would they do that?” Her eyes squinted as she examined the scar upon Thomas’ head.

“The phrase ‘because they could’ is the only way I can really think of describing it,” Thomas replied. “They were two centuries old and insane, that probably played a part.”

“I guess that sounds reasonable enough. Everyone is crazy in the Wastes, like Aeron told me.”

“There’s functional crazy, like Ethan, odd, like me and Scarlet probably are, and then there’s completely fucking insane. You’ve never seen a Nightkin, have you?” he asked.

“Aeron has told me about them, but, I’ve never seen one up close.” Dash answered.

“The first indication you get that there are any is when they appear three feet in front of you with a fucking sledgehammer swinging at your face. The only thing that saved me was Boone shooting it out of its hand.”

“Boone being your friend, or...?”

“NCR sniper. We travelled for a bit, helped him get over a few issues. Quiet man, though. Wouldn’t really say anything unless you started the conversation.”

“Ah.” Rainbow sighed, placing her head back on her hooves, staying quiet for the next few minutes.

Thomas looked at his Pip-Boy, frowning at the Geiger counter. “That’s not right.”

“Hmm?” Rainbow Dash looked over at Thomas in inquire.

“There must be something wrong, I’m at zero reds,” he muttered. “This thing is two hundred years old, of course it breaks now,” he complained.

“Aeron’s did the same thing. Didn’t he tell you, or were you not listening?” Thomas shrugged. “Makes sense.” Rainbow rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Well, what’s it matter, isn’t having lower better?”

“Yeah, just odd. Always seen it go up, never down without taking Rad-Away.” Thomas shrugged. “At least I don’t have to worry about Luna accidentally killing me now.”

“Killing you? What do you mean?”

“For some reason, Luna’s magic, and only her’s, is the same as gamma radiation, the stuff that makes this tick,” he replied, pointing at his wrist. “Nearly died from rad poisoning in Equestria.”

“Weird. I wonder if it would be the same for Aeron or not if he came to Equestria?” Rainbow then shrugged at the thought.

“No, every unicorn there has radioactive magic. Odds are, it’ll poison you too.”

“Weird. Oh well. Not like Aeron is coming to my place any time soon.” She giggled softly at her statement.

“Well, I brought a ghoul to my Equestria. You know what a ghoul is?” he asked.

“Yeah. They were usually mean to me, though.” Rainbow answered.

“They were dealt a bad hand, makes sense that they’re bitter. All they can do is try to make the best of it.”

“Well, how’d it turn out for the ghoul you brought to Equestria, then?”

“Took a while, but things went well enough. Still, you don’t piss off a woman who can walk off a broken arm and a knife in the throat.” Thomas hesitated for a moment. “I guess that guy deserved it, but still... Yeesh.”

“Again, do I even want to know?” the pegasus shivered for a moment.

“I’ve tortured people, but what Dom did... You’re lucky you weren’t there.”

“Uhhh... Yeah, I won’t ask.” Rainbow stood herself up and stretched out her legs and wings before lying back down again.

“The Rainbow I met was straight,” he said suddenly. “Or at least batted for both teams. That true for you?”

“I prefer just mares. Don’t know why, found them more attractive. What about you?” Rainbow yawned, looking over at Thomas.

“I like to keep my options open. No point in limiting how much fun I can have, right?” he asked with a smile.

“So, you’d screw a pony?” The Pegasus giggled softly.

“What do you mean ‘would’? Why do you think Luna’s here?”

Rainbow Dash burst into a fit of giggles and laughter, “ohmigosh, that’s great!”

“We were both drunk, at least three bottles of wine each. Something was bound to happen.” He began to laugh. “Good thing it was Luna, I bet Shiny would kill me if I touched his sister.”

“Pfft. I doubt you could handle her. Her magic... Well, let’s say it’s beyond orgasmic.” The Pegasus blushed whilst saying this.

The black man only raised an eyebrow. “The Twilight I met poisoned me by accident with her magic. Different rules.”

“Can’t take the heat, can ya?” Dash held back a smirk and a giggle.

“Oh ha ha. Like I said, the Equestria I visited, the magic is radioactive.

“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger!”

“That’s up for debate. Haven’t really breathed the same since I got out of the Sierra,” he commented.

Behind them, scuffling of waking people could be heard. Dash looked behind her to see Ethan scratching his crotch area and Aeron giving him a disapproving look.

“Looks like we’re heading out.” Dash stated.

“Let’s wake the rest of them up,” Thomas said, standing up before going to Luna.

The rest of the group were awakened by Thomas and Rainbow Dash and they began to prepare for the no doubt difficult day to come. As Scarlet handed out the remains of the MRE from the other night to those who were hungry Ethan caught Thomas’s eye and waved him over. The black man walked over to Ethan with a raised eyebrow.

“What is it?” Thomas asked

“Thomas we need to talk, it’s about Luna,” Ethan said the last part as quietly as he could.

“Any chance this can wait?”

“Well she broke down on me last night so I’ll leave that up to you to decide,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered.

“Alright, I just wanted to let you know that what happened yesterday really affected her badly, brought up memories of... well... Nightmare Night, and why it originated in the first place,” Ethan told him.

“Never heard of Nightmare Night. I can guess it has to do with Nightmare Moon, though.”

“It’s a holiday involving giving out candy to children, think Halloween if you know anything about the old world. The bad part though is that it was originally about giving Nightmare Moon candy or offerings so she wouldn’t ‘gobble up foals’...”

Thomas just stared at Ethan before glancing at Luna. “Fuck. That’s...”

“Yeah, look, I’m hardly the best person to give advice about this sort of thing. God knows that I’ve screwed up enough, but she needs you, she needs you bad Thomas. If for nothing else then just as a friend,” Ethan told him with sad eyes.

“Would not be the first time I’ve had to help someone get over a few issues in their past.” Thomas sighed. “Doubt it’ll be the last, either.”

“Cassie said that she spent a lot of time playing therapist, I guess you did too,” Ethan said with a shake of his head. “Anyways I just wanted to let you know that she’s not doing all that great right now.”

“Yeah, the only reason I’m keeping it together is because I’m avenging those poor kids. No-one deserves that,” he muttered angrily.

“Don’t I know it...” Ethan said with a shake of his head. “Oh, and Thomas; she really cares about you,”

“Then she lied to one of us.” Thomas chuckled briefly. “Said she didn’t want a relationship.”

“She told me that you were too busy running Vegas for one,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Well, someone needs to keep the Republic from fucking the place over. Having the Kings run Freeside is helping, and the Followers over in Westside, but it’s not enough. At least the Chairmen, the White Glove Society and the Omertas are helping. Wouldn’t stand a chance if they sided with the NCR.” Thomas sighed. “I miss just walking around, doing odd jobs here and there.”

“My wife tells me that more often than you’d believe,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “I’ve taken up enough of your time, but just remember to watch out for her okay? None of us here are exactly what you’d call mentally stable, except maybe for Sunny over there, and the last thing we need is Lulu breaking down in the middle of a fight,” Ethan told him. “Not that that’s the only reason I’m telling you, but it’s the most important at the moment.”

“I’ll do what I can, but if she pushes me away, there’s nothing I can really do.” Thomas wiped a bit of grime from the barrel of his brush gun. “I have to respect her wishes.”

“That’s the best I can ask for I guess, thanks for your time kid. Now let’s go eat,” Ethan said with a nod towards the food.

They returned to the huddle of bodies to find that Scarlet was completely ignoring Twilight’s attempts to start a conversation. Ethan caught the unicorn’s eyes and shook his head as he sat down next to her. The unicorn fell silent and an awkward quiet fell over the entire group.

“So, I hope everyone got some good sleep tonight,” Celestia asked.

“That’s one way to put it,” Twilight replied with a frown towards Scarlet.

“At least no-one invaded my dreams, a good way to start the day,” Scarlet said as she finished packing up her bag.

“It is an invasion if I derail what is already happening. I merely observe. I only interfere if they ask for me to,” Luna explained.

“I was speaking about Kata, still it’s not right for you to look into someone’s personal thoughts.”

Did somone -

“Fuck off; we’re talking,” Ethan said cutting her off.

Well that’s no way to treat your host, Kata replied, sounding a little hurt. I hope you all slept well, though. You’re going to need all your wits about you for today’s challenges. Things are going to get a bit...cloudy...

A low tone bell faintly rang out throughout the room. Scarlet frowned at the sound. “No...”

A door swung open and a red mist started to seep out of it.

“No no no...” Thomas muttered in horror.

“So that’s what it looks like,” Aeron muttered.

SURPRISE! Kata’s voice shouted in girlish excitement as the group stared at the oncoming mist in horror.

Dead Caves

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Dead Caves

“Try not to breathe,” Thomas said with forced calmness.

“Celestia, force field,” Scarlet ordered. Celestia’s horn flashed and a transparent dome covered the open door. The red cloud meshed against the shield, but thankfully it didn’t go through it.

Hmph, cheaters, Kata said sourly. I don’t like cheaters, she added, and suddenly the cloud began to slowly slip through the barrier.

“Gas masks won’t stop it. Environment suits are useless,” Thomas muttered.

“Umm, would someone explain to me what this red mist is, and why you both seem so frightened of it?” Twilight asked.

“It’s an experiment gone wrong,” Scarlet said.

“Oh, no, it went exactly as planned,” Thomas corrected. “A toxin that nothing can stop, one that eats away at the lungs and pushes you to the brink of death.”

“That’s if you’re lucky,” Scarlet added.

“The Ghost People you mentioned?” Luna asked, stepping away from the encroaching red haze.

“Ghost people?” Twilight asked.

“People who you can shoot down, only for them to get back up. The Cloud somehow changed them,” Scarlet pulled out her gladius, “the only way to ‘kill’ them is to chop off a body part. Don’t waste any of your ammo.”

“Disintegrations are an option, though.” Thomas glanced at the unicorn.

“Hmm, well I’m glad that I brought these then,” Twilight said with a smile as she levitated out her plasma pistols. “Does anyone want one?” she asked, looking around the group.

“It’s better to save the ammo and not waste it, trust me.”

Ethan’s sword slid out of its scabbard. “It’s a good thing I brought this along then...” he muttered to himself.

“Don’t suppose anyone’s got a Cosmic Knife on them?” Thomas asked nervously.

“Don’t worry, I have a feeling you’ll get one soon,” Scarlet said sarcastically.

“Wait,” Luna said, holding up a hoof. “For all we know, there is simply this ‘Cloud’ to worry about. There may not be any of these abominations to fight.”

“And now there’ll be something worse; thanks Lulu,” Ethan said with a sigh.

“Whatever is in there, just keep a calm mind and don’t let fear overtake you.” Scarlet’s grip tightened. “Let’s get this over with.” She walked forth and entered the mist.

“Fuck me. I remember what Cassie told me about this stuff. Sparky, be careful; I’ll carry you if I need to,” Ethan told the unicorn who nodded thankfully.

“Don’t go into any thick pockets of the stuff, you’ll be lucky to last ten seconds,” Thomas warned. “If you have to, take a deep breath first, it’ll give you maybe five seconds before the Cloud really starts to affect you.”

“You know, this is one of those things that I really never wanted to do,” Ethan said with a sigh. “Let’s get it done fast,” he added.

Luna coughed loudly as they made their way forwards. “It tastes like copper.”

“I remember God mentioning that,” Thomas replied, covering the lower half of his face with his hand. “Called it ‘Old World Gold’.”

“How charming,” Twilight said before she coughed once and fell silent.

“Where’s Scarlet?” Celestia asked while letting out a cough of her own.

“Well she’s either dead or eaten,” Ethan said with an unconcerned shrug.

“Don’t say such things,” Celestia chastised harshly.

“At least we don’t have to worry about being stabbed in the back over treasure,” Thomas muttered, looking around.

“Did you say treasure?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“The Sierra Madre was an Old World resort, a casino like no other,” Thomas explained.

“It was said that the riches it contained were countless, and others would come from miles around in order to see it, or try to claim it as their own,” Scarlet’s voice spoke out from mist as she walked into view.

“Of course, there was more to it than that. A lot of the money meant for constructing the surrounding resort ended up being stolen by the workers. The buildings were just frames held together with good wishes and Wonderglue, but the casino itself...”

“It never opened on time, but it could’ve,” Ethan finished with a grim look.

“The opening night happened to be the day the bombs fell. Instead of the Grand Opening, the people were treated to the end of the world. The casino trapped them inside, and security killed them all.”

“Should we really be talking so much? It’s only letting the Cloud inside us and possibly letting these ‘Ghost People’ know where we are, isn’t it?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“It doesn't matter if you don’t talk at all, the Cloud will still get inside of you,” Scarlet said. “As for the Ghost People, it’s hard to sneak by them. It’s better just to kill them the moment you see one.”

“And there’s more dangerous things to worry about if she brought some of the Sierra here,” Thomas muttered, looking around nervously.

“Umm guys, is my Pip-Boy the only one covered in red right now?” Ethan asked cautiously as he fingered his sword’s hilt.

“Probably just built-up residue. Shouldn’t be that quick, though,” Thomas mumbled as an afterthought.

“My HUD is full of red dots too...” Ethan added.

“If we’re lucky, it’s just Ghost People. If not, we’re dealing with Security Holograms.” Thomas groaned. “Goddamnit.”

“The unkillable holograms?” Ethan asked.

“The only ones, unless magic can break light.” Scarlet looked towards Celestia.

“Bend, not break, though it’s a field not many ponies have ever studied in,” Celestia stated.

“Judging by past experience in both the Wasteland and this place I’m willing to bet that it’s something worse than that,” Ethan said. “You know, I miss the simple days when killing raiders and super mutants was the only thing that I had to worry about,” he said before coughing twice.

“Yeah, well welcome to life. Now come on, there’s a passage a couple a feet ahead leading away from most of the red marks.” Scarlet started to walk in the direction of the passage.

“Oh great, I love a good passageway, excellent places for ambushes...” Ethan muttered.

“There’s always the other tunnel, Vault Boy, no one is holding you back.”

“I never said that there was, Kathy. It was just an attempt at humor to lighten our moods,” Ethan replied with a shrug before letting out out a cough. “Apparently it failed.”

Scarlet briefly stopped and looked back at Ethan. A low glare formed on her face, but she quickly looked away and went back to leading the others.

“Ethan, I know you want to help her, but please don’t call her by her real name,” Celestia said.

“Real name?” Thomas asked

“Her name’s Katherine. Personally, I like it more than Scarlet, but to each thier own I suppose,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Yes, like the Old Man told me, names are easily changeable out in the Wastes, they just depend on the person, and how others see them, and most importantly,” Celestia looked towards Scarlet, “how they see themselves.”.

“Still it’s a bad sign if — what was that noise?” Ethan asked, suddenly changing subject mid-sentence.

Low moans were vaguely audible through the mist. The group stopped as the two Couriers were confused by the sound. “Those aren’t Ghost People,” Scarlet said.

“Then what the fuck are they?” Thomas asked in a low voice.

“Something worse, probably, although they kinda sound like ghouls.” Ethan muttered.

“A bit out of place for them,” Scarlet pointed out as she looked at her Pip-boy.

“At least we’ve all had experience killing ghouls,” Twilight offered with a small smile.

“Most of us,” Luna corrected.

“Remember who we’re dealing with,” Celestia said. “Kata seems to have some sort of twist to everything she does.”

Ethan didn’t say anything, he simply readied his sword and prepared for the rush. An unsteady clip-clop echoed through the hallway as the moaning got closer.

“That sounds like hooves...” Luna said as she cocked her head slightly to the side.

An equine figure appeared in the cloud, and soon two others joined its side. The cloud parted around them, revealing blank white eyes, rotten flesh and clothing that seemed to be more a part of them than not. The group was taken by surprise at the sight of the ghoul ponies.

Oh I love you little ponies, so sweet and innocent one moment, and the next you’re killing each other with highly dangerous magic. Take a good look at your future, Celestia, Luna, I have the oddest feeling that you’ll be seeing a lot of your subjects looking like this. Oops, spoilers! Kata giggled maniacally.

The three ghoul ponies charged forward at the group with surprising speed. Celestia spear soon embedded into the pony in the middle’s chest, making it stumble slightly, pushing the spear further into itself. However, it got back up immediately, spear still embedded in its chest, before continuing towards the group. It didn’t get very far, the gem embedded in the spear briefly sparking to life as the ghoul pony was instantly engulfed in a torrent of fire coming from the weapon. A blood curdling scream broke out from the monster’s mouth as it tried to shake off the spear and the fire.

Meanwhile, the other two ponies continued rushing towards the group. Ethan leapt forward to meet the first with a quick slash of his red bladed sword. The blade bit into the ghoul’s chest releasing a puff of pink gas as it passed through the rotten flesh. Ethan’s eyes widened in shock as the gas touched his left hand and he let out a cry of pain. The ghoul let out a terrifying howl and tried to bite him. As its jaw opened more of the pink gas flowed out and Ethan was forced to roll away or risk having it make contact with his chest.

“That pink stuff fucking burns, don’t let it touch you!” he shouted to the others as he came to his feet in time to send the ghoul stumbling away with a quick slash to the side that released yet another puff of the pink gas.

“No shit,” Aeron muttered. “Dash keep out of their reach,” he added.

“That was the plan,” Dash replied, dodging the third ghoul as it attempted to grab her.

A blast of telekinetic force crashed into the ghoul that was after Rainbow Dash and sent it flying to the ground. Twilight winked at the pegasus before she turned back to help the others.

“Thanks, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted over her shoulder.

“Anytime, Dash!” Twilight shouted back.

Scarlet ran up to the ghoul Ethan was fighting, swinging her gladius at the base of the pony’s neck. The gladius cut in deep, as pink gas spewed from the opening. Scarlet quickly stepped away and circled around. Ethan gave her a nod and stepped in for the kill. With a swift slash his bastard sword clove through the ghoul’s neck, sending the head spiraling out of sight. A great cloud of pink shot out of the opening, slightly submerging the two humans’ hands. Ethan let out another pained shout, but pulled his hands out before any real damage could occur. Scarlet didn’t shout, only wincing as she drew her hand away, and shaking it rapidly.

“Okay, I’m not sure how that didn’t hurt you more, but I’m calling bullshit,” Ethan told her with a pained growl.

“Magic doesn't really affect me much ever since Cadbury changed me. Trust me, it’s more of a curse than a blessing. Whatever the pink stuff is, it’s was made out of some sort of magic.”

“Well then, you can finish off the next one, my fingers feel like they want to start fusing together,” Ethan told her.

The first ghoul had recovered from Celestia’s spear and was now charging towards the shocked alicorn. Luckily Luna’s flail interrupted its charge, crushing the ghoul into the ground with a sickening crunch and an outpouring cloud of pink.

“I have your back, Sister,” Luna told her with a nod, either forgetting or ignoring that the Celestia before her wasn’t technically her sister.

“Keep it distracted for a few seconds then,” Celestia said as she brought her spear in front of her. She closed her eyes, focusing on her magic. Her horn started to increase in brightness as the gem on the spear also got brighter.

“With pleasure,” Luna replied as her flail rocketed into the ghoul again, this time taking off a foreleg and releasing another puff of gas from the opening. The ghoul ignored this, and began to limp towards the two once more.

Fire started to dance around the spear, and Celestia slowly brought the weapon up into the air. Her eyes shot open as she slammed the butt end of the spear into the ground. A column of fire sprang forth, encasing the ghoul. The ghoul let out a scream of intense pain, barely audible from the loud roar of the fire. When the fire died down, nothing was left. Celestia let out a weary sigh as she tried not to collapse from the sudden drain of magic.

“Be careful, Celestia, we are not in any position to carry somepony as large as you if you collapse in the midst of battle,” Luna warned the other alicorn.

“I’m fine; I just forgot how powerful the spear can really be.”

“I see, try and remember in the future,” Luna said with a nod before she turned back to the rest of the fight.

The ghoul who Twilight had sent flying had recovered and charged towards the robotic unicorn who unleashed four rapid bolts from her plasma defender into the beast, doing nothing significant other then making the ghoul even angrier. A controlled burst from Aeron’s rifle sent the ghoul stumbling slightly, and its gaze turned to the man in Talon Armor.

“I hate wasting ammo, but my knife isn’t very good for this type of thing,” Aeron muttered to himself.

Thomas charged the ghoul and swung his saturnite fist towards the thing’s face, sending it staggering backwards with a cry of pain. With lightning speed his drew his Sequoia and emptied half the rounds into its head. Much to his shock and annoyance, it managed to get back up, despite missing half its jaw and a large portion of its brain decorating the nearest wall. “What the FUCK!?” he yelled, ignoring the strange burning pain in his hand. “These aren’t ghouls, they’re actual zombies!”

“There is magic most foul at hoof here,” Luna shouted, sending her flail at the ghoul Thomas had maimed. She managed to destroy the rest of its head, finally putting the monster to death. “That pink mist that they release reeks of both necromantic and transformative magics.”

“This is ancient lost magic,” Celestia stated. “I never dealt with this kind before, but I have heard stories. In a way it acts similarly to tainted magic, though it relies on rituals and sacrifice.”

“Ow!” Thomas’s sudden cry of pain drew Luna’s attention, who saw that he was clutching at his right wrist. “I just tore off half the skin off my hand!” he yelled, waving the glove of his Saturnite Fist around. There was indeed skin stuck to the inside of the glove, but nowhere near as much as he claimed.

Celestia walked over to Thomas, her horn bathed in a yellow glow as Thomas’s hand was covered in the same glow. The wound was slowly healing, but not much as Celestia hoped for. “My magic isn’t as strong as it should be, either it’s being affected by the pink mist, or this red cloud.”

“You know, sometimes I wonder why you’re any use,” Scarlet said as she checked her own hand, which looked the same as ever. “It’s either, magic won't affect tainted magic, or your magic is being blocked.”

“It is likely this foul Cloud,” Luna interjected. “Without knowing what it is composed off, I cannot be sure of this but there may be something in it that is affecting our ability to perform magic.” She broke into another fit of coughs.

Scarlet dropped her bag on the ground. She opened it and pulled out a doctor’s bag. She reached inside the doctor’s bag and grabbed some stimpaks. “Here, it doesn’t stop the coughs, but it does help.” She offered them to anyone who wanted one.

Luna and Thomas waved her away. “No, save them for when someone’s bleeding out,” Thomas replied, breaking into more coughs. “Could use some water, though.”

Scarlet reached down towards her side and pulled out a metal canteen. “Here.” She held it out towards Thomas, who grabbed it. He took a sip before passing it to Luna, quickly pulling his hand away before his Pip-Boy could start ticking.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Scarlet replied, taking the canteen back before having her own sip of some of the lukewarm water. She put the canteen back on her side and went to check on Ethan.

Aeron looked down at his Pip-Boy, noticing all the dots around them were moving into one area. He gazed at it only to see the scattered dots turn into one giant dot.

“This doesn’t look good...” Aeron sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Dash looked up at Aeron, who quickly showed her the map.

“Are they moving together?” she asked in shock.

“No, the dot is too consistent, rather than bumpy. If it was a bumpy circle, it implies they’re clustered. This consistent, large circle implies they just merged.” Aeron’s hands clenched into fists as he held back a cough.

“M-Merged?! Into what?!” Dash yelled.

Uhhhhhhhrgggg.... Hissssssk...

“That had better be your stomach hungry for some deathclaw omelets, Twilight...” Ethan said.

“Sorry... It isn’t,” Twilight replied.

The sound of large footsteps echoed in the cave, and the vibration and pounding of them was felt at everyone’s feet. The red mist still stayed strong in keeping everyone in a small coughing fit.

Wow, I’m getting tingly just watching this, Kata announced.

“Shut. The fuck. Up. Seriously,” Ethan growled as he readied his sword.

“Be ready,” Aeron warned, “the dot is nearing us.”

“Oh no, not the ‘dot’, anything but the dot!” Ethan exclaimed with mock panic in his voice. Several members of the group glared at him. “Sorry, I thought we were being melodramatic,” he apologized with a chuckle before he broke down into a fit of coughing.

“Are you okay Ethan?” Twilight asked.

“Never better, except for the fact that I feel like I’m breathing blood,” the man retorted.

“We need to find somewhere to hide, a building. The Cloud usually was pretty thin inside those,” Thomas commented. “I just hope she brought more from the Sierra than the damn Cloud...”

“More?” Ethan asked. “Isn’t it enough that we’ve got the Cloud to deal with along with these damn super ghouls, what else could we want?”

I’m glad you asked, Kata suddenly said. You’ll know it when you see it. Or hear it.

“Okay, ask a stupid question, my bad guys,” Ethan said before he started coughing again.

“I believe that whatever it is was already here,” Celestia told him. “I highly doubt that it is your fault that it is moving towards us.”

“Speaking of which, it’s getting closer,” Aeron said.

“Well then we need to move, now!” Ethan exclaimed. The group took off at a fast walk leaving broken clouds of red mist in their wake.

Another of the ghouls burst from the cloud and leapt at Aeron. Scarlet’s gladius swept out and sent it stumbling away.

“Thanks,” Aeron told her.

The ghoul came at them again, but Scarlet was there to meet it. Her gladius slashed out, chopping through it’s foreleg and releasing a cloud of the noxious pink gas. The monster hissed angrily, but Scarlet ignored that and sent her gladius sweeping out in an attempt to decapitate the ghoul.

Unfortunately, the ghoul ducked under the blade and crashed into the woman, throwing her off of her feet. The ghoul leapt at her throat, but Aeron’s boot stopped it before it could go in for the kill and sent it falling backwards.

“Thanks for the save,” Scarlet told Aeron.

“You’re one of the only ones here who actually knows what they’re doing in here,” Aeron replied.

Scarlet shook her head and prepared for the ghoul’s next rush. It came surprisingly quickly and Scarlet barely managed to get her blade up in time to slash at it. Ethan came up from the side and sliced through the ghouls neck while it was distracted by the red haired woman. He leapt back before the inevitable blast of pink gas shot out.

A ghoul sprinted out of the mist running straight at Twilight, jaw gaping open, leaking pink cloud as it came. Celestia’s spear launched out and penetrated into the ghoul’s chest releasing a cloud of pink gas. Twilight’s horn began to glow, and suddenly the ghoul was entrapped in a purple light and suspended in midair, but it only lasted for a few seconds before the glow dispersed and the ghoul fell back to the ground.

“Damn it, the Cloud is screwing with my magic!” Twilight growled as the ghoul got back to its feet and charged her again. Celestia’s spear retracted from its spot in the ghoul’s chest and she prepared the spear for another spell. She focused some magic into the spear, making the tip glow brighter, and with a quick precise swipe she cut right through the ghouls neck.

“Thanks, Sunny!” Twilight shouted with a grin before she turned to face another ghoul who had charged out of the mist.

“Watch out,” Celestia shouted as she rammed her spear into the ghoul, moving it away from Twilight. Thomas lashed out with his saturnite fist and bashed it into the ghoul’s head. Unfortunately, he accidentally inhaled some of the pink mist that seeped from the ghoul, causing him to double over and begin coughing up blood. Twilight’s pistol launched a rapid trio of green blasts at the ghoul, thankfully reducing it to glowing goo before it could do anything else.

“Thomas, are you okay?” Luna called from where she was standing, a note of fear clearly audible in her voice.

“Stimpak!” Thomas managed to rasp between coughs. “Stimpak!”

“Here!” Twilight shouted as she floated a pair of the stims over to him from one of the pockets on her armour. When Thomas failed to grab them, Luna instead did so and stabbed him with one, right in the arm.

“Goddamnit!” Thomas yelled as the healing chem went to work, immediately undoing the damage to his lungs. “You don’t stab someone with a Stimpak!”

“You do when they’re in the middle of coughing up a lung!” Twilight shouted back as she prepared to face whatever else would emerge from the red mist. Luna, for her part, looked rather hurt.

Scarlet walked up scratching her arm. “I think the pink cloud is affecting me now, though I doubt having a rash is life threatening.” She scratched a bit harder and mumbled, “though it is annoying.”

“Well aren't’ you lucky,” Ethan muttered as he glanced down at his hands, his fingers were beginning to degrade. “Hey Lulu blast me with some magic please, even if the radiation decreases pretty fast it’ll still be enough for me to heal.”

“Well I’m sorry, I didn’t ask Cadbury to make me into a vessel that could used tainted magic so he could work crazy experiments on me. Kind-of the whole point of him trying to kidnap me,” the woman snapped back.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter right now,” Ethan retorted before he turned to Luna. “So, Lulu, the magic please?”

Ethan momentarily glowed before it died out. “I can’t. The Cloud is making it difficult to maintain,” Luna told him.

“Well that’s just fan-fucking-tastic,” Ethan muttered before he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a stimpack, jabbing it into his hand which thankfully began to reform to its proper shape.

“Wait, Luna’s magic gives off radiation?” Scarlet asked, a bit puzzled by that fact.

“A quirk of my particular reality,” Luna explained. “It very nearly cost Thomas his life.”

“But then, that’s tainted magic,” Scarlet said as she look at Celestia who was also intrigued by the fact.

“Maybe, maybe not. Each universe has it own set of rules on how they act. I doubt it’s really tainted magic, for it does not share the same traits, though if it is, then somehow ponies over there were able to control it without letting it consume them,” Celestia replied with a thoughtful frown on her face.

“If that is the case then my entire reality can withstand the effects. One could argue that in one universe what is pure magic is tainted in another, and what is tainted is pure,” Luna pointed out.

“Yes, that could be true,” Celestia said, nodding her head. “If so, we should be careful about our magic interacting with one another, for it could cause a negative effect on everyone.”

“Isn’t that negative effect creating a portal to my world?” Scarlet pointed out.

“Yes, but I doubt Kata would let us go that easy, and might make it do something else instead.”

“I say that we don’t worry about that at the moment, instead let’s just get out of here,” Ethan said interrupting the byplay between the two princesses before he started to cough again.

“Agreed,” Celestia said.

“According to my Pip-Boy... the dot is standing in front of us..” Aeron announced.

Ethan reacted first, and sent his sword slashing outward in the direction that Aeron had indicated.

“Dot is still there. I believe the density in your brain is getting to you.” Aeron laughed sarcastically before coughing violently.

“Well if the dot is still there, and it’s in front of us, but Ethan’s sword didn’t hit it, that means that it’s above us...” Twilight said before trailing off as she began to look up at the ceiling, but she was unable to see anything thanks to the rolling red mist.

“If it’s above us, and I hear no flapping, that means it has some sort of hovering properties to it.” Aeron stated academically.

“Which means-MOVE!” Twilight shouted, diving away from the spot that they’d been clustered around.

Aeron moved swiftly as the dot on his Pip-Boy moved over their previous location. The others joined in moving quickly out of the way. A large force slammed into the ground where they’d been standing, making the ground shake as the shock wave rolled over them.

“We need to get out of here, now!” Thomas shouted.

“Jesus Christ. This thing sounds as big as a Behemoth,” Aeron growled.

“I really wish that I could use my magic right now,” Twilight muttered. “I’ve thrown behemoths around; this would be a piece of cake.”

“Yeah, well, fuck that and run. Dash, follow me.” Dash darted to Aeron at his command as he tried to run through the cloud of smoke.

“Don’t go off by yourself, you idiot!” Thomas shouted at him.

“No time to stay behind. Just follow, dammit!” Aeron shouted back, covering his eyes from the smoke.

“Fuck it, let’s move!” Ethan shouted as he took off after the other Wanderer, Twilight at his heels.

Scarlet and Celestia ran to keep up with the others, Scarlet taking a small glance behind her to see what they were running from. Whatever it was, the thing was still invisible, but it was clearly moving towards them, as evidenced by the loud crashes that rang out every few seconds from behind them.

“I hate running!” Ethan shouted as he ducked under another of the ghouls who thought that it was an excellent time to leap at them.

“Deal with it, you imbecile!” Aeron ran faster as Dash started to fly next to him.

The head of Luna’s flail smashed into a ghoul blocking their path, sending it flying back into the red mist. “Just keep moving, don’t bother fighting!” the alicorn shouted. The crashing continued as they moved, and they heard a ghoul get crushed behind them.

“Good idea! Next time I need advice, I’ll be sure to ask you!” Aeron shouted back to her sarcastically.

“Save the sarcasm for when we’re safe! Thomas shouted up to him.

“Nah! Keeps me going and sane!” Aeron was coughing wildly now, trying to keep his pace up while the smoke around him was starting to spread out.

“Fuck that noise, sanity’s overrated!” Ethan shouted with a wild chuckle as he dodged around another of the ghoulified ponies.

“Shut up and run!” Scarlet yelled as they took a hard right turn.

“We’re being herded, damn it!” Thomas shouted.

“Momma always wanted me to be a slave!” Aeron chuckled as the smoke around him was nearly gone, and the exit was in sight.

“Then your mother was very, very odd!” Luna replied.

“Umm guys, if we’re being herded, then what the fuck are we being herded to?” Ethan asked cautiously as they finally stepped completely out of red mist. They were in a large room, reminiscent to both Scarlet and Thomas of the main lobby of the Sierra Madre. As Luna and Thomas stepped into it the room, a door behind them shut with a loud bang.

Oh look, you made it through part one, how exciting! Kata squealed excitedly. Now it’s time for part two! Kata said before she started laughing.

The sound of main power being turned on filled the air as lights flooded out the darkness. On the staircase, a hologram sprang to life. The hologram flickered with blue light, appearing as a short girl that gazed at them unblinkingly with almost draconic eyes.. Her straight hair fell to her shoulders and she was wearing a frilly dress that mimic the Old World style.

“I think that I remember one of you wanting to see me, so here I am,” the hologram said in Kata’s unmistakable voice.

“Well fuck, she is a kid,” Ethan muttered.

“That turn you on, freak?” Aeron chuckled.

“No, it makes me annoyed that I’ve been kidnapped by someone who looks so young,” Ethan said with a scowl.

“Aww, it’s so adorable to see your pride go down like a sinking ship,” Kata said, clasping her hands together as a smile formed on her face.

“Oh I don’t really mind, I mean you’re obviously a minor deity of some kind or another. I’m just hoping that my universe’s Sunny gets here soon and kicks your ass for kidnapping Sparky,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Whatever keeps your limited mind calm, it’s just your Celestia isn’t much of threat. She might act like an avatar of light, but she’s not even close. This Celestia is closer than most, but she rejects her power so I’m not worried.” Kata said with a shrug as she gestured at Celestia.

“Yes, but still doesn’t tell us who you are, or why you have the ability to do this. It’s not normally allowed in the grand scheme of things,” Twilight countered.

“Chaos doesn’t have to explain how it works little pony, it just does anything it wants. And as someone who can control an aspect of it, so can I.”

“So you’re a draconequus,” Luna said with a nod.

The girl let out an amused chuckle. “Not every creature who can control chaos is a draconequus, I just pick this from because it’s fun. I normally change it up a bit every century or so. Any more questions you’d like to be answered?”

“Yeah, how many shots of my sequoia will it take to kill you?” Thomas asked as he reached for his pistol. “Oh, and where do we find you?”

“As many as there are stars in the universe, and somewhere between the void and the realm of chaos,” she vaguely answered.

“So, a lot, I can do that,” Ethan told her with a vicious smile.

“Uhg, idiots, she means it’s impossible to kill her. For fuck’s sake, she’s a hologram,” Aeron grunted.

“Smart boy,” Kata complimented.

“That’s quitter talk right there, where’s your can-do spirit?” Ethan asked the man with a chuckle.

“Can-do spirit? Why don’t you look around. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere, you incompetent fool,” he retorted.

“And yet we’re not dead, and more importantly we’ve managed to con this bitch into giving us a breather and some information. I’d say that we’re doing pretty well all things considered,” Ethan replied with a smirk.

“And I think your breather has lasted long enough,” Kata stated. “You see, I don’t like it when my entertainment is all tired out after one of the puzzles. But seeing that you’re ready for the next one, I won’t hold you any longer.” Sounds of radios turning on danced through the room. Scarlet and Thomas both reacted, readying their pistols as they looked frantically around the room. “Have fun,” Kata said before her hologram faded away.

“I’m calling it a victory,” Ethan announced with a grin.

“I don’t think that’s a victory. Clearly she isn’t that dumb to just turn on some pretty music for you and call it a day.” Aeron sighed at the idiocy.

“We don’t have time for this,” Scarlet said as her eyes darted around the room, searching for any radios. “We need to find a way out of this room.”

“I’m getting tired of that objective, it reminds me way too much of Zeta,” Ethan muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

A door with a sign labeled ‘Casino’ swung open, inviting the group to walk in. Scarlet pointed her pistol towards the entrance of the door. “Well, if it’s anything like the real one there’s going to be holograms roaming around.”

“As long as we can find the emitters, though, we’ll be fine,” Thomas muttered. “We just need to destroy them.”

“Cute.” Aeron smiled.

“As long as that’s how things work here. Kata doesn’t seem to be playing with the same rule book as the rest of us,” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Then let’s be quick,” Scarlet said as she slowly walked towards the door.

“Lead the way, Kathy,” Ethan said with a nod.

Scarlet braced herself on the side of the wall next to the door and leaned in taking a look. The room wasn’t the same design as the casino in the real Sierra Madre, but looked a little more like the one in the Tops. She could see a few holograms guards patrolling the area, along with some radios encased in protective shielding. “I see at least three holograms, and four radios,” she told the others.

“Thank you for being an Observer of the Wastes,” Aeron chuckled.

“And thank you for your input, Captain Jackass, but we don’t have time to waste. Thomas, what can you tell us about these holograms?” Ethan asked the other Courier.

“Can’t be shot, can burn a hole through armour, can only go a certain distance from their emitter before they stop,” he rattled off. Thomas pointed at one of the speakers mounted on the wall. “I’m more worried about that. We can’t shoot through those shields.”

“Didn’t you say that it was the collar you were forced to wear that made them so dangerous?” Luna asked quietly, staring at the device calmly.

“In our world, yes, in here, who knows?” Scarlet said.

“Hrm...” Aeron stared curiously at the holograms walking around in their patterned routines.

“You think of something?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Dash looked up to Aeron for an answer.

“Just looking at their patterns. Looks quite the same, rather than a sporadic human patrol. Thomas, Scarlet, what was their field of vision like on you?”

“Sharp; they’re almost impossible to sneak by,” Scarlet answered.

“They didn’t respond to sound though, as far as I could tell,” Thomas added.

“Were these things wired to something? I mean, they’re deadly holograms, but something is projecting them.”

“Small, round, blue emitters, they can either be turned off manually or by destroying them with a bullet. Though shooting it will alert the other holograms, turning them hostile at you,” the woman answered.

“Do any of you guys see blue emitters, then?” Dash decided to ask, looking around the room herself.

Scarlet shook her head. “They’re normally not in plain sight, and are hidden well in hard to reach places in the room.”

“What about an EMP?” Aeron suggested.

“Never tried one, since I didn’t have one at the time, but it could work.”

“That still leaves the radios, any ideas?” Ethan perked up.

Scarlet looked towards Celestia, or more at her spear. “You said that spear could cut through almost anything if you charged it enough. You think can throw it at radios from this distance?”

Celestia shook her head. “My magic is still recovering, I don’t think I have enough energy to charge my spear and throw it accurately any time soon.”

“Well then I’ll test it,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Sorry, but the spear won’t accept you to bear it.”

“Who said anything about using the spear?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. “When I said that I’ll test it, I meant that I’ll test it.”

“Ethan, don’t be an idiot,” Twilight told him sternly.

“Uhg, standing here is doing NOTHING!” Rainbow Dash yelled, smacking her head on the floor. “Honestly, can we please just do something about this?”

I agree with pegasus, do something or I will, Kata’s threatening voice warned them.

“As you wish, bitch,” Ethan replied with a smile as he walked towards one of the radios. The effect was almost immediate.

Silently, the holograms targeted Ethan and started to fire their high-powered lasers, putting their hands against their holographic temples. The lasers pushed through the front of his armour and left out the back, burning holes straight through his chest.

“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” Ethan shouted frantically as he dived backwards, back to the rest of the group.

The holograms stopped firing the moment Ethan crossed the doorway, and returned to their patrol routes.

“Okay, so we don’t try doing that again,” Twilight said as she stabbed a stimpack into Ethan’s now hole covered chest. “You okay, Ethan?”

“Never better, a few holes in my chest is nothing new...” the man said before he coughed up a large ball of blood and spat it to the side. “All the same, I agree with you.”

“Well, now we know that they will start firing the moment they see you. They didn’t even give a warning like they normally do,” Scarlet pointed out.

“What exactly do the radios do, again?” Aeron sighed.

“They made the bomb collars go into a count down in detonating, but we don’t have bomb collars strapped around our necks, so that’s not it. So they have to do something else, and I don’t want to find out what that is.”

“I’ll second that motion,” Ethan said as he rose slowly to his feet, there were still several visible holes in his chest, although the skin was slowly repairing itself.

“Look, those holograms reacted kind of slowly. Took them a minute to target you, Ethan. If Rainbow Dash were to just go and zip on through, she might be able to just bring one over here.” Aeron suggested, looking over at Dash.

“What?!” she yelled in response.

“And what do you suggest we do with an unkillable hologram?” Scarlet asked the man.

“Scarlet, we’re the ones with any actual experience in this situation,” Thomas said. “They react quicker than they used to, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get past them.” He took off his duster and set his rifle on the ground. Scarlet closed her eyes and gave an agreeable grunt as she also set down her bag and rifle on the ground.

“Best of luck, you two. Try not to get shot too badly, I somehow doubt that you could take as many lasers as I did, no offense,” Ethan told them.

“So I guess we’re going to just run in there and weave our way through the room, getting behind as many tables as we can?” Scarlet asked Thomas as they readied themselves by the door.

“You can if you want,” he replied, not really focusing on her. “I’m going to abuse the blind spots.”

“Well I at least I know who to blame when I get three laser blasts in my back,” she joked as she took in a deep breath. “Ready?”

“No,” Thomas replied darkly.

“Hey, Lulu, I hate to ask, but while they’re busy doing that would you mind hitting me with some radiation?” Ethan asked Luna quietly.

As Ethan asked his question the two Couriers ran into the room, Scarlet heading to the right and Thomas to the left. The holograms turned hostile and fired lasers at them, two at Scarlet and one at Thomas. Scarlet instantly slid behind a roulette table as a laser grazed her shoulder. Scarlet’s face winced in pain but she shrugged, putting the pain out of her mind.

Thomas, on the other hand, managed to completely avoid the incoming lasers as he ran across the room. Ducking behind a pillar, he waited until the hologram targeting him looked in the other direction before crouching and moving as fast as he could. He didn’t really know what he was looking for, knowing that the emitters would either be hidden or hard to reach. Still, he had to try.

Laser blasts hit the table as the holograms fired at the last position they saw Scarlet enter. However, she was behind the one next to it, keeping hidden from their view. She looked up and around trying to see any emitters. Her eyes danced rapidly, and soon found a small blue light reflecting off the wall. There’s one, she thought. She peeked around the table, looking for a position to get a better view of the emitter. She found a blackjack table that would give her that, and broke into a run towards it. The holograms immediately began to fire upon her, some lasers hitting her in the chest. Luckily, her armour stopped the worst of it. Scarlet held up Maria and fired the moment she saw the emitter, making a small explosion, and a hologram faded away.

Thomas had just located an emitter himself, using the distraction the other Courier was providing to his advantage. Instead of acting violently towards it, though, he simply pulled it open and calmly disconnected a few wires. Another hologram faded away.

“Nice going, kid. Kathy, it looks like you’ve got around two left,” Ethan called encouragingly from where he was standing beside Luna, his hand rapidly darting into and out of the alicorn’s mane. Luna slapped his hand away and glared at him. “What? You didn’t use your magic on me and this was the fastest way to heal, look!” he told her, gesturing at his chest; the holes were beginning to rapidly fill with new skin.

“You’re insane.” Aeron smacked his forehead in annoyance.

“Two?” Scarlet questioned Ethan’s count of the remaining holograms. Suddenly a shot from behind barely missed her head. She turned around to see another security hologram standing with its hands up to its head. “Shit,” she said, ducking behind another table before the hologram could fire another shot at her.

Thomas heard the blasts and frantically looked around for the emitters. He found one, high up on the ceiling. With no other option, he pulled out his Sequoia and blasted it, the rifle round completely obliterating it.

The last of the original three holograms disappeared, but the new one still stood. Scarlet spotted its emitter on a wall right next to a radio. Going against all warnings her brain was telling her, she ran up to within the range of her pistol, shooting rapidly. Her second shot made its mark, making the emitter go up in a puff of smoke.

Scarlet stopped advancing forwards and turned around, but a painful ringing in her ears filled her mind. She tried to ignore it, but it only got louder and she felt a slight tickling sensation coming from her eyes. She reached up to wipe what she was sure was sweat from her eyes but when she drew her finger away it was red. She tried to move away, but her legs were locked in position, and she found herself falling to the floor.

A purple glow wrapped around her, but nothing seemed to happen. Twilight growled in frustration as her magic slipped off of the woman.

Celestia quickly turned towards Luna. “Use your magic,” she ordered with much worry in her voice.

Seeing how grabbing the woman had failed, Luna instead reached out and grabbed at her clothing. With as much force as she could muster, she violently yanked the woman away from whatever was causing her pain. She failed to notice, though, that doing so would send Scarlet right into one of the tables. “Oops.”

Scarlet’s head slammed hard against the table knocking the already dazed woman out.

“I’ll get her,” Ethan said with a slight sigh as he walked up to the unconscious woman and picking her up in a fireman’s hold, slinging her over his shoulder before he brought her back to the group. “So, am I going to carry her the rest of the time, or are one of you?” he asked.

Suddenly Scarlet’s eyes shot wide open and she noticed the position she was in. “LET ME DOWN!”

“Fine,” Ethan replied and discourteously let her fall to the ground.

Scarlet landed with a thud, her eyes full of fury. She got up and opened the palm of her hand, a green fiery orb glowing in it. “You want to play hard ball, Vault Boy?”

“Personally, I feel like getting the fuck out of here, but if you’d like me to stop time, blow up that little magic grenade in your hand, and then stroll on out of here without you that’s just fine too,” Ethan told her in a quiet voice as his hand played across the grip of his magnum.

The butt end of Celestia’s spear smacked against Scarlet’s head. “Katherine, calm down and control your thoughts.”

Scarlet’s head jerk to the side as the spear hit her and all the fury in her eyes left. She blinked a couple of times. “Sorry...I lost control of myself.” She closed the palm of her hand, making the fiery orb vanished into a puff of smoke.

“This is why I don’t deal with women... No offence, Dash,” Aeron spoke quietly.

“None taken.” Dash shrugged.

“Enough of this!” Luna exclaimed.

“Scarlet, mind telling us what just happened? Why your eyes are bleeding?” Thomas asked as he made his way back.

“I... don’t know. I was running to get in range to shoot the emitter. When I destroyed it I just heard a loud ringing in my ears and my head felt like it was going to explode. Next thing I know, I felt something wet coming out of my eyes and noticed it was blood.” She reached a hand up to her right eye to make sure it wasn’t still bleeding. “I think we’ve found out what the radios can do...” she fearfully mumbled.

“Good, now we know why to avoid them, and the problems that they can cause,” Ethan said with a nod. “Oh, and Scarlet, please never pull a grenade on me again, people that do that have an odd tendency to explode, violently.” He said it casually but there was a layer of hard steel to his voice.

“Okay, the radios make your eyes bleed,” Thomas muttered. “Bet if you stick around too long it’ll kill you. Must be from the same place those ghouls came from.”

“Figures, Kata seems to like mixing things from our world and the pony world together.” Scarlet pointed out.

“I’ve been all over Equestria, and I’ve never seen anything like either of these things, or those ghouls. Have any of you?” Ethan asked. Twilight just shook her head.

“It... it is likely that this is from a... a future where our world suffered a fate much akin to yours,” Luna said with forced calmness. “I don’t know what could possibly occur for that to happen, but it is possible.”

“Stupidity at the highest echelons of the Diarchy, my dear Equestria...” Ethan suggested, using an odd accent before he trailed off with a soft chuckle.

“Well, whatever happened to cause Equestria to fall, I doubt we should worry, not all universes share the same fate,” Celestia stated towards Luna. “Now, lets continue on and find our way out of here.”

“That’s a good idea, Sunny, let’s get going,” Twilight said with a shake of her head, the day hadn’t been going well up to this point, and she didn’t particularly feel like listening to the humans bicker.

“Right, I’ll grab my things,” Scarlet said as she walked back out of the casino room.

The room before them had dropped the trappings of a casino, and was instead as featureless as the one that they had stayed in the previous evening. You all did so well that I thought you needed a little break. Besides it’s not fun to kill you if you’re all tired, Kata informed them with a dark childlike chuckle.

Scarlet saw her things weren’t carried away when the room changed and casually picked them up. “You know this won’t work forever. You will slip up and we will take you down without a moment of hesitation.”

Oh you’re so cute, thinking that you can threaten me. Unfortunately for you eight, it takes more than a few half dead warriors to scare me, Kata replied.

“So you do know fear?”

Yes I do, but I doubt that an idiot, a failure, a drunk, a manwhore and their pet horses can inspire it in me.

“I’m not a manwhore,” Ethan said, defending himself.

“I think she meant me,” Thomas interjected.

Aeron only sighed, crossing his arms and frowning.

“Still, if you’re afraid of something, that gives you a reason to hide. You don’t show yourself because you want to strike fear or madness in us, you hide because someone is after you” Scarlet continued.

Fine, you caught me. I’ll admit it, I’m scared of the color blue, Kata said sarcastically, but Scarlet could pick something different in her voice.

“No, that’s not it. There’s something here in this Labyrinth you want gone, and you’re using us to find it.”

It’s a blue box, Kata said with a chuckle, Ethan could visualize her rolling her eyes.

“Right, if you’re so afraid of the color blue why let Thomas wear his duster?”

You’re not very smart, are you? Kata asked the woman.

“Smart enough to know you’re hiding from someone, little girl.”

Well then I wish you the best on finding whoever this being is, Kata told her sarcastically, but there was a noticeable edge to her voice, almost as if she were saying it through gritted teeth.

“I hope so too,” Scarlet said with a small smirk on her face.

“Hear that invisicunt? We’ve got a plan now, that’s bad for you, very bad for you,” Ethan said with a smirk.

Humph, like any plan you’ll come up with will be smart enough to work against me.

“Well I’m one of, if not the, smartest ponies in Equestria,” Twilight said with a smile.

Well if you’re so smart, think your way out of this. Kata’s voice was low and menacing. Suddenly a low thunder echoed from the other side of the hallway. Remember that beast that was chasing you before? I certainly do.

An object, shrouded in shadow, floated towards them. The group gasped in shock and disgust as it came into view. A mass of ghoulified ponies, all compressed together in a gigantic, writhing, screaming ball of flesh floated towards them. Clouds of the deadly pink mist erupted from their mouths as it came closer.

“Release mental restraint, level one,” Twilight said in a clear voice as she looked up at the disgusting organic mass above their heads. Her mane and tail caught fire with a sudden whoosh as her coat turned white and a small smile appeared on her face.

End Chapter

Creatures and Conversations

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Creatures and Conversations

Thomas just stared at the mass of flesh. “This is worse than that giant bloatfly,” he muttered to himself.

“Meh. A Fat Man would be handy right now,” Aeron grunted.

“More than handy, Aeron,” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Any plans on taking this monstrosity down?” Scarlet asked, readying her anti-material rifle. “Other than shooting at it a lot.”

“I literally have nothing. This is the most fucked up thing I’ve seen. And I’ve seen some shit,” Aeron growled.

“Let Sparky handle it; just keep it distracted while she does her thing,” Ethan told them with a nod towards the flame wreathed unicorn who was eying the bloated mass of writhing flesh above their heads with a detached and thoughtful look.

“Yeah, put our full trust in the magic horse, that plan goes well every time,” Scarlet muttered.

“Well, she has managed to simultaneously throw two super mutant behemoths out of the Capitol Dome before, and then there was the bit with the zombie dragon, but now’s really not the time to be talking about that,” Ethan replied before he dodged to the side as a giant fleshy tentacle smashed into the ground where he’d been standing.

Scarlet also stepped to the side, calmly avoiding another crushing tentacle. “I don’t think throwing it really far will help.” Her rifle spat out a round, and one of the pony heads on the bloated mass exploded.

Suddenly, a thin stream of fire shot out of Twilight’s horn and slashed into the floating monstrosity, eliciting a scream of pain and a blast of the deadly pink gas, along with the disgusting smell of cooked flesh. The fire didn’t seem to have caused much damage, but there was a noticeable burn mark running up the side of the shifting pile of pony meat. A tentacle shot down towards the unicorn, but she vanished before it could hit her, reappearing several feet away.

Celestia’s spear then slashed down on the tentacle, cutting through it, and severing it from the main body. The creature swiftly withdrew its tentacles, letting out a nightmarish scream that was like the combined voices of an entire children’s choir being slowly dipped into a vat of acid.

“We just going to stand here, Aeron?” Dash asked curiously.

“Don’t see any reason to fight it. I don’t want to waste ammo, and you getting too close would be a catastrophe,” Aeron answered.

Twilight’s horn lit once more, and another thin stream of fire slashed over the monster, cutting a new line across its bulbous surface and causing it to roar in pain once more. However, the damage still seemed superficial at best.

“She’s gone and used Solar Wrath,” Thomas mumbled.

“What?” Ethan asked Thomas.

“Twilight, focus your magic into my spear,” Celestia said as she held her spear out towards the beast.

“Can’t, busy,” Twilight replied in a detached voice as her body teleported away from an incoming tentacle. Another stream of fire slashed out, hitting another part of the monster, and making it scream again.

“Twilight, your attacks are doing small amounts of damage. Trust me, focus your magic into the spear.” Celestia did a quick slice as she dodged a tentacle trying to smash into her.

“Sunny, let me concentrate, please. Splitting my mind into four parts to do this is hard enough without having to create a fifth one to talk to you,” Twilight replied coldly as she teleported around an incoming tentacle and responded to the the monster’s attack with another blast of fire.

“Then trust in your friends to help you in lifting that burden,” Celestia replied, “or have you forgotten everything that friendship can do?”

“I haven’t, but I’m doing something, Sunny. Why else would I be using these little streams of fire?” Twilight asked, her voice still detached.

“You’re getting him ready for a big blast to take him out at once,” she answered.

“Exactly. Now, hush,” Twilight told the alicorn as twin streams of fire erupted from her horn, severing four tentacles as they raced towards the rest of the group.

“Sister, I believe that she knows what she’s doing,” Luna told Celestia as she bashed a tentacle out of the way with her flail.

“I know, but I fear she won’t have the strength to do what she’s planning.”

“Trust her, Sunny. Twilight has a few surprises hidden up her sleeves, or actually under her armour, but you get the idea,” Ethan assured the alicorn as he sliced through one of the thinner tentacles with a slash of his sword before he rolled away from the cloud of pink that burst forth.

Scarlet hacked through a tentacle. “Yeah, Cele, this Twilight is definitely not the same one back on your world.”

“Personally, I thought the whole robotic eye thing would’ve tipped you off to that,” Ethan added with a chuckle as a tentacle slashed towards him, and he was forced to leap backwards to avoid it.

Twilight’s golden fire suddenly got much hotter, and she sent it sweeping out in a wave at the monster. The fire stretched over it, burning as much flesh as possible before quickly dying away. The creature screamed in rage and sent eight tentacles slashing down towards Twilight. The unicorn nimbly avoided the first two, teleported around the next two, and sliced through a third group of two with twin spears of flame. Unfortunately that left two tentacles that she hadn’t accounted for.

An arc of red fire flew by, and the tentacles dropped to the ground. Celestia had her spear pointed downwards, it’s tip cherry red with heat. “Are you ready?” she asked the unicorn.

“Oh yes, this fucker is dying,” Twilight replied with a quick nod. “How do I channal magic into the spear?”

“Think of your magic as a pitcher of water, and the spear as the glass that needs to be filled,” Celestia answered holding out her spear towards the creature.

Twilight nodded once, and then her horn began to glow with a blindingly bright light. A gem in the spear began to glow with the same light. A tentacle slashed out towards Twilight, but Ethan’s blade interrupted it, sening the detached tentacle crashing to the ground, releasing a cloud of pink and forcing Ethan to back up rapidly.

“Any time now, Sparky,” the man told her.

“Is the spear full?” Twilight asked Celestia.

“Yes, Twilight. Now think of what you want to do with your mind, and command it to do so.”

“What do I want to do?” Twilight asked rhetorically. “Ah yes, I remember now, BURN!” she shouted as she unleashed the pent up magical fire from within the spear. A lance of fire, the base of which was at least twenty feet wide, slashed out of the spear and blasted into the center of the abominable mass of flesh overhead.

The creature’s heads screamed as one as it’s center of mass simply evaporated, and every part of the creature that Twilight’s flame had touched before suddenly lit up as fire raced out from within it in a giant explosion of flame and dead flesh.

Twilight staggered forward and fell to her knees as her fur and mane returned to normal. “I’m going to go to sleep now. Wake me if we’re about to die,” she ordered before she fell to her side and began to snore.

“Want me to carry her?” Aeron asked Ethan, wiping some flesh from his armour.

“Nah, I got her; this isn’t the first time, and it’s probably not the last,” Ethan replied as he bent down to scoop up the unicorn. The armour that Twilight had been wearing fell away as he picked her up, revealing a small pair of wings.

Celestia’s eyes slightly widened when she saw that, but, she didn’t say anything.

“Are those wings?” Luna asked quietly.

“Wait, what the fuck?” Thomas asked in surprise.

“Yep; she got them a little while ago,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Fucking an alicorn has benefits.”

“Wow. If Twilight had wings back where I’m from, she’d be the best marefriend ever!” Dash grinned at the thought.

“I wouldn’t recommend trying what you’re thinking. The last time she and Sunny tried that they ended up crashing into a building, a classroom actually...” Ethan told the pegasus with a chuckle.

“What? Ew, no. That’s stupid. I meant stunt flying or visiting Cloudsdale, weirdo...” The pegasus rolled her eyes at the pervert.

“Whatever,” Scarlet said. “Let’s get out of here and find a place to rest.” Scarlet holstered her bag and rifle on her back.

“Er, um, yes, let’s go.” Thomas said as if his mind had suddenly been pulled out of a fantasy. Luna looked at him, but shook her head in disgust as she guessed where his mind had been.

“Yeah, we need to find someplace for Princess Sparky here to sleep safely,” Ethan said as he cradled the alicorn in his arms.

Oh darn, I was hoping that little beast would kill at least one of you, Kata’s voice bitterly said.

The group didn’t respond, instead they ignored the little girl.

Well the silent treatment huh? Fine I’ll play along, have a nice night. I need to get the next few rooms ready for your demise anyways.

A doorway opened in one of the walls and the group walked through it to find a very bland stone room waiting for them.

“Well, I’ll get dinner ready,” Scarlet said as she put down her bag.

“Thanks, Kathy,” Ethan told her with a nod as he sat down and rested Twilight’s head on his lap.

“Stop calling me that,” Scarlet said in a harsh tone. “Katherine is dead.”

“Oh, so you’re a zombie, I didn’t realize that. I guess it was all the healthy, living skin that was confusing me,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, well maybe I’ll show you her grave to settle your mind.”

“Hmm let’s see, you’re the Courier, and you’ve got a large weight on your conscience. You seem to have taken responsibility for the death of all of your family, yeah I’m guessing the Divide. Let me know if i’m wrong,” the man replied casually.

A baseball size fireball slammed into the ground next to Ethan, making his Pip-Boy click a little. Scarlet’s right hand was glowing in a sick green aura, but it faded away as she went back to getting their meal ready.

“And I’ve struck paydirt,” Ethan said with a nod. “I thought as much beforehand, but that definitely confirmed it.”

“And if you wish to be fed, I suggest you drop the subject.”

“Keep it going, Ethan. I’d like to see you get hurt,” Aeron laughed.

“You do realize that there was nothing that you could’ve done, right?” Ethan asked the woman.

Thomas was doing his best to not look at the group, but Luna was eying him worriedly.

“Ethan, I advise you follow Scarlet’s warning. Anger increases the power of tainted magic, even if she doesn’t have much radiation flowing in her to power a spell,” Celestia told the man.

“She’s got to stop running from it sooner or later,” Ethan replied with a somber look.

“Ethan, you don’t get it, do you?” Aeron looked over at Ethan with a plain expression. “Some people don’t want to give up their past. I wouldn’t want to either if some idiot kept asking me about it.”

“I’m not asking her to give it up; far from it, actually,” the man replied calmly.

“Either way, stop asking about it. You’re worse than a horny deathclaw. And I’ve seen that shit happen; poor girl,” Aeron said with a scowl.

“No, how about this, after dinner Scarlet and I will have a little sparring match. If I win then she starts talking about her past, if she wins, I’ll shut up,” Ethan said. “Sunny, would you mind providing the spells to keep our blades from actually cutting each other?” he asked, turning to Celestia.

“I can on yours, but Scarlet would just shatter the one on hers.”

“That’s fine by me,” Scarlet said. “Or I could use your spear Cele, I know I can’t affect spells on that.”

“Works either way for me, I’m hard to kill,” Ethan said with a shrug

“I swear, you people are all brutes and no brains. I’m surprised Scarlet even came up with a good plan,” Aeron remarked as he smacked his forehead on a nearby wall.

“Says the man too concerned about his ammunition to actually help fight,” Twilight suddenly said from Ethan’s lap.

“Unlike you, Twilight, I know how to reserve ammunition. It’s not a damn commodity out in the Wasteland and I don’t need four hundred bullets to kill a super mutant. Takes one shot to kill something,” Aeron grunted, turning around to face her.

“You must be doing something wrong. Ethan’s house is full of ammo,” Twilight replied with a yawn as her magic reached out to grab a portion of the MRE to munch on.

“Doing something wrong? I’m doing something right if I don’t need to stockpile billions of bullets. That shit weighs you down after a while, too,” Aeron retorted. “Unlike Ethan the idiot over here, I can’t carry four hundred Mini-Nukes. Those are three pounds each.”

“Why would you carry around Mini-Nukes in the first place?” Ethan asked. “Fat Men are rare enough as it is, and I only use one occasionally when I want to destroy an army or something,” he added.

“You two done comparing dicks over there?” Scarlet asked.

“Why bother comparing them? I’m obviously bigger,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“What’s with you people and the size of my penis? Honestly, I’m done talking for tonight. I feel stupider each time I even face any of you.” Aeron grunted as he sat down. “Seriously, have any of you figured out anything from living in the Wastes? Or is it a joke to you? I’m surprised you haven’t counted your ammo since we finished fighting random shit.”

“32 rounds of normal, 30 AP, and 12 explosive rounds for my AMR, and five clips of 13 rounds for Maria,” Scarlet answered. “And yes, I learned a lot from the Wastes, hence the name Scarlet and the reason why I wear this Desert Ranger armour.”

“How about we just eat in silence?” Thomas asked. “I’m getting fucking sick of all this arguing.”

“I’m not hungry,” Aeron said as he laid down, skipping out on yet another meal.

“You have to eat sooner or later, Aeron.” Dash looked at him worriedly.

“Nope. Living off of little to no food helps me ration. You guys can take mine, if you wish.” He yawned, closing his eyes.

“So... as much as we may dislike each other, we’re all in agreeance that he’s a prick, right?” Ethan asked the group. “No offence, Dash,” he added.

“Shut up, Ethan. You’ll never understand him like I do,” Dash retorted.

“Yeah, Vault Boy, I’m getting tired of your name calling,” Scarlet added. “I actually respect Aeron, for your information.”

“I don’t see why, he hasn’t done much since we got here,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Want to know what I’ve been doing, Ethan?” Aeron sat up again. “I’ve been planning. Planning on what the fuck we’re going to do. I’ve been observing how you idiots act, and seeing which one of you has any sense of intelligence. Don’t assume I’ve been doing nothing, because I’m being tactical. It’s warfare, not a fucking riot.”

“Now was that so hard?” Ethan asked with a smirk.

“Ethan, how do you look at yourself sometimes?” Aeron questioned. “You think you’re such a God-damned saint. Honestly, you belittle everyone here, and Twilight backs you up. You two have been nothing but a headache.”

“Me, a saint?” Ethan asked with a chuckle. “No, I’m no saint, Aeron, trust me on that. As for belittling everyone, I look at it as more of a way to see how everyone ticks. Makes it simpler to understand how people act if you put them under pressure when it doesn’t matter. I’m sure you know what that’s like.”

“I do know what it’s like, but the pressure I’ve faced is so unbearable that you couldn’t compare to it. Don’t try to one-up me on this, because I’m not going to bother explaining it to you.” Aeron went back to laying on the ground, Dash moved over to his side and snuggled up next to his form.

“I wasn’t going to ask, actually,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Ethan, who’s going with who during our watches?” Dash asked, changing the topic.

“I’ll take the first with whoever wants it,” Ethan said with a shrug

“I’ll do it,” Celestia offered.

“Good.” Ethan nodded. “Who’s next?’

“I’ll do it,” Thomas said.

“I’ll join you, Thomas,” Twilight said with a nod. “Just let me sleep for now, though; magic like what I was throwing around earlier is tiring as all hell,” she said before she curled up next to Ethan.

“I’ll go with whoever, I guess,” the pegasus spoke tiredly.

“I guess that’s my watch,” Scarlet said as she settled down on the ground with her back against the wall.

“So that leaves me with Aeron,” Luna said with a nod towards the sleeping man.

“Yeah, you’re stuck with the ‘jolly old saint prick’,” Aeron announced with a quiet yawn as he opened his eyes slightly.

“Okay, so, two hour watches sound good to you guys?” Ethan asked.

“If you don’t lose your mind ,Vault Boy, sure,” Scarlet muttered before going off to sleep.

“Lose? I’ve already lost it,” Ethan said good-naturedly.

“Just let us sleep,” Thomas said tiredly as he leaned into Luna’s back, making sure to avoid her mane and tail.

Ethan sat next to Celestia as he leaned back against the wall of the room. One of his arms was idly sitting across the alicorn’s back, much to her annoyance, while his hands were occupied with cleaning his sword.

“You know, I’m still surprised that I got this sword,” Ethan said, breaking the silence.

Celestia glanced at the sword. “Why? Do you have the tendency to lose it in your battles?”

“No, it’s just that it’s from a dragon’s hoard. I still don’t know why Jonathan let me take it,” the man replied with a chuckle.

“Ah, I understand. Dragons rarely give up anything that’s from their hoard. That sword must be enchanted by ancient Equestrian magic for a dragon to have it.”

“Yeah, it can deflect magic, any magic, and never breaks or gets dull. I guess that’s why Sunny wanted it so much,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“Your Celestia doesn’t have a weapon of her own?”

“Yes, she’s got a sword of her own, but she really wanted this one,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“I see, she was jealous.” Celestia’s own spear slowly began to rotate.

“Not exactly jealous, it’s mostly because Jonathan nabbed it right out from under her nose. I guess Nastallion used it against her, and she spent the next few centuries worrying about someone else getting a hold of it and using it against her again,” Ethan mused idly.

“Well, I never have to worry about that. My spear doesn’t allow anyone else to bear it, either severely burning their hooves or sending a magical backlash. In a way it acts much like your sword, but with some differences.”

“Then how did Sparky use it earlier?” Ethan asked curiously.

“I was still holding the spear, Twilight just fed power into it with my permission.”

“So where did you get it?” Ethan inquired as he looked at the spear.

“For the truth, I don’t know. All I know is that it wasn’t made by a pony or anyone else in Equestria. In fact, the spear and its shield counterpart is the reason I’m an alicorn and not an earth pony anymore.”

“Really?” Ethan asked in surprise.

“Yes, my sister and I were walking through a forest, and she stumbled down a ditch. I ran after her, and when I got down there we were in front of some sort of ruined temple. I didn’t want to go into it, but Luna, being always the adventures sort, ran into the temple. I hastily ran after her, trying to make sure she wouldn’t get herself hurt.” Celestia stopped for a moment before starting again.

“Not far into building, she found two pedestals. One had a dark, obsidian color greatsword, and the other had a shield and this spear. My sister immediately went towards the greatsword, but something happened. Shadows began to engulf her, and I ran towards her to save her, but then ropes made out of light shot forth from the spear and ensnared me. I don’t know what happened next. I passed out, and both of us woke up confused and disoriented. I saw Luna gain a pair of wings, and shortly thereafter I noticed that I gained both a horn on my forehead, and a set of wings on my back. In front of us were the weapons laid out on the ground and we were back on the road we had been walking on.”

“Wow, that’s a lot more interesting then what happened to Sparky,” Ethan told her with a thoughtful nod.

Celestia remained silent. “So how did she take it when she became an alicorn?”

“Well I was in the room next to where she and Sunny were ‘sleeping’ and it was a little before dawn. Suddenly, I heard Sparky start screaming, and not the fun kind of screaming that she’d been doing earlier. So I leapt out of bed, stark naked, and ran into the room to find Sparky standing on the bed freaking out while Sunny tried to calm her down. It took about an hour to do that, and then Luna came in and asked if she’d missed the orgy,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

Celestia shook her head in disbelief. “You’re right, my story was a bit more interesting.” She laid down her spear on the ground and let go of her magical grip on it. She then closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, before slowly releasing it. Her floating mane began to sink, and lost it’s multi-colored look as it slowly turned bright pink. “Much better,” she said to herself.

“Wait, your hair’s naturally pink?” Ethan asked in confusion.

“Yes, before Luna and I found the Elements of Harmony, our mane style stayed the same when we became alicorns.”

“Heh, I don’t think that I’ve ever seen my Sunny’s mane like that, I wonder if it’s the same...” Ethan said before he trailed off.

“This only happens when my magic is strained to it’s limits, and I’ve been using it nonstop since I got here. Better to recover now, before I burn out when the time is critical.”

“Makes sense,” Ethan agreed with a nod before he changed topics. “Sunny, do you consider yourself a good judge of character?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

“Well then, what do you think of me?”

Celestia turned her head so her eyes were staring into Ethan’s. “You’ve been through many trials, some of which have left heavy scars in your heart. You hide those scars with laughter, saying they’re nothing. While you let many of your problems go, some still trouble your mind. You still wonder if many of your choices were the right ones, and if there was another way in solving them. In all, a person with a troubled soul but a noble heart.”

“So... do you think I’m a good person?” he asked her softly.

“The question is, do you think that? An Old Man told me one can have the intentions to be good, but can end up evil. One can be evil, but end up good.”

“That sounds like one smart old bastard,” Ethan told her with a small chuckle as he began to press buttons on his Pip-Boy, stopping on a picture of a woman with two children standing in front of a very tall building. One boy, and one girl. The girl was punching the boy in the shoulder and the boy was shooting her a glare; the mother seemed to be shaking her head in mock despair at the pair’s antics.

“Yes, he was,” Celestia said before she saw the picture on Ethan’s Pip-Boy. “Your family?”

“Yep, they keep me going,” the man said with a chuckle.

“Family, they’re there to help lift the heavy burdens of life.” Celestia then glanced towards Scarlet.

“She reminds me so much of my wife,” Ethan said, catching Celestia’s glance. “Before she went to the Divide and made peace with it, or as much of a peace as she could anyways,” he added with a slight shake of his head.

“Would you mind to tell me what happened in this Divide? Scarlet wouldn’t go too deep in explaining it to me.”

“I can’t tell you what happened to Katherine over there, but I can tell you what happened with Cassandra,” Ethan replied, looking to the alicorn for confirmation.

“Anything to help Scarlet...Katherine ease the pain in her heart.”

“It’s a long story, but I’ll try and shorten it as much as I can without losing details,” Ethan told her before he took a breath. “The Divide was the best chance that humanity had of pulling its act together. The people really believed that if they worked hard enough then they could change the world, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and that it’s common enough in Equestria, but in the Wasteland that’s a rare commodity. To find an entire region of people like that is... well it’s next to impossible. The fact that there wasn’t very much radiation, and that the bombs hadn’t landed anywhere near it helped of course. Cassandra was the woman who found it for the NCR, and introduced the two nations,” Ethan stopped for a second to gather his thoughts.

Things were going well for her, she’d found a place where there was hope, hope for a better tomorrow, hope that things could change. And then she delivered what she thought was a simple package, and the entire place exploded in a nuclear firestorm the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the Great War. It split the ground and turned the once lush landscape into a barren wasteland. The people who escaped the initial blast were either turned into horrifying ghouls full of an insatiable hunger for revenge, or they were eaten by the Tunnelers and deathclaws. And it was all her fault,” Ethan finished grimly.

Sorrow filled Celestia eyes. “That’s...that’s devastating.” She looked back at Scarlet.

“Yeah, it ate away at Cassie until she went back and settled it, with the help of a tough old bastard named Ulysses,” Ethan replied.

“Then something must still be eating at her. For Scarlet keeps going back there in her dreams.”

“Which is why I keep forcing her to think about it. If Cassie hadn’t gone back... Well I think that she would’ve eventually killed herself,” he said with a shake of his head.

“I don’t see Scarlet doing that anytime soon. There’s something in her world she still holds on to, though she never shows what it is.”

“I’d be willing to bet you this sword that it’s someone she loved, someone named Jason if what I heard last night when she was talking to Twilight is correct,” Ethan told her.

“Hmm, maybe. Thank you, Ethan. If you would, allow me to talk to Scarlet about this.”

“I’m just doing my job, Sunny, keeping people around me safe while being as irritating as humanly possible,” Ethan told her with a smirk. “ Oh, and Sunny, call her Katherine, trust me, it’ll help,” he added solemnly.

“When the time is right, I will. Now I think we should wake Thomas and Twilight for their shift.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” Ethan said with a nod as he rose to his feet.

Thomas eyed the little alicorn warily. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” Twilight asked curiously as she suppressed a yawn.

“Burst into flames. The only other time I’ve seen that is with the Knights, and they needed their armour and a pass phrase.”

“Oh, well there are certain perks to being an alicorn,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Although it happened once or twice before when I was under pressure or when someone that I cared about was in danger,” Twilight explained.

“And that’s another thing. Those wings.” Thomas resisted the urge to reach out and stroke them. “There’s only three where I come from, and last I checked Cadance wasn’t exactly that powerful compared to Celestia or Luna.”

Twilight stretched out one of her wings for the man to stroke before replying. “Apparently, Tia was going to make me an alicorn eventually anyways, but once we started seeing each other... Well, Tia wanted me to stay fairly young looking for the next hundred years or so, so she changed me earlier than she’d originally planned to,” the alicorn replied. “As for Cadance, well she is an alicorn, but an alicorn’s power depends on how powerful of a unicorn they were beforehand. Cadance is great with emotions, probably the best actually, but when you compare us magically pound for pound, I far outweigh her.”

“The Cadance I met was born that way, wings and horn,” Thomas replied. “And Shiny was more powerful than you with his armour on.”

“I think I’m explaining this badly...” Twilight said before she stopped for a second. “My Cadance was born an alicorn too, but her specialty lies in emotions, my being a unicorn who was magically gifted transferred when I became an alicorn. Sorry, I haven’t had to explain this type of thing before,” Twilight apologized.

“So you were always more powerful?” he asked. Twilight nodded. “Ah, makes sense. You’d be terrifying in a suit of Knight armour.”

“You’ve mentioned that before; what exactly is it?” Twilight asked curiously as she turned her robotic eye on the man. “I mean I know you said that it amplifies the power of the unicorn wearing it, but that doesn’t tell me the how part.”

“Do I look like I know anything about magic?”

“To be honest no, no offence, but if it makes unicorns as strong as you seem to think that it does, then even the basic idea behind it could lead to an entirely new way of making armour,” Twilight replied with an eager grin at the thought of learning something new.

Thomas sighed. “I remember Clarion Call mentioning something about it acting as an amplifier. Coupled with the shock-absorbing spells and the weight-reduction one, it was probably more protective than that suit of T-51b Veronica was wearing.”

“YOU MADE MAGICAL POWER ARMOUR?!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly as she jumped to her hooves. “That innovation would solve so many problems for the Guard and Equestria in general! In fact, if I could recreate it then I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a new suit of armour every few days after it inevitably gets destroyed!” she said with a grin.

“Heh, good luck. Shiny was the head of the project, and it took them three months to figure it out.”

“Wait, my brother invented it?” Twilight asked in surprise. “I mean Shiny’s not stupid, not by a long shot, but I’ve never thought of him as technically skilled enough to pull that kind of thing off,” Twilight said with a slight frown.

“He was head of the project, that means he probably just said what he wanted and made sure it happened. Probably provided the funding too,” Thomas added

“That sounds like him,” Twilight said with a nod and a small loving smile. “He might not know how to do something, but he can sure as hell make people that do, do it. Even if it hasn’t been done before.”

“The reason he had it made wasn’t exactly noble, though.”

“Oh, what was it?” Twilight asked.

“I guess your brother’s wedding was nearly ruined by Changelings too?” When the mare nodded, he continued. “Well, he took it hard; wanted revenge. When something of mine got stolen by the Changelings, he only saw a chance. Had to put a bullet in his leg to get him to see reason.”

“My Shining probably would’ve done something similar, if it wasn’t for the sex curse anyways...” Twilight said before trailing off.

“I don’t wanna know,” Thomas muttered. “The armour and the Knights were a good thing, though. Kinda accidentally started a war when I was there the first time.”

“How bad was it?” Twilight asked the man.

“Griffons got involved, at least three hundred dead ponies, Diamond Dog leadership was destroyed. Lost a Knight too.” Thomas sighed. “Wasn’t as bad as Hoover Dam though.”

“That’s a lot of dead ponies,” Twilight said sadly before she shook her head and quickly changed the subject. “I’ve heard about the Hoover Dam, or at least Cassandra’s version of it anyways,” Twilight said with a nod. “She said it wasn’t too bad in the end.”

“A thousand dead troopers, about fifty dead Paladins, over ten thousand dead legionnaires, and to top it all off, half the generators on the Legion half of the dam got heavily damaged in the fighting.”

Twilight let out a low whistle. “That’s an impressively high number, Thomas, although the Kill Death Ratio seems to have been good for your troopers at least,” she said sympathetically.

“I’d killed Caesar and put down at least eighty of his soldiers myself before the battle even started. And that’s a thousand families who’ll never see their loved ones again.” He sighed sadly. “You just can’t win.”

Twilight draped one of her, admittedly short, wings around the man and pulled herself closer to him. “That’s the Wasteland, Thomas; you do what you can because you have to, and if you don’t then you and the people you care about die,” she said with a sad nod of her head. “And even then, people still die and you’re left there picking up the pieces.”

“I’m sick of doing that. I... I just want it to stop. I didn’t want to take part in their damn war, but I got dragged in. I tried to do my best, but... it wasn’t enough.”

“Thomas, if you’re sick of it then leave. Take the people you care about with you, and then forget about the rest,” Twilight told him. “Of course, you’re not going to do that, so there’s nothing you can do except keep fighting,” she added.

“I am this close to alcoholism,” he said angrily, holding his thumb and forefinger a hairbreadth apart. “I have to put up with so much crap every fucking day. Boone rejoined 1st Recon, Veronica went east with the Wanderer, Arcade’s too busy helping the Followers, Raul’s defending towns, Rex is with the King, I don’t even know where ED-E is, Cass is running a caravan company, and last I heard, Lily disappeared from Jacobstown. All the people I care about are either too busy, or they left.”

“All of them, Thomas?” Twilight asked as she eyed him critically.

“Why do you think I sleep around so much? It helps. Keeps away the pain, but it’s not enough anymore. Last week I was staring down the barrel of my own fucking gun!” he yelled. “I... I’ve had enough,” he muttered sadly.

“Thomas, I think that you’re forgetting about someone, or somepony actually. And if you can’t see it then you’re fucking blind,” Twilight said.

“I want to stay in Equestria, I do. But the NCR will tear Vegas apart with their stupid politics. I have to stay there. Their well-being is more important than mine,” he finished, looking at the ground. Twilight let out a sigh.

“Thomas, you’re missing the point, or you’re doing that thing that Ethan does sometimes when he doesn’t want to talk about something,” she told him with a slightly annoyed look. “Ask Luna for help,” she said slowly.

“She has enough demons to deal with. She doesn’t need me adding to it all.”

“And I suppose that you committing suicide and her never seeing you again would certainly help her fight those demons,” Twilight said flatly.

“So, what? Just leave everything I’ve tried to do for the people of Vegas?” he asked angrily.

“Why are they separate ideas?” Twilight asked him. “Ask Luna for help dealing with Vegas and the NCR. If nothing else, she’s at least a thousand years older than you and her political advice would be invaluable. She might even have enough spare ponies to help you with some of the more dangerous parts of your job. Trust me, the people of the Wasteland take magical ponies surprisingly well once they get used to them.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do. I don’t need help with this,” he growled.

Over the years Twilight had learned many things from Ethan. Tact wasn’t one of them. “Says the near alcoholic who’s considering suicide as he drowns under the pressure of a job too big for one man to handle alone,” Twilight told him.

“Fine, you’re right, I need help,” he replied angrily. “But am I likely to get it? That’s why I haven’t asked.”

“How can you possibly think that Luna, or hell Celestia, would deny you help?” Twilight asked a little angrily. “They’re the most compassionate ponies in Equestria, and if you explain things to them I’m sure they’d be more than happy to give you help! Hell, I’m sure that most ponies would volunteer, let alone those two!” she exclaimed.

“Celestia wants practically nothing to do with me. Because of me, ponies died. She tolerates me, and she only does it because Luna likes me.”

“Well then once we get out of here I’ll have to meet this Celestia of yours, and kick her flank across the floor for being such an inconsiderate bitch,” Twilight told the man with a chuckle.

“Good luck with that,” he muttered darkly. “She may put on a smiling, gentle face for everyone, but I’ve seen her mad.”

Twilight sighed. “Look Thomas, I was kidding. It would probably break several dozen laws of the universe, most of which I still haven’t finished memorizing since I got these wings,” she said with a shake of her head. “Regardless, that still leaves Luna, and I know that you said that she’s busy, but do you really think that she’d deny you help if you asked?”

“I don’t know, okay? And I don’t want to push my problems onto her.”

“Thomas, I can’t tell you what to do, I’ve been doing too much of that since I got these wings anyways, but I can tell you this. That alicorn lying on the ground over there cares very deeply about you. It might not be love yet, and if you keep acting like you are now then it never will be, but at the moment she’d do almost anything to keep you safe and happy,” Twilight told him softly, before she added, “Goddesses, I’m getting preachy...”

“Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know if it’s really love or something else. Still...” Thomas sighed. “I’ll talk to her about it. See what she says.”

“Don’t wait too long, Thomas; you never know when one of you could die, especially in a fucked up place like this,” Twilight told him.

The pair sat in silence for a while longer, until Thomas began to chuckle. “God damn it,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

“Hmm?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I was always trying to help the people I travelled with, and here I am getting that help myself.”

“Heh, well I guess when you’re always looking for others to help, it’s hard to realise when you need help yourself,” Twilight told him with a slight chuckle and a smile before she yawned loudly. “Let’s go wake up the next shift, I’m tired as hell.”

Scarlet had her back on a the wall, looking at the work she was doing with her hands. In one hand she held her gladius, all clean of blood from the ghoul monster. In her other hand a sharpening stone was being ground across sideways on the edge of the gladius, making a scraping noise that bounced around in the room.

“Whatcha doing?” Rainbow yawned, sitting down on her haunches next to Scarlet.

Scarlet gave a deadpan look at the pegasus. “I’m making sure my blade doesn’t run dull. I thought that was pretty obvious.”

“Sheesh. Making casual conversation.” The pegasus rolled her eyes. “How’s life?”

“Hard and harsh.”

“In what way? The fact we’re stuck here, or because of whatever you did beforehand?” Dash asked.

“In general. Life is always hard harsh no matter what you do. The only thing you can do is keeping pushing to live another day. Which I’ve been doing ever since I ran away from home.”

“Yeah...” Dash rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. “Why’d you run away?”

“Have a mother who didn’t care about if you live or die, and have no father figure for thirteen years, you’d get sick of home too.”

“I don’t know that feeling too much. My parents always loved me... Even if I was a brat sometimes.” Dash giggled softly, but, quickly stopped herself.

“That’s because your mother wasn’t a whore, and your father wasn’t just a one time thing with her. I was an accident in her life.”

“How would you be an accident? Isn’t having a foa— err, a child a good thing?” The pegasus raised a brow.

Scarlet stopped sharpening her blade, and a dark shadow covered her face. “You would think that, but only more pain comes with it...” She lifted her face out of the shadows and resumed sharpening her blade. “Besides, my mother wasn’t the kind of woman who wanted a family anyways. All she cared about was sex, drugs, alcohol, and caps.”

“That sounds awful. I’d leave too if I lived in those conditions...” Rainbow Dash’s ears folded down for a moment, before she looked back over at Scarlet. “What about now, though?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t checked in on her since I left. Though I doubt she cares. Probably thought I died the moment I disappeared in her life.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “I don’t understand... I guess it’s different being surrounded by ‘sunshine and rainbows’, as Aeron calls it.”

“Yeah, saw that a bit when I was in your world. Though I don’t hold it against you. Celestia worked extremely hard to keep it like that, and you’ve eaten and gotten used to the fruit of her hard labor.”

“Well, I send friendship reports to Celestia, at least. Update her and stuff... I think when this is all over, if it ever is, I’m going to talk to her again.” Dash smiled softly. “I still remember when she watched my second Sonic Rainboom. Was the best day of my life. Well, second best.”

“Sonic Rainboom?” Scarlet asked as the unfamiliar term rattled in her brain .

“It was said to be a legend. It’s just an explosion of colours that’s caused by reaching mach speeds. Only few Pegasi performed it, and I’m glad to be one of them.” Dash smiled brightly. “I did it when I was a filly, then again when I was a bit older after I’d met Twilight and the girls. Then Twilight’s brother got married, and I did it a third time! It was awesome.”

The laws of physics were screaming blasphemy in Scarlet’s head. “Well, that sounds interesting to see. Too bad my version of Dash didn’t do one when I was in Equestria.”

“Sucks. It’s really awesome! I’d do it here, but, y’know... impossible with this place. Who knows what’s up in that darkness?” The pegasus shivered slightly.

“Yeah...” Scarlet said as she craned her head up, stretching some sore muscles. “So, what’s your story with Aeron?”

“In general? Or do you have a specific question?” Dash responded.

“In general. Not asking much; I’m not like Vault Boy over there who wants to know everything about you.” She said the last part with a hard tone in her voice.

“Well... he’s... he’s something. Really something. I mean...” Dash stopped for a moment, to think of the right words, “Well... to be blunt, he’s stupid and smart. Not egghead smart, but he holds these really weird standards and plans that just work. He’s also stupid because he’d rather die than waste ammo, too. But, like...”

Dash sighed for a moment. “He’s my ‘hero’ for lack of a better word. He could have left me for dead, to be raped, killed, raped again and then eaten by raiders, but instead, he saved my life. He brought me on an adventure through the Wasteland - Dunwich building, Point Lookout, a vault or two - and got me home. In return, I left a little present. I did a Sonic Rainboom for him. I think that was the first time the skies were blue.” Dash smiled softly, before it faded.

“Well, that’s quite an adventure. You two must’ve become close friends near the end of it.”

“I’m still not sure... He considers me as a ‘companion’, but I’ve never heard him call me a ‘friend’. He only had one friend, and even that I’m still fuzzy about. He only explained it to me briefly.” Dash sighed.

“As Celestia would’ve stated, you two might have never stated that you’ve became friends but something did form between you two, which is plain to everyone who looks closely at the interaction between the two of you. But I won’t bother you too much on that subject.” Scarlet put the sharpening stone away in her bag and strapped her gladius back on her side.

“I think you’re right... I feel like I should just approach Aeron about this. I consider him a friend - a trusted friend. We’ve been through a lot together. I had his back and he had mine...” Dash smiled again, brushing a hoof through her mane. “Heck, I even remember the first time he realized I could move and sit on clouds. It was easier to snipe that way, too. Well, once I got a better scope.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to get a good scope for this rifle,” Scarlet said as she placed a hand on her AMR. She then gave an admiring glance at Dash. “So you’ve sniped huh? Figures, flying at fast speeds must’ve given you some sharp eyes.”

“Yeah, I could see quite a lot from far away. Aeron was surprised when I took out a super mutant from... what was it...? 1,400 yards? Yeah.” Dash smiled, looking over Scarlet’s rifle.

“What kind of rifle is that? I never saw one like it when I was in the Wastes,” she questioned.

Scarlet picked up the rifle to give the pegasus a better look at it. “This here is an anti-material rifle. It fires a fifty caliber bullet at a range of about 2,000 yards, though with the scope I have only about 600 yards for an accurate shot. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have found it out East. Maybe the Old World only distributed it to military bases on the West Coast. Still, this is one rifle that you don’t want to find yourself at the end of its barrel.” A smirk formed on Scarlet’s lips. “There are many headless people and creatures out in the Wasteland because of this gun.”

“Too bad I can’t use it. Aeron made my sniper himself. Well... he adjusted it accordingly. I’d have to agree with you on the Old World thing. Maybe the West Coast received them due to the invasion from the West. That’s what Aeron would say, anyways.” Dash shrugged, still admiring the rifle.

“Probably, after all that’s where China was anyways.” Scarlet put the rifle back down on the ground and stood up, stretching her arms up and slightly arching her back.

“Hrm... I wonder what Twilight is doing right now...” Dash put her face into her hooves, sighing deeply.

Scarlet eyes widened slightly. “Wow... am I the only woman who doesn't swing that way? No offence.”

“Heh... I guess. I don’t know, I just didn’t like stallions much. I just can’t imagine how worried Twilight is... seeing as I’m gone... again... a month after returning home.” The pegasus started smacking her head on the floor in despair.

“Hey, at least you’ll still have her no matter how long you two remain apart. Keep on fighting and you’ll see her again.”

Dash took in a breath, trying not to panic too much. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s probably worried like hell, but I know we’ll see each other soon enough.”

A cute sentiment. If a bit stupid. Kata’s voice rang nearby.

Scarlet ignored Kata’s voice. “How about we get the last shift going, and get some sleep for the last few hours?”

“Good idea. Who’s turn? Luna and Aeron’s?” Dash asked, standing up.

“Yep, I’m guessing you’re good at getting Aeron up. I’ll get Luna up since her magic can’t harm me.” Scarlet picked up her things and began to head towards Luna.

Dash made her way to Aeron, gently shaking him. He woke up in a flash, glaring at her for a moment, then sighed in relief. “Your turn, Aeron.” He nodded to her, and stood up, stretching his arms.

Scarlet, on the other hand, grabbed the front part of Luna’s mane and gave a hard yank. Her Pip-Boy clicking like crazy.

Luna instantly woke up and glared harshly at Scarlet. “What purpose did that serve?” she asked angrily.

“That was for bashing my head against a table. Though I still owe you for saving my life.” Scarlet walked away and sat down next to Celestia, bowing her head with closed eyes.

Aeron was sitting down, looking over his rifle and removing the bullets from each of the magazines, counting them out individually. Silence crept over him as he ignored Luna during this time.

“Is this how the night will progress?” she asked. “Complete silence?”

“What’s the point of talking when everyone here is dense?” Aeron muttered, silently counting.

“Insensitive, yes, foolish, definitely in some cases, but dense?” Luna asked, shooting the man a look. “You fail to give them the credit they deserve.”

“Credit? Fine, I’ll give Scarlet credit for being clever. You, credit for not being stupid. Dash, credit for being a good companion. Everyone else? No,” Aeron grunted.

“Is that so? Ethan and Thomas are capable warriors, as are Celestia and Twilight. After all, that mare disposed of that abomination all by herself. And is that all Rainbow Dash is to you, a ‘companion’, as you put it?”

“They use brute strength to overwhelm something. That alone will get them killed one day. On top of that, they spend their time talking about the stupidest shit. No one likes Ethan’s prying, Thomas is busy getting an erection, and the others? Well, y’know.” Aeron sighed.

“While I will concede to both Ethan’s lack of tact and Thomas’s... promiscuity,” Luna said that word uncomfortably, “I feel I must defend Thomas. He is quite capable of being underhanded and cunning, skilled in subterfuge and stealth. He just hasn’t had an opportunity to display such skills.”

“Whatever the case may be, he hasn’t shown it. As for Dash... she still hasn’t earned the right of being called a ‘friend’, as you would call it.” Aeron sighed.

“There are criteria for such a thing?” Luna asked amusedly. “Pray tell, what are they?”

“Efficiency, trust, loyalty, studiousness, and skill in combat,” Aeron stated simply.

“Well from what I can say of the Rainbow Dash from my world, she is most of those things. If she applied herself she could easily be a formidable warrior. I see no reason for her to be any different,” she said, casting an eye to the sleeping pegasus.

“You just don’t get it. You really don’t.” Aeron started to push the rounds back into their magazines and reloaded a full one into his assault rifle.

“Perhaps I don’t, but I could easily say the same for you. You value people as tools, which is all well and good until a point.” Luna drew herself up and stood up to stretch her legs. "If you treat them as a tool, they will likely do something to make you regret doing such a thing.”

“Aren’t friends just people who ‘help’ you anyways? What’s the difference if I bother calling her a friend over a companion? It’s not that big of a deal. Had this same talk with Celestia,” Aeron grumbled.

“Because friends enrich your life. Surely you cannot deny that Rainbow Dash did that?”

“She did change a lot back in the Wastes. I’ll give her that. For once after years of green, irradiated skies, and nothing but smoke - it was clear.” Aeron smiled at the thought - a gentle smile.

“Then wouldn’t it be right to call her a friend?” Luna asked, smiling at him.

“It’s just...” Aeron sighed. “I’ve been alone all my life. The only real ‘friend’ I’ve had was a girl named Amata. We did just about everything together when I grew up in a vault. If she needed help, I’d help her. Vice versa. She showed every aspect of what I believe to be a friend. I don’t want to admit Rainbow Dash is my friend... mostly...” Aeron stopped, not speaking another word.

“You are afraid that by doing so you will dishonour Amata?”

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I can’t.” Aeron brushed some dirt off of his armour. “And don’t tell Ethan about this, either. Kid picks his nose too much as is.”

“I am quite capable of keeping a secret, if that is what you want. At least you had the benefit of a friend in your youth.”

Aeron nodded. “Yeah... but I feel like talking about the others right now. Mostly Thomas.”

Luna sighed. “What of him? He has secrets that I have promised to keep, so don’t be surprised if I refuse to answer a question.”

“I’ve been watching everyone here. You two are the most bi—” He stopped, thinking of Ethan for a moment. “Okay, second most bizarre pair. Anyways, I’ve been watching and he looks at you in an... odd manner.”

“After you have shared a bed with someone, it is hard to look at them as you once did,” Luna answered.

“Well that’s fucking weird,” Aeron stated bluntly. “I mean, I’ve heard of fucked up shit, but, that’s really topping it.”

“In your world, maybe, but in Equestria interspecies relations are just something that happens. The only reason anything happened between Thomas and I was due to alcohol. At the time I had no feelings for him, except as a friend.”

“Sheesh. How is Thomas in the sack, then? Please you well enough?” Aeron joked.

“He is quite well-endowed,” Luna responded, smiling slightly.

“Well, I’m not a man to care for women - or men - much, but I guess that’s good.” Aeron smiled slightly before continuing. “How is he in the ‘planning’ department? He hasn’t done much here, to be honest.”

“Like I said, he has had little opportunity. Give him half an hour, a list of your resources and access to what he might need and he can find a way to bring death to over a hundred in a matter of seconds.” Luna nodded as she remembered that. “Failing that, he will fall back to simply killing whatever he must to get the job done.”

“Hrm. Simplistic, but at least he accounts for resources.” Aeron gave a nod of approval.“He’s talked— Well, I overheard him talking about it... Anyways, he’s talked about New Vegas a lot. How does he run that? Do you know?”

“Quite simply, he doesn’t,” the alicorn stated. “He gave most of the governing power to the New California Republic. He instead acts as a spokesman and occasional vigilante for the people of the city.”

“New California Republic? Elaborate.” Aeron folded his hands in front of him.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know much myself. What I do know is that they are simply the biggest post-War civilisation, according to Thomas.”

“Hmm...” Aeron tapped his chin for a moment. “Wonder if they exist in my ‘universe’? Would be interesting to see how they operate. What else does Thomas provide for his region?”

“He runs one of the casinos that his city is famous for; the Lucky 38, I think,” Luna responded. “Other than that, he hasn’t been very forthcoming with information.”

“So, you have nothing on the subject of his little ‘nation’ going on?” He raised a brow.

“Other than fragments of a plan to take over should the Republic overstep the bounds of rational thinking, no.”

“Well, perhaps I should discuss it next night with him. I’d like to know more about it, personally.” Aeron smiled softly and stretched his arms. “So, we talked a bit about you two fooling around, but how close are you? Combat wise and ... ‘friendship’ wise.”

“In terms of combat, we are quite different. He prefers to take a cautious approach, removing himself from close quarters situations if he can. I prefer to be as close as possible. It’s only polite to let whomever you’re fighting know what killed them,” she explained. “That being said, we are both skilled in fighting from range and up close. As for our relationship...” Luna sighed and looked at the ground. “I am unsure. Both of my own feelings and of his. There is also the fact that he is not only mortal, but the poor way his body interacts with magic in my universe.”

“Radiation, right?” Aeron questioned. Luna nodded. “So, you’re both unsure how you feel about each other, can kill each other at any moment, but consider each other friends?”

“There is little he could do to hurt me physically,” Luna corrected. “While my sister and I can be killed, it is not an easy task. We would have to be severely weakened first.”

“How much can he hurt you psychologically?”

Luna turned and glared at him. “I was afraid you would catch that, but yes, he could quite easily hurt me emotionally. It pains me to hear of some of his... exploits,” she finished, spitting the word out.

“How so? It’s not like you experience the dangers of the Wastes.” Aeron moved closer to her.

“I do not mean anything of that sort. I’m referring to... his rampant promiscuity,” she said angrily.

“Wait, wait, wait, hold the non-existent phone...” Aeron laughed softly. “Are you worried about him screwing someone?”

“I do not have to worry about him doing so, I know he does,” she said unhappily.

“So, you’re jealous?” he chuckled.

“What if I am? It’s not your place to judge.” Luna shot a venomous look at him.

“I’ve seen guys have sex with ghouls and corpses. Never would I expect a talking horse to want to bone a guy. The concept is hilarious.” Aeron couldn’t keep himself from having a chuckle-fit.

Luna just continued to glare angrily. Aww, how cute. You made him laugh.

“Oh boy, here we go. Let’s get Kata’s opinion on this.” Aeron looked up to the non-existent ceiling. “Hey, lady, what do you think of horses having sex with humans?”

If both parties are capable of giving consent, then there shouldn’t be a— wait, why am I even talking about this? Kata asked.

“Because, you’re sadistic and I find this to be your style of ‘amusing’,” Aeron chuckled.

I came here for a reason. Your next challenge begins now.

“What!?” Luna yelled, standing up. Suddenly, her legs gave out and she fell over.

Just stay still, it’ll make this easier for me.

“To do what?” Aeron asked cautiously.

Isn’t it more fun when it’s a surprise? When she didn’t get an answer, the voice sighed. Fine, have it your way.

“What have you done to me?” Luna demanded.

Nothing, yet, Kata replied maliciously.

“If I wake up with stallion parts I will destroy you!” the alicorn yelled.

You people keep giving me such great ideas! Kata said with a chuckle. Unfortunately, you won’t have to suffer through that indignity, instead you’re going to have a little... ‘out of body experience’, so to speak. Now, all this yelling is making it hard to concentrate.

Luna felt her eyelids grow heavy as weariness unlike anything she had ever felt assaulted her. “You...” That was all she could manage before she lost consciousness.

“Hrm. This is—” Aeron flopped onto his back in an instant - as if he was knocked out by a behemoth.

Naked Uncertainty

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Naked Uncertainty

Luna pushed herself up groggily. “What happened?”

“Why am I naked?” Ethan asked casually with a yawn, as if it was an everyday occurrence.

“Luna, did you do something to me in my sleep?” Thomas asked, his voice muffled by the ground. “Because I can’t feel my pants.”

“Also, is Scarlet naked, because I’m definitely sleeping on a pair of bre—” Ethan suddenly shut up as his eyes opened and he found himself looking into a very robotic eye.

“WHAT?! How dare you—offt,” Scarlet yelled as she jumped to her ‘feet’ moments before she lost balance and fell flat on her side.

“This isn’t right,” Luna muttered, getting onto all fours. For some reason, the position felt... awkward, and incredibly exposed. And why was her mane devoid of magic?

“Everyone, do not panic, but we are not in our normal bodies anymore,” Celestia calmly stated as she stared at her human hand. Scarlet also lifted her two forelimbs to see a pair of dark tan hooves. Her eyes shrank in horror.

“Well, this is new.” Aeron yawned, looking over his new body structure.

“Ethan, I swear to Faust, if you did this somehow then I swear by Celestia’s fiery tits that I’ll throw you into a fucking volcano!” Twilight shouted. Celestia turned to stare at Twilight with a look of shocked mortification.

Rainbow Dash yawned, sitting up and looking around at the others. “Geez, why’s everypony getting so worke— ... Uhhh...” She shut up as soon as she saw different people and ponies around her.

“That is a nice view,” Thomas muttered, staring right at Luna’s bare bottom, her cutie mark emblazoned on it. His dusty-brown wings stood fully erect at his sides.

“Let’s see...” Aeron felt his new form up and down until he found an odd, protruding, object on his forehead. “Well, that’s new, too.” Aeron’s form was that of a unicorn, and his coat was a dark brown colour, with a slicked back black mane.

“Sparky, if this was my fault then I wouldn’t be a pony. Also, Cassie would be here along with Sunny and she’d be a human too, then we’d have that orgy that her sister always talks about,” Ethan told Twilight as he rolled off of her breasts and onto his hooves. His coat was an earthy brown and his mane matched except for a strip of red running down the center. A unicorn’s horn emerged from his forehead.

“It’s obvious who has done this to us,” Celestia stated as she helped Scarlet up on all fours. Celestia had soft pink hair that reached to the mid-center of her back and her skin was a soft tan colour, nearly flawless, except some scars near her ribcage were visible.

“Yes, you’re right. Sorry, Sunny, blaming Ethan is a reflex that I’ve developed,” Twilight said with a shake of her head as she attempted to stand up on the long, unfamiliar limbs.

The woman was moderately well muscled with very little fat on her frame. A pair of medium sized, perky breasts stood out from her chest and her long purple hair fell over them slightly as she stood there, the streak of pink falling to the left side. One Violet eye and one blue robotic one looked out from a pretty, intelligent face and her lips pursed together as she tried to figure out how to balance effectively. Oddly, both of her arms were organic.

“This is odd,” Twilight said as she experimentally clenched and unclenched her fingers, especially those of her previously prosthetic limb.

“How do you walk on two legs all the time?” Luna asked, as she tried to stand. Compared to the others, her breasts were quite small, although the same could not be said for her posterior. Her skin was as pale as snow, and her waist-long hair was a delicate shade of powder blue.

“How do you stand being naked all the time?” Scarlet responded. Her coat was a dark yellow tan, and her mane and tail the same scarlet color of her hair when she was a human. She didn’t bear any wings or a horn, and was doing her best to hide her rear from everyone as she tried to keep her balance.

Rainbow realised where she was, finally, and what was going on. Figuring that she was a bit exposed, she placed an arm across her breasts and sat in silence, unsure of what to do.

“You seem to be in discomfort, Dash,” Aeron pointed out as he slowly tried figuring out how to walk on all fours - moving each leg at a time and developing a rhythmic pattern.

“Yeah... Wish I had something to put on. This feels weird...” Dash mumbled, causing Aeron to chuckle slightly.

Dash was, just like everyone else, naked. Her skin was a gentle tan and her hair the same rainbow colour. Her figure was skinny, but toned well, which was mostly caused by her athletic activities back in Equestria.

“Yeah, being naked gets weird without this fur, huh? Hopefully Kata isn’t so cruel as to make Ethan and Thomas stare at women’s asses all day. That’d be a challenge right there. No erections for them!” Aeron burst out laughing, smacking a hoof on the floor.

“Hey, I don’t get erections all the time. That implies lust. I just appreciate femininity and all,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Besides, I’m married and Cassandra would probably cut it off if she saw me looking at another woman like that,” Ethan added as he walked over to Twilight and helped steady her on her new legs.

“Meh, I’m asexual. This isn’t a problem.” Aeron sat on his haunches, next to the former pegasus.

“Yeah, well that’s all nice to know, but would you please keep stuff like that to yourselves?” Scarlet asked as she practiced walking in her new form.

“How do human women deal with these things?” Twilight grumbled as she rubbed her perky breasts. “They get in the way and they’re making me feel top-heavy,” she complained.

“I could say the same thing to you about your kind,” Scarlet said. “Though it’s more bottom heavy for me.” Scarlet spotted her gear and made her way towards it. Once there, she saw that everything was in place along with her armour and clothing, neatly folded next to her bag.

“Well, if this is Kata’s fault, I hope she’s providing clothing for you girls. I don’t want to deal with you dying of hypothermia.” Aeron sighed.

“Well it looks like Kata didn’t take our things when she transformed us,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Cool, do you think you can deal with forty five pounds of armor Sparky?” Ethan asked turning to Twilight.

“Forty five pounds? You got Power Armour hidden in there?” Scarlet questioned Ethan.

“Nope, it’s a thick layer of enchanted self repairing chainmail along with several large plates of armour to stop anything that makes it through that,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “And before you ask, I don’t wear power armour instead because dusters are cooler,” Ethan informed her.

“Magic,” Scarlet said in disgust as she rolled her eyes. “It’s bad enough it’s over powered, but that’s just killing it.”

“Well, it’s not all that advanced of spellwork,” Twilight spoke up as she attempted to put on the heavy duster. “It’s a simple self repair spell so that the entire suit doesn’t have to be torn open to repair any broken links of chain. There’s also a low level fire protection spell as well but that’s about all.” She pulled her arms into the duster and almost fell over backwards as its full weight settled on her shoulders.

“Careful, Twilight; you don’t want to strain your shoulders,” Celestia said as she started to slip the desert combat vest on.

“The weight just caught me by surprise is all. Thanks, Celestia,” Twilight told the pink haired woman with a smile.

“These appendages are difficult to work with; they’re much more complex than hooves,” Luna muttered as she attempted to pull on Thomas’s duster.

“Would you like some help, Luna?” Thomas asked as he stumbled over to her and began to help her with some of the straps. “I can’t stand to see a lady in trouble.”

“That would be much appreciated,” Luna replied.

“And it gives you a chance to cop a feel,” Ethan added with a chuckle.

“Ugh, is that all you can think about?” Scarlet asked.

“We’re men, well, stallions now, of course it is,” Ethan replied with a cheeky smile, hoping that Scarlet would get the humor.

“Speak for yourself,” Aeron said as he helped Dash with her armour.

“You know this is the reason why I don’t try to find someone. You don’t care about us, you just care about sex.”

“I thought it was because yo—” Ethan cut himself off mid sentence, he wasn’t that stupid. “I’ll have you know that I care very deeply for my wife thank you very much!” he said instead of the thing that would’ve gotten him shot.

“Humph, I don’t know why she married you. You’re annoying as a bloatfly. And if you dare speak about him, you won’t have a mouth to speak with.”

“Well you just haven’t known me very long, hardly long enough to really get to know me,” Ethan said with a shrug. “As for the other thing, why the hell do you think I stopped myself? I’m arrogant and overconfident, not suicidal.”

Scarlet was about to say something, but she was interrupted before she could. “Scarlet, would you help me in getting your Pip-boy on,” Celestia asked as she fumbled around with priceless computer.

Scarlet let out a heated sigh as she walked over towards Celestia. Celestia glanced at Ethan, giving him a warning glare. The man just shook his head and gave her an apologetic smile before turning back to Twilight and helping her pull on the armoured pants. She’d figured out the underwear by herself, but was having trouble with the leg aspects of the pants.

“So um, Luna, how do I use these wings?” Thomas asked as he turned to look at the wings, both of which refused to stay against his sides.

All you have to do is not think about it. Your body knows what to do, Kata informed him. No matter how much fun it would to be watching you all flop on the ground like fish as you attempted to walk, it would get tiresome quickly, Kata added.

“Well, that’s convenient, does the same carry over for magic?” Celestia asked.

Now how would that be fun?

“So these horns on our head are about as useful as a radroach with an extra arm sprouting out of it’s head?” Ethan asked.

Oh, you have magic. Good luck using it without any practice, though, Kata laughed.

“Cunt,” Ethan said with a roll of his eyes. “Oh and this reminds me, humans, or actually ponies who should be humans, we need to establish a leader for this little group of ours.”

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but the idiot’s right,” Aeron added.

“Definitely not you, then, Ethan,” Thomas commented. “You’ve got less common sense than a drug addict snorting radscorpion venom.”

“I wasn’t suggesting it. Trust me, I’m a terrible leader, ask Sparky what happened last time the Guard put me in charge of an operation in the Wasteland,” Ethan replied with a shake of his head.

“How many did you lose?” Luna asked, stretching her fingers to get used to the new digits.

“Technically, we didn’t lose any. However, around half of them came back missing legs...” Ethan said with a scowl. “I forgot that most ponies wouldn’t know what landmines are,” He said with a shake of his head.

“I think the more pressing concern is our weapons,” Luna said, the former alicorn looking at her flail. “How do you plan on using your firearms?”

“How hard can it be to hold a sword with magic? I’m sure it’s not that difficult,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“And now that you’ve said that, it’ll be impossible,” Thomas commented, looking at his brush gun in consternation.

“I did say sword,” Ethan pointed out. “Besides, we’ve got three extremely advanced magic users standing around. If they can’t teach us basic telekinesis then they don’t deserve their wings.”

“How am I doing this?” Thomas asked loudly, somehow holding his brush gun as if he still had his hands and fingers instead of hooves.

“Tactile telekinesis,” Luna said as if it explained everything.

“Thanks for that all revealing knowledge oh great alicorn overlord,” Ethan said with a snort. “Now would you mind explaining how he’s doing that so that I can too?”

“I’m glad you asked, Ethan,” Twilight said with a worryingly large smile; it was her lecture smile, the smile that Ethan dreaded. It meant that she would go on and on about a subject forever.

“Well, Ethan, all ponies, whether unicorn, earth pony, or pegasus, have a natural telekinetic field built into our hooves, and wings as well in the case of pegasi. It isn’t very strong and isn’t nearly as flexible as your fingers, but it lets us hold things and turn doorknobs. Many unicorn scholars theorise that it exists thanks to—”

“That’s enough, Twilight,” Luna interrupted her little rant, earning her a disappointed look. She had a hand on the handle of her flail and was attempting to pick it up. “This is heavier than I remember,” she grunted.

“Well it is a flail,” Ethan pointed out helpfully as he attempted to pick up his sword in his hoof. “Yeah, I can’t see myself actually carrying the sword like this in combat,” he said with a scowl.

“Without my magic, I’m more helpless than I imagined,” Luna muttered.

“Take my power fist and my revolver,” Thomas offered, still getting over the novelty of his ‘sticky hooves’, as he called it. “Scarlet, I guess you’re carrying stuff, being an earth pony. You’d be the strongest of us.”

“I’m not a pack brahmin!” the earth pony exclaimed angrily.

“Relax Kathy, every team needs someone to carry things for them. If it makes you feel any better I’d volunteer except that I’m one of the only ones here with a sword,” Ethan told her with a shrug.

“I have a sword too, you jackass!” Scarlet shouted. “And for the last time the name is Scarlet!” She slammed a hoof down and wefts of green flame danced up it.

“This is the one I nearly maimed myself with, isn’t it?” Luna asked as she held the Sequoia, ignoring the mare’s angry yelling. She remembered the weapon well.

“You almost shot yourself?” Twilight asked curiously as she inspected her plasma defender, and pistol along with Ethan’s magnum which she’d strapped to her belt. She’d also strapped his chinese assault rifle to her back for safe keeping.

“I had never seen anything of the like before, and according to Thomas I was staring down the wrong end. Why do you have so many accessories?” she asked the former owner, complaining about the number of belts and straps.

“Ah, I can understand that. Only the griffins have anything close to guns in my Equestria and those aren’t really comparable for any reason other than the fact that they shoot bullets. Of course with Rainbow Dash being the current consort, and her penchant for things that go fast, I have the oddest feeling that the griffins might have actual guns pretty soon,” Twilight told Luna as she checked her energy cells.

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow Dash asked in surprise, perking up at the sound of her name. “Why would I be the consort of the griffin king?”

“Queen, actually,” Twilight corrected her with a shrug.

“But-but that makes even less sense!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Blame it on Gilda’s lifebond. Although honestly they seem happy together and their cubs are adorable,” Twilight told her. Rainbow Dash just stared at Twilight uncomprehendingly.

“Okay, story-time’s over,” Thomas butted in, his rifle resting between his wings. “God this is uncomfortable,” he muttered. “We need to move. Odds are Kata’s gonna flood the room with acid or something if we stick around too long.”

I start with water. Acid is too deadly, and makes people panic too much for them to actually move on. Water, on the other hand, is just fast enough to make people urgent to move, Kata told them with a dark chuckle.

“You guys need to stop giving her ideas,” Scarlet muttered as she tried to get her bag and rifle on her back. “I mean how hard is it to keep your mouth shut for a long period of time?”

“Too hard for these people,” Aeron grunted, trotting forward with Rainbow Dash in tow.

“Becoming a stallion would have been preferable to this,” Luna muttered. “I wouldn’t have to worry about this new body then.”

“Yeah but where would the fun in that be?” Ethan asked as he attempted to pick up his sword in his magic, succeeding only in making it wobble on the ground for a moment before it stopped moving.

“You’re not building enough energy in your horn,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Being a unicorn requires intelligence. He lacks that.” Aeron smirked pridefully.

“That too,” Scarlet said as she finished strapping her bag onto her back.

“Dash, you remember how to use your rifle, right?” Aeron asked Dash who nodded to him as he focused his magic on the assault rifle and pistol, floating it to her. “It’s a lot easier with fingers, but don’t use all of that ammo. Last thing we need is to run out.”

“Ethan, focus on the sword with your mind, next imagine it floating in the air, and finally send those thoughts out through your horn,” Twilight explained as she practiced moving around in the armor. She was lucky, and it fit her rather well. The sword wobbled for a second, and then sprang into the air as a steady blue glow flowed around it.

“Heh, thanks, Sparky,” Ethan told her with a grin.

“You won’t be able to do that very long,” the former alicorn cautioned. “I doubt you’ll be able to keep it in the air for over ten minutes, if even that.”

“I suggest you use your mouth.” Aeron nabbed his combat knife from the ground, holding its hilt within his mouth. “Lebs shtrain.”

A vein on Ethan’s forehead pulsed visibly and one of his eyebrows began to twitch before he was hforced to drop the sword again. “Yeah, that’s a good idea Aeron,” the unicorn said before he went over and picked up the sword in his mouth. “Gha ma handths musht taste awfulth.”

Aeron dropped his knife for a second. “I wonder if your wife agrees.”

Ethan let his own sword fall to the ground. “Well she’s always seemed to like them,” he replied with a shrug.

“Meh. Anyways...” Aeron used his magic to pull off the knife’s sheath from Dash’s armour and tightened it around his left foreleg, placing the knife in it. “That’s better.”

You people are so distractible, Kata said with an annoyed sigh.

“What the fuck do you expect Invisicunt? You just gave us new bodies to explore,” Ethan asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“I gotta agree with him,” Dash said, brushing her rainbow hair from her eyes. “You kinda did this out of nowhere. Give us a chance or something to get use to it.”

Fine, you have half an hour, then your next challenge starts, Kata told them with an angry snort.

“Well,” Thomas started, “you either made this challenge easier or harder. I’m guessing the latter. Good going.”

Dash just rolled her eyes in response.

“I doubt it was going to be easy in the first place,” Scarlet stated.

“Whatever the case is, we’re still trapped in these bodies for the time being,” Ethan said with a shrug. “So I suggest that we eat, and try and avoid killing each other while we pick our leader.”

“Why do we need a leader? We’ve been doing great so far without one,” Scarlet said, trying to stand still as Celestia rummaged through the duffle bag.

“Because we need someone to direct us. Sooner or later we’re going to run into something that can’t be solved by us shooting it, and when that time comes I’d like to have someone I trust telling us what to do,” Ethan replied. “And no offense to Sunny, but I doubt that you know enough about the Wasteland to be capable of making those types of decisions.”

“That actually made a surprising amount of sense. Should I start worrying?” Thomas asked.

“I’ve been in your world for at least a week, Ethan. I’ve seen a lot during that time too,” Celestia stated.

“Oh, so I take it that you know what to do if we’re attacked on all sides by a combination of deathclaws, albino radscorpions, and robots while simultaneously retreating?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve faced creatures far worse creatures than those.”

“I’m not saying that you’re incompetent, Sunny. I’m just saying that you don’t know how to handle some of the Wasteland threats like one of us would,” Ethan said as he practiced levitating his sword.

“It’s a good thing I’m a fast learner, but if you feel better, I won’t voice my thoughts on situations like that.”

“Thanks, Sunny. Anyways, I meant a leader for the ‘humans’ here. Like I said earlier, you’ll be leading the ponies,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“And I guess that leader would be you,” Scarlet asked.

“Hahahaha, fuck no, remember what I said about the land mines?” Ethan asked with a sarcastic laugh.

“Then who do you suggest for our ‘leader’?” Thomas asked.

“Well Scarlet has too many issues, no offense,”

“Well if you stopped bringing them up then I wouldn’t have them,” Scarlet bitterly said.

“And Aeron, you just don’t strike me as the leader type,” Ethan continued, ignoring Scarlet for the moment.

“Mmm,” Aeron agreed.

“Which means that—” Ethan began, but Thomas cut him off.

“That I’m the only one left who can lead us,” he said with a sigh.

Scarlet closed her eyes. “No, that won’t work for me. I’m not following an NCR soldier.”

“I’m not an NCR soldier, I only worked with them because they were the best option for Vegas,” Thomas growled.

“That’s what they said when they took over the Divide, look how well that turned out.”

Thomas’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the Divide. “It’s not the same, if they try to do anything like what they did there then I’ll unleash the securitrons on them,” he said, giving her a hard look.

“You should have used them now before it’s too late, but then again you lost that chance at the Battle of Hoover Dam.”

Thomas was about to say something, but Luna stopped him by clamping a hand over his mouth. “Enough of this petty squabbling, we have neither the time nor the energy to waste on it. Let us leave the business of who will lead who for later when we are back in our proper bodies!” Luna exclaimed irritatedly.

“Yes, I agree with Luna,” Celestia stated. “Let’s cross that bridge later, and worry about what’s ahead right now.”

“Humans,” Twilight said with a shake of her head. She couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the statement.

“Don’t think like that, Twilight. Ponies were once that way too.” Celestia picked up her spear, and it started to glow faintly. “Now, is everyone ready?”

“I know, but by Faust’s sparkling white nipples it’s annoying sometimes,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Odd, being human seems to have made me swear more...”

“And decreases your swear vocabulary,” Scarlet added. “Or intellect in swearing. You sound like a child who has just learned what a boob is but doesn't fully understand.”

“I think I’m picking up mental interference from somewhere, hold on a second,” Twilight said with a frown as she tilted her head to the side. “By Celestia’s solar flaring orgasams, alright that’s definitely not something that I’d say...” Twilight said with a shake of her head. “Tia’s orgasms are more like—”

“Thank you, Twilight, but I think I don’t want to know,” Celestia said, cutting Twilight off. “Relax and focus on your thoughts and tongue. Don’t just say the first thing that comes to your mind.”

“Thank you, Sister. Your orgasms are the last thing I would like to be thinking about at the moment,” Luna said with a rapid shake of her head.

“Sorry...” Twilight said in a small voice as a blush spread over her face.

“Wow, Twilight, you’re actually out-doing Veronica in the lesbian business,” Scarlet jested.

“Is that even possible?” Thomas asked with a slightly astonished look on his face.

“It’s probably a combination of new hormones and a small amount of psychic interference,” Twilight said with a shake of her head.

“Sure it is,” Scarlet sarcastically said with a roll of her eyes. “That or really is just you and your dirty mind.”

“I’m not sure. Sparky’s mind usually isn’t this dirty. Or at least not unless she hasn’t gotten laid in a few weeks,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Well, I’m sure Thomas would be happy to help fix that,” Scarlet said.

“Leave me out of this,” the pegasus said.

“I’m sure that having Celestia here isn’t exactly helping,” Ethan said with a shrug. Twilight meanwhile was blushing up a storm.

“Well she should lay off the sex for awhile anyways. She’s getting too addicted to it,” Scarlet said

“Let’s see you try and have sex with a goddess, or god in your case, and not get slightly addicted to it,” Twilight retorted.

“And gain what, some false pleasure? Sex by itself is a drug, and doing it over and over will get you addicted, and negative effects will form because of that. You’re missing a key part and I don’t see that in you whenever you talk about ‘Celestia’. All I see is someone eyeing on their next fix.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed dangerously and before anyone could stop her she lunged forward and delivered a ringing slap to Scarlet’s face. “I love Celestia with all my heart, and I’m sorry that you’re just a bitter bitch who ended up killing her lover, but frankly fuck off!”

The room dropped into a shocked silence. Scarlet had her eyes closed and a small twitch was going under her right eye. A dark green fiery aurora wrapped around her body. “You think you know love, but you know nothing about it. The hardship it can bring and the pure joy that comes out of it. You might think you have the perfect life, but all I see is the perfect lie.”

“Perfect lie? You don’t even know m—” Twilight began but she was interrupted.

“ENOUGH! For fuck’s sake we have enough problems without all of this stupid bullshit going on!” Thomas shouted while stepping between the angry woman and the angrier mare. “Either shut up, or I’ll put a bullet in each of your throats to shut you up!

“Thank you. I thought that they’d never shut up about it,” Aeron muttered.

“Agreed,” Celestia said as she got in front of Scarlet, giving her a warning glare. “We’re all stressed out with our sudden change, but that is no reason we should be at each other throats.”

“Yeah, let’s save that for when we finally catch up to Invisicunt,” Ethan agreed with a nod to Celestia.

Your emotions are so fun to exploit Kata’s voice sang sweetly from around them. A little mental suggestion and you’re at each other’s throats! I barely even have to try! She giggled.

The green aura around Scarlet’s body slowly faded away. She got up and walked away from the group, not saying anything.

“Hmm, everyone I’d say that we’re all about thirty seconds from killing each other,” Ethan said with a sigh. “So I propose that we all separate for around five minutes, stay with your partner and talk about anything that’s troubling you. We’ll meet up again after that.”

“Good idea,” Celestia said as she walked after Scarlet.

“Yeah, Luna and I have things to talk about as well,” Thomas said with a nod.

“You’re all idiots,” Aeron muttered. ”Come on, Dash.”

Celestia walked up to Scarlet whose expressionless face was void of any emotion. “Don’t you dare try to talk this out to me Celestia. I have enough as it is. For once just drop the subject.”

“Fine then, I won’t talk about it,” Celestia replied as she sat down next the tensed mare.

“Thank you... See, how hard is it to drop a subject?” Scarlet muttered out loud to no-one.

“As hard as it is to forget it,” Celestia answered anyways. “Something you need to do, apparently.”

Scarlet scoffed. “It’s not like I want to remember what I did, Celestia. I just choose not to forget it. How many times do I have to point that out to everyone? Why do you think my name is Scarlet?”

Celestia remain silent. “You chose it because you believe that you’ve done a wrong that can never be forgiven.”

Silence grew between them. “I must congratulate you for not losing control of your anger, and your powers. I would’ve hated to fight you,” Celestia said, breaking the silence

“Years of practice. Emotions, especially anger, mess up with my sniping skills, so I learn to hold them back. You’ll be surprised how well that helps out in other situations.”

“I can imagine. I too had to hold back my anger many times in the past. It’s not an easy thing to do. The hard part is trying to hide that you are holding something back. Why do you think Ethan still tries in uncovering your past?”

“Because he doesn’t take a hint to shut up.”

“No, it’s because he’s trying to help.”

“Well he’s trying too hard and he’s only making it worse. I’ve met people who had more common sense and were a lot more helpful than him, and most of those people were tribals. He’s a bloody vault dweller. You would think he’d be a bit more respectful towards others.”

“Not every vault dweller is respectful to the outside world,” Celestia pointed out.

“I know that, but you would think he would still take a hint before I blow his head off.”

“You know you wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know, the idea has tempted me.” Scarlet let out a reluctant sigh. “But you’re right, I wouldn’t do something like that. I would have to use the C-Finder for something like that.”

Celestia let out a disheartened sigh. “You’re a very stubborn woman,” Celestia’s statement was punctuated by a grunt of agreement from Scarlet, “but I know for a fact you’re not a heartless killer. You fight for what is right, and for a just cause. You never take someone’s life without a good reason.”

Scarlet cringed at Celestia’s words. “Don’t say that; that’s not true. I killed many people who didn’t deserve to die.”

Celestia reached a hand out and put it on Scarlet’s back. “Then that at least shows that your heart still knows...”

“Enough!” Scarlet lashed out, knocking Celestia’s hand away. “My heart is in a vat floating in protein. I’ve got nothing to prove to you, or to anyone. I just work to survive, and I help others to do the same if they allow me. Those who tried to hinder in that will find a fifty cal. getting buried in their face.” Scarlet got up and left.

Celestia bowed her head, and let out another disheartened sigh before seeing a small flash of light in the corner of her eyes. She glanced up to see a cutie mark on Scarlet’s flank. A heart shaped symbol, with the right side of the heart black as pitch, and the left side a vivid crimson.

Luna and Thomas walked off to their own corner. The woman and the stallion stood there in silence, not knowing what to say to break the silence. “You look sexy in that,” Thomas said.

Luna snorted, looking at her form. “I can’t see the appeal. Why do human females have their udders on their upper torso?”

“Yeah, don’t call them that.”

“Is that not what they are?” the former alicorn asked.

“Technically, they’re breasts.” The pegasus shook his head to clear his thoughts. “We have more important things to talk about.”

“That we do,” Luna replied calmly. “Should I go first, or...?”

“I need help,” he stated.

“Thomas, you know I will do what I can.” She sat down and began to scratch him behind the ear.

“Ooh, that feels good,” he muttered happily. “But seriously, this is important.”

“Is it a personal issue?”

“I... I’m not sure that’s the best way to put it. Keeping Vegas in one piece is tearing me apart.” He plopped himself down on the ground and sighed. “The Three Families are trying to get me to do one thing, the Kings and Followers another and the NCR something else. If I don’t keep them all happy, the whole fucking place will tear itself apart.”

“And you want assistance?”

“More like advice. I need a way to... to get them to agree. To decide on something that’ll help the city as a whole. At the moment, they’re all too absorbed in themselves.”

“I see.” Luna paused for a moment. “I suppose delivering an ultimatum is out of the question.”

“Tried that, didn’t work,” he grunted. “I’ve tried bribery and blackmail too,” Thomas added.

“You clearly haven’t tried a big enough bribe, or found something worth blackmailing them about.” Luna looked at the stallion curiously. “Do you not run a casino? Wouldn’t it be simple to ply them with alcohol and record what they do in their stupidity?”

“Or have them end up owing me several thousand caps,” Thomas muttered thoughtfully. “Can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Wouldn’t hurt to mix something into their drinks either, get them drunker faster.”

“In politics, playing nice gets you nowhere. The only option is to be as underhooved, sadistic, and devious as you possibly can.” Luna snorted. “Even my sister is forced to resort to such tactics.”

“I guess that’s it; I’ve been trying to be a friend to all of them,” he grumbled. “Don’t know why, they’re all waiting for the right moment to stab me in the back.”

“Is that true, Thomas?” Luna asked in alarm.

“No, but it doesn’t hurt to think that’ll happen. It’s not paranoia if you’re right,” he added, flashing her a dark smile.

“That’s a morbid way of thinking, Thomas,” she said coldly.

There was another brief silence. “Luna, Ethan told me something earlier.”

She raised a hand and turned away. “I know where you are going with this, Thomas. Don’t. Please, it will be better for us both.”

“You can’t keep shit like that bottled up, Luna. It can’t be pleasant, having those memories, but—”

“If you say ‘I know what it’s like’ I will hurt you,” Luna hissed angrily. “No-one knows what it was like, to watch, to feel every vile thing that demon forced me to do. My true punishment is to remember, with perfect clarity, the things that happened.”

“Luna, you told me, you had no control. It wasn’t your fault. That’s what I was trying to say,” Thomas said warmly, leaning in.

She sighed unhappily “That’s not entirely true, but I suppose you are right. I shouldn’t hold myself accountable for what Nightmare Moon did.”

“But you will,” Thomas said. When Luna glared at him, he raised a hoof. “Hey, it’s who we are. We’ll keep on blaming ourselves. Evidence doesn’t matter. We just feel responsible,” he finished sadly.

Luna didn’t say anything, instead pulling Thomas a little closer to her. “Is that our fate, then? To forever condemn ourselves?”

“I guess so, Luna. I guess so. But, we move on. We accept what happened, and do what we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s all we can do.”

“You are wise beyond your years, Thomas. I have the benefit of thousands of years of experience, and yet...”

“Luna, stop. I’m not wise. I’m just pragmatic. No point dwelling on something you can’t change, right? Just let go and begin again.”

“You say you are not wise, yet you know what to say,” Luna said with a smile. “‘Let go of the pain’, isn’t what you told Shining Armor?”

“Something like that.” The stallion wing-shrugged. “But it was something I learned. I didn’t come up with it, I just delivered the message. It’s what I do,” he said wryly.

“Yes, being a courier I imagine it is,” Luna snarked. She held up the lifeless Pip-Boy. “Could you help me put this device on?”

As Thomas did his best to help her put on the Pip-Boy, they failed to notice the small flash come from the stallion’s flanks. Once bare, they were now marked with an envelope, a small heart tucked neatly into one of its corners.

Ethan pulled Twilight into one of the corners of the room and sat her down as the woman began to weep quietly. Instead of saying anything, the man simply wrapped his forelegs around her and pulled her into a hug. She knelt down and began to cry into his mane.

“Twilight, it’s alright,” Ethan murmured quietly.

“No it isn’t! I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I should never have said that!” Twilight exclaimed between sobs.

“Twilight, stay with me here. Where’s the mare who single-hoofedly tore apart a zombified dragon to save her nephew? I need that Twilight Sparkle with me right here, right now!” Ethan told her intensely.

“Well maybe she’s busy crying her eyes out right now!” Twilight replied heatedly.

“Well then maybe she should stop letting herself be manipulated by a sadistic bitch, and no, I don’t mean Kathrine,” Ethan scolded, Twilight’s eyes lit with fury and she drew back her fist to punch him.

Ethan simply gave her a raised eyebrow and stared straight into her eyes. Twilight met his hard blue gaze for a second before she crumbled again and pulled him into a tighter hug then before. He hugged her back for a few seconds before he began trying to escape her grasp.

“Twilight, as much as I’ve always wanted to be suffocated by a pair of breasts I think that I can wait for later to find out what it’s like,” he mumbled from within her cleavage.

“Right, sorry, I’m not used to these things,” the purple haired woman said as she released him.

“It’s fine, Twilight. It’s not exactly the worst way to die all things considered,” Ethan told her as he regained his breath. “Oh, and would you look at that, you’ve stopped crying,” he added with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess I used up all my tears,” Twilight said a little numbly.

“It’s okay, Twilight, you look like shit when you cry anyways,” Ethan told her with a wry smile.

His comment caught her completely by surprise and a giggle forced its way out of her mouth, she pushed him off of her chest with a chuckle.

“Goddess damn it, Ethan,” she said with a shake of her head as she fought down another giggle.

“I bet if Celestia heard you use that kind of language she’d give you a punishment,” Ethan said with a chuckle. The smile died on Twilight’s face.

“Ethan, is what Scarlet said true? Is my relationship with Tia really just a lie? Am I just a sex addict looking for her next fix?” she asked worriedly.

“Twilight, stop and listen to yourself right now,” Ethan told the woman. “This is Princess Celestia that we’re talking about. If she felt that there was a problem with your relationship, do you think that she’d continue it?” he asked.

“N-no,” Twilight said in a small voice.

“Of course she wouldn’t,” Ethan agreed as he put a hoof on her chin. “As for what Katherine said, does she seem like the kind of woman that you want to take relationship or mental advice from?”

“No, not at all...” Twilight trailed off.

“Exactly,” Ethan agreed with a smile. “She’s lost in the past Sparky. It’s not her fault, really, but don’t let what she said poison what you have with Celestia.”

“Ethan, there’s something wrong with me,” Twilight muttered.

“Don’t talk like that, Sparky,” Ethan told her.

“No, there is something wrong with me!” Twilight said intensely in a very quiet voice.

“What are you talking about, Twilight?” Ethan asked.

“This place, or maybe it’s just Kata, its affecting me. It’s making me erratic, and it’s messing with my emotions!” Twilight told him with an annoyed snarl.

“Now you know how I felt when the Nightmare was trying to take me over,” Ethan told her. “If it makes you feel any better, Sparky, I’ve felt the same thing; I’m just much more experienced at repressing things like this,” he told her as he lay down beside her. Twilight began to gently stroke his head, a thing that he’d always done for her, and Ethan let out a contented sigh.

“I guess you would be,” she agreed with a sigh. “Goddesses, Ethan, I just want things like this to stop happening. I want to be normal for a change!”

“Sparky, normality is boring. Even when you were a ‘normal’ unicorn you weren’t normal,” he told her. “Besides, you’re a fucking alicorn now; nothing you do is normal ,” he added with a chuckle.

“Thanks for reminding me,” the woman grouched as she idly played with a strand of her long purple hair.

“Deal with it, Sparky. I for one plan on being interesting till the day I die,” Ethan told her with a smirk.

“Yeah, till you die an early death in a shallow grave,” Twilight agreed with a chuckle.

“Actually it’s till my heart finally gives out from how awesome I am,” Ethan told her with a bop on her nose.

“Ethan, look at your flank,” Twilight instructed quietly.

“Why?” Ethan asked.

“Because you just got your cutie mark!” Twilight exclaimed while pointing a finger at his flank.

Ethan turned to look, there was indeed a new mark on his flank. It was an image of a shield, riddled with holes.

“Well that seems appropriate,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

“So your special talent is being shot?” Twilight joked.

“Looks like it, Sparky. Like I said, it does seem appropriate, since that’s what has been happening to me all my life,” Ethan agreed with an amused shake of his head.

“And you’re still smiling despite it all,” Twilight added.

“That too,” the man agreed with chuckle before he rose to his hooves. “Come on, Sparky, it looks like the others are ready. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

“They’re all morons.” Aeron sat on his haunches as Dash joined him.

“You call everyone that, Aeron.” Dash giggled softly.

“It’s the only insult I enjoy without having to curse. These people,” Aeron’s hoof pointed to the corners of the room, “are all idiots. Thomas knows how to govern, but hardly shows it. Scarlet is so deep into herself that she gets angry when someone asks her about something, and Ethan...”

A small vein bulged near the unicorn’s horn. “Don’t even get me started on him. I should have known the opposite of me would be some good-guy sex addict who has no sense of intellect.”

“You’re too harsh on them...” Dash stopped for a second, correcting herself. “I mean, they are all stupid... but you think everyone around you is stupid. You made the mistake of wanting to die, rather than waste a couple rounds on a gecko.”

“That’s because it had armoured skin. Why would I waste ammo that could barely penetrate or stop it? It’d just get pissed off.” Aeron sighed.

They sat in silence for a moment. Thoughts passing between them before the former pegasus spoke. “Do you consider me a friend, Aeron?”

“What?” Aeron asked, bewildered.

“Do you consider me a friend?”

“Why does that matter right now? There are more impo—”

“Just answer, dammit,” Dash snapped.

“I... I don’t know, Dash. I don’t know what to call you.” The unicorn sighed.

“So, I’m just another companion you threw away?” she questioned.

“No, Dash. You’re more than that. I just don’t consider you a friend,” he answered.

“Why not? You’ve told me a lot about yourself, things Jericho doesn’t even know, yet you have the audacity to consider me less than a friend?”

“Dash, I don’t know, okay?!” Aeron yelled. “I just don’t see the point in calling someone a friend! Why is it so important to you, anyways?!”

Dash pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Because I’d like to believe you’re my friend...”

Aeron stared at her, unsure what to say. Amata was his only real friend, and he was thrown out of her life and into the Wasteland.

“Rainbow Dash, I... I just...” he stopped himself, mouth agape.

“You just what?” Dash asked calmly.

Aeron closed his mouth, stood up, and started trotting away - his head hung low. I can’t tell her... I can’t tell her the real reason why I don’t have friends... I...

“Where are you going?” Dash yelled to him.

“For a walk... I don’t want to talk to anyone.” He sighed, trotting away from the ‘campsite’ and into a dark portion of the room.

Dash decided not to make effort to chase him. Knowing him, this was his time to recuperate and think of new ideas, rather than his emotions.

He laid down on the ground and closed his eyes. Tired, filled with emotions and confusion, Aeron didn’t want to deal with any of this.

You know, I can help you out of here, the voice of Kata whispered into his ear.

“Please, leave me alone. I don’t care.” Aeron calmly sighed.

Please, lighten up. I’m offering you a way out of this maze entirely. No need to see any of these guys anymore! All it takes is some knowledge of the future, my friend! Kata’s voice calmly spun around Aeron’s head.

“What do you mean?” He perked up, looking at the blankness of a wall in front of him.

Well... Let’s say, quite soon, there’ll be a challenge where you, and you alone, will get to leave. Simple as that. The others might not be so lucky, but hey, why waste a free ticket out of here? Kata laughed softly.

“...I’ll keep it in mind.” Aeron rested his head onto his forehooves, closing his eyes. A bright light emitted from his flanks and upon them was a talon gripping a human heart. Aeron didn’t take notice to this sudden change.

The group came back together in the middle of the room looking a bit more stable than it had before they’d separated. Ethan and Twilight stood side by side, her right hand gently stroking his head. Thomas and Luna stood in a similar position although Luna was not stroking him. Aeron and Dash were standing oddly separated from one another, as were Celestia and Scarlet. There was a slight sense of tension radiating off of Scarlet, but Celestia seemed fine.

“All of you got your cutie marks,” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow, breaking the silence.

The humans-turned-ponies looked at each others’ flanks, then, with the exception of Ethan, at their own.

“Huh,” Thomas said. “Guess that makes sense.”

“I wasn’t being serious when I said you’d know because you were a courier,” Luna added, kneeling down to get a better look.

“So, a bullet-riddled shield, an envelope, a two-coloured heart, and a Talon Company claw crushing a heart. Yeah, we’re a real cute bunch around here alright,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, well they’re meaningless,” Scarlet said after looking away from her mark.

The ponies-turned-humans stared at her in shock. “How can you even say that?” Luna asked in shock.

“Because I don’t believed a single ‘magical’ tattoo can dictate on what makes you special. It’s something out of an Old World children's fantasy story.”

“You realise that they have dragons right? It doesn’t exactly get more fantastical than that,” Ethan deadpanned with a raised eyebrow.

“Oooh, I’ve faced a minotaur, griffons, and God knows what. I know that they’re world is like a fantasy world, that still doesn’t mean I can like this stupid mark on my rear.” Scarlet mocked.

“A cutie mark is much more than a representation of what your talent is. It also represents who you are inside,” Luna replied.

“Well, then mine is wrong.” The mare said bitterly.

“Could it represent how you’re brokenhearted and dead inside?” Thomas snarked, smirking at her.

“Ba-zing,” Ethan said with a chuckle. Twilight for her part flinched slightly at the insult; that was rather harsh.

Scarlet looked harshly at the pegasus, and was about to strike him, but Celestia wrapped an arm around her neck, placed two fingers under the base of her head, and pressed down firmly. Scarlet winced in pain and tried to move away with little success. “Let’s drop this subject before someone gets hurt,” Celestia suggested.

“Yeah, it would be a real shame if someone ended up with a sword in their belly,” Ethan agreed with a casual smile as his sword floated half an inch out of its scabbard which he’d strapped to his flank.

“You do realise that my magic can shatter yours in a heartbeat,” Scarlet muttered as she stopped resisting Celestia’s hold. “Plus, as a unicorn my magic also acts like a deadly poison as it eats away your magic.”

“Well you know, I could just stay away from you, and then launch the sword at you, it would still deal some damage,” Ethan shrugged.

Small wisps of green flame danced once again around Scarlet body, making Celestia’s Pip-boy to click. “Bring it, Vault Boy.”

“Both of you, shut up and stop. Now,” Thomas ordered. “We need to work together, and not threaten to stab each other.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” Ethan told Thomas before he flashed Scarlet a smirk. “We’ll spar as soon as we get our bodies back.”

“No, Soldier Boy, if this Vault Boy wants a fight, then let me at him.” The wisps of flames grew larger, and Celestia was having a bit trouble holding Scarlet at bay.

“I am not NCR, and never will be,” Thomas growled. “Just because I sided with them doesn’t make me one of them.

“Calm your smoking tits Katherine. We’ll fight later,” Ethan told her.

“For the last time, the name is Scarlet!”

“Nah, that’s just what you pretend to be. Your name’s Katherine underneath that layer of bitch and self loathing you wear like a second skin,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“I swear, I have more luck controlling chem addicts than this,” Thomas muttered, facehoofing hard enough to elicit a loud clonk.

The only response Scarlet gave Ethan was to charge at him. A small burst of fire engulfed Scarlet, knocking Celestia back as she broke into a full gallop towards Ethan.

The stallion stood stock still as the mare charged, and then stepped aside at the last second causing Scarlet to charge past.

Scarlet, however, recovered quickly as she slammed a hoof in the ground to pivot her turn around, and caused a flaming spike to erupt out of the ground and next to Ethan’s neck.

“Heh, I’ve had all of my flesh burned off by a dragon several thousand years old. This isn’t even close to as hot as that,” the stallion told Scarlet with a chuckle. “On the bright side, Kathy, it’s good to see that you can still react fairly quickly despite your blinding rage.”

“Years of practice. Now, if you don’t want your head to roll off of your body, I suggest you call me Scarlet.” Scarlet raised a hoof in the air, readying it for another strike.

“Kath-er-ine,” Ethan enunciated slowly with a smirk.

Scarlet glared daggers at Ethan and began to send her hoof towards the ground. A rope made of light wrapped around her hoof, and Scarlet was yanked away before her hoof made contact with the ground. Celestia then walked up to the mare, her spear glowing in a bright white aura as it cast out the rope. “Enough,” she said to both Scarlet and Ethan, “before I end this.”

“But it was just getting fun,” Ethan replied with a pout.

Celestia looked at Ethan, eyes filled with a vicious glare. “Don’t make this worse than it already is.”

“Who, me?” Ethan asked looking around in surprise. “I’m not making it worse, I’m making it better.”

“Well, stop.” Luna clumsily unholstered the Sequoia. “I may not have any experience, but I doubt even I could miss when you’re not even two feet from me,” she stated.

“Bullets?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow. “That won—” He was interrupted by Twilight who smacked him on the back of the head.

“Shut up and play nice. I swear, Ethan, you’re such a child sometimes,” she said with a shake of her head. “Oh, and just between the two of us, I’ve always wanted to kick you in the balls, and I’ve never had a better opportunity than this,” she added with a mischievous smirk.

As much fun as this is to watch, are you perhaps done yet? Kata asked suddenly, breaking the conversation that the group was having.

“Well if you’d said something earlier than we would’ve been,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

Whatever, it’s time for your next challenge. I hope for your sakes that you’ve had time to work with your new bodies, because the next room will require a little finesse, Kata told them with a dark chuckle.

“We’re not gonna like this, are we?” Thomas asked unhappily.

You’ll all find out very soon. In the meantime, you should move through that door, Kata said, a new doorway appearing in the side of the room.

“And what if we say that we don’t feel like playing your little games anymore?” Twilight asked.

Then I guess you don’t feel like breathing anymore, Kata replied, there was an evident smirk in her voice.

“You’re not very good at this,” Ethan told her before with a shrug and started walking towards the door.

What? What do you mean that I’m not good at this? Kata asked angrily.

“I mean just that; you’re not good at this,” the stallion replied with another shrug.

“Ethan, what have we said about making her angry?” Luna said disapprovingly, chastising the stallion.

“Well she shouldn’t let herself be angry, it’s unprofessional,” Ethan said. “I mean honestly, it’s kind of annoying when the all powerful ‘goddess of chaos’ can let herself be ticked off by us. Completely unprofessional.”

“Who here wants me to gag him?” Thomas asked, looking around at the rest of the group, there were several raised hands and hooves.

“On the bright side, it also means that she’s not nearly as powerful as she’d like us to believe she is,” Ethan continued, apparently ignoring what Thomas had said.

What nonsense is this? Kata asked with a growing tone of anger in her voice.

“Simply put, you’re new at this,” Ethan shrugged.

New?! You think I’m new at this? I who have tortured hundreds of thousands, I who have made men weep at the mere mention of my name, I who have brought emperors to their knee—

“Yes yes, you’re very impressive, and I’m sure that you’ve done some interesting things, but that doesn’t change the fact that you don’t recognize an obvious tactic,” Ethan told her with a shrug.

And what would that be? Kata asked, sounding like she was about to howl with anger.

“I’m not telling you. You’ll have to figure it out on your own. Come on boys and girls, we’ve got another room to beat,” Ethan said before he strode through the doorway.

“Is he always this foolhardy?” Celestia asked Twilight, who chuckled.

“Only when he’s angry,” Twilight said. “Besides, he’s right. Kata’s not nearly as powerful as she seems to think that she is.”

“So he gets stupid when he’s angry?” Aeron asked sarcastically.

“Not quite,” Twilight replied with an enigmatic smile. Then she walked through the door, leaving several annoyed and confused people behind her.

“They’re both insane,” Aeron muttered.

“Hmm... maybe they’re not...” Luna muttered with a tiny frown on her face.

“What do you mean?” Thomas asked, looking up at her face. “Damn that’s kinda weird.”

“I suspect I know what he is doing. I could be wrong, but if I’m right...” She trailed off uneasily. She knew Ethan wasn’t stupid, but he never really seemed to display any real intelligence.

“Regardless of whatever he’s doing, we should press onwards,” Celestia told them with a nod towards the doorway.

“Here we go again,” Aeron muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Princess Luna stood in Celestia’s room, the last place where her sister was seen before disappearing. A strong sense of chaos magic tingle in the air, but not the same kind of that of Discord’s. Luna spent all night and all day searching for her sister, but with no avail. Reluctantly, she was left with one decision in hoping to find some clue to where her sister was, but she didn’t want to do it.

Three interlocking ovals all sharing a foci were drawn on the ground. A circle enclosed the ovals and a number of runes had been inscribed into the floor on the outside of the circle. This was followed by another circle and another set of runes. Luna eyed her work critically. One mistake could be catastrophic, and the Lunar Princess had neither the patience nor the time to waste on cleaning it up.

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. An obsidian coloured greatsword rested on a nearby table in case anything went wrong. She then began the summoning. “I call you from the neverending void, from the depth of nothing, I call for you... Ueirn.” Luna left her hoof and placed it on a single rune. It glowed bright and started a chain reaction with all of the others. Soon the whole symbol was glowing in a dark blue hue, but it did not last long. It faded away, and nothing happened.

Luna let out a disappointed sigh. “I guess that didn’t work.”

“Quite the opposite, actually,” a stallion's voice spoke out in a ghostly tone, “it worked marvelously.” Chills ran through Luna’s back, and her horn glowed as she drew her sword and swung it in the direction of the voice. Her sword chopped nothing but air.

“Oh come now, Luna, after all this time being with you that’s your first response? Why summon me if you were going to try to kill me? You know that won’t work. You can’t kill nothing.” Out of the shadows a stallion earth pony walked into view. His pupils were midnight blue, and his coat, mane and tail match the style of Nightmare Moon.

“Why aren’t you inside of my summoning circle?” Luna growled.

The stallion let out an amused chuckle before saying in a normal tone, “Because, Luna, the void comes and goes wherever it pleases. Plus, the summoning rune only works with spells of light, not with spells of darkness. Now to what do I owe the pleasure of being called out from the void?”

Luna held her blade at the stallion as she said, “My sister is missing. She was taken by some chaotic being. I need you to find out where she is.”

A curious eyebrow rose on the stallion’s face. “Is that all? Are you sure you don’t want something else?”

The tip of Luna’s blade pointed to the base of his neck. “I am not seeking power, not after how you tricked me with your false promise last time.”

The stallion eyed the dark blade, and then looked back at Luna. “Still sour about that whole Nightmare Moon thing, huh? For your information, I did not give you a false promise, I gave exactly what you wanted; power to make the night last forever.”

“You turned me into a monster!”

The stallion gave the alicorn an insulted look. “That wasn’t my doing, Luna, that was all you. All that rage, all that desire to be appreciated, every emotion and thought you put out as Nightmare Moon all came from your heart, not from mine.”

Luna scowled at the stallion, and the tip of her blade slightly inserted into his neck, making a small hissing noise. “Find my sister,” she ordered threateningly.

The stallion let out a small, pained grunt. “As you wish Luna, but your blade is making it hard to concentrate.”

Luna’s scowl deepened as she withdrew her blade from the stallion, but still held the tip towards him. The stallion rubbed the part of his neck where the blade had rested for a bit before walking towards a spot in Celestia’s room. He trotted around in a circle looking at nothing, or to Luna he was looking at nothing. She could tell he was studying something by the criticizing expression he was making with his face. He then stopped his circling pacing as he lifted a hoof up to the air and tapped it against nothing. His hoof made contact with an invisible wall, and a portion of the air rippled with waves as water does when a stone is thrown into it.

“Interesting,” the stallion remarked. “Not only was this portal made by the power of chaos magic, but I do sense a bit of void magic as well.”

“Can you reopen it,” Luan asked with some small sense of hope in her voice.

“Sadly, no. I’m not powerful enough to do something like that. However,” he glanced towards Luna, “if we merge together again, then our combined powers should be able to do it.”

“No,” Luna instantly responded. “I won’t let you trick me like last time.”

“Oh come now, Luna, I’m trying to help you here. That’s all that I have ever done for you since we met.”

“The last time that I trusted you to help me like that ended with me becoming Nightmare Moon,” Luna growled.

“A side effect of our merge, void magic is not always predictable. I did warn you that some changes would occur. You’re lucky they weren’t that major.”

“Weren’t major? Weren't major!? Do you have any idea what happened to me because of you?” Luna shouted.

“I only granted you power, like I said I would, everything else that happened after our merger was your doing. I can not change the nature of someone’s heart, Luna. Nightmare Moon is not me, it is you, or the darkness of your heart. Now I might have accidently drawn it out of you, but it’s not my fault. The actions you committed as Nightmare Moon all came from you, from your true dark nature.”

Her heart stung in guilt, knowing what the stallion said was partly true. But things were different this time... maybe she should... “Will my appearance change back to that of the Nightmare if we merge together again?” Luna asked slowly as she pondered the idea.

“Yes, but you can forge a new story, Luna. ‘Nightmare Moon’ is feared by many ponies, but by rescuing your sister, you can help ease that fear from them. You wouldn’t have to fear, or be ashamed to walk out in public view and have ponies run away in fear, you will be admired once more by everypony.” The stallion's voice was soothing as he spoke. He held out his hoof towards Luna. “Come, let’s join once more, together we can save your sister and become the most powerful force in all of Equestria.”

Luna thought deeply about this. She started to form a word, but she quickly shut her mouth while shaking her head. “No... I can’t...” She then lowered her head, allowing shame to cover her face. However, it quickly hardened and she looked up giving a strict glare at the stallion. “I won’t,” she firmly stated.

The stallion frowned. “Why?”

“I can’t trust you; you’ve lied to me before, and more importantly, I can’t trust myself. If you said Nightmare Moon was the result of the darkness in my heart, then I can’t risk letting that happen again.” She took in a deep breath. “I release you from this world, go back to the void Ueirn, go back to where you belong.”

The stallion gave a dark glare at Luna, but it quickly vanished. “As you wish, Luna. But don’t think you can get rid of me that easy. No matter how far you try in pushing me away, I will always be with you.” The stallion walked into the shadows and vanished.

Luna let out deep sigh, lowering both her blade and head. Thinking of the decision she almost made.

Traps

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Traps

The group walked through the doorway to find Ethan and Twilight standing next to each other. Spread out before them was a veritable maze of wires and pressure plates with several hundred mines sprinkled in for good measure.

Like I said, you’ll need finesse, Kata said with a dark chuckle. The door disappeared into the wall behind them.

“If I was still human then I’d just clear this place by force. Unfortunately, I kind of doubt that this body could take it,” Ethan told them with a slight shrug.

“We could probably set off a chain reaction if we activate the right trap,” Aeron said with a frown as he looked at the labyrinth before them.

“I’ve had enough shrapnel pulled out of me for a lifetime,” Thomas replied. “Probably won’t even survive the blast.”

“If I had access to my magic then I’d just set them off remotely,” Twilight said as she rubbed her chin.

“Like Thomas said, there is a chance we would not survive such a course of action,” Luna said, not liking the current thought process. “For all we know these explosives are much more powerful than they appear.”

“Shields, Luna, between the three of us we could’ve easily blocked the explosions,” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“Unfortunately none of us have the ability to do that at the moment, so let’s look for another solution,” Celestia said.

“There’s always the old fashion way, disarm the traps one by one till we reached the other side,” Scarlet stated. She then looked at one of her hooves. “Though if we’re going to have to rely on ponies who don’t have real experience in using their fingers, it’s going to take us a long time, or possibly our deaths.”

“Which was the point of putting us in these bodies in the first place,” Aeron muttered.

“Yeah, so, who’s up for something suicidal, possibly life threatening, and maybe a little dangerous?” Ethan asked the group with a grin.

“You’re suicidal, so why not you?” Scarlet pointed out.

“Because I’m not suicidal, Katherine. Besides, me dying over there would probably kill you too, along with everyone else. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that happening again would you?” Ethan asked turning his gaze to the woman.

Scarlet’s right eye twitched when Ethan mentioned her real name. “If it shuts you up, then yes.”

“I’d be peachy with the idea.” Aeron laughed.

“We’ve discussed this before, we don’t have time for this squabbling,” Luna said in an irritated voice.

“Well maybe someone should tell Vault Boy to be respectful to someone else's wishes and we wouldn’t have this,” Scarlet growled out in a low tone.

“Let’s just focus on getting through this trap, okay?” Twilight asked, receiving several nods of agreement. “Alright, we need to figure out who’s the best with their hands,” Twilight declared.

“Probably you, since you had the most sex,” Scarlet said in a deadpan voice.

“I was going to agree, but then I heard the rest of your ridiculous argument.” Aeron smacked his forehead with his hoof.

“I normally have hooves, and thank you Aeron,” Twilight said with a nod to the man. “Anyways, who among us was the most athletic?”

“I would say me,” Aeron spoke, “but that title lands on Dash.”

“Yeah, if I was a pegasus still,” she grumbled.

“Well it looks like you’ve still got an athlete’s body, that means that the reflexes that came with that body would be there, and you probably have the right reaction time,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, she has good reflexes, agility, and endurance, none of which we need. You want steady hands in disarming mines and traps, otherwise you won’t have a hand left,” Scarlet pointed out.

“So, Dash, do you have steady hands?” Ethan asked the former pegasus.

“Well, yeah. If sniping with Aeron for a month wasn’t any practice, it is now.” She shrugged. “But how do you expect me to disarm something that I can’t figure out? I mean, usually Aeron dealt with all the traps. He never showed me how they worked.”

“Well it’s the perfect time for him to show you how,” Scarlet said as she looked over at Aeron. “Just guide her through the steps of disarming a mine.”

“What about the trip wires, and grenades bouquets?” Ethan asked. “Those usually take a bit more work, and that’s not mentioning the fact that I see at least four turrets up in the ceiling.”

“Well, I can hack the terminal easily. Doesn’t take much work. If there is one, anyways. As for the bouquets, they’re usually near a pressure plate or wire. We can step over those and I know Dash has a keen eye,” Aeron explained.

“I see the terminal, it’s over there,” Thomas said, pointing towards the opposite end of the room, directly behind the turrets.

“Well... that’s rather inconvenient. Fucking typical,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“Uhg. Is she purpo— Oh, I see what she’s doing.” Aeron sighed. “Can’t believe I didn’t notice that.”

“What?” Celestia asked.

Aeron’s hoof pointed to several pipes that were barely illuminated, and a stream of hot gas was shooting out of them. “Gas leak. Room is filled with it by now.”

“Great, I hate ga—” Ethan was suddenly cut off as he let out a wide yawn. “That was odd,”

“This place will become as hot as hell,” Scarlet finished.

Oh, so clever! Boy, I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. I would’ve loved to see you fried. Then I can feed you to my non-existent pet, Kata’s voice giggled.

“Yes yes, you’re a sadistic cunt, we get it,” Ethan said with a roll of his eyes.

Hmp, such a dirty mouth, didn’t your mother teach you better? Oh wait that’s right, you killed her, so she didn’t get the chance to.

“You know, the last time someone brought up my mother like that they were cutting my brain open. I returned the favor pretty well,” Ethan told her with a grim smile. “Besides, Miss Invisicunt I got over that years ago.”

“Oh shut up. Dash, c’mon. I’ll teach you how to disarm a mine.” Aeron and Dash slowly made their way to a nearby mine, staying a decent proximity from it.

“Alright, so, it’s quite simple,” Aeron started. “Small button on the damn thing; press it, it’s off. It’s near that bright ass center. Got it?”

“Yeah. How long ‘till it explodes, though?” she questioned.

“Varies. They’re sporadic as hell, for some reason. Just run like hell,” Aeron explained.

“We don’t have that option,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Yeah, one wrong step in here, and we’ll be painting the ceiling,” Thomas agreed. “I just hope that there aren’t any satchel charges hidden in here. Those things are a fucking pain in the ass to disarm in time.”

“So, Dash, are you up to this?” Twilight asked, turning to the former pegasus. There was a worried look in her eyes.

“She should be, it’s now or never,” Scarlet stated.

“She’ll be fine, or at least she will if she’s anything like the Dash I know,” Ethan said with a nod. “Of course that Dash is having sex with a griffin, so I’m not sure how similar they really are,” he added with a shrug.

“Ethan, you’re not helping,” Twilight grumbled.

“For once you speak the truth,” Scarlet muttered.

“You just don’t listen enough,” the woman shot back.

“Oh, I’ve listened enough, all his talking has done is tear open an already closed wound,” the mare bitterly stated.

“I was talking about me,” Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Enough!” Thomas said stepping between the two bickering women.

“Whatever, soldier boy,” Scarlet replied, not even taking notice of Thomas.

Thomas just growled something under his breath and turned away. “Don’t let her get to you, Thomas,” Luna whispered.

“I’m trying, but that bitch is trying to piss me off. It’s like she wants me to shoot her.”

“She’s just going through a phase,” Celestia whispered. “We’ve put a lot of stress on her, and she’s trying to shrug it off the best way she can think of.”

“By being bitchy?” Ethan asked.

“Well what would you do if someone keeps doing something you have asked a dozen times to stop, but they have not and there’s nowhere to get away from them?”

“I’d be an annoying, sarcastic jackass to them,” Ethan replied with a smirk.

“Well this is Scarlet’s answer for that. ‘Do unto others what you would have them do unto you’. If we want Scarlet to stop acting like this, we should try our best not to frustrate her anymore.”

“Ah, the Bible, I’m familiar,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Although I prefer Revelation 21:6.”

A curious expression from on Celestia face. “The Bible?”

“Religion,” Ethan replied rolling his eyes, as if that explained everything.

“Is this Bible part of a human religion?” Celestia asked, still a bit confused.

“Yeah, we nailed the son of our god to a cross and then started worshipping him. Never made much sense to me, but I’m an atheist so that’s not all that surprising,” Ethan answered.

“I see...” Celestia said in an inquisitive tone.

“There’s more to it than that, and the book itself provides several interesting observations on human society before it killed itself,” Twilight said matter of factly. She’d read the book, of course.

“Still, quite the coincidence to have a saying that’s exactly the same in two different worlds.”

“Not really. I mean, it’s kind of common. Someone does something to you, so you do the same thing and then it escalates. I prefer the saying ‘an eye for an eye’,” Ethan replied. “It’s simple and straight to the point,” he smirked.

“Hey, I’m trying to learn how to not blow us up here,” Dash said from where she was working with Aeron.

“And you’re doing a great job, Dashie,” Twilight said kindly.

“Thanks... Now, if you’ll excuse me...” Dash looked towards the mine as its red light stared at her menacingly.

“Whenever you’re ready, Dash,” Aeron spoke softly.

Dash readied herself as she stared at the mine. Unsure of how long she had for it to blow, it would be now or never. Bolting off with her new set of legs, the mine started to beep wildly. The red light was flashing wildly like a strobe light. Her heart raced as she finally neared it, quickly bent down, and looked around the circumference of the light. Seeing a small red button, she pushed it and the beeping stopped - the light extinguishing from existence.

“Good job, Dash! Now we just have several hundred more to go along with a maze of other traps,” Ethan said, congratulating the woman.

“By then our oxygen supply will be replaced by this gas and we’ll all have suffocated,” the red haired mare stated.

“And our oxygen supply is thin enough as is. We’ve got ten minutes.” Thomas looked around the room uneasily before yawning.

“Oh good, I just love working under time pressure,” Ethan muttered. “I wouldn’t suppose that either of you Couriers happen to have a rebreather on you, do you?” He also yawned

“Wouldn’t work, it only pulls oxygen out of whatever’s there,” Thomas replied. “It can’t turn one gas into another.”

“Well that’s unfortunate,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“Well, it’s either we avoid traps like tripwires and pressure plates, stay out of mine proximity, and try not to be spotted by those turrets and such, or we can disarm everything. Your guys’ choice,” Aeron commented.

“Disarm what we have to to clear a path, but leave everything else untouched. There’s no way we can get across without getting too close to a few mines, so we don’t have any other option,” Thomas replied authoritatively.

“Saves time and gets us a nice supply of mines; I dig it,” Ethan agreed with a smile.

“Y’all are carrying what you grab,” Scarlet said.

“Duh,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Sparky you wouldn’t mind holding onto my explosives would you? I mean, I’d do it, but I don’t exactly have pockets at the moment.”

“Of course,” Twilight yawn said, followed by a yawn.

“Luna, you okay with doing the same?” Thomas asked

“Assuming that we’ll be given back our true forms and you’ll be carrying them anyway, I see no harm,” the woman replied.

“Should I carry the ones you pick up, Scarlet?” Celestia asked.

“You could if I pick any up,” the mare simply replied before taking in a small yawn.

“Uh, I don’t feel safe carrying this thing,” Dash said, carefully setting the mine on the ground.

“A natural feeling. Just place it off in the distance and don’t press the button again,” Scarlet told the human pegasus.

“Not that I want to sound impatient, but we’re rapidly running out of oxygen,” Twilight reminded everyone. “So maybe we could hold off on this conversation until after we get out of this room?”

“Everyone, shut up. It’ll give us an extra minute or two,” Thomas stated. “How did I know that?” he added under his breath.

“Natural pegasus magic,” Twilight replied shortly with a shrug. “They’re living barometers, along with several other related facets of atmospheric observation. It’s one of the main reasons that they’re so good at weather magic,” she added.

“Right,” Thomas said with a thoughtful nod. “Now what did I say about talking?”

“You asked,” Twilight replied with a shrug before she turned back to watching Dash navigate the maze of traps.

Now that she’d gotten going, the former pegasus was moving forwards with an increased sense of confidence as she disarmed mine after mine. That confidence came to a sudden end however when she came within a hair’s breadth of breaking an all but invisible tripwire that appeared in front of her chest. She began to hyperventilate and her eyes widened as they traced the tripwire back to the grenade bouquet that was dangling half a foot above her head.

“Back away slowly,” Thomas ordered. “Can you duck under it?”

“Y-yeah, one second,” Dash said, her eyes still wide as she took a careful step backwards away from the wire.

Then, after gulping nervously, the woman ducked under the wire and moved out from underneath it. She let out a held breath as she got through and gulped down a lung full of new air. Air that strangely felt pleasant.

“How much time do you think we have left?” Ethan murmured in a drowsy tone.

“Eight and a half minutes. We need to turn off that gas leak.”

“That’s assuming that there is one,” Aeron muttered.

“You can do this, Dash!” Ethan said encouragingly before he turned back to the others and whispered. “I hope she can anyways, otherwise we’re all dead.”

“We should probably start following,” Luna said quietly, taking the path that Rainbow had cleared.

“Let me go first. I should be able to pick up where the air is breathable,” Thomas said, completely unsure if his new body was even capable of that.

“Makes sense,” Ethan agreed while giving the other stallion an almost imperceptible nod.

Thomas carefully made his way to Rainbow Dash, glad that his current body offered a great deal more stability. “Rainbow, turn right. The air should... should be a bit clearer there,” he advised, rubbing at his eyes sleepily.

“Thanks, Thomas,” Dash said without turning to look at him. “This is getting really hard,” she muttered under her breath as she maneuvered around another tripwire.

“Just think of your Twilight waiting for you at the end of this,” Ethan called up to her encouragingly.

A few minutes of progress later, Thomas made Rainbow stop. “Hold up,” he hissed. “The turrets. We need to get around them.” Unfortunately, the area in front of the turrets offered no cover, meaning that they would be shot at the moment they got too close. The Wastelanders could tell by the ceiling-mounted design that they fired conventional bullets, a 5.56mm round.

“I’ll keep them busy while the rest of you sneak past,” Ethan spoke up as he looked at the turrets appraisingly.

Thomas took a moment they didn’t really have to think about it. “There might be too much gas for ignition. Too much fuel, not enough oxygen. Could work,” he muttered.

Scarlet took in a deep breath with a critiquing look. “I don’t think this is methane gas, it has an... an odor to it.” She then shook her head as it suddenly became drowsy.

“Is anyone— ” Ethan yawned. “Is anyone else feeling really sleepy?” he asked, his eyelids drooping as he looked around.

“I thought it was just me,” Luna replied. “But no, you’re right. Something isn’t right here.”

“Kata’s trying to force us to sleep,” Scarlet stated.

“This isn’t methane, it’s knockout gas,” Thomas added fearfully. “Not this crap again.”

“Knockout gas?” Twilight asked. “Why not just poison us?

I have to give you a chance, Kata replied suddenly. And I want to see your expressions when one of you falls over and triggers everything. Oh it will be delicious, she added, purring orgasmically.

“It is really creepy hearing a ten-year-old make that sound,” Ethan commented. “Still, now we can take out the turrets.”

“I can’t truthfully see that succeeding,” Luna replied. “I doubt any of us can reliably shoot accurately in our current states.”

“Umm girls, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but you’re all wearing Pip-Boys, that means that you all have VATS,” Ethan informed them as he passed a deactivated mine for Twilight to hold onto for him. “Even if your aim sucks, that should at least let you hit one of them, and all of our pistols are strong enough to take one of those bastards out with just a shot.”

“Then how about you stop talking and do it!?” Thomas asked angrily. “We need to be quick about this! I don’t wanna pass out, just shoot!”

Twilight drew Ethan’s magnum, as did Luna with Thomas’s Sequoia, and they both slipped into the odd trancelike state known as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. Luna’s eyes darted around in shock, seeing her vision filled with an alarming amount of numbers. Twilight meanwhile was used to the slightly unnerving sensation and instead simply focused her attention on the turrets.

Luna steeled herself and focused on the turrets. Only 43%? she thought to herself. She turned to one of the others and found the odds slightly more favourable at 52%. She decided to shoot that one.

The two women came out of their trances all but simultaneously, and unleashed a small salvo of lead at the two targets. The Sequoia barked twice, the first bullet missing the turret by a fraction of an inch. The second shot was much more successful, tearing through the turret and obliterating its internals. The Blackhawk’s barrel flashed twice rapidly. The first bullet somehow managed to miss the turret completely, embedding itself in the ceiling almost a foot to the right. Luckily the second one flew true and it buried itself in the turret, destroying it.

Thomas decided to take a shot himself, pulling his brush gun from where it rested on his back. Balancing on his haunches and resting the stock against his shoulder (at least, he thought it was called that) was incredibly uncomfortable, but he continued undeterred. He even opened his wings for extra balance. Ethan moved up behind him silently and leaned against the other stallion to make sure that he wasn’t thrown backwards by the kick of the gun. Thomas looked down the sights and pulled the trigger carefully. The bullet failed to destroy the turret, but its firing mechanism was destroyed, evidenced by a mangled barrel and a small amount of metal falling down. The debris was too light to set off the explosives underneath.

“Nice shot, Captain,” Ethan congratulated the other stallion before yawning slightly.

“I thought you were straight,” Thomas asked inquisitively, referring to their current position.

“As an arrow, I just thought that you’d appreciate not flying backwards into a mine,” Ethan answered with a smirk as he moved away from the other stallion.

“So that was just your horn,” he replied, his voice filled with mock sadness.

A fourth gunshot thundered through the room, and they all turned to Scarlet. The mare was leaning against the back wall, her anti-material rifle resting against her shoulder as she calmly pulled back the bolt and ejected the shell. “If you two are done flirting with each other, can we get moving?” she asked harshly.

“Of course, Kathrine. We were just waiting for you to clear out that last turret. Besides, you can’t fault Thomas here for being attracted to me, I’m damn good looking,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Enough talk,” Thomas said uneasily as he slipped the rifle back onto his back, where it somehow stayed in place. “We need to get moving.”

Dash nodded and continued to go to work disabling the various traps in their way as they moved towards the exit. She’d gained a surprisingly swift aptitude for the job and they were making a good pace.

“Wait!” Thomas yelled as the group came within fifty yards of the exit. “There’s a thick pocket of gas in the way, completely unbreathable.”

“Well then, hold your breath, and think of the one you love, or whatever part of their anatomy you’re most familiar with, or God I suppose if you’re going to be boring,” Ethan said before letting out a large yawn.

Then he took a deep breath and charged forward through the gas. A short explosion and a loud curse followed suit as a mine that he hadn’t seen erupted underneath him. Luckily it appeared to be a simple fragmentation mine and it didn’t set off the mines that lay around the rest of the group. Instead it merely sent him flying into the wall near the door, bleeding heavily.

“Someone grab him on their way past!” Thomas yelled. “Move!”

You didn’t think you were getting away that easily, did you? Kata asked viciously. The pegasus’ eyes went wide in horror as his body told him what was going on.

“Oh fuck! We... we need to move!” he shouted, suppressing a yawn.

The entire group sprinted forwards, somehow managing to avoid a similar fate to Ethan’s as they went. As they neared the door, which was shimmering slightly with a blue aura, Twilight diverted her path and unceremoniously grabbed the downed unicorn by the tail before returning to her original path and sprinting towards the exit, the stallion’s body bouncing along behind her.

As Luna wrenched the door open, though, Kata utilised one final act of vindictiveness. The door slammed shut, almost catching Luna’s hand. She rattled the door handle in a desperate attempt to open it. “It’s locked!”

“Power fist!” Thomas shouted frantically.

The woman turned to look at the pegasus, then at the device strapped to her arm. Without a second thought, she punched the handle. The flimsy lock was no match for the blow, and the door flew open. The resulting pony-and-people pile was unpleasant for all involved. The last ones to enter were a near-unconscious Twilight and Ethan, Twilight falling forwards moments after passing the threshold. Luna and Celestia, the first to extricate themselves from the tangle of limbs, grabbed them and pulled them further inside the room. To their surprise Ethan let out a loud, pained cry.

“FUCK!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“How are you even conscious?” Thomas asked as he tried to free his leg, clearly baffled.

“Extreme force of effort. Now PLEASE get me a stimpak!”

“Going to need a doctor for all that shrapnel. I would offer aid, but I can’t do anything in this state.” Aeron yawned.

“Just get me a stimpak!” Ethan commanded. His voice was extremely strained. “I’ll be fine once the bleeding stops, but right now there’s the risk of me bleeding out and that’s a really boring way to die so I’d like to avoid it as much as possible!” Then his eyes went blank and his head fell to the side, either fainting from the pain, or the blood loss. It was hard to tell which.

“So are we going to help them or what?” Scarlet asked with a nod towards their two unconscious companions.

“Luna, there should be a few stimpaks in one of the pockets in my duster. Hit him with two. That should stop the worst of it.” As she did that, he turned to the others. “Something feels off.”

“What do you mean Thomas?” Celestia asked.

“That was over in what, fifteen minutes? Every other thing we’ve been through lasted most of a day. Also, the gas. Why would she choose something that takes as long to affect us as sleeping gas? Laughing gas would’ve been a much better alternative,” Scarlet said.

“Maybe she’s not all that bright,” Aeron muttered.

“I bet she’s not as powerful as she claims. Which raises a different question,” Thomas stated uneasily.

“Which is?” Celestia asked.

“How did she bring us here, but not properly control this place?” Thomas asked.

“Hmm... As much as I hate to say it, Thomas, maybe Vault Boy is right. She’s probably new at this,” Scarlet said with a frown.

“But she said that we’re not the first. She can’t be that new. Maybe... No, that’s insane,” he muttered.

“What is?” Luna asked as she jabbed the unconscious stallion with a stimpak.

Thomas took a deep breath, both to ensure his body had enough oxygen and to prepare himself. “What if this place is fighting her as well? Maybe it doesn’t want to be controlled. Maybe it has a mind of its own.”

“You think that this place could be sentient?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“With everything else that’s been going on, I’m not dismissing the idea.” Thomas turned to Luna. “How’s he doing?”

“The bleeding has stopped, but he won’t wake up,” she replied worriedly. “I hope he’ll be okay.”

“Ugh... What did I miss?” Twilight groaned as her eyes flickered open and she rolled to her knees.

“Everything,” Aeron joked.

“You’re ever so helpful,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes before broke into a fit of coughing.

“No problem. But seriously, we’re talking about how idiotic and childish Kata is,” Aeron stated seriously.

“Also, Thomas seems to think that this place may be... alive,” Luna stated uneasily.

“A genius loci?” Twilight asked. “It’s when a building, or a land, or an entire planet has a sentient spirit that controls what happens in that place.”

“Well, that would be interesting,” Aeron tapped a hoof to his chin, “considering the Wasteland feels somewhat like that. Doesn’t take too kindly to what I do, sometimes.”

“Yeah, I have to agree,” Dash added.

That’s when Twilight’s eyes caught sight of Ethan and widened. “Ethan...” she said quietly with a concerned frown.

“Something wrong, Twilight?” Dash asked Twilight, raising a brow.

“Well he’s unconscious and covered in blood,” Twilight replied as she got to her feet and walked over to where Ethan was lying. “On the bright side it looks like you’ve managed to stop the bleeding,” she added while she ran her hand gently over the stallion’s newly scared side.

“Well, it’s time for him to realize he isn’t everything proof, then,” Aeron chuckled.

“It’s this body, it doesn’t have the same resistance as his real one. You can’t exactly blame him for forgetting that,” Twilight retorted.

“I can blame him for whatever. Nothing he can do about it, really. He’s stupid. Maybe if he read a book or two-thousand...” Aeron let his sentence drag on.

“You’d be very surprised,” Twilight replied with a small chuckle.

“Being smart with the usage of guns isn’t what I meant. Intelligence is far more than just the ‘use of something.’” Aeron said as he scratched his forehead with the edge of his hoof.

“I assume it also means being able to see through deception, you don’t seem to have mastered that particular skill,” Twilight informed him with a smirk.

“Deception has nothing to do with this. I see an idiot before me, and it’s clearly him. Nothing else to the argument. Accept or deny it - he’s stupid. I’m sure someone of your caliber would realize this. Especially when you’re sleeping with a goddess,” Aeron stated with a placid look.

Twilight just shook her head and chuckled in response.

“Also, to add insult to injury, I’ve been keeping an eye on all of you. I think I’d notice someone lying or not by the way you move.” Aeron smiled, but barely.

“Sure you would,” Twilight agreed with a sarcastic smirk.

“I don’t need to prove anything. If you think you’re more intelligent than I am, you’re welcome to prove me wrong, but that’s a petty argument we can settle later. Right now, why don’t we press forward and see if we can rest soon?” Aeron asked politely.

“I enjoy how you can be an ass, yet be so polite and sensible,” Twilight said with a chuckle before she turned back to Ethan. Then she bent down and whispered something in his ear. It took a second, and then the stallion’s eyes shot open.

“Anything but that, Sparky!” Ethan shouted, all but jumping into the air with surprise and fright.

“Hrm. So, Kata, you going to tell us what’s up? Or, are we done for now?” Dash asked the air, in hopes of a response.

“Dash, never ask that kind of question!” Thomas told the woman. “It’s just asking for her to put us through something worse.”

“What could be worse than death, really? Torture?” Dash joked.

“God, I was just knocked unconscious, and now there’s someone begging for the sadistic cunt that made that happen to make something worse happen!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Meh, I do wish to know what’s going to happen next. Do we get to rest, or do we aimlessly wander in this place?” Aeron shrugged. “Besides, believing in bad luck like that is stupid.”

“How in the hell did you survive in the wasteland with an attitude like that?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow before he grimaced in pain.

“Simple. I used my own devices and didn’t let the world bother me. I saw lots of crap, and I mostly ignored it. Because I didn’t feel like dealing with it. If I was forced to, well, y’know.” Aeron laughed.

“Ever get abducted by aliens?” Ethan asked.

“I saw an alien spacecraft, yes. But, I never bothered with it. Never abducted, to answer your question,” Aeron answered.

“Well I’d avoid snooping around the place, seriously you’d think that being abducted would be interesting, but it really wasn’t, it was kind of boring honestly,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“I’m not one for sightseeing. A lot of stuff in the Wasteland is boring. I enjoy information more than the sights of something.” He chuckled.

Are you two quite done? Kata asked suddenly.

“Nah. Let’s talk politics and then religion.Perhaps about our family back in the Mojave,” Aeron answered sarcastically. “Clearly we’re done. Have you not been paying attention?”

I’m not sure which of you two is more impudent, I’m having a hard time deciding, Kata told them.

“Never said I respected him. I just have no other options right now,” Aeron replied.

“Well I’m bored, let’s get going,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Yeah. Where to?” Dash asked the group.

“Wherever she wants us,” Thomas grumbled.

Now there’s someone with the right attitude! Kata said with a chuckle.

“Fuck off. Just tell us what’s next,” Ethan retorted before Thomas could speak again.

You’re fairly enthusiastic for someone who recently had their stomach torn open, Kata said with a giggle.

“Well I’ve always been a real glutton for punishment,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Now tell us what we’re doing next.”

All I will say is that it will require a great deal of stamina and strength. Another door opened in front of the group, luring them to walk through.

“How refreshingly ambiguous,” Ethan muttered as he started forward with a slight limp.

“You know I do have some hydra to fix that,” Scarlet said.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t do chems,” Ethan replied. “And it’s not because of some sense of moral superiority, it’s because I know what it’s like to be an addict,” he added.

“It’s a good thing I always carry some Fixer for that.”

“This body is temporary. I’ll deal with the pain,” he said from between gritted teeth.

This time Scarlet walked in front of Ethan. “We can’t risk you passing out. Your bleeding has stopped, but any broken bones can cause internal bleeding. You’ll be dead without knowing what hit you.”

“Funny, I thought you didn’t care,” Ethan muttered as he reached out with his magic and grabbed a stimpack from one of the pockets of his duster and stabbed it into the limping leg.

“Well maybe you don’t know me well enough, Ethan. Besides, you do want to have that sparring match right?”

“Of course! I don’t get to spar against people who’re as good as me very often,” Ethan replied with a smile. “It’ll be interesting if nothing else.”

“So will you take the Hydra?”

“Fine,” Ethan said with a roll of his eyes. “But if I get addicted I’m killing you.”

“Then take the Fixer right after,” she said as she slung her bag off her back. She rummaged through it for a bit and pulled out a soda bottle with three sealed glass vials of liquid taped around its middle, each one with a thin rubber tube feeding their contents up to the mouth of the bottle. She also pulled out a small brown bag and open it. Inside the brown bag was an assortment of stimpaks, med-x, super-stimpaks, rad-way, and other medical equipment. She pulled out a hand size blue tin container with the name Fixer written in yellow letters. She set the two items in front of Ethan. “Shake the bottle and drink the whole thing, then take one tablet of the Fixer to ease your mind,” she instructed the unicorn.

Ethan nodded and quickly shook the bottle and then chugged the chem. Then he popped one of the tablets into his mouth and chewed. “This stuff tastes like ass,” he muttered.

“They’re not supposed to taste good, but you’ll get used to the taste after a while. In five minutes you should be good as new,” Scarlet started to put her things away.

“Thanks, Katherine, but I don’t exactly plan on getting used to the taste,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Just make sure you don’t do something like that again, Vault Boy. I only have three Hydras left, unless you want bones to be fixed the old fashioned way.”

“Yeah, I’ll just have to sleep them off,” he joked. Scarlet rolled her eyes as she swung her bag on her back. She then started to make her way towards the open door.

“Come on, let’s see what Kata’s got in store for us.”

“Well we can now that you two have finished flirting,” Aeron said with a chuckle.

“I don’t flirt with anyone. I just want to make sure we all get out of this alive, and having one of us crippled doesn't help our odds in survival.”

“Besides, Cassandra would literally castrate me if I flirted with someone,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Now I’m gonna have nightmares,” Thomas muttered. Luna couldn’t help but snicker at his response.

“Yeah, my wife has that effect on people,” Ethan agreed with a chuckle. “And that’s only the beginning of what she does to raiders,” he added. “You've never seen someone reduce someone to a puddle of limbless piss until you’ve seen Cassie work.”

A pregnant silence fell over the group as they walked towards the next doorway and stepped inside.

The Weight of Your Sins

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The Weight of Your Sins

“Well... this is different,” Scarlet pointed out once everyone was inside their new room of ‘fun’. The room was bare except for a single round column sprouting out of the middle of the ceiling, a three-foot gap underneath the smooth brown stone. “I think Kata’s running out of ideas.”

“I kind of doubt that,” Ethan said as he cast his eyes around the room.

“It’s either that, or she’s really scraping the bottom of the barrel.” Scarlet pointed a hoof at the column. “Strength and stamina, how is a column supposed to test that?”

I’m so glad that you asked, Katherine, because you’re about to find out, Kata said with a giggle.

“What do you mean I will find out?” Scarlet asked, her eyes narrowing.

Because, my little Kitty, you’re the only one who can hold up that column! Kata laughed.

Scarlet ground her teeth. “You have no right to call me that, you bitch.”

Kathrine the Kitty, the one who shot her husband for the good of the Divide and failed to save it in the end, Kata taunted.

Flames danced in Scarlet’s eyes and she snorted. “When I find whoever you’re afraid of, I’m going to personally ask if I can scrape your forehead off.”

Oh, does the little Kitty have claws? Kata asked with an amused giggle.

Scarlet was about to say something else, but her mouth was clamped shut by Celestia. “Enough! Tell us the challenge you want us to face.”

Fine, I suppose I can tell you. It’s fairly simple, Kitten over there holds up the column while you fight another of my little pets. If she fails then she’ll be crushed by the column, if you succeed in killing the beast then you can move onto the next room. That shouldn’t be too hard for you, should it, Tia darling? It isn’t as if you’ve let down someone important to you before or anything. Certainly not your darling little sister. Kata snickered.

Celestia’s hand tightened around her spear. “We’ve all failed at one point or another. The importance of those failures is not how hard we fail, but what we can learn from them.”

How trite, and somehow completely expected. So, Tia dear, what exactly did you learn from having half of your country destroyed thanks to your own incompetence as a ruler? Surely it must have been an important lesson.

“That my hope that there is good in everyone is not entirely true. And that those who have no chance of redemption must face their end before they can do any more harm.” In a hard tone Celestia finished, “Like you.”

“Girls, far be it from me to be the voice of reason, but perhaps we should cut the witty banter short for now and instead focus on getting through this test alive?” Ethan said, breaking up the conversation.

“He’s right, we’re not accomplishing anything right now other than letting her make the two of you mad,” Thomas agreed.

Scarlet pulled her head away from Celestia’s hands. “So what? I’m tense as it is with Vault Boy’s constant picking on me.”

“This is a good illustration of my point actually,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “When you carry around that much baggage someone's bound to notice, and once they do, you lose control and do something you regret. I’m sure that this isn’t the first time it’s happened, although at the moment you’ve managed to avoid doing something you regret, so good job on that part.”

“I’ve already done the thing that I regret, Vault Boy, and normally people are too smart to try pointing out my burden; it’s my pain to deal with, not theirs, and if I wished to share it, I would’ve already done so.”

“It’s still a rather large chink in your armor, Kathy,” Ethan said with a sigh. “Anyways, let’s get to it.”

“Oh right, let me get under this column that could crush me like a bug right away,” Scarlet sarcastically expressed.

“Get to it then; we don’t have all day,” Aeron muttered.

“You’re not helping,” Scarlet lashed out.

“And I look like I particularly care?” Aeron asked.

“Scarlet, I know this is not what you want to hear, but you’re the only person who has a good chance at holding that column up,” Celestia stated.

“Why? I’m a sniper, not a heavy lifter.”

“Because you’re an earth pony,” Twilight explained simply. Scarlet gave an unamused look as if she wasn’t buying that explanation.

“Earth ponies can be strong enough to dent T-51b with a kick,” Thomas added. “The ones in the Guard are a goddamn wrecking crew on a battlefield.”

“That’s certainly one way to put it,” Twilight agreed with a nod.

Celestia knelt down in front of Scarlet. “Look, we all have to go through something we don’t like, but it’s the only way to press on. I promise you, we will defeat whatever Kata has planned for us before you lose strength.”

Scarlet let out a reluctant sigh. “Fine.” She placed a hoof on one of her scraps and began to take her rifle and bag off. “Just hurry up.”

Celestia took Scarlet’s things. “I’ll do my best.”

“Besides, Kathy, we’re all too handsome and beautiful to die, right Thomas?” Ethan asked with a chuckle.

“It’d be a shame if I didn’t get some of that before we died, true,” Thomas replied, shooting a look at the other stallion.

“Ask my wife, she’s open to stuff like that, as long as you’re good. You can bring along Lulu over there too if you want,” Ethan agreed with a smirk.

Thomas gave him a different look. “I was only joking.”

“I should hope so,” Luna muttered angrily.

“Don’t worry, Lulu, I’m handsome but I’d say that he feels the same way I do about men,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

Scarlet slowly made her way under the column, but stopped a few inches away. “Don’t use my rifle. It’s got nasty recoil and can knock you on your ass. It’s also hard to find replacement parts for that thing, especially the scope, so try not to drop it.”

“I can paint the ground with a Diamond Dog from 500 yards while on a moving platform,” Thomas boasted.

“Yeah, still no touchy, I’ve worked too hard on perfecting that rifle. It’s better than what the Gun Runners usually have for sale.” Scarlet gave a small smirk as she turned her head towards Thomas. “I’ve killed three people with one shot, and that was with a normal round.” Scarlet then looked back at the column and stood under it. She then took in a deep breath asking, “Ready?”

“Yeah, let’s get this started.” Ethan nodded.

“Yes, the sooner we’re done with this the sooner we get our bodies back,” Twilight agreed.

Oh goody! I’m sure four of you will like this! Kata exclaimed. The pillar came down onto Scarlet’s back, causing the mare to grunt. Now, where is he... Ah! The sound of something stomping closer shook the very room they were in. The rest of the group turned to see another hole open up in one of the walls. Unlike every other one, though, it was easily thirty feet high and just as wide.

“Oh that can’t be good,” Thomas muttered.

“No, no it cannot,” Ethan said, his eyes had widened significantly as the door had risen.

Celestia readied her spear towards the door. “Whatever comes through, don’t lose your focus. Remember, we’ve all faced worse.”

“Why is that argument never very comforting?” Twilight asked.

The source of the stomping revealed itself, first as a silhouette in the hole before stepping into the room. It was easily the biggest Deathclaw any of them had ever had the misfortune of running into, bigger than even the Alphas. What was truly terrifying, though, was that it appeared to be covered in metal plates. Its entire head was secured behind a helmet that was similar to T-45d, and its 15-inch claws were augmented by strips of steel running down their length. The armour didn’t seem fitted so much as welded and riveted in place.

You’re the ones who gave me the idea for my little pet here, and you know, I’m very happy that I listened to your advice. I think he came out very nicely. What do you think? Kata asked with a chuckle.

Thomas simply stared. “Oh fuck.”

“What is that thing!?” Luna asked loudly, staring at the thing in horror.

“This is why we need to stop talking so much...” Ethan muttered as he drew his sword.

“You don’t say,” Aeron muttered as he stepped a few paces back.

“You know, it’s a good thing that I’m out of bubblegum,” Ethan said. “Because we’re going to need to kick a ton of ass right now.”

The Power Armoured Deathclaw let out a deafening roar and charged. “Scatter!” Celestia yelled as she ran out of the way.

“NO SHIT!” Ethan shouted back as he dove away from the others and out of the deathclaw’s path. He flinched as his bad leg slammed into the ground but rose back to his hooves regardless of the pain. “So, Captain, do you have a plan?” Ethan called over to Thomas.

“RUN AND GUN!” the pegasus yelled, his wings flapping clumsily as he put as much distance as he could from the monstrosity.

“I MEANT BESIDES THE OBVIOUS!” Ethan shouted back as he turned and ran from the deathclaw who seemed a bit too interested in dismembering him.

Aww, he wants to pway with the widdle unicorn! Kata said, speaking in a sickeningly sweet tone.

“What’s the best way to cripple him?” Celestia asked as she carefully studied the deathclaw’s movements.

“Dart guns!” Twilight shouted, recycling one of the first things that Ethan had ever talked about with her.

“Need a better plan than that. What part of their body do they rely on the most for their attacks?”

“WE NEED SOME ANTI-MATERIEL ROUNDS IN THAT THING!” Thomas screamed at the top of his lungs as he galloped past Scarlet, his wings flapping furiously.

“Legs,” Scarlet grunted out loud the best she could. “Without those they can’t run or do their leap attacks.”

“And we’re all carrying mines!” Ethan exclaimed as he continued to run from the deathclaw. “Also would someone who isn’t still recovering from a broken leg distract this BASTARD?” the stallion shouted.

Unfortunately, Thomas failed to see where he was going in time and clipped the other stallion with a wing, sending the unicorn tumbling. The sudden knock to the sensitive appendage caused the pegasus to fall over, grunting as his face took the worst of the damage. When he looked up, it was to see the metal-covered beast coming at him, seeing him as an easier target.

Then Celestia’s spear embedded itself into the creature’s side, ignoring the the thick armor it was wearing. The creature let out a small annoyed roar and looked towards Celestia. It then tried to pull the spear out of his side, but had to let go as his claw suddenly got burned.

“Nice throw Tia!” Twilight shouted as she raised her plasma defender and unleashed a salvo of plasma bolts at the deathclaw, turning its course away from Celestia and back onto Twilight. “I didn’t think this through very well...” Twilight said before she began to run as fast as he legs could take her.

Aeron made his way around the edge of the cave, avoiding the deathclaw’s sight. The colour of his coat matched the shadows quite well, and he was using this as an opportunity, seeing as the deathclaw was already being distracted by the others.

“Hrm... Wonder if I could use my horn to blast its foot off, or something,” he muttered. He tapped his chin and eyed the lightly armoured deathclaw ankle, figuring out a way to cripple it.

“Hrm. It then provides the problem of how I... No, nevermind.” Aeron’s eyes were glued to the deathclaw attacking everyone, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Meanwhile the rest of the group continued to run from the pursuing deathclaw. At that moment, Thomas seemed to be its target.

Aww, now it wants the pegasus! Kata squealed excitedly.

“Get away from him!” Luna screamed, unleashing a barrage of lead at the armoured monster’s head. Thanks to overuse of VATS, five of the six shots found their mark. Unfortunately, they did nothing more than irritate it.

“Aim for the legs!” Ethan shouted over to her as he stopped running long enough to talk to Scarlet. “How’re you doing, Katherine?” he asked.

“How do you think I’m doing?” Scarlet grunted irritatedly as a bead of sweat dripped down her forehead and made its way across her face. Her legs were getting a bit shaky as they tried not to collapse in on each other.

“Just hang in there, Kathrine, we’ll kill this thing soon,” Ethan told her before he took off again leaving the mare behind with her weight.

The deathclaw was now charging at Luna, having decided that she was a better target. The woman’s eyes widened as she froze. She ducked under one swipe but managed to take a second, the blow nearly tearing her apart.

“LUNA!”

Thomas, after running around flapping his wings like an invalid for the past ten minutes, had finally figured out flight. He used his new-found maneuverability to leap onto the thing’s head, where he began hammering at it furiously. “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!”

The hooves raining down on its head completely failed to hurt the monstrously oversized Deathclaw, but the attempt at distracting it succeeded. It howled as it tried to dislodge the weight on its head, violently shaking and swinging its arms in a futile attempt to reach the pegasus clinging to it.

Thomas’s distraction was enough for Celestia to run up and grab hold of her spear, yanking it out with ease. She then gave a flurry of blows at one of the legs with fierce determination on crippling it.

Meanwhile the combined distraction of Celestia and Thomas gave Twilight enough time to run in and grab hold of Luna, pulling her to a relatively safer place away from the enraged deathclaw. She reached into one of the pockets of Ethan’s duster and pulled out a stimpack which she quickly injected into Luna’s shredded, blood-covered torso.

Luna looked at her mangled body, pulling her soaked hand from the rapidly-healing wound. “T-thank you,” she stammered.

“Of course. Now hush and save your strength,” Twilight whispered before she once more drew her plasma defender.

Celestia took a big step back to avoid a frantic swing the deathclaw was making in trying to take down one of its two foes. She took a small glance towards Scarlet. A soft weak green glow was emitting out of her body, and her face bare that she was under extreme stress, time was running out for her.

Are you ready to fail again, Kitty? Kata asked her mockingly. I suppose it’s fitting that you’re going to be crushed under something almost as heavy as your hatred for yourself.

Scarlet just let out a low mix of a growl and a grunt as she tried to keep the column from crushing her.

Well whatever the case, I’m sure that Jason would find this whole thing rather funny, Kata continued mockingly.

Scarlet’s eyes shot open, filled with great rage, and the weak glow grew in brightness. “You, are going to die a slow and painful death,” she barely muttered out.

And you’re going to kill me, Kitty, just like you killed Jason? Kata asked with a chuckle.

Scarlet was about to answer, but one of her legs partly gave away, causing the column to lower significantly.

Looks like you’re slipping, Kitty, Kata giggled.

Ethan rushed towards the deathclaw, sword grasped firmly in his mouth. He charged past Celestia and slashed downwards with his sword, aiming for the leg that Celestia had wounded, slicing deep into the deathclaw’s leg but not quite hitting the bone. The deathclaw reared back, taking Ethan’s sword with it leaving the stallion completely unarmed. Then it slashed at him with it’s claws.

“Fuck, my sword!” Ethan shouted as he leapt away from the incoming claws.

Celestia quickly ran to the side to dodge and then back close to the deathclaw. With her free hand she grabbed hold of Ethan’s sword and yanked it out with some minor difficulty. She then plunged her spear into gaping wound the sword made and pierced into bone. The deathclaw roared in pain as it’s right leg collapsed underneath it. Celestia maneuvered away with a spear in one hand a sword in the other.

“Ethan!” she called out as she quickly bent down and slid the sword across the ground towards the pony.

“Thanks Sunny!” Ethan called before he picked up the sword in his mouth. “Thbs iths anoying!” he muttered angrily.

Aeron took the the opportunity offered by the deathclaw’s weakness and charged it from the side. He leapt at the deathclaw’s head, horn first and slammed into the place where the helmet was fastened to the deathclaw’s head. The helmet loosened significantly but Aeron was sent tumbling to the side with a cry of pain as his horn suddenly flared with pain. As the unicorn’s strike landed, Thomas lost his grip and fell heavily.

Celestia took Aeron’s help and pushed her spear into the gap and pulled the helmet off. Her spear scraped against the deathclaw’s face, leaving a nasty burn mark. With it’s head revealed the deathclaw let out a low growl as it two black eyes glared at Celestia. It swiped one of its claws under Celestia legs causing her to fall on her back. It then lifted it’s claw, readying it to plunge into Celestia’s chest.

“Oth, fucth no!” Ethan shouted through the sword as he charged forward and deflected the claw to the side before following that up with a slash to the overgrown chameleon’s chest, slicing through it’s chest armour with a spray of blood.

Celestia quickly got up and decided to use VATS. The world slowed down as the targeting computer took over giving her different attack options. She went with obvious choice and since she was close there was no way she could miss. The world speed up and Celestia swung her spear with blinding speed as she attacked the vulnerable head. There was little resistance as her spearhead sliced through. There was no blood because the wounds were cauterised. The deathclaw toppled over and fell to the ground with a hard, metallic crunch.

Celestia ceased attacking and began to pant, taking in deep breaths as she stood before the defeated deathclaw.

“Nice stab, Sunny,” Ethan told her with a grin.

Celestia didn’t say anything, only looking towards Scarlet. To her relief the pillar began to rise, but to her horror Scarlet just collapsed. Celestia then dropped her spear and rushed towards her. She knelt down and scooped Scarlet up in her arms. “Scarlet, are you alright?”

Scarlet was heavily rasping her breaths and her heart was racing. “Yeah....just in time,” she said faintly.

Looks like you won’t be seeing Jason for a little while longer, Kitty. Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough, Kata said mockingly.

Scarlet didn’t respond, she was too focused on not passing out.

Thomas was kneeling next to Luna, gently running his hoof through her hair, apparently oblivious to the outside world now that the deathclaw was dead. “You okay?” he whispered to her.

“I nearly died,” Luna muttered, rubbing her now-healed stomach absently. “I nearly died.”

“Uhg. Fucking migraine right now... Jesus Christ...” Aeron rubbed the side of his horn with his hooves, laying on the ground.

“Your horn is not a spear,” Twilight told him. “It’s a focus for your magic and it’s very sensitive, you’re lucky that it didn’t break or chip!”

“I fu—” Aeron stopped himself, not wanting to say anything uncalled for. Sighing, he spoke again, “I was hoping to help, rather than watch you struggle. Wasn’t planning to hit the head, but, shit happens.”

“Never the less, thanks for your help,” Celestia said, still holding the exhausted mare.

Dash joined Aeron by this point, tending to his horn.

"Where the hell were you?" Thomas asked, looking at the woman angrily.

"You guys looked like you had it covered." She shrugged, and jerked a thumb towards the farthest corner of the room. "I was guarding Aeron's gear in the corner." She turned to Twilight. “Hey, Twilight, what usually helps with horn pain?”

“Umm... Celestia’s tongue...” Twilight said with a blush. “Other than that, not much.”

“Ceasing your flow of magic helps,” Celestia said. “Think about a gate closing off a river of water and lock the gate once it’s fully closed.”

“Uhg, I have too much shit running through my mind to close any gates. Some painkillers would be lovely right now.” Aeron grunted. “I’m willing to let Celestia lick my horn, though.” Aeron chuckled with a hiss of pain.

Celestia gave a low glare at them that said ‘that wouldn't happen in a million years’. “Med-x in my bag,” Scarlet stated, her voice a bit stronger than before, her breathing becoming a lot calmer.

“Dash, want to grab some for me? You know what they look like by now.” Aeron sighed as Dash went to Scarlet’s bag and started to dig through it, looking to the others. “So, fun day, right?”

“Yeah, it’s been a fucking blast,” Ethan agreed with a cough.

“Sorry for trying to liven the mood up.” Aeron forced a chuckle as Dash made her way back to him, forcing a Med-X into his neck.

“I’m not exactly blaming you. Twilight, go into my Pip-Boy, turn to the music section, and then play track six,” Ethan said Twilight nodded and quickly navigated the menu until she found the right track. Then happy music started to play.

"Yippee yay, there'll be no wedding bells for today!..."

Thomas came over with Luna using him as a crutch.

“She’s paying for this,” the man-turned-stallion said, his eyes narrowed in anger.

“In bottle caps?” Aeron joked.

“In blood,” Thomas snarled.

Did I make you angry somehow? Kata asked with a giggle.

“Did we, to you?” Aeron questioned.

“You know as much as I enjoy having the moronic bitch in surround sound I say that we ignore her,” Ethan declared.

You think that you can ignore me? Kata asked threateningly.

“He does. I’m not a part of this.” Aeron held up his hooves in an unbiased manner.

“Traitor,” Ethan muttered with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey, I’d prefer to take a rest than deal with her right now. No offence, lady.” Aeron chuckled and then hissed as Dash finally removed the needle.

Well unfortunately for you two unicorns the next room is set up with you in mind, Kata said with a chuckle.

“Oh boy, is it picking locks?! Because that’s really difficult, teach!” Aeron said in a high-pitched, child like voice, placing his head on his hooves.

You annoy me, Kata told Aeron.

“And I don’t?” Ethan asked, sounding hurt. “I guess I’ll have to try harder then.”

“Well, nevertheless, once I’m out of here you don’t need to worry.” Aeron yawned, stretching out his body.

“Assuming we get out.” Dash grumbled.

“I’m sure we’ll get out of here Dashie, you just wait,” Twilight told the other woman with a smile.

“Yeah... I’m sure Twilight back home is just jumping for joy.” She sighed, placing her hands on her face.

“Well I bet she will be once you get back,” Twilight said encouragingly. “Although I imagine it’ll involve more kissing then jumping.”

“Well... Maybe the Paddle...” Dash blushed softly, giggling as she spoke the word.

“Oooooh, sounds fun,” Twilight said with a giggle of her own.

“Yeah. But, that’s for another time in another place.” Dash looked over at Aeron for a moment, only to see him with a look of disapproval.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“You women, that’s what.” Aeron sighed and shook his head.

“Oh lighten up and enjoy the music,” Ethan chided.

“Mrm. Might as well. Although I’m tired right now. Med-X is kicking in.” Aeron yawned loudly, his mouth opening wide and displaying all his omnivorous teeth.

Well I’m afraid it’s not nap time yet, Kata said sarcastically. You still have one more room today.

“Okay, mum...” Aeron stood up groggily, shaking his head back and forth.

“He’s going to be out like a light, I can imagine...” The former pegasus facepalmed.

“That is unfortunate; we’ll need most likely him in the next room,” Luna muttered.

“You know what we really need?” Aeron smiled goofily, waiting for a response.

“No, what?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Pie... Lots and lots of pie!” Aeron then collapsed on the floor, snoring loudly.

“Told ya.” Dash chuckled.

“Oh good, now he’s useless,” Ethan said with a roll of his eyes.

“The Med-x shouldn’t last that long,” Scarlet said as she pushed herself away from Celestia, shakingly standing on all fours. “We could always hit him with a dose of Psycho, but I don’t think that would turn out very well.”

“No. Trying to balance the effects of one drug with another drug is not a good idea,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.

“I said a dose, not the whole thing. A small dose of Psycho will act like an adrenalin shot, mix in a little Jet and that can snap you out of death.”

“We’ll have to save that for later,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Come on, we should get going,” Thomas said, breaking up the discussion. Another doorway opened in the wall.

“Yes, the sooner we finish the next challenge the sooner we can rest,” Celestia said as she went over to where her spear laid.

“Yeah, and the sooner we get our damn bodies back,” Ethan added.

“Guess I’ll carry him, then.” Dash picked up the snoring Aeron and lugged him over her shoulder.

Celestia picked up her spear and looked over at Scarlet, who already had her bag and rifle strapped onto her back. Scarlet was wincing in pain but continued on.

“Would you like some help with that bag?” Ethan asked when he saw her wince.

“I’m fine,” she simply replied.

“No, no you’re not,” Ethan retorted just as simply.

Scarlet stopped and looked at Ethan. “Not now, Vault Boy, I’ve already got enough on my mind.”

“Yes, and I suppose it makes more sense for you to put even more pressure on your already strained spine instead of of letting me take your bag for you,” he said sharply.

Before Scarlet could say something Celestia knelt down and began to unfasten the leather straps on both the bag and rifle. “What do you think you’re doing?” Scarlet snapped.

“Helping. You need to let your body recover.” Celestia replied. She began to take off the bag, but Scarlet bit down on the fabric.

“Ime fived; I dodt neve ane helf.” Scarlet protested. .

“Yeah, you do,” Ethan said simply before his horn lit up and he magically yanked the bag out of her mouth before depositing in Celestia's waiting hand. “Now take it and be happy,”

Celestia swung the bag around her shoulder. “I’m taking your rifle too.”

Scarlet looked at both Celestia and Ethan, and let out an angry sigh. “Fine, but my rule still applies on using it.” Scarlet took the rifle off, letting Celestia having it.

“You need to stop being attached to that gun,” Dash muttered and grunted with the heavy load on her shoulder.

Scarlet muttered something under her breath in reply to Dash’s statement.

You all spend far too much of my time talking, Kata said, her voice full of annoyance.

Wyverns and Stairs

View Online

Wyverns and Stairs

The room laid out before them was dominated by an array of four crystal topped spires, each one taller than the last. It was easily the largest of the rooms that they’d been in, with a ceiling several stories high and walls that stretched into the distance. On each of the spires was a minimum of at least five flights of winding stairs that led up to the platform that held the crystal.

Now it’s your turn, Ethan. My how I’ve been looking forwards to this, Kata giggled.

“That’s a lot of stairs,” Ethan muttered.

Yes, yes it is. I thought you’d enjoy the exercise, especially with your bad leg, Kata taunted with another giggle.

“What is it with evil people and stairs? I mean first it was Sombra, then it was the super mutants, and then it was fucking Sombra again!” Twilight complained. “Did you all get the same idea pamphlet when you graduated from ‘lil villian’ school?” she asked rhetorically. Kata decided to ignore Twilight’s snide remark.

“What’s Ethan’s challenge,” Celestia asked.

As you might’ve guessed, it has to do with stairs, Kata said with another giggle.

“Yes, I think we got that part,” Thomas muttered.

However, the real fun part of this task comes from what happens when you’re done climbing those stairs,

“Which is?” Luna asked.

I’m giving him access to four simple spells that correspond to four elements. Once he gets to the top of a pillar he has to zap the crystal with one of them. One wrong choice and he dies a horrible death.

“And what of the rest of us, are we to sit idle while he does this?” Luna inquired.

No, you’re going to be entertaining a fun swarm of wyverns while he works, Kata replied.

“A swarm of what?” Thomas asked.

“Wyverns, they’re an unintelligent subspecies of dragon with vestigial arms that can’t breathe fire, although their breath is toxic in some cases and they may or may not spit acid depending on where they’re from,” Twilight rattled off of the top of her head. “They’re usually about the size of a large wasteland dog and are covered in reflective scales. Besides the breath and acid you’ve also got to watch out for their bite, it’s both mildly poisonous and extremely painful,” the woman lectured.

“Oh goodie,” Scarlet sorely said. “It’s a good thing I have the fake,” she paused as she just realized something,” ...damn it.” Scarlet placed a hoof over her chest to feel a solid heartbeat. “And I thought that was part of my imagination.”

“What?” Ethan asked curiously, taking his eyes off of all of the stairs that he’d have to climb.

“I don’t have the artificial heart anymore, just a normal heart.”

“That thing is so odd...” Thomas muttered.

“Well it’s better than my real one, and so is this one apparently.”

“I’m more surprised by the fact that you didn’t notice the fact that you had a heart beat again until now,” Twilight added dryly.

“My brain likes to play tricks on me now and then with my body. I learned to ignore most of its tricks.”

“That seems like an ill advised strategy,” Luna told her.

“Well, ever since Big Mountain I didn’t have to take as many chems to keep my body from freaking out. Still now or then old instincts kick in, but I ignored them because they’re not a real threat. My brain making me think I have heart beat is one of them.”

“I think Cassie mentioned something like that to me once or twice—”

STOP TALKING! Kat shouted, cutting Ethan off mid sentence. The challenge begins now.

Immediately, several holes appeared in the floor of the room and a low rumbling sound filled the air. The sound of angry hissing joined the rumbling.

“And that’s my cue,” Ethan said before he took off up the first pillar at a gallop.

“Any advice on how to fight these wyverns?” Scarlet asked Celestia and Twilight.

“Stay away from their mouths, that poison is nasty,” Twilight advised.

“The flesh around their joints isn’t armored, and taking down one of their wings will leave them helpless,” Celestia added.

Several dozen dog-sized wyverns stepped onto the floor, hissing angrily, the holes closing as they stepped out. They spent a few seconds looking around, sniffing the air, and then after sighting the group, they charged.

“Oh shit,” Thomas muttered, looking at one of the wyverns before jumping to the left to avoid being tackled. A quick glance at the others confirmed what he had seen. “There’s no actual wing.”

“That’s not right, they should have wing membranes, not that... stuff,” Twilight said in confusion as she looked at the wyverns rapidly approaching her before firing her plasma defender twice and sending the closest wyvern stumbling away. Instead of the thin webbing between the fingers there was a strange, swirling mist. It never moved beyond the tips.

“It’s not stopping them from flying!” Scarlet yelled as she gave a hard kick to one who charged at her.

“Just watch your heads!” Twilight shouted while discharging her defender twice directly into one of the wyvern’s heads causing it to dissolve into a puddle of glowing green goo.

“That’s a small mercy,” Luna muttered as she ducked, narrowly avoiding having her head taken off.

Celestia’s spear stabbed out and impaled one in its scaly chest, causing the wyvern to howl in pain before it died. “Just don’t lose focus and stick together, you won’t last long by yourself.”

“They’re normally pack hunters,” Twilight added as she backed closer to the others.

“So they’re flying Nightstalkers?” Thomas asked, keeping low to the ground as he tried to get his rifle off his back.

“And I thought the mutated version was bad enough,” Scarlet grunted as she ducked a low flying wyvern.

“The ones that go invisible?” Thomas asked before swearing when a wyvern dodged his shot.

“No, the one me and Aeron fought a while back, it was a cyber nightstalker,” she replied as gave another buck, dazing a wyvern and allowing Celestia to stab it with ease.

Meanwhile Ethan had reached the first of the crystals.

“God, I really hate stairs,” he muttered as he approached the faintly glowing crystal before him. “So, how do I do this, cunt?” Ethan asked Kata.

Simple, just figure out what element the riddle is talking about and zap the crystal with that element.

“And how in the hell do I do that?” Ethan growled.

Just think about the element, your horn will do the rest, she replied annoyingly. You think your brain should’ve gotten smart hanging around a smarty pants for a long time.

“Okay, so, what’s the riddle?” Ethan asked

As Ethan asked his question, words appeared underneath the crystal.

No legs have I to dance

No lungs have I to breathe

No life have I to live or die

And yet I do all three. What am I?

“Hmm... what can dance without legs and breathe without lungs?...” Ethan muttered to himself. “And what about when it’s talking about living and dying... but if it can do all three then it has to be something immaterial, and the only thing that I know that can dance without legs is...”

Then he nodded to himself and a blast of fire shot from his horn hitting the crystal. A soothing tone rang out and the crystal glowed bright red, shooting a crimson beam of light upwards.

You actually solved it; I’m surprised, Kata said mockingly.

“Yay, time to climb more stairs,” Ethan muttered, ignoring her.

Thomas and Luna stood next each other, Thomas balancing on his hind legs and Luna with Thomas’s Sequoia at the ready. A group of the wyverns charged them and Thomas’s rifle sang out as one of the scaled horrors’ heads exploded in a fountain of brains. Luna, who still lacked finesse with the Sequoia fired twice. One of her shots missed but the second slammed into a wyvern’s chest, sending it tumbling backwards. That left one wyvern charging at them, but a blast from Twilight’s plasma defender ended that threat as the reptile was suddenly dissolved.

“Nice shot, Sparky!” Ethan called as he ran past the group, dodging under and around a pair of wyverns on his way to the next pillar.

“Hurry, Ethan, I’m not sure how long we can last against these things!” Twilight shouted back as she sent another of the mini dragons to a gooey death.

“I’m working on it, Sparky, calm your tits!” Ethan replied as he sent his sword slashing through one of the wyvern’s necks and continued to run to the next pillar.

“Work faster!” Scarlet yelled out, dodging a wyvern tackle attack.

“Stop making me talk and I will!” Ethan called as he mounted the next set of stairs.

Celestia swiped her spear, slicing a wyvern’s wing off at the joint. The creature plummeted towards the ground, flopping about trying to move. Celestia impaled her spear into the creature’s side ending its life. However, another wyvern jumped out of nowhere and bit into her neck. Celestia was able to shove the creature off and kill it, and hastily placed a hand on the flowing wound.

“Celestia!” Scarlet called out running up to her.

Aww did the big bad solar princess get bitten? Kata asked with a giggle.

Celestia dropped her spear and with her free hand fumbled in getting a stimpak from a right pouch on her side. Finding one, she injected the drug into her neck. The wound began to close, but she could feel poison still eating through her system. Her mind got hazy, her vision swam and her legs got weak.

“Celestia, focus on me!” Scarlet shouted as she steadied the woman. I wish I still had some anti-venom, the mare silently cursed.

“Scarlests, iss thats yous?” Celestia slurred.

Scarlet was about to answer, but she saw another wyvern making a beeline towards them. Without any hesitation, Scarlet picked the spear up from the ground with her hooves and firmly planted it in the ground towards the wyvern. The wyvern didn’t have time to adjust his flight and impaled itself on the spear. Scarlet now had a spear with its tip hidden inside of a dead animal, and had no way to get it off. “Great,” she sorely said she started shake the spear with little to no success.

“Ah, crap,” Dash muttered as she laid Aeron’s useless form onto the ground, a wyvern making its slow approach to her.

“Well, Aeron, looks like I’m going to put that knife training to use.” Dash quickly grabbed the knife sheathed on Aeron’s hoof, holding it tightly in her hand and making a defensive stance as the wyvern hissed.

“C’mon, scaly freak! You ain’t got nothin’ on Rainbow Dash!” she taunted, as the wyvern hissed violently and started to dart towards her.

“Oops,” she muttered as she bolted away from Aeron’s form so that the wyvern would follow her.

The wyvern kept a great pace with Dash. Both running at amazing speeds, but both never losing each other completely. Dash’s heart and brain raced as she tried to think of something, anything, to kill it. Then, it hit her. Literally, the wyvern started to push its head into Dash’s rear.

“Hey!” Dash quickly flipped the knife upside down in her hand, turned around, and stabbed straight through the thing’s head.

It hissed violently before collapsing to the ground. Rainbow Dash swiftly removed the knife from its head.

“Glad that’s ove—” before she could finish, two more hisses were echoing behind her.

Turning around, two wyverns were glaring at her, ready to strike at any moment. Dash was about to run, but the wyvern to her right bashed its head into her chest - knocking the knife out of her hand and her form onto the ground.

The wyverns towered over her, like a predator going in for its finishing blow. The knife out of reach, Dash could only watch in horror as they both opened their jaws, raised their heads, and prepared for the kill.

Fortunately for Dash the first wyvern’s head was bolted back as something struck it and dealt a critical blow.

“I don’t think so,” Aeron growled as he held his assault rifle in a magical glow.

“A-Aeron?!” Dash yelled as the second wyvern was now plowing its way to her.

Quick to react, Aeron fired off ten shots of his rifle, knocking the wyvern off balance and allowing Dash to escape. She quickly grabbed the knife and moved over to Aeron.

“Stay behind me.” Aeron grunted as the strain of magic was taking hold of him.

“Aeron, let me—”

“I said ‘stay behind me’! Now do as you’re told!” Aeron yelled, interrupting her. “I’m going to kill this fucker if it’s the last goddamned thing I do...”

Dash made no response as Aeron slowly trotted forward. He began to circle dance with it, it hissing at him and waiting for him to make the first move. Aeron made no verbal response, only a furrowed brow and a vein bulging on his forehead.

No one hurts Dash and they will never touch her... Aeron said to himself, no one.

The wyvern quickly tackled Aeron to the ground, disrupting his magic and causing the rifle to skid across the ground. Without a chance to respond to the wyvern’s attack, it quickly bit down on Aeron’s horn and tugged his head back.

Aeron let out an agonizing scream as the massive jaws of the wyvern pulled on the sensitive horn. Doing everything he could to get out of the grip - punching, kicking, pushing, twisting - he continued to scream in pain.

Feeling a quick, sharp, crack Aeron’s mind went wild with pain and agony. With all his strength, Aeron pushed forward until he was on his hind hooves, his forehooves pushing against the wyvern’s neck.

“Let... The fuck... GO!” he yelled and screamed as another tug came his way.

Bursts of an assault rifle let off to the right of Aeron and a massive relieving of pain followed. Aeron gasped for breath as the wyvern’s body fell down. Looking to his right, Dash was kneeling next to him, holding his rifle.

“Dash... I told y—”

“Shh.” She put a finger to his lips. “Sometimes it’s best to go against orders. I learned that from some guy.”

Aeron was breathing heavily for a moment before he broke out into a fit of laughter and then collapsing onto the ground - the pain knocking him out.

“Well, useless again.” Dash sighed.

Ethan ran up the stairs and really started to wish that he had longer legs, pony legs just weren’t designed for going up and down flights of stairs. His leg situation wasn’t improved by the fact that the leg that he’d broken still ached badly. He reached the top unexpectedly and let out a relieved breath as he saw another crystal waiting for him, faintly glowing.

“Second verse, same as the first,” Ethan muttered as he sucked in a new breath of air and a new riddle appeared on the ground in front of him

I can be a soft as a whisper

Or loud as a roaring river

I can never be seen

But I am always around you.

What am I?

“I really should’ve brought Sparky with me, she’s good at riddles,” Ethan said as he pondered the riddle before him.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Kata said mockingly.

Ethan however ignored her and concentrated on the riddle.

“So, its volume varies, it’s invisible, and it’s always around me...” He trailed off as he thought it over. “The first two parts are important, but they’re not as important as the last part, what is always around me?”

Maybe it’s the ghosts of all the people you’ve killed in your moments of weakness, Kata suggested helpfully.

“No, that’s not it,” Ethan said as he breathed in a breath of air. The sound of Scarlet shouting reached him up on the pillar and Ethan’s mind jumped into overdrive. Then it struck him. “The answer is Air, it’s always with you until you die!” he exclaimed, he focused his horn on the crystal. He thought of air rushing out towards it, and the crystal responded in kind. A light greenish glow wrapped around it as an emerald beam of light shot up and joined the crimson beam.

Two down, two to go. But I don’t think your friends are going to last that long.

“They’ll make it, Inviscunt, just you wait and see,” Ethan said with a shrug before he hurried back down the stairs.

Thomas sighted down his rifle and pulled the trigger. His eyes widened as the only thing that happened was a heart-stopping click. The pegasus was forced to drop his rifle as a wyvern charged into him, the thing only stopping him from getting bitten being its angle of attack.

Luna was quick to react, despite still being shaken from her near-death experience. Her right arm shot out, the power fist she wore turning the beast’s skull into a bony, bloody pulp. “Thomas, are you okay?”

“Out of ammo; my rifle’s useless,” he muttered.

“Don’t get too close. I don’t know how they compare to my world’s wyverns, but a single bite could prove fatal.” Luna straightened up and holstered her revolver. “I’m no good with your weapons. I’m constantly missing and this ‘VATS’ takes too long to recharge.”

“You’re new with them and trapped in a completely different body, it’s not all that surprising that you’re constantly missing,” Twilight said academically as she sent another pulse of green plasma at a wyvern charging them.

“Luna, your flail, any chance you can even use it?” Thomas asked quietly.

“I have enough trouble lifting it. I can’t see myself swin—” The woman was cut off when one of the wyverns slammed into her, knocking her aside to get at the pegasus.

“FUCK!” Thomas was left on his back, trying to hold the creature off of him. It snapped at him, and the only thing that prevented a deadly mauling was a hoof at its throat holding it back. That didn’t stop it from clawing at him with the single claw on each of its wings.

“Thomas, duck!” The stallion barely had time to do that as the weight of the attacking wyvern was lifted, courtesy of twenty pounds of spiky metal colliding with it at high speed. He looked to his left, where Luna stood, her features twisted into a fierce snarl. Her flail, the one she could barely lift thirty seconds ago, was in her hands, the metal ball covered in blood as it swung gently.

The stallion just stared for a moment. God she’s sexy like that, he thought.

Luna glanced at Thomas and let out a disgusted grunt. “Ugh. Keep it in your sheathe, Thomas, this is hardly the time.”

Thomas glanced at what Luna was referring to and chuckled nervously. “Eheheheh...”

Twilight, for her part, just snorted with laughter before she fired off another round of shots from her defender. Another wyvern charged her and she turned to point the defender at it, only for the gun to let out a spray of sparks.

“By Faust, I don’t need this right now,” Twilight muttered before she dove to the side, just barely dodging the incoming wyvern while she quickly switched out the defender for her back-up plasma pistol. The wyvern landed close to her and charged the downed woman, only to be met by Ethan’s sword which lopped its head off in a single easy telekinetic swing.

“Looked like you needed some help, Sparky,” Ethan told her before he gave her a grin and ran off towards the next pillar.

Thomas rolled back onto his hooves, trying to ignore what had just happened. After all, there were more important things to be concerned with. Thankfully, his body decided that his brain needed more blood, and he was free to move with his dignity intact. “No gun, no armour, and poisonous things trying to kill me,” he muttered.

“Welcome to my life!” Scarlet yelled out as she bucked a wyvern out of the air. Celestia was lying prostrate on the ground beside her. Scarlet then grabbed the now wyvernless spear and clumsy stabbed it through the creature she’d knocked down.

“That’s life in the Wasteland,” Twilight agreed as her plasma pistol discharged another bolt at an oncoming wyvern, clearly not doing as much damage as a bolt from her defender would’ve.

“Yeah, well that’s life in general.” Scarlet replied.

“Not all the time,” Twilight told her with a shrug. “Sometimes life can be pretty damn good,” she added fiercely.

“You know what? Fuck stairs!” Ethan exclaimed as he reached the top of the third pillar. “I’m now going to make it my life’s goal to travel back in time and personally kill the person responsible for inventing these damn things!”

People, Kata corrected.

“Fuck, I’ll kill all of them,” Ethan grumbled as he caught his breath.

Might as well kill all life on your world. Sooner or later, someone else would come up with idea.

“Oh shut up, cunt,” Ethan told her as he walked towards the crystal and waited for the next riddle to appear.

I am hard as stone

But can easily be broken

I can be shaped into any form

But I will lose it over time.

What am I?

“Hard as stone eh?” Ethan muttered. “But is easily broken and will lose its shape over time...” The stallion’s brows came together as he thought it over. “So not only is it hard and breakable, but it also loses its form, almost like it’s melti—” A smile split his face and a beam of ice shot from his horn and impacted against the crystal. Frost formed on the crystal as it took a deep blue glow and an aqua beam of light arch its way upwards joining the other two lights.

Only one more to go, but I don’t think you’re going to guess that one.

“Oh you never know, I’m pretty crafty when I need to be,” Ethan replied with a tired chuckle.

So am I, Kata replied with a dark chuckle.

“You know, I just realized what I really find funny about you,” Ethan told her as he started down the stairs.

Please, enlighten me on what so funny.

“You’re so damn cliche,” The stallion replied while he all but leapt down the steps.

I see...well then let’s change it up a bit.

The stairs suddenly became a flat smooth surface.

“That’s not what I meant,” Ethan shouted with a grin on his face as he slid down the newly formed slide, making sure to stay on the inside edge.

I don’t care what you meant. You say I’m too predictable, so here’s something different.

“I suppose I’ll just add an easily hurt ego to that list of things that are cliche about you for a villain,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

Have fun getting up the next spire without any of the stairs.

“Oh, okay, I can do that, I was getting tired of the damn things anyways,” Ethan replied as he reached the end of the slide.

So, you can defy the laws of physics now? I didn’t know you could grab hold of a frictionless surface.

“Hey, Sparky,” Ethan shouted to Twilight.

“Yeah, what is it Ethan?” Twilight called back while she dodged one of the wyverns.

“Invisicunt got rid of the stairs on the last spiral, do you know any way for me to get up to the top without those?” The man called.

“If it were me then I’d just levitate myself up there,” Twilight called back. “But I don’t think you have the strength or experience to do that,”

“Shit, hey Thomas, would you mind giving me a lift?” Ethan asked the pegasus as he charged forwards, sword slashing out and slicing through the leg of the wyvern who was about to charge Thomas. Then he executed it with a simple slash through the neck.

“Thanks, but I don’t know if I can lift you,” Thomas replied.

“Come on, man, you’re the one with wings!” Ethan protested as he sent his sword lashing out and all but slicing another wyvern in half.

“Yeah, it’s a question of if I can keep hold of you and how long I can do that,” he elaborated. “That, and Kata probably has plans for if we try that.”

“Thomas, what have we said about keeping those thoughts to yourself?” Luna asked before grunting the exertion. A dead wyvern flew through the air, its ribcage crushed by the flail. “It’s your fault we fought that... thing earlier.”

“Anyways, I don’t see any other options for me to get up there, so unless of course you’d prefer to stay down here and slowly get overwhelmed by these damn wyverns,” Ethan told the pegasus with a shrug before he chopped through another of the reptiles with a swing of his sword sending two bloody chunks falling to the ground.

“Fine, I’ll carry you, just try not to move too much,” Thomas said after a half second of thought.

“Great, I’ll do my best to keep them off of you,” Ethan replied.

“You’d better, if I crash then so do you,”

“We do not have time to waste talking. Fly, Thomas, and be careful!” Luna told Thomas who nodded.

Thomas hovered over Ethan and tilted his head as he tried to figure out the mechanics. “I think I grab you here...?”

“Go crazy, Captain, just not too crazy,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Don’t suggest he goes crazy,” Luna muttered. “I’m still sore.”

“I apologised for that,” Thomas replied as he began to lift the unicorn up. “Try not to move, this is hard enough already.”

“Well I don’t feel like becoming a stain on the ground, so I’ll take your advice,” Ethan said with a half smile.

“Just keep them off me,” Thomas grunted.

“I’ll do my best, this magic stuff is hard and tiring as all hell,” Ethan replied.

“What do you think flying’s like?” the pegasus shot back. “Seriously, how heavy are you?”

“Well ponies have a much higher muscle mass ratio than the average human, so I’d wager that I’m about 250 at the moment instead of my normal 235,” Ethan said with a very slight shrug.

“Well that makes sense,” Thomas said before grunting again.

“No offense, Captain, but flying might be easier without all the talking,” Ethan suggested as his eyes scanned for incoming wyverns.

Thomas rolled his eyes as he focused on his destination. Try as he might, he couldn’t really distract himself from his cargo.

“Umm, Captain, I hate to distract you again, but there’s something pressing into my back. And as much as I like you...” Ethan trailed off hoping that Thomas understood what he was saying.

Thomas didn’t say anything, instead laughing awkwardly. “Thomas, when you get back down here—!” Luna’s yelling was cut off when she was forced to fight off another wyvern.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. That offer that I gave you earlier is for real, but it’s only available if Cassie’s down with it, oh and Luna should come too,” Ethan continued before sending his sword out to slice a wyvern’s wing off as it approached them, sending the scaly bastard to a very painful death below. The sword shot back into the scabbard quickly so as to avoid straining Ethan’s magic any further than necessary.

Did you really think I’d make it that easy for you?

“Well I was kinda hoping you would,” Ethan replied.

“Oh shit,” Thomas muttered.

I’ve got a special one just for you. There was a horrible screeching sound as one of the wyverns fell from the air. Everyone did their best to watch as its body expanded and lengthened, its muscles bulging horrifically as it was transformed.

“FLY FASTER!” Ethan shouted up to Thomas frantically.

“I’m trying!” Thomas yelled back, flapping his wings furiously.

“Then try harder!” Ethan retorted as the large wyvern stopped expanding and started to flap its membraneless wings experimentally. Before, where it had been the size of a large dog, it was now as big as a shack, with claws and teeth to match its new size. “Not good, not good, not good,” Ethan chanted to himself quietly.

“Distract it!” Twilight shouted from the ground as she began to fire upon the monster with her plasma pistol.

Dash aimed at the giant wyvern and fired a controlled burst of rounds at it. Luna unholstered her Sequoia and pulled the trigger, completely forgetting that she had fired all the rounds already.

“Here, Luna catch,” Twilight called as she tossed Luna Ethan’s fully loaded magnum.

Luna caught the magnum and opened fire on the oversized wyvern, drawing its attention. “Oh dear,” she muttered.

The giant wyvern turned towards Luna and charged.

“Not again!” Luna shouted as she began to run in the opposite direction of the charging wyvern.

Luna ran as fast as her legs could carry her away from the giant wyvern and headed towards one of the pillars, all the while dodging the occasional attacks of smaller wyverns. The giant wyvern was surprisingly fast for something so big and Luna knew that she wouldn’t live long if it came down to a foot race. She neared the pillar with the wyvern all but snapping at her heels and with a final burst of speed she reached the very solid stone pillar and ground to a stop before turning around to face the giant wyvern as it thundered towards her.

Sensing that its prey was cornered the wyvern let out a cry of victory as it ran towards the woman. It lowered its head and opened its jaws in preparation of snapping Luna in half between its sharp and powerful teeth. Then Luna ducked. She rolled forwards under the wyvern and it smashed head first into the pillar. The monster let out a pained howl as it staggered backwards. Luna kept on moving putting as much distance between them as possible.

“Nice moves, Luna!” Twilight shouted encouragingly before she was forced to return her attention to a smaller wyvern who’d attempted to jump her when she hadn’t been paying attention.

Up above, Thomas and Ethan had finally reached the top of the last pillar. Thomas set Ethan down before he fell to the ground next to the unicorn in a panting heap.

“God. You’re. So. Heavy,” Thomas gasped.

“Thanks, Captain,” Ethan replied as he walked towards the last crystal. “Alright Invisicunt, what’s the last riddle?”

The riddle appeared on the ground before him.

I can flow in two forms of motion infinitely,

Metal is my friend but wood is my enemy,

I can stop your heart in an instant,

or bring it back to life before you realize that it is absent.

What am I?

“Hmm... metal is my friend, but wood is my enemy?” Ethan muttered to himself. “You know I really wish that Sparky was in charge of this, she’d already be done with this crap,”

Having trouble? Kata asked mockingly.

“Kind of,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “To be honest I guessed on the last three. I mean they were educated guesses, but they were still guesses.”

Well that’s comforting, my puzzles solved by a guessing idiot, Kata grumbled.

“Shut up and let me think,” Ethan replied. “I’d like to say water, but that can’t stop your heart, and it certainly can’t start it again afterwards.”

The longer you waste thinking it through the less time your friends down below have to live.

“I know, shut up!” Ethan growled.

Aww, you like to talk a lot but not to be on the other end of the same situation, how touching.

“In my defence I doubt that you have any friends to worry about,” Ethan shot back.

No, it’s just fun to mess with you.

“When I’m done with you there won’t be anything left,” Ethan promised her.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I remember a bunch of children who regretted trusting your word before they were slaughtered by the Enclave.

Ethan snarled and his blue eyes flashed in the near darkness. “You will leave them out of this or so help me I’ll—”

Aww, I touched a nerve, just what I wanted to happen.

“Ethan, hurry, we can’t keep this up forever!” Twilight shouted up from down below.

They’re running out of time, Ethan. Better hurry up and solve my—

“The answer’s electricity,” Thomas said, interrupting her. “Metal conducts it, wood doesn’t, and shocking someone can revive them,” the pegasus informed Ethan. “And that was a fucking terrible rhyme. A drunk raider could do better than that.”

“Heh, twice today you’ve saved me, Captain,” Ethan chuckled before his horn lit up and a blast of electricity surged out of his horn directly at the last crystal. Sparks of electricity jumped out of the crystal as it turned yellow and a bright amber light shout out joining the other three lights. The room started to shake as if something was about to happen, but it quickly ended.

Then the rumbling resumed and another giant spire shot out of the ground, twice as high as the one that they were currently on. On the bright side, this one had stairs.

Oops, did I forgot to mention there was a fifth crystal, must’ve slipped my mind, Kata said in a sadistic voice.

“BITCH!” Ethan exclaimed.

Yes, I know. You really need to improve your vocabulary. Anyways same rule applies, but you will never be able to cast the spell for this one. Have fun being slowly eaten by venomous wyverns!

“Thomas, if you can carry me over to that other spire it would save me a lot of time,” Ethan told the pegasus.

“We’ve got to go fast, I don’t know how much longer I can carry you,” Thomas replied.

“Well then let’s get moving!”

Down below the group was struggling to hold off the giant wyvern while also dealing with the smaller ones. Scarlet was breathing heavily as she kicked and killed as many wyvern as she could while attempting to defend Celestia from more of the venomous reptiles.

Twilight was standing back to back with Luna firing into the oncoming horde of wyverns. The two would periodically dash away from one another as the giant wyvern charged through where they’d been standing, oftentimes killing several of its smaller kin in the process.

Rainbow Dash was standing over Aeron’s unmoving body firing in fairly controlled bursts at the few wyverns that approached them. It struck her as a bit odd that they weren’t receiving as much attention as the other two groups, but she knew better than to question a good thing. Especially with Aeron being unconscious and incapable of fighting.

“We can’t keep this up much longer!” Twilight shouted to the others.

“Vault Boy better hurry up then,” Scarlet stated as she dodged a wyvern’s sharp claw.

“He’ll do it, trust me. Ethan may be a moronic jackass occasionally, but he’ll see us through this,” Twilight assured the other woman.

“I feel much the same for Thomas sometimes,” Luna agreed.

“Well that’s good for you, but it’s still not helping us hold off these reptiles!” Scarlet yelled.

“Move!” Twilight shouted suddenly as the giant wyvern charged scattering the group once again.

“Any ideas how to take that thing down?” Scarlet asked the others.

“Not without my magic,” Twilight shouted back as she dodged a wyvern diving at her face.

“Indeed, if I was in my natural form this would be much less difficult,” Luna muttered as her flail lashed out and destroyed a wyvern’s ribcage.

“And I’m out of radiation to cast fireballs,” Scarlet stated.

“We’ll just have to make do then and hope that those two have a way to kill it,” Twilight said.

“You really need to eat less, Ethan,” Thomas said as he struggled towards the last spire, they only had a few more feet to go.

“And you need to hurry up with these last few feet before our friends all die,” Ethan replied darkly.

Thomas didn’t reply and instead only focused on continuing to move his wings.Suddenly, just as they were about to touch down, a wyvern came out of nowhere and smacked into Thomas’s right wing sending the two flying head first towards the stone stairway. Ethan landed first with Thomas landing half a second on top of him. What would’ve quickly become an awkward position quickly turned into anything but as Thomas screamed in pain.

My wing!” he shouted. A sliver of bone had punctured the skin and the resulting gash was bleeding severely. The rest looked as though it had been severely crushed by the heavy impact.

“Fuck,” Ethan grunted. “Thomas, this is going to hurt. A lot.”

Before Thomas had time to reply he was suddenly yanked off of the steps in a stream of magic. He let out an agonized scream as the Ethan fumbled him slightly in his untrained telekinetic grip before the pegasus was set down lightly on the unicorn’s back.

“Wow, you’re light,” Ethan told him. Thomas was too busy cursing in pain at the top of his lungs to notice.

Ethan set off up the stairs at a gallop, his magic keeping Thomas from falling off of his back. That didn’t seem to keep Thomas’s discomfort from rising and he kept up a continuous stream of curses throughout the climb. Finally after what seemed like hours the duo reached the top of the stairway and beheld the crystal.

The crystal was black and ominous unlike all the others. Just looking at it, Ethan felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine.

“Something’s different about this one...” he muttered.

The riddle started to take shape in the air.

I have no end, but I have many boundaries,

I support no light, but darkness is nowhere to be found within my foundries,

I am neither alive nor dead, I just exist

I am the end and the beginning, I am the catalyst

What am I?

“It sounds like it’s nothingness. Space? The Vacuum? The inside of a black hole maybe?” Ethan muttered.

“The void,” a male voice spoke out in his mind, yet in his ear as well.

“The void? I remember Sparky talking about that a few times. It sounds familiar,” The unicorn said. “But she said that it’s nothing, how can I shoot nothing out of my horn?”

“You can’t; no creature made by The Light can.”

“You know, the last time I followed the advice of an invisible voice in my head I almost became a receptacle for the Nightmare.” Ethan told the voice. “Of course you sound like a reasonable kind of guy so I might as well give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Actually, I am part of Nightmare Moon, but I’m here to help.” A dark hoof materialized out of the air next to Ethan and touched the crystal. A black aura formed around the crystal, and cracks started to from. Ethan felt as if something was pulling him and he saw the four beams of light starting to bend towards the black crystal. “You might want to get down as fast as you can.”

The spire began to shake.

“Not to complain, but a little forewarning would be nice!” Ethan cried as he took off down the steps, dodging incoming wyverns who seemed to have decided that he was a nice juicy target.

“What is going on?!” Thomas exclaimed, finally saying something that wasn’t blasphemous or four letters long for the first time since his wing had broken.

“Fuck if I know,” Ethan replied as he saw a wyvern diving towards them. But then it started to slow down and then it started being pulled backwards. Ethan took a risk as his eyes followed the wyvern, only to notice another one being dragged upwards. Soon, dozens upon dozen of the small wyverns were being pulled upwards.

NO! That’s not possible! Kata yelled out in disbelief.

“Having problems, Invisicunt?” Ethan called mockingly.

There’s no way you could cast void magic. It’s impossible!

“Well that’s too bad for you, because this is fan-fucking-tastic!” Ethan shouted back.

It’s him isn’t it? I knew this trap would work. Where are you, brother? Come and face me!

The black hole in the sky that had been killing the wyverns disappeared, taking the rest of the wyverns with it and the pulling feeling on Ethan and Thomas also vanished.

“Well that takes care of the small fries, but the big one is still trying to eat your friends,” the male voice told Ethan.

“I’ll handle that. Thomas, hold on tight!” Ethan shouted. It looked like they were close enough to the ground for what he was thinking of to work.

“No need, I can handle that oversized lizard.”

“Nah, if anyone’s going to be the showboat around here then it’s me, it’s my fucking job!” Ethan shouted back as he started to run for the edge, sword floating magically beside him.

“Ethan don’t you da—” Thomas began before Ethan leapt off the side.

“What the hell just happened?” Scarlet asked as she saw every wyvern getting pulled up the giant spire. The group had met up beside the final spire with their backs to the wall.

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet that it’s Ethan’s fault somehow,” Twilight replied.

“More than likely. However, we still have a rather big issue to deal with,” Luna said as she nodded towards the giant wyvern who seemed to be about to charge them.

“Of course, the big ones never go away that easily,” Scarlet sorely stated.

The wyvern charged straight at them, taking several shots from every gun in the room, but seemingly taking little damage. The group suddenly heard someone screaming from above.

“UP HERE ASSHOLE!” Ethan’s voice, accompanied by a loud curse from Thomas, shouted as Ethan and his pegasi companion fell towards the wyvern, sword first.

Oddly enough, the giant wyvern looked up as well and opened its mouth, teeth gleaming with venom and saliva. However instead of the nice meaty flavor of ponies, the wyvern suddenly found itself tasting its own blood as Ethan’s red bladed sword slashing down its throat and into its gullet. Then Ethan and Thomas disappeared into its jaws.

The giant wyvern emitted a painful moan, and the tip of Ethan’s blade suddenly emerged from its chest, tearing open a gaping wound. Blood and body fluids flowed out of the wound as the wyvern lurched to the side and fell to one leg, the other going slack.

The tip of the blade emerged from the interior again, and opened up another wide slash releasing a similar amount of blood as the last one. The wyvern collapsed completely, luckily landing on its side and not its front. Then Ethan and Thomas slid out of the opening created by the sword. They were covered in blood and other much more nauseating substances.

“Yeah, I’m done for the day. Wake me for dinner,” Ethan grumbled before his eyes shut.

“Good god this is worse than when—” Thomas began but he was suddenly cut off by Luna rushing forward and pulling him into a tight hug. This was followed swiftly by a loud string of curses.

“That was the most idiotic thing I’ve seen in my life,” Scarlet muttered.

“Well it worked,” Twilight replied with a shrug as she moved towards Ethan, a stimpack in hand.

You think you’ve won? Kata asked in a low menacing tone, her voice no longer sounding childish but now like a fully grown up woman. I am not letting you go that easy!

Sudden the whole wyvern corpse jerked, and the head shot up letting out an unholy roar.

“Goddesses damn it, not another one!” Twilight shouted angrily as she stabbed the stimpack into Ethan’s neck.

The undead wyvern rolled itself back up, it’s blood-red, dead eyes glaring at the group. It charged forward, only for something to slam hard into the top of its head. The head crashed into the floor making the ground shake and dust spew everywhere.

“What the bloody hell!” Scarlet exclaimed.

The dust settled and the group was met by an unexpected sight. A black coated earth pony with a flowing dark blue magical mane and tail was sitting on top of wyvern’s head. It leapt off and got between the group and the wyvern.

“Stand back,” he ordered the others.

“Tha-that’s a fucking voidling!” Twilight exclaimed, her voice was filled with equal parts excitement and fear. “I’ve never had the chance to summon one before!”

“You brought him here?” Scarlet asked.

“No, summoning voidlings is a dangerous occupation that takes lots of time, money, and experience. None of which I have at the moment,” Twilight replied. “That means that Ethan of all people brought it here.”

“No,” Celestia’s voice weakly spoke out. Scarlet turned around to see Celestia bracing herself up. “Ethan is not his master.”

The wyvern brought it’s head up, its face deformed beyond recognition. The voidling closed his eyes and concentrated on a spell, making a dark ghostly curved bladed from in the air next to him. The undead giant charged towards the voidling, but the voidling opened his eyes and in blink of an eye was at the other end of wyvern, his blade extended as if he made a single slash.

The wyvern slowed to a halt and collapsed into a hundred neatly cut pieces. The chunks of dead wyvern then started to disintegrate into black smoke. The voidling let his blade dissipate and he turned around, making his way towards the group. An amused smile formed on his face.

“Well that was fun,” he stated with a chuckle.

“Whoa,” Scarlet exclaimed.

“Mock not the power of the void, for it is unsubtle and quick to anger,” Twilight said in a hushed voice as her eyes scanned the creature before her with intense interest.

“There’s no fear of this being, he means you no harm, unless you ask for it,” Celestia told the others.

“You seem to know a lot about this pony,” Dash pointed out.

“I, for one, would like an explanation,” Luna said as she gave her ‘sister’ a raised eyebrow.

“He’s the being that turned my Luna into Nightmare Moon,” Celestia sadly replied.

Luna let out an angry growl and gripped her flail tighter in her hand. “And you’re telling us to trust it?” she asked incredulously in a low voice.

“If he wanted to kill us, he would’ve done so. Trust me. He is not ‘evil’, unless you want him to be,” Celestia said as she started to walk towards the voidling.

“Intriguing, I’ve always wanted to get a good look at one of them,” Twilight said as she stepped forwards with Celestia, Ethan’s unconscious form forgotten for the moment. Luna chose to stay back, away from the menacing black pony, as did Scarlet and Dash.

The two humans walked up to the voidling who was now sitting a few feet away from. “Celestia, it’s so nice to see you. As well as you...Twilight.” There was a bit of a strain in the voidling’s voice as he said the last part.

“And the same to you ancient one,” Twilight replied with a slight bow. She was a Princess after all, and as such she had to know how to treat extradimensional beings.

“There’s no need for that Twilight,” Celestia told her.

“Aww, but I always dreamed Twilight would one day bow before me, though it was after my victory in our rematch.” The dark stallion chuckled in amusement.

“Ah, so you’re that type of voidling, figures as much. Out of every chance in the universe that I get one of the polite ones I end up with the asshole,” Twilight grumbled.

“What do you expect, mortal? I still feel ripped off from our first fight when you searched for the Elements. Though Luna was mostly in control for that.”

“Technically we never fought,” Twilight pointed out.

“Exactly,” the stallion added with a wide grin on his face.

“Enough. What do you want?” Celestia asked in a low voice.

“To make sure you were still alive, Celestia. Luna was so worried about you she called me to help her find you. I did find the portal this being dragged you in through, but I couldn’t reopen it without her help. Unfortunately, she wasn’t willing to go the full way to rescue you.”

Celestia was shocked by his answer. “So she sent you to find us.”

“No, she sent me back to the void. However, I decided to find you by my own choice of ‘good’ nature. This being was good with dimensional travel spells, but not good enough to cover her tracks.”

“Ah, so you followed them back to this place and showed up just in time to save our collective asses,” Twilight finished for him.

“Yes, though I was here for a bit longer waiting for the right moment to show myself. I only wanted to talk to Celestia, but this ‘Kata’ forced my hand... hoof earlier than I would have liked.”

How did you even get in here? The Labyrinth is supposed to block all things that I do not personally approve of! Kata exclaimed angrily, her voice back to its childish tone.

The stallion chuckled. “I have many tricks that I’ve learned over the course of time to override those types of blockages, but I won’t tell. But don’t worry, I’m not here to rescue them if you’re wondering.”

Then why are you here? Kata growled.

“I think you need your ears checked, unless you don’t have any ears, because I’ve already answered that question.”

Okay mister funny guy. Let’s see how you like it when I—

“Banish me back to the void, or better yet try to ‘kill’ me? I don’t think that would be good idea. It would be a shame if an Apocalypse Lord ever found out about this place. They don’t like it when mortals can use the power of the void right under their noses.”

I am no mortal! Kata told him venomously.

“You are a creature made by The Light, meaning you have life, hence you are a mortal.”

I was not made in the light, I am not a mortal! Kata insisted.

“I didn’t say you were made in the light, I said you were made by The Light. Anyways, I’m not here to bicker about The One who made everything, just let me do a few things then I’ll be out of your hair, mortal.”

Fine, be quick Kata growled before her presence vanished.

The voidling turned to the others. “Is she always like that?”

“Pretty much,” Twilight replied with a shrug as she nudged Ethan with her foot.

“So, what are the things you need to do?” Celestia asked.

“First, you should rest. You and your companions have been through a lot lately and need to heal up. I can wait.”

“I agree. Thomas has a broken wing, Ethan and Aeron are unconscious, and you and Scarlet look like you’re about to collapse, Celestia,” Luna said.

“I’m glad you agree with me Luna,” the stallion said with a smile.

Luna narrowed her eyes and glared at the voidling.

The voidling took no notice of Luna’s stare, instead only turning around and walked off in the distance, vanishing from sight.

“We should go,” Twilight said as she picked up Ethan in her arms and began walking towards a doorway that had appeared on the far side of the room. The others followed.

[Chapter Title Pending]

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[Chapter Title Pending]

The group stumbled, limped, and otherwise made their way uneasily into the new room. They just wanted to rest and lick their wounds. Lucky for them the room was bare of anything, giving them some mild relief.

Scarlet, covered in scratches and bruises, flopped down in utter exhaustion. “Was it just me, or was Kata really wanting to kill us that time?”

“She did seem rather more vicious than before,” Twilight agreed as she sat down and placed Ethan beside her. “Do you have something I could clean him off with?” she asked Scarlet.

Scarlet was breathing heavily in slightly strained breaths. “I have some whiskey in my bag...” Her eyes were getting heavy.

“Gimme,” Thomas mumbled, doing his best to ignore the burning pain in his wing.

Scarlet was about to correct Thomas on something, but didn’t have the time. Celestia jabbed a stimpak into her neck before she could reply. “Just rest,” Celestia told the mare.

Scarlet’s face winced in pain for one second only for it turn into a relaxed state. “For once, Cele, I’m not going to complain.” Scarlet closed her eyes and rested her head down on the ground.

Celestia tossed the empty stimpak aside and reached back inside Scarlet’s bag, pulling out a half empty bottle of whisky. “I believe she was talking about cleaning the cuts on Ethan with this.”

“This really hurts, okay?” Thomas replied, doing his best to keep his voice calm. “I need something to kill the pain!” he added, his voice rising several octaves.

“I know.” Celestia walked over and handed the bottle to Thomas. He made to down the contents of the bottle, but Luna snatched it from him moments before his lips made contact.

“Actually I was talking about some sort of rag to clean him with,” Twilight deadpanned, gesturing towards Ethan’s gore covered form.

“I’ll check Scarlet’s bag to see if she has any,” Celestia replied as she went back rummaging through the bag.

“Yahahaargh!” Thomas let out several more pained screams as Luna dripped the alcohol onto his injuries.

Celestia came back with several pieces of folded cloth. “These were in her doctor’s bag, they should be clean enough.”

“Soak them in a little of the whisky,” Twilight told Luna. “It’s not soap, but it’s better than nothing, I guess.”

Thomas held up a hoof at Luna. “Just hit me with some Med-X first, okay?”

“Were you always this sensitive?” the woman asked unhappily.

“My pain tolerance is lower than I’m used to.” The pegasus scooted away from the whiskey-soaked rag. “Just—” He started screaming again when Luna prodded him a little too hard with the rag out of spite.

“There’s some Med-x in the doctor’s bag,” Celestia told Twilight as she handed her some rags. “I’m going to check on Aeron and Dash.”

“Have fun with that,” Twilight replied as she began to wash Ethan with the rag.

Celestia walked over to Aeron and Dash. Aeron was still unconscious and Dash had a worried expression on her face. “Is he faring well?” Celestia asked.

“He’s still breathing, so that’s a good sign,” Dash replied. “Right?”

“Yes,” the Sun Princess replied. She knelt down to check Aeron’s injuries. His horn was slightly swollen and blood was seeping out. “Though his horn doesn’t look well. I’m afraid it’s broken.”

“What does that mean?” Dash asked.

“He won’t be able to use his magic any time soon, and we might have to take it off for his safety.”

From where she was sitting, Twilight winced at the thought.

“Why!?” Dash exclaimed.

“Because one wrong move might send a fragment of his horn down into his brain, or even fracture his skull even more. It could kill him, or leave him severely paralyzed,” Celestia explained.

“We can’t let that happen!” Dash exclaimed.

“No we can’t.” Celestia left, walking back to the others. to get some supplies ready.

“We don’t know how long we will remain in these forms,” Luna said calmly as she held Thomas down. “For all we know, we could wake up tomorrow and be in our own bodies.”

“True, but that is still unknown,” Celestia replied. “I’m not willing to risk leaving Aeron in a vulnerable state that could instantly kill him. I can set it to heal, but it’s up to Dash to make the decision.”

Dash placed a hand under her chin, contemplating her thoughts.

“I’m naked, and I smell like whiskey. Cassie, did it happen again?” Ethan muttered as his eyes fluttered open slowly.

“You killed a giant wyvern by diving into its mouth and cutting your way through its stomach,” Twilight answered.

“Oh, okay then. Sounds like something I’d do,” Ethan mumbled.

“Quite a foolish move, too. I could’ve taken care of it without letting Kata resurrect it as an undead.”

“Oh, hi there, Bob. I forgot that you existed. What were you saying about undead somethings or other?” Ethan asked.

”Bob?” the voice asked as if he was intrigued by the name.

“Kata brought the wyvern back to life,” Twilight replied simply

“Ah, sounds like something she’d do. And you never told me your name so I’m just going to call you Bob in the meantime,” Ethan said.

“My true name is only for my bonded to know, but at least this name is not as insulting as some of the others I have been called.”

“Excellent,” Ethan said with a smile as he rose to his hooves, before promptly falling back to his knees. “So, Bob, I’ve been out for a little while so fill me in on why you’re here please.”

“To find my Luna’s Celestia,” he simply replied.

“Nothing else?” Luna asked with a narrowed glance.

“Oh yes of course, but they are not the main reasons why I’m here in this realm.”

“Cool, nice to have you with us Bob,” Ethan said with a smile. Then he let out a shout of pain as Twilight wiped the wet rag over one of the larger cuts on his back.

“Then why are you still here?” Celestia questioned. “You’ve found me.”

“Because Luna won’t like for me to say I found her sister to only watch her as she died. She’s already mad at me as it is for things I haven’t done.”

“Yes of course, her turning into Nightmare Moon had nothing to do with you I’m sure,” Twilight said sarcastically.

“The appearance of Nightmare Moon was a side effect of our merge, yes. However, her actions were not caused by me, but by Luna’s own heart. I had nothing to do with that,” ‘Bob’ stated.

Luna rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

“Whatever, you’re here, so are you going to help us, Bob?” Ethan asked, moving past the awkward subject.

”No, once you’re all rested up I’ll be on my way back to my Luna to deliver my message to her,” Bob stated flatly .

“Hmm... do you think you could deliver more than one message?” Twilight asked.

“If you mean carry a letter to each of your home realms, yes I can, but at a price.”

“And what would that price be?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Normally, a small part of your life energy, but I’m willing to ask for a favor of my desire instead.”

“I really hope I’m reading too deeply into the word desire,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

”Oh please, I am not a mortal. I have no need of bodily pleasure. No, the favor will be a single deed that you will have to carry out at any given moment of your life when I need it.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve killing my family or friends then I’m fine with that,” Ethan replied.

“Be careful on what you’re agreeing with Ethan,” Celestia warned him. “Favors with the Void are never ‘small’.”

“Well the way I see it I already kind of owe him one for what he did earlier and I don’t like owning people debt, so a single favor to take care of both that and the message sounds like a good deal to me,” The unicorn said with a shrug.

“I like his way of thinking.”

“Thanks, Bob. I mean, if it wasn’t for our current situation I might try to make a better deal, but at the moment, well I’ll take what I can get...” Ethan said with a slight sigh.

“And you, Twilight?”

“As long as your favor doesn’t require me to harm either the innocent or the people and ponies I love then fine. Tia’s worth it,” Twilight said.

“Then both of you hold out a forelimb.”

They both did so. Then something sharp jabbed into them. It didn’t cause much them pain, but it still hurt. Slowly, a black mark formed where they were jabbed. A circle contained inside a square, and inside the circle were four triangles sharing the same corners.

“Wow, this is both ominous and slightly cliched, no offense,” Ethan told the Voidling.

“I know, but it just serves a reminder of our payment. Don’t worry, it will transfer to your original bodies.”

“Can I get it in white?” Twilight asked.

“No.” The marks slowly started to fade away.

“That’s better than nothing I suppose,” Twilight said with a slightly annoyed sigh.

“Eh, relax Sparky. He seems nice enough,” Ethan said with another shrug.

“Yes, but his motives always have a catch to them,” Celestia said.

“Oh please Celestia, you’re giving me too much credit.”

“Besides Sunny, I’ve beaten the Nightmare before, even if it was a different one than this,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“While I don’t agree with him on this, if it’s the only way to get word to my Tia then well... meh, I’ll deal with it. And if he goes back on his word, well I’ve faced down a chaos lord and won,” Twilight said.

“Oh bravo, I’m so scared,” Bob sarcastically said. “Also, a reminder to you that if you don’t do the favor that mark will disintegrate into nothing along with what it is attach to.”

“Taking my foreleg with it?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Your entire body actually. Thus your life energy will be mine.”

“The energy of a goddess, you sure you can handle that?” Twilight asked with a chuckle.

“I am part of the Void. I can hold an infinite amount of energy. And you are no god.”

“On my plane I am,” Twilight replied. “Although I’m fairly young at the moment,” She added with a mutter.

“Thus proving my point.”

“Would you two stop metaphysically comparing your dicks please?” Ethan asked. “Seriously Sparky you already agreed to it, there’s no point in arguing with him.”

“Yes little mortal, you’ve already made your covenant with me. There’s no point in trying to prove anything to me.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and snorted but said nothing more. Instead she resumed cleaning Ethan’s still bloodsoaked fur with the whisky soaked rag.

“I hope you two know what you’ve gotten yourselves into,” Celestia said.

“Well Sunny I want my family to know that I’m relatively safe. Aren’t you going to write to your Luna?” Ethan asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“I already know what favor he would ask of me. And my answer is no.” Celestia firmly stated.

“Suit yourself then,” Ethan shrugged.

“Actually my dear Celestia, I’m already going to your world. So I can deliver yours for free. No favors asked.”

Celestia scoffed at that and didn’t respond.

“I’ll need help with this wing,” Luna called. “I’ve never seen somepony with a wing injury this severe.”

“How comforting,” Thomas growled.

“Let me clarify: I’ve never seen somepony with a wing injury this severe that was still breathing.” Luna stared at him intensely. “Your humerus is severely fractured and both the radius and ulna are completely shattered. I don’t know the first thing to do. Do we force the bone back in, or do we stop the bleeding first?”

“Put the bone back in. You want to make sure it mends itself back together properly and it’ll stop most of the blood...” Aeron grunted as he sat on his haunches, waking up from his recent unconsciousness.

“Once you’re finished with that, I suggest wrapping his wing tightly in bandages and not letting him fly.” Aeron slowly put a hoof to the base of his horn, lightly feeling the small cracks leading up to the massive crack at the horn’s tip.

“I know how to wrap an injury,” Luna pointed out unhappily.

“Don’t touch that!” Dash pulled Aeron’s hoof away from his horn. “Last thing I need is you hurting yourself.”

“Good idea.” Aeron nodded, cringing in pain. “But, about his wing - I suggest coating the damaged area in alcohol or giving him anesthetics so he doesn’t feel it as much. That, or hit him over the head and knock him out. Last thing I need to hear is his screaming.”

“Med-X. Lots of it. Now!” Thomas demanded.

“Only one dose Soldier Boy,” Scarlet muttered out. “We need to conserve my supplies.”

“One won’t be enough,” the pegasus argued. “I have bone poking out of my wing! I am in incredible pain!”

“Well if I kick you in the head so you won’t feel it anymore and save the usage of Med-X.” Scarlet suggested with a smirk.

“Just watch out for the brain damage, brain damage, brain damage, brain damage,” Ethan joked.

“Shut up,” Thomas snapped.

“Sorry, Captain. Just trying to lighten the mood a bit,” Ethan said, his face suddenly sobering significantly. “Guess I’m failing at that too,” he muttered, looking away with a frown.

Scarlet opened her eyes and lifted her head looking towards Ethan. “Wow, never thought I’d see a frown on your face.”

“Yeah, well Kata brought up an old failure of mine. I’ll be fine in a little while,” he replied with a shake of his head.

“Sure you will, but no matter what Vault Boy, the memory always hurts. No matter what you tell yourself.”

“No shit Katherine. but I’ve moved on and I don’t let it haunt me, or define me,” Ethan told her. “It just springs up sometimes.”

“Hey! A little help ove - ” the stallion was cut off by a sudden thunk. His eyes rolled up into his head before he fell over limply. Luna holstered her Sequoia.

“I hope he forgives me for that,” she muttered.

“He’s been shot in the head, he should be fine,” Scarlet said as she got up.

“Yeah, time to play amuatur surgeon,” Ethan said as he got to his hooves.

“That won’t be necessary Ethan. I can help fix Thomas’s wing,” Celestia stated.

“Without your magic?” Ethan asked her with a raised eyebrow.

“I was taught how to tend to injures without the aid of healing spells. Scarlet has plenty of medical supplies for me to reset Thomas’s wing.”

“I’d recommend working fast, I doubt that he’ll be out for long,” Twilight said dubiously.

“I’ll just give him a strong dose of Luna’s medicine if he wakes up,” Scarlet said with a grin.

“That won’t be necessary Scarlet.” Celestia picked up an assortment of medical tools and supplies, and walked over to Thomas’s unconscious form. She quickly began to work on his wing.

“While she’s doing that, who was that mysterious pony from earlier?” Scarlet asked.

“That’s Bob,” Ethan replied.

“Bob?”

“Yeah, Bob,” Ethan said with a slight chuckle. Scarlet looked over at Twilight for a better explanation.

“He’s a Voidling. That means that he’s from a place between everything. It also gives him a superiority complex close to the size of a planet. Although he’s powerful enough to back it up so...” Twilight replied before trailing off with a shrug.

“I might be small, but I pack a powerful punch, especially since I’m bonded to someone.”

“Yes, you’re very impressive,” Twilight said with a dismissive roll of her eyes before she turned to Luna. “Are you okay?” She asked the other woman.

“Don’t worry about me, Twilight Sparkle. I’m more concerned about him,” she replied sadly with a nod towards the unconscious form of Thomas.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. Thomas strikes me as the type to bounce back from injuries,” Twilight replied with a hopeful smile.

“In his own body, yes. But now?” she asked, gesturing at the unconscious pegasus. “I am not so sure.”

“Y’know Luna, once he’s better I’d take the opportunity to really talk to him,” Ethan told her seriously. “There’s no point in having regrets because you couldn’t open your mouth and tell him about how you feel. Life’s too short not to.”

“I am near immortal, life will go on for far too long for me,” she responded.

“And that’s a lot of time to live in regret,” Ethan replied.

“You speak as though I don’t already know that,” Luna said.

“Then act like it,” the stallion shrugged.

“I have to agree. I never told my father how I felt about him before he died.” Aeron added. Ethan looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Aeron looked at him with the same response.

“That meant continue,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Well, what would you like to know, Ethan?” Aeron asked.

“I don’t know, it just seemed like you were going to add to that,” Ethan told him.

“Well, I never told my father how much I hated him for not being there during my birth, how much of a sellout he was to the Brotherhood and how much I despised him for downgrading my actions when he himself just left me to deal with the Overseer in the Vault.” Aeron sighed harshly, “is that better?”

“I s’pose so; he sounds like a dick,” Ethan said.

“But he wasn’t.” Aeron said softly.

“Hmm?” Ethan asked.

“My father was an amazing man. I’m sure our fathers were still very similar. He did things that showed the Wasteland true compassion and he was praised by everyone for providing free and clean - yet FEV filled - water. I was just a parasite to him and I only downgrade him because of that.” Aeron answered sincerely.

“Ah, I see,” Ethan said. “I can’t exactly relate.”

“No one can. That’s only one problem I have with people in general. That, and how they use violence and destruction to claim who is ‘good’ and ‘bad’.” Aeron added.

“Well that part’s simple,” Twilight said. “Those who are trying to hurt the ones who are innocent are bad, they deserve punishment.”

“But who is defined as ‘innocent’? People in the past looked ‘innocent’, yet, they rose to power and destroyed everything around them. Not sure about Equestria, but, that happened back on Earth.”

“To be fair Aeron, there’s no such thing as an innocent politician,” Ethan interjected.

“No. There isn’t. People lie and people cheat. That’s human nature. What shouldn’t be human nature is violently attacking the people who are ‘bad’ than bringing them to trial in front of a judge.” Aeron sighed, “of course, there’s no constitution and I’m labelled ‘evil’ for doing much the same thing. So, whatever.”

“You aren’t just given a label, you earn it through your actions,” Twilight told him.

“Yes, yes. Actions speak louder than words and what-not. But, people like the Brotherhood have committed greater atrocities in the past. That includes their Outcast friends.” Aeron grunted.

“Yes they have. And Sarah and Rothchild have been doing their best to make up for it,” Ethan said with a shrug. “The past happened in the past, that’s why it’s called the past. It’s what you do with the future that’s important.”

“People don't let go. Myself included. I destroyed Megaton a long time ago. People are still pissed about that.”

“Well what do you expect? If you destroy a town then there are going to be people who were connected to that town, friends, lovers, family. It’s human nature to hold a grudge,” Ethan replied. “You’ve just gotta find a way to make them see you differently, if you feel like it anyways.”

“Well, it’s too late to change now. My best bet is to either become a reclusive old man and die, bite the proverbial bullet, or leave the Capital Wasteland forever. Or all three.”

“That’s a decision for you to make,” Ethan said with a slight sigh.

“Well, you’re not all that bad, Aeron.” Dash interrupted.

“What do you mean by that?” Aeron looked over at Dash with a raised brow.

“Well, you saved my life, you didn’t kill the children of Lamplight and actually returned their friends, you helped out the Gary’s, you saved that one mom’s daughter...” Dash rolled her hand to show the list was going on.

“Just small things.” Aeron grunted.

“But they were big things to those people, weren’t they? I would’ve been killed, raped, and eaten in that order. You said that yourself.” Dash laughed nervously.

“Maybe. Doesn’t change people’s views. Three Dog has them all set on that one.” Aeron sighed.

“Then change his opinion. He might be a loud mouthed bastard, but Three Dog’s actually pretty smart once you get to know him. I’m sure that if you did a little good then he’d start reporting it,” Ethan told him.

“Like what? Stop a war between the Enclave and the Brotherhood?” Aeron chuckled.

“That’s a good place to start,” Ethan told him with a smile.

“Yeah. We’ll see about that one. It’s likely, the Enclave will kill themselves before I get to do anything. Idiots.” Aeron smirked at the thought.

“Tell me about it, I don’t call them the Fucking Enclave for no reason,” Ethan said.

“I thought we were discussing my relationship with Thomas,” Luna said, slightly confused by the sudden change of topic.

“I was giving you time to come up with a good response,” Ethan said with a slight smirk.

“Yeah. Feel free to take the conversation. I have things to think about.” Aeron stated.

“I will need a few more minutes to think about it,” Luna said.

“Alright Lulu, take your time,” Ethan said.

“So Vault Boy, what happened up there on the last tower?” Scarlet asked.

“Kata brought up a promise that I failed to keep,” Ethan said, with a sigh.

“I was talking about with the incident where all of the wyverns were dragged up in the air,” Scarlet deadpan.

“Oh, that was just my magnetic personality,” Ethan said with a chuckle and a grin.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Sure it was.”

“You don’t believe me?” he asked her. “I’m hurt Katherine!” Ethan exclaimed while holding his hooves to his chest.

“The story of how the Chosen One went back in time is more believable than what you said.”

“Fine,” Ethan replied with a roll of his eyes. “It was Bob.”

“Okay, Bob, what happened?” she asked staring up in the air.

“The last crystal made a special black hole to suck all of the wyverns into oblivion.” Bob simply answered.

“That seems impossible,” Scarlet said.

“Yes it does. Oblivion was sealed off from all mortal realms centuries ago with only a select few being capable of reopening the gate,” Twilight agreed.

“I was talking about the wyverns’ demise, and I’m just using the term ‘black hole’ because it’s the closest you mortals have to what it actually was. It’s made through use of powers of the Void, which this being Kata seems to have. But she is not a being of the Void or has one bonded to her.

“That worries me,” Twilight murmured. “She already has the full abilities of a chaos lord, the last thing we need to deal with are Void powers.”

“Well she’s already limited with her Void powers. If she used them too much she will attract the attention of an Apocalypse Lord, and no mortal wants that.”

“I just remembered something!” Ethan exclaimed.

“What?” Scarlet asked.

“When ‘Bob’ first started helping Thomas and I, Kata reacted in an odd way. She said something about a brother, and how she’d ‘got him’,” Ethan replied with a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about it.

“So that’s who she’s afraid of? Her brother?” Scarlet stated a deep thoughtful look crossed her face. “Sibling rivalry huh? I wonder what would make her so afraid of him?”

“Well it stands to reason that her brother would be just as, if not more, powerful than she is,” Twilight replied.

“Yeah, but she has the home advantage for being in this realm. So why hide?” Scarlet question.

“I’m beginning to suspect that we don’t have all the pieces to this puzzle,” Twilight said.

“I agree,” Celestia said as she rejoin the others. Thomas was still passed out, but his wing was wrapped in a brace cover cloth that was strapped to his side. “Battles like this are more complex than any of you can imagine. Lose just one small step of your footing and it could be all over for you.”

“Yep, fun times eh Sunny?” Ethan asked.

“You have no idea,” Bob agreed with an amused chuckle.

“Oh Bob, how little you know,” Ethan said with a chuckle of his own.

“Don’t misjudge me mortal. I’ve been battle the likes you’ve never seen, or will. I’m far older than all the added age of Celestia and Luna, from all of your realms."

“Neat,” Ethan told him with a grin. “Betcha haven’t been kidnapped by aliens.”

“And I bet you haven’t fought a lord of order.”

“Na, they’re too jiggly for me, I’ll stick with cheese,” the man replied with a smirk.

“So how do we find Kata’s brother?” Scarlet said to change the conversation that was going on.

“We start looking where she doesn’t want us too,” Twilight replied.

“Hard to do when she’s corralling us to where she wants us to be.” Scarlet pointed out.

“Well someone has been subtly helping us, so if we just keep our eyes open we should be able to find him eventually,” Twilight said before turning to Celestia for her opinion.

“True, or if he feels the time is right to show himself. He’s clearly our friend at the moment.” Celestia said while placing a hand under her chin.

“Indeed, hopefully if we can find him we can find a way out of this maze,” Luna said, breaking her silence, she then walked over to where Thomas’s still form was lying and sat down next to it and began gently stroking his mane.

“If we survive that long. These puzzles are getting harder and more life threatening the deeper we go.” Scarlet added.

“If things keep getting worse at this rate then we’re going to be hitting ice pretty soon,” Ethan agreed, rolling his eyes.

“Well, skating is always a thing I’ve wanted to try...” Aeron added with a smirk.

“I’ve had experience, It’s actually pretty fun once you stop falling on your ass,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Well, maybe we can dance on ice together, hmm?” Aeron started to chuckle softly.

“Na, I’ve only got eyes for the Captain over there,” Ethan said with another chuckle.

“Aww, you break my petty little heart. Perhaps dinner with the two of you later?” Aeron laughed loudly.

“Maybe, I’ll cook,” Ethan replied with a grin as he shared in the laughter.

“I don’t understand humans sometimes,” Twilight whispered to Dash.

“Aeron jokes when he’s nervous. A lot. That, or he just becomes reclusive.” Dash giggled softly.

“Ah, Ethan just becomes less serious,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“Anyways. Enough with being all homosexual and what-not. What’s the game plan?” Aeron brushed his hoof through his shaved mane briskly.

“I’d say that we’ve earned a rest for a little while. I’ll take first watch with Dash, if she’s up to it of course, and then we’ll switch in four hours, y’know the routine,” Ethan replied.

“Yeah, sure. Just don’t grab me in weird places.” Dash joked mildly.

“Guess I’m with Twilight.” Aeron waved a hoof at Twilight for a moment.

“Sounds fine,” the woman said with a shrug.

“What about the others?” Dash asked Ethan.

“Well Lulu seems to be busy watching the Captain, and I’m not going to risk prying her away from him just yet. As for Sunny and Scarlet, that’s up to them,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Well, wanna get started while they figure that out, then?” The rainbow haired girl questioned.

“Sure, sounds good to me,” Ethan said with a smile, he got up and walked over towards one of the walls before sitting down and leaning his back against it.

Dash got up and followed, sitting right next to him and stretching her arms before coming to a complete rest.

Eventually the others figured out sleeping and watch arrangements and went to sleep.

“So, how’re you handling all this?” Ethan asked Dash as he cleaned his sword with one of the rags conveniently borrowed from Scarlet’s bag.

“Well... Y’know.” Dash sighed, “badly. Yourself?”

“To tell you the truth Dash this is only the third weirdest kidnapping attempt I’ve been through,” Ethan confessed.

“I’m not surprised. All you do is gloat about it. So, it has to be true.” Dash shrugged.

“I don’t gloat...” Ethan began indignantly before trailing off. “...that much,” he finished lamely.

“You gloat more than me when I do something awesome. That’s saying something, Ethan.” Dash giggled.

“Yeah, well I’ve been through enough shit that I should be proud of it,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Yeah, but, even I know when enough is enough. People probably don’t want to hear the same story told a million times. By then, you should’ve wrote a book about it.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Ethan told her conspiratorially.

“And that is?” The woman raised a brow.

“I talk a lot, but I don’t say anything,” The unicorn told her with a wink.

“So, Three Dog?”

“Nope, that’s not what I meant Dash,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “Three Dog just fills the silence, it’s his job as a DJ in the Wasteland. I just talk without saying anything.”

“Elaborate?”

“Think about it Dash, how much do you really know about me?” Ethan asked her.

“You’re an idiot, you act on impulse, you’re a pervert, you’re insane, you say you’ve been kidnapped on multiple occasions by random people...” Dash was counting on her fingers for a moment before she stopped, “enough.”

“Hmm... that’s quite the list you’ve got there Dash,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “But if I’m really all of those things, how in the hell have I survived in a place like the Wasteland?”

“Because, you’re an idiot, you act on impulse, you’re a pervert...” Dash laughed as she started to restate what she said before. “Honestly, Ethan, if Aeron can survive with being tactical, and you can survive with brute force, does it really matter?”

“You’d think that traveling with someone like Aeron would make you a little more analytical Dash,” Ethan told her with a roll of his eyes. “Come on, look a little deeper, have you noticed anything wrong with me? And don’t say the easy answer please.”

“Yeah. You keep everything to yourself. That’s what’s wrong with you.” Dash frowned.

“Is it now?” Ethan inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“You and Aeron are the same. You keep all your emotions inside of you, or you just laugh it off like it’s nothing. Aeron lost his mind because of it, and when he told me what he did in the Wastes, he felt relieved.” Dash looked over at Aeron, who was laying on his back and kicking his hooves in the air.

“I’ve already got a secret keeper Dash. Anyways you’re partially right, I do keep my emotions to myself or just laugh things off,” Ethan told her with a good hearted chuckle.

“Which is stupid.” Dash frowned again, looking back at him.

“I’ve got to agree with that as far as some things go. Hell something happened to me that sent me into an alcoholic spiral and I just laughed and smiled the whole time until Twilight Sparkle, the best friend I’ve ever had by the way, saw through my bullshit,” Ethan replied with a small smile. “Of course, you’re still only half right about me.”

“Then, what’s the other ‘half’? Drug abuse?” Dash laughed softly. Ethan let out a laugh of his own before his good humor disappeared from his voice.

“It’s an act, Dash,” He said quietly.

“Oh?” She raised a brow in curiousity.

“Or most of it is anyways, I’m very good at staying in character,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

“So, you just lie to yourself every moment of your life? Because that’s really stupid.”

“Not to myself Dash, just to strangers,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“I’ve made some pretty big lies for good reasons. But, lying about who you really are? That’s honestly the worst thing a person can do to themselves.” She crossed her arms for a moment, “it’s like taking the yolk out of the egg. It’s not delicious without the yolk.”

“Well, personally, I disagree. The people I care about know who I really am. As for the rest, it’s better to see the insane, impulsive perverted, fool than it is for them to see me for me. It keeps them underestimating me and it’s saved my ass more than once,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Isn’t that bad Karma?”

“The goddess of Karma owes me more favours than you’d believe for all the people I’ve rescued and saved over the years,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

“I don’t think she owes you shit.” Dash stated bluntly.

“I’m not sure if she’s real. But she hasn’t done anything to bad to me if she is does,” Ethan shrugged. “I help people Rainbow Dash, that’s my job. And if I have to act like an idiot to save someone then I’m going to act like an idiot!”

“Usually, the hero helps people through intelligence and leadership. Do you ever notice how bad your situation ends up?”

“I’m plenty smart when I really need to be, as for leadership, well that’s not my style. As for my situations, name one time that I’ve died when you’ve been around.”

“Well, you endanger everyone around you if you act wildly like you do here.” Dash muttered.

“Oh, such as when?” Ethan asked her.

“You know, running into a mine, thinking you're invincible? That’s a great one.”

“The thanks I get for keeping you from running head on into a nearly invisible mine is to be criticized for saving you from losing a leg?” Ethan asked her.

“Still would’ve got us killed. Shrapnel, y’know?”

“And yet miraculously you didn’t die, and I’m still alive. Rainbow Dash I do the things I do because I know that I can take it,” Ethan told her flatly.

“But, you’re not immortal. You’ll die eventually. Especially if you abuse your body as much as you do now.”

“If I die protecting someone who would’ve died without my help then it’s completely worth it,” Ethan told her. “As for my body, it heals completely in the fucking sun from almost any damage.”

“And what if that person died after you did? Or you watched them die as you were dying yourself? What would you do then?” She asked with a solemn tone.

“Well, in that case I’d probably beat myself up internally and then die. Or I’d heal and spend the next month, or however long it takes for me to find them, tracking the person who killed them down and killing them. Then I’d take another month long break in Equestria so that Sparky could keep me from drinking myself to death,” Ethan told her with a sigh.

“Hrm.” Was all Dash responded with, before stretching her arms again. “So, how’s your sex life?”

“That’s my line,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “And it’s amazing, when the kids aren’t around at least. What about yours?”

“Well, when Spike isn’t bugging Twilight and I...” Dash giggled softly, “we usually pull out The Paddle and have some fun.”

“Kinky,” Ethan said with a grin.

“Far more than that when magic is involved.” Dash added.

“I wouldn’t know, Sparky and Tia keep on refusing my offers of a foursome,” Ethan said with a pout.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’m sure Big Mac, Braeburn and Caramel would appreciate it.”

“Gah!” Ethan exclaimed. “Trust me Dash, I’m only interested in my wife, or other women that I have her approval to be interested in.”

“Just think about Mac, Brae and Caramel riding you. That’d be a fun little show.” Dash held back a laugh.

“Yeah, and you, Twilight, and Discord would make a fun group too. Imagine all the new positions you’d learn,” Ethan shot back.

“Not a bad idea...” She began to tap her chin in thought.

“All that frosting and chocolate milk would probably give you an infection,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

“Yeah, but, if Pinkie was in on it, it’d be real fun.”

“I’m sure, what about Gilda?” the unicorn asked.

“I haven’t really talked to her in a while. Probably wouldn’t want to do anything with her in that manner. I know she can be cool and all, when not being a total featherbrain, but she’s not someone I’d ‘get to know.’”

“My Dash didn’t share your opinion for some reason. They’ve been married for a while now,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Well, good for her. Hope that works out well.” Dash added her own shrug before shaking her head for a moment, “why are we talking about this again?”

“Because it was a neutral topic that both of us had an interest in,” Ethan suggested.

“Interest in having a three- and four-way?”

“Sure, I’ll ask Cassie next time I’m home and if we can get to your version of Equestria then we’ll make a night of it”

“Well, I’m not one for penises, but, I’m sure us girls could make an exception.” Dash laughed softly.

“Great, it’s a fuck date,” Ethan said.

“Perfect! Although, I’d rather you be a pony. I doubt you’re hung like one.”

“We’ll see about that later,” Ethan said with a wink.

“I’m sure. Well, enough about sex and stuff. What else is there to talk about to take up time and energy?”

“Tell me a little about Aeron if you don’t mind, I’m not going to judge him. I’m just curious about another me is all,” He told her.

“Well... If you’re a bit more specific, I can... Try and tell you about him.” Dash answered politely.

“You’ve both mentioned his insanity, what type is it?” Ethan inquired.

“There’s types now?” Dash joked.

Ethan regarded her for a second before replying. “How did he get it, what does it make him do, how often does it spring up, how does he act when under its effects, et cetera, et cetera.”

“That’s better.” Dash smiled softly, before it faded into a placid expression. “Well... He just goes blank. He stares at nothing, he thinks of nothing and he just... Does nothing. It’s like he’s doing his best to keep whatever is haunting him away somewhere in the back of his mind. It has only happened once in the middle of a fight... I don’t ever want to see it again.”

“Do you know what causes it?”

“Well, we were fighting... What were those yellow giants called?”

“Super mutants?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah. We were fighting some off, just outside of the Vault where the Gary clones were. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Only a few of them. Then, we were just ambushed by a horde of them and he just... He did nothing but stare at them.” Dash sighed deeply before continuing, “Jericho and I just kept asking him what to do. I was afraid to fly away and get shot, Jericho didn’t want to fire at them and get cornered, so we were basically screwed without his help.”

“When the mutants finally reached us, they immediately went for Aeron... That’s when I had to close my eyes. Everything got really, really bloody.” Dash looked down at the ground, put a finger in some accumulated dust and started playing with it.

“I see,” Ethan said. “Go on.”

“Well... After it was safe to open my eyes, all I saw were mangled corpses of every mutant there was. At least a hundred of them died or were limping away. Aeron said they’d never back down from a fight.” Dash shook the thought out of her head for a moment, “I... I asked him about it a lot. He wouldn’t answer me directly or just brushed it off. Saying that he was ‘doing what was right for a change.’”

“Hmm... That doesn’t exactly tell me much. Maybe he entered a temporary battle trance and killed them. I just don’t know,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“No. That’s not it. He mentioned the same thing before when he decided to destroy Megaton. He said he had horrible nightmares that persisted to no end. He wouldn’t go into too much detail, but, I think I can connect the dots on how much of his mind can ‘go’ at times.”

“Damn, still not enough for me to form any kind of prognosis,” Ethan muttered. “I’m not much good at it in the first place but, well you know, I try to help.”

“I’ve already tried to understand him. He’s like a puzzle piece that’s in the wrong box. It’s impossible to solve anything with it.”

“Guess he’s just another that I can’t help,” Ethan said with a dark chuckle. “I feel like there’s a joke here about not being able to help myself.”

“Aeron may joke sometimes, but, y’know. It’s because he’s nervous. That’s what I get from him, anyways.”

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons that I haven’t given him nearly as much shit as I have with Katherine,” Ethan replied.

“Well, some people would rather not share certain things. Aeron shares private matters, but, not that often. I mostly think it’s because he’s lonely.”

“That’ll do it alright,” Ethan replied before he yawned. “I think it’s been close to four hours Dash, let’s wake up Twilight and Aeron.”

“Alrighty.” Dash stood up, brushing some built up dust from her armour and then making her way over to Aeron, waking him up. Ethan just went over and nudged Twilight awake.

Aeron and Twilight were now up for their shift. An awkward silence lasted for the first half an hour of the shift. Twilight was examining the man-now-pony, looking him over and seeing that he was just staring off into random space. Every now and then, his eyes would move over to a different part of the room or he’d shift his body completely. Not enjoying the silence anymore, she broke the silence.

“So Aeron... how did you meet Dash?” The woman asked as she gently played with a strand of her purple hair, it was odd having fingers instead of hooves.

“Well, I just stumbled upon her. Was an odd chance to see an actual Pegasus just lounging about. Thought it was some sort of FEV freak. Glad I was wrong.” Aeron clasped his hooves together in thought. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious is all. You’re interesting to me,” Twilight replied.

“Interesting in what manner?” Aeron raised a brow at the woman, “because I’m not one for sex, Twilight.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it Aeron,” Twilight told him flatly. “You’re interesting because you’re so like Ethan.”

“So, I’m an idiot? That’s nice.” Aeron looked at her placidly.

“Heh, not quite. Ethan’s not an idiot, no matter how much like one he acts,” Twilight replied with a slight chuckle.

“Then, be my guest and elaborate, dear.” Aeron gave a slight smirk before he held a small frown.

“He acts like an idiot, he really isn’t,” Twilight told him.

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Aeron stated quickly, “I meant to elaborate on why I’m so like Ethan.”

“Oh,” Twilight said looking slightly embarrassed. “Well... I suppose the obvious is your background, although that’s rather different now that I’ve heard more about it. I guess what I meant to say is that you’re interesting because of how you’re both similar and different from one another at a basic level. You’re kind of like Ethan, and at the same time you’re different,” Twilight replied after a moment of thought.

“Well, Ethan only compares to me on a very basic level. He’s a man and I’m a man. That’s about it.” Aeron grunted softly.

“There’s more to it then that, Aeron. For example you both prefer to keep your real thoughts to yourself,” Twilight told him.

“And how do you know of that? Perhaps I see a therapist every day?” Aeron interrupted her.

“Because I know what it looks like when someone is thinking, and you’re always thinking, Aeron,” Twilight replied.

“I have a lot to think about. But, now we’re both men with thoughts. Care to try some more?” Aeron chuckled softly.

Twilight snorted. “Well you’re both difficult when it comes to answering personal questions and you both deflect things away from yourselves.”

“Some things aren’t meant to be shared. They’re called ‘secrets’ for a reason.” Aeron replied, “besides, why would I answer personal questions to someone I don’t care about?”

Twilight sighed, she wasn’t getting anywhere with this so she shrugged and simply let the topic die.

“You give up too easily, Twilight. That’s what’s wrong with you in this group.” Aeron let out a laugh and laid down, looking around the room once more.

“No, I just know which battles are worth fighting,” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“Who said it was a battle? I’m not fighting you.” Aeron let off a smirk at his own literalism.

“So the man who claims to be the smartest person in the group can’t recognize a figure of speech?” Twilight asked with a chuckle. “I’ll have to remember to be careful in the future, it could be dangerous.”

“I wouldn’t talk so much. You can’t handle Scarlet digging at your sex life, let alone your own personal power.” Aeron held a placid look once more, “your ‘royal ascension’ is probably the worst thing to ever happen back where you come from. You’d be an awful leader if you let people get to you.”

“Well I’ve restructured the bureaucracy so that it runs 35.5 percent more efficiently, did away with exuberant taxes on the poor while giving the nobles a way to supplement those by increasing their production, and I’ve cut down on the number ponies petitioning Tia so that she can focus on the more important parts of running a kingdom,” Twilight answered smartly.

“Doesn’t matter what you did. People, or ponies in your case, tend to forget and bitch about something else. You’ll never make anyone happy, ponies will constantly attack you for being a ‘bad’ pony and you’ll continue to deal with this until your life decides to end. Which isn’t for... Ten thousands years, per say?” Aeron chuckled softly.

“Give or take an aeon and you might be in the right ballpark. As for the other part, I think that you’re projecting a little bit of your problems onto me,” Twilight replied.

“Much like the people I’ve met who haven’t attacked me, I don’t tell anyone my problems. But, if you look at all political leaders, they never did anything right.” Aeron shrugged, “of course, if they did everything the citizen’s wanted, it’d be anarchy, but, they still screwed up one way or another.”

“No one’s perfect Aeron, but I do my best to serve the kingdom, and that’s all that I can do. Ponies who have a problem with the way I do things are welcome to petition to me about changing my policies. If they have good ideas then I take them into account and try to work them into what I do,” Twilight told him.

“Perhaps it’s the Wasteland ideals getting to me. But, this once, I’ll believe you. However, you still let people get to you too easily and you give up too easily.” Aeron shrugged. “hell, I could’ve picked at you for hours until you told me something. You barely lasted ten minutes.”

“You think I’m like this when I’m in my politics mode?” Twilight asked with a shake of her head. “We’re in the field of battle against an opponent who we literally know next to nothing about, I’m not going to treat you like an opposing politician. I’ve been treating you like a companion who could become a friend!” Twilight replied with a hint of annoyance entering into her voice.

“A friend?” Aeron stood up and glared at her, “you think you have the audacity to even think I’d consider you, of all people, a friend?!”

“Sure, why not?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “Friendship is one of the strongest forces in the universe, besides having friends on the battlefield means that you’re more likely to help them in the long run and it increases battle chemistry,” Twilight informed him.

“Friendship is a pollutant to all relationships. All it ever does is cause manipulation, lies, defamation and slander. The last thing I need is some priss and pompous four year old telling me how wonderful she is while I try to figure out where I’m going to stash her body for being so naive!” Aeron was pacing back and forth momentarily, pointing at his horn, “your idea of ‘friendship’ caused me to do something very, very fucking stupid: nearly have this stupid ass horn ripped off my head.”

“That is no one’s fault but your own Aeron! You’re the one who chose to charge that deathclaw rather than find some other way to deal with it!” Twilight exclaimed. “And as for the other part about friendship, well if that’s the world you live in then you must be a very, very sad little man!” Twilight told him severely.

Aeron took in a deep breath, calming himself down before speaking again. “You’re right. I am a ‘sad little man’, Twilight. But knowing I don’t need to deal with those who I’ll lose anyways is less of a burden on my mind.”

Twilight started to laugh. “Aeron I’m going to outlive all of my friends. All of them. That doesn’t mean that I want to stop being their friend; if anything it makes it more important to me that I spend as much time with them as possible!” She told him.

“The difference between you and I is that I have no friends.” Aeron stated bluntly, laying back down, “what point is there to try and do anything for a friend you don’t have?”

“I bet that you had a friend before now, and I know Ethan well enough to have a good guess who it was,” Twilight said. “So what happened between you and Amata to make you hate her so much?”

Aeron looked down at the ground for a moment, picking his hooves into the accumulated dust. He said nothing for a good three minutes and remained that way.

“I’m right then,” Twilight said with a nod to herself.

“I don’t hate her.” Aeron said softly and almost with an inaudible tone.

“Oh?” Twilight asked softly. “Because with the way you talk about friendship you seem to.”

“She was the only one who cared about me. She was the only one who tried to understand, or held any of the qualities of what I consider a ‘friend’...” Aeron looked at the ground continuing to pick away at dirt, “...and she was the first one to make me an outcast.”

“So you’ve taken her betrayal to mean that friendship is something to be spat on and aVoided?” Twilight asked archly.

“If you want to dumb it down to that, I guess so.” Aeron held somewhat of a frown on his face, holding back the urge to cry.

“Well then you’re stupid,” Twilight told him frankly. “If you don’t have any friends then you’re life’s not worth living.”

“That’s a bit extreme. Friends aren’t entirely necessary to living. I still enjoy whatever little pleasures I find in doing... Whatever it is I do. Then the rest of the time is spent thinking.”

“They’re necessary to truly live Aeron. Trust me, I would know.” Twilight told him.

“I just didn’t want it to happen again. I even tried coming back to help the Vault when the Overseer really lost his mind. I was just booted out of there like a radroach in a scorpion den.”

“So that’s it, you gave up. I’m not sure whether that’s more sad, or more pathetic,” Twilight replied.

“Most likely both. I tried to reason, but, apparently Wasteland news reaches Vaults faster than locusts and crops.” Aeron sighed.

“Well then I suppose you don’t give a damn about Rainbow Dash. I mean if friendship is stupid, then why bother keeping her safe? Why put up with an arrogant loud mouthed pegasus who you could probably stick a slave collar on and sell for a few thousand caps?” Twilight asked him.

“She’s... She was different. I wanted to do something with her - use her before I just killed her outright. But, when I obtained the opportunity to end her life... I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to.”

“So she’s more than just a tool to you, but you don’t give enough of a damn about her to call her your friend?” Twilight asked him angrily.

“Fear gets the better of me. A lot.” Aeron stated bluntly.

“Oh, so you were afraid of a 150 pound pegasus when you had an assault rifle?” Twilight asked sarcastically.

“Afraid of losing the friendship again. Knowing my chances, it’d happen.”

“If you killed her then she probably would stop being your friend,” Twilight replied dryly.

“Uhg, not that you imbecile.” Aeron grunted, “if you’re going to be this much of a dick, then I won’t bother talking anymore.”

“Sorry,” Twilight apologized. “Regardless of anything that I’ve said, or anything that you’ve said apparently, Rainbow Dash is your friend. No matter how hard you deny it or try and push her away; she’ll always be your friend. She’s the Element of Loyalty for a reason.”

“I have nothing to add to that. Whatever I say, I know I may or may not regret it.”

“Hrmph,” Twilight grumbled. “Friendship’s not about whether or not you regret it later, it’s about what you do while it’s there.”

“I’ll let time and my own thoughts decide that one.”

“Trust me Aeron, friendship is worth it,” Twilight said quietly.

“The last time I trusted a politician, it ended up with me destroying my father’s work.” Aeron laughed at his own, personal, joke.

“I’m only a Princess as long as I’m helping people Aeron. If I stop doing that then I’m just a tyrant.”

“Everyone needs a break once in awhile. Can’t be expected to help forever.”

“You’re right, which is why there are three of us not counting Cadence,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“Mrm.” Aeron sighed, brushing a hoof lightly against his horn, wincing slightly.

“Don’t touch that. If you’re not careful you’ll send a fragment into your brain,” Twilight told him.

“It’s just annoying me right now, knowing I have an open wound and can’t do anything.” Aeron growled at himself.

“I’m sure it is, just try not to alright, Dash would be a wreck if you died.”

“What makes you say that?” Aeron raised a brow, placing his hooves on the floor.

“Because she cares about you, you moron,” Twilight replied.

“Hrmph.” Aeron lowered his brow and held another placid look on his face.

“Hell, even someone as apparently dence as you should be able to figure that out,” The woman added.

“Continue.” Aeron continued to stare at her, waiting for more.

“She’s your friend Aeron. If you died because of something stupid then she’d feel awful about it. And don’t you dare try to tell me that’s why you don’t have friends!” Twilight growled.

“I don’t see the point in mourning someone’s death. It happens a lot, it’s bad, but why would you cry about it?”

Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes for a second, and let out a sigh. “Because Aeron, that’s what people do when they lose someone that they care about,” she told him.

“In some cultures, people celebrate death. I can see people celebrating my death.” Aeron tapped a hoof on his chin for a moment, thinking about people ripping his dead corpse to shreds, “in a bad way.”

“Do you think that Rainbow Dash would do that?” She asked him harshly.

“I’d want her to. I don’t want her crying when I’m ‘gone forever’.” Aeron stated calmly.

“Aeron...” Twilight began before she trailed off. “I think our watch is over, let’s go wake up Luna and Scarlet.” The woman got to her feet and walked over to Luna, who was lying beside Thomas’s still form, and nudged her awake.

Aeron did much the same, only walking over to Scarlet and pushing her tough, earth pony, form. “Wakey, wakey, hands off snak--... Well, that can’t be applied.”

“Plus I’m not a child.” The mare added as she got up.

“Right.” Aeron walked over to Twilight for a moment, looking up at her. A very faint smile crossed his lips.

“Thanks.” Aeron told her.

“It’s my job, and my pleasure,” Twilight replied, a wry smile on her lips.

“If I knew more emotions, than I’d probably hug you. But, I’m dirty currently.” Aeron chuckled softly.

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to stain Ethan’s duster would we?” Twilight asked with a chuckle of her own.

Neither said anything else, instead they just lay down next to their companions and closed their eyes.

Scarlet was dragging a hoof along the dirt, trying to help pass the time. Luna sat nearby, constantly glancing at Thomas as though taking her eyes off him would make him disappear.

“You know he’s going to be fine. He’s been through a lot worse if he has been through the same shit as me,” Scarlet stated.

“Should I not be worried? His current body is weaker than the one he normally inhabits. He lost quite a lot of blood,” she replied worriedly.

“Anyone who survived two shots in the head is not going to die from a fractured bone. Plus Celestia is a good physician, I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.” Scarlet got up and bent her neck to the side to try to get out a crick in it. “Besides if you’re so worried about him, why not enter his dreams to make sure he’s alright?”

Luna gave the mare a flat glare. “You think I would, but I respect his privacy. That, and this body lacks magic of any kind. ‘Tis quite frustrating.”

“Then you will just have to trust that Thomas will make it. He’s an NCR Ranger, they’re tough to take down in the first place.”

“He is not a member of this ‘NCR’,” Luna retorted angrily. “He may have sided with them, but it was to further his own agenda. He saw them as an asset.”

“Yeah well, that’s close enough for my books. I’m just glad he wasn’t part of the Legion, otherwise I really would’ve hated him.”

“He claims to have killed their leader as he sat on his throne, and beaten their most savage warrior to death with his helmet.”

“Ah, Caesar and Lanius.” Scarlet used a hard ‘c’ as she said the name Caesar. “I killed Caesar with a giant laser beam from space and Lanius...well it took two explosive rounds in his face to take him down.” Scarlet smiled at the memory.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Do you not mean Caesar?” she asked, pronouncing it ‘See-zar’.

“‘Kai-zar’ is the correct way to pronounce it in Latin. Though only members of the Legion and a few people out in the waste ever say it like that.” Scarlet pointed out to the alicorn-turned-human. “So everyone else pronounce it the way they see it in English. ‘See-zar’.”

The woman pondered that for a moment, letting the silence fall between the two.

“So how is my Celestia different from yours?” Scarlet asked.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Well, she’s much more of a... pacifist, I suppose that would be the right word.”

“So was mine, ‘til Cadbury launched his attack on Equestria. Anything else?”

“Incredibly patient, caring to a fault and a bit... I’m not sure I should say this...” Luna muttered, trailing off uncomfortably.

“Sex driven?” Scarlet guessed.

“Not exactly. Just... she has no real interest in other ponies.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes still. “Well other than the sex, both of our Celestia’s seem to be the same.”

“Actually, my sister prefers to use words as her weapon of choice. The last time she wielded a weapon was... well, against me.” Luna cleared her throat. “Rather, Nightmare Moon.”

“I see, I don’t fully know what happened when you were this ‘Nightmare Moon’, nor do I wish to know. I just know enough that you weren’t truly yourself, that was someone else.” Scarlet sorrowfully looked down as she said the last part of her sentence.

“Much like the facade you maintain?” Luna asked sharply. “What did Ethan call it earlier, a ‘layer of bitch’?”

“That Vault Boy doesn't understand my situation and thinks he can fix it. He’s just making it worse thinking that there was another way or it wasn’t my fault, but the truth is it was. I chose to kill that NCR messenger and it ended up being... being...” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I knew your situation was comparable to Thomas’s, but I must be missing something. Why did you - ”

“Because I wanted the NCR to get out of the bloody Divide! Everything was going just fine ‘til they showed up. So I made a deal with the Legion that if I help them to kick the NCR out, they would leave and never re-enter the Divide again.” The mare blundered out.

Luna was confused at that. “You made a deal with a group of slavers, rapists and murderers and expected them to keep to their word?” she asked carefully.

“I didn’t know that back then. Five years ago was the first time I ever even heard of the Legion. For all I knew they were just another tribe, and I let my past experience in dealing with tribes blind me.” Scarlet let out a sad sigh. “And I paid in full for my foolish mistake.”

Luna sighed as well. “We all make mistakes, Scarlet, some much worse than others. But in the end, you cannot be blamed for the actions of the Legion, no matter how terrible.”

“That’s not true. I was the one who came up with plans that lead so many NCR soldiers to their death, I was the one that made them desperate in trying to unlock the technological secrets of the Divide. There’s no one to blame but me. The actions came from my heart, not the Legion’s. This is a sin that cannot be forgiven.”

Luna sat there, putting a hand to her mouth in contemplation. “If it cannot be forgiven, then why haven’t you done what any other would in your situation?”

Scarlet remain quiet for quite some time. “Because...I couldn’t at the time. I didn’t want to take my life while also taking another’s.”

“I’m... not sure I understand,” the woman said hesitant

“I was pregnant, only for about month, but....I just couldn’t kill myself knowing I took another innocent life with me. I had to at least give my daughter a chance to live.” Scarlet head’s lowered as the memory slowly entered back into her mind. “I made a journey to Arroyo, his tribal village, to returned what belonged to them.”

“You left your daughter an orphan?” Luna was shocked. How could a mother do such a thing?

“I gave her a chance to live a better life than I had. A family that would love her, care for her, unlike my ‘family’.” Scarlet said, trying not to snap at Luna. She then let out a reluctant sigh. “I was doing it in order to protect her from me. From the chaos I always seemed to brew up wherever I go.”

Luna couldn’t think of a suitable response. Part of her wanted to strike the mare, another wanted to hug her, and a third wanted to yell until her voice was hoarse.

“After I gave birth, I left Arroyo, despite the Elder’s offer of letting me stay, become a member of the tribe. I wandered out into the Waste, pulled a gun... and... I couldn’t do it. I don’t know why I couldn’t pull the trigger, but I felt if I still had something else to do. What that something is, I still don’t know.”

“You wanted to redeem yourself,” Luna replied. “A part of you refused to believe that taking your own life was the best thing to do.”

Scarlet remained quiet. She then closed her eyes. “Maybe, but how is one supposed to forgive one’s own sin?” She opened her eyes and got up. “It’s time for last shift.” She started to walked back towards the group. She briefly stopped to looked back at Luna. “Thanks...” She never finished her sentence, but looked away and resumed walking.

“Still can’t believe Luna did that...” Thomas muttered angrily.

“She was just trying to make sure your condition didn’t get any worse,” Celestia calmly stated.

“Because brain injuries are a good thing,” he quipped sarcastically.

“Well it was either that or leave you awake as I tended to your wounds, causing more pain as you struggled to get away.” Celestia replied. “Beside, Med-X doesn’t have enough strength to fully numb your pain. Plus if we pumped enough in you to do that, more damage than a brain injury would’ve happened. Like stopping your heart.”

Thomas sat there, his bandaged wing twitching. Eventually, he said something. “Uhh...” Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t anything intelligent.

Celestia just shook her head. “So, you are the same person as Scarlet?”

“Did I suddenly grow a vagina?” Thomas asked. He quickly peaked between his legs. “Nope, still got a penis.”

“I meant you must share some of the same history as her. The road you two have walked must be similar in some ways.”

“We both killed the Divide, we were both couriers and we both decided who got control of Vegas.”

“Expect you went with the NCR, and she went for Independance. Tell me, what are the NCR like?”

“Their military structure is fucked. Too much nepotism. But I reckon I can get a few photos to the NCR proper of General Wait-and-See doing something so fucked up he commits suicide,” he added, laughing to himself. “Fucker needs to be taken down.”

“Why do you want him gone?”

“He’s in it for personal glory, doesn’t seem to understand that he does not have millions of soldiers to throw at the enemy, wouldn’t know strategy if it threw him off Hoover Dam and in general is such a total dick that his funeral would get crashed by every drunk soldier in the country so they could abuse his corpse.”

Celestia was shocked by such allegations. “That’s...” she couldn’t find the right word to tell how surprised she was that a nation could let a person lead if they were so hated. “Why did they let him lead the army then?”

“Because he’s related to the president, who’s an actual war hero. And he was only responsible for the NCR forces in the Mojave,” he added. “General Hsu, on the other hand, is actually sensible. He was a colonel back then.”

“Still, letting someone have power for their glory seeking never ends well. As the Old Man put it, a person seeking for glory will find none, they will only find devastation.”

“There’s only one way to fix stupid,” Thomas said sagely. “A bullet between the eyes.”

“You didn’t murder him did you?” Celestia concerning asked.

“Not yet. And I’d bet my spine that I’d be the hero of every soldier unfortunate enough to serve under him if I did.”

“That might be true but it’s not the right way.”

“In Equestria, maybe. The Wasteland... we call it Wasteland Justice for a reason.” The pegasus grimaced. “Then again, the other Celestia wasn’t happy when Dom demonstrated some of that to a pony...”

“I know that...still everyone always has a right to a second chance to do the right thing. I did so with my Luna, even though she caused more destruction than what this General could ever do.”

“Don’t know how it worked in your Equestria, but my Luna was possessed by a demon. She had no control,” he explained.

“Well...my Luna...” Celestia became hesitant to explain.

“Luna made a deal with me letting us become bonded and merge. The darkness in her heart soon overtook her and Nightmare Moon was born.” Bob explained. “So every action my Luna did came from her heart, not mine.”

Celestia gave a hard glare up in the air but let out a sigh. “What he said is true. I let anger grow in Luna and did little to stop it, even though I should have. So she made a deal with this Voidling in order to make the night last forever. I couldn’t kill her for something I caused.”

“Sounds like you’re both to blame. You for not doing anything, and her for doing something so stupid.”

“You’d think so, but no, blame it on the Voidling, who was only used as a power source for the whole ordeal.”

Celestia ignored Bob’s statement. “It was a hard time back then, it was our first years as rulers of Equestria and we still had many problems to fix since we overthrew Discord’s control of the land. The stress was too much for me back then.”

“Sounds a bit like the early days of the NCR. Raiders, Super Mutants, the Enclave, droughts. Can’t forget the radiation, either,” Thomas mused.

“Yes, the Old Man told me some of that when he first helped them when he was younger, but I should’ve done better with Luna.” Celestia lowered her head, taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “She worked so hard in making the night beautiful to help ease the mind of the ponies of their troubles, but they were too exhausted during the day to even notice.”

“Sounds like what Luna told me. My Luna,” he hastily clarified.

“Then there’s no reason for me to explain what happens next. Thankfully after she returned and Twilight was able to bring her back to normal, she forgave me, and was forgiven by the ponies as well.”

“I just wish that I’d gotten the same result,” Bob muttered sourly.

“And there’s good reason for that,” Celestia harshly stated.

“Your Luna went mad with power,” Thomas answered calmly. “Bob’s a victim too. Sort of.”

“Hey, someone who’s actually supporting me.”

“I know that Thomas, still...,” she trailed off lost in a thought or in a memory. “It’s all in the past now,” she finished cutting herself off earlier. “So I can see Luna has some affection towards you.”

“Yeah,” Thomas replied uneasily. He rubbed the back of his head with a hoof before continuing. “I don’t really know. Is it because she actually likes me for me, though? Or is it only because we’ve got enough in common that she can share her problems with me?”

“Can’t it be both?” Celestia asked the stallion.

“I don’t know. Never been one for, well, romance. Never really had time, what with always travelling.”

“I bet your Luna has the same issues, if she’s as busy as my Luna makes herself out to be, yet it didn’t stop one from forming between the two of you,” the woman said.

“Maybe I should just take the chance. No telling when I’ll die...” Thomas muttered.

“Then make the best of what you can, for it’s true, there is no hint of when our time comes to an end.”

“I meant that I have to take care of raiders around Vegas,” the pegasus said with a chuckle.“They don’t care about NCR law, only shotgun justice.”

“If an old man could live to the age of eighty while still fighting the dangers of the Wastes, I see no problem for you to also reach that age,” Celestia stated.

“All is takes is one mistake, one misstep, and I’m dead. Big Empty tech won’t save me if I can’t get to it,” he mused.

“That can be said to everyone Thomas, but the answer is still the same. Make use of what you have and don’t let it go to waste. Otherwise, the scarring it leaves will never cease to hurt,” Celestia said, her voice full with what should like personal experience beneath her words.

Thomas sighed and glanced at his sleeping princess. “Later. When we get out of this, we’ll talk.

“That’s all I ask.” Celestia got up and stretched her arms out. “Come, we should start waking the others to prepare for the challenges ahead.” She grabbed hold of her spear that was resting against the wall and began to walk towards the group.

I’d say that it’s time for you to get back to your natural forms, this has grown boring, Kata suddenly announced.

Celestia’s mind got foggy as her vision got blurry. The last thing she knew as falling towards the ground and hearing the bouncing of her spear against the floor.

“Oh you fucking...” Thomas hit the ground and rolled over as a wave of exhaustion assaulted him.

Special Delivery

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Special Delivery

Scarlet awoke with a start when her mind interpreted feelings that her skin was exposed. “Oh fucking no...” she lowly growled out.

“Hmm... I’m naked again, but this time I don’t feel any fur, so that means-” Ethan began before he cut himself off while his he moved his hand. “Yep, I’m human again, thank fucking god!” He exclaimed while he eagerly leapt to his feet .

Scarlet friskily bent up trying her best to cover herself up with her arms while not letting her fast building anger explode.

“Oh god, I’m so going to kill that bitch,” Thomas muttered while he tried to sit up, clutching his head painfully. Kata had knocked him out while he’d been standing and his head was aching badly.

Ethan for his part just stood there nakedly for a few seconds. “Y’know Katherine, I was right, you look just like my wife, except you’re missing the birthmark on your thigh,” Ethan told the woman while nonchalantly scratching his ass.

“A little privacy!” the woman angrily snapped.

“Hm? It’s not like we’ve never seen a naked woman before, it’s no big deal,” Ethan told her with a shrug.

“It is when there are two lesbians and two manwhores standing in the room!”

“I’m pretty sure that Thomas is still on the floor and I wouldn’t qualify Aeron as a man whore,” Ethan pointed out with a chuckle.

Celestia then walked in between Scarlet and the group, lifting a wing up to help cover her. “Still, one should respect another’s wish for privacy.”

“I suppose,” Ethan said with a shrug before turning to look around for a second to face Aeron. “Morning Aeron.”

“Mrm. Morning.” Aeron grunted as he sat up in exhaustion, “why is it cold in here?”

“We’re all naked,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Ah.” Aeron yawned for a moment before finally realizing what Ethan said, “wait, what?”

“We’re all naked,” Ethan repeated nonchalantly.

“So... We have three naked men and a naked woman sitting in the same room,” he stated to himself, “I don’t like those numbers.”

“Yep, that’s the situation alright,” Ethan nodded.

“Well. Kind of an awkward one, if I may say so myself.” He yawned again, not too moved by the notion of being nude.

“Meh, I’ve had worse,” Ethan said with another shrug.

“Well... No point in just chilling out trying to catch hypothermia. Going to grab my armour and clothing.” Aeron stood up and looked around for his armour, “Dash, where the hell is it?”

“Right there.” Dash’s hoof pointed over to Scarlet’s bag, where his underwear, shirt and armour sat neatly folded.

“Ah, perfect.” He said, walking over to it and immediately putting it on.

Ethan stood there nakedly for a few more seconds as Thomas rose to his feet. “Looks like I owe you an apology Captain,” Ethan told the Courier.

“For what?” Thomas asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

“It looks like we’re tied,” Ethan replied with a nod downwards towards the other man’s waist before he walked over to where his clothes were lying next to Twilight. Thomas stared at him for a moment before he began to chuckle slightly and shake his head.

“Always going to compare?” Aeron asked as he buckled his chest piece to his leggings.

“Naturally,” Ethan replied.

“Stallions,” Twilight said with a shake of her head as she levitated Ethan his clothing.

“Men, you mean?” Aeron chuckled softly.

“Both have dicks, so it applies the same way,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“I guess,” Aeron yawned and looked over to Thomas, “so, what’s the day plan? Or night plan? Or whatever time it is.”

“Well we need to decide if anyone else is going to take Bob up on his offer of carrying messages back to our homes, after that we’ll probably all almost die again,” Thomas said.

“Jericho may be a bit dull, but, he can handle himself. I’ve left him by himself for long periods of time, so, I’m not too worried.” Aeron sat down on the ground, stretching his arms tiredly.

“I know Twilight is worried sick...” Dash said with a sigh, “I definitely need to send her a letter to tell her I’m alright and that I’ll be home soon.”

Pfft. Soon? More like never. Kata laughed at Dash’s sentiment.

“Just as a reminder there is payment for my services, and you all have two options in paying. Offering part of your life energy or a deed that you will have to carried out later on in your life.” Bob clarified to everyone.

“I don’t need to send one either.” Scarlet stated. “My friends are used to me being gone now and then, and I have several protocols set up for Yes Man to run Vegas in my absence,” she continued on while she start putting on her clothes.

“Suit yourself. Thomas, Luna, do you want to send a letter home as well?” Bob asked the black Courier and the lunar princess.

“My sister is no doubt confused as to why she is undertaking my duties again. She should be informed,” Luna said calmly.

“Yeah, and I was meant to be back... how many days have we been here?” Thomas asked, pulling up his pants as he did. “Either way, I’m late and the rest of the Families are gonna be wondering where I am.”

“I think it’s been four days, maybe,” Ethan said with a yawn. “To tell the truth I’ve kind of lost track of time in here... kind of seems like half a year”

“Hmm, alright, three more trips. Please hold out your wrists since I know you won’t offer part of your life energy to me,” Bob told the three.

“Ponies don’t have wrists,” Luna replied as she stood still.

“Would you prefer ‘foreleg’?” Bob asked sarcastically.

“It’s just semantics, it doesn’t really matter,” Twilight said. “Now can we get on with this?” she asked impatiently. All three lifted up a forelimb and soon felt something being jabbed into their skin. The black glowing marks slowly emerged.

”There, all done.” Bob said with some glee in his voice.

Scarlet meanwhile had come out from behind Celestia, now mostly dressed although her armoured duster wasn’t fully fastened in the front and her stomach could still be seen. Thomas’s eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of some interesting scars on her stomach.

“Didn’t take you for a mother,” he commented cautiously. Scarlet just scowled at him and said nothing while she finished putting on her duster. Luna glanced at the man, hoping he wouldn’t ask the woman about it.

Ethan was standing half dressed, his pants were on but his armoured duster still wasn’t. There was a slightly distant look in his eyes and hand was gently touching several of the many scars on his chest. They were large and round, as if something had been jammed into his chest multiple times. Twilight eyed him worriedly, knowing at once where his thoughts were. She walked up beside the man and leaned against him comfortingly.

“Is something on your mind Ethan?” Celestia asked.

“Just thinking about the Lamplighters,” Ethan said with a tired sigh.

“Sorry, but I do not know who these Lamplighters are. Would you mind explaining?”

“It’s ‘were’ Sunny, who the Lamplighters were,” Ethan sighed. “They were children who depended on me, and I was stupid, and they were all killed by the Fucking Enclave while some young asshole had me chained to a pole and filled my chest with iron spikes!” He said angrily. “They were butchered, left in nothing but pieces, and it was all my fault,” He added with a whisper in his voice. “I couldn’t even tell who was who...” The man trailed off with a shake of his head.

Dash looked over to Aeron for a moment and then back at Ethan. “We... Kind of know the same feeling. Except it wasn’t so much Lamplight that was brutalized.”

“Brutalized isn’t the right word,” Ethan snapped.

“I think what Dash meant was massacred, if that’s better.” Aeron piped in quickly.

“That’s better,” Ethan grunted.

“But, for us, it was more a Rivet City ordeal. Nearly sank the rest of the ship while fighting. Never have I seen a group of stupidly organized soldiers fight like super mutants before.” Aeron sighed, brushing a hand through his shaven head, “although it may not compare, a lot of the people of Rivet City died at the time. I was to blame, of course. Whatever eases their minds, though.”

“I see,” Ethan replied coldly. “That’s too bad.”

“Which part?” Aeron raised a brow.

“Perhaps once you’ve seen enough people that you promised to protect torn to ribbons while you were unable to do anything about it you can compare it with me,” Ethan replied with a slight scowl. “But until then, please don’t try. It just makes me angry.”

“You let emotions get the best of you. You make too many promises and many of them just appear to fall through. Ethan, I may not be a ‘good-soul’ like you and graced with the gift of everlasting life, but, even I know that you need to just let things go.” Aeron spoke calmly and composed to the man, “sure, it was bad. So was our father’s deaths.”

“That’s the thing actually, I have let go, for the most part. It’s just that sometimes someone brings it up and goes and does the one thing that they really shouldn’t. They make me angry,” He said darkly, his eyes hard as ice.

“You should look in a mirror,” Scarlet muttered only to herself.

“Perhaps you should revisit Lamplight. I revisited Project Purity, even if the Brotherhood requested me not to, and made sure to pay my final respects to my father.”

“I have, revisited it. It happened ten years ago Aeron,” Ethan said with a slight sigh.

“Ten years and you still get upset about it? Then there’s something wrong with you,” Aeron offered politely.

Ethan quickly balled his fist and sent it flying towards the other Wanderer’s jaw. Aeron’s head whiplashed for a moment before he quickly withdrew his knife and jabbed for the man’s upper leg. Ethan grabbed the other man’s wrist and jerked it backwards, taking the knife with it, the knife fell to the ground. He then headbutted the other Wanderer.

Aeron staggered from the headbutt before composing himself, staring at the angry man. He let off a small smile. “You fight like a girl.”

“Wasn’t trying very hard, would you like me too?” Ethan asked with a wide, slightly crazed, smile.

“Hrm...” Aeron’s eyes scanned the man for a moment, eyeing him up and down, “why not?”

“Because you’re both idiots and we can’t afford you to actually get hurt,” Twilight told them both serenely as she levitated them apart, and brought them up to the ceiling.

“Oh, come on. This man is a superhuman. He can regenerate in a matter of seconds with a little dose of radiation.” Aeron laughed for a moment, “it’s like he has the FEV in him, still. Perhaps he’s becoming a mutant himself? The Enclave loves their muties.”

“Did I say anything about being worried about Ethan?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, you clearly aren’t worried about me. No one worries about me.” Aeron laughed sarcastically, wiping a tear from his eye.

“If that was true then I wouldn’t have stepped in and Dash, your friend, wouldn’t be here,” Twilight replied with a shrug as she let the men down from the ceiling.

“Whatever you say. We can spar later.” Aeron chuckled, bending down to the ground and picking up his knife, “sad that I couldn’t cut you open. Would’ve been interesting to see how you tick.”

“Jesus Christ, Aeron, are you losing your mind?” Dash raised a brow to him, with him only walking off to another part of the room.

“I do love it when you mortals fight over such petty arguments,” Bob commented.

“Aeron’s just...” Dash stopped, biting her lip for a moment and then let out a sigh, giving no further response.

“Yeah, that,” Ethan agreed with a roll of his eyes before he looked down at the place where he’d been stabbed. The wound was already rapidly closing.

“Now with that little show over with, how about you write those letters of yours so I can get going,” the voidling asked impatiently.

“You haven’t given us the paper,” Twilight pointed out. “Or the pencils for that matter,” she added.

“I’m a voidling not a supply dispenser. Ether find those resources yourselves or just tell me what you want to be sent over. I do have flawless memory,” Bob replied.

“I think I can scrounge up some,” Scarlet said as she walked towards her bag.

“Thank you Scarlet. Now Celestia, how about you? My offer still stands, I’ll do yours for free,” Bob said.

Celestia closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “I suppose I should inform my sister on what’s happening, especially since you’re involved.”

Scarlet returned and passed out the paper to everyone who was going to write a letter, “I’ve only got one pencil so y’all will have to share.”

“That’s fine,” Ethan replied with a shrug, apparently moving on from his small bout of self pity.

They quickly wrote their letters and handed them to the voidling, or more they put them on the ground and the letters disappeared into the shadow.

Celestia was the last to write. Folding her letter up, she placed it on the ground. The letter began to be engulfed by shadow when Celestia did something unexpected. Her horn flared to life as a bright flash emitted from it. The group was nearly blinded but as their eyes recovered they were met with the sight of Celestia holding her spear against Bob’s throat.

The dark stallion eyed the spear then looked back to Celestia. “Yes?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Whatever your plan is I give you this warning. If you harm anypony or anyone either from my world or theirs, I will make sure you will never leave the void ever again...Ueirn.” She said in a low threatening voice.

“Noted,” Bob...Ueirn replied with a wide smile before sinking into the ground.

“Was the light really necessary Sunny?” Ethan asked the alicorn.

“It was the only way to draw him out from hiding,” was her only reply.

“Well... Let’s just hope that everyone gets their letters,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“He will carry out his part of the deal, that I have no doubt. What I’m truly worried about is when he comes back for his payment.”

“I’ll cross that river when I get to it,” Ethan said with a shrug.

Princess Celestia sat in her study and glanced down at the book in front of her with a slightly annoyed look. The main character seemed determined to annoy just about every powerful force in the universe and he just didn’t seem to understand that being snarky wasn’t the way to deal with some beings. Of course considering where he lived Celestia supposed that if it wasn’t for his snark he would’ve died a long time ago.

In truth Celestia was only reading to distract herself from her worry for Twilight, and the protagonist of the series had always helped the alicorn relieve stress. Suddenly Celestia’s ears twitched, she sensed the presence of the void, that was never a good sign.

“I presume you’re Twilight’s and Ethan’s Celestia?” A stallion’s voice called from nowhere.

“And what business is that to a creature of the void?” Celestia asked suspiciously.

“Delivering a message is my business, for I know where they are at this moment,” the stallion’s voice simply replied.

“You will tell me where I may find Twilight Sparkle this instant or I will banish you from my realm!” Celestia told the voice with a growl.

“Oh, I’m so scared.” The voidling droned out as if he’d he’d faced this threat before “Of course if you did that then you’d probably never find out what happened to your dear Twilight.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed and a glowing golden sword suddenly leapt into the air. “Where. Is. She?” Celestia asked, flames beginning to form around her nostrils.

“Such anger, you should get that checked on,” the voidling continued on still not feeling threatened. “Now Twilight is being held in a realm that’s being ruled over by a being known as Kata, who is well versed in the art of chaos.”

“I already suspected as much, the site where Ethan and Twilight disappeared was soaked in residual chaos energy,” Celestia said with a shake of her head. “Now give me the damned letter you voidling slime!” She exclaimed angrily.

“Fine mortal.” A piece of paper suddenly appeared out from the shadows in front of Celestia. Celestia levitated the piece of paper up to her eyes and quickly scanned it.

Dear Tia

Hopefully this voidling reached you and is being at least slightly polite, although I doubt it. He was our only way of correspondence and I thought that you needed to know what had happened to me.

Ethan and I have been taken prisoner (again), along with several other versions of ponies and people from both of our worlds, one of whom is a version of you (although not nearly as good of a kisser. It was an accident... I swear....)

Anyways we’ve been taken captive by a sadistic chaos goddess who seems to want to slowly break us down and eventually kill us. So if you can come and rescue us that would be amazing. If not I love you and hope to see you soon,

Thinking of you always,

Your love, Princess Twilight Sparkle

P.S. Cassandra is receiving a similar letter from Ethan so don’t be surprised if she comes to visit you unexpectedly.

P.S.S. I miss you so much and when I get home I’m going to...

Celestia’s eyebrows rose when she got to the second postscript but she shook her head and banished the thought for the moment and sent the letter over to sit on her desk.

“You and your mortal’s desires on pleasure,” the voice stated.

“She’s become an alicorn recently. It has boosted her sex drive far beyond what it should be as an alicorn. It will calm down in another decade or two and I’ll personally be happy for it.” Celestia said with a slight sigh. “As much as I love her she’s a little too enthusiastic about it sometimes,” Celestia replied with a shrug. “The only other alicorn I know who adores sex as much as Twilight does at the moment is Luna, and that’s just so she doesn’t have to think about what she did as Nightmare Moon.”

”Really? I’m glad my Luna didn’t turn out that way. Though she still is sour for the result of our merge,” Ueirn stated.

“Tis the way of my little sister everywhere I suppose. She has a hard lot in the universe,” Celestia said with a slight sigh. “The fact that my mother only explained what needed to happen after it did happen still angers me to no end.”

“Well it was partly your fault-”

“Of which I’m well aware,” Celestia snapped.

”Sorry,” The stallion sarcastically apologized. ”Now if you don’t have any questions, I do have other messages that need to be delivered.”

“Is there any way for me to get to Twilight and Ethan?” Celestia asked the voice.

“Only by traveling through the void, but I highly discourage that. You won’t last a millisecond.”

“I am not a foal. I have traveled the void before and I do know the dangers associated with it. However I can’t leave Equestria at the moment and neither can anyone powerful or important enough to rescue Twilight,” Celestia told him with an aggravated sigh.

“Smart mortal, any more questions?”

“Which of the Lords are you associated with, I only ask on the off chance that my mother asks.”

“I don’t side with any of the Lords,” the voice answered venomously. “The only being I follow is my bonded and that is my Luna. Now is there anything else you would like to ask? I do have other things to do.”

“No, you’ve answered everything that I had to ask,” Celestia replied.

“Thank you, I’ll be on my way to Ethan’s Earth.”

“Then be on your way, and close that dimensional hole on your way out,” Celestia told the voidling.

“I always do. I don’t want an Apocalypse Lord to find and destroy your world because of me now do I.” With that said the presence of void magic disappeared.

Luna burst into the room seconds later.

“Sister did I just detect the presence of the void?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I now know where Ethan and Twilight are,” Celestia answered. “Unfortunately they appear to be out of our reach.”

“Did the voidling give you any trouble?” Luna inquired

Celestia shook her head. “No... not really. It was strange... he said that he is not associated with any of the Lords, which is an oddity in and of itself...”

Luna frowned. “Strange... now where is Twilght?”

Shade sat on the ledge overlooking Vegas boredly cleaning a pistol, suddenly a male voice spoke, causing the girl to jump in surprise.

“Excuse me I’m looking for your mother Cassandra, I sense you are part of your father’s bloodline and I have a message for her.”

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. “Mom, there’s a disembodied voice asking for you, it says that it has a message for you,” The girl shouted boredly as if that kind of thing happened every day.

“I guess this a normal thing for you?”

“I’m ten, and I’ve had this type of conversation with at least eight different voices,” Shade replied with a shrug.

“At least you haven’t lost your mind. I’ve know many mortals who babbel to no end because of one conversion like this.” The voice let off an amused chuckle.

Shade snorted. “Do you even know my parents? If I got driven insane by something routine as talking to an invisible voice then I would’ve gone insane a long long time ago.”

“Good, helps keep your mind free from lesser magic control. I even know someone who might like your mind set,” Ueirn stated.

“You’ll have to tell him or her about it when she’s older, for now I don’t feel like having something else in my daughter’s head. She’s already too wise for her own good, the last thing she needs is something that can teach her how to control the universe,” Cassandra said as she walked out onto the balcony.

“Oh course not, beside your daughter would need to bond with a million more of my kind to do something like that, and I know five people who would kill her before she could do something like that.”

Cassandra patted her daughters head. “Do you hear that Shade, no universal takeovers until you’re at least in your twenties. Now run along, this thing, no offense but I can’t see what you are, and I have things to discuss.” Shade rolled her eyes but got to her feet and walked back into the Lucky 38. “I hope she didn’t cause you too much trouble,” Cassandra apologized.

“I’m quite used to of being treated poorly, part of my ‘life’. Now you’re Cassandra, Ethan’s wife yes?” Ueirn asked

“That’s correct,” Cassandra said with a nod.

“Then this is for you.” A shadow swept over the ground and a folded piece of paper appeared.

Cassandra picked up the paper and began to read her husband’s familiar, if horrible, handwriting.

Dear Cassie

Sparky and I have been kidnapped by an invisible cunt who seems to have ego and control issues. In other words she’s just like every other person who’s kidnapped me. Anyways she’s forcing us to fight for our lives through a labyrinth designed to slowly break us through a variety of ways. Luckily she’s incompetent.

Oh, and I’ve also met two different versions of you (I told you that it could happen!) one’s name is Thomas and he’s pretty cool and is fucking his version of Luna. The other’s name is Scarlet and she’s still having emotional trouble with the Divide so I’ve made it my pet project to break her out of it.

Anyways lots of love and I’ll get home in a week or so. Stay safe and make sure that our children don’t find a way to destroy the world, mostly Shade. Also remember to keep Ash from forgetting to eat while he’s working in that library in the castle. Send them both my love too!

Your loving and exasperating husband Ethan Smith, The Lone Wanderer

Ps. Make sure that Sunny doesn’t get too angry with the messenger, he seems nice enough to me

Cassandra just shook her head.

“Yes, this is definitely Ethan’s letter,” She said with a roll of her eyes.

“Before I leave, are there any questions you would like to get out of the way?” Ueirn asked.

“Yes actually, you wouldn’t happen to have a way for me to get to him would you? I’m concerned about what he said about trying to talk to another Courier about the Divide...”

“Alas, no. The only way is to travel through the void, as it would consume you the moment you entered,” Ueirn stated

Cassandra let out an annoyed huff. “Of course it would, why should I be surprised at this point?” she asked rhetorically. “Anyways, thank you for the message mister...” She said before trailing off leaving him with the obvious continuation of the sentence.

“Bob, not my true name, but it was your husband’s idea to call me that,” ‘Bob’ stated.

“Yep, that’s definitely my husband,” Cassandra said with a slight chuckle. “So this is goodbye for the moment?”

“Yes, the only time you will hear from me is when I ask for the payment your husband owes me,” Ueirn replied

”Payment?” Cassandra’s head shot up and her eyes narrowed. “What type of payment?”

The voice never replied.

“God dammit Ethan!” Cassandra exclaimed. “Why do these things always happen to you?” She asked the universe which oddly enough decided not to answer her.

Celestia did her best to keep her expression tranquil. Ever since the brief war with the Diamond Dogs had ended, the petitioners had not stopped coming. It had gotten to the point where three ponies had been employed to ensure that only the ones with truly significant issues were allowed. Not that such a thing stopped some of the more stubborn members of the nobility.

The Solar Diarch glared. Every guard on duty looked away, knowing what would come next was not going to be pretty. “No, I will not cut the health budget because you are so incompetent with your own money,” she declared angrily. “Nor will we reduce spending in transport, military, public services or any other government branch.”

The golden stallion looked at her pathetically. “But your Majesty - ”

“If I hear one comment about how the average citizen does not deserve any of that, I will have you conscripted,” she threatened. Not that she would ever do such a thing, but it was the only way to get the more unruly members of the nobility to listen. “Consider yourself lucky that my sister was not here in my place.”

As the noble hastily retreated, Celestia sighed inwardly. “Where are you, Luna?” she muttered worriedly. She knew that her sister was not the sort to disappear without reason, and that she would have at least left a note.

The alicorn gasped and recoiled when a small orb of fire appeared in front of her. At first, she thought that it was from her student, but there was something off. Apart from the way it lingered much longer, it was an impossible shade of black, as dark as the deepest pits of Tartarus. Before she could do anything to dispel the fire, it coalesced into a scroll that fell on the ground.

Cautious as to what it may contain, she warily picked it up and unrolled it. Half a second later, she turned to the nearest guard. “Inform everypony that I will not be granting any more audiences today.” The poor stallion didn’t even get a chance to respond before she teleported away.

The moment she reappeared in her private chambers, she sealed the doors and drew the curtains closed with so much force they tore. But she didn’t care, they could be replaced. She unrolled the letter again and read it, the light from her horn illuminating the area.

Sister,

I am truly sorry for my absence. It was not by my own will that I left. I have been taken captive by a being who calls itself Katastrophis along with Thomas.

Celestia stopped reading for a moment to grumble at that.

That’s not all however, this Katastrophis has also taken several other ponies and their human companions. More interestingly they are all from different versions of both Equestria and the Wasteland.

That made the princess pause. Different versions of Equestria? It was certainly something that had been theorised, but it had never been proven. To see what was undeniable proof would be incredible.

It’s most unsettling seeing a mare that is like you in almost every way, yet isn’t. Your faithful student is here as well, however she is quite different, apparently you and she are in a relationship where she is from.

Celestia’s mind ground to a halt. She and Twilight? Together?

Additionally Rainbow Dash is here, it is all very odd. What is most distressing is that each of them is capable and willing to kill. Unfortunately, we are given little choice in the matter. Katastrophis is forcing us through a gauntlet, with every intention of killing us. Do not worry sister, she will not succeed. We are all uninjured, despite her best efforts.

I cannot say when I will return, but I promise that it will happen.

Please be polite to Bob.

Your loving sister Luna

Celestia set the letter down with a worried look on her face. A thousand questions flashed through her mind, foremost among them, was could she help her sister? Also, who was Bob?

“You know I have the strangest sense of deja vu here,” a stallion’s voice said suddenly, causing Celestia to jump in surprise.

“Who said that?” Celestia exclaimed, looking around wildly. “Show yourself,” she added as calmly as she could when she saw nopony.

“Hmmm....sure, just as long you don’t attack me.”[A black coated earth pony with a night blue flowing magical mane and tail walked out of nowhere and sat in front of the alicorn. “Better?” he asked.

“Who - no, what are you?” Celestia asked cautiously as she aimed her horn at the strange stallion.

“I am a creature of the void, a being neither alive or dead.” he simply replied. “And point that horn of yours somewhere else. I’m not here to cause trouble, just to deliver that message and answer some questions.”

“A name, then,” Celestia demanded harshly.

“Bob.” The stallion gave a sly smile as he said it.

Celestia’s eyes widened slightly and she raised her head, no longer threatening to gore him. “Then you know where my sister is,” she said.

“Yes, she’s in a realm shaped as a labyrinth that is being controlled by the being Katastrophis.”

“Is my sister truly unharmed? Or did she conceal the truth?”

“As far as I could tell, she was partly telling the truth, but I could’ve read her wrong, after all she isn’t like my Luna.”

“‘Your’ Luna?” the alicorn asked. “What do you mean?”

“In another Equestria I made a pact with another Luna and together we merged into a new being. A being you know as Nightmare Moon.”

Celestia tensed. “Then give me a reason why I should not destroy you right now,” she growled.

“I can give you several. First, destroying this form will send me back to the void to reform again, accomplishing nothing. Second, I was only used as a power source for the other Luna, all actions committed as Nightmare Moon were done by Luna’s heart, not mine. And third, it’s also really hard to ‘destroy’ me, and even though I would enjoy our little fight, I simply don’t have the time.”

Celestia snorted in irritation. “And where are you rushing off to then?” she snarled.

“To Thomas’s Earth and then another Equestria to deliver the same message to others.” The stallion then got up and began to walk towards a wall. He stopped before he reached the wall and turned back towards Celestia. “I assume you have no further questions?”

Celestia sighed. “If you return to my sister, tell her to be careful. Please.”

“If you’re willing to pay for my services then I could do it once I’m done with my other messages, otherwise don’t hold your breath.”

“Pay,” Celestia repeated. “You want me to pay for a message that is not even two words long? This is why I outlawed any dealings with you void-dwellers,” she muttered angrily.

“Traveling through the void ain’t as easy as it used to be, and if I don’t have a good reason to enter another realm I normally can’t access it. I’m not powerful enough. These ‘deals’ allow safe access for me and keeps the universe in order.” He replied strictly to the princess. “So I’m taking it as a no?”

Celestia’s horn glowed and she vanished.

“Yep, that’s a no.” Bob walked through the wall, leaving the room empty once again.

Arcade,

I know this will seem weird, but I need you to relay a message for me. I won’t be back when I said I would be. You need to tell the heads of the Families that the next meeting will have to wait. Same goes for the King, Julie and whoever the NCR rep is. Just tell them some bullshit about there being more than a hundred raiders or something.

In truth, I’ve been abducted. A crazy bitch is forcing me and a few others to run through a series of deathtraps. We haven’t lost anyone yet, but there’s no telling how long that’ll last. We’re doing the best we can, though, and I should be back in a few days.

Be careful,

Thomas.

Arcade looked up from the piece of paper. “And how did you...” He trailed off as he realised that the figure that had given him the letter was nowhere to be seen. The man stood there for a minute before shrugging and walking out of his tent.

Dear Twilight

Hey, uhm... You know I’m never great with letters or anything but, I kind of need to send you this. I’ve... Been kidnapped, to say the least. I want you to know that I’m safe, Aeron is here and there’s a few others... Luna and Celestia are here, but, they’re kind of from different dimensions. It’s super confusing to explain, and I don’t want to drag this on too long. Whatever you have been doing - worrying, crying, anything - I just want you to know that I’m alive and safe. I’ll be home as soon as possible and we can get back on track for... Telling your family about us. I love you very much and I can’t wait to see you again.

PS: Make sure you hide The Paddle. I think I left it out when I left...

~Your love, Dash

Twilight looked over the letter, over and over again, constantly checking for more. Frustrated, she slammed it onto her desk. “Uhg... Rainbow... When you get back, I’m going to teach you how to write a letter to those you love!”

“Would you like me to fill in some of the details?” The voice of the stallion who gave her the letter spoke.

“Yes, that’d be greatly appreciated...” Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples with her hooves.

“Well, like she said she’s been kidnapped to a realm belonging to a being name Kata who’s well versed in the art of Chaos. She going through a huge ever changing labyrinth full of many deadly rooms,” Ueirn explained.

“So, there’s a goddess like Discord running around and torturing my marefriend?” Twilight growled angrily.

“I wouldn’t call her a goddess per say, but yes, yes she is.”

“And all she has is Aeron and a few other inter-dimensional versions of my mentors?”

”And other versions of human’s too. There’s another version of Aeron’s persona who tries to bring order to the world by using chaotic tactics. There’s also two other humans too, but you wouldn’t know anything about them,” Ueirn answered.

“Uhg, this is infuriating. I have been trying my damndest to find my marefriend, just to find out that some woman named Kata is deciding it is the best time to remove her from my life? Oh, boy, she’s lucky I’m not there right now!” Twilight slammed her hooves on the desk, leaving two imprints in it.

“Technically you are. There’s another version of you there too,” Ueirn stated factually.

“Oh, perfect. So, Dash is probably making love to her, too?” Twilight deadpanned.

“I have no idea, I don’t keep track on mortal’s pleasure interest,” Ueirn replied.

“What kind of messenger are you? You're supposed to relay information!” Twilight barked at the voice of the stallion.

“I’m not all knowing, and I can’t read others mind. What I see is what I know,’ the stallion replied in a chastising tone. “And I’d watch that tone of yours, mortal.”

“I... I’m sorry.” Twilight sighed, “I’ve just been stressing out and now all I get is this letter which tells me next to nothing.”

“Be grateful it wasn’t anything worse, like a body part. Now, any more questions?”

“I... No. I just want you to tell her to be as safe as possible and that I’ll make sure she’s treated well when she gets back... And that I love her.” Twilight smiled softly, it fading quickly.

“If you’re willing to pay a price for that message, then yes I will.”

“What price?” Twilight asked, raising a brow.

“Either offering a small portion of your life energy, or a single deed of my choosing that you will have to carry out at one moment in your life.”

“And what does the deed consist of?”

“Something in the range of your ability, and it could be anything. You’ll find out when the time to pay comes,” he simply replied.

“If it’s something like kill myself in the midst of an exam, then that’s going to be stupid.” Twilight deadpanned once more.

“Yes it would, and I would gain nothing from something like that, so you won’t have to worry about that,” Ueirn stated

“Well, I guess it seems reasonable to take that choice. Likewise it can be something too bad.” Twilight shrugged.

“Then please hold out a hoof,” the stallion kindly requested.

Twilight held out her hoof, letting it hang in the air a moment before stiffening it. She then felt an invisible object stab through her whole hoof, causing mild pain. As the pain resided a black symbol glowed on the spot she felt the stab.

“There, now would you like to write a letter or do a verbal message?”[

“Just... Tell her I love her and that I’ll make preparations with my parents when she gets back... Along with telling her to be safe. Please.” Twilight smiled softly with feign happiness.

“Will do. Farewell Twilight Sparkle, I will come back for my payment both you and Dash owe me.”

Luna was walking down a hallway that held many of stained-glass windows telling many of Equestria’s famous legends. She stopped in front of two that only Celestia and some ponies would understand. One described the events with Scarlet and the battle against Cadbury. The window showed Scarlet’s figure standing between Appleloosa and a roaring green storm of fire, no form of fear were on the woman’s face, only determination.

The other window had another human figure, but looking very different and a lot older. Celestia was also there standing next to the human along with what looks like a human foal (a child from what Celestia told her). The three of them were all standing looking at each other, the child with a warm cheerful face, Celestia with her signature compassionnet look, and the old man whose face was tired but still held lots of strength.

“I always wonder what sort of adventure your sister had out in the Wastes. It must’ve been life changing for her,” a familiar stallion’s voice spoke.

Luna’s eyes narrowed as she turned around to see Ueirn standing not far behind her. “What are you doing here?” She asked in a low threatening voice. “I thought I sent you back to where you belong.”

“You did, but like I said Luna, you can never get rid of me, no matter how far you push me away.”

Luna growled as she called forth her claymore out from the shadows. “Then I think you should head back before I make you regret showing your face to me again.” She held her weapon at Ueirn, but this time Ueirn showed no fear of the blade.

“If you do that my dear Luna, you’ll never know what happened to your dear sister.”

Luna’s eyes widened then instantly narrowed. “What did you do you foul beast?”

“After you sent me back to the void, I decided to find out where that portal led to -”

“I thought you couldn’t reopen that portal!”

“That’s true, but that doesn't mean I couldn’t trace it to where it lead. All dimensional travel has to make their way through the void, and in doing so they leave a noticeable trail. I was able to follow this trail to the realm your sister is being held.”

“Is she safe?” Luna condserdly asked.

“For now, the human Scarlet is with her along with a few others.”

Luna was surprised to hear that, but it did answer a few question for her. “Why is my sister being held there?” She asked.

“A being calling herself Kata is holding her and the others for her entertainment. I can sense she is well versed in the art of chaos, and not the sort of ‘chaos’ Discord likes to use.”

“Is there a way for me to rescue them?”

“Yes, but I already know you wouldn’t do it.”

“Merging together again,” Luna said with much distaste in her tone.

“Exactly, all you can do now is hope and pray that your sister will come back safely. Unless you want to become Nightmare Moon again to attempt to rescue her?” The dark glare Luna gave was all the answer he need. “So be it, I’ll be on my way then, but before I go I do have a letter from your sister for you and a thought for you to consider. I did this for you Luna, to help you, to show you that I’m not who you claim me to be. I might be a lifeless creature of the void, but that doesn’t mean I’m senseless.” Uerin took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the pain I gave you, it wasn’t my intended purpose. I should’ve seen the darkness in your heart and known that my power would bring that out. I let my goal blind my eyes and mind, and for that I’m truly regretful .”

Ueirn placed a single hoof in front of him and a piece of paper came out of it. “Farwell Luna, I have one more deed to carry out, but I will never be far from you.” Ueirn walked into a wall and disappeared.

Luna waited, holding her blade ready, but Ueirn never came back. She focused on the paper and levitated it up to a readable view.

To my dear sister Luna,

I know seeing Ueirn again will put pain in your heart, but it was the only way I could send a message to you telling you that I’m okay. By now Uerin told you much of what happen to me, of the predicament I was dragged into. I can’t help but remember the time we first fought Discord, and many times we fell into his little traps. Of course this being of chaos is much eviler than Discord, and dare I say more powerful. But I’ve faced far worse, and as long I can still hold my spear I will fight my way out of this.

At least I have company to help keep my mind at ease. Scarlet is with me along other humans and ponies from different dimensions of both Earth and Equestria. By that I mean a different version of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and even you are here with me. There are three other humans here, one named Thomas who is the same Courier as Scarlet is, and the other two, Ethan and Aeron, both are same, but exactly the opposite. Ethan reminds me of our trainer Gordon, he acts foolhardy but his mind is wise and his heart is noble, and Aeron....he reminds me of you Luna, of your struggle with your dark actions.

For now I’m working on trying to keep the peace between everyone, though it’s quite difficult. Scarlet keeps thinking of blowing Ethan’s head off because he keeping trying to dig into her past, and you know well of how she reacts to something like that.

I’ll end this letter here. I hope we will see each other soon.

Your loving sister, Tia.

Swamp of Damned Souls

View Online

Swamp of Damned Souls

Finally that little voidling pest is gone, Kata exclaimed with glee once Bob left the room.

“Yes, I’m sure that having another invisible voice around was really cramping your over-inflated ego,” Ethan replied.

No, I’m just furious that little vermin interfered with my last puzzle. I oughta have blasted that voidling back to where he belongs, but it would’ve been a waste of my powers.

“Implying that they’re limited,” Twilight said to herself with a slight frown.

I might be limited in my void magic, but my chaos magic is not, little pony.

“Yes, but that just tells us that you’re not very flexible,” Twilight replied

I don’t need to be flexible against foes I have nothing to worry about.

“Really now, that sounds fairly cocky for someone too cowardly to show her face,” Twilight said with a smirk.

A few seconds later and purple a circle formed around Twilight casting a dome around her. Then her mind screamed in pain as if millions of shards of glass were being dragged across her body, inside and out. A loud shriek emerged from her mouth and Twilight’s body shuddered closing her eyes for a moment before the scream abruptly shut off and Twilight’s eyes snapped open. Her horn became engulfed in a brilliant purple glow and the shield bulged as if something had hit the side of it.

“Odd construction, assuredly chaos magic, however it appears to be most unlike any that Discord taught me of,” Twilight said in a completely detached voice.

That’s because not one form of chaos magic is the same as another. It’s chaos remember? Now be a good little pony and don’t question my abilities. The circle disappeared and Twilight was released from her imprisonment, though pain still danced throughout her mind.

“That was excruciatingly painful,” she said, her voice still rather detached.

Celestia ran up to Twilight with a worried expression, checking for any injuries on her body.

“On the bright side it gave me a far greater knowledge about how her magic works,” Twilight continued, her voice sounding slightly less detached.

“I see no marks of any kind. That was just a powerful illusion type spell,” Celestia stated, though not very pleased with that discovery.

“Yes, a very pain-” Twilight replied before as her voice cracked and she winced in pain. “-ful one at that,” she agreed.

“We should not aggravate her,” Luna said cautiously. “We’ve yet to see her truly angry.”

“Agreed,” Scarlet muttered. “Who knows what else she could do.”

“Please don’t ask that Katherine,” Ethan told her.

Oh don’t worry Ethan, if you do what I say you won’t ever have to worry about what else I can do. Now... a doorway opened on a wall near them. ...your next challenge awaits.

“Goddesses, I had to create four separate personalities and split the pain evenly throughout them to withstand that,” Twilight grumbled as she looked towards the door wearily.

“It shouldn’t last long. While illusion magical attacks can be devastating to one’s mind, they fade away quickly if the person survives.” Celestia told the young alicorn.

“Tell that to those Diamond Dogs Trixie managed to trick into killing each other,” Thomas whispered to Luna, who nodded.

“You’ve told me that before Tia,” Twilight said with a slightly odd grin on her face.

“Well...that’s good then.” Celestia tapered off.

“Yeah, it was one of those early lessons when I frantically scribbled down every word you said and then underlined the important ones so that I could go back later and re-read them all...” Twilight trailed off, apparently lost in a memory of some sort.

“She’ll be fine in a minute,” Ethan said with a sigh. “It’s a side effect of the spell she was using, makes her go kind of loopy.”

“As long she doesn’t talk how about how addicting her Celestia is again, I’m fine with that,” Scarlet stated as she walked towards the door, taking a peek of what was in store for them. A frown appeared on her brow. “I hope no one is afraid of the dark,” she said as she reached to activate the torch function on her Pip-boy. “Because it’s pitch black in here.”

Luna poked her head through, her superior vision letting her see what others couldn’t. “Hmm. Looks like... a swamp.”

“Oh God. Luna please tell me that it’s not the kind of swamp that makes your brain start to scream STAY OUT just by looking at it, you know the kind with little voodoo dolls hung up in the trees and a serious sense of foreboding lingering around every curve so that when you turn a corner you could swear that something is watching you,” Ethan said erratically as his eyes widened. “The kind where mist obscures everything in sight and the sun is never in the right place, and your pipboy map is always wrong and your HUD starts to shake randomly and change color...” Ethan rambled.

“We get it Vault Boy,” Scarlet droned out, rolling her eyes. “Maybe you should sit this one out if you’re so afraid.”

“Fuck that noise, I’m just asking for a clarification is all,” Ethan replied, calming slightly.

“I can’t see anything but trees,” Luna added.

“Okay then, it could just be a perfectly normal swamp in the middle of a chaos goddess’s personal torture shop, yeah, that could be it,” Ethan said, muttering the last part.

Scarlet couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle while slowly shaking her head.

“Well if it is the swamp from Point Lookout then I’d recommend being careful where you step. The ground is a literal quagmire and one wrong step means that you’ll be spending ten minutes trying to get your entire leg out of the muck. Also if you spot any Punga Fruit grab it, I can make us some good food with those things,” Ethan told them. “Oh, and watch out for swamp folk, they’re giant mutated rednecks who have fun fucking their children to death with baseball bats and take four shots of some of my best guns to kill.”

“I highly doubt that she will be so merciful,” Luna muttered.

“Lights on, we’re gonna need it,” Thomas said as he adjusted his Pip-Boy’s brightness.

Celestia closed her eyes and forces on a spell. A small ball of light appeared next to her, casting a fairly decent glow all around it.

“Um guys, just a question for you, but if you’re in the dark, what do you aim for if you’re trying to kill something?” Ethan asked.

“Center of mass, easiest target,” Thomas replied.

“Sorry, I phrased that wrong. I mean if you’re hunting something in the dark, and you’re well adjusted to the dark, what is the one sure fire sign that your prey is nearby, especially if they’re intelligent and have naturally weak night sight?” Ethan asked.

“You seek the brightest area,” Luna muttered. “My sister’s forces made that mistake often during the Nightmare Wars.”

“Yeah, light, it’s going to be a double edged sword if we use it,” He told them

“Don’t worry, I have that figured out.” Celestia said. Several more balls of light were floating around her and she was still making more.

Hahahahahha, no. Kata laughed as one by one the lights flashed out, all but the one directly above Celestia’s head.

A frown formed on Celestia face, but she didn’t say anything.

“That small of an amount of light isn’t really worth it, it’ll just make it harder to adjust to the darkness,” Ethan said.

“I was making them so that they could fly out wandering this swap, trying to throw off our movement.” She stated. She closed her eyes and the ball of light increased in glow.

“Yes, and now we’re a giant target for anything that Kata has hunting us, and we won’t be able to see if it goes out,” Ethan said.

“One second Ethan, changing the waveform of light isn't easy.” The ball of light flickered and changed through several colors until it was a dark blue orb of light. Fitting well into the darkness, but still gave the group enough light to see a several feet in a 360 degree area. “There,” she stated with a smile.

“Better,” Ethan said with a nod. “Although I’m going to stand a little ways away from the center just to be safe,” he added.

“I could really use my Riot Gear right about now,” Thomas grumbled.

“Yeah, but that helmet gets so fucking sweaty, I’d prefer not to drown without my head touching the water first thanks,” Ethan joked, obviously attempting to break his own inner tension about the coming ordeal.

“It’s funny that this is the same person who got swallowed by a giant lizard, without being phased. But at the knowledge that’s he about to enter a single swamp makes his knees begin to buckle.” Scarlet jested.

“Yeah, but once you’ve been strapped to a log spread eagle style while a giant, mutated and inbred hick walks towards you with a ceremonial dagger ready to cut your heart out; while all around you his relatives chant for the ‘god of the swamp’ to accept your soul as an offering, your perspective changes a little,” Ethan replied. “Plus I got a rather large chunk of my brain cut out in the swamp...”

“And I got shot in the head and got my whole brain removed Vault Boy. Point is you’re letting your fear control you when it shouldn’t. I didn’t let walking back into the Cloud hinder my abilities or mind.”

“It’ll pass once we actually get in there and things start up. I’m just letting off a little steam at the moment,” Ethan replied. “And trying not to remember that conversation with what may or may not have been my father’s ghost...” he added.

“Ghost aren’t real, only memories,” Scarlet said.

“That’s not true, there are such things as ghosts Scarlet,” Twilight piped up, apparently recovered from her earlier ordeal. “In fact, the better someone is remembered the more likely the chance of a ghost being formed. The memories act as an anchor, keeping a part of them from getting all the way to the afterlife,” Twilight paused for a second before continuing. “Although in most cases those types of ghosts go on to become guardian spirits rather than anything malignant.”

“Whenever I saw any type of ghost, it was a hallucinogenic gas that was flowing through the vents of a vault. All the while it was showing my father or people I used to know.” Aeron stated simply. Ethan’s eye twitched slightly at the mention of that particular adventure but Twilight spoke before he could.

“Anyways we should probably get going into, wait what are we doing?” Twilight asked.

“Going into a dark, haunted, swamp full of God only knows how many monsters,” Ethan supplied.

“Sounds fun,” Twilight said with a sigh.

“It sounds like an adventure to me,” Aeron chuckled, unholstering his pistol. Twilight gave him the stink-eye, but instead of responding simply led the way through the doorway. The rest of the group followed and they found themselves standing on a tiny island located a little bit above the swamp. It was dotted with a selection of scraggly trees and wisps of mist clouded the air. A beam of light in the distance that slowly rotated across them before continuing on its way revealed the location of a lighthouse in the distance.

Upon entering, Aeron took a good inhale and then burst into a coughing fit. “Jesus Christ... That smells awful.”

“It’s rotting vegetation along with animal matter,” Ethan replied simply.

“With this much, there’s probably a buildup of methane by now.” Aeron coughed, gagging slightly.

“Oh right, thanks for reminding me, if anyone sees a large yellow bubble pop up out of the swamp don’t shoot it. It will explode,” Ethan said.

“Yeah, that’s the last thing we need. Although, it may be useful if we encounter anything too big.” Aeron noted. Unless Kata has other uses for it... He quickly thought to himself.

“So no fireballs...yet.” Scarlet muttered to herself as she stayed close to Celestia.

Your goal is the lighthouse, I’ve put a rather dangerous pet of mine in here to keep you company. Have fun, Kata said mockingly

“That’s at least a ten miles walk,” Scarlet stated as she judge the distance with a quick little trig calculation in her head.

“Probably, but it’s going to feel like fifteen to twenty miles when traveling through the swamp,” Ethan replied darkly.

“Then we better get moving,” Celestia said.

“Agreed, from here on out no talking unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Ethan commanded.

The party began to move down the slope of the island in the direction of the distant lighthouse. As they moved, the unnerving sense of being watched suddenly overtook the party. They arrived at the shore of the tiny island and Scarlet pointed in the direction of the next one they should head for. Thomas nodded and they had their first encounter with the swamp’s disgusting, brackish water.

Cold and slimy water swished into Scarlet’s boots, making her feet move sluggishly, but it didn’t phase the woman. She continue looking for a clear path to the lighthouse while keeping an eye out for anything out of place. Celestia kept up with everyone, doing her best to stay in the mid center of the group. Her main focus was on keeping her modified magelight from going out, thereby taking away their main source of light, not caring of the mud that was clinging to her hooves and coat.

Ethan’s boots sank into the mud as he walked, propelled downwards by the weight of his armor, but he moved along at almost the same pace as the others nonetheless. He knew how to pull out his legs quickly before the swamp could engulf him in its cold grasp. Twilight decided to avoid the swampy water entirely and simply began to fly alongside the group.

Thomas grimaced as the icy, brackish water seeped into his boots. He was glad that there was nothing like this within a hundred miles of Vegas, he did not like what he was doing. He gritted his teeth and made sure to tread lightly, not wanting to slip and fall. The water felt disgusting against his skin, he didn’t want to imagine what it tasted like. Luna similarly trod with caution, her eyes darting around to make sure they weren’t snuck up on.

Aeron watched as the others moved through the muck. Sighing, he knelt down and tied his boots tightly, stepping into the murky water. The mud quickly grabbed Aeron’s feet; to agitate him further, he could feel water sliding down his boots. Slowly and smoothly, he wiggled his boots out of the mud and eventually started to walk with the others. Dash simply hovered next to Aeron keeping up with the group.

Once they reached the far shore they squelched their way out of the water and onto dry land once more. They began to continue forwards, towards the direction of the distant light when suddenly Scarlet stopped walking and raised her right hand, clenching it into a fist. She then pointed a single finger up and to her right towards a bush. Her left hand was slowly making its way to grab her gladius.

Ethan nodded and silently drew his sword as well, holding it at the ready, while Celestia and Luna readied their weapons. As one, they all approached the bush; the sense of being watching increased with every step they took to an almost unbearable level. Ethan nodded to Celestia, whose spear had greater range than the rest of them. Celestia jabbed her spear through the bush making a small scorch hole; however, it didn’t seem she hit anything but the bush itself.

The feeling of being watched diminished slightly, but it was still heavily present in the back of their minds. Ethan growled in annoyance.

“There’s no point in being quiet, whatever it is obviously knows exactly where we are,” he muttered.

“Then we had better quicken our pace,” Celestia add in for conformation.

“Luna, did you see anything?” Twilight asked the other alicorn.

“No, but I certainly sensed it,” Luna said darkly as she cast her eyes around the dimly lit island.

“You know, I prefered it when it was a Russian guy doing the hunting,” Ethan muttered. “All this smoke and mirrors bullshit is starting to really piss me off.”

“Give me a desert environment any day of the week,” Thomas muttered unhappily as he shook his boot. To his annoyance none of the slime and muck came off. “Can’t hide in a desert.

“Underground it could,” Celestia pointed out.

“Yeah, but at least then you know where to look,” he replied, looking around carefully. “All these damn trees...”

“And the damn mist,” Ethan added with a slight growl. “Come on, we should get moving.”

The group set off down the slight slope of the island, heading for its shore, Scarlet leading the way with Ethan a few steps behind her. The trees creaked and moaned, while the wind stood still like a mountain. Small popping noises could be heard coming from the water as gases escaped the underground to the freedom of the air. However, the sense that something was following them never left the group. As they approached the shore Celestia’s light suddenly flickered rapidly, casting the group into semi darkness for several seconds before she regained control of the spell. A puzzled look crossed the white alicorn’s face.

“Something was interfering with my spell, and it didn’t feel like it was Kata’s doing,” she stated.

“I felt it too, it felt... slimy,” Twilight said.

“Whatever that was, it wasn’t natural,” Luna added quietly. “It felt like it was... twisted. Wrong.”

“Yes, and in pain, horrible pain,” Twilight murmured.

“No point dwelling on it,” Aeron stated politely. “Let’s continue on.”

They entered the water once more, their passage creating loud splashing as they pushed on. “How far did you say that lighthouse was?” Thomas asked.

“Normally ten miles, but in these conditions it’s more like twenty,” Ethan told him.

“It feels like twenty miles, but still is ten miles. We’re halfway there.” Scarlet clarified.

“Then why the hell does it look smaller?” Thomas pointed out.

Scarlet looked up and saw what the other Courier said was true. “But...it was just larger just a second ago?” Scarlet place a hand to her forehead.

“Kata’s doing probably,” Celestia said.

“Illusions. Woooo!” Aeron sang, waving his hands in the air for a moment, laughing softly.

“The hell is so fucking funny?” Twilight asked him in an annoyed voice.

“You,” Aeron smiled. “Just lighten up. We’ve all faced worse. A lighthouse looking smaller isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Depends on how you look at it. If that Lighthouse is an illusion, then there’s no way we can get to it. We’ll be chasing a rainbow.” Scarlet stated.

“We can always turn around,” Aeron suggested.

“Personally I’d like to get out of the water,” Ethan said dryly.

“Up to Captain Thomas,” Aeron waved over to Thomas. “He is the leader.”

“She said the lighthouse. Even if she moves the goal to the other side of this swamp when we’re ten feet from it, it’s our only option,” he stated. “Wouldn’t be surprised if the door to where we were is gone.”

“Sounds like her alright,” Ethan agreed. “Enough talking, let’s just get out of this muck before one of us gets pulled under.”

They continued in silence until they reached the next island and began to walk up its slightly angled slope. The sense of being watched increased until it felt like something was mentally shouting at them, begging for their attention. The closer they got to the center of island the more powerful the feeling got.

Suddenly the group stumbled into a complexing sight. Rotten, torn body parts, both from humans and ponies, were spread across the whole area. Several had clearly been alicorns although for some reason a large majority of those had been red and black. There were also a wide variety of equipment scattered around the clearing, all of it severely damaged. A bloated unicorn’s corpse along with that of a human took center stage along with the body of a small, familiar robot.

Scarlet pointed at the small robot. “That looks like a mini securitron, Muggy?”

“She killed Muggy?” Thomas asked, sounding like he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“You bastard!” Ethan shouted.

“Muggy?” Luna asked, the name confusing her.

“Yeah, who the hell is Muggy and why is he important?” Aeron added to Luna’s question.

“He’s just a robot from the Big Empty meant as an insult to RobCo. He was obsessed with cleaning coffee mugs,” Scarlet informed.

“Yeah, kinda felt bad for the little guy,” Thomas added.

“I’ve seen people attach themselves to weird things. Guns, walls, cybernetics, people... But, this takes the cake.” Aeron shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, it’s just strange to see him out here, he normally never leaves the Sink,” Scarlet said.

“The Si You know what. Nevermind.” Aeron gave up, not questioning it further.

“What I’m most worried about are those,” Luna interjected, a hoof pointed at the corpses. “I’ve never seen ponies like that before.”

“Their colour palette is awful. It’s like a four year old made them,” Aeron stared at the corpses with distaste.

“This screams trap,” Ethan said.

“You don’t say,” Scarlet deadpanned. “Let’s find another way.”

“Ethan’s a great guinea pig. Let him walk through the piles of dead bodies.” Aeron suggested.

“As much as I enjoy taking shots for people I don’t feel like going through it if we can find another way around,” Ethan retorted

“As you wish. Any other suggestions, then?” Aeron looked to the others for responses.

“Skirt the shoreline, avoid this place entirely,” Twilight replied.

“Good idea,” Scarlet turned around, but the shore line was replaced by a tree tall wall that stretched neverending, east to west. “Fuck.”

“Wow. I think we’re losing our minds,” Dash said as she looked at the same wall.

“Been there, done that, got boring,” Ethan joked.

Thomas rolled his eyes and led the group, doing his best to avoid stepping on anything. “You might wanna not breathe,” he warned.

“I might as well go first, Luna please be on standby to pump me full of radiation when whatever the fuck this thing is tries to kill me,” Ethan said as he looked at the blood-drenched clearing. Luna nodded and readied her horn.

Ethan took a step forward into the clearing, and when nothing immediately tried to kill him he continued, surveying the wreckage as he went. A large trashed minigun lay among a pile of destroyed limbs and broken power armour. As he continued onwards he saw a small piece of armour bearing an unfamiliar logo, the letters N and 7, printed in white next to a small red triangle. For some reason there was no corpse nor bloodstains to go with it. Ethan shrugged, it looked like whoever had worn that armour had gotten away. That’s when Ethan noticed a pair of aviator sunglasses on the ground in front of him.

“Luna, be ready for it please,” he called over his shoulder, then he bent down to pick up the sunglasses. The man suddenly felt a cold spectral hand press against his chest. A pair of red lights appeared at his eye level, and an unearthly scream crashed against both his mind and his ears. Then it vanished.

He wasn’t the only one to suffer the mind-rending roar. The rest of the group fell to their knees, clutching at their heads in synchronised agony. “What the fuck was that?” Thomas asked loudly, looking around once he recovered.

“I don’t know, but I do know that that hurt like a bitch,” Ethan moaned, he’d fallen to his knees in the bloody clearing. “It’s fucking with us,” he growled. “This pile of bodies, it’s here for effect, to scare us.”

“Well, it’s not like we’ve seen dead, torn up, bodies before,” Scarlet muttered.

“Celestia, Luna, have you ever seen anything like that?” Twilight murmured. “Because it slightly reminded me of a banshee, but, not really...”

Celestia shook her head. “The only thing that I can think of that it was a weak voidling, but I didn’t sense any void magic.”

“It may have been a wraith, but they prefer the frozen north, where the Crystal Empire was,” Luna added.

“Hmm... it sounds more like a wraith than a voidling, but still not right,” Twilight said as she furrowed her brow. “The energy was definitely spectral in origin, meaning that we’re dealing with a spirit or ghost of some kind.”

“Ghosts do not consume flesh, nor display bodies,” Luna explained. “As for what kind of spirit, there is no telling. Wraith, lich, phantom, spectre, but none of them make their homes in swamps.”

Small doubts formed in Celestia’s mind, but she didn’t voice her opinion on the matter yet.

“Gah, I just don’t know anything about swamps, other than to avoid kelpies and the average water demons,” Twilight said with an annoyed scowl, then she turned to Celestia. “Can you think of anything Celestia? You’re the oldest one here after all.”

Celestia ponder the thought for a few more seconds before replying, “A spectral golem, made out of the memories of Kata’s past victims. That is the only other thing that comes to my mind. It would explain the sorrow and pain we are feeling.”

“Such a vile creation,” Luna muttered, using a little magic to help clear a path through the mangled bodies. “Something only the most twisted of beings could even think of doing.”

“Well, it certainly has terrible taste in art,” Ethan said, butting into the conversation. “Although oddly good choice in shades,” he mused as he put the aviators into one of his pockets.

“Any way to kill it?” Scarlet asked as she kept an eye out.

“Most shades, or creatures of the undead are adversely affected by salt, holy water, and occasionally silver or cold iron,” Twilight listed.

“Divine magic attacks also work too,” Celestia added. “However, my spear mostly does fire type attacks.”

“And my magic operates on the very things that sustain an undead,” Luna added.

“Oh good, so we’re up shit creek without a paddle,” Ethan muttered.

“And we don’t even have a boat,” Thomas added under his breath.

“Hell, at this point I’d settle for a life preserver,” Ethan added.

“Are we going to perform an exorcism or something? Because we don’t have a priest to do so, you know,” Aeron chuckled, mildly nervous, and with a slight shake to his voice.

“Where’s Daniel when you need him,” Scarlet added with a less frightened chuckle of her own.

“I don’t know, but I’ll pretend to be a priest if we need to,” Ethan replied with a matching chuckle.

“I think the Burned Man will disagree with you, Vault Boy.” Scarlet pointed out.

“Yeah, you don’t want to piss that guy off,” Thomas added.

“Honestly he’s one of the few men I’m actually afraid of. Well him and Ulysses anyways,” Ethan said with a slight shrug.

“Well, let’s get through here as quickly as possible. I’d rather not deal with whatever there is in here,” Aeron stated quickly.

“You look scared Aeron,” Twilight said, giving him a raised eyebrow.

Aeron raised a brow to her. “My dear Twilight, whatever gave you that idea?”

“Dilated pupils, an unusually nervous voice, and your breathing is elevated,” the alicorn replied simply.

“Okay, I may or may not have an overly heightened fear of high-pitched screaming,” Aeron responded simply.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, I personally can’t stand broken radios,” Thomas replied.

“It... Gets in the way of being normal, to say the least,” Aeron replied to Thomas.

“Normal? Us?” Ethan asked in disbelief.

“I consider myself normal, educated and somewhat better than most in the Wasteland. It’s usually a bunch of savage men and women fighting over what town to rape next,” He answered.

“After everything we’ve all been through, we ain’t normal, Aeron. We’re like centaurs. Those fuckers have two heads,” Thomas added.

“Plus I’ve lost my chance of being ‘normal’ at the Divide,” Scarlet softly added. “The problem of trying to be normal is that there’s no set standard for it, it’s different in everyone’s eyes.”

“It’s not that... But, as long as it doesn’t persist, everything will be fine,” Aeron took in slow, deep, breaths as he responded to them.

“We should get moving, the longer we stand around in this fucking swamp the harder it’ll be to get out of. Trust me, I know from experience,” Ethan said with a scowl.

“You’re not the only one, Ethan,” Aeron stated with a placid look crossing his face.

“I swear, if Obadiah suddenly shows up I’m going to punch him in the fucking face,” Ethan muttered.

“Ethan, he’s not a bad man,” Twilight argued.

“Fuck that, the man’s an evil asshole,” Ethan muttered. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. He kind of helped Dash get home. Sure, he had to cut open a few people to do so...” Aeron tapped his chin for a moment then stopped the statement at that.

“Oi, vault dwellers, are we going or not?” Scarlet asked impatiently.

“Keep your panties on Kathrine, we’re coming,” Ethan said as inspected the now clear pathway through the bloody meadow. “Good work with this path Luna, now let’s get going.”

Scarlet gave the man a low glare, curling one of her hands into a fist, but letting it go shortly after it formed. Ethan quirked an eyebrow at her but shrugged and began down the cleared path with Twilight hovering behind him.

“Who the fuck carries around one of those?” Thomas asked, pointing at the twisted metal frame of what had once been a Winchester P94.

“I’m not sure, but hey, I have a civil war repeating rifle that I use to hunt ghouls sometimes,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

“Repeaters are practical, something like that -- wait, what? Civil war? What civil war?” Thomas asked, turning to the other man in confusion.

“The original American Civil War, the North vs the South. Fighting over slavery, freedom, and all that other jazz that we deal with today in the Wasteland but without the raiders and exploding collars,” Ethan replied with a slight shrug. “Of course, back then the slaves were all black so at least slavery has become more open minded out in the Wastes,” he added with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Black people. Black people,” Thomas repeated dumbfounded.

“Yep, it’s an awful part of history that was part of the country’s founding and is mostly forgotten about these days when people think of the old world,” Ethan replied.

“Why black people? What the fuck did they do?” Thomas asked angrily.

“Well apparently they were originally caught by the warlords of Africa and sold to the Europeans who then used them as slave labor. Eventually they didn’t need to bargain with the warlords because they had a big enough breeding supply of their own, after that... well it took about two hundred years for someone to realize that it was wrong. The old world wasn’t as perfect as some seem to think,” Ethan replied.

Thomas just fumed. “All right,” he said. “All right.” He took a deep breath. “All right,” he said a third time. “When I get back, I’m getting Oliver to put on Lanius’s armour just so I can beat the shit outta him.”

“Oliver, you mean that guy that my wife threw off the dam with a bungee cord attached to his leg?” Ethan asked curiously. “Also why are you so mad at him?”

“That fuck took all the credit for almost everything I did. He spent four years on his ass doing nothing in Hoover Dam, and I did more in a month than the NCR could in that time.”

“That is the problem with politicians, they like to do that,” Luna mused.

“That’s why I usually kill them,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Or do what I did to Blueblood,” he added with a smirk.

“He’s a dick, but he’s smart,” Thomas replied.

“Yes, he revived an old pegasus military tactic that had been out of practice for centuries,” Luna explained.

“Mine must have been different, he was an absolute idiot. Of course she’s not a problem anymore,” Ethan said with another smirk.

“Oh god what did you do?” Thomas asked, his anger over learning about what his ancestors had likely gone through fading rapidly.

“Well, he kidnapped me, and then tortured me which was essentially treason because I’m a foreign ambassador. Then Sparky busted in, took down the guards, and we took him to Celestia. He challenged me to a duel to try and stave off the charges, I embarrassed him in the dueling arena in front of all of Canterlot, and then Celestia took his house, his name, his wealth, and his balls. She replaced all of his equipment and made him into a mare,” Ethan listed off with a chuckle.

Luna stared at him. “I knew the punishment for unicorn criminals was dehorning them, but...”

“Luna, your sister now completely terrifies me,” Thomas stated calmly.

“Honestly I still think that she should’ve killed him,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“There’s no gain in killing somepony without giving them a second chance,” Celestia pointed out. “Otherwise, there’ll be a lot more dead than living.”

“Yeah, Ethan you can’t just kill every noble in Canterlot who annoys you. Mostly because we’d run out in about a day and then there’d be nopony left to run things,” Twilight agreed with a shake of her head.

“Plus I don’t see the similarities with the Blueblood I’ve met,” Scarlet stated. “The one I met was at least decent to me.”

“Well like I said, mine wasn’t very smart,” Ethan said with a smirk. “I’m pretty sure that the only reason that Sunny didn’t kill him was because she’s all that she has left of an old lover. It’s turned out for the best though from what I’ve heard, she’s apparently settled down and started a family.”

“That’s nice for her,” Celestia said with little interest.

“She started a family. She started a family. Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with that?” Thomas asked, looking around.

“No, it feels... strange to me too. Not unexpected, given the circumstances, but...” Luna trailed off, not knowing what to say. Or think.

“I try and avoid thinking about it,” Ethan agreed. “At least Sunny was thorough.”

During their conversation they’d managed to get through the clearing and were on their way down the slope towards the waterline. The blue light from Celestia’s magelight flickered again as they neared the murky water, this time more intensely than before.

Celestia brought the magelight back under control, but a concerned look crossed her face. “It’s getting hard to keep it going. Whatever is affecting my spell, it’s getting stronger the closer we get to the Lighthouse.”

“Great,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Well we might as well press on,” she added.

“You can all fly, and we’re stuck walking,” Thomas grumbled.

“Missing your wings, Captain?” Ethan asked with a small smile as he stepped into the water.

“Kind of.”

“And what about you Ethan, do you miss having a phallic object on your head?” Aeron asked sarcastically, clearly having recovered from his previous freakout.

“Oh earth pony humour, so sophisticated,” Luna replied just as sarcastically.

“Kind of yeah, I’m sure that Cassie would’ve enjoyed it,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Oh and watch out the water gets deeper to the right,” he added.

“Whatever Vault Boy,” Scarlet droned out. “A little water won-” In a flash Scarlet’s right leg went lower than her left causing her to lose her balance and fall face first into the water.

“You were saying?” Ethan asked as he reached over and grabbed her by the collar of her duster and pulled her back to her feet. “Oh, and you look good wet Katherine,” He added.

Scarlet just gave a bitter look at the man and shoved his hand away, muttering words under her breath as she continued on walking.

“It really accentuates your curves,” Ethan added with a slight chuckle.

“Shut up Vault Boy,” Scarlet growled out.

“Maybe you should listen to me next time I give you good advice,” Ethan suggested.

“Maybe I would if I ever heard one from you,” Scarlet replied.

“I’d suggest opening your ears then Kathrine,” the man said with a smirk.

“I have, all I keep hearing is you making fun of a dead woman,” the woman bitterly said.

“Twilight, can you shut him up? Permanently?” Luna asked politely.

“Trust me Luna, I’ve tried, nothing sticks,” Twilight said with a long suffering scowl. “Not even throwing him off Canterlot, although the results were pretty funny,” she added with a slight grin.

“Do I even want to know why you would do such a thing?” Celestia asked.

“He talked too much while I was studying an extremely advanced spell of ancient power and wouldn’t be quiet, so I threw him off the mountain,” Twilight replied simply. “It was very therapeutic.”

“You should’ve just made his vocal box not be able to vibrate anymore,” Scarlet pointed out. “I’ll like to see his ‘healing’ fix that.”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Twilight asked with a small smirk.

“Fun? So you both find it funny to cause pain to others now? I thought you were taught better than that.” Scarlet scowled

“Hardly,” Twilight scoffed, “I cast a spell to make him bounce all the way down,” she explained.

“Ah, so you just help draw out the pain instead. You’ll make a great torturer, the Legion could’ve used you, of course I doubt you could even improve crucifixion.” Scarlet babbled out, not carrying of what she was saying.

“The spell also made him immune to fall damage and scratches,” Twilight informed the redhead with an unamused roll of her eyes. “As for improving crucifixion, well you could use magic to slow down the rate that the victim died but keep the pain, almost indefinitely actually,” Twilight added thoughtfully.

“Like I said, you would make a great Legionnaire for Caesar.” Scarlet reinforced with the hard ‘c’ for Caesar.

“Except for the whole vagina thing,” Ethan joked.

“Why? With her powers, she could have just replaced it and torture to her delight.”

“I don’t know why you seem to think that I’m evil, but it’s rather annoying,” Twilight told her dryly.

“Then stop making it sound like you’re Kata, who likes to cause harm to others just for the fun of it.” Scarlet replied back in the same tone.

Before Twilight could respond they reached the next island and an earsplitting screech erupted above them, Celestia’s magelight flickered out.The group then could feel a soft chilly wind starting to gently blow through them, bringing in the stench of the dead with it.

“That’s not good,” Ethan muttered.

“I agree,” Celestia said as she tried to cast another magelight, but with no avail.

“Not good, not good, not good,” Aeron murmured to himself quietly.

Luna gazed around, using her advanced night vision in an attempt to see the mysterious spirit who had been chasing them. Unfortunately she found nothing. “I can’t find it,” Luna said, an edge of both nervousness and tension colored her voice.

The wind picked up speed and was soon blowing with enough force to make their hair begin to move restlessly. The effect was especially bad for the the three alicorns whose manes began to swirl wildly, astral locks or not. As the wind increased so did the high pitched screaming, until it was almost deafening. Then out of the darkness a pair of red orbs appeared and a moment later an all but invisible arm reached out and slammed into Celestia who was knocked off of her hooves and into the mud.

Scarlet immediately rushed over to Celestia, not caring about the dangers. An ominous laugh rang out through the clearing, somehow worse than the screaming, which then continued as if it had never stopped.

Scarlet ignored the noise as she knelt by Celestia, who bore no visible marks, and was just really dirty as her most of her coat was covered in mud. “You okay?” She asked the alicorn.

“Yeah, it was just a hard, unexpected, shove on my back,” Celestia replied as she worked to get herself up and out of the mud.

“Good,” Scarlet stated. She stood back up and started to look around the area. “I have a question, if this creature is ‘spectral’ then it’s mostly composed of magic. Right?”

“Not exactly, more tortured soul than magic,” Twilight informed her as a purple light emitted from her horn while she scanned the area with her robotic eye. “There’s a fundamental difference between the two.”

“Depends on how it came to be,” Celestia added. “Sometimes it is the soul of a being or the echo of the soul which was the magic that the being could use.”

Another scream echoed through the clearing and suddenly Ethan was knocked off his feet by the invisible hand as well. He rolled to his feet with a growl of frustration.

“Point is, magic is somehow connected in holding this thing together?” Scarlet asked again.

“Yes, if Kata somehow created this ‘ghost’, magic is probably holding it together,” Celestia answered. Her eyes then widened in why Scarlet was asking her question. “You think tainted magic can disassemble it.”

“No, Kata would have planned for that. There’s every chance any magic we throw at it will simply empower it,” Luna said. “It would certainly explain those dead alicorns we came across earlier.”

“It’s a good thing my magic isn’t like yours.” Scarlet pointed out.

“No offense Scarlet, but at the moment I don’t feel confident doing anything to make it stronger, Although I would kill for some salt,” Twilight told the woman.

“Look we don’t have much of a choice. It can kill us if it wants, and the Lighthouse is not getting closer the further we walk towards it.” Scarlet replied back.

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Thomas pointed out. “No telling if we can pull it off, though. We run. Run like the entire fucking Legion is after you.”

“I’ll substitute the Fucking Enclave, but I can get behind that plan,” Ethan said with a nod as he wiped mud from his chin.

“Run? Like hell. Where would we run to? Deeper into it’s lair, or to the never approaching Lighthouse?” Scarlet asked.

“We cannot turn back, we cannot fight it,” Luna explained. “Thomas is right, escape is our only option. No matter how unlikely.”

“That’s not an option for me. I’ll fight till I can breath no more.” Scarlet said in a determined tone.

“You want to fight something we can’t win against, be my guest. But I know when to walk away,” Thomas stated. “At least if we run we might get away.”

“That never ends well for the runner, it just exposes your backs.”

*smack*

Ethan reacted quickly to the developing argument and the pommel of his sword smacked into the base of Scarlet’s skull. Scarlet’s body fell violently forwards, but the woman braced herself up and gave a deadly glare at Ethan.

“Nice try ‘Brutus’.” She said in a low growled.

“I don’t see any daggers, and you haven’t been treating me like a friend, besides I’m not killing you,” Ethan told her. “I’m attempting to keep you from dying out here in this God forsaken swamp that you seem so keen to commit suicide in.”

“How the hell have you stayed alive if you don’t know when to back down?” Thomas asked loudly. “It’s like you want to die.”

The woman didn’t answer, Celestia then walked up to her. “Scarlet, we can’t fight this thing, we’re not equipped to do so.”

“We need earplugs for whatever the heck it is,” Dash stated simply.

Celestia continued on. “While I do agree running won't give us a better option, fighting it is not a valid option either. Even if you had a way to ‘kill’ it how are you going to hit it?”

“You got magical bullets?” Thomas asked sarcastically. Luna decided not mention how easy it would have been to put a minor enchantment on something so small.

“We don’t have the time, or the-” Twilight was cut off by another shrill scream before she continued “-focus to enchant your guns,” Twilight grunted, her ears ringing.

“Uhg...” Aeron covered his ears, pressing his palms against them forcefully. “Make this shit stop...”

“We can argue later,” Thomas pointed out. “The longer we stand here, the more time we’re giving that thing to finish us off! Follow me!” He took off at a sprint, holding his left arm out awkwardly to light the way.

“Umm Captain, it’s this way actually,” Ethan said with a slight nod in another direction. “The light’s reflecting oddly off of the fog.”

Luna looked in the direction Thomas had run off in, and then the direction Ethan was pointing in. “Of course,” she growled. “She wouldn’t make it that easy, would she?”

“Luna, go get your fuckbuddy before he gets himself lost please,” Ethan said with a slight sigh.

“Look,” she said harshly, pointing in the direction Thomas had gone in. “There is a lighthouse in that direction,” she pointed out, “and another over there.” She moved her hoof to point at the other lighthouse.

“Well fuck my life,” Ethan groaned.

“So, y’all still want to run?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes actually,” Twilight said as another ear splitting howl tore through the air. “More so with every passing second in fact.”

“We run or we die!” Thomas yelled. Luna took that as a message to follow, and she cantered after him.

Twilight and Ethan exchanged a long glance before Ethan said. “Fuck it, he’s the leader, let’s go!” Twilight sighed and nodded. Then as one they took off after Thomas and Luna at a run.

“No point staying here, Dash.” Aeron looked to the mare for a moment and began running after the rest of them.

“Uhg. So much shit to deal with.” Dash grunted as she flew off after Aeron.

Celestia and Scarlet were left. “So, what are you going to do Scarlet? Fight an impossible fight, or run to fight again?” Celestia asked.

“I’ve fought in many impossible battles Celestia, and have the scars to prove it. You want to run, fine, nothing stopping you. But I will still continued to fight when I still see a chance to win.”

Celestia let out a disheartened sigh. “You know, the Old Man once told me, if you keep on fighting with no purpose, then what are you truly fighting for? Survival? If so, then why fight to the death?” Scarlet didn’t answer. Celestia turned toward the path everyone headed down to and left Scarlet alone.

“So Captain, I really hope that you made the right choice with which lighthouse we’re aiming for,” Ethan told Thomas as he ran beside the man.

“Yeah, me too,” Thomas agreed as he jumped over a puddle. “If I’m gonna die, it’s gonna be from sexual exhaustion.” Luna shot him a disapproving glare.

“Personally I’ve always wanted to go out having an orgy with four identical twins and being crushed by a super mutant behemoth’s foot mid orgasm,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Sexual fantasies aside, I think we made the right choice.” Luna gestured with her head towards the approaching building.

“Thank Faust,” Twilight groaned. “This fog is hell for my feathers,” she added in a slightly strained undertone trying to distract herself from the growing pain in her brain from both the strain of the spell that she’d used earlier and the creature’s screams.

The slightly muddy form of Celestia suddenly swooped down from the sky and landed next to the runners, Scarlet was noticeably absent.

“Oh great, we’re one gun short,” Thomas muttered. “Stubborn bitch.”

“Don’t disrespect the dead, it’s bad luck, especially in a place like this,” Twilight said with a sigh at the thought.

“Don’t give up hope so easy. She might be stubborn, but not stupid,” Celestia said. “I have faith she will rejoin us.”

“I should hope so,” Luna replied.

“Yes, given the form of that monster, if she does die then her soul will probably be sucked into it and become a part of it...” Twilight added with a wince as one of the veins on her forehead twitched.

“Let us not think of such thoughts at the moment. We have a lighthouse to get to,” Celestia stated.

“I think we’re getting closer!” Thomas yelled triumphantly.

“You idiot!” Luna yelled back. “Now you’ve given her reason to take it away from us!”

She’s right, you know. Kata began to laugh, but cut herself off. What!? Why isn’t it working!?

“Having performance issues Inviscunt? It’s a common problem for boys your age I suppose,” Ethan asked her sarcastically.

Shut up! she screeched. I will make this work! The lighthouse flickered like one of the Sierra Madre’s holograms, but remained solid. I said WORK!

Having problems, dear sister? a teenage male voice asked, the words loaded with malice and contempt.

“Oh great now there’s two of them,” Thomas muttered.

“Don’t complain when the nice gentleman is saving our collective asses, Captain!” Ethan scolded Thomas.

So look who finally decided to show his face. Kata’s voice was sour and low, full of great anger.

Well as much fun as watching you toy with people is, sister dearest, I think it’s time that I put a stop to your defilement of MY Labyrinth, the other voice said with clear anger evident within.

It was no longer your Labyrinth the moment I killed mother and father and cast you into the void.

Did you truly think that would stop me? the other voice laughed. You never were that intelligent.

“I’m liking him more and more,” Ethan told the others as they pressed onwards towards the lighthouse.

Oh you think you’re so clever, daddy’s little boy. So what if you prevent me from moving the lighthouse. You can’t open the door way, you’re forbidden to do so. And there’s no way they will be able to open it either. So once they’re all dead, I’m coming after you and finish what I started.

Forbidden? Yes, but there are ways around father’s rules, the voice stated.

Like what? The only way to open the door is to kill the banshee.

Who says the door has to be opened for them to get inside? he asked. Without any other warning, the wall to the left of the lighthouse’s door exploded inwards.

WHAT!? Kata, for the first time, was at a loss for words. But you - but - ARGH! You’ll pay for this!

Technically I already have. And I’m going to make sure that you feel so much MORE than I ever did before I kill you, my dear little sister.

“Into the hole!” Thomas yelled, changing course.

As the group got closer, the thing that had been after them started screaming again. This time, though, it did more than force them to their knees. The banshee appeared in front of them, thousand of faces formed it’s body, all of them in a never-ending state of fear. The screams increased in volume, making the group’s minds beg for relief.

“Make it stop!” Thomas pleaded, seeing images of the wreckage of the Divide, hours after its destruction, swim across his vision.

“No! No!” Luna screamed desperately, trying to suppress the horrible sensation and flavours of raw flesh in her mouth.

“Not again, not again, not again!” Ethan exclaimed as he saw MacCready’s dead eyes staring up at him.

“No, Tia, please, don’t, I-” Twilight began but broke off screaming in pain as the vein on her forehead throbbed even larger.

“G-get off of me! Please, A-Aeron, help!” Dash screamed for Aeron as the images of raiders grabbing her flooded her mind; relentless in their attempts to violate her.

“Dad! No, what are you doing?! DAD!” Aeron curled up into a ball as the images of his hallucinations from Point Lookout flooded his mind, showing him his horrid mistakes.

“No... I am sorry I wasn’t quick enough... I...” Celestia whimpered in pain as a dreadful memory was forced back to her mind.

A green fireball flew out and slammed into the monster, the screams turning to screeches of pain. “Hey fucktard, over here!” a familiar woman’s voice yelled out. The group was freed from the spell they were put under, and Celestia instantly turned towards the voice. Scarlet was standing on the clearing not far from the group, a dark green fiery aura dancing around her body.

“What are y’all waiting for? RUN!” She yelled out to the group, flinging another fireball at the banshee which had already begun to recover from the original assault.

Thomas pushed himself up clumsily and forced his way to the hole. Ethan was on his heels with Twilight clutched in his arms. Luna stumbled after them, tears pouring down her face, with Celestia was not far behind. Dash and Aeron brought up the rear.

The banshee let off another unholy scream aimed towards the woman. The woman flinched as she felt her eardrums being violently raped by the sound. A certain memory began to crawl into her mind, but she looked right at the banshee. “So what? I already relive that moment every night.” She flung another fireball, causing the banshee to be disoriented once more before making a run towards the hole.

The banshee let another screech of pain and Scarlet was able to get through the hole. Immediately after she crossed, the wall closed itself up and the air dropped to a peaceful silence.

Brother, when I get you I will make you wish you left well enough alone! You hear me!?

Odd, I had something similar in mind for you, except much, much, MUCH worse, the brother’s voice said contemptuously.

The group was taking in deep breaths, recovering from their experience with the banshee, expect for Scarlet who was intrigued about the new voice she heard.

“I’m guessing he’s the brother she’s so afraid of?” she asked.

“Y-yeah,” Thomas replied shakily.

My brother’s unexpected interference notwithstanding, did I mention that the swamp is only the first half of this challenge? Kata asked the group with an evil chuckle.

“Oh great, another three-parter?” Scarlet questioned.

“What is it this time?” Ethan groaned.

You’re about to find out, Kata said gleefully.

The floor vanished, and all eight of them fell into darkness without even a chance to scream.

Mind Games: Past Troubles

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Past Troubles

Scarlet let off a soft groan as she opened her eyes. “Great, this again,” she muttered. She pushed herself up and began to check her body. Luckily nothing was broken, and the only pain she was feeling was from the soreness of her back. She then scanned of her surrounding. She soon found her bag and rifle lying not far from her, and a short path that immediately turned to the right.

Scarlet got up, grabbed her things and looked down the turn. It went a bit longer than before, but she could now see multiple paths that were branching from the hallway.

‘Great, another maze, oh joy,’ she thought to herself. Scarlet armed herself with Maria and began to wander aimlessly through the maze.

Minutes flew by and Scarlet was still ‘lost’. Everything looked the same, the walls, the ceiling, the spacing of the troches, and the floor. If it was someone else in here, they would start losing their mind, but Scarlet wouldn’t let her mind fall that easily after what she’d been through.

Her eyes scanned the area in front of her as she maneuvered through the small maze, occasionally taking small glances behind her to make sure nothing was following her.

She peeked to her Pip-boy, checking the compass to see if it picked up on anything. So far nothing, meaning that there was nothing for yards around her or Kata was screwing with her device. She stuck with a simple pattern of making right turns at every turn, so far she hadn’t reach any dead ends.

She then heard the subtle sound of footsteps and her body reactively got low as she braced herself against the wall, carefully placing down her both her bag and rifle on the ground. The footsteps got louder and a shadow was faintly visible. At the right moment, she sprang up and around the corner facing towards the approaching target. Her heart skipped a beat.

Ethan was not what you would call a happy camper at the moment. He’d just been forced to re-live his biggest failure and somehow lost track of Twilight who had appeared to be in critical condition. He’d woken up several minutes ago with a pounding headache and now he was making his way through a grey walled maze. speaking of the walls, they seemed to be laughing at him as he moved along, each one looking exactly like the last. Even worse, time lost all meaning to him as he walked.

Ethan’s eyes scanned the surrounding area as he walked through the twists and turns. Occasionally turning his eyes towards the ceiling, making sure that there was nothing waiting to pounce on him from above. Things had been quiet to- he cut himself before he could finish that thought, no reason to invite Kata to throw a curveball at him by uttering that cliché line.

He had his sword at the ready, the red blade shining dully in the half darkness of the maze. Then his ears quirked as they picked up the noise of someone's footsteps around the corner. He paused, how could he go about this? Kata was definitely going to try something, he just didn’t know what.

“Aww fuck it, I’ll figure it out once it happens,” He muttered quietly with a shrug before he stepped around the corner, sword at the ready. The sight before him shocked him, standing before him, gun at the ready was a familiar red haired woman armed with an almost as familiar slightly glowing pistol in her hand.

“Cassie!” He exclaimed excitedly.

“Katherine,” Jason exclaimed happily. The blond hair man lowered his spear at the sight of Scarlet, but Scarlet still held her pistol at his face. Her pistol wavered unsteadily in her hands as she couldn’t believe who was standing in front of her.

Jason let off an chuckle. “What’s the matter Kathy? Aren’t you glad to see me?” He began to walk forwards.

“Stay back!” Scarlet ordered fiercely as she gestured her gun at him. “I will shoot.”

Jason stopped, a doubtful smirk formed on his lips. “Come Katherine, this isn’t the time to play jokes here.” He began to walk forwards again.

A shot rang out and air passed by Jason’s face.

“I am not joking,” Scarlet frimley stated.

“Ethan?” Cassandra asked in slight confusion, A Light Shining in the Darkness never moving.

“What’s wrong Cassie? It’s just me,” the man replied with a grin as he took a step forwards.

“Ethan, I’ve been here for twenty minutes and I’m already having trouble telling what’s real or not. You’re going to stand right there until I’m sure that you’re my husband. Or I’ll shoot you!” She commanded.

“Come on Cassie, it’s me we’re talking about here,” Ethan replied with a small smirk. “Even if you did shoot me it wouldn’t do much good,”

A bullet whizzed by Ethan’s face.

“I said stay put!” Cassandra growled.

Shock embedded Jason face. “Katherine what’s-”

“Shut up!” Scarlet ordered. “And don’t call me that name; you have no right to call me that.”

“No I won’t shut up,” the tribal retorted. “Something is wrong with you when you’re pointing a gun at your husband.”

“You are not Jason. Jason is dead, buried under a tomb of rubble. You are just some contraption of Kata’s.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I think you need to lay off of the catnip Kitty, they’re starting to get to your head.” The tribal jested as he began to walk forward again.

Another shot rang out and Jason clutched his left shoulder blade as a bullet embedded into it. “In the Dweller’s name, what the fuck Katherine!?” Jason looked towards the woman, but was only met with eyes full of rage.

“Cassie did you take a blow to the head? Or has Kata hurt you?” Ethan asked with concern, obviously worried about his wife’s failure to hit him.

“Ethan, shut, up,” Cassandra ordered him.

“Cassie this is me, I’ll only shut up when I’m dead, or when my mouth is occupied with something more interesting,” Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“I don’t trust anything in here Ethan, not even you!” Cassandra growled. “You might just be some kind of mind game that this bitch is playing on me!”

“Cassie, if Kata’s strong enough to fool you into thinking that there’s something that can look as amazing as me then we’ve got a bigger problem than any of us realized,” Ethan told her as he began to walk forwards again.

This time Cassandra’s shot didn’t miss, and buried itself in Ethan’s left shoulder. “I said stay back!” Cassandra insisted. Ethan looked down at his shoulder for a second before rolling his eyes.

“Fine, I know how to convince you that it’s me,” Ethan said, he took several quick steps forward and before the woman could react he pulled her into a deep kiss.

Scarlet’s eyes widened in utter disgust and she pushed herself away from Jason. This time she pulled up her pistol and aimed it at his head. But the tribal simply grabbed hold of one of her wrist, twisting it, making that arm let go of the pistol. With his other hand he yanked the pistol from her free hand and let go of his hold of her. He then took several paces away from Scarlet and held the pistol down towards the ground.

“Okay something is clearly wrong here. Let’s talk this out, without you trying to kill me.” The man told Scarlet.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” the woman replied as she pulled out her gladius.

Jason gave her an ‘are you serious’ look as he placed her pistol into one of his pockets and pulled out his spear. “Come on Kathy, you know this won’t end up well. I’ve taught you most of your moves.”

“You’ll be surprised what I’ve learned over the years.” Scarlet took a defensive stance and began to strafe to her right.

To Ethan’s considerable surprise Cassandra shoved him away and aimed the pistol at his head. Ethan, who for his part was slightly annoyed with his wife at this point, grabbed her wrist and used his other hand to wrest the pistol out of her hand. Then he took a step back and put the pistol into his pocket.

“What’s wrong Cassie? Too much tongue?” Ethan asked in confusion.

“I told you to stay back!” Cassandra replied, drawing her machete gladius that she used on occasion.

“Cassie, we both know that this will end with your cute ass on the ground, and as much as I’m sure that it would appreciate it, I don’t think that the ground deserves that,” Ethan told her with a chuckle as he readied his sword.

“You’re not Ethan, you may talk like him, and sound like him, and hell you might even kiss like him. But you’re not him and I’m going to gut you like a fish for impersonating him!” Cassandra replied angrily as she brought her sword up and began to strafe him.

Jason rolled his eyes as he copied Scarlet’s cliché move but in the opposite direction. He held his spear with just one hand, something Scarlet thought was strange. Normally he would start off holding the spear with two hands instead of one. But it only gave her more reason to prove that he wasn’t the real Jason.

The two circled each other for a few seconds before Scarlet made her move, running up and delivering an upward slash at him. The man easily parried it away, but made no retaliation strike of his own, only moving a few paces back.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that Katherine,” the man teased.

The woman scowled and several more lashed were sent out at the man, all them meeting the same fate as her first one. Then Scarlet felt a hard punch of the spear’s hard wooden shaft against her shoulder as the man blurred by her.

“Come on Katherine, that was easily dodgeable. Where are those sharp cat like eyes of yours?” The tribal teased, further annoying Scarlet.

Ethan rolled his eyes and followed his wife’s movement although he went in the opposite direction. His eyes flashed as they circled each other slowly, and carefully waiting for Cassandra to make the first move, like always.

She fulfilled his expectations moments later as she charged him, swinging her sword upwards at him. With a contemptuous twist of his wrist Ethan parried the blade and went back to waiting.

“Come on Cassie, this is me we’re talking about. You should’ve tried something more interesting,” He told her with a chuckle.

Cassandra growled and unleashed a series of slashes at Ethan, all of which were blocked as easily as the first one. Then he grew tired of waiting and sent the flat of his sword crashing into her shoulder as he swept by her.

“What did I tell you Cassie?” Ethan asked with a small smirk as she turned to look at him angrily. “We’re not even on the same level, and you know that,” he added. Cassandra let out an angry snarl.

“Look Katherine, I don’t want to hurt you,” Jason calmly stated. “But if we keep this up, I will have to knock you down on your ass for your safety, and not in the way you like it.” Jason blew away several more of Scarlet attacks, who was now almost in an uncontrollable narrow sighted rage. Jason used these for his advantage as he gave a false lead for her, making it look like he was lowering his defense. Scarlet took this opportunity without question, and shortly found herself being forced down, flat on her back.

The tip of Jason’s spear reached to the base of her neck. “Now, can we pleased talk this out?”

A dark green aura emitted off of Scarlet’s body. “No.” She thrust her hand forwards creating a powerful kinetic push, sending Jason’s whole body slamming into the nearest wall.

“Oww...,” he muttered out.

“So, we’re going with the option where I knock you on your ass,” Ethan said as he blocked several more of her slashes, each one seeming more angry and uncontrolled then the last. Then he saw a break in her guard, he swiftly launched through it and sent Cassandra falling to the floor, landing flat on her ass.

Ethan’s sword tip rested against her neck and she stiffened slightly. “There, I won. Can we make out now?” Ethan asked her.

Before he could react Cassandra reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew a small concussion grenade, which she then threw into his face. The man was thrown backwards into the nearest wall.

“Now that was dirty Cassie,” Ethan told her, ignoring the slight ticking sound coming from his wrist. What would he care about a little radiation for? Although the fact that there was radiation at all was rather odd, for the moment he put it out of his mind and refocused on the fight. “ So, are we done with the foreplay yet?”

“Well that was new,” Jason said as he straightened his backside. “I guess this changes the playing field a little.”

“Like I said, I’ve learned a few new things over the years.” Scarlet said as she focused, a fireball appearing in the palm of her hand. “Now, show me the way out of here.”

“And what makes you think I know that? I’m just as clueless as you,” the tribal stated. He took a big step to the side to avoid a fireball from hitting him.

“Because you’re one of Kata’s creatures. And if you won’t help, then I will just kill you.”

Jason looked at the spot where the fireball hit the wall.

“You’re not Ethan so I don’t give a flying fuck!” The woman exclaimed. “Now you’re going to tell me how to get out of here or I’m going to kill you!”

“Cassie, firstly I’m not one of Kata’s little minions so I have no idea how to get out of here, and secondly what the hell makes you think that a minion would know how to get out in the first place?” He asked her. Cassandra pulled an incendiary grenade out of her pocket and threw it at him. Ethan easily stepped around the resulting blast of fire which scarred the wall to the side of him. The clicking on his Pip-boy increased but yet again he paid it no mind.

“I don’t know, but you’re helping me find my husband or leave this horrible place right now!” Cassandra replied angrily. Ethan looked at the blast mark and then shrugged before he quickly walked forwards towards the angry redhead. Then to her surprise he pulled her into a bearhug. She struggled wildly against his grip and for some reason the ticking of his pipboy increased.

“Cassie... why are you ticking?” Ethan asked as he held her close.

“Katherin, you feel hotter than normal.” Jason weirdly stated as he held her in the bearhug.

Scarlet focused on her tainted magic, letting her aura expand in size. Eventually it forced Jason to let go and she then shot out one of her hands, sending him away again with another kinetic push.

“Tainted magic gives off radiation. So that feeling of warmth is actually your body slowly cooking itself.”

Jason face’s bore the expression that he was in deep thought, his eye dancing back and forth as if he was reading an invisible book. Then he said something unexpected. “You’re not Cassie are you?”

Suddenly Ethan’s eyes widened, “You’re not Cassie, are you?” He asked the redhead in front of him.

The woman’s eyes narrowed at him. “Stop trying to play games with me. You mocked my dead husband enough already. Prepare to die.” A green fireball appeared in the woman’s hand and she prepared to throw it at him.

“Oh for Fuck’s sake,” Ethan muttered “KATHERINE WAKE UP YOU BITCH, I’M ETHAN!” Ethan suddenly shouted at her.

The woman’s eyes sudden shot open and she stopped in the middle of her throw. She blinked a couple of times. “Ethan?” Scarlet’s confused voice spoke out.

“Yeah, we’ve been duped Katherine,” Ethan replied with a scowl.

The fireball died in Scarlet’s hand and she lowered it back to her side, then she closed her eyes and rubbed them. Once she reopened them, Jason was gone, and Ethan was standing in his place. “Bloody hell, it was one of Kata’s illusion.”

“Yes, yes it was,” Ethan replied, a sad look crossed his face and he let out a long, tired, sigh.

Scarlet place a hand to the temple of her forehead, letting an equally tired sigh. However, something click into her mind. “You kissed me didn’t you...”

“I was kissing my wife, but yes,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Any good?” He asked, not really looking for confirmation so much as continuing the conversation before it could slip into an awkward silence.

Scarlet stuck out her tongue and let her leather covered hand wiped it down. “Fukin kross,” she said as her hand work on scraping her tongue clean.

Ethan shook his head. “Kathrine, I’ll have you know that my kisses are one of God’s few true gifts to the Wasteland,” he informed her with a chuckle.

“Gift? I felt as if was forced to eat rotten meat!”

“Well that’s just because you have the libedo of a five year old eunuch,” Ethan shot back.

Scarlet gave the man a warning glare. “I’m sorry if I don’t see sex the same way as you. But how about you grow up with no father figure or a mother who cared more about getting laid then taking care of the daughter she never planned on having.”

“Katherine, I don’t think that this is the time or the place for this discussion, how about we just start searching for the others, okay?” Ethan asked, changing the subject in a surprisingly tactful, for Ethan at least, way.

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said so far Vault Boy.” Scarlet got up and grabbed her discarded gear.

“Oh, and this gun is yours isn’t it?” Ethan asked before he tossed her Maria, the safety was on.

Scarlet caught it, and did a few checks on the gun before holstering it to her left side. They began to walk through the maze, a tense silence fell between the two.

“So, back there, I knocked your ass to the ground didn’t I?” He asked her with a smirk.

“I remember pushing you hard into the wall too.”

“Yeah, but that’s cheating in a duel or a sparring match,’ Ethan replied with a chuckle.

“Depends on what set of rules you’re using. For me, survive by any means necessary is the only rule I play by.”

“Oh just admit that I won, Katherine,” Ethan joked, nudging her slightly in the ribs.

Scarlet didn’t reply at first. “Be grateful I wasn’t armed with my sniper rifle,” she said after a few minutes.

“So you could hit me with the back end?” Ethan asked.

“No, so I could send a fifty cal. through your head.”

“Y’know Katherine, this is the first time that I’ve heard an older man tell someone to lighten up, but seriously, lighten up,” Ethan told her.

“Lighten up? You can seriously say that after what you’ve put me through!?” She angrily question. “You’ve keep picking at my past even though I’ve told you to stop. You think you’re helping, but you’re only making it worse!”

“Well then tell me how to help!” Ethan exclaimed. “I help people, I can’t not help people, it’s part of who I am!”

“THAT’S THE PROBLEM, YOU CAN’T HELP!” Scarlet snapped. “YOU DON’T HAVE THE POWER TO EVEN FIX MY PROBLEM!”

“Oh, and why the fuck not?” Ethan asked exasperatedly. “I’ve already helped one Courier with their Divide problems, I don’t see why you’d be any different!” He exclaimed.

“BECAUSE IT’S NOT YOUR FORGIVENESS I’M SEEKING!” She proclaimed. She then started to take in deep, raspy, breaths, letting the truth hang in the air.

“Forgiveness?” Ethan asked in a quiet voice. “Who are you seeking forgiveness from?”

Scarlet’s rhythm of breathing slowed as she lowered her head. “Jason...I’m seeking his...” her voice was quiet now. She placed a hand to her face, pinching her nose trying to fight back the memories that were starting to creep back to her mind.

Ethan remained silent for a minute before he spoke again. “Katherine, what happened between you two?” He asked in a quiet voice. “I mean, from what you’ve said you loved him, but you also killed him...”

Scarlet remained silent for awhile. “I made a deal with Legion when the they started to attack the Divide. If I help them to kick the NCR out, they’d leave the Divide alone. However, they ended up backstabbing me and tricked me into killing Jason,” was all that she gave.

“God damned Legion bastards,” Ethan muttered under his breath. “I’m sorry Katherine, truly,and completely, and the worst thing is that I know it won’t help you.

“I don’t need your pity, and you got that bloody right. There’s nothing you can do to help, so drop it and stop calling me by a dead woman’s name,” Scarlet harshly insisted.

“Okay, I’ll stop, Scar,” Ethan said, with a depressed sigh.

“Thank you,” the woman said while letting out a short quick sigh. “Now, Ethan, let’s find our way back to the others.”

“Yeah, let’s. I have a goddess of chaos to kill and then I owe you a drink,” Ethan growled.

“Yeah, you owe me a lot of whiskeys,” Scarlet agreed.

“Sounds like a plan to me, I know that I’ll be needing a few after this adventure,” Ethan replied with a growl. For once Scarlet gave him a smile and nodded in agreement. The two then walked down the hallway, with less tension between them than ever before.

Mind Games: Legion of Nightmares

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Legion of Nightmares

Luna pushed herself up, and looked around. To her dismay and relief, she was alone. She wiped away at her tear-stained face and sighed. It was one thing to live with the memories, but being forced to relive them was another thing entirely. Still, sitting here on her tail would do nothing. All around her was nothing but empty space, so she levitated her flail before picking a random direction and started walking.

She was quickly rewarded when she came across one of the group. As she approached though, she realised that something was very wrong.

Thomas sat on the ground, one of his legs out in front of him. He was not wearing his duster, but a collection of torn cloth that served to preserve his modesty. His Pip-Boy was damaged, the glass screen riddled with thousands of cracks. The leg he held out was bent at an angle that was certainly not natural, and his complexion was pale and sickly. He looked half-starved, and his face was covered in bruises, one of his eyes swollen shut. He glared at Luna as she got closer.

“Oh. It’s you,” he spat. “Come to finish it?” he asked harshly before breaking into a coughing fit.

Thomas was quick on his feet. He looked around and was met with nothing but darkness. “Well great,” he muttered. As he looked around, he heard the sounds of someone sniffling to his left. He quickly headed in that direction, determined to find the source.

Thomas was quick to find it, but that didn’t mean he liked what he saw. “Luna?” he whispered. “What happened?”

The broken mare flinched at his voice. Her mane was devoid of magic, and her tail had been cut off, leaving not even a single strand of hair. Her horn had been snapped off at the base, and one of her wings had been crudely hacked off. What was possibly the worst was what had been done to her cutie mark. On both sides of her flank was a mass of scar tissue, each one where the crescent moon once rested. Someone had gone and skinned her, likely while she was still conscious, skinned her and taken her mark from her.

She lay there, trying to make herself smaller. “Forgive me, master,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean to cry.”

“Thomas, what happened? Who did this to you?”

The man laughed before coughing again. “What happened? Oh that’s real funny, Nightmare.”

“N-Nightmare?” Luna asked, taking a step back in shock.

“Yeah, Nightmare Moon. That’s who you are.”

Luna couldn’t believe her ears. That demon had been vanquished, destroyed by the Elements of Harmony years ago. She looked at her chest, and was horrified at the armour she saw covering it. “No,” she whispered. It was identical to - no, it was the very same armour that Nightmare Moon wore. And now she was wearing it.

“M-master? Why are you calling me that?”

Luna shuffled back a bit as he stepped forwards. “Please don’t hit me,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry Legate.”

Thomas’s mind ground to a complete halt at that last word. “L-Legate!?” he choked out.

Luna didn’t seem to have heard him. “Please Legate Mercurius, I’m sorry.”

Thomas reached out with a hand but stopped. He was no longer wearing his Saturnite Fist but a Ballistic Fist, just like Caesar’s Praetorian Guard. His eyes travelled up his arm, which was now encased in heavy gauge, dirty-gold steel. On his chest he wore a stylized breastplate, just like the one he had taken from Lanius’s corpse. His boots, his gloves, even the cloak he hadn’t noticed before, it was all identical to everything once worn by the Monster of the East.

The armour wasn’t the only thing that was the same as Nightmare Moon. He coat had turned a deep violet, and her mane and tail were now more like the deep void between worlds than a clear night sky. Even her cutie mark had reverted to how it had been after the demon had taken control of her body.

“I’m not falling for this again,” Thomas warned her.

“W-what?” Luna asked, still in shock,

“Yeah, last time you broke my damn leg,” the man replied angrily, gesturing at his damaged limb. “What is it this time, witch? My arm? My neck? No, that’d be merciful, wouldn’t it?”

Luna couldn’t, didn’t want to believe what she was hearing. What had happened? Why was Thomas so badly injured? She looked around the cave, only to find that it had changed. The walls, instead of rough rock, were now made up of smooth stone bricks, and the direction she had come in had iron bars blocking the way.

“You gonna pump me full of radiation instead?” Thomas asked savagely. “You wanna watch me throw up my own intestines and die? Is that it!?”

“Please, Legate, don’t be mad at me,” Luna sobbed. “I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

Thomas could only gape at her. This wasn’t Luna. The Luna he knew was a forceful, headstrong mare who would do everything she could to hurt someone if they hurt her. This mare was a broken wreck, a mere shadow. What had happened!?

“Don’t call me that,” he growled.

“O-of course, Master,” the broken mare stammered.

“Don’t call me that either!” he shouted, making the distressed pony in front of him push herself further away.

“Forgive me! Please!” Luna screamed, tears pouring down her face. A glance was enough to tell the man that this was far from the first time she had bawled her eyes out. “I didn’t mean to anger you, I promise!”

“Just stop!” Thomas shouted. “Please,” he said through gritted teeth, forcing his volume down.

Luna nodded and got to her hooves shakily. Thomas glanced and inwardly sighed when he saw that they were relatively undamaged. His confusion only grew, though, when she turned around and knelt down on her front legs.

“What the hell are you - ”

“A-aren’t you going to... to... use me?” Luna asked, sadness and worry filling her voice.

Thomas put a hand to his eyes and turned away. “Oh for - turn around!” he ordered.

“You just gonna ignore me now!?” Thomas yelled as Luna turned around in confusion. “Fucking bitch,” he muttered.

Luna was feeling terrible. This was not Thomas. No, it looked like him, it sounded like him, but he was broken inside. She knew what that sounded like, and he was a man hoping for freedom, no matter how it came.

“You gonna go eat a few more foals?” the man asked angrily. “Huh? You fucking monster?”

Luna’s eyes widened and she took a look around her. To her shock, horror and disgust there were a dozen mangled corpses on the other side of the bars, each of them belonging to a foal. She suddenly became aware of the overpowering taste of blood in her mouth and tears of horror began to wash down her cheeks.

“What’s the matter bitch, were they too chewy for you?” Luna ignored his words, instead wiping at the tears. They weren’t the only thing she wiped, though, something she realised when she pulled back a blood-soaked hoof.

“No,” she muttered, watching as some of the blood dripped off.

Thomas turned around and muttered to himself, his head in his hands. “No no no, what the fuck is going on, what the fuck...”

“What’s wrong Master?” Luna asked timidly, wiping away at her tears.

“I said don’t call me that!” he snapped. “Call me Thomas!”

“B-but you forbade me,” she replied nervously. “T-the last time I called you that you t-took away my horn.”

He stopped. He turned around. Then he looked away. He couldn’t bear to look at her. He couldn’t stand to look at the mare that he had broken, that he had destroyed, that he had essentially killed.

“C-can I... have it back?” Luna asked, looking at him with tearful eyes. “P-please?”

Horrified, Thomas reached into his armour. He numbly grasped the thin, spiralling horn and pulled it out, tears filling his eyes. “No...” he whispered.

Luna closed her eyes and hung her head.

“Are you just here to mock me? To make me think that the mare I loved is still in there?” Thomas asked. “I know she’s not. You can’t trick me. Not anymore,” he finished, trailing off into a sob.

Those words were like daggers through her heart. Whatever tortures Nightmare Moon had inflicted on him were nothing compared to that, to being tricked into thinking that the one you loved was in your reach and having it ripped away as a cruel joke. Part of her wanted to scream out “I am here!”, to tell him how she felt. But another part of her knew that he wouldn’t believe a word, that he would dismiss them as lies and deceit.

“Kill me.” Luna was torn from her brooding. “Fucking kill me,” Thomas repeated angrily. “At least this way I can see Luna again.”

Thomas’s entire world was comprised of the damaged horn he held. Everything else didn’t matter. The only thing that did was the broken symbol of power, of everything Luna was, that he was holding. Now he knew why she was so submissive. Now he knew why she looked at him the way she did. He had taken away the one thing that had given her any real power, a sense of self after having her cutie mark removed, and he treated it like a goddamn trophy.

Luna was dead. He knew that now. The pony sharing the tent with him was not her, but a ghost, an echo. An empty shell, everything that made her who she was had been beaten, raped or removed to transform her into this submissive wreck. He hated seeing her like this. He hated himself, for doing this to her.

But the horn in his hands, it offered a way out. A way to end both of their agonies.

“At least let me rest in peace when you’re done,” Thomas growled. “What you did to Twilight and her friends, no-one deserves that, especially not them.”

Luna didn’t want to know. All she knew was that she wanted to leave this place. She took a step back and her hoof nudged her flail, forgotten about this whole time. In it, she saw much more than a simple weapon. She saw escape. Escape for them both.

“Thomas, hold still,” she commanded. She would have retched at hearing Nightmare Moon’s voice again, but she had something much more important to do.

“You’re gonna do it?” the man asked, looking up in disbelief. “You mean it?”

Luna grabbed her flail in her magic before closing her eyes. She tried to block out the sound of his death, of the meaty thud that the flail made as it gave him what he wanted. She couldn’t, but took solace in the hope that he was somewhere better.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and concentrated. She felt the magic leave her system, becoming a concentrated mass in the base of her horn. When she was finished she knew that the resulting explosion of magical energy would obliterate everything within a mile, but she didn’t care. Now, she was truly vulnerable. Now, she could die.

Thomas pulled the horn from Luna’s neck, gently resting her lifeless body on the ground. “I am so sorry,” he sobbed. “Please, please forgive me.”

As he did his best to control his breathing, he rested the tip of the slick spike against his throat. One thrust. One thrust, and it would all be over.

He grunted in pain as he fell over, the indigo spike in his throat not budging. As he lay there, bleeding out with his conscious thoughts abandoning him, he saw Luna’s restful face. The last thing to go through his mind before he knew nothing was that, for some reason, she seemed... happy.

Luna panted, though only part of it was due to exhaustion. She had to remain conscious. If she blacked out before the deed was done, there was a chance that her magic would return to her, forcing her body to heal, robbing her of peace.

She screamed as the flail connected with her skull. She tried to smile, but her jaw had been fractured by the first blow, making it impossibly painful. Her vision was nothing but blurs, but she could still make out the steady trickle of blood that was pouring down her face, forming a puddle on the ground.

Her flail connected again, and her vision shifted. For a moment there was no dungeon, no iron bars, but a cave, dark and empty. She dismissed it, though, as her mind playing a final trick on her, and again she was in the dungeon.

Another blow, another false image. She nearly ignored it again, but paused. Why a cave? Surely she deserved something much worse, lava and torture. What tortures could a cave possibly hold? She struck herself again, and this time the cave stayed.

She dropped her flail. Had she done it? Was she dead? It had certainly taken a lot less time than she had been expecting. She looked around, her vision clearing as she released her magic. As her body healed, she realised that weight was lifted from her. A glance told her that Nightmare Moon’s armour had vanished, as had the horrible twisted form of her body. Instead of relieved, she was confused. Why? How? When?

As those three questions bounced around in her head, something made itself known. It did so by a sound, a sound like breathing but at the same time not. Ignoring her healing wounds and repairing sight, she shakily headed towards it.

What she came across was infinitely worse than the broken man in the cell.

Thomas’s thoughts came back to him, and the first thing he realised was that he was in unbearable pain. As he tried to move, he figured out the source, the spike that had somehow wound up embedded in his throat. As he reached a hand up to try and grab it, it disappeared.

As the man tried to scream, he was dimly aware of a voice. “Stay still!” it said. He tried, but the pain was too much. Things were not helped when the owner of the voice decided it would be a good idea to stab him in the neck with a small syringe. Right in the raw, bloody, gaping and incredibly sensitive wound that the spike had made.

Something forced him into a sitting position. As his body adjusted to this maltreatment, he realised who it was. “L-Luna?” he stammered, his voice rough and scratchy. “Is that you?”

“Oh Thomas!” she cried. She started nuzzling him, soaking his face with her tears and half-dried blood. “I was so worried!”

“What... what happened?” he asked. “The last thing I remember is...” His eyes widened. “Oh god. Did I --”

“Thomas, whatever you saw was not real,” Luna said reassuringly. “It was all a trick, a horrible, horrible trick designed to push us over the edge.” There was a pause as she pulled herself from him to compose herself. “It worked, Thomas. It worked on both of us.”

“I tried to kill myself.” Thomas made the statement calmly. He raised a hand to his throat and hissed as he touched the raw flesh. “How did she know?” he asked. “How did she know what would push us over the edge like that?”

“She must be able to get into our minds. She knew what to say to anger Scarlet.” Luna leaned in again, resting her head on Thomas’s shoulder. “Not even our minds are safe from her, Thomas.”

“It’s okay, Luna, it’s okay.” He caressed her face gently, doing his best to soothe the mare. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”

“She will pay, Thomas. She will pay for what she made us - MHMM!” Luna’s eyes bugged out as she was cut-off mid-rant by a second tongue in her mouth.

“Luna, calm down,” Thomas said when he pulled away, looking at her seriously. “We get too emotional, we stop thinking straight. We stop thinking straight, we make mistakes. We make mistakes, we die.” His expression eased into a gentle smile. “Okay? Just stay calm, and we’ll get through this. Okay?”

Luna just stared at him for a moment. To say Thomas was surprised when he was pounced on by several hundred pounds of lustful pony princess would be an understatement. To say that he returned her affection just as vigorously would likewise be an understatement.

Mind Games: Echo of Fear

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Echo of Fear

Twilight Sparkle lay on the ground, her mind clouded by pain as it attempted to fight off the deliberating after effects of Kata’s spell. She moaned in agony as one of her alter egos was crushed under the powerful foot of the chaos goddess's spell. The battle had raged inside her brain as the group traveled through the swamp but she’d kept quiet about it. Celestia and Luna were wrong, this spell was no mere illusion. This was a spell designed specifically to ruthlessly crush and tear its way through the mind of the target.

It was kind of beautiful in its own way, a detached part of Twilight’s mind mused. What at first appeared to be a chaotic mass of writhing lines and dark tentacles was revealed to be an all but perfect spell matrix driven by an all but tireless power supply of twisting, turning, chaos magic with just a hint of void energy thrown in for good measure.

Of course, almost perfect wasn’t enough to kill Twilight Sparkle!

Even as the spell attempted to obliterate her mind permanently Twilight’s consciousness began to fight back. At first it was only with guerrilla attacks, hit and run attacks that disoriented the vile spell as it tried to crush her mind. Then it began to escalate, Twilight’s mind began to rally as large powerful swaths of magic began to radiate out from her core.

The spell wasn’t one to be defeated easily and it cascaded down on Twilight’s fledgling defenses, but the alicorn was ready for it.

Kata’s spell crashed against a powerful magical barricade, mared by a thousand Twilights. It plowed into the barricade with the force of a tidal wave but as one Twilight’s personalities unleashed a counter spell that sent searing white beams of light into the massive black construct.

They sliced through heaving limbs of darkness like hot steel through ice. The spell’s matrixes let out an agonized scream as they began to fracture and split apart. Twilight continued to poor power into it, destroying every bit of the spell, erasing all traces of it from her mind and preventing it from self repairing.

However one part of the spell remained and stubbornly refused to die. The void magic that supported the base of the spell. The nauseating magic resisted her every attempt to remove it and the rest of Kata’s spell began to grow back around it. Twilight’s mind screamed in outrage, she’d already beaten it, damn it!

Twilight’s brain blanked for several seconds, beginning to despair as Kata’s spell reformed around the void base. She was done, beaten, broken, dying.

“You need help, my faithful Student?” Celestia’s voice called out.

Tia? Is that you? Twilight asked indistinctly Help me, it’s too strong, she moaned. I love you she added before she lost focus on her ability to project her mind.

Celestia walked down the dull grey stone corridor, her hooves announcing every step they took. She had no idea of what she would be facing, but she kept her spear near her and charged for a burst of fire equivalent to that of a dragons.

She then heard the familiar tune of unicorn’s magic being cast, but something was off. She quickened in her pace and followed the sound towards its source. She came to an abrupt stop when she found it .

Twilight, one who was still a unicorn, was lying there shivering, violently. A familiar black book laid in front of her.

“Twilight?” Celestia asked in disbelief.

Twilight’s eyes snapped open. Dark violet energy encased in a black aura danced out of her eyes. She then lifted her eyes and gave an eerie smile at Celestia.

Ah, my mentor, Twilight said mentally. Finally come here to help me? Well I don’t need it. Her horn began to encase in dark energy as the Twilight lifted the black book. This dark magic will do nicely. It’s so powerful and and strong. I love it.

Celestia spear drop towards the ground, bouncing back and forth between the tip and the shaft. Celestia’s face was in shock, and in horror. “No...” she whispered to herself. Her horn flashed to life and a beam shot out, knocking the book away from Twilight.

A beam of white hot, searing magic flared through Twilight’s mind, rallying the defenses and straight slicing through the void magic with the power and experience that only comes from untold centuries of practice against the void. The white light cleansed her mind of the harmful spell and Twilight’s consciousness let out an ecstatic cheer as control of her body suddenly rushed back to her.

Twilight opened her eyes and found herself looking into the beautiful eyes of her lover. She was lying on her back in Celestia’s bed. Celestia looked down at her with a slightly cross look on her face, as if Twilight had been doing something naughty.

“This was not the best time to be consorting with the void my dear,” Celestia scolded. “It can have very dire consequences. In fact I think that if I hadn’t come along when I did then you might’ve been trapped in that illusionary labyrinth for all eternity.” Celestia paused to let that sink in. “And we both know that there are much better ways to spend eternity,” Celestia added with a smirk before leaning in for a passionate kiss that caught Twilight off guard with its fierceness. The kiss left her panting and Celestia chuckled once she’d released Twilight.

“Now come along lover, I do believe that it’s time for my dear sister to once again be reminded of why I’m in charge, and why she’s nothing more than another insect for me to squash at my eternal leisure,” Celestia told Twilight as she rolled off of the bed and onto her hooves. The sentence caught Twilight like a buck to the stomach. Something was very wrong here.

Twilight scowled at Celestia, who returned the glare. “Twilight, dark magic is not a field of magic that one needs to study. It’s vile and corruptive. It promises great power, but gives none. It only weathers down the mind till there’s nothing left but an empty shell, desiring only one mindless thing. Do you want that?”

“And how would you know what I want?” Twilight asked her with a mocking chuckle. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s favorite student. I’m always under your shadow, and you command me like I’m one of your personal servants. Maybe for once, I want to be the master and you the student.” Twilight lowered her horn and a dark beam lanced towards Celestia.

Celestia quickly picked up her spear and swung it at the beam, cutting right through it and disrupting it to the source. Twilight’s head recoil from the backlash, but her dark mood only increased.

“Twilight, stop and think. This is not like you and I’ve never treated you like that before!”

“Oh really? Then who did you send to fight your sister, or Discord, or how about the wedding when you didn’t believe me about the Changelings?”

Twilight’s words stung as the bitter truth rang out. “I...I didn’t want you to do any of those things...but the Elements have chosen you and your friends to be their bearers. You had to be tested.” Celestia hung her head. “Just like I had to be.”

“Is that what you tell yourself to make it better? Ha, what a load of shit Celestia, you don’t care about me, you only care about what my element can do for you!” Twilight told Celestia angrily as dark energy rolled off her body in waves.

Twilight stared in horror at the sight before her, Luna was hanging upside down from the ceiling, bleeding from a thousand cuts and slashes. The blood pooled below the alicorn in a deep depression in the ground. To Twilight’s horrified surprise Luna let out a low moan of anguish.

“What’s that dear sister? Are you uncomfortable?” Celestia laughed viciously as she stepped forward and licked one of the drops of blood off of Luna’s cheek. Twilight made a gagging noise and Celestia turned to look at her with a perplexed look on her beautiful face. “Twilight come here, it’s not like you to miss out on a chance to antagonize someone, especially little Luna here,” Celestia commanded.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Twilight shouted as her horn suddenly began to glow fiercely. “You’re not Celestia, Celestia would never do this!” Twilight shouted.

“Lover I believe that the voidling has changed your perspective. I will correct it,” Celestia told her with a loving smile, the effect was ruined by her sister’s blood staining the white fur around her lips. The alicorn’s horn began to glow and a streak of burning white light shot towards Twilight, who countered it with a beam of her own.

“What happened to you Tia?” Twilight shouted in despair as tears ran down her face.

“What do you mean Lover? This is the way that I’ve always been!” Celestia told her with a haughty laugh. “I’m the all powerful Empress, Tyrant Sun!” she crowed. “And you’re Twilight Sparkle, my lover and personal apprentice. You’re the mare who crushed that pitiful hovel Ponyville under her bloodsoaked hooves!”

“No-no-I would never-” Twilight stuttered before she broke down weeping in despair.

“No...that’s not what I tell myself.” Celestia said softly.

“What’s that master?” Twilight mockly asked.

“We need to face trials Twilight. A sword isn’t forged by hammer alone, but also by fire. If we do face hardship and overcome them, then our true purpose can’t shine out. Taking another way doesn’t bear the same fruit. Yes, the tasks you did were something I easily could’ve taken care of myself, but if you didn’t do those, you wouldn’t found your friends and the Elements would still be searching for its bearers.”

“Friends? Ha, those worthless little foals don’t deserve the title of friend, as for the Elements they’re a good tool I suppose, but hardly a match for my dark magic!” Twilight told Celestia with a mocking laugh, however sobs could be heard.

Celestia tilted her head at the sound of sobs. “You know that’s not true Twilight. While dark magic gives power it also takes it away. The power and magic of friendship is one of the most powerful out there in the universe.”

“You’re a fool, Celestia!” Twilight shouted as a beam of dark energy slashed out from her horn.

The beam hit Celestia square in the chest, causing minor damage. However, something was off. It didn’t feel like dark magic, but like normal, if not a tad stronger, unicorn magic.

“It’s alright Twilight, let me help you,” Celestia told Twilight as she stalked towards the smaller alicorn, her movements like those of a lithe predator.

“No, stay away from me!” Twilight begged. A brilliant purple beam shot from her horn and hit the approaching mare straight in the chest. Unfortunately it appeared to do no real damage.

“Really now Lover, was that the best you could do?” Celestia asked with an amused chuckle. “You do worse every night.” The alicorn then resumed walking towards Twilight and her horn began to glow.

“Please, Tia, please don’t come any closer to me!” Twilight sobbed, her head hung low.

“Oh, my little pony, what has happened to you?” Celestia asked, her voice had changed from that of a the power mad queen instead it was that of a compassionate and kind mother.

Twilight’s head snapped up in surprise at the unexpected change in Celestia’s tone.

“Wh-what?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, you’re not casting dark magic.” Celestia pointed out.

“No, I’m a mage of the dark power now!” Twilight protested angrily.

“That’s not true, your heart denies that fact. Dark magic requires both heart and mind to yield to it,” Celestia informed.

“That’s what I’ve done, you just can’t see it!” Twilight shouted as she swung her head around viscously, but Celestia could hear sobs coming from the unicorn.

“That’s what your mind is telling you, but your heart knows the truth. It’s telling you that this is wrong, this is not the way to achieve power.”

“You are a fool! A stupid, stupid FOOL Celestia! I’m more powerful then you can ever hope to be!” Twilight roared.

“Oh my little pony what has happened to you?” she compassionately stated.

“Wh-what?” Twilight asked in obvious confusion. “T-Tia? Is that you, th-the real you?” She asked desperately.

Celestia was a bit confused of the sudden tone shift, but continued nonetheless. “Yes it is me, and you're Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. You’ve saved Equestria multiple times, formed a strong friendship that is nearly unbreakable, and most of all, you’re like a daughter to me. And I’m very proud of you.”

The dark energy flowing around Twilight disappeared, and the air surrounding her seemed to ripple for a moment. Then a pair of wings appeared on her back and one of her violet eyes was replaced by a cold blue robotic one. Tears stained her cheeks and before Celestia could react she found herself tackled in a deep hug as the mare cried into her chest.

“It-it was awful,” she sobbed.

Celestia finally understood what had happen, and mentally scowled at Kata. “It’s okay Twilight, it’s over.” Celestia bowed her head next to Twilight’s and covered her with a wing, pulling her deeper into the hug.

“Y-you had Luna hanging from-from the ceiling bleeding, and you-you drank her blood!” Twilight continued wretchedly.

A dark memory flashed through Celestia mind, but she ignored it. “I would never do that to my sister,” she said comfortingly. “I love her with all my heart.”

“And-and you said that I destroyed Ponyville and killed all of-of my friends- and-and-and-” Twilight trailed off again, sobbing into Celestia’s tear soaked chest.

“Hush, don’t think of it any longer. They weren’t real. Whoever you saw was just an illusion conjured up by Kata,” the white alicorn continued with her soft voice.

“I-I just want to go home,” Twilight moaned. “I want to see my Tia. I want her to hold me and I want to see my friends again, this, this is too much!”

“I know...your mind wasn’t ready for this type of battle. Havoc and devastation are an ill combination, one which Kata balanced extremely well, but not good enough.”

“That spell that she used on me earlier, it wasn’t just an illusion. It was an attempt to take me over, to make me one of her own, and it almost worked,” Twilight began. “But-but then I rallied and I destroyed it, all except for the void energy within.” She stopped for a moment to think. “The spell regenerated and it almost won, but then something stopped it...” The mare trailed off.

Celestia was a bit disturbed of the spell Twilight was describing. “Twilight, I need to examine your mind, if you will allow me.”

“Of-of course Celestia,” Twilight replied, her voice shaking slightly at the beginning.

With that said Twilight’s mind felt the presence of Celestia’s. To Twilight it was like the soothing warmth of a fire expelling the bitter cold of the night. To Celestia, it was almost utter confusion. Multiple personalities of Twilight were scattered around, but she pressed on of finding what needed to be found.

She sensed its pulsing power, deep in the depth of Twilight’s mind, but she soon encountered it. The small essence of the void imbued with chaos magic. It was inactive for now, probably Kata’s doing, but Celestia was going to change that. Another sense of void essence entered into Twilight’s mind, but not from Kata’s spell, but from Celestia. It then engulfed Kata’s void essence like a white blood cell does with a virus. Then Celestia’s void essence broke in two, one remained in Twilight while the other return to Celestia. Celestia’s mind left Twilight’s and she let let out a strained sigh.

“There, Kata’s spell should bother you no longer,” Celestia said, while placing a hoof to her forehead, rubbing it.

“Thank you Celestia, thank you so much,” Twilight said quietly, she reached up and nuzzled the elder alicorn lovingly.

“It’s no problem, just don’t mess with Ueirn’s essence in your mind. He probably hates me enough for telling everyone his name. He won’t like it I used a part of him to cure you.”

“So that’s what it is,” Twilight murmured quietly. Her brow furrowed as she examined the void essence sitting comfortingly in her mind. “It’s surprisingly polite,” she said with a slight giggle.

“Well, it’s been sitting in me for over a thousand years. It probably copied a part of my personality. Soon, it will probably copy yours,” the elder alicorn explained.

A slightly evil smile appeared on Twilight’s face. “Next time that Kata tries something like this, I’ll be ready for her, and I’ll make her pay for it,” The alicorn said viciously. “So mote may it be,” she added in a quieter voice.

“Yes, she will. Now let’s try to find the others,” Celestia said as she fully stood on all fours and picked up her spear.

“Lead the way, I have to familiarize myself with the void essence inside me,” Twilight told her with a small smile as she got to her hooves as well. “Oh, and Celestia, thank you, for everything.”

Celestia turned her head towards Twilight with a smile. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“You may not be my Tia, but you’re a hell of a runner up, Celestia,” Twilight told her with a grin as her cheeks began to dry.

“Well, thank you for the honor Twilight, I hope I’ll continue to live up to that status. Not just for you, but for everyone,” Celestia replied.

“You just need to work on your kissing a little,” Twilight joked with the first actual chuckle of the entire conversation.

Celestia became a little embarrassed but didn’t show it; however, Twilight felt a small pang of it in her mind coming from the void essence. “Well...I never had need of it,” Celestia replied with her own chuckle.

“You need to get out more Celestia, no reason to act like an old nag yet,” Twilight chuckled.

“Perhaps we should discuss this another time Twilight, it’s not the time nor the place to discuss a topic such as this.” The white alicorn dodgely responded.

“I suppose you’re right, I was just distracting myself. By Faust I’m acting like Ethan now, that’s never a good sign!” Twilight said with a slight chuckle.

With that said, the two alicorns walked through the maze, hoping to find other members of their group.

Mind Games: Hall of Screams

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Hall of Screams

Aeron awoke to find himself surrounded by a large, gray, mass. He stared at it for a moment before he realized it was just a wall. Standing up, he looked around to see he was in a narrow hallway. He also saw none of the others were with him. Not even Dash.

“Well... Time to go, then,” He said to himself as he began to walk down the narrow path.

So, Aeron, have you been thinking as usual? Kata spoke softly.

“You mean about your offer? Yes. It has been chilling out in the suite that I call my mind. It has wine accompanying it,” Aeron held back a laugh as he responded to Kata.

Don’t try to be sly with me, Aeron... Kata growled angrily at his response.

“Here I thought you were intelligent...” Aeron sighed. “I guess I was wrong. Yes, you nitwit, I have been thinking about your offer.”

Well, what’s it going to be? When you arrive at the wonderful challenge, will you leave this maze and let these fools die? Or will you stay? Kata laughed coyly in the recesses of Aeron’s mind.

“I don’t know. It’s a hard choice and I don’t feel like choosing now. When the time comes, I’ll assess what has all happened so far and choose based on the other’s actions,” Aeron responded simply. “As for now, I’m going to find my way out of this damn hallway until I find them again.”

Boy, you sure are boring. You know how you’re scared of high pitched noises? Well, if you don’t choose now, I’ll let you deal with that, Kata threatened Aeron as he stopped in his tracks.

So, yes or no?

“I don’t care,” Aeron said simply, continuing to walk.

Suit yourself, The snapping of fingers was heard the immediate, ear splitting screams echoed throughout the maze.

Aeron did his best to push through them, covering his ears and applying pressure to keep the noise to a minimum. But it was of no use. The screams continued to increase their pitch, keeping a high octave. Aeron became unsettled as it continued.

“Make it... Stop...” Aeron grunted as the pain seeped through him, blood dripping from his ears.

Enjoying it, Aeron? Kata laughed menacingly.

The man soon found himself on the floor, shaking violently with anxiety and sickness. He vomited slightly onto the ground and his eyes were becoming bloodshot. The screams raced through his mind, searching for his tick. Searching for the last grip of sanity he had left.

We’ve found it...

High-pitched screaming barreled through Dash’s ears as she awoke. She quickly sat up and covered her ears, wincing in pain. Slowly looking around, she found that she was in a long, bright, corridor, with neon red painting smeared across the walls.

“Uhg... Can’t think with this screaming...” The moment Dash spoke those words, the screaming stopped and the pain vanished from her ears.

“Huh. What luck?” She slowly stood on her hooves, trotting down the narrow pathway.

Whilst Dash was trotting along, the light coming off of the paint was burning itself into her sight. Irritating her, she tried to not stare at it directly, looking down at the ground instead. As she did so, the squelching of flesh and the gushing of liquid bounced through her ears.

“What th-” Dash raised her head to see an array of different combinations of numbers lined themselves against the walls.

“N-”

Four... a silent voice from her right interrupted her. Scared, she pushed up against one of the walls and the numbers slide onto her coat.

“No! Not this again!” She yelled, trying to shake them from her fur.

You can never evade me, Hastur. You are mine forever. A deep and monotonic voice spoke to the panicking pegasus.

“No, stop this! Please!” Dash begged, only to have the voice laugh menacingly.

You’re so weak... To think you killed Jaime...

“What did I ever do to you? Just leave me al ”

Dash screamed in pain before she could finish. The numbers upon her fur became more physical and tightly squeezed her body.

Stop trying, Hastur. You will be bound to my will, and serve me forever. You will be a great replacement for Jaime...

“N-... No...” Dash struggled to move and speak as the numbers tightened their grip on her body.

So worthless. To think you were a threat to me.

Give me your answer, Aeron. Yes or no. I don’t see the problem with that! Kata laughed as the screaming continued and blood trickled down the black man’s face.

“Make... It... Stop...” Aeron slowly spoke while his body involuntarily quivered.

Uhg, you’re such a waste, Kata’s fingers snapped and the screaming stopped. Once it did, Aeron let go of his ears and vomited on the floor again, some of the blood from his face mixing in the acidic mess.

Gross, Kata laughed as she watched Aeron’s agony.

“Why is Why does it matter what my decision is...?” Aeron had trouble speaking, his body quivering, and his mind slowly deteriorating in front of the goddess.

Because, I want to know now what you’ll choose. So I can laugh at you or those other fools, Kata chuckled.

“I won’t do it... if Dash is left behind...” Aeron stated very slowly.

Oh, boy, you people and your ‘attachments’. Wait, isn’t that your line? Kata mocked and let a giggle trail off from her voice.

“Dash is the only thing I care about besides my own personal survival...” Aeron slowly stood up, placing a bloody hand against a wall. “Let her come with me, then I’ll say ‘yes’.”

Uhg... Dad, do I have too? Kata groaned but Aeron gave no response.

God damn, fine. I’ll let your stupid pegasus friend come along with you. Assuming you can find her and stop her from going insane. Or are you the one insane?

Aeron raised a brow at the question. “What does that mean?”

Well, you don’t think I’m that stupid, do you? I know screaming drives you nuts. It’s why you don’t like anyone crying. It’s why you went insane on those super mutants over at the crazy Gary vault, Kata laughed softly. It’s why you try so hard to avoid conflict. You don’t want to hear the screaming. I know how you tick, Aeron. Far better than you do.

Aeron stood there silently for a moment. A few thoughts on whether or not what she said was true passed through his head, but, he ignored it. Instead, he slowly walked along the corridor in hopes to find his pegasus friend.

Pathetic, Kata laughed silently, leaving the bleeding man to his own devices.

Dash struggled to move or even lift a hoof for the numbers gripped tightly around her like a vice. Although the resistance was strong, Dash continued to move; albeit slowly.

“Let... Me... Go...” She struggled to speak, breathing harshly.

No. You are mine. Accept it. The voice echoed through her ears, only for her to shake her head.

Not speaking another word, her body tensed up and Dash ceased to move. The pegasus collapsed to the ground, taking slow, hard, breaths.

Giving up?

“No...” The mare croaked, pushing herself back to her hooves.

Do you know how much time you’re wasting with your resistance? Accept it, Hastur.

“Stop... Calling me... That!” Dash grunted and forced through the grip upon her.

The more she forced the vice, the easier it was for her to move, and the less strain she found affecting her body. The numbers were slowly easing up on her as if she was wiggling out of bindings.

How are you resisting this? This is supposed to be your doom, Hastur! The voice bellowed with fury.

“Because... I... Can...” The pegasus replied as the numbers began to lose their grip upon her.

Rainbow Dash screamed wildly and grunted through the vice until the numbers snapped off of her body. The neon colours plastered onto the walls faded and all that was left was a dim light.

Breathing heavily, Dash sat on her haunches to rest and recuperate. The voice appeared to be gone, but, she couldn’t be sure.

“You still there...?” She called out. After a few moments of silence, she sighed with relief.

“Rainbow Dash?” A voice called from behind Dash. She turned around to see Aeron holding his signature combat knife.

“Aeron!” The pegasus slowly stood up and trotted towards him with a smile on her face.

“Good... I found you...” Aeron said softly, his grip tightening around the hilt of his blade.

“I’m glad you did,” Dash said softly as she finally reached him. “I just experienced the worst thing in my life.”

“Did you?” The man questioned.

“Yeah... Those numbers were back and that creepy god guy was constantly taunting me.”

“Well, I am glad you are okay, Rainbow Dash,” Aeron spoke softly and his eyes wandered across her form.

“Is something wrong, Aeron?” She asked, tilting her head in confusion. “You never talk like that.”

Aeron’s eyes avoided Dash’s and moved upwards to look down the corridor. Within his field of vision, he could see lines of blood trailing all the way to the pegasus below him. From those lines, he could see the mangled corpses of foals and human children plastered on the floor and walls.

“Did yo ” Aeron looked down to no longer see Rainbow Dash, but, that of a ghoulified pegasus attempting to pounce on him.

“Fuck!” Aeron quickly kicked the ghoul away from him, causing it to fall to the ground with a rasping hiss.

“Of course it’s all a lie. Time to finish this shit off.” Aeron walked closer to the creature, his knife in hand and a look of determination on his face.

Reunion

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Reunion

Ethan and Scarlet were walking down the hallway in a surprisingly companionable silence, they weren’t friends, but they weren’t antagonizing each other any more. Suddenly they heard the sound of a woman screaming up ahead.

“Duty calls,” Ethan told Scarlet as he drew his sword.

Scarlet armed herself with her rifle. “Always the knight in shining armor?”

“There’s no other way to be Scar,” Ethan replied with a chuckle before he took off down the corridor at a sprint. Scarlet rolled her eyes but took off after him. The pair ran down the hallway until they got to a doorway leading to a large chamber. Within they found the source of the screaming.

“Oh Thomas!”

“Mmm...”

Ethan chuckled. They both stopped when they were suddenly aware of their audience. Thomas detached himself from Luna’s neck and removed his hands from her lower belly. “Can you give us... what, half an hour?” he asked, turning to his partner as though to see if that was enough time. Luna, whose mane was devoid of magic and flowed like normal hair, just turned as red as a tomato.

“Yeah, sure Captain, go nuts man,” Ethan replied with a shrug.

Scarlet just shook her head in disbelief while turning away and walking back to where she had come from. Ethan followed after her, whistling a peppy tune to himself.

Luna turned to Thomas, an angry gleam in her eyes. “No, Thomas,” she stated.

“What’s wrong with an audience?” he asked, returning his hands to their previous position.

“Don’t let us stop you, kids, we’ll just be out here listening to the radio,” Ethan called from the hallway. Thomas took that as all the motivation he needed to resume.

“Thomas, I said no.” Luna pushed the man away before he could latch onto her neck again. “I don’t feel comfortable knowing that they’re there.”

“Says the pony that broke windows with her screams.”

“That was different,” she pointed out. “We were both drunk, and there wasn’t actually anyone outside the room.”

Thomas sighed. “Fine,” he said in disappointment.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Luna said before leaning in for a nuzzle. She stood up, allowing him to do the same. As he stretched his legs, Luna looked at his face and held back a snicker.

“What? Is there something on my face?” he asked, bringing a hand to his cheek. When he pulled it away his fingers were covered in sticky red blood. “Okay, that’s worrying.”

“Sorry, I didn’t wipe my face before we started,” Luna answered apologetically.

“Well I don’t want to know why your face is covered in your own blood,” Thomas stated.

“Then I won’t ask why you had a stalactite in your throat,” Luna responded.

“I don’t hear any sex, can we come back in?” Ethan called from the hallway before their conversation became awkward.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Thomas called out to the other man.

Ethan entered the room and walked up to the two, he took one look at Thomas’s healing throat wound, the blood that still partially covered Luna’s face, and decided not to ask, instead he said “You know Captain, most men avoid that time of the month, although I thought mares didn’t do that,” he said with a chuckle. Scarlet smacked him in the back of the head.

“Yeah, how about you shut the fuck up?” Thomas replied.

“Hey, I’m happy for you, any action is good action,” Ethan said with a shrug. “I’m just happy that we found you and not... something else...”

Luna wasn’t sure what the other man was alluding to, but she guessed that he had overheard them. “As are we,” she calmly answered.

“Mhm,” Ethan said with a small nod before a frown crossed his face. “I hope that Sparky is okay, I think that whatever Kata’s spell did to her was more than just an illusion...” He trailed off with a worried expression on his face.

“Twilight’s a strong mare,” Thomas replied.

“Yes,” Luna added, trying not to think about what the illusory Thomas had mentioned. “I’m sure that she will endure whatever Kata decides to throw at her.

“Yeah, I know. She’s stronger than I am, but you know. I worry about her.” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“Oh ye of little faith. You need to stop worrying about others so much Ethan. You’re trying to remove splinters in other’s eyes but there’s a log sitting in your own,” Scarlet said.

“Actually Scar, I’m doing my best to keep people from falling off of cliffs, while I’m already on the way down,” Ethan replied with a grin.

“Down? More like you’re already splattered across the ground.”

“That’s all relative Scar. Besides, I haven’t hit the ground yet, and if I do I’ll probably miss. That’s how you learn to fly you know, you fall and miss the ground,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

“Then only new problems will arise. Like how are you going to fly with so much weight holding you down?” The woman informed him.

“Well that’s the thing, Scar, if you start to think about that then gravity notices you and bitch slaps you back to the ground,” Ethan informed her with a small smirk.

“Exactly, and now there’s a nice Ethan pancake smudged all over the ground.”

“Which is why I don’t think about it, Scar,” the man told her, smirk firmly in place.

“Whatever Ethan,” Scarlet said giving up on trying to put some logic in the man’s brain.

“Do you ever make sense?” Thomas asked, having given up on following the man’s words awhile ago.

“I do if you pay attention,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Anyways, it’s just banter to eat up time while we wait for the others.”

“If they wander in here, we only found this place because of the noise the two lovebirds were making.” Scarlet pointed out.

“Hmm, good point, who’s up for an orgy?” Ethan asked with a chuckle. Scarlet just shot him a low glare.

Luna shot a glare at him as well. “Yeah, not happening,” Thomas replied.

“I was joking, geez, tough crowd,” Ethan said with a slight sigh.

Twilight and Celestia were walking down yet another hallway, Twilight had a thoughtful look on her face.

“Something on your mind Twilight?” Celestia asked seeing the look on her face.

“I’m experimenting with this void essence that you’ve put in my mind, it’s interesting,” Twilight replied distractedly.

“Don’t start messing with it Twilight,” Celestia said strictly. “It’s not self-aware, it’s only there to act as a guard against other spell containing void magic.”

Twilight was only half paying attention to Celestia’s words. At the moment one of her personalities was busily experimenting with the void essence in the manner that science had proved to be the most effective way of determining what something did.

She poked it.

For a while, nothing happened, however moments later it started to react to her prodding. In a flash, the essence lashed out at the personalty, and with barely enough time for the fragment to shout for help it was dragged into the void essence. In the blink of an eye, the personality was fully absorbed into the darkness of the essence.

“Um Celestia, what would happen if one of my personalities were to get absorbed by the void essence?” Twilight asked. “Hypothetically of course,” she added nervously.

Celestia stopped in her tracks and gave a strict look at Twilight. “It happened didn’t it?”

“Mmmm yep,” Twilight replied slightly distracted by the odd feeling of something new awakening in her mind. “Should I be worried?”

“Twilight, you just created a new voidling,” Celestia deadpanned.

Twilight... A whisper consisted of a thousand voices spoke inside Twilight’s mind.

H-hello there, I’m Twilight, but umm I think you already knew that, Twilight replied uncertainly.

The voices started to whisper what sounded like utter nonsense to the alicorn, going through many different combination of voices. Twilight Sparkle... the voice said in a more feminine tone. The void essence inside Twilight's mind started grow and twist into itself, losing it sphere shape and taking another form.

“Twilight!” Celestia said in a firm tone, trying to draw the attention of the purple alicorn who was staring idly into space.

Um, welcome to the world of the sentient, Twilight told the newborn voidling before adding in an undertone. Please don’t tear my mind apart

Sentient...mortal...light... With every new word, the voices decreased in multitudes of combinations. Bonded The voice now sounded a bit like Celestia, but more like Twilight.

Yes, bonded, I suppose that’s a good word for it, Twilight said.

A mental picture of a small head of a unicorn filly appeared in Twilight’s mind. It ‘looked’ at Twilight central consciousness with curious, soulless, eyes. Life...existence...memories the filly’s voice kept it’s same combination of Celestia’s and Twilight's voice as it spoke in broken sentences.

“TWILIGHT!” Celestia yelled, violently shaking the mare.

“Shush,” Twilight told her detachedly.

“Twilight you need to snap out of this.”

Hello there little one, do you know where you are? Twilight asked the newborn voidling

The filly didn’t answer right away as it continued to stare. I’m in your mind, which is in a mess by the way, she replied eventually.

Oh, good, you can speak sentences, Twilight said happily. Sorry about the mess, I didn’t have a chance to clean up after... well what happened, Twilight told the voidling.

Yes, that other void essence that was imbued with chaos magic, slowly eating you away bit by bit. Luckily it was only serving as a base for the spell and wasn’t the main focus of it, otherwise it would have been far too late to save you.

For which I’m very grateful to you for doing Twilight told her. What happens now?

The voidling glanced to the side. Now? Prepare for a bright flash of light.

Wait, wha- Twilight began.

Seconds later Twilight’s eyes were engulfed by a bright white light, taking her out of her blank, hypnotic gaze.

“FAUST’S CUNT!” Twilight shouted loudly as she was blinded.

“It was the only option I had left to ‘wake’ you up other than hitting you hard with shaft of my spear,” Celestia informed her as she lifted her head away from Twilight’s.

“Why? It was going fine!” Twilight asked angrily. “You didn’t have to fucking blind me!”

“Acting like a statue doesn’t give me confidence in that,” she replied flatly. “I was worried about you. Voidlings have the tendency to make their victims act like that as they eat away their minds.”

She’s right. the voidling within her head stated. At least... in some cases at least. Rest of the time they just eat the body.

“Sorry Celestia, it was mostly the shock talking,” Twilight apologized with a shake of her head. “Oh and she doesn’t seem to want to eat my mind,” Twilight added.

“Good, it seems to have kept some of Ueirn’s morals at least.” Celestia said with a sigh of relief.

“I’m fine, now hush and let me talk to her, oh and please keep me from running into walls,” Twilight told Celestia before her eyes glazed over again. Twilight began to walk in a trance state and Celestia just shook her head.

“What did I do...” Celestia muttered to herself.

So, do you have a name? Twilight asked.

I have many names, though none of them describe the new me. I’m still thinking of one, bonded. the voidling replied.

Ah, I see, Twilight replied. So, what now? She asked repeating her previous question.

You’re going have to be more specific Twilight. There’s a lot of things we could do.

Such as? Twilight asked.

Travel through the void, go to other realms, new types of magic to experiment with, tell Celestia how foolish she is in reality. The voidling calmly listed. Especially waving that Zarian spear around like it’s some common tool...

That last one doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence in you, Twilight told the voidling archly.

Oh, sorry, that was from father’s memories. I’m still trying to sort out eons worth of knowledge and memories mother, it’s going to take some time to get used to this.

Mother?! I’m not your mother! Twilight exclaimed in surprise.

Sure you are. I’m made out of a part of Ueirn and a part of you, with a little bit of Celestia along a few hundred others. But it’s mostly you and Ueirn who composed of my personality. In the most basic terms of reproduction, you are my mother and Ueirn is my father.

Well... Okay then I guess that makes sense... daughter. Twilight replied, trying out the word.

Thanks mother, now I need some time to gather myself together. Talk to you later. The image of the filly’s head disappeared, though Twilight could still sense the voidling in her mind. A large smile overtook Twilight’s face, she was a mother, even if it was in an unconventional sense.

Celestia watched and shook her head as the a wide smile suddenly overtook Twilight’s face, “I’m taking it everything’s good with the voidling for now?”

“Celestia, I’m her mother,” Twilight replied with a slightly goofy grin. “And I didn’t even have to get pregnant first!” she added with a chuckle.

Celestia shook her head. “What have I done?” she muttered once again under her breath. The two continued to walk through the maze, with a feeling that their time in the Labyrinth becoming a little more complex ran through Celestia’s mind.

Suddenly they heard familiar voices up ahead, Twilight and Celestia exchanged a look, before they began to move quickly towards the voices.

“How much longer do you think we should wait for the others?” Thomas asked with a small frown.

“Well, I’m not leaving until Sparky gets here,” Ethan answered firmly.

“I believe he meant that perhaps we should start searching,” Luna clarified.

“Ah. I don’t know, I mean if we found you here, then odds are that this is a part of the Labyrinth where paths are meant to cross,” Ethan replied. “Of course I could be putting too much thought into this,” he added with a shrug.

“Or it could have been their screaming,” Scarlet pointed out, waving a finger in the direction of the alicorn and the other Courier.

As Luna turned red again, Thomas spoke up. “Actually, only she was screaming. Ow!” he exclaimed when he received a hoof to the back of the head.

Ethan chuckled and shook his head. “By the way, sorry that we interrupted you, you two seemed to be enjoying yourselves.”

Luna cleared her throat. “Yes, well, there is always another time.” Thomas’s expression went flat.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Ethan agreed with a slight shrug, then he winked at Thomas with a small smirk and a nod towards Luna. He received a glare in return.

“You’re all so obsessed with sex,” Scarlet said with a scowl.

“Not obsessed, just interested, Scar,”

“Besides, Luna pounced me,” Thomas said.

“Really? I would’ve bet that it was the other way around,” Ethan said with a glance towards the alicorn.

Luna looked around nervously. “What I may or may not have done is irrelevant!’ she stated loudly.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of Lulu,” Ethan told her with a slight chuckle. “Hell if Cassie were here...”

“I do not want to hear this,” Scarlet butted in before he could say anything else.

“ETHAN!” A familiar voice called from the opposite side of the room. The group turned in time to see a flying purple streak rocket into the man and grab him in a bear hug. Celestia walked into the room a few seconds later in a much calmer manner.

“Scarlet, it is good to see that you are okay,” Celestia called as she walked towards the woman.

“You too,” Scarlet replied with a small smile.

“Ethan, I’m a mother!” Twilight exclaimed once she’d finished her hug.

A few seconds of silence passed before anyone said anything. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that,” Thomas said.

“Agreed,” Luna added. “What do you mean, Twilight?”

“Well, Celestia did something with magic to save me and now I’m a mother!” Twilight answered with a smile.

“You knocked up Twilight... How does that even work?” Ethan asked Celestia after taking a quick glance at the white alicorn’s underbelly.

“That spell Kata used on Twilight earlier wasn’t a simple illusion attack as we thought. It had a void essence acting as it base allowing it to regenerate and to slowly eat Twilight's mind. The only way I could help was to have my small void essence enter and take care of it, however I had to leave a part of it in there for Twilight’s safety. The essence wasn’t self-aware, however, even though I did warn her, Twilight messed with it too much and it seems to have ‘eaten’ one her personalities allowing it to become self-aware.” Celestia explained.

“Okay, that wasn’t remotely what I was thinking,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “Also that happening isn’t all that surprising knowing Sparky,” he added, ruffling her mane. The alicorn snorted and moved her head out of his reach.

“You have a voice in your head,” Thomas stated. “Those aren’t healthy.”

Twilight’s eyes became unfocused for a second before she replied. “It’s perfectly healthy, it’s not at all a sign of mental instability. If anything it makes it easier to stay sane in a place like this when you always have someone to talk to,” she told him indignantly.

“Oh, yeah, sure, that’s what ghouls say before they go feral.”

“I’m not crazy, Celestia says so,” Twilight argued.

“She really isn’t,” the voidling informed Thomas, speaking out loud for the first time causing Thomas and the others to jump slightly in surprise as a mare’s voice that seemed to come out of nowhere. “Right Celestia?”

“Right, Twilight is as ‘normal’ as she was before. Voidlings normally don’t cause insanity with their hosts, though they might speed up mental break down if there was any. Though from what I’ve heard from Ueirn those cases are rare. Twilight’s heart is strong, I don’t see her breaking down anytime soon.” The white alicorn agreed.

“Sure....” Thomas said with a slight roll of his eyes.

Celestia dismissed the distrust Thomas was giving and focused on Scarlet. “Thank you for saving us Scarlet.”

“Don’t start that Cele, you know I don’t like being thanked. I was just doing what I do best.” The woman replied.

“Being a big damn hero?” Ethan asked. “I wouldn’t have guessed, Scar.”

“No Ethan, being a good distraction.” The woman corrected.

“Hero, distraction, same thing, Scar,” Ethan told her with a chuckle.

Celestia looked back and forth between the two, with a curiously raised eyebrow. “So, Scarlet how did you get the means to use tainted magic? Last I checked we weren’t near a source of radiation for a while.”

“Sleight of hand, did a quick swipe through Luna’s magical tail before we all split up,” Scarlet answered. “It also seemed I was right, my magic could harm it.”

“Did we ever find out what it was?” Twilight asked. “I was too distracted keeping my brain from being eaten to be paying attention near the end there,” she added.

“Kata said it was a banshee when she was talking to her brother,” Celestia answered.

“Odd, banshees are usually mourning widows or vengeful spirits who’ve been betrayed by people close to them. Not a combination of tortured souls,” Twilight said with a frown.

Perhaps they were betrayed by their companions and the banshee was eventually formed out of their tattered spirits, the voidling said in her head.

“I suppose that that’s a possibility,” Twilight said out loud, earning several sideways looks.

“Are you sure she won’t go muttering like No-bark?” Scarlet muttered to Celestia.

“Who?” Celestia asked as she had no idea what Scarlet ment.

“Never mind,” the woman replied dismissing the idea.

“Girls, please don’t fight and ruin this happy moment of togetherness that we’ve got going here,” Ethan said.

“We weren’t fighting,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Well, it would’ve led to it, and frankly I’m not in the mood for that, Scar,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “I’m just happy that Twilight is safe and sound,” he continued with a smile at the aforementioned mare.

“Thanks Ethan,” Twilight told him with a smile of her own. “So... why aren’t you calling her Kathrine anymore?”

“Because I finally knocked some sense into him,” Scarlet answered. “Showed him why there was nothing he could do to help me.”

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Twilight mused.

“Well, it’s nice to see you two smoothing out the issues between yourselves.” Celestia said.

“Yeah, well I just wish that it had happen a different way....Did y’all see any sign of Aeron or Dash?” Scarlet asked changing the topic once again.

“No, not so much as a feather,” Twilight replied with a frown.

“Their challenge must be taking longer than everyone elses,” the voidling mare said.

“That or they’re dead.” Scarlet bluntly said.

“I don’t know, but I’d say that we should give them a bit more time to get here,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Oh and Sunny, you’re lucky that you got here second, I don’t know how you would’ve reacted to what was going on...” he trailed off with a nod to Thomas and Luna, the later of whom blushed again.

Celestia let out a soft amused chuckle, slowly shaking her head, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s not funny,” Luna said grumpily. “It’s embarrassing,”

“Personally I’d work on volume control Luna, when we can hear your orgasmic cries from a hundred yards away that’s typically a bad sign,” Ethan told her with a smirk. Scarlet hit him again.

“Can we please just stop talking about it?” Luna asked angrily. “And does anyone have anything to wipe this blood off with?” she added gesturing towards both Thomas’s face and her own.

“Y’all used all of my clean rags last time, so no.” Scarlet informed the night blue alicorn.

“Let me see,” Ethan said as he began digging through his duster, in quick succession he pulled out a canteen, a handful of glowing, blue, alien blaster power cells, a small cybernetic component, and finally a clean-ish rag. “Here you go,” he said as he put the other items away before handing the rag to Thomas who took it with a nod.

“Thanks,” Thomas said taking the rag and started to clean himself.

“Any time,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “I always carry a spare blood rag on me after that time that one of Sparky’s arteries got cut open, there was blood everywhere even after we stopped the bleeding.”

Twilight shuddered. “Please don’t remind me, I’ve never seen that much of my own blood. It was… unsettling, to say the least.”

An ear-splitting, feminine, scream echoed through the area the group was in. The sound, however, was not that of Kata’s minions. But a more natural scream.

“Well, that’s never a good sign,” Ethan said as he drew his sword.

“That sounded like Rainbow Dash!” Twilight exclaimed as her horn began to glow.

“Or it could be a trap,” Scarlet pointed out.

“Either way, we should check,” Thomas said, tossing the bloodied rag to his side. Luna looked up and scowled when it got stuck on her horn.

“Yeah, I’d rather not take the chance of having one of our group die because we were too worried to help her,” Ethan agreed. “Now come on, let’s go!” he added, nodding towards the doorway before setting off at a light sprint with Twilight on his heels.

“Yep, just like Jason,” Scarlet muttered to herself before also breaking into a light sprint of her own with Celestia right along beside her.

Thomas pulled the rifle off his back and took after them. “Are you sure we’ll need that?” Luna asked worriedly at his side.

“Rather be ready than not,” he answered calmly.

The group ran down the corridor, more or less together, as they continued the screams got louder and more terrified until they arrived in a new chamber. The sight before them took the group by surprise.

Aeron was holding Rainbow Dash down by the neck, attempting to slice the pegasus’s belly open. To the surprise of no one, Ethan charged forward, throwing his sword to the side and tackled Aeron from behind.

“Get off of me you mutated freak!” Aeron dropped his blade and punched wildly at Ethan’s sides in an attempt to get back up.

“Fuck you!” Ethan replied before he drove his knee into Aeron’s balls, apparently not feeling the punches.

Aeron coughed and wheezed as his most sensitive area took a critical blow. In response, the punching stopped and he laid on the ground with his eyes shut tightly.

Ethan lifted a hand and prepared to punch him in the kidney just to make sure that the other man was down for the count.

Before Ethan could do so the black man brought a dagger to Ethan’s gut in an attempt to kill him.

Ethan brought his hand down and let the dagger sink into his hand, point and all before he grabbed the other man’s wrist. He squeezed hard enough to make him release his grip on the dagger. Then he brought his other hand back and prepared to punch Aeron in the face.

“ENOUGH” Celestia’s voice roared. Both of the men were engulfed in a yellow glow and pulled away from each other.

Celestia dragged Ethan back towards to the group near Twilight, while moving Aeron away from everyone. She let go of Ethan but continued to hold onto Aeron. Ethan landed on his feet and shot Celestia a slightly annoyed look but otherwise did nothing as he pulled the dagger out through both sides of his hand.

“Let me go you freaks! I’ll make your death quick and painless!” Aeron yelled wildly as his bloodshot eyes glared at the group.

“He’s gone crazy,” Thomas inferred.

“Aeron, stop this! It’s us!” Rainbow Dash was up now and rejoined the group, yelling in an attempt to convince Aeron otherwise.

“Stop talking in your hissing tones! Face me!” He yelled again.

”He seems to be experiencing some sort of hallucination” Twilight’s voidling told the group softly .

“Are you okay Dashie?” Twilight asked the rainbow maned mare.

“Y-yeah... But he just outright attacked me for no reason!” Dash exclaimed.

“He obviously isn’t in the right state of mind, that much is certain,” Luna said as she eyed the man who was grinding his teeth as he struggled against Celestia’s magical grip. Meanwhile Ethan walked by the lunar alicorn and quickly swiped his injured hand through her mane. She glared at him but he didn’t even notice as his hand healed and he kept walking.

“Well I guess we just have to give him a cognitive recalibration,” Scarlet said.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“Hit him really hard in head,” the woman simply explained.

“Isn’t that cliché?” Dash asked with a placid look.

“Things become cliché over time for a reason,” Ethan said matter-of-factly. “May I do the honors please?”

“Be my guest,” Scarlet answered waving her hand carelessly in front of her.

“Thanks,” Ethan said with a nod to the woman before he strode towards Aeron, along the way he picked up his sword. Then when he was within striking distance he brought the pommel back and then smashed it against Aeron’s forehead.

Aeron grunted before his head fell limp and he stopped struggling against Celestia’s magic. Scarlet then walked up and placed her forefingers on Aeron’s neck and looked at his lips. A few seconds passed by before she said, “He’s still breathing and has a pulse.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill him, Scar,” Ethan retorted with a shrug.

“Just wanted to make sure,” Scarlet move her hand away. “You can lay him down now Celestia, he shouldn’t pose any more trouble.” Celestia nodded her head and laid Aeron gently on the ground, with his back flat against it before letting go of her hold.

“You know, there’s nothing that makes me hungrier than being stabbed through the palm, want to make camp here?” Ethan asked the group.

“This is as good as any other place,” Thomas replied with a shrug.

Here, in this filthy place? Why stay here when you could spend the night with me! the voice of Kata’s brother asked them with a slight chuckle in his voice.

“Because we can’t see you,” Twilight pointed out.

Easily fixable. A doorway opened near the group, but it looked different than all the rest. It was made out of smooth, polished, white, marble and a bright light could be seen on the other side.

The party exchanged a glance, before shrugging and stepping forward into the new door, or for Aeron case, dragged. Inside was a finely decorated dining room. A table in the center held food of every type, well except for one, but it wasn’t exactly breakfast at the moment so Twilight decided to ignore the slight problem.

At the far end of the table was an elaborate chair and sitting in that chair was a dark tan teenager with mint green hair, dressed in a fancy old world suit. He stood up and held up a goblet at them and with a wild smile said. “Welcome, adventurers, to my Panic Room, I’ll be your host for a little while. So relax, take off your boots, eat, drink, make love, do whatever. There’s just one rule, don’t be boring!” the man said with a merry laugh before he took a swig of his goblet.

I Expect You to Dine

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I Expect You to Dine

The man looked at the shocked expressions on the party’s faces and sighed.

“Oh just come in here and talk to me, you have no idea how long its been since I’ve had a good conversation!” He shouted enthusiastically. “There’s free food in it for you!”

Scarlet slowly advanced towards the table and reached out to grab an apple. She took a bite out of it and her eyes beamed with joy. “This is better than one of Applejack’s apples,” she said before taking another bite.

The man coughed into his palm and then rubbed it against his jacket.

“I’m a chaos lord, no offense Miss Scarlet but of course my apples are better!” He all but shouted. “Now come in, eat drink, be happy and gay, or straight if the mood takes you I suppose!” The man added the the last part with a laugh.

“Fuck it, I’m starving,” Ethan said as he quickly grabbed a plate and walked up to the part of the table where the wellington was being served. He grabbed the biggest one that he could see and then continued down the line.

“Agreed,” Twilight said with a nod, she took off after Ethan, grabbing a plate as well. She walked down the table grabbing this and that, including a large fruit salad and to the surprise of several of the group a large, wellington of her own.

I will watch over you for you while you eat, mother, the voidling whispered in Twilight’s head.

“That’s the spirit!” the green haired man said with a grin.

Scarlet soon grabbed her own plate and arrange it with gecko meat, corn, and mashed potatoes and apples, lots of apples.

Thomas’s eyes went wide at what lay before him. It wasn’t the variety that grabbed him, but the sheer quantity. He grabbed a bit of everything and began shovelling it down, not having had a proper meal in far too long.

Dash grabbed a large assortments of apples, some hayfries and a pie all for herself. Mostly due to the sheer amounts of hunger she was facing.

Once everyone had gotten what they wanted the group sat down at the table. Ethan sat directly at the man in the suit’s right and Scarlet sat at his left. Twilight sat beside Ethan, and Celestia, after laying Aeron gently down on the carpetted floor, took up the seat beside Scarlet. Luna and Thomas elected to sit across from one another, Dash sat at the end of the row, occasionally stealing glances towards Aeron’s still form.

“So, I take it that you like apples then,” the man said with a chuckle and a nod in Scarlet’s direction.

“Maybe I do,” the woman replied as she cut into her gecko steak.

“Were you aware that you can fit small explosives in apples?” the man asked her with a cheery chuckle. “That’s why you should always slice them before you eat them,” he added with a grin.

“And if you wanted to kill us you would’ve already done so.” She replied stabbing a fork in her steak.

“Who says that I’m not slowly poisoning you?” The man asked her with a wide grin.

“Because you need us, that and my heart and tainted blood prevents me from getting poisoned.” She stuffed the peace of meat into her mouth and enjoyed the juicy flavor she was getting.

The man rolled his eyes. “You are no fun at all, are you?” He asked her with a slightly annoyed snort.

“She acts like that a lot, especially around new people,” Celestia pointed out after arranging her own meal.

“I know, I’m just trying to loosen her up a bit,” the man told Celestia with a chuckle before he turned to Luna. “Ah the Atoner, how are you today?” he asked Luna before apologetically adding. “I hope that the meat doesn’t make you lose your appetite.” He took a sip from his goblet.

Luna briefly paused in her eating, looking as if she was about to gag. But she held it in and gave a low scowl at the man. “I was doing fine until you decided to mention it.”

The man held his free hand up in the air. “Sorry, my mistake, I can be foolish occasionally.”

“Excuse me, but would you mind telling us your name?” Twilight asked the man. “No offense, but mentally calling you ‘the man’ and ‘that green haired guy’ is really starting to irritate me.”

“Oh, how rude of me. My name is Van. Kata’s older, much better looking, and smarter, brother as you might already know.”

“Van? That’s an odd name,” Twilight said with a frown.

“Well, it’s one chosen for your convenience. To truly say my name would take no time at all and drag on for eternity. It smells like screaming purple and would damage your sanity so severely you would be rendered sane again.” The chaos lord smirked. “No promises you’d be same individual, of course.”

“I can sympathise,” Luna nodded. “My sister and I share a similar problem.”

“I’m much stronger than you though,” Van informed her with a smirk.

“Yet, you’re not the one in charge,” Scarlet pointed out before taking a bite into her corn.

“Details, details, we’ll get to those once we’re all drunk. I’ve found that details are so much easier to discuss when you’re drunk,” Van replied with a grin. “Of course most things are.” He took another sip from his goblet.

“Speaking of drinks, where’s ours?” Celestia asked as she glanced up and down the table, see that there were no sort of bottles.

“Oh...right.” Van snapped his fingers and eight goblets appeared in a small flash of light. “There, just think of the drink that you want, and it’ll be there,” he told them with a grin. “Don’t tell the Olympians that I’m stealing their idea,” Van mock whispered. “I don’t feel like going through a Divine copyright lawsuit right now,” he added.

“Yeah, we’ll keep that in mind,” Thomas said with a roll of his eyes.

“Good!” Van said with a grin. “I hope that you enjoy your time here with me, I can provide you and your lover a suite for the night if you’d like, it’s soundproofed of course,” he added with merry eyes.

“That’d be nice,” Thomas responded automatically before his brain could catch up to his mouth. Luna just turned crimson again.

“Excellent, I can show you the way whenever you wish,” Van told him, smiling sincerely at the two. “Would you like to have mood music, or do you prefer to create that yourself?” He added with a small chuckle.

“Enough!” Luna choked out before clearing her throat. “This is not the kind of conversation one should have when dining.”

“It isn’t? Where else would you have it?” Van asked her, looking truly perplexed by the alicorn’s answer.

“Preferably when we’re not trying to eat,” she answered. “I doubt anyone else here wants to think of that at the moment.”

“Oh you silly mortals, always such prudes about sex. Bo would laugh at all of you,” Van told her with a chuckle. “Of course I suppose not everyone has the same perspective, and that’s for the best, it keeps things interesting!” he said with a wide smile.

“So, Van, can you read our minds?” Ethan asked curiously.

“No, except yes,” Van replied with a grin.

“Actual mind reading is incredibly difficult. It’s much simpler to skim the surface thoughts or delve into dreams,” Luna explained.

“Give the mare a carrot!” Van said enthusiastically, a carrot appeared in front of Luna’s face and sat there in the air, unmoving. Luna briefly scowled before snapping it out of the air with a crunch. “Anyways, your fuckbuddy’s right, actually reading your mind is really hard, even for someone like me, I just skim for the important things,” the man continued with a smile.

Luna started choking on the carrot. “N-no! I would never even think of touching him like that!” she exclaimed as soon as she could, pointing a shaking hoof at Ethan.

“Oh, right, my mistake. Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve talked to anyone,” Van said with a chuckle.

“So I’m not good enough for you Lulu?” Ethan asked with a stricken look on his face. “And here I thought that we had something really special!” he added with an equally sad look.

The alicorn rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop being so melodramatic. I just have standards when it comes to who I choose to bed,” she explained. “It’s much more than simple physical attraction. The same can’t be said about my sister,” she added.

“Standards, and you’re with him instead of me?” Ethan asked jokingly. “For shame Lulu, for shame!” Ethan exclaimed melodramatically with a nod towards Thomas.

Thomas rolled his eyes. “Not my fault we’ve got stuff in common,” he said. “Besides, aren’t you married?” he asked before turning back to his food.

“Happily,” Ethan replied with a chuckle. “I was joking in the first place.”

“I can see why my sister hates him the most,” Van said with a nod towards Ethan. “You’re so like me!” he added with a grin.

That statement made Thomas choke on his mouthful of meat. After clearing his throat he stared between the two. “Oh fuck. One’s bad enough.”

“And this one has godlike powers, the universe is doomed!” Twilight exclaimed. “Can I go home and have sex with Tia before you two destroy the universe please?” she begged.

“Oh calm down. My powers are limited to this realm, and I am bound to it. My sister forcing you all here against your wills broke so many rules,” he explained with a sour expression.

“Rules? What rules?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Interfering with another’s realm in any way, such as removing someone who is tied to its very existence, is dangerous. There was every chance that bringing you here could have ended catastrophically,” he said, nodding at the ponies.

“I’m not that important,” Twilight said, blushing slightly.

“My dear, do you have any idea how much paperwork I would’ve been required to fill out in order to just ask you to come to my Labyrinth?” Van asked her. “And the rest of you would be even worse!”

“Wait. I get why that’d be the case with Luna,” Thomas said, butting in, “but how am I important? I don’t really do much except drink, gamble and take potshots at raiders.”

Van chuckled. “Thomas, you’ve got a reality built around you and you don’t even notice it, it’s actually kind of endearing really.”

The man blinked. Then he blinked again. “America became the way it did simply so I could do what I did?” he asked, getting the feeling he was completely wrong.

“Not exactly,” Van clarified. “Think of a universe as a huge piece of fancy clockwork, and the people living in that universe as its gears. Now, there are some gears that aren't really needed and the universe couldn’t care less if they went missing or became broken before their time comes. However, there are some that are critical to the functionality of the clockwork. If you take those gears out earlier than you should, it will causes a domino effect slowly making the whole clockwork come to a halt.”

“Wait, so you mean to tell me that Ethan is vital to the existence of a universe?” Twilight asked Van incredulously. “Who the hell was the genius who thought that one up?”

“Most likely his world’s resident Divine,” Van answered with a small shrug. “Just because they have the ability to pick a champion of sorts doesn’t mean that they pick a good champion.”

“Oh, right, her,” Twilight mumbled.

“What’s wrong with me?” Ethan asked with a chuckle.

“Would you like the full list or a summary?” Luna responded seriously. “I suggest you pick the summary, the list takes close to a week to get through.”

Twilight snorted with laughter and Ethan rolled his eyes.

“Luna, you’re just jealous that you’re not as awesome as me,” Ethan told her with a grin.

“I’ve fought demons, led armies and I move the moon every night. You just have suicidal tendencies and a horribly inflated ego,” she replied smartly.

“And yet one of us withstood and defeated the Nightmare on his own, and one of us didn’t,” Ethan shot back.

Luna narrowed her eyes and glared at him with the intensity of a nuclear blast. “How well would you have fared against a major demon, one whose domains are hate and jealousy?” she questioned. “I have had to put so many to rest after they were lost to such beings. I am lucky I did not suffer the same fate.”

Before Ethan could reply his mouth disappeared. Van had snapped his hand shut. “That’ll be enough of that,” he said flatly. “While I’m not opposed to arguing, I’d rather we not make this evening depressing or truly angry.” He snapped his fingers and Ethan’s mouth reappeared. “Now apologize!” Van added with a slight glare at Ethan.

“I - sorry Luna,” Ethan said, his face downcast. “I shouldn’t have said that - I don’t think sometimes...”

“I am sorry too. We should not make our suffering a competition, but we nearly did,” she added, looking at her plate.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Ethan said with a slight sigh. “Celestia, how’s your food?” he asked changing the subject.

Celestia paused in her eating. “It tasted good, but I do taste that it was modified by the art of chaos.” She looked at Van. “Like it was something else before it was food.”

Van gave a dodgy look. “Well of course, I can’t make something out of nothing. I’m not a voidling. I just found a pile of something that no one was ever going to use and rearranged the molecules. Don’t worry, it’s safe to eat still. The food won’t change back to what it was originally.”

“Interesting,” Twilight said with a small nod. “Why didn’t Discord ever mention that when he was teaching me about chaos?”

“Because he didn’t see where I got the idea from. This is more work of science than of magic.” Van took another sip from his goblet.

“That would do it, Discord doesn’t exactly have a scientific mindset...” Twilight said before she cut off a large piece of meat and popped it into her mouth, chewing contently. “So Van, why is your sister in control of this place instead of you?”

Van began to briefly choke on his liquid before letting out several large coughs to clear his throat. “Hmm, sorry about that. The reason why little pony is because she betrayed my family, killing everyone, including myself, or at least that’s what she thought she did. The only reason I’m still alive is because of Liby, or as you might know as the Labyrinth.”

”You named your torture chamber Liby,” Twilight’s voidling asked him incredulously.

“Yes youngling of the void, her name is Liby. Also for your information, she wasn’t always a torture chamber, she was arena to test and train many of the universe champions. The day Kata took over is when she forced Liby into becoming this disgusting maze of death and terror,” Van said with as an angry expression crossed his face. “My home was stolen from me, as was my friend, and my family.” Then his face cleared. “However we’ll discuss this more later.”

A slightly uncomfortable silence fell over the group as they ate.

“So... Thomas, how are you?” Ethan asked breaking the silence before it became oppressive.

“Pretty good, considering what I did before,” he replied darkly.

“That’s good,” Ethan said with a nod. “Glad to see that you're doing okay,” the man added.

Dash looked over at the area where Aeron was lying to find him no longer there. Worried, she glanced over to Ethan and Thomas. “Uhm, where’d Aeron go?”

“Insane?” Ethan joked.

“No, he’s not here anymore,” she said with a bit of a worried look.

“That’s not good...” Ethan said as he looked around the room for the black man.

As Ethan did so, no sign of him was to be found. Dash joined in with the search, looking under the table to find nothing.

“I’m kind of getting worried...” she said softly.

Suddenly Aeron appeared out of nowhere and jumped at Thomas, another knife in hand.

“I’ll kill you, you mutated freaks!” Aeron shouted as he came at Thomas.

The sudden attack did nothing to help Thomas, still recovering from his previous ordeal. “Get him off!” he managed to choke out as the other man nicked him with the knife.

Suddenly Aeron froze in place. Van snapped his fingers and the knife floated out of his hand. “You’re not a very happy person,” the chaos lord informed Aeron. “Although, that’s not entirely your fault. Regardless I can’t have you attacking people,” the man rose from his seat and walked up to the frozen wanderer. Then he reached out and touched Aeron’s forehead with his forefinger.

Aeron’s face, which up to then had been clouded with irrational anger, suddenly cleared.

“Ugh... Why do I have a massive headache?” Aeron asked uncertainly as he looked around. “Where am I?”

“Safe and sound, for the time being at least,” Van replied simply. “Now get some food.”

“And try to keep your hands, and knives to yourself,” Ethan muttered under his breath.

Aeron said nothing to Ethan, only taking a seat a grabbing a small piece of bread, slowly ripping chunks off and eating it.

Thomas picked himself up, using Luna’s leg as a hand-hold. “Fucking whack-job...”

“Are you okay?” Luna asked worriedly as the man drew himself up.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been through a lot worse, you know that,” he replied dismissively.

“Well excuse me for being concerned,” she shot back unhappily.

“I’d be careful if I were you young man, not everyone gets to sleep with a goddess,” Van told Thomas with a small smirk.

“Technically, I am but a demi-goddess,” Luna clarified. “Goddesses can’t actually die.”

“My point still stands,” Van replied. “He should be very careful not to anger you.”

“The one time he angered me, I merely scared him.”

Thomas glared at the mare. “Luna, telling me that I got you pregnant was not scaring me, it was traumatic.”

“Well if you’re going to fuck a bunch of women, Soldier Boy, you better be ready for the whole, ‘I’m pregnant’ ordeal.” Scarlet stated. “Beside there’s no way for you to impregnate her, unless magic was involved,” she added.

“Actually, he might’ve been able to depending on the circumstances,” Twilight said academically.

“If it weren’t for how his body reacts violently to my magic, then he could have,” the alicorn explained.

“That’s what’s scary,” Thomas muttered as he continued eating.

“Have you considered the love child option?” Van asked Luna. “I don’t know off the top of my head whether or not it works in your universe but I’ve seen it work elsewhere.”

Luna blinked. “I’ve never even heard of such a thing. Isn’t a love child merely a normal foal?”

“It’s a property that some Equestrians possess. It allows those who truly love each other to have children despite all opposing circumstances. All that is required are two beings who love each other and at least one uterus,” the chaos lord explained.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Sounds like that silly superstition that a unicorn’s horn can cause pregnancy if inserted,” she replied. “No, such a thing is not possible in my Equestria.”

“That’s too bad,” Van said with a shrug.

“You know, if you two really wanted to have children, then you could always come to my Equestria,” Twilight told Luna.

That would be a bad idea, mother. There’s many rules set in place about having two identical beings in the same universe. Not only that but their universe’s rules will still apply to them, so that’s also a no go. Although I suppose you could travel to an unoccupied universe and do it there, of course that would be very dangerous and time consuming, the voidling whispered to Twilight in her mind.

“Or a surrogate,” Aeron muttered while he quietly chewed on bread.

Thomas looked around in shock. “Why the hell are we talking this!?” he screamed.

“Yeah, let’s drop the subject. Besides, I don’t think Thomas would be a good father figure,” Scarlet said taking a sip from her own goblet.

Aeron smirked and snickered at the sly comment. “That’s amusing.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Thomas asked indignantly, glaring at Scarlet.

“It’s means I don’t think you would make a good father figure,” the woman said again.

“I don’t think anyone here would be a good parental figure,” Aeron added.

“Au contraire,” Ethan replied with a slightly annoyed frown. “I make a great father,” he added indignantly.

“Oh, really? All of us would be amazing fathers? What kind of father lets his son witness brutal acts of murder? Even if it is justified?” Aeron raised a brow, setting his piece of bread onto a plate.

“Oh, so it’s better to keep them naive about death? We live in the Wasteland, Aeron, besides you’ve got daddy issues in general,” Ethan replied.

“I’m not claiming to be a role model, but no child should be born in the Wastes. I should’ve stayed in the Vault and died there rather than live in a world of cruelty,” Aeron retorted. “Being naive is one thing, being ignorant is another.”

“And that’s the kind of thinking that keeps the Wasteland exactly where its been for the last two hundred years!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Because humans are so great at preservation,” Aeron deadpanned. “To be honest, I’d rather stay asexual and avoid sexual contact like the plague than impregnate a woman.”

“We’re not perfect, but being apathetic doesn’t help anyone!” Ethan said while eying the other wanderer.

“Helping people is what got me into this fucking mess! I wouldn’t be here dealing with you or losing my sanity if I didn’t help anyone! I could’ve just let Rainbow Dash die and be done with it!” Aeron stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, veins bulging across his forehead.

“W-what?” Dash stuttered a moment, befuddled by Aeron’s words.

“What, you didn’t hear me?!” Aeron yelled at the pegasus. “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t showed up that day! I could just be in Tenpenny Tower thinking up plans on how to survive rather than deal with this group of morons!”

Dash’s mouth was agape for a moment as she stared into Aeron’s angry eyes. She pushed away from the table and quickly flew out of the room through one of the doors that lined the walls, not saying another word.

“Well, you’re an idiot,” Thomas commented as he drank from his cup.

“And you’re an awful leader. You can’t even keep this group in one piece!” Aeron retorted angrily to the man.

“So were many others. Yet, a lot of them had a good foothold on their people,” Van stated. “Now, take a deep breath and calm down and enjoy the free meal. There’s no reason to be angry at each other. Only at Kata.”

Aeron inhaled deeply and the exhaled very slowly. He did this a few times before clenching his fists and then releasing them. “I’m sorry. Dealing with some inner issues and I may have taken it a bit too far.”

“It’s no problem, if you want I can create a punching bag for you to help relieve some of the stress,” Van suggested

“As great and effective as that sounds, I will have to decline. I don’t deal with problems by punching a giant bag of sand or dirt. I just let them sit and I contemplate it,” Aeron stated, taking his seat again. “But, being in this maze is really getting on my nerves. Kata is driving me into insanity and I can’t handle it.”

“That is her specialty. She’s done it to nearly half a million people. Hopefully with your help, I can end that,” Van stated.

“It’ll be my pleasure to help,” Ethan told the chaos lord with a smile.

“Yeah, she’s probably the only other person I want to see crucified,” Scarlet said

“I’m all up for killing her, but, there’s a few issues I need to deal with myself before I bother proceeding with you guys,” Aeron sighed deeply.

“Yes, you should probably go after your friend,” Twilight said, putting extra emphasis on the word friend.

“... Among other things,” Aeron rolled his eyes slightly. “If I may do so, I’d like to excuse myself.”

“Go right ahead, she went to the third room on the right” Van replied with a shrug

Aeron slowly pushed himself away from the table, leaving his piece of bread behind, and then leaving the dining room portion of the panic room.

After removing himself from the main dining room portion of the large, complex, panic room, Aeron stepped out into the hallway in search for Dash. Looking around, he quickly spotted the blue pegasus sitting on her haunches and staring down the long, white, corridor.

“Thinking, I see,” Aeron spoke softly, walking up behind her and staring with her. Rainbow Dash didn’t respond.

“I’m going to be brief, Dash,” Aeron sighed. “I’m leaving this group. It’s apparent that I am a large problem, and the solution is for me to wander aimlessly in this maze. I’ve also hurt you and whatever relationship we may have dearly. I believe it’s best we spend some time apart. Whether it’s a few days or forever.”

The pegasus still didn’t respond. Instead, she only blinked and continued to stare.

“Whether you agree or disagree with my decision, I must leave. I’ll keep my weapons safe with you, excluding my knife, to ensure that I am mostly unarmed and cannot harm the group if I come into... violant contact,” Aeron unbuckled his pistol’s holster and set it next to Dash, along with removing the rifle from his back.

Dash’s eyes looked to her right to see the weapons and small portions of ammunition sitting there, then quickly went back to staring ahead.

“I just want you to know something before I do end up wandering aimlessly,” Aeron let the conversation be silent for a minute or two, before sighing.

“What I’ve been through in the Wastes, everything I’ve encountered or fought or will continue to fight, I am glad that you were by my side. What I said in the room was true I could’ve done better without you,” Aeron thought he could hear Dash gritting her teeth in anger. “But, that being said, a lot of the situations were made easier with you by my side.”

“My emotional distress, my sanity, and dealing with some... Unforgiving people... That was made easier with you there. I do hope you do well in your endeavours and I sincerely wish you return home to your love, Twilight,” Aeron slowly turned around and walked away from Dash.

But, before he left, he spoke once more. “Rainbow Dash... I think I’m ready to consider you more than just some companion. But, I’ll let you decide that yourself.”

Aeron then walked off, leaving Dash to contemplate what he just said. She turned around, slowly, to see Aeron was no longer there. The pegasus stood up, taking Aeron’s weapons, and trotted slowly back into the main dining room to speak to the others.

Aeron had been gone for several minutes and the group had mostly focused on eating in that time. Whilst they were eating, a silent pegasus had made her way back to the table, throwing Aeron’s weapons onto it.

“Aeron left,” Dash said with a sigh.

“Left?” Celestia asked. “Why did he leave?”

“He believes he’s going is a large problem to the group. So, he felt it reasonable to just... Leave,” She answered quietly.

“Really? Ethan’s more of a problem than he is,” Scarlet pointed out. “No offense,” she added later to the wanderer.

“None taken,” Ethan replied with a chuckle before he returned to the topic. “He does realize that it’s suicide alone out there… right?”

“I’m sure he does. I think that was the point. I mean, I’ve seen him want to be alone before, and the Wasteland isn’t the best place to go walking around for ‘fun’ in...” Dash shook her head at the thought. “But, there’s no point in trying to find him now. He’s probably already lost.”

“Fuck, we’re a man down,” Twilight muttered.

“Shouldn’t we try to find him and change his mind?” Luna asked.

“If he wants to go out to my sister’s death trap, I can’t stop him without a good reason.” Van said as he looked down with his eyes closed. He opened them and looked back up. “He’s already out of the panic room.”

“Well... hopefully he won’t die out there,” Thomas said with a slight sigh.

“Meh, nothing we can do about it now,” Ethan said with a shrug.

“Strange though, for him to run off like that,” Scarlet muttered while pondering a thought.

“I suppose if he felt like he was a danger to us then he would’ve wanted to remove himself so that he couldn’t hurt us...” Twilight said.

“Then that just poses the question.” The woman stated. “What danger could he have possibly posed to us?”

“Well, he did go crazy on Rainbow Dash and Thomas earlier, perhaps he felt that the risk of himself falling back into such a state was too much,” Luna suggested. “What do you think, Rainbow Dash?” Luna asked turning towards the multichromatic pegasus.

“Yeah, that’s sounds like something he’d do. Especially with how he acted,” Dash agreed with the princess.

“But aren’t you used to those kind of people everyday?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, before I took over Vegas, you couldn’t walk through Freeside without meeting a least one insane person.” Scarlet answer. She then shook her head, shaking her current train of thought off. “Maybe I’m just thinking about this too hard.”

“Thinking’s always a dangerous occupation,” Ethan said with a slight chuckle.

“For you maybe,” Thomas said with a roll of his eyes.

Van spoke up. “Actually Ethan is both right and wrong but...” he stopped mid sentence as his face soon bore a curious expression. He then turned to his left and a sly grin from on his face. “It appears we have an extra guest.”

Out of the shadows a familiar black coated stallion materialized right in front of the group, with a slightly amused look at Van. “Interesting, not many mortals can sense my presence.”

“Mortal, me?” Van asked with faux indignation. “When did I catch that particular disease?”

“Since the day the Light created you,” the voidling replied. He then turned towards the group and focus on Dash. “I have a message for you,” he simply stated.

“Oh...?” Dash raised a brow in confusion.

“Yes, it’s from your Twilight. It is a bit private, so you probably want to hear it in a quiet place. Unless you don’t care.”

“Uh... Sure,” Dash looked over at Van. “Is there any place we can speak privately?”

“Yep, any room will do. They’re guaranteed to mute any sound from a simple squeak from a field mouse up to the roars of several orgasaming alicorns,” The strange man replied with a wink at Luna who blushed furiously. “Also I suggest to all of you to get some rest now. The days are going to get a lot harsher from here on out, so enjoy the night while you can.” He added while giving Thomas and Luna a meaningful glance.

“Excellent, it has been a long day for all of us, and an interesting first one for me,” Twilight’s voidling said with excitement.

Ueirn’s eyes suddenly shot open as he looked towards Twilight’s direction. “What?” he demanded.

“Did I stutter, father?” the other voidling asked.

“Father?” Ueirn questioned. “I am no...” he stopped as eyes ‘saw’ the other voidling floating inside the purple mare’s head. He then furiously turned his head at Celestia. “You gave my void essence to HER!?”

“She was suffering from a spell powered by the void that was consuming her mind. It was the only way to save her.” The alicorn replied.

“And you let her tamper with it!?” the black stallion further criticized with a stomp of his hoof.

“Hardly,” Twilight’s voidling said. “Hello father, so nice to meet you,” the voice continued as the form of a dark alicorn mare appeared next to Twilight.

A dark lavender mane flowed around her head, however inside the darkness there was an inner light that seemed to seep out from within. Her coat was a near black shade of purple and the fur flowed as if a light wind was blowing gently over it. Two violet, intelligent eyes looked at the elder voidling with obvious amusement. “So, how do I look, father?” she asked.

“Flashy. You’re letting too much of your energy flow freely like you have no care in the world,” Ueirn replied darkly. “Also, I am not your father.”

“Father, progenitor, same difference daddy dearest,” the voidling said with a chuckle. “Besides I don’t have many cares at the moment other than keeping mother safe,” the voidling said frankly.

“You should be more careful youngling. If you go running around the void in that form, you'll become a beacon for trouble,” Ueirn said flatly.

“Which is why I don’t plan on traveling through the void much, father,” the voidling replied succulently.

Thomas decided that he had had enough of everyone else for the time being. “Come on, Luna. Let’s pick up where we left off,” he suggested.

“Third room from the right,” their host informed them. Thomas nodded, got up from the table, and began to walk towards the aforementioned door, Luna following not far behind.

Ignoring the movement in the room, Ueirn continued on with his conversation with the young voidling. “I find that hard to believe youngling. It’s our nature, and you should know that.”

“Well father, I’m already bonded to mother, and any traveling that I’ll be doing will be from within her,” the voidling informed Ueirn. ”Oh, and I’ve decided upon a name,” she added. “Dawn.”

Ueirn left a disapproving eyebrow, but stated, “So be it, youngling Dawn.”

“So glad that you approve father,” Dawn said cheekily.

Ueirn rolled his eyes before he started to walk away. “We’re not done talking yet youngling Dawn. First I must carry out my pact with Dash’s Twilight.”

“I look forward to it, father,” Dawn told him with a chuckle. Uerin simply walked through a doorway, with Dash not far behind him.

“You know, I’ve never seen Ueirn that frustrated before,” Celestia said, a bit amused by the scene.

“I’m made about a third of him, a third of you, and a more dominant third of mother. I already know what makes him tick, and I’ve got more then enough age and intelligence from you and mother to run verbal circles around him,” Dawn told Celestia with a smirk.

“Yeah, you’ve got quite the silver tongue Dawn, just hope that Ueirn doesn't bring it down to a duel,” Van said. “If I’m putting the right name with the right story, he’s quite a powerhouse.”

“He is,” Dawn replied with a shrug. “Of course I’m not dumb enough to challenge him directly,” Dawn scoffed.

“Besides, she has me,” Twilight added, it was surprisingly easy for her to act maternal.

“Just be careful Twilight,” Celestia said. “You still owe him a favor and he might exploit that if you anger him.”

“I haven’t been saying anything to him,” Twilight replied with a shrug.

“But Dawn has, you two are separate beings, but are one in a sense. What one does will affect the other.” Celestia clarified.

“Relax Sunny, Sparky knows what she’s doing, for the most part,” Ethan said.

“Yeah, Celestia, relax. If Dawn and Twilight play their cards right, I see them becoming a Shadow Knight in a decade or so.” The chaos lord added.

“A what?” Twilight asked.

“A Shadow Knight. It’s title given to someone who has a strong bond with a voidling. They could do powerful acts of magic, either of the art of Order or the art of Chaos, mix with Void magic. There used to be a whole order of them many eons ago, protecting universes and keeping the void tame. However, five of them became corrupted and brought the whole order down. They started a war that nearly ended every universe that existed back then.”

“They sound like great guys,” Ethan snarked.

“Yeah, they were,” Van corrected. “But with the fall of the order, the voidlings all fell under control of the five corrupt knights, who all decided to be called the Apocalypses Lords. Voidlings now have the tendency to outright kill any mortal they come across with, or worse, force a bond and corrupt person’s body throw twisted means. Twilight is the first mortal I’ve see to bond with a voidling and not be corrupted by it.”

“Really?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “I wonder why...”

“Well, like I said, it’s because of the Lords. They keep telling the voidlings that keeping a bond with mortal isn’t the way to ‘become alive’, rather consuming everything is the way to go,” Van explained with a shake of his head. “Especially for the scaley bloat of the lot,” he added under his breath.

“Y’know, I’d suggest a change in management, but they sound like they’d kill you Sparky,” Ethan told the alicorn.

“That’s only if you’re lucky,” Van muttered before shaking his head. “But enough of that depressing topic. Anyways I’d say that it’s bedtime for everyone.”

“A quick question before we do,” Ethan said grabbing the chaos lord’s attention.

“Questions and answers can wait until tomorrow. Like I said, enjoy the night, not blogged it down with worries.”

“I just wanted to know if you’d supply me with the ingredients to make breakfast tomorrow morning, think of it as my way of an apology to the group for being an idiot sometimes,” Ethan told Van.

“You don’t need to apologize for something that is nature for you humans, and no, I can’t supply you with deathclaw eggs. Mostly because, I’ve never seen a deathclaw egg. How about wyvern eggs instead?”

“I don’t think that it would work the same, there’s just something about deathclaw eggs that makes them taste amazing. Here, let me think about them and you can take in all the details,” Ethan said.

Van glanced his eyes upward, having them rapidly move left and right as if he was reading a book. “I guess I can work with this, maybe. Though they are based on your thoughts and not what is physical and real. So the taste might not be right.”

“Better than nothing,” Ethan said. Twilight let out a loud squee, and then blushed rapidly.

“Sorry... I’ll just be going now,” the purple mare said as she rapidly got up from the table and high tailed it towards one of the doors.

“Well then, you’ll find what you need in the morning.” Van told Ethan. “Now I must be off, I have some things to check on.” A doorway appeared right behind Van. Van walked through it saying, “Good night don’t let the wyverns bite,” before door shut right behind him leaving Scarlet, Ethan and Celestia alone at the table.

“Crazy day huh?” Ethan asked with a yawn.

“I’ve been in crazier,” the woman replied before taking another sip from her goblet.

“So, shall we retire to our rooms?” Celestia asked.

“I’m not tired, might just pull an all-nighter.” Scarlet replied, who looked like she was telling the truth.

“You may not be tired now, Scar, but this could be our only chance to have a completely safe night’s sleep, on actual beds no less. If I were you I’d at least go in and lie down,” Ethan suggested.

“Ethan, I haven’t a good night or safe sleep since the Divide. I really don’t care,” the red hair woman stated.

Ethan sighed. “Alright then, Scar. Just trying to help without being an ass about it,” the man said as he got up from his seat.

“Thanks,” Scarlet replied before taking another sip of her drink.

“Alright then,” Ethan said with a shrug. “Night Sunny, I hope you dream of cake,” the man told Celestia with a small chuckle. “And I hope your night goes well, Scar,” he finished with a small smile as he stood in the doorway to one of the rooms.

“Good night Ethan,” Celestia replied back as she too got up from her spot, Ethan nodded to her and entered his room, shutting the door behind him. Celestia also walked towards an open door, but stopped and took a glance back at Scarlet. “Good night...Scarlet.” She walked through, leaving Scarlet alone, staring at the liquid in her cup.

Final Rest

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Final Rest

As Dash entered a random bedroom she immediately flopped, face first, onto the bed. Her body bounced up and down, and she sighed in blissful relaxation. Rolling over, she stared at the light blue ceiling of the room thinking about what Aeron said earlier.

“So, are you ready to hear Twilight’s message?” Ueirn’s voice suddenly spoke up.

Rainbow Dash jumped slightly as Ueirn spoke. She sat up and stared over at the black coated stallion. “Uh... Yeah, let’s hear it.”

“Very well. She said she loves you and that she’ll making preparations with her parents when you get back. Along with a message to be safe.”

Dash nodded, sighing softly. “Well, that’s a bit of a relief. I just hope we get out of here soon... I can’t handle this anymore.”

Uiern rolled his eyes. “Anything else you wish to know?”

“Uhm... How was she? When you saw her?” The pegasus hesitantly asked.

“Worried and ferocious. She wasn’t exactly happy in the way you explain what happen to you in your letter. She snapped at me for not knowing a certain detail.”

“Oh... Well, I was never great at writing letters, anyways... Heh. I hope she didn’t give you too much trouble,” Dash nervously rubbed a hoof on the backside of her neck.

Ueirn scoffed. “Please, I’ve dealt with far worse than a simple spasm of anger. Anything else?”

“Not really... Kind of tired and just want to sleep for a bit. Sorry,” Dash yawned, laying back down on the bed.

“Don’t be. Farewell Rainbow Dash, I’ll be back to collect my payment when the time is right.” Ueirn then lifted a hoof up in the air and pressed it into the ground. His body then started to sink, letting the ground fully engulf him. Soon Dash was left alone once more.

Dash sighed in the silence that filled the room. Closing her eyes, she whispered to herself. “Aeron... Be safe, please...”

Are you sure that you can do this by yourself? Twilight mentally asked Dawn with a tired yawn as she lay down in the comfortingly soft bed that the room provided.

Yes mother, I’ll be fine Dawn replied simply.

Alright then, be careful and wake me if you need me... daughter, Twilight said before closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep. Dawn began to wait for her ‘father’ to appear. He did so after several minutes, or more his presence did.

If we’re going to finish our talk, we do so in our natural realm, his voice sternly spoke at Dawn.

Where you have the upper hoof and could’ve prepared some sort of trap for me, I think not, father, Dawn replied neutrally.

That wasn’t a request. He told her. Dawn felt a strong pull on her form. That was a statement.

Dawn was quickly phased out of the room she was in and was pulled into the void. Dawn tried to resist, trying to hold onto Twilight, but wasn’t strong enough to match Ueirn’s strength. She soon found herself floating around in the vast ‘nothingness’ of the void, with her father floating right in front of her.

That was rather rude of you, father, Dawn said in a slightly acidic tone in her voice.

Does it look like I care youngling? he asked flatly. I want to make sure you won’t hide behind your bonded like what some coward mortal does with a shield.

It is not cowardly to hide from what you cannot hope to win against, father. It is simply good sense! Dawn retorted. Besides, we both know that you wouldn’t strike her down, even if you wanted too. She owes you.

Yes she does, a single deed of my choosing. Something as simple to moving a boulder to making her bansh you forever from her realm.

Ah, but that would be a colossal waste of a favor, father. And I know how much you hate waste, Dawn replied with a small smirk.

I know, especially with what I have planned for Twilight to do. However, I have another Twilight under the same debt and has the same ability to do what I want, he replied with a similar smirk.

Ah, but my mother is more powerful than the other, or at the least has more experience, Dawn said.

Charming a gemstone with the Elements of Harmony isn’t that hard to do, and I don’t need it to be powerful either.

Dawn frowned. The Elements, father? What game are you playing at? She asked him.

The same game every voidling plays youngling. Trying to merge with mortals, he replied shroudly.

Dawn’s brow furrowed as she thought, then her eyes widened. Father, you wouldn’t happen to be... she trailed off for a second. Attempting to purify your Luna’s inner self by charging your aura with the good energy of the Elements would you? She asked him.

Ueirn let out an amused chuckle. So you do have my mindset. You’re only half right. Yes, I don’t want what happened last time when Luna and I merged. I’m planning to build a set of armor that will be enchanted by the gemstone for her, not for me.

Ah... And the power of the Elements will prevent corruption from both yourself and any outside sources! Father, I’m actually honored to call you my progenitor now, that’s brilliant! Dawn said with a grin.

Ueirn let off a scoff. Please, I have been avoiding the Apocalypses Lords since they brought the fall of the order. Of course it’s brilliant.

And now I know where I get my smugness as well as about half of my brilliance, Dawn said with a smirk.

Yes, now we get to the main focus of this discussion. What am I going to do with you?

Do? Why nothing of course. I’m going to be living in a completely different reality than you besides the odd trip into the void. Why would you need to do anything about me? She asked him.

Because you have access to part of my memories, dangerous memories. I gave Celestia a part of me for a reason, knowing she would never tamper with it. While making her think it was for something else, I was able to ‘plant’ a fact that should never be known. And since you are part of that void essence, you have access to that fact.

Ah, so that’s what this is about. Well, father, I’m not going to use it, Dawn told him with a roll of her eyes. What would be the point?

It’s not the point that you would use it, I’m more worried if one of the Lords found out about it. They’ve been looking for a way to destroy every universe in a single swipe of their hands. That information can help them, or stop them. Putting great risk to both you and your bonded.

Dawn let out an irritated sigh. Father, we’re in the void. Where any voidling could be listening. Why are we talking about this here of all places? She asked exasperatedly.

Ueirn let off another chuckle will slowly shaking his head. Oh come on my ‘daughter’. The Lords want to make us think they’re omnipresent in the void, but they aren’t. We’re the only ‘living’ thing in this sector of the void.

Yes, father, Dawn hissed. However ‘sound’ travels a long way in the void.

Yes it does, good thing I cast a shroud of silence before I dragged you here. He let of a smirk. I’ve learned a few things over my tens of thousands years of life, youngling. Have some form of confidence in me, especially for hiding the Lords for five thousands years.

I see, I was about to take back what I said about you being brilliant, but now I’ve thought better of it, Dawn said with a slight sigh. Look, father, I’m glad that you’re worried about me and my mother, but I’ll keep us safe, she told him reassuringly.

Huh, Ueirn slightly scoff. You do not even know the true meaning of that word youngling. Not only that but your powers are nothing but a matchstick being lit in the wind. You can hardly protect yourself as of now.

Dawn shot him a glare but slowly nodded her head, unable to deny the truth of his words. True. She shook her head. What would you propose we do?

Don’t do anything, Ueirn replied. Don’t speak, don’t act, don’t do anything, especially using your void powers. The less you do, the more ‘safe’ you’ll actually be.

Am I to pretend that I do not exist? That I am simply another spark of the Void that so happens to be stuck within Mother’s head? Dawn asked insulted. I will promise you not to speak of this matter to Mother and I will avoid the use of my powers and void travel when I can, but I will not become that which I was before!

The voidling stallion stared at Dawn, clearly unamused. If you so wish then, but do not say I failed to warn you if you cause the Lords to visit your world. He then waved a hoof towards the mare and Dawn felt heavy weight of chains warping around inside her mind.

What? What did you do!? Dawn protested in confusion.

Blocked sections of my memories that were passed down to you, and made some other minor precautions, Ueirn casually replied. I can’t let a loose thread to be left so long that it can be traced back to me.

Dawn stared at him, resentment at the insinuation raging through her mind. I’m... not a bastard, father, she said, her voice a little softer than before.

No, you’re just not supposed to exist the with bond you have, Ueirn stated coldly as he waved his hoof again and Dawn began to feel that she was being pushed away from him.

I... goodbye, Dawn said, her voice even quieter. Ueirn didn’t reply, instead he just turned around and began to walk away from the mare.

Dawn shortly arrived back in Twilight’s mind, even though the alcorn's body was asleep her consciousness remained awake.

Dawn, you’re back,Twilight’s consciousness said tiredly.

Indeed I am, mother, Dawn replied, though there was a slight shake in her voice.

Are... you okay? Twilight asked in concern.

I... yes, I will live, Dawn answered, avoiding the question.

Okay... Twilight said, still adjusting to her new role. Want to talk about it?

No, it is nothing for you to be concerned about, Dawn said flatly.

You’re not going to tell me are you, daughter? Twilight asked.

No, Dawn answered just as flatly.

Alright then, Twilight replied with a mental sigh before she fell back to a full sleep leaving Dawn alone with her thoughts.

The room Van had provided for Thomas and Luna was ridiculous. The bed was nice, true, but neither of them wanted to know why the maze’s real owner saw fit to make it heart-shaped. The thick carpet of crimson rose petals only ended up being trodden underfoot by the man, and treated as dessert by the mare. From the radio on a table beside the bed a tune neither of them recognised played.

“Well this is...”

Luna was similarly speechless. She simply made her way to the bed and clambered on. She patted the red silk blanket next to her, motioning for Thomas to join her. The man made his way to the giant heart and sat next to her.

“So, what? Are we just gonna - ”

“Thomas, may we just talk?”

The request caught him a little off-guard. “Uh, sure, I guess?” he asked cautiously. “What about?”

“Us, Thomas,” the mare answered.

“Oh no, that’s never a good sign,” Thomas muttered.

“Thomas, I’m being serious,” Luna replied, fixing the man with a stare. “What am I to you?”

Thomas looked away, trying to find the words. “I... I’m not really sure. I’ve never really been in this sort of situation. Never had the chance.”

“You’ve never found love before?”

“Never looked. When you travel around a lot, you don’t make too many attachments. Makes it easier,” he explained. “There were a few girls and guys, but they were all one-night things.”

“In a way, I can understand. I am destined to outlive all those I take as lovers. Forming emotional attachments can be...” The alicorn trailed off.

“A bad idea?” Thomas smirked.

“No matter how important you may be to me, you will pass on. It is unavoidable,” Luna said sadly. She closed her eyes and turned away.

“That’s the future,” Thomas replied. “Worry about it then.”

“Thomas, we may not make it out alive,” the mare said, turning to him. Her eyes were filled with worry. “Can’t you take this seriously?”

“Luna, I am. Why worry about something you have no control over? I don’t like it much either, okay?” he asked. “But just focus on what’s happening now. Worry about what’ll happen later when we get there.

“I wish I was as carefree as you.”

Thomas snorted. “Carefree? Luna, I have to stop four different groups from starting a war. I cope with my pain by drinking and sleeping around. Some days, I actually just want to end it all, let it become someone else’s problem.” He sighed and looked down at the petal-covered floor. “Honestly? I just want to pack a bag and walk away. Maybe head north. Up to Canada.” He paused. “Or maybe east. Go see Dom and Veronica again.”

Luna leaned in closer. This was the first time he had ever mentioned anything about this. She didn’t want to think what it would be like, in his situation. At least the nobility had the decency to be mostly ineffectual. But politicians who had to survive in a place so terrible it was comparable to Tartarus, they were surely something to fear. “Would it be worth that risk, Thomas?” she asked quietly. “Walking that far, into danger?”

“I used to do that sort of thing for a living. Every courier has a gun to fend off the worst the Wastes can throw at us. What we can’t fight, we run from instead. Usually works,” he added, absently running a hand through his hair, his fingers tracing the two scars that marked what had started the biggest change in his life.

“Then why not run to Equestria?” Luna suggested.

“I want to,” Thomas moaned. “I really do, but all it’ll take is one accident, or someone figuring out that magic is deadly to me, and I’m gone. At least in the Wastes I have a safe idea of what to expect.”

“I would keep you safe,” she said, resting her head on her shoulder. Thomas glanced and inwardly sighed when he saw that her mane was normal hair.

“You’d keep me locked up. I’d be safe, but that’s not something I could deal with. I need to be able to... to explore, walk around. The castle is big, but I’d get bored. That’s why I love Vegas sometimes.”

“Thomas,” Luna interrupted gently. “Do you love me?” she asked, bringing the conversation back to where it had began.

There were a few terrible seconds where every possible answer ran through the alicorn’s mind. Thomas still managed to surprise her when he gently grabbed her head and turned to face her. He smiled gently before kissing her, his tongue finding its way into her mouth. When he breathlessly released her the man smiled again. "Does that answer your question?"

Luna panted to catch her breath. She smiled back before pushing the man onto his back and climbing onto him, careful to not put her hooves anywhere too delicate.

Scarlet’s eyes stared aimlessly as they watched the the liquid slosh around inside her goblet. The liquid was foggy, colorless, and wasn’t alcohol. She brought the goblet to her lips and took another sip of her drink. The bitter taste stung harshly on her tongue, but settled sweetly in her stomach. Scarlet took the goblet away from her mouth, swallowing the last of the bittersweet drink.

One person dominated most of her thoughts, so it was hardly a surprise that his special drink was the one that the goblet would conjure up. An ironic scoff rolled off her throat as the purpose of this special drink was no longer needed ever since she replaced her real heart with the artificial heart.

But yet, she continued to drink it anyways. Jason, the man that she’d loved, the man that she’d killed, he was always on her mind. Or at least he was now due to the big mouth Vault Boy. In some ways, the two acted very much alike, but with some major differences. At least one would learn when to shut up.

Scarlet put the goblet back on the table and rubbed her eyes while letting out a tired sigh. She then let her hands swing down to the side of the chair will leting her back sliding down it as well, gazing aimlessly up into the ceiling.

Time seemed to fly by as she remembered Jason and the time that they’d had together. The adventures they shared, the stories they made, and...

“Why...?” Scarlet questioned softly. Why was he delivering the message, why was he disguised as an NCR soldier, why did he have to die and not her?

He was the youngest son of the Elder of Arroyo, whose supposed great grandfather was a legend of the Wastes. She? She was just a courier, the result of a drunken one night stand between a soldier and a whore. She was a nobody and he an upcoming legend.

And yet, she had been chosen to continue on living instead of him.

Why?

She knew why.

The Legion.

The words they spoke were honey to her ears, and she’d been gullible enough to believe them. It was all for the good of the Divide, to protect it. But instead of protecting it, she’d been slowly choking it to death.

At first she’d questioned her actions, but had gone ahead and committed them anyways. Soon, she was taking innocent lives like it was nothing. And few had ever questioned their disappearance, after all, the dangers of the Divide hadn’t been fully tamed yet.

Then... then it happened. The day she was sent out to kill a NCR courier, to prevent reinforcements from being sent to aid in the upcoming battle of Hoover Dam. However, it ended up being Jason, and she was forced to watch him slowly bleed to death.

The Legion backstabbed her, setting it up to take both of the ‘leaders’ of the Divide down, crippling the Nation before they slit it’s throat. But, she was able to overcome them, killing them mercilessly. In the end, she’d had enough time to be with Jason just to hear, “it wasn’t your fault,” before he breathed his last breath.

But he was wrong. It was her fault. She was the reason she was here and not him. She’d listened to the Legion’s lies, believed them, and taken the shot that ended his life. So in all, she took away the only thing that brought true joy into her life for the ‘good’ of the Divide.

Not only that, but she also took away a potential great father for one little girl’s life.

“Stop it Scarlet, you’ve already been over this,” she muttered to herself.

The past was the past. There was no way she could change it. All the idiotic plans she’d done back then were set in stone, forever changing her life. All she could do now was move on.

Yet the past kept trying to creep back to her. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Ethan, all of them somehow kept bringing it up even though she’d buried it six feet underground, and all of them tried to offer their aid to something they couldn’t fix. They couldn’t wipe the blood that has stained her hands and heart.

A thought crossed her mind. She got up and went to her bag that was lying behind the chair. Kneeling down she went to a side pouch, opening to relieve some of the books she always carried around. A Big Book of Science, The Wasteland Survival Guide, Dean's Electronics, and a few others. She reached inside a pulled out a book that was not like the others. It was small, worn, and a had a fading golden cross on it.

She sat back down and just looked at the cover for a bit. Never before had she ever considered trusting in a book like this, but after seeing Joshua, someone who did more atrocious deeds than her and yet still have hope. Well...

Opening the section that was marked by a thin scarlet cord, she began to read silently through rest of the night.

Meanwhile Ethan slept oblivious to everything going on around him, his only dreams were of seeing his wife and children again. Oh, and omelets.

Into the Fire

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Into the Fire

Ethan let out a yawn as he pushed the quilt off of himself and rolled over to the side of the bed while he rubbed his eyes. He reached down beside the bed and began to get dressed. Once he felt the comfortingly heavy weight of his duster settle around his shoulders he walked over to the door. He pushed the door open and found Scarlet sitting at the table reading a book.

“Morning, Ethan,” she said not taking her eyes away from the book.

“Morning Scar,” Ethan replied with a smile as his eyes scanned the buffet table. To his delight it seemed that Van had supplied him with everything that he needed to make breakfast. Several bunsen burners with stands for the several frying pans to sit upon so they could be used to cook.

Scarlet glanced up from her book with a skeptically raised eyebrow as Ethan reached into his duster and pulled out two items. One was a retractable metal spatula, and the other was an apron with a Vault Boy icon on it flipping pancakes.

“Really?” she asked him.

Ethan just shot her a grin and turned on one of the bunsen burners, the blue flame bursting into life. Then he moved one of the frying pans onto it before grabbing a large bowl. He emptied out the assorted fruits onto the table and scooped them onto a nearby plate.

Then he began to cook. His arms moved in a flurry of movement and soon he had three omelets baking at the same time. Working on automatic he switched between the three, adding a pinch or two of spice here and there along with a little salt.

The omelets were huge, just barely fitting on the plates as he maneuvered the first batch out of the pans. Using the spatula he chopped off a piece of one and smiled.

“Hmm... these taste perfect,” he said with a nod to himself and a grin.

“Put some gecko meat in mine,” Scarlet told him before going back to where she left off in her book.

“Sure, these were just the trial batch anyways,” the man replied. There was a sudden flash of purple light and Twilight appeared next to Ethan, a wide grin on her face.

“YOU MADE THEM!” she said excitedly.

“Yep, now calm your nubby tits, Sparky,” Ethan said with a chuckle. “You want hay and bacon in yours’, right?”

“Yes!” Twilight nodded emphatically.

Before anything else could be said Luna and Thomas stepped out of the room they’d shared. Luna was wearing a very satisfied smile, while Thomas seemed to have a little trouble walking in a straight line, his eyes glazed over.

Ethan gave them a raised eyebrow before nonchalantly turning back to his cooking. “Morning Captain, Lulu.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose. “You two smell... Wow. How many Luna?”

“I lost count,” she replied, her smile never wavering.

“That’s great!” She said, grinning widely. “Is he okay?” Twilight added, looking at Thomas and his glazed over expression and crooked walking with a slight touch of worry on her face.

Thomas just began humming happily in response. “He’ll be fine,” Luna said.

“What would you two sex fiends like in your omelets?” Ethan asked, turning to look at them.

“Just cheese, thank you.” Luna took a seat, Thomas clumsily doing the same.

“And for you Captain?” Ethan added. When Thomas didn’t respond, rolling his eyes Ethan leaned over and slapped Thomas across the face. “Oi, Captain, snap out of it!”

“Huh? Whuh?” Thomas rubbed his face. “Why’d you hit me?” he asked dangerously.

“Because you were so blissed out that I could’ve sworn that you were high on Super Jet,” Ethan said flatly.

Thomas blinked. “Really?” he asked, looking at the others.

“Yep,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Yeah, I’ve seen Fiends more aware of their surroundings,” Scarlet said with a slight roll of her eyes.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have used that trick I learned from the griffons,” Luna mused.

“That would explain it...” Twilight said trailing off for a moment. “I know that Dash always looks like that after a night with Gilda.”

“Do I want to know what you two are talking about?” Ethan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Even if we told you, there wouldn’t be any point. It’s impossible for someone without wings to perform,” Luna explained.

“Aww, that’s too bad, I wanted to try it” Ethan grumbled. “Anyways, what would you like in your omelet, Captain?”

“Got any brahmin?” he asked.

“So that’s one gecko meat, one bacon and hay, cheese, one brahmin meat, and a bacon and ham omelet coming right up,” Ethan replied with a grin as he began to cook. It didn’t take long before he had finished the first three, passing the plate sized omelets to Scarlet, Twilight, and Luna respectively. “Tell me what you think,” he added.

Scarlet placed a scarlet cord on the page she was currently reading, and set the book down. She then picked up a fork and knife, cutting a piece of the omelet off. Stabbing it with the fork, she lifted it up, studied it, and placed in her mouth. The flavor was....good, if a little too spicy for her taste. Still, she chewed and swallowed what she had and continued on eating.

Ethan gave a satisfied nod once he saw that she’d liked it before turning to watch Twilight eat.

Twilight had wasted no time, her fork moving quickly as she rapidly began to eat the eggs, an almost orgasmic look on her face and a low moan working its way up from within her throat. Ethan just smiled and chuckled at her display, well used to the display.

“I guess that means you like them,” the man said with a chuckle before he turned to Luna. “What about you, Lulu?”

“This is the best omelet I have ever had,” the princess said around her mouthful.

“Haven’t had a deathclaw egg omelet in ages,” Thomas commented.

“Allow me to remedy that,” Ethan replied with a chuckle as he passed Thomas his plate.

The black man raised his fork, ready to eat, but paused. “Where the hell did you get that apron?” he asked, one of his eyebrows rising in confusion.

“I found it at Vault Tec Headquarters a long time ago,” Ethan answered with a grin. “Along with a book of sheet music,” then he looked at Thomas expectantly. “So, go on, take a bite and let me know if it compares to the last one you had.”

Thomas chewed thoughtfully. “The meat’s dry,” he commented.

“...” Ethan didn’t say anything but his lips moved up and down without sound. “You know, you’re the first person to ever actually criticize my omelets,” he said with a disappointed sigh.

Thomas chuckled. “Man, you’re gullible,” he said before shovelling his breakfast into his mouth. Twilight began to giggle Scarlet snorted in amusement and Luna chuckled. Ethan just stared at him in open-mouthed shock.

“Bu-hu-wha- whatever, I’m glad you like it,” Ethan said flabbergastedly after a few seconds of shock.

“I hope I haven’t missed breakfast,” Celestia said as she walked into the room.

“Not at all Sunny, just tell me what you’d like in your omelet,” Ethan replied.

“Tomatoes, please,” Celestia replied.

“One tomato and cheese omelette coming right up,” the man told her with a grin.

Celestia’s nose twitched rapidly. “That’s odd. I smell musk...” she trailed off as she turned to look at Luna and her nose twitched again. “Well... someone certainly enjoyed herself last night.”

Luna’s smile vanished, replaced with burning cheeks. “So?” she asked evasively.

“Nothing, it isn’t my business. The smell just caught me by surprise is all,” Celestia replied, smiling kindly. “I’m happy that you’ve found someone special to you, sister.”

Luna’s smile returned, though her face remained red. “Thank you. I hope my sister finds it in her to let go of her anger and be happy for me as well.”

“I imagine she will, if she’s anything like me then she just wants to see you happy and safe,” Celestia replied.

Thomas frowned. “She can hold a grudge,” he muttered.

“What did you do in the first place?” Twilight asked, having finished her omelette.

“Kinda started a war,” he replied. “I tried to make things right, though.”

“That you did, Thomas,” Luna added softly.

“How did you start this war?” Celestia asked arching an eyebrow.

“He went out of his way to rescue three fillies from slavery.”

“Yeah,” Thomas replied, nodding at Luna. “What the Legion did was still fresh, so... I kinda fell back on instinct.”

“I see... well she could hardly fault you for rescuing innocent fillies could she?” Celestia asked.

“No. She resents him because more than three hundred were lost in the war,” Luna answered sadly.

“Three hundred? War? Lulu, even in my Equestria that’s a large skirmish at best,” Ethan said in surprise.

“Out last war was just before I fell,” Luna explained. “Somehow Celestia managed to ensure that only a scarce few were lost to Nightmare Moon. We are not a militaristic race, and my sister has done everything she can to ensure we stay that way. What Thomas did is...”

“I basically undid a thousand years of hard work,” Thomas finished.

“Yes, that would do it,” Twilight said with a small nod. “Immortals take offense when someone fucks up a thousand years of progress. Of course in this case I’d say that it was more than warranted.”

“Our military is solely for defense, but some ponies want to expand even further. Some even demanded that we take swaths of the Diamond Dogs’ territory as compensation for the towns they attacked,” Luna explained. “It’s been nothing but a headache to deal with.”

“You could just explain the fact that if Equestria attacks the Diamond Dogs then it’ll start a long drawn-out guerrilla war. You don’t attack an enemy that can dig through pretty much anything aside from bedrock,” Ethan suggested.

“When Dom started dropping Nuka-Grenades down their burrows, they stopped digging pretty fast,” Thomas commented. “Seriously, though, who the fuck makes an explosive using cola?”

Ethan stared at him in astonishment. “She actually wasted Quantum on something like that? What the hell is wrong with her?”

“Pinkie managed to grab hold of a bottle of that stuff. Then she projectile-vomited all over Rarity. My ears are still ringing,” Thomas muttered.

“I wish I could’ve seen that, it’s always nice to see Rarity’s reaction to things messing up her coat,” Ethan said with a small smirk. Twilight shot him a disapproving glare but didn’t say anything. “Anyways I’m surprised that the ponies actually want more fighting. I mean sure Sparky here is a blood knight, but besides her I don’t know many who enjoy war.”

“Some have gotten it into their heads that the best way to avoid war is to eliminate every possible opponent,” Luna replied angrily. “A week in the dungeons usually clears their heads. Failing that, we actually put them through basic training. They want nothing to do with fighting after that.”

“You could just save a lot of time and put them through an illusionary battle, and have them die at the end,” Twilight suggested.

“No. The one mare truly capable of that is still undergoing therapy for what happened in her first real battle.”

“Pour a bucket of brahmin blood on them,” Ethan said with a shrug.

Luna began to choke. “No!” she managed to splutter out.

“Betcha it would work, especially for the one or two who actually make it through basic training. Trust me, there’s no better way to remove someone’s enthusiasm for war than with a nice bloodbath,” Ethan replied, smirking.

“The ones that still want to fight after basic are sent north to monitor the frozen wastes, to watch for the return of the Crystal Empire. I doubt it will reappear any time soon,” she muttered sadly.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Um Luna... about that... how many years has your Twilight been living in Ponyville?” Twilight asked slowly.

“It has been three years since the Nightmare was forced from me,” she answered.

“Well then, prepare to get very sparkly very soon. Oh and make sure that you’re there to actually KILL Sombra once your ‘me’ defeats him!” Twilight snarled, unrestrained hatred and bloodlust the likes of which the group had never heard before in her voice. “And when I say KILL I mean destroy his soul down to its basic elements and trap each of those in a different exploding supernova and stick those inside of separate black-holes so that that bastard can’t ever come back!”

Silence descended on the group for several seconds, all but Ethan staring at Twilight. Luna was the first to speak.

“He was a tyrant, but I can’t imagine what he did to deserve that.”

“He possessed my nephew’s body. Changed its shape, raped his mind, and tried to destroy Equestria!” Twilight stated angrily.

“Luna, rip him a new one,” Thomas muttered angrily.

“A new what?”

“An asshole,” he explained. “Hell, rip him two.”

“Or five,” Ethan added.

“Or you could just rip him apart entirely!” Twilight exclaimed darkly. “After your me defeats him in the first place of course, otherwise she won’t learn about self sacrifice,” she added. A small silence descended on the room again and Rainbow Dash walked in.

“What’s up?” She asked with a placid look.

“We’re discussing Twilight’s murder boner for Sombra,” Ethan said, summing up the conversation. “So, you hungry?”

“Ah...” Dash looked over the omelets and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Just a plain one is fine.”

“On it,” Ethan said before he started to prepare another omelet. “You want cheese right?”

“Nope. Nothing,” Dash took a seat at the table, awaiting her omelet. The man nodded and got to work.

Twilight meanwhile had composed herself. “Sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. “Thinking about Sombra... does things to me,” she shook her head, as if trying to shake off a net of dark thoughts.

“No worries from me. Didn’t hear much of it, anyways,” Dash said, stretching out her wings.

“Thanks, Dash,” Twilight said simply, giving the pegasus a smile. “So, did you sleep well?”

“... Not really. Kept thinking about Aeron,” she sighed, placing her hooves on the table.

“Meh, he’s another me, he’ll do fine out there,” Ethan told her.

“He’s nothing like you. He can’t take a knife to the gut and live!” Dash exclaimed to Ethan.

“Not exactly what I meant. I meant that he’s a Lone Wanderer, he’ll be fine,” Ethan assured her.

“Mrm...” She showed feigned excitement for Ethan’s ‘encouraging’ words. “Other than Aeron, I was also thinking of Twilight.”

“Oh, right, Ueirn mentioned that you got a letter from her,” Twilight said. “Anything interesting?”

“She was angry how I worded my letter and not detailing it with enough stuff... Other than that, she’s arranging for me to meet her parents and tell them we’re together,” Dash chuckled softly.

“That should be fun,” Twilight said with a nod. “I’m sure they’ll like you.”

“Hopefully. I mean, sure, I’ve met them at Shining Armour’s wedding... But...” Dash sighed. “I’m not sure how they’ll react to me and Twilight.”

“Well, look at it this way, you’re the Element of Loyalty, somepony who has saved Equestria from danger countless times, if they can’t accept the fact that their daughter loves you then their opinions shouldn’t matter,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“It’s not only them, but, I think Twilight said Shining Armor is a homophobe,” the pegasus stated.

“Cadence will handle him I’m sure,” Twilight said with a small smirk.

“Heh, hopefully. I’ll know when I’m home. Whenever that is,” Dash smiled softly.

“Hopefully soon little pony,” Van replied while appearing in the same clothes as before at the head chair of the table. “If you guys keep working together like you have been, you’ll be able to reach the end of Kata’s maze.

“We’re a gun short,” Thomas commented. “We barely survived the last thing.”

“Well that’s because you didn’t try to fight it. You all just ran. Scarlet was the only one ‘brave’ enough to try,” the well dressed teenager pointed.

“Right, and she did so much damage to it didn’t she?” Ethan asked sarcastically.

“Hey, if I had Celestia’s spear I would’ve done more damage to it.” Scarlet shot back.

“Doesn’t matter now.” Van interjected. “Kata is not allowed to use the same challenge or creatures twice.”

“Thank heavens,” Luna muttered. “I do not want to go through that again.”

“But what about a challenge we can’t do?” Scarlet asked.

“Zero. Every challenge must have a way out that is accessible to the challengers’ abilities. Else the Labyrinth won’t construct it,” Van replied. “Kata can make it seem impossible for you to finish, but it’s not. It’s just very difficult. After all, the Labyrinth was made to test people’s abilities to their limit and beyond.”

“So, how’d you lose it in the first place?” Ethan inquired. “I mean I remember you mentioning something about her killing your parents, but you didn’t really go into any specifics.”

A somber look creeped on the teenager’s face. “Well… let’s just say when my parents felt it was time to step down and let their offspring to become the next overseers of the Labyrinth, Kata decided she wanted to rule it solo.” He clutched the end of the chair’s arm. “It was so… sudden. I didn’t even know she was planning to kill everyone. One moment we were going through the passing ritual, the next thing I know I have a dagger in my guts.”

“What a fucking cunt,” Twilight said with a frown.

Van let out an agreeing grunt. “Among other things,” he added. “To sum the rest up, I blacked out, woke up here, and started to plan of my revenge and for my reclamation of the Labyrinth. Which you all are now a part of.”

“And that plan is?” Celestia asked.

“Simple, make it to the end of the maze,” the teenager replied with a grin.

“Oh you’re right, it is so simple,” Scarlet replied with a roll of her eyes. “Why haven't we thought of that?” she asked sarcastically.

“Cause we’re idiots, apparently,” Ethan commented with a roll of his eyes.

“All right, maybe I phrased that wrong,” Van said with a suppressed sigh. “You guys just have to do is reach the end of Kata’s maze. Sure it won’t be easy, might be like fighting through Hell and back. But you guys been through worse, right?”

“I’ve been to Tartarus, this is worse,” Twilight muttered.

“Still, all you have to do is reach the end. I will handle the rest myself,” Van assured them.

“And why is it so important we reach the end of this maze? Kata said we would just be sent back to our world,” Dash asked.

Van let out a small amused scoffed. “And you believed her? Yes, back then under my parents rule you would’ve been sent back, but now? She will just kill you on the spot. No one has ever left the Labyrinth alive ever since she took over; only by death has anyone ever escaped, or through the void.”

“And what makes you think that you can beat her?” Thomas asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Because I have a trump card,” the teenager replied with a grin.

“So, by trump card do you mean some kind of trick, or something more interesting like say, an Apocalypse Lord that wants to kill her?” Twilight asked as she eyed him.

“No, an actual card.” With a flick of his wrist, a single sliver-white card with a symbol of an eight pointed star, the symbol of chaos, appeared in Van’s hand.

Ethan’s head hit the table. “Damn all puns to hell,” he groaned. “Please tell me that you’re not going to trap her in that, that would be really unoriginal.”

“No, that would be too merciful, even for her.” Van replied. “You’ll see what this card will do if you reach the end of the maze. But I can’t talk about it. Part of my deal in order to use this card.”

“I thought only wizards were allowed to be so vague and annoying,” Dawn muttered allowed.

“Yes, but when you make a deal with Lady Luck, you better keep to it to yourself, else it loses it value,” Van said as he flicked his wrist again, causing the card to vanish.

“Wait... you know Lucy?” Ethan asked the man with a raised eyebrow of surprise.

“Who doesn’t?” Van replied.

“Strange that she hasn’t mentioned you, and we try to play poker every month or so,” Ethan mused with a shake of his head. “I can never win... Cassie comes close...”

“So have so many others, but what did you expect?” Van asked with a small chuckle.

Ethan shrugged. “Eh, I just like playing,” the man said. “The sex afterwards is always fun too.”

“Anyways... you still haven't answered the question on why it’s important for us to make it to the end of this maze.” Scarlet asked with some annoyance in her voice.

“Oh right, because that’s the only way we can draw Kata out from hiding,” Van said. “You see, right now she is in what you might call the ‘observation’ room. She’s untouchable there and near-omnipotent too. From there she watches and controls what goes on inside the Labyrinth, but it’s also her weakness. You see, father’s rules states that whoever is in the observation room must congratulate the victors who’ve managed to get through the maze, in person.”

“Which is when you come in and stab the cunt in the heart with a playing card,” Ethan said dryly.

“No,” Van replied with deadpan face. “The card will just help me fight her on an even playing field. I will stab my young sister with this.” He held out his left hand as an exotic golden black dagger appeared in his hand out of a bright flash of light. “This is the same dagger my, dear, dear sister tried to kill me with. I would like to return the favor.”

“With that gaudy piece of ceremonial steel? I’m surprised that it even holds an edge, let alone gives you the power to kill someone as powerful as your sister appears to be,” Luna said with a slight huff.

“Don’t judge magical weapons by appearance alone Luna,” the teenager replied with a smirk. “Especially a weapon forged by the Zarians. If used right, the user can kill almost anything in a single blow. Beside, like Ethan said, I just have to stab it through her heart.” The dagger disappeared in his hand in another flash of light. “Also, that’s not my only weapon,” he added while letting his left arm rest back on arm of the chair.

“So, we’re being sent through a deadly maze, full of even deadlier creatures, run by a sadistic, backstabbing cunt, all so that we can get to the end of the maze and meet said cunt face to face, right?” Twilight asked Van.

“Pretty much,” Van said.

“Well then, it’s a good thing that I ate a good breakfast first,” Twilight declared, before burping and getting up from her chair to stretch.

“Yes,” Celestia replied. “Still, what’s going to prevent Kata from killing us outright the moment we step out of this room?”

“She can’t. Only the challenges of the Labyrinth can kill you. Though she can cripple you, to the best of her abilities, but that puts her at risk. So hopefully she won’t, though I won’t put it past her.”

Twilight pointed at her head and as she sat back down in her chair. “Yes, I have experience with that,” she said dryly.

“Speaking of which, how can Kata use void magic? No mortal should without having a voidling bonded with them, but the void essence I absorbed wasn’t from one. It didn’t have any sort of memories.”

Van tilted his head in confused. “I… don’t know. That’s actually news to me.” He placed a hand under his chin. “Though it would explain why her illusions are so devastating to the souls of the people she used them on.”

“That’s a good way of putting it,” Twilight said with a shake of her head.

“At least we’re safe here,” Thomas commented absently. He froze as what he just said processed. “Ah crap.”

“Thomas, the only thing stopping me from breaking your nose is the fact that you rutted me senseless last night,” Luna growled.

The room suddenly began to shake violently, as if it was being held by a psychopathic ten year old. Things fells off the table, chairs were overturned, and the people inside fell to the floor.

“No need to worry, she can’t get to us in here!” Van shouted over the noise.

“You sure about that?” Ethan shouted back as he tried to struggle back to his feet.

“Perfectly!” Van replied.

As if to spite the labyrinth’s true owner, cracks began to appear in the far wall.

“Ignore that, she can’t really get in, she’s just making the illusion that the wall is breaking!” Van reassured them.

“Why do I feel that you are simply saying things!?” Luna yelled, her legs spread far apart and wings unfurled for balance.

“I think if she could get into here then she would’ve already,” Ethan shouted. “Also that’s a nice look for you Lulu.” Then he let out a startled yelp of pain as the bunsen burner that he’d been cooking with fell on his foot. “HOT HOT HOT!” he exclaimed, falling onto his back.

Luna couldn’t help but smirk as she cast her eyes around the room for her flail. Seeing it, she pulled it to her. “You may be new, but I will not lose you,” she muttered. “Especially not in such a forsaken place.”

“Luna, stop talking to yourself,” Thomas said loudly to make himself heard.

Without warning the shaking stopped.

“Well, at least the shaking has stopped,” Celestia said.

“What did I tell you?” Van asked loudly. “Nothing to worry about!” Then the room flipped upside down.

Everyone in the room, with the exception of Van fell onto the ceiling, followed by everything else in the room. Before they landed, though, Van snapped his fingers and the ceiling became a padded wall.

“Not to worry, you’re all going to be fine,” Van told them.

“I am starting it believe that less and less!” Thomas shouted as he rolled onto stomach. “Oh my back.”

“So am I-” Ethan began but was cut off when a scalding-hot pan hit him in the face. “FFUUUCCK!” he shouted in pain.

“Are you okay, Ethan?” Twilight asked, flying over to him.

“I just got hit in the face by a hot frying pan, what do you think?” Ethan snapped.

“Fine, excuse me for caring,” Twilight harrumphed. “Besides, we both know that you’ll be fine in a few minutes anyways.”

The man shrugged just before gravity returned and they fell back towards the floor. Again, Van provided a soft landing.

“See, everything’s fine,” Van said with a shrug. “My baby sister is just throwing one of her temper tantrums.”

“Some tantrum,” Scarlet muttered as she pushed herself straight.

“Well, she was always a spoiled brat,” Van said with an annoyed grunt. “But I assure you, that’s the most she can do while you’re in this room.”

“That’s reassuring,” Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes.

“That cunt ruined my omelets!” Ethan said angrily.

“That’s not the only thing she ruined,” Scarlet said as she made her way to her rifle. Picking it up, a cracked and bent scope could be seen. “The gun itself should still fire, but now I’m shooting with less than half of the accuracy.”

“That’s what you get for carrying one of those around,” Thomas replied. He had unslung his brush gun and was trying to force the sight back into alignment.

Scarlet just gave the black man a quick glare, but didn’t say anything as she worked to take the damaged scope off her rifle.

“Not sure if this is a good suggestion, and it probably isn’t, but would you like to use the scope from my magnum?” Ethan asked her as he got to his feet, rubbing his red face gently.

“Those scopes can’t fit on my rifle’s body, it’s way too small,” Scarlet stated.

“Ah well, I tried,” Ethan said, shrugging.

“Somehow, I get the feeling the longer we stay here the more she’ll throw at us,” Thomas grumbled.

“Yeah, she seems like the type,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Then you all should better get going,” Van said as he got up from his chair. With a snap of his fingers a door appeared. “Remember, keep working together and you should make it to the end of the maze.”

“Well then, let’s get going,” Ethan said with a nod towards the exit. “Thanks for hosting us, Van.”

“Thanks for still working together,” Van replied with a grin. “Normally, teams this big don’t last very long in Kata’s maze. Most of the time when a group gets this far they’re all at each others throats.”

“We were at that point, but we got over it,” Ethan said. “For the most part anyways. So, Captain, want to lead the way?”

“Yeah. The sooner we get outta this place the sooner we can go home.”

As one the group got up, with Thomas in the lead, and left the room.

Creepy Crawlies

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Creepy Crawlies

The group walked back into the bland gray walls hallways. Only in their absence it had changed, the ceiling so high up it couldn’t even be seen. However at one end of the hallway was a bright light. “You know what they say about the bright light at the end of the tunnel...” Thomas muttered uneasily.

“Yeah, but what choice do we have?” Scarlet said.

“None at all, so let’s get going. I’m sick of this place, not of the people, but the decor is really starting to get on my nerves,” Ethan growled. “And don’t even get me started on the service!”

Luna just stared. “I would ask you to take things seriously, but I’d have better luck convincing a Diamond Dog they could fly.”

“To be perfectly honest, Lulu, they’re not very smart so you might be able to pull that off,” Ethan told her in a snarky voice and a chuckle, then his expression sobered. “But in all seriousness I really want to get home, I miss my wife, and my kids.”

“Why is the ceiling so high?” Thomas asked.

“I don’t know, it seems odd,” Twilight said with a frown.

“Does anyone else feel a draft?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, there’s definitely a draft in here,” Rainbow Dash said with a frown.

“I swear if Kata takes us to the Divide...” Scarlet muttered.

“No, doesn’t feel right,” Thomas replied. “Feels more like the Big Empty.”

The group continued towards the light, and they soon found themselves standing out what look like a landing platform overlooking a canyon entrenched in the earth. A single vertibird was waiting for them, but it looked a bit different from the ones the NCR or Enclave owned. It seemed to have two small bulbous pods on either side, each containing what appeared to be a machinegun nest.

“Oh, you are beautiful!” Ethan said as his eyes devoured the vertibird.

“Did I mention the idea of flight scares me?” Thomas asked. “Because it does.”

“You’re not the only one soldier boy,” Scarlet muttered as her eyes wearily looked at the vehicle.

“But just look at her, she’s gorgeous!” Ethan said with a wave to the vertibird. “Although I’ve never seen one with that configuration of machine gun nests,” he added.

Yes, I’ve never understood your kind’s fascination with energy weapons. Bits of metal are just as effective, Kata said suddenly.

“I’m curious as to why you haven’t dropped the ceiling on us,” Luna said calmly. “Surely you’re upset about your brother.”

Oh, you have no idea how tempting that is right now, but I have to let the maze finish you off and give you a ‘fair’ chance of succeeding, Kata bitterly stated. But don’t worry, you’ll be finished off before you’ll even get to the end, she said with much confidence in her voice.

“Mhm,” Ethan said, not really paying attention to the voice as he walked up to the vertibird and began to check the engines.

It will fly, I haven’t sabotaged the engines to cut off in mid flight, she said in a bored tone.

“Mhm,” Ethan said again as he began to climb onto the top of the vertibird to investigate the rotors.

“Does he even know what he’s doing?” Scarlet asked.

“Yes, he’s very good with tech. I know it’s surprising,” Twilight said dryly.

“Can he fly it?” Thomas asked.

“Yes, very well,” Twilight said with a nod.

“Why does that not inspire confidence in me?” Scarlet muttered.

“We’ve been given a modified vertibird with enough firepower to kill half the Legion,” Thomas muttered. “Why do I feel that won’t be enough for whatever’s coming next?”

“Because then it wouldn’t be fun!” Ethan answered with a grin as he hopped off of the vertibird.

“I am not getting in that,” Luna muttered. “I refuse to encase myself in that flying metal death trap.”

“I’m of a similar feeling,” Twilight said. “I’ve hated them ever since I got my wings,” she added giving her wings a flap.

“I have to say the same, my skills are not going to be useful inside an enclosed metal area.” Celestia said.

“Yeah, I’m Rainbow Dash, I don’t need some machine to fly for me!” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Well then, looks like it’s all humans in the vertibird,” Ethan said with a nod to Thomas and Scarlet. “Sounds fun.”

“No,” Thomas mumbled. “She’ll have planned for this. That’s why there’s a pair of machine guns. We’ll be using them. Whatever we’re using them against will be able to take out anyone else easily. Whoever’s not inside isn’t going to survive.”

“Well... the seats aren’t going to be the right shape for them. And I doubt that we’ll want three alicorns and a pegasus tumbling around inside with us,” Ethan said with a frown. “Besides, we might be too heavy for takeoff.”

“Hey, who’re you calling fat!?” Rainbow asked angrily.

“Well... the three alicorns... I mean, they’re heavier right?” Ethan asked.

“I can’t understand how you got married if you fail to understand the most basic thing about communicating with females,” Luna said venomously. Celestia and Twilight shot a pair of matching glares at him.

“Almost dying together helps,” Ethan replied with a shrug. “Anyways, fat jokes aside, I still have a point.”

“We tear the seats out, it’ll give them room, lighten the load a bit,” Thomas mused.

“We’re going to need to do more than tear the seats out,” Scarlet said. “We’re going to have to tear out the machine guns and the ammo they have.”

“Which’ll leave us defenseless,” the other Courier pointed out. “What’s the maximum carry weight for one of these things?”

“I’m not sure, is it one of the Republic’s, or the Enclave’s?” Ethan asked. “The Enclave’s ones can usually carry more.”

“The Enclave’s have a great big ‘E’ painted on the side. Can’t see it, but there aren’t any NCR markings either.” Thomas walked around the vertibird, trying to find some sign. “Looks like it just came off the factory floor.”

“Pre-war tech?” Scarlet suggested.

“No, they weren’t manufactured until the Enclave nearly wiped out the West Coast years ago,” Thomas corrected. “The Enclave had manufacturing plants, though.”

“Well, I don’t think that the ponies would fit regardless,” Ethan said. “Not that I want them to have to be out there...”

Luna closed her eyes and pulled her magic within her. When she opened them, her mane and tail had become normal, powdery-blue hair. “We can only try,” she stated.

“I guess it’s flying time then, Faust how I’m not looking forward to this,” Twilight said, gulping.

“Why do I get this feeling we’re all going to end up crashed and burned before we get halfway through the air?” Scarlet muttered.

“Eh, I get that feeling a lot Scar, you’ve just got to kick it in the balls and keep on walking,” Ethan said as he pulled down the ladder and opened the hatch before stepping inside. The others shrugged and followed him in.

The interior of the vertibird looked like most others, with the exception of the cockpit which featured three main consoles. The one in the middle was obviously for piloting as evidenced by the dozen of controls while the other two were more ambiguous. Ethan took the seat in the middle and began to press the buttons.

Rainbow took a step back when the ramp in the back opened, revealing the cargo bay. “Yeah, I think he was right. We’re not gonna fit.”

“As much as I trust Ethan’s piloting skills, I would prefer to fly myself anyways,” Twilight told her.”What about you, Luna?”

“I do, but... we should not separate for any reason,” Luna pointed out. She leaned in and looked at the seats. “Celestia, can you help me remove them?” she asked, pointing with a hoof.

Celestia nodded. “Yes, let’s do this quickly, Luna,” the alicorn replied with a nod as her horn began to glow and the bolts holding the seat in were unscrewed simultaneously. Luna didn’t bother with such trivialities and just tore the seat out, accompanied by the sound of protesting metal.

Celestia arched an eyebrow at Luna but said nothing. “What?” the smaller alicorn asked. “It worked,” she pointed out. Celestia seemed to sigh to herself before she continued her task of undoing the bolts. Twilight joined them in the task, using a bit of both of the other alicorns’ techniques. Rainbow Dash just watched.

“Never seen anything like this before,” Thomas muttered, sticking his head into the small, clear plastic dome that housed the machine gun nest.

“Just use it like you would any other .50 cal you find,” Ethan called.

“Who the hell makes a .50 cal machine gun?” the black man asked.

“Men with extremely tiny penises,” Ethan replied. “I mean, have you seen some of those old desert eagles? They’d break the average man’s wrist if he wasn’t careful.”

“I remember seeing one of those out west once. Stupid, over-complicated piece of crap.”

“Hell, if you think that that’s bad, I one time found the designs for a gauss minigun,” Ethan replied with a shake of his head.

Thomas just grunted in disgust at the idea of something so stupid and turned to Scarlet. “What do you think?”

“I prefer rifles,” Scarlet muttered. “But I can work with this. And yes, both of those are stupid.”

The last of the seats was torn out with a particularly loud screech. “That should do it!” Luna proclaimed loudly. “Now there is space for us all!” she added as she led the other ponies in.

“Awesome!” Ethan called back. “Just be careful back there, I have the feeling that we’re not going to be flying straight the whole time and I don’t want one of you getting hurt when I do a reverse corkscrew somersault.”

“As long as Twilight doesn’t start anything, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Scarlet said with a smirk.

“Hey, it was one time!” Twilight said.

“Yeah, but pressed right next to her, in a small tight space...” Thomas trailed off deviously.

“Har, har, har,” Twilight laughed fakely. “How about you switch places with me, Thomas? I bet you and Luna could have some alone time back here, the others would just be the icing on the cake!”

“Don’t give him ideas,” Luna replied icily. Twilight shot the man a smirk of her own and said nothing else. Then Ethan found the intercom button.

“Stop horsing around back there, ladies,” Ethan said, his voice amplified by the intercom. “Anywho, mares, gentleman, Scarlet, welcome to Air Ethan, this is your captain, Ethan Smith speaking. I’d just like to remind everypony to keep their arms, legs, tails, manes, horns, wingboners, and any other part of your anatomy inside of the vehicle at all times, have fun, and enjoy the ride as we plunge towards almost certain death.”

“NOT HELPING IN THE LEAST!” Twilight shouted up at him.

“Mares, so easily frightened,” Ethan said with a sorrowful shake of his head. Then he turned to Thomas and Scarlet. “You guys ready?”

“No,” the man replied.

“Let’s get this over with,” the redhead stated.

“Well then, bonzie!” Ethan shouted as he pulled down on the thrusters and the vertibird began to rise into the air. Then he pushed forwards and the vertibird began to power through the air.

“I AM REGRETTING THIS DECISION!” Luna yelled in a very close approximation of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE!” Thomas yelled back from his nest.

“The captain would like to remind the occupants of the back seats and the co-gunner that yelling loudly could distract him enough to make him veer off course and crash into the canyon walls at any second,” Ethan said into the intercom.

The vertibird unexpectedly swept under a large intersecting piece of the canyon that seemed to have been hollowed out, leaving only the top half. Ethan let out a cry of excitement as they plunged downwards only to pull up at the last minute.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?” Thomas screamed.

“Well, the way I see it, the closer we come to death before the other foot drops the less likely that situation is to phase you,” Ethan replied calmly. “Plus this is fun!”

“GO FUCK YOURSELF ETHAN!” Twilight shouted from the rear of the vehicle where she was squeezed between Luna and Celestia.

“Love you too, Sparky!” Ethan called back, then he turned back to Thomas. “Better?” he asked.

“Just keep us flying straight and I won’t shove your head up your own ass,” he growled.

“Want help with that?” Scarlet asked.

“Guys, if you do that then you’ll probably get a whole three seconds of personal satisfaction before you crash into the side of the canyon,” Ethan pointed out. Then he returned his gaze ahead. “Umm guys, please, please, please tell me that I’m high...” he said.

“Oh no,” Thomas muttered, poking his head around to look out the front of the aircraft.

“Are you kidding me?” Scarlet asked.

“FUCKING CAZADORS!” Ethan shouted.

“How big is that thing?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Twice as big as this vertibird,” Ethan replied in a slightly quieter voice.

“Can you not yell through this device?” Luna asked.

“There is a giant fucking cazador out there, I’m allowed to yell as loudly as I want!” Ethan shouted back, turning his head this time instead of using the intercom.

“Guys, what’s a cazador?” Rainbow asked.

“Picture the biggest wasp you’ve ever seen, multiply that by ten. Add poison strong enough to knock out a bighorner, and the tenacious urge to kill that’s unmatched by anything else on earth, and that’s a fucking cazador,” Ethan replied. “They’re what Satan uses when he needs to have someone stung.”

“How close is it?” Thomas asked.

“I can’t tell, but it’s getting bigger...” Ethan said.

“Then what the hell are we waiting for!?” Scarlet yelled, swivelling the turret around and opening fire.

The large bullets slammed into the cazador’s head, drawing a bit of blood and seeming to succeed only in attracting the monster’s attention.

Thomas just stared out the side. “You notice anything about the walls?” he asked timidly.

“That they’re nests, yes, yes I did,” Ethan answered nervously.

“Nests for what?” Luna asked.

“Cazadors,” Thomas said. “We are flying through the biggest cazador nest in existence.” The man sounded unnaturally calm.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Ethan said before he shut his eyes and closed them tightly. The vertibird remained on course despite his closed eyes and when he opened them again he had a small smile on his face. “Soooo, who’s up for a game I like to call ‘fly or die’?”

The sounds of Scarlet’s machine gun had alerted almost every other cazador in the canyon to their presence. As the ungodly buzzing began to fill the air, Thomas gritted his teeth. “Get us the fuck outta here,” he said lowly as he opened fire.

“Aye, aye!” Ethan shouted as he cranked the thrusters forwards and the vertibird began to rocket through the canyon and towards the giant cazador.

As the vertibird and the giant cazador flew towards each other, the walls of the canyon came to life. Hundreds upon hundreds of normal-sized cazadors flew out of the nests, filling the air, the combined drone of their wings drowning out the sound of machine-gun fire. Scarlet’s machine-gun fired a steady burst of bullets, as she shot down the cazadors who were making their way to the vertibird.

Thomas swung the barrel of his gun around in an arc, taking out cazadors as they approached. “There’s too many!” he yelled.

“Tell me about it, I’m guessing that there are at least several hundred thousand out there, and that’s a conservative estimate,” Ethan said with a frown. “God, I need flying music for this shit.”

The sound of the cazadors throwing themselves against the sides of the vertibird soon filled the air. They didn’t seem to be doing much damage, but the constant buffeting was making controlling the aircraft a challenge. Then a rather large silvery stinger stabbed itself through the metal a few inches away from Luna’s face.

The Princess of the Moon let out an undignified squeal as she tried to back away. Unfortunately, she didn’t really have anywhere to go, backing right into Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, watch it!” Rainbow Dash shouted in annoyance, pushing the princess away.

“How did that thing penetrate the metal!?” Luna asked loudly

“I’m not sure, it appears to be wrapped in a metallic substance of some kind,” Twilight replied as she eyed the stinger with a cock of her head. “I kind of want to examine it... is that bad?”

A jolt of energy hit the stinger, shocking the cazador and making it pull its stinger back out. “We should cast a shield around the ship,” Celestia said to Luna and Twilight in a calm and orderly tone.

“On it,” Twilight said, her horn suddenly exploding with purple light as a purple shield sprang into existence around the exterior of the craft.

“Who put up the purple blinds?” Ethan asked as his vision turned purple.

“The ponies did, trying to keep us from being randomly impaled by a stinger,” Scarlet replied before shooting down six more cazadors.

“Well I’m thankful for that, and don’t get me wrong, I love the color purple, but it’s kinda hard to SEE when it’s like this,” Ethan said with a grumble as he avoided a rather dense knot of cazadors.

“I want some damn fire!” Thomas yelled angrily.

“I’d kill for a pair of nose mounted flamers,” Ethan agreed, swerving the vertibird to the side.

Celestia looked at her spear, and frowned a bit, but she levitated it up and contracted on a spell. Dozens of cazadors were suddenly making a beeline right towards the cockpit until a roar of fire from somewhere near the center of the nose pushed them away, or fried them. “How’s that?” Celestia asked while still focusing on her spell.

“Well Sunny, it’s not quite morning anymore, but I still love the smell of napalm,” Ethan shouted back to her.

“Good,” Celestia replied before unleashing another torrent of flame.

Thanks to the efforts of Celestia a large swath of their current problem was no longer in any way a threat to them and there was only one real danger, the giant cazador that was only increasing in size as they neared it.

“Just how big is that thing?” Thomas muttered, swivelling around to fire at it.

“Is it too big to play chicken with do you think?” Ethan asked him.

“It looks about the same size as... Oh god no.” Thomas’s eyes went wide in horror.

“The size of what?” Scarlet asked in an annoyed tone. She then finally glanced at the giant cazador and realised what Thomas was talking about. “Ah, that’s what,” she said, still annoyed by the fate.

“Okay, seriously, what are you two talking about?” Ethan asked, his own annoyance beginning to rise.

“Big Empty.The Forbidden Zone. The X-42,” Thomas mumbled.

“The giant robot radscorpion?” Ethan asked.

“Yep, and I think the Pulse Gun ain’t going to help us defeat it,” Scarlet said.

“Stupid, temperamental piece of shit,” Thomas growled. “Why the hell does a pistol need all that junk to work?”

“That thing is useful as all hell, are you telling me you don’t like it?” Ethan asked as he began to angle the vertibird as far away from the giant cazador as possible.

“Give me a gun that I can feel I fired. Doesn’t feel right otherwise.”

“I don’t know man, seems like you’re limiting yourself,” Ethan told him as he gazed at the giant cazador that seemed to have finally noticed them.

“I don’t think this the proper time to discuss Thomas’s taste in weapons,” Scarlet said.

“Well, it’s distracting us from our internal terror, so I’d say that it’s a good idea,” Ethan told the woman with a small nervous chuckle.

“It’s times like this when humans confuse me,” Twilight muttered to Luna, her horn still blazing as she held up the shield.

“At least that infernal racket has ceased,” the other alicorn replied.

“Yeah, although this shield is draining me really fast, it’s too big,” Twilight said with a worried frown as small beads of sweat began to form on her face. “I’ve been using too much magic for too many days in a row... not sure how much longer I’ll be able to keep up the pace that I’ve been going at... pretty soon I’m not going to have anything left at all.”

“Concentrate Twilight. Don’t think about events from the past, focus on the current, and push on till we are out of this,” Celestia assured the purple mare as she continued to help keep a clear path in front of the vertibird.

“Right,” Twilight said quietly, her nerves slightly soothed by the sound of her ‘teacher’s’ voice. “Just like destroying and reassembling a mountain.”

Celestia mentally blinked at the statement. “Yes...I suppose so.”

“As heartwarming as this is, perhaps we should be more worried about the hydra-sized insect that is on a collision course with us,” Luna snarked.

“I think we’re all plenty worried about it,” Ethan replied, leaning around in the seat and steering with one hand. “But... there’s really not much we can do except try and shoot it to death.”

“Yeah, if we could fire mini-nukes like bullets,” Scarlet commented.

“Aim for the wings, we might be able to knock it out of the air,” Thomas suggested.

“Okay, just hold on, this is going to be a bit... tricky,” Ethan added as he turned back around and sent them rocketing towards the giant cazador, more specifically one of its wings. “Oi Sunny, you’re the one with the flamethrower, try and do some damage on that bastard’s wings!”

Celestia nodded and concentrated on her magic. The glow from the red gemstone on the spear intensified, waves of heat started to escape from edge of the shaft of the weapon.

The other ponies did what they could to get away, but the small space didn’t give them much room. “Turn it down, would ya?” Rainbow asked loudly, fanning the heat away from herself with her wings.

“One second,” was all the response the alicorn gave as continued to charge her spell.

Her eyes then snapped open revealing pure white glow and she lowered the spear and thrust it through the air, away from hitting anyone of course. Outside of the vertibird a huge crushing wave of fire burst out and soared towards the giant bug, arcing slightly as it curved behind it and slice through its wings. One of wings were sheared off easily, and the cazador started to violently tumble in the air.

“Well, good news is that it’s going to crash,” Ethan stated, his tone oddly hollow as he jerked down on the controls. “Bad news is that it’s going to be crashing into us... all passengers brace for impact... and explosions.”

“Bloody hell...” Scarlet muttered in utter horror.

“Hold onto something!” Thomas screamed.

“What!?” Luna yelled back. “We tore everything out!”

“THEN GET OUT!” Ethan turned to shout back at them even as the giant cazador hurtled towards the ship.

“Luna grab Scarlet, I can carry Thomas,” Celestia said as she looked at the hatch to the vertibird, her aura started to warp around the black man .

“Ethan, open the door!” Luna screamed, her horn glowing as she prepared to grab Scarlet.

Twilight diverted her attention to grabbing Ethan, but to her horror found that she couldn’t grasp him in her magic. The man turned and gave her a small shake of his head while mouthing the words ‘hard to kill’ at her. The mare nodded solemnly, and prepared to make her escape.

“Opening,” Ethan replied, pressing a button. “I hope you’ve all enjoyed your first and last flight on air Ethan!”

The ponies could see the door opening, of that there was no question. But it seemed to move at a snail's pace. Celestia frowned at this and quickly turned her spear to it’s butt end and plowed it at the door. There was a mighty ‘thong’ sound as the force of the spear bust the hatch wide open, letting a torrent of wind to gust through the aircraft. “GO!” Celestia shouted.

Right as the alicorn said those words, crunching sound of metal crackling in every ears and the vertibird jerked downward and to the side. It soon was spinning out of control in a spiraling dive, making the whole party get all pinned to the opposite end of the wall. “MOVE IT!” Celestia shouted again as she fought against the forces pushing her down, dragging Thomas with her.

Luna grunted as she pulled Scarlet with her, trying her best to keep on her hooves. “Come on!”

Rainbow Dash was the first to reach the door, long ago used to fighting even the most powerful of G forces. She leapt out from the crashing vehicle and noticed something rather odd, there were no cazadors around her. She didn’t have much time to ponder this however as she was too distracted by the other members of the party attempting to escape. Twilight was next, followed by Luna and Scarlet, and then last came Celestia and Thomas.

The last two escaped just in the nick of time, and the vertibird along with the giant cazador plowed into the ground, bottom edge first. There was a great thundering sound as well as a symphony of bending metal... and then all was silent.

The group took a few moments to collect their breaths, as they watched the wreaked for a few moments.

“Where’s Ethan?” Scarlet asked, ignoring the clicking from her pip-boy.

“I... I couldn’t get him,” Twilight murmured softly. “I didn’t have enough magic to grab him. Come on, we need to find him.” she then winged off towards the crash site.

“Or what’s left of him,” the woman muttered.

“Ethan ain’t dead,” the other Courier said. “He’s too stubborn for that.”

The group arrived at the crash site to find it strewn with pieces of metal and broken steel along with hissing electrical wires. The giant cazador had been split in half, and the vertibird was even worse. Yet as they approached the cockpit, they saw something that managed to top that. Ethan was impaled through the chest by a six inch wide, several foot long piece of metal.

Twilight let out a low gasp and turned away for a moment, a sob working its way through from within her throat. The others stood there, too shocked to say or do anything. Then suddenly, the man’s mouth opened and he brought in a struggling breath. The man’s body jerked several times, releasing a bit of blood with each jerk from his chest wound.

“HOLD STILL YOU IDIOT!” Twilight shouted up to him, her voice a mixture of relief and terror.

Celestia was next to react as the tip of her spear rested against the metal spike jutting from the front of Ethan’s chest and cut it into a short stump. Next the mare quickly moved the man off the stump, gushes of blood pour out as the seal from the spike was broken, and she laid him down on the ground. Without being directed to act, Luna channeled magic into him. “Hold still, Ethan,” she said softly.

Ethan held still as the radiation filled magic poured into the wound and before their eyes the man’s skin began to knit back together. It took several minutes of intense effort on Luna’s part, but eventually he was whole again. The man, whose eyes had stayed open throughout the entire thing, painfully leaned up and gave Luna a light kiss before falling back again.

“Oww...” he moaned. Twilight was beside him instantly and began to murmur softly into his ear, none of which he really reacted to, instead focusing his gaze on the sky above. “Thank you Lulu,” he finally said in a fragile detached voice after a moment or two.

“Thank goodness,” Luna muttered. “I do not know what we would do if we lost another.”

“Yeah, especially since you still owe me a drink,” Scarlet joked with a soft chuckle and a shake of her head.

“How the fuck is he still alive?” Thomas mumbled, still unable to believe what he had just seen. “I swear, you’re harder to kill than one of the Ghost People.”

“Practice,” Ethan answered in a tired but wry voice as he began to pull himself back up, using Twilight’s head for support. “Lots and lots of practice... this was almost as bad as the obsidian shards... more pain at once but less in the long run... I think.”

“Yes... at least it’s not in your feet right?” Twilight added with a small strained smile.

“Yeah, good point, I’ll take giant piece of metal over obsidian shards in my feet any day,” Ethan agreed though he winced with every word.

Oh, poo...I thought that would at least take one of you pests out, Kata’s voice rang in their minds. Oh well, there’s always the next course, she added with a bit of a devious chuckle.

“Oh yeah? We can take anything you’ve got!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Don’t taunt her,” Thomas warned.

The pegasus submitted to the man’s wishes and simply began to grumble under her breath.

“So... what now?” Ethan inquired, making it to his feet but then falling forward only to be steadied by Celestia’s golden aura.

Oh, just continue walking forwards, the little girl replied as a doorway opened in front of them. I’m sure something will pop up soon, she added in a sly tone.

The hallway faintly echoed with each step Aeron took, aimlessly wandering down what seemed like an endless corridor.

So Aeron, have you thought over my offer? Kata’s voice asked him.

The man remained silent as he continued to walk down the hallway.

What do you care about them anyways? Kata goaded him. They’ve done nothing but threaten and insult you this whole time. Do you honestly give a single solitary shiit about any of them surviving this outside of Rainbow Dash?

Aeron’s eyes glance down sideways, his mind slowly going over Kata’s words.

Come now Aeron, you’ll get out of this hell, and Rainbow Dash can return to her precious Twilight. Everyone wins, she pressed. Well, everybody important, anyway, she added.

Aeron’s the head hang down slightly and stay like that for a good minute. “What do I need to do?” he asked, bringing his head up and stopping in his place.

Something so deliciously simple that it’s absolutely idiot proof, Kata answered. All you have to do is press a button. You and Rainbow Dash will be sent to your respective homes and the others will get left behind. She then paused and let out a maniacal laugh which echoed throughout the hallway as a simple pedestal appeared in front of him. Embedded into it was a red button.

Aeron stared at the button for awhile, slowly reaching his hand out while extending his thumb to push it. His thumb stopped an inch above the glossy surface of the button. “Dash will be returned to her home?”

Of course, Kata said with a scoff. It’s not as if I have issues with her... she hasn’t exactly done much to raise my ire. Unlike some men and mares I can think of. In fact, it’s like she wasn’t there at all sometimes.

The man lightly emitted a single chuckle. “Yeah... that did seem to happen,” he muttered before looking back down at his thumb waiting to push the button. “Well... let’s get it over with.” He lowered his thumb on the button and pressed in.

The man vanished.

“I’m so sick of this place,” Ethan muttered as he took a sip from his water bottle. “At least Drek’s tournament was interesting.”

“I’m sorry the fact someone is trying to kill us is boring you,” Scarlet said flatly. “And where the hell did you get that water bottle?”

“Pocket,” the man answered with a slight shrug as he reached in and pulled another out. “Want one?”

The woman stared flatly at the man. “No... thank you.”

“Alright,” he said with a shrug, sliding it back into the pocket. “Anyone want grenades then? I’ve got a nearly unlimited supply.”

“Those may have been helpful earlier,” Thomas muttered. “And are you sure you should even be walking?”

“I was saving it for a trump card, but you know, honestly after being spitted, I can’t muster up a fuck to give about subtlety,” Ethan replied darkly. “And no, I shouldn’t be. It’s only thanks to Luna there that I’m still breathing at the moment for which she has my thanks,” he added before giving Luna a small nod.

The alicorn nodded. “We need everyone alive to get through this,” she pointed out. “It would be better if you weren’t as severely injured, though.”

“I’ve fought through worse,” Ethan answered tersely, absolutely no humor in his voice.. “But thanks for the concern.”

“Still, we should be more cautious,” Celestia stated. “These ‘rooms’ of her are becoming more ill-conceived the further we go through them.”

Twilight just nodded her head, her mind a bit elsewhere at the moment. “Yes... it’s becoming worrying.”

“You can say that again,” Dash said from the back of the group. “I’m worried what happened to - ” She didn’t so much stop in mid-sentence so much as vanish completely from existence.

Scarlet glanced back and stopped in place when she noticed the rainbow mare was gone. “She’s gone!” she stated.

And then there were six! Kata crowed from overhead. Soon to be zero!

There was a sudden rumbled down the hallway and the sound of stone grinding against stone screeched through the air. The sides of the hallways began to slowly slide together into what obviously be a-

“Oh no, a death trap,” Ethan intoned dully in a deadpan voice.

“A bit cliche isn’t it?” Scarlet said.

“She hasn't exactly been original,” Thomas pointed out. “She stole my idea earlier.”

SHUT UP! Kata’s voice roared, her tone becoming more girlish than ever before. I AM MORE ORIGINAL THAN ANY OF YOU PATHETIC LITTLE SLIMES WILL EVER BE!

“Yes, sure let’s go with that,” Ethan said wearily. “Can we speed this up a bit? I’ve got a poker game to make.”

Fine then mortal, so be it! Kata stated.

The walls came to a stop.

*thud... thud... thud.. thud*

The sound bang from behind as everyone turned to see the source. They saw a section of the wall nearly instantly slamming together, cascading down to them.

“You just had to open you big mouth,” Scarlet said to Ethan sourly.

“As if it wouldn’t have in a second anyways,” he said, rolling his eyes before he and the others began to run down the corridor. “And like I said, I’m out of fucks to give.”

Luna simply sighed. “It really does say something when I’m too tired to be scared. This is actually boring.”

“Agreed,” Twilight said before shaking her head and flapping her wings to boost her speed. “Let’s get out of this hallway.”

“If we can have a hole in the wall or something, that would be great,” Thomas muttered.

NO! MY STUPID BROTHER IS NOT GOING TO SAVE YOU THIS TI- Kata was cut off as an explosion blasted out from the wall a bit ahead of where they were running. OH FOR THE LOVE OF THE EIGHT!

Can, and have, Van’s mocking voice called to her with a dark chuckle. Oh I can’t wait to make you squirm little sister.

ROT IN VOID YOU LITTLE PRICKISH BASTARD! Kata’s voice roared in fury.

Been there, tried that, got bored, Van called back. Also I’m older than you!

I DON’T BLOODY CARE!

Meanwhile, the group ran through the hole they’d been offered. They found themselves in a plain white room... as if it hadn’t been finished.

“Now what?” Thomas asked.

“We wait until she’s done with her bitching and gets back to trying to kill us,” Twilight answered with a small shrug.

“That’s always fun to wait for,” Scarlet muttered as she armed herself with her rifle.

“So anyways, grenades anyone?” Ethan asked, resuming his previous thought. “I’ve got all types.”

“I’m fine,” the woman replied.

“Keep a hold of them,” Thomas replied. “If we take them, they’ll just get taken from us anyways.”

“Fair enough,” Ethan said, nodding slightly before letting out a sigh. “You know, the worst thing about this place is that there aren’t any beautiful women around to distract myself with. Other than Scarlet, but she’s off limits.”

Scarlet gave the man a flat, unamused, glare.

“And what about us?” Luna asked in mock-indignation.

“Eh, I got over my pony thing a while ago,” Ethan replied before looking at Twilight. “Somepony got a little frisky after we were stuck in the wrong bodies for a while. Also, no offense Luna, but if I had to bang a pony again, it would be your sister.”

Celestia tilted her head towards the man with a raised eyebrow.

“Better hips and much more rounded in the back,” Ethan informed her with a small smile. “Lots of cake.”

Luna smirked. “What if I were to look like this?” She was hidden behind a cloud of smoke for a few seconds. When it dissipated, the woman she had turned into before when Kata had forced the changes on them was there. “Hmm?”

Ethan smiled. “In that case I think I like you more,” the man said with a small chuckle. “Sorry Sunny.”

“It’s okay,” Celestia said shaking her head slightly and chuckled. “Besides, I rarely eat cake, so my hips aren’t round for the reason you think they are.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes and glanced at Thomas who had been quiet for some time. Her face deadpanned as she saw the man ogling Luna with his mouth hanging open. “Oi, Thomas, might want to close your mouth before something makes a home in it.”

The man didn’t respond, instead slowly reaching out towards Luna. “Ow!” the mare shouted when the illusion fell apart. They both stared at the finger currently residing in Luna’s nose. Before he could say or do anything, he was on the ground, clutching his jaw in pain.

“When groping women, always remember to watch out for slaps,” Twilight advised him sagely while Ethan just let out a short wry snort.

“Still, it’s what you deserved for making a move like that,” Scarlet stated with a small shake of her head. “You’re lucky she didn’t buck you in the groin.”

“Let’s not go there,” Thomas said quickly, picking himself up. “It’s happened before, wasn’t fun.”

“Well, at least you do have a very beautiful mare who puts up with your bullshit,” Ethan added with a nod to Luna. “So, a little pain’s not that big of a deal, right?”

“Let Applejack kick you in the dick, then tell me that it’s only a ‘little pain’,” the black man growled.

“Easy, Thomas,” Ethan replied, his voice becoming a litter... sterner? “Just be glad for what you’ve got. It’s all I’m saying.”

“What crawled up your ass?”

“What crawled up my ass?” Ethan repeated, his voice growing even sterner. “What crawled up my ass is the fact that we just lost a mare with absolutely no warning for absolutely no reason,” he continued. “What crawled up my ass is the possibility that you, or Celestia, or Twilight is going to just disappear without warning. So. When I say be grateful for what you have, I mean it,” the man finished, his eyes glimmering with a combination of barely controlled rage and extreme worry.

Scarlet glanced at the man and raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of personality.

“What about Aeron?” Luna asked. “Isn’t it strange that he walks out, and hours later his companion disappears as well?”

“A good question,” Celestia said. “I suspect they are linked in some manner.”

“I wonder how...” Twilight murmured.

Thomas kept silent, staring at Ethan who stared right back. The whole time he’d been treating everything like a joke. But now, Thomas realised it had been a mask, an act. Ethan had been trying to keep everyone distracted from the bleakness of their surroundings. Maybe even himself. “Aeron did something. I’m sure of it.”

“We can hope that Dash is still alive,” Ethan said softly. “But until we know for sure, make every moment you have with your friends count. They could be your last.” As he said that, he softly placed a hand on Twilight’s head and the mare looked up at him for a moment before she gave his hand a gentle nuzzle.

“Agreed,” the purple alicorn said quietly.

Thomas and Luna looked at each other. The mare’s mane shimmered for a moment before she began to nuzzle him. The man smiled as he pulled her closer.

Scarlet and Celestia looked at everyone then at each other.

“Don’t expect me to go all sentimental,” the woman said glancing away from Celestia.

“Of course,” the alicron replied with a faint smile.

Ethan glanced at the two, a small frown forming on his face before he shook his head. “Alright then everyone... just remember to be smart. We’re almost out of here. Just a little more to go and we’re home free.”

We’ll see about that, Kata said, her voice low and menacing. Time to face your ultimate challenge.

“Okay,” Ethan said flatly. “And then we’ll cut off your head and mount it on a pike.”

“Forget that, why not just crucify her?” Scarlet asked. “Let her suffer.”

“I think that for once I can get behind crucifiction,” Thomas stated in a dark tone.

Kata chuckled in deranged amusement. Oh... I think not. What will you do when your greatest foe is yourself?

The ground rumbled violently, shaking everyone down to their knees. Walls sprouted up from the ground and cut everyone off from each other. Trapping them in small rooms with a single door in front of them.

Let the final game begin.

Labyrinth of Madness

by Speven Dillberg

Prologue: This Again

Wanderers and Couriers

Tranquil Crossroads

Waning Lamplight

Sit and Dream

Dead Caves

Creatures and Conversations

Naked Uncertainty

Traps

The Weight of Your Sins

Wyverns and Stairs

[Chapter Title Pending]

Special Delivery

Swamp of Damned Souls

Mind Games: Past Troubles

Mind Games: Legion of Nightmares

Mind Games: Echo of Fear

Mind Games: Hall of Screams

Reunion

I Expect You to Dine

Final Rest

Into the Fire

Creepy Crawlies