A Wilder Wasteland

Chapters

Chapter 1: Storm's a brewing
Chapter 3: Which Way Was the Detour?
Chapter 4: Bringing the Law & Bar Fights
Chapter 5: Trust
Chapter 2: Ghost Town Throw Down

Chapter 1: Storm's a brewing

------------------------------ Everfree Forest ------------------------------

Dark magics were flowing through the Everfree Forest, the large twisting trees and large canopy blocked all sunlight that would fall to the ground. Normally the wildlife would be active during the day, but not today. Today was special for a certain pony, a day where he would finally prove that there were other worlds out there; worlds filled with creatures other than ponies.

And enslave them all.

A dark cloaked Unicorn swiftly made it to a small clearing. The pony quickly set up a number of runes where a small amount of sunlight would break through the large canopies of the forest.

Five runes covered the area, each were in a corner of the clearing. The Unicorn began chanting silently until the runes started glowing a dark blue, his horn began glowing a similar dark blue.

Power. There was power that rivaled even both Goddesses of the sun and moon, a power felt across the whole world, from the farthest reaches of the Diamond Dog Caves to the high cloud platforms of Cloudsdale and other cloud cities.

There was smoke, dark putrid smoke that filled the air, eating away at the surrounding area, the plants died and decayed in minutes, those unfortunate enough to be caught by the smoke were slowly and painfully being tortured, killed and rotting away.

And, just for a second, it was gone, the area was dead, the smoke was gone. The Unicorn was nowhere to be found. The grass and all plant and wildlife near the runes were dead, and at the center of it all, was a swirling portal, a portal not even the Goddesses of sun and moon would be able to create, yet there it was. Defying the laws of magic, made by one Unicorn with five common runes.

There it stood. A foreboding portal, a portal where nopony knew where it went.

------------------------------ Everfree Forest, The next day ------------------------------

The next day, a young Unicorn student by the name of Twilight Sparkle, bearer of the Element of Magic, was sent to investigate the strange magic from the day before.

Her friends were suppose to come as well, but the raw magic would kill any lesser Unicorn in less than a few seconds, even the Princesses would have a hard time staying on their hooves.

Being the bearer of the Element of Magic, made her far more resilient to most passive magic, do not be mistaken, she is not as strong as the Princesses, but far more... tolerant.

She stole her breath, readying herself for the dark forest that many foals feared, but she was not ready for what waited ahead.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. No birds, no preying eyes, no foreboding lights in the distance. She was completly safe.

And this was what worried her, usually monsters would attack or at least observe anything that would go into the forest.

The closer she got to the clearing, the stronger the magic was, she felt heavier, like a ton of bricks were weighing her down. There, she saw a portal, a portal that she has never seen before. She knew better than to go through the portal, but she was being sucked in, such pure power was mesmerizing for anypony.

Before she knew it, she stepped in.

------------------------------ Goodsprings Cemetery, 12:00 AM ------------------------------

For the Courier, staring down the barrel of the gun was a familiar sight for him, but right now was different, he was tied and gagged, no way to get free or call for help.

This was the end for him. He'll remember this guy's checkered suit and face. He would find a way to kill this guy.

BANG

"Right, he's dead. Let's get out of here, Benny. I want to get my caps and score some Jet." The Great Khan on the Courier left said.

"Bury the body first, then we'll head back up I-15."

"We are not going back through I-15! We barely made it through the first time!"

"Fine, we'll go down through Primm."

When the thugs left, a lone robot came rushing up the cemetery, he quickly picked up a shovel and began digging. He picked up the Courier's body and headed to Doc Michelle's house

There was a loud crack of thunder above the sky. The robot looked up and saw a body falling through the sky. The body fell in front of him, a girl with black hair and a hot pink strip on her hair. She wore a short skirt and purple vest with a light magenta undershirt.

The robot was confused for a short while, deciding if he should help or not.

The robot picked up the girl and decided to help her as well. He quickly rushed his way to the Doctor's house.

------------------------------ Doc Michelle's House, 9:00 AM ------------------------------

The Courier didn't plan to wake up this morning, in fact, he didn't plan on waking up at all.

"Whoa," an old voice said. The Courier slowly got up, his vision was blurry and his head felt like a Nightstalker had been chewing on it. "Easy there, you had quite a tumble last night."

"Ugh... What..." The Courier tried to speak, but he felt very weak.

"Victor found you up in the graveyard last night, you're damn lucky Victor saw the goons that jumped 'ya." The old man said. The Courier's vision slowly cleared and soon he found himself sitting on an old dirty bed in a room that looked like some sort of lab. "I'm Doc Michelle, so mind telling me your name."

"... Name... My name is... Daniel... Dan for short." The Courier said.

"Huh, not a name I'd pick for 'ya, but if that's your name then that's your name." Doc Michelle said. The Doctor reached for something behind his chair. "Now, hope 'ya don't mind, but I had to go digging around that head of yours." He handed a small mirror to Daniel. "Tell me if I left something out."

"I... look find, Doc..." Daniel said. The only difference he found was that he had a small scar on his forehead.

Daniel had a gruff appearance and a 5 o'clock shadow on his chin, his eyes were a bit wide for a person of his heritage, but all in all, he'd seen worse.

"No point keeping 'ya in bed," Doc Michelle said and gave the courier a helping hand. "Whoa there, take it easy." He said as the Courier also tripped. "Why don't we check on your vitals on the Vigo-matic? Now take it slow, this ain't a race."

Daniel slowly made his way to the machine and grabbed the joy-stick.

Strength: 6
Perception: 5
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 9
Luck: 1

"Whoa." Doc Michelle said in awe. "I think that bullet may have done 'ya some good." He said. "I still got a few more test for 'ya. Follow me."

The Courier tried to ignore the unintended insult the Doctor made and quickly followed him to an old ruined couch. The Doctor sat down on a chair in front of him.

"Now I want you to say the first thing comes to mind." The Doctor said. "Friends."

"Missing."

"Kindness."

"Needed."

"Loyalty."

"Misplaced."

"Generosity."

"Rare."

"Laughter."

"Calm."

"Honesty."

"Trust."

"Revenge."

"Objective."

"I would show you a few inkblots, but I've lost them all somewhere. Hope you don't mind." The Doctor said with a slight frown.

The Courier nodded.

"Alright, now I'm going to say a phrase and you tell me if it describes you or not." Doc Michelle said and picked up a small book. "Fighting just ain't in my nature."

"Disagree."

"I trust my feelings instead of doing it logically."

"Agree."

"I'm slow to take in new ideas."

"Strongly Disagree."

"I charge head on against my problems."

"Disagree."

"My friends are the people that make me strong."

"... No opinion..."

"Well. that's all she wrote. Now I don't got nothing to compare it to, so you might as well take a look." Daniel took a checklist and slowly examined it.

Nodding, he returned the checklist back to Doc Michelle. "Now this is just a formality, but if you could fill out this form for medical history. Now if you don't want to I understand."

Daniel took the form and filled out his name his medical history. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"I'll walk you out." Doc Michelle said and got up from his chair. Daniel followed him and got up from his own chair.

They reached the front door. "Uhh... Thanks for patching me up, Doc."

"It's not a problem." Doc Michelle said. "Here. You can have this, it ain't much use to me now." He said and gave the Courier some sort of bracer. "It's a Pip-boy, everyone had one back when I lived in a Vault. Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I went rummaging through your stuff, found a piece of paper, thought it might help me find a next of kin, but all I found was something about a Platinum Chip." He said and returned the items and clothes back to the Courier.

"Thanks." Daniel said and quickly put on his clothes. "And thanks again for the help." He said and reached for the door handle.

"Now hold-up now. Aren't 'cha going to wait for your friend to wake up?" Doc said.

"Friend? I'm pretty sure I got shot in the head alone." Daniel said with a confused look.

"Yeah, she was pretty exhausted looks like. She looked like she went through an entire nest of Deathclaws and lived, and I wouldn't be surprised if she did." Doc said and went to the other room.

Daniel looked confused and decided to follow the old man. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I checked her with the Vito-matic when she was brought in. Her Strength and Endurance ain't something to boast about, but her Intelligence broke the darned machine, had to get someone in here and fixed the damn thing. I'd think she could beat any danged robot in chess any day." Doc Michelle said and sat down on a chair next to a bed.

A petite looking girl lay asleep on the bed, she looked like she was having a nightmare. The Courier narrowed his eyes at her.

"Never seen her in my life." He said with distrust and disbelief.

"You can go out if you want." Doc Michelle said with a nod.

"Nah, I think I'll stick around for a while. Can I use your chemistry set." The Courier said. "I'm sort of curious to see if she's all you say she is."

"Feel free to stick around."

------------------------------ Doc Michelle's House, 3:00 PM ------------------------------

The Courier had been busy the pass few hours. He made several Stimpacks and fixed several broken equipment Doc Michelle just didn't have time to.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes.

The world was coming into view, everything was blurry, yet she could make out a few odd shapes around her.

She tried to sit up, but that only made her headache stronger.

"She's waking up." Doc Michelle said. "Now, don't 'ya worry none, we ain't gonna hurt 'ya." He said in a calm tone.

Twilight felt somewhat relieved to hear that, she was a small plastic bottle of water on the nightstand next to her bed. She focused her mind and tried to concentrate lifting the bottle.

The small bottle slowly shook and floated a few inches off the table, but the bottle quickly fell down on the table. She was too weak to even lift a water bottle.

Doc Michelle was speechless. He just stared with his jaw slightly agape. Daniel came through the door, and saw the shocked look on Doc's face. He saw the bottle of water on the ground, he picked it up and gave it to the girl.

Twilight tried to use her magic again, but nothing happened. Her vision was still very blurry, but she could make out that she was in a very old or ruined bedroom. Twilight took the bottle of water and saw that her hooves turned into some sort of fleshy thing with five appendages. She tried to scream, but her voice was parched and nothing came out.

The Courier figured that she was either too weak right now or too lazy to open the bottle herself, so he took the bottle and removed the cap and slowly position the water bottle on the girl's mouth.

He slowly tilted the bottle, the clear liquid went down the girl's throat.

"Tha-thank you..." Twilight muttered. Her vision was slowly clearing up, she was less thirsty now, but she felt as if she needed some more.

"No problem." Daniel said, and turned his attention to Doc Michelle. "Uh, Doc? I ain't a doctor, so I'm gonna need your help to see if there's anything wrong with her."

The Doctor snapped out of his slight trance and shook himself awake. "Right, I don't want to risk the Vito-matic again, but I have her records right here." He said.

Strength: 2
Perception: 8
Endurance: 3
Charisma: 6
Intelligence: 13
Agility: 4
Luck: 5

"I think her Intelligence goes a little bit higher, but the darned thing would break." Doc Michelle said, and both him and Daniel turned their attention to Twilight.

"His name is Doctor Michelle. I'm Daniel." Daniel said.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said and slowly sat up on the bed. "What... are you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Daniel said.

"I mean species, and what happened to me? I... used to be different..." She said, concealing what she actually was.

The Courier looked at the Doctor. "Do... do Ghouls change back?" He whispered.

"Not that I know of. Though there were some cases where people thought they were Ghouls." Doc Michelle said with a concerned look.

"Right... Anyway," He said and turned his attention to Twilight. "We're called Human, by we I mean all of us, including you."

Twilight didn't display any sort of emotion on her face. She slowly felt her hands and skin, she tried to feel the top of her head, and found something was missing. Realization slowly started to creep in her.

Her eyes grew wider and she started to breath faster, her heart pumped quicker. "Where's my horn!?!" She exclaimed.

"Pardon?" Both the Courier and the Doctor said in unison.

"The thing on top of my head that makes me cast magic!" She yelled.

The Courier turned to Doc Michelle with a concerned look. "Are you sure about these results? I mean, she's more of a loony-bin than someone who's eligible to be the next Mr. House."

"Sure as rain." The Doctor replied. "Maybe she's just in shock."

Twilight tried to get up, but she quickly lost her balence and fell face first on the floor.

The Courier got up from his seat and held out his hand. Twilight grabbed his rough hand, it was a strange sensation for her, instead of the hard alabaster hooves, her soft skin felt... nice? She couldn't quite place her hoo-hand on it.

"Think you can walk?" The Courier said and pulled her up. Doc Michelle got up from his seat and made his way to the door.

"Follow me, I still need to run a few tests, here and there." The Doctor said and made his way towards the living room.

Daniel had to led her towards the living room, Twilight was still unstable and was losing her balance ever other step or so. Both of them sat down on the ruined couch.

"I'll run the same tests I did with Daniel over here. I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind." Doc Michelle said and took a seat.

"Friends."

"Loving."

"Kindness."

"Shy."

"Loyalty"

"Dash."

"Generosity."

"Rarity."

"Laughter."

"Pink."

"Revenge."

"Useless."

"Well then, let's get started with the rest, but before that I need to ask you a question." Doc Michelle said. "You made that water bottle back there float for a good five seconds, how did you manage that?"

"It was just a basic levitation spell. Though I guess I'm still a bit weak right now." She said with a small smile. "Now that I think about it, how did I use magic without a horn?"

The Courier coughed and made small circles with his index finger next to his head.

The next few tests were all standard. Nothing out of the ordinary and by what Doc Michelle's test had proven; Twilight was not crazy... well not to the extent on killing everything she sees on sight, and a chemical test proved that she hadn't used any drugs whatsoever.

"Looks like you're both free to go. If you're looking for the man who shot you, I think Victor might know or you can go talk to Sunny Smiles at the saloon."

The Courier didn't trust Twilight, but he knows that she couldn't do any harm right now.

Twilight had walked slowly and started to learn how to run for a short while. Daniel thought that the strange girl might need something to defend herself with, he gave her the old laser pistol that Doc Michelle gave him. She didn't know what the device was for, but she took it anyway.

The two of them walked out the front door and into the town of Goodsprings.

------------------------------ Goodsprings, 3:30 PM ------------------------------

Light assaulted both of their eyes and blinded them for a split second.

Goodsprings was just a small town with several ruined houses, a small general store, a bar, and an abandoned school. The two of them walked out of Doc's property and went towards the saloon.

"So, where are you going now?" The Courier asked as they walked down the street. He couldn't find the robot that Doc Michelle talked about.

"I... don't know... I want to go back to my home with my friends." She said sadly.

Both of them saw an old man sitting right outside the old saloon.

"Didn't think I'd see you walking around." The old man said.

"Huh?" The Courier replied. "Who are you?"

"Name's Easy Pete. I tend to the Big Horners 'round here." Easy Pete said. "Used to be a Prospector back in the day."

"Prospector? Like digging for gold and metal?" Twilight asked.

"Huh, didn't see 'ya there." He said with a small nod. "Well some people call 'em Scavengers, but the way I see it is that 'scavenge' means looking for anything they can sell to get a few caps. Me? I only looked for the good stuff, scrap, weapons, food, water, you know that stuff."

"See 'ya later Easy Pete." Daniel said and walked towards the saloon. Twilight said her goodbyes aswell and rushed in to meet up with the Courier.

They both went in, a low growl came from a wolf. Next to the wolf was a red-haired woman that held her rifle down. "Cheyenne, down girl. Don't worry, she won't bite unless I tell her too." She said with a smile.

"You must be Sunny Smiles, I heard that you can give me a few pointers about surviving the wasteland." Daniel said.

"Sure, who's your friend?" Sunny asked.

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and we just met actually." Twilight said with a formal tone.

"Huh, alright. Meet me outside, I'll teach both of you a few tricks." With that, Sunny Smiles and her wolf ran out the saloon.

Daniel a bottle of whisky on the table, he was... sort of an alcoholic... actually he was very alcoholic. But he restrained himself and made his way to the backdoor.

Twilight was more interested in the several stacks of magazines and old books next to the whisky, but she soon found that Daniel had already left the building.

The duo met with Sunny Smiles and she threw them both an old Varmit Rifle. Daniel expertly caught the gun while Twilight fumbled with her's.

There were a few empty Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles on the fence post.

"Alright, it's pretty simple. Aim and shoot, crouch to stabilize your shot, reload in cover." She said like an old instructor.

Daniel quickly picked off three Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles in quick succession.

Twilight on the other hand, accidentally dropped her gun due to the loud shots from Daniel's gun. She was scared of the guns that much was sure.

"What's the matter?" The Courier asked, he picked up her gun and held it out to her. "Just point and shoot." He said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

Twilight took the gun and swallowed the lump in her throat. Sunny walked over to her and adjusted her stance.

"Fire." Sunny said. Twilight squeezed the trigger and the recoil made her arm sore. The shot went wild and missed the target completely, the shot ricocheted towards the Courier.

Daniel dropped to the ground and dodged the bullet, by a hair.

"I think you should just stick to the laser." Daniel said and dusted off his clothes.

Twilight tried again, this time slightly more confident. She fired a shot and grazed the bottle and made it topple over.

"Good enough, I guess..." Sunny said, unsure. "Anyway, let's put your skills to the test. I have a job of clearing out the water supply from Geckos. You guys wanna come along, there'll be some caps in it for you."

"Sure, I'm running a bit low on caps." Daniel said, a small smile creeping on his face. He then turned to Twilight. "You can stay here if you want, maybe work on your aim."

"No! I mean, no, I want to come along." She said with a fake grin. In truth, Twilight just didn't want to be left alone.

"Sure, we might need some help." Sunny said and ran ahead.

Twilight and the Courier looked at each other in confusion.

"Tell me, where did you come from?" Daniel asked out of nowhere. The duo began to walk towards the water pumps.

"I... I don't remember." Twilight lied, badly.

"Nobody in the wasteland couldn't survive more than a day without knowing how to shoot properly. Everyone here knows how to hold and fire a gun." The Courier said and pointed to a travelling merchant. "Especially people that are travelling." He said and took out a 9mm pistol.

"Have you traveled far?" Twilight asked, eyeing the handgun.

"Traveled from the Capital Wasteland to Mojave Wasteland and everywhere between, I been to Vegas, The Strip, Freeside, I had to deliver a package to Camp McCarran and Cottonwood Cove." Daniel said with a wishful sigh. "How the hell did I manage to survive that anyway?" He asked no one in particular.

Twilight saw the forlorn look on Daniel's face. A slight contortion of an angry glare and sad frown. "You alright?" She asked.

"Huh? Yeah, of course." The Courier laughed. "I was just remembering a few runs I did a while back."

The two of them made it to the outcropping where Sunny was waiting.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Daniel said with a grin. There were several Geckos that haven't noticed the trio of humans.

"So are we going to chase them away?" Twilight asked.

"No, these things multiply by the dozen, and irradiate the water, and they're more likely to run at you than from you." Sunny said and crouched down low. "We're taking them out. Feel free to get the hide if you want, those things fetch a good price."

The Courier crouched next to Sunny. "Come on, Twilight." Daniel said.

The Courier saw a young Gecko wander very near the water pump. He took the shot, the Gecko's head exploded in a pool of blood and gore. Twilight felt that her lunch was about to make a return trip from her stomach, but she tried her best to hold it in.

There were more Geckos running at them. Daniel got up and switched to his pistol for a close up. Sunny and her wolf, Cheyenne, easily dispatched several of the Geckos. Twilight on the other hand was having a hard time trying to take down one Gecko.

The Gecko tackled her down and bit her arm. It's sharp teeth bit deep into her flesh.

"Twi!" Daniel yelled and shoved the Gecko off her and pelted the Gecko with 9mm bullets.

The rest of the Geckos had been dispatched. "Phew, that was a close one. Looks like I did need the help." Sunny said. "You should head back to Doc Mitchell to get that treated."

"It doesn't look infected." Daniel said. Taking out a stimpack and held out Twilight's arm. "This won't hurt at all." He jabbed the needle in her arm. A sharp pain quickly shot up from Twilight's arm, and she let out a small yelp. "Sorry, I lied."

Twilight glared at the Courier.

"I still got more pumps to clear, feel free to he-"

"HELP!!" A female voice yelled from one of the nearby water pumps.

Daniel jumped up and took out an old knife, he sprinted to the edge and saw a local from Goodsprings fighting a horde of Geckos, Sunny couldn't make it at time, and he knew it. Daniel jumped off the small cliff he was standing on and landed on a Gecko, breaking it's neck.

The other Geckos jumped back in surprise as the Courier raised his knife in a combat stance.

The local went to cover behind a few rocks and silently coward there. Twilight got up and followed Daniel, even though her arm was badly wounded, she saw that the Courier was surrounded from all sides.

Daniel dodged an incoming Gecko and stabbed it at the base of its neck. Twilight focused her power, and picked up two Geckos with a purple aura and slammed them both to a wall. A loud sickening crunch resonated from the surrounding area.

Daniel saw Twilight up on the ridge, her hands glowing purple. A Gecko tackled the distracted Courier and knocked him down. Twilight saw this and fired a purple energy bolt and blew the Gecko to tiny bits and pieces. The terrain was covered in blood and gore from that one shot alone, the Courier was stunned as a few more Geckos tried to jump him, only to blasted away by Twilight.

Sunny came running and quickly dispatched the rest of the Geckos. She saw the bloody area where the Courier laid, she extended her hand and pulled him up.

The local ran up towards the Courier and gave her thanks and a few bottles of water.

"Got a little exciting back there." Sunny said with a smile. "Good work." She said and gave the Courier a pat on the back.

"Twilight saved my ass back there." Daniel said with a small grin.

Twilight smiled and waved at him, the ground was slowly giving way, she lost her footing and fell down the rockface. Daniel rushed in and caught her just in time.

"Looks like we're even." Daniel said and let Twilight down. "How'd you do that with your hands anyway?"

"Magic." She said. "I mean... uhh..." She tried to come up with an excuse, but came up with nothing.

The sun was slowly starting to set, the Mojave desert basked in the descending star's orange light.

"Anyway," Sunny began. "It’s getting late, there's a small camp right down that way. I've got one last thing to show you."

The trio made it to a small abandoned camp. "I'll teach you how to live off the land." She took out a few flowers and a strange root. "I'll teach you something the folks on the road call 'Healing Powder'. It'll come in handy."

------------------------------ Outskirts of Goodsprings, 6:30 PM ------------------------------

Twilight and Daniel each made a small pack of Healing Powder.

"Good. Well, that's all I've got to teach, you should head on over to the saloon. Trudy would have a fit if she found out I didn't tell you to stop by." Sunny said and made her way back to Goodsprings. She slung her rifle on her back and whistled to Cheyenne to follow.

The Courier tucked away the two bags of Healing Powder and made his way back to the town. "First," He began. "Let's get that arm fixed." He said took out a syringe of Med-X. "This'll dull the pain."

"Thanks but..." Twilight saw strands of purple light slowly close up the wound. "I don't think I need it."

The Courier gave a cautionary glance at Twilight's arm. "How do you do that? Might come in handy." He said.

"Oh, uh..."

"Magic, right. You might as well stop lying. Tell me about your 'Magic'." He said with a stern look.

Twilight sighed. "I think it's better if we sit down for this."

They neared the saloon. Easy Pete was keeping a watchful eye on the road, a duel-barreled shotgun rested on his lap. Daniel suspected he was on a look-out in case a few nasties from the wastes were to wander near the town.

The duo entered the saloon.

Sunny was silently playing pool as the jukebox repeated a song from before the bombs fell.

Twilight and Daniel heard some yelling from the bar, and even some shattering glass.

A man wearing blue and short hair had the words "NCR Correctional Facility" written on his back. The man smelled of trouble, and dynamite. The man was red furious, shards of a shot glass laid on the floor. The radio fell over, a few knobs were loosely fit.

There was also a woman wearing a normal set of yellow clothing. She had her arms crossed and held no fear against the other man.

"Look, bitch, just give us Ringo and we'll be on our way." The man said rudely.

"And I said no. You can either try to fight here, and get your ass bitten off by Cheyenne--" The wolf howled in approval."--or you could leave with your dignity and all your limbs intact." The woman expressed no emotion whatsoever, but a tiny, unnoticeable smile crept on her face.

"You little..." The man cursed under his breath and ran to the door, pushing the Courier and Twilight away.

"Excuse me." The Courier said. "Who was that asshole?"

"Language." Twilight muttered.

The woman snapped up at attention. "Oh, sorry you had to see that. That was Jacob Cobb. An outlaw and, as you said, an asshole." She said and cleaned up the glass shards. "My name is Trudy, I run the saloon as you see, can I get you anything?"

"A bottle of Whisky." The Courier said.

"And a few of those books you had out earlier." Twilight chimed in.

Trudy handed over a few books for Twilight to peruse and a bottle of hard Whisky for Daniel. "This one's on the house, for saving Ol' Sally from the Geckos."

"Thanks." Daniel said and downed the bottle in one go. "That hit the spot!" He said and dropped the bottle on the table. "So what was that little argument about, anyway?"

"Oh, a traveller came into town, said he was attacked by bandits. Figured he was in shock so we let stay in the abandoned gas station up that way. After a few days, these Powder Gangers came along and demanded we give him up. I for one hope that Ringo leaves during the night and takes these idiots with him."

"Powder Gangers?" Twilight asked.

"A bunch of organized bandits that took over the Correctional Facility a few ways from here. They were sent here to mine and make a railway using dynamite. Turns out, giving convicts some high-yield explosives wasn't such a good idea." Trudy said with an exasperated sigh. "The NCR is full of idiots."

"NCR?" Twilight asked again.

"New California Republic, bunch of politicians sitting on their asses all day trying to figure out how to grab the entire Mojave Wasteland and defend it from Caesar's Legion." She let out another sigh. "Like I said; idiots."

"Caesar? The old guy that runs a pack of rapist and slave traders? Can I get another bottle?" Daniel said and fiddled around with his Pip-boy.

"That's the one, brutal dumbasses that deal in slave trade and raiding. They're just a very deadly bunch of bandits that have a surprisingly good leader." Trudy said and gave the Courier another drink.

"Anyway, I think I can help with that Ringo problem of yours." The Courier said with a smirk. "And that radio."

"Really? I would be really grateful for that. Everything looks fine on the outside, but I can't be sure."

The Courier walked over towards the radio. "Twilight? I could use a little help."

Twilight had just finished reading a magazine about fixing busted radios and knew exactly what to do.

After some tinkering, the radio buzzed back to life.

"--listening to Radio New Vegas, and this is your host, Mr. New Vegas. I have news that a Mojave Courier that had been shot in the head, and a young girl that fell from the sky, found near Goodsprings had miraculously recovered. Now that is a postal service you can count on."

Trudy got out a handful of caps and gave them to Twilight. "I heard that thing came back to life, it's nice to hear someone with a voice like Mr. New Vegas. Here are some caps for the trouble."

"Let's talk to this Ringo tomorrow. Right now, let's head back to Doc Mitchell and get some shut eye." Daniel said.

Twilight yawned, agreeing to his suggestion.

The duo left the saloon and headed back to the Doc.

"We still need to talk about that 'magic' thing of yours." Daniel said with a small glance to Twilight's shoulder. "Your wounds are already patched up."

"Let's... talk about it tomorrow."

Author's Note

Story, can't get out of my head.

Drunk!

Blagh, how the hell did I write this?

Chapter 3: Which Way Was the Detour?

------------------------------ Road to Primm, 7:00 P.M ------------------------------

The sun had already set, and the howls of wolves or what seemed like wolves echoed through the night.

Twilight examined her surroundings, old worn signs, a few broken lamp post and cables laid across the road. Twilight had to admit, she wasn't in the best of shape. Her legs hurt and each step took more and more effort.

"How much farther?" She groaned.

"Quit your whining, I can see Primm right now." Daniel said as his bag rattled with the weapons and armor he took from the Powder Gangers.

As the two approached, a pair of NCR soldier blocked their path. "Primm is off-limits." One of the troopers said.

"Easy now, we're just passing through on our way to Vegas. We don't mean to stay long." Daniel replied.

"Sorry, off-limits. You can take it up with the CO if you want, sir." The other trooper said, slightly muffled by his face-wrap. "Just head on straight, and you'll get to the camp."

Daniel nodded and walked pass the two guards and made it to an intersection. The Courier headed right.

"Hey! Wait! Didn't he say to head to their camp?" Twilight asked and pulled the Courier back with her magic.

The Courier sighed. "I know these NCR types, unless you want to file a shit-ton of paper work that they're gonna probably use for firewood, be my guess. The road to Primm's wide open." He said and pulled up his Pip-boy. "By the way, you're giving off some major radiation, doesn't seem to be spreading but it's there."

Twilight thought of the giant piles of paper work, she was way too tired for that. "Let's go, but if we get into trouble-" Twilight walked towards the makeshift bridge and a high pitched beeping sound. Daniel quickly pulled back Twilight and watched as a large explosion rocked the small bridge.

"This is why I lead the way." Daniel said to Twilight with a small smile. He carefully approached the next Frag Mine and quickly disarmed it.

"Do you think that the guards heard that?" Twilight asked as Daniel went for the next Frag Mine.

Daniel flashed a quick smile and disarmed the last Mine. "Oh please, these NCR types got so much rules and paper work shoved in their ears to do any actual work. They won't be coming here unless someone asked them, or if one of the patrols find a dead body."

Twilight sighed, the royal guards wouldn't have put up with this.

"Don't get me wrong. The real NCR are just beyond control and power. NCR Rangers are the best, and the black armored ones are the best of the best. They got the greatest scientist, and just about everyone you would need to run a great army." Daniel said with a small hint of pride. He then gave a large sigh. "But their leader is a fucking idiot, the Legion's building up power across the river, and NCR's trying too hard to control everything, spread too thin, and just when you thought these idiots can't do anything worse, they fucking put the best sniper team on fucking standby!" He grew angier and angier as they walked on.

"I assume you don't like their leader very much." Twilight said.

"A retard in a fucking suit."Daniel face-palmed.

A shot flew pass the Courier's head. He quickly pulled out his 9mm pistol and took a shot. The shot missed by a few inches.

Twilight ran behind the Courier and pulled out her rifle. She aimed and had a clear line of sight from the shooter, but she still couldn't pull the trigger.

Daniel aimed and pulled back the hammer of his gun. He shot and the bullet flew right through the shooter's skull.

Daniel looked at Twilight, she had a frown on her face. He patted her on the back.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "Why don't you use that fancy magic instead? Hole them in place or something?" Daniel said with a smile. "Oh, and we still haven't talked about that, maybe you can teach me how to do that?"

They walked in silence for a few minutes, looking at what was left of a large city. Twilight wished that she could see the town when it was in it's prime, or at least not destroyed.

Daniel stopped, he saw a dead body lying next to a moderatly intact house.

"Nick?" He said, and walked over to the body. The body's eyes were wide open. Daniel pressed his fingers on his neck to check for a pulse. "Shit..." He silently muttered and closed the body's eyes.

Twilight remained silent, and watched as the Courier picked up a necklace around the dead body's neck, a small locket. "Was he a friend of yours?" She finally asked.

"Yeah... I was at the low point of my life, no caps, no job, and a hell of a temper. Nick gave me a few caps and a job to set me right, he always looked out for me when I was starting out. Heck, he was almost a brother." Daniel opened up the locket, it held a picture of Nick and two young girls. "Shit, I hate bringing the bad news to relatives..."

Twilight looked at the body and back to Daniel. "I'm sorry." Was all she could say.

"Anyway, let's get to the Vikki and Vance Casino, get a drink and maybe rent a bed or something." He said, trying to smile away the problem. Twilight could see that he was straining.

"Alright, you lead the way."

Daniel went to the opposite building to the one they found Nick's body.

Twilight opened the door and saw several patrons all aiming their guns at the two.

"Whoa! Friendly! Friendly!" Daniel blurted. "We're just staying for the night."

An old looking man came walking up. "Wrong place, wrong time, newcomer. Primm's gone to hell ever since those Powder Gangsters came 'round."

"Huh? We just saw some NCR outside, couldn't they do anything?" Twilight asked. "Isn't that what they're suppose to do?"

"Ha!" Daniel laughed. "I told 'ya that the NCR can't do anything right."

"I hate to say it, but he's right. Ever since the NCR came along, they can't seem to do anything right."The old man said, he lowered his gun."Name's Nash."Extending his arm in a handshake.

"Daniel." He grabbed Nash's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Twilight."

"Daniel? Wait, your one of those guys that had those 'odd' jobs." Nash said and pulled out a short list. "Yup, right here on the ink. I'd thought you'd be in Vegas right now."

Daniel shrugged. "Someone took my package, I'm trying to track it down." He jiggled his bag still filled with clothes and weapons. "Do you trade?"

"Sure, if you need a place to sleep, the Steve Bison Hotel has... bearable accommodations, but it's filled with convicts, you're welcome to sleep on the couch if you want." Nash said and took the bag. He handed over a handful of caps to the Courier. "The bar's open if you want anything."

Daniel took out some caps and gave them to Twilight. "I'm gonna turn in early. Wake me up when something explodes." He said and went off.

Twilight went off to the bar, she was feeling thristy and tired.

"Hold up." Nash called out. Twilight turned around to face the old man. "I know this is sudden, but Primm's gone to hell without law, our Sheriff was killed recently and the Deputy's been kidnapped, the NCR wouldn't do anything about it, and we don't have the man power to rescue the poor guy, there's gonna be caps in it for you."

Twilight scoffed. The NCR didn't even try to rescue the Deputy? She thought to herself. "Sure, I'll go after I get a drink." She said and went to get some water from the bar.

She brought several bottles of water and placed them in her own bag. She took out one of the bottles and quickly drank it. She heard Daniel snoring in the other room. She was going to be quick about it, no need to disturb him.

She ran out the door and saw the large building with an old worn rollercoaster going around it. She gulped and entered the hotel.

------------------------------ Steve Bison Hotel, 9:00 P.M ------------------------------

The smell of burning flesh and beer burned through her nose, several dead bodies littered the lobby of the Hotel. Twilight winced and covered her nose and mouth. She stepped over the bodies and made it to the hallway.

Several guards saw her and opened fire. Twilight instinctively raised her hand and made a magical shield.

"Stop! I just want to talk!" She yelled, but they just kept firing, only stopping to reload. Someone even threw a stick of dynamite that cracked her shields. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. There was no cover she could run to. Her shields were failing, any second and she would be exposed.

Her shields exploded in a dim purple light. Three loud bangs sounded as her shields went down. The three guards all fell dead with a small hole in their heads.

Twilight looked behind her and saw Daniel, holding a smoking .44 magnum revolver. "You alright?" He asked as he scanned the room for more guards.

"Y-yeah... Thanks." She said and got up.

Daniel turned to look at her. "Don't you ever wander off without me again." He said in a calm tone. He raised his gun and shoved Twilight out of the way. A shot rang out and another body dropped to the floor.

The other convicts must have heard the gunshot and now a lot of them came running. With little to no cover, the Courier had little choice. He pulled out his last stick of dynamite and chucked it at the cluster of convicts. They scattered away, giving the Courier and Twilight enough time to get away.

Daniel emptied the chamber of his gun and reloaded. "Get out of here! I'll hold them off." He yelled and a large convict wearing a welding mask and carried a large Flamer shot a ball of hot fire towards the Courier. Daniel got hit and crashed to the floor.

"Daniel!" Twilight called out. Daniel didn't move, or make any noise. The convict leader smiled under his mask as he aimed his Flamer at Twilight.

Twilight would scream or run away, but she was angry, furious. She raised her hand and forced the Flamer to point up. She used her other hand to grab the leader in a chokehold.

The convict leader dropped the Flamer and tried to remove the invisible force that was holding him up. And suddenly, the body went limp.

With their leader dead, the remaining convicts scattered and ran away. Twilight bent down to Daniel. She removed the burnt Leather Armor and saw that his torso was terribly burnt. The gentle rising and falling of his chest gave Twilight a small sigh of relief.

She used her magic to levitate his unconscious body to a nearby couch. She took out whatever she could find in the Doctor's Bag she brought with her, she quickly treated the wound, but the Courier was still unconscious.

She mentally cursed herself. If I didn't agreed to help, this would have never happened. She thought.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Twilight heard a voice call out from deeper into the Hotel. She picked up Daniel's Magnum and causiosly made her way to the source of the voice.

She pointed her gun and saw that it was a man around his thirties, tied down and could barely move. She lowered her gun. "You must be the Deputy?"

"Deputy Beagle at your service, ma'am." He said and struggled with his bindings. "Not to seem disrespectful, but can you please hurry up and untie me?"

Twilight went around behind the Deputy and undid the rope that bounded him.

"Thanks for that." Beagle said and massaged his wrists. "I know it's not much, but I want you to have this. As a token of appreciation." He said and gave Twilight a bag full of caps.

The Deputy nodded and was about to leave.

"Wait." Twilight called out. "I need someone to carry my friend back to the Casino on across the street."

"Ma'am," Beagle said with a suave smile. "It'll be my pleasure."

------------------------------ Vikki & Vance Casino, 12:00 A.M ------------------------------

"There." The local doctor said with a small sigh. "He'll be fine in the morning, but he's gonna need a lot of water, and we don't have much of that."

"Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could go find some clean water?" Twilight suggested.

"Sorry, but trust me, we've already searched for any clean water around. Unless you want to drink out of a toilet then those water bottles are gonna have to be enough. Sorry I couldn't do anything more." The doctor said with a sigh. Twilight handed a bag of caps to the doctor.

Twilight sat down next to Daniel. It was weird for her, being in an alien world, fighting to survive, and having a complete stranger risk his life to save you. She knew that her friends would do that in a heartbeat, but nothing like this has ever happened. The Changeling invasion was one thing, but right now she felt like she couldn't do anything.

She stared at Daniel's body, wrapped in several bandages. "Sorry." Was all Twilight could say to Daniel. She started to tear up.

"Heh.What for?" Daniel asked. Twilight rubbed her eyes and saw that Daniel was smiling. Daniel forced himself up. "It looked like I was the one that needed saving." He smiled.

"Sorry I got you into this mess." She muttered.

"I got shot in the head. Having a few burn scars aren't going to keep me down." He laughed, and then coughed. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"I shouldn't have helped, I shouldn't have gotten involved." She muttered.

"I would have done the same thing. Trust me, you're a good person to have helped out, not many people do that these days." He said and got up from his makeshift bed. He stretched his arms, and popped back a few joints.

"You shouldn't be up..." Twilight said softly, her gaze dropped down to the floor.

Daniel stopped and looked at Twilight. "Hey, look at me." Daniel said. Twilight looked up at the Courier. "Stop beating yourself up. If I blamed myself for every little thing that happened, heck, I would have never gotten anything done."

"Still..." Twilight began. "You should probably rest." She said and got up.

"I'm just gonna go get a drink, then I'm hitting the hay. You should too." Daniel went out to the bar, he took a seat on one of the stools and ordered a bottle of Whisky.

"I'm telling you, Nash, we need a new Sheriff."

"Deputy, we don't have anyone else."

"What about Mayers?"

"He took the law into his own hands, and he paid for it."

"Those people got what was coming to 'em. Rape and murder aren't light cases."

"We could always get the NCR."

"Marshal Law doesn't sound fun."

Daniel got up, a bottle of Whisky in his hand, and walked up to the two men. "I couldn't help but overhear your little problem." Daniel said and took a swig of his bottle. "I may be able to help."

"Sorry, but you look like more of a travelling type than someone willing to settle down." Nash said.

"I wasn't talking about me. I might be able to get the NCR or this Mayers guy for you." Daniel said with a smile.

"No you're not." Twilight said and came out of their small room. "You need bed rest." She said and dragged the Courier into the small room.

"Let's talk tomorrow!" He yelled before the door magically shut.

------------------------------ Cottonwood Cove, 3:00 A.M ------------------------------

King Sombra's small empire was coming along nicely. Trade routes and deals were made, weapons and food were high and slave labor skyrocketed through the roof.

The king watched over the slaves being rallied out on the courtyard. He loved the night, the crispt air, the nightly sounds and the fact that his power feeds off of darkness.

"My liege." A young man wearing recolored purple Legionnaire’s outfit with a dark crystal insignia on his chest, bowed to one knee. "We need more soldiers, we have reports that Legion forces have been preparing for an all-out assault."

"NCR?" King Sombra pondered. "No, they won't make it, and I hate having an unpaid debt." He looked over to his small force of ex-traders and ex-caravaniers. "I was too arrogant that one time, thinking I could have fought two goddesses at once, I will not make the same mistake again." He said. "Rally everyone! We are leaving! We are finding a much more defendable area for our base!" He yelled to the crowd.

The dark crystals soldiers that were in the crowd bowed and rallied the slaves.

They packed up everything they could carry, some of the Crystal Soldiers left armed mines around the camp.

Food, water, weapons, and ammo were all loaded onto several caravans and Brahmins, each looked as bloody and beaten as the next.

"My liege." A Crystal Soldier bowed. "Mind my asking, but... Where exactly are we going?" He said in a worried tone.

"My king." Another soldier bowed. "May I suggest the NCR Correctional Facility, it is a very defendable place, and we can make trades to the nearby towns of Goodsprings, Sloan, and Primm."

"Supplies and a place to defend? How about on assault? Can the area be used as a forward base of some kind?" Sombra asked, a small malicious grin spread across his face.

"No, sir. But if we take Primm and Sloan, we would have a good tactical advantage to the NCR and Legion." A Soldier said. "We can also find one of the Vaults, but it will be very dangerous and no way to escape if things go south, my liege."

"Or we can go north to Vegas, having the NCR so close would make a great deterrence to the Legion and supplies would be high." The other Crystal Soldier said.

"We can try and take Hoover Dam?" Another voice from behind King Sombra and the other two.

"That's insane." The first Crystal Soldier deadpanned. "The NCR would see us as a threat, and that would make us look like a target for the Legion, and we would be sandwiched between the two most powerful forces in the Mojave!"

"Silence."Sombra said and the area went quiet. "I think I found the perfect place." Sombra took a deep breath. "Defendable and with good trade routes. I believe this 'Nipton' would be our new home."

"Sir.Nipton is filled with people, are you saying we should attack and take over the town?"

"No, send a crier and spread the word, we need more bodies. Anyone who does not accept my rule shall be killed or be a slave, the choice is theirs!" Sombra yelled to the crowd.

------------------------------ Nelson, 5:00 A.M ------------------------------

"The last of the Legion scum has been taken care of, my liege." A Crystal Soldier said and bowed.

"We make camp for now, we move when it is night."

A Crystal Soldier bowed. "Sir, scouts have reported that Nipton was razed and sacked by the remaining Legion in the area."

Sombra paused, a small smile on his face. "Are there any other factions in the area?" He asked.

"Sir, there are Powder Gangers to the west of Nipton, ex-convict that have broken out of their prison, they are wild, but they are also negotiable."

"Hmmpth."Sombra huffed. "Go with the original plan, but instead of sending a crier to Nipton, send him to meet the Powder Gangers." Sombra said.

"Yes, my liege."

"This will be interesting. The Legion and NCR are dueling to the death, and us, being the one with the knives to their throats." King Sombra laughed. "The NCR will lose if we don't interfere, but when all of this is done, they will both be under my rule!" Sombra laughed much more loudly than the previous one.

A Crystal soldier coughed. "My liege, you were thinking out loud again."

Sombra stayed silent for a short while. "Where is Aurelius? I need my punching bag."

Chapter 4: Bringing the Law & Bar Fights

------------------------------ NCR Correctional Facility, 1:00 P.M ------------------------------

Over much debating, Daniel decided to get this "Mayers" guy as Primm's new sheriff. He had to admit that putting a convict as a sheriff wasn't the best of ideas, but knowing the NCR, there wasn't much of a difference.

Word spreads fast in the Mojave, and due to this, everyone inside the NCR Correctional Facility knew about the Courier and Twilight.

The Courier for being a murderous asshole that organized the defense at Goodsprings.

Twilight for sparing Joe Cobb's life.

As the two of them approached the gates, a warning shot rang out in front of their feet.

"Move and we will shoot." The loud speaker boomed over the base.

A Powder Ganger came rushing out, pointing a loaded shotgun at them. Joe Cobb followed.

"She's cool." He said and then looked at Daniel. "He's not."

"Hey, I wasn't the one that was going to murder an entire town." Daniel said with a smug smile. "And I wasn't the one running away with his tail between his legs."

Joe pointed a gun to Daniel's head. "You don't mess with the guy holding a gun to your head."

The Courier stayed silent, still smiling.

"I'm only doing this 'cause I owe her a favor, but if you so much as steal something, we will fill you with lead." Joe said and lowered his gun. "So, what the hell do you want."

"Thank you." Twilight said. Joe flashed her a small smile. "We came here for someone named 'Mayers'."

"He's inside. You can talk to him if you want." Joe said. He turned to the Courier, an angry look in his eyes. "You on the other hand stay out here."

Daniel laughed. "Okay, okay, I ain't arguing with the guy with a lot of friends." Daniel said and sat down by the fence. "I'll be out here, if I hear any shooting, I'll rush in."

Twilight nodded and braced herself as she opened the door. The room is, or was what used to be a cafeteria, empty bottles, cans and bloodstains covered the walls and floor.

The placed reeked of cheap beer and cheap cigaretts. Twilight instinctively covered her nose. Powder Gangers were all busy playing Caravan or getting drunk to notice Cobb and Twilight.

"There." Cobb pointed to a man wearing a cowboy hat, sitting with a bottle of beer. "That's Mayers. You can talk to him if you want."

Twilight nodded and went down to sit with him. "Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Mayers. Nice to meet 'ya. Now, people don't usually talk to me just to say hello, what do you need?" He asked.

"Primm needs a new sheriff." Twilight said.

"And they chose me? Don't they know I'm a criminal trialed for homicide?" He said and took a swig of his bottle. "Primm must be desperate if they want me."

"So, do you accept?" Twilight asked a curious look on her face.

"I would, but I'm pretty sure a convict can't be a sheriff, so unless I can get a pardon from the NCR I can, and will be Primm's new sheriff." Mayers said. He noticed Twilight had a very curious look on her face. "Let me guess, you want to know how I got here."

Twilight nodded.

"I was a sheriff a while back, see. Took the law into my own hands, some government asshole raped and killed a fifteen year old girl, shot the guy right in the head. Seemed like all was good, justice was served and all that, problem was NCR thought I just killed him in cold blood and money. Well, the cold blood part was sort of true, but they thought I was unfit for duty, and charged with homicide, I was dragged here to work on the rails to Vegas. Some idiot thought that giving a bunch of convicts a lot of dynamite was a good idea."

Twilight's face darkened. "The NCR let this happen?"

"Politics, it gets in the way of real justice."

"Where can I get you acquitted?"

"Mojave Outpost, south-east of Primm."

"Got it, I'll be back." Twilight said and got up from her seat and left.

Daniel, dispite being hated by nearly everyone in the facility was having a small game of caravan with the guard. "Twilight, you're back." He said, not leaving his eyes on the cards. A smug smile crept on his face.

"I hate you so much right now." The guard said and handed him the pot.

Daniel got up and dusted off the dirt from his new-ish coat he got at Primm. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, we need to go to the Mojave Outpost and get Mayers an acquital." Twilight said and sighed. "I just figured out something. I hate walking."

"We all do." Daniel replied. "We all do."

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 4:00 P.M ------------------------------

"Have I ever mentioned that I hate walking?" Twilight said, frustrated.

"Every other minute." Daniel replied, his bag full of items he found on the Jackal Bandits that attacked them on their way to the outpost.

Twilight gasped as she saw rows upon rows of broken down cars and trucks that looked like they were trying to go uphill. Twilight was about to open her mouth to say something.

Daniel raised his hand. "Before you ask, no I will not carry you." Daniel said and started his trek upward.

"I wasn't going to say that..." Twilight pouted. "The faster we finish, the faster we can go to bed. I am dead tired."

"I told you, you could have waited for me at Primm." The Courier pointed out.

"In your condition?" She said and grabbed Daniel's shoulder. He let out a small grunt. "See. You have more injuries than I first thought."

"I told you, I'm fine." Daniel said, and turned around. "See, I'm fine." Twilight looked in bemusement, and poked the Courier in the ribs. "Ow, stop doing that." He sighed. "You're right, I'm far from fine, but I can still walk and fight." He said and turned back to the road.

"Feather brain." Twilight muttered.

"Egghead." Daniel replied.

The duo had finally reached the top, A large statue of a Mojave Ranger and NCR trooper stood over them, watching the wasteland in a firm handshake. The Courier had seen the giant statue many times, but Twilight was astonished.

She knew that these "Humans" were special, but making something as big as this without magic or wings simply made her gape at it. Her reason for coming with the Courier was to find a way home, and she felt safe around him, but now, she was curious about their culture.

She noticed the Courier waiting impatiently outside the doors to a small building. He had his arms crossed and gently tapped his finger on his arm. Twilight smiled sheepishly and hurried towards the Courier.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting." Twilight apologized. "It's... just so huge..." Daniel forced himself not to make a very overused joke and silently walked into the building.

The inside of the building looked like an old office complex, papers were scattered everywhere and several NCR troopers rushed around with stacks of paper.

"See," Daniel said to Twilight. "I wasn't exaggerating."

"Ah, my name is Major Knight, how can I help you, sir?" The trooper manning the reception desk said. "As you can see, we're a bit busy at the moment."

"We're here to get a pardon for a convict named Mayers." Twilight said.

Daniel took out his bag and placed it on the counter. "Do you guys trade?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that ma'am." He said. He then looked at Daniel. "You can try the bar next door."

Daniel nodded and turned to Twilight. "I'll be next door." He said and walked out.

"Why? As far as I know, what he done was wrong, but can you blame him for doing his job?"

"No, but the law says he'd done a heavy offence. Murdering a high ranking NCR official isn't something we could let go." Major Knight replied.

"This 'Official' of yours murdered a fifteen year old girl." Twilight firmly said.

"What? This wasn't filed in the report." Major Knight said with a shocked expression. "I'm going to have to pull some strings, but I'll try to get him pardon."

Twilight smiled and left.

Daniel on the other hand was having a bad day.

Being beaten in a fist fight was bad enough, but losing to a girl was humiliating. He shakily got up on his feet.

Before he could raise his hands, he was punched right on the face by a red-haired girl with a very pissed off expression.

The girl walked over to the Courier. Daniel sprang up and gave a swift kick and knocked the girl off balance. Daniel panted and he rose to his feet.

The girl got up, now even angrier. Daniel threw a jab across her face and made her stumble.

Twilight walked into the bar and saw the scene that was playing out. She sighed. "I leave you alone for two minutes and you get in a fight." She said and held the Courier back from punching.

"She started it!" He yelled.

Twilight went to the girl. "I'm sorry about my friend's behavior."

"Yeah, well next time keep him in line." She replied bitterly. The girl sat down and ordered a drink.

Daniel sat opposite of her and ordered a bottle of Whisky. Daniel chugged down the bottle in one swig. The girl followed suit.

They locked eyes at each other, ordering another drink.

Twilight could see where this was going and she knew she couldn't stop them. She sighed and decided to find something to do.

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 7:00 P.M ------------------------------

Twilight was rewarded handsomely for her help organizing the NCR files and reports. She smiled as he pouch jingled with caps. She had also helped out in clearing the high-way from giant ants with some help from a few NCR troopers.

She walked back in to the bar.

"Chug!Chug!Chug!Chug!Chug!" The crowd chanted as the Courier and the red-haired girl finished their lastest bottle.

"Another!" They both yelled. A red blush on both of their checks.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Twilight groaned.

Daniel gripped his bottle and tried to lift his arm. He couldn't see straight, and felt dizzy. The girl drank another bottle and stared at Daniel, waiting for him to finish his drink. Daniel collapsed, surrounded by empty Whisky bottles.

The crowd cheered. The girl tried to stand up, but collapsed as well.

Both the Courier and the girl wasunconscious.

Twilight face-palmed.

"Hey." The bartender yelled at Twilight. "You’re his friend, right?" She asked and pointed to the Courier. Twilight gave a slow nod. "Well, here's the bill."

Twilight looked at the total price and promptly went unconscious.

"Heh, never seen that before."

The Courier reached for his unfinished bottle and drank it. "Tied..." He muttered and fell unconscious.

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 10:00 A.M ------------------------------

The Courier, Twilight, and the girl were all carried to one of the bunk-beds by the NCR. Twilight was the first to wake up.

She remembered everything that happened last night, and the money Daniel owed.

Twilight groggily went to the counter and dropped her hard-earned sack of caps on the counter. "I think this should cover it..." She said in a low moan. "My head hurts..."

"Not as much as those two." The bartender said and pointed to the Courier and the girl.

Daniel shot up and grabbed a nearby bucket and puked in it.

"Looks like we'll be staying here for a few more hours." She groaned. "Why do I even bother with him?" She asked no one in particular.

Daniel's head pounded, his vision was spinning and everything blurred. He stumbled over to what looked like Twilight and sat down on the stool.

"Fixer?" He muttered.

"Nope." The bartender replied.

"This is what you get for drinking so much." Twilight deadpanned.

"Stop.Loud.Words." He groaned and rested his head on the table.

"I am not dragging you all the way to Primm." Twilight said.

"ughhhhh...." Was all the Courier could muttered on the counter.

"I'm gonna go do some work, to earn back some of the money I lost for paying your tab."

"blaghhh...."

"Quiet!" The red-haired girl yelled. "I'm trying to sleep off my hangover!"

"ughhhh...."

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 1:00 P.M ------------------------------

"Feeling better?" Twilight asked as she walked in the bar, carrying a small pouch of caps.

"Barely." Daniel muttered, not moving from his spot a few hours ago.

The girl on the other hand had moved next to the Courier. She also had her face down on the counter.

"I see you two have made up." Twilight said with a small smile on her face.

"Can we get moving now? I hate staying in one place for too long." Daniel said and got up from his seat. "See 'ya later, Cass."

Cass raised her hand, but quickly shot it down. "Yeah, whatever."

"Catch me later and I'll buy you a beer." Daniel laughed. Cass slammed her hand into the Courier's stomach. He gave a loud groan and fell to his knees.

"You deserve it." Cass muttered.

"I can agree with you there." Twilight said and helped Daniel up.

The duo went out the door and headed towards Primm.

"I hate walking..." Daniel muttered.

"Suck it up, we haven't even got down from the hill yet." Twilight said and led the way.

Daniel opened his bag and pulled out two water bottles. "Thirsty?" He asked.

"Sure." Twilight said and used her magic to grab the bottle. "Thanks."

"We still haven't talked about that magic thing yet." Daniel reminded her. "I really wanna learn how to do that."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in the Wasteland that knows how to do magic." Twilight flashed a quick smile towards Daniel.

------------------------------ Road to NCRCF, 1:00 P.M ------------------------------

"I cannot believe the Legion forced us out of Nelson." A Crystal Soldier said to his partner. The two of them were leading the first caravan towards the Correctional Facility.

"I'm surprised they didn't kill all of us. Did you see how many of them were there?" His partner replied.

"Good thing, we have King Sombra with us, if he didn't hold them up with that magic of his, we may have never gotten out."

"Hail! The King approaches." Someone from behind the two yelled.

The duo bowed as the King walked towards them.

"Rise."Sombra said. "How many of the caravans were lost?" He asked.

"Sir, about three." The Crystal Soldier replied.

Sombra frowned. "Unfortunate. No matter, any word from the crier?"

"Unfortunately, yes, my liege. The people from the NCRCF do not believe in your power." The other Crystal Soldier said.

"Then they are either slaves or enemies. We will take the Facility by force."

"My liege, no disrespect to your power, but we don't nearly have enough men, and I doubt you will be able to take care of them by yourself." Sombra's guard voiced. "Perhaps, a stealthierapproach?"

"No, a convoy this big would draw attention." Sombra said. He scratched his chin. "We'll make a plan when we get there."

"If I may be so bold." A young Crystal Soldier said. "How about we use fire?"

Sombra and others stayed silent for a while. "That is brilliant." Sombra said. "Haha! I know what we're going to do when we get there, it was so simple it flew right over my head!"

"My liege? Are we going to burn NCRCF?"

"No, magic can be used to create more than fire and levitation, it can do so much more. Teleportation, Conjuration, Alteration, Restoration, Destruction, and most of all Illusion."Sombra said excitedly. A large toothy grin plastered on his face. "To them they will see a great blazing fire. But to us, nothing will happen, they will see, but nothing will happen to us. Would you care for a demonstration?"

Before the three of them could reply, a giant two headed Deathclaw clawed up from the ground.

"A simple illusion."Sombra said, and with a flick of a wrist the beast was gone.

"That-"

"Was-"

"Awesome! My liege can you teach us how to do that?"

"I wish. You need to be born with magic, and I am the only one in the Wasteland that knows magic. I was a god once, before being banished to the bowls of the earth. They thought they killed me with their magical Crystal Heart. Hah! I laugh at petty parlor tricks."

If Sombra said this before, they would have thought him insane, but now, seeing what he can do, they believed ever word of it. "Hail to the King! Glory to the Dark Crystals!" They shouted in unison.

"We march, we make camp when it's dark."

"Yes, my liege!" The trio shouted and called out to the other caravans. "Move out!"

------------------------------ Ponyville ------------------------------

The mane six minus one sat around the library, each deeply worried about their lavender unicorn friend.

"It's been five days! Maybe she's in trouble. We've got to go help!" A rainbow maned Pegasus exclaimed. She was hovering in anxiety. "She's been gone for five days! She would have at least tried to contact us!"

"We know, Rainbow, but we can't do anything until the magical whatsit dies down." An orange earth pony said with a bemused expression.

"Magical Fall-off." The marshmallow colored unicorn said, nervously combing her mane. "It's went a very large spell needs a lot of magic it can't use all at once."

"Oh, I hope Twilight's alright..." The little dragon sighed in nervousness.

"Whoever made that portal must be very powerful." The butter colored Pegasus meeped. "Maybe as strong as the Princesses."

"The Princesses said that it should be safe in a few hours or so." Applejack said.

"Ohhh, I can't wait! Maybe we'll go to a world without magic, but have super duper alien machines and stuff!" The pink party pony bounced up and down.

"A world without magic? That's impossible, darling." Rarity smiled at her energetic friend.

There was a knock on the door. Spike went over to the large wooden door and pulled it open. A chestnut coated earth pony with an hourglass Cutie mark walked in.

"Oh, hello everypony. I'm Time Turner, a sort of Magical Fall-off expert. Lost both my horn and wings due to overexposure." Time Turner smiled and walked inside. "The Princesses said I should tell you about this Magical stuff."

"Woah, did you just say a horn and wings?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Huh? Oh yes, I'm an Alicorn, or was, about one thousand five hundred years old. I'm just a few thousand years younger than the Princesses. Anyway, I lost my horn and wings when I help took down Sombra, he reveled in this stuff.

"Back up." Applejack said. "Ah've known you all my life, how come I never knew about this, and why tell us now."

"Good question. You see," Time Turner stopped and adjusted his tie. "I fought the great Crystal War a thousand years ago, I was the youngest Alicorn left, I stared down Sombra and he unleashed a bolt of extreme dark magic and completely shattered me, the blast wasn't strong, but the Magical Fall-off killed my Alicorn abilities. They had to amputate my horn and wings."

Time Turner sat down on a nearby chair. "And to answer your other questions.Nopony ever asked, and the Princesses needed an expert so here I am."

"Expert on what exactly?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

Time Turner smiled. "Everything, what do you think I was doing for one thousand years? Making clocks?Time Traveling?I was learning, I effectively know everything."

"What's the square root of Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow asked with a smug smile.

"Cupcakes, and now we move on to what’s important." He quickly answered. "What you can lose if things go horribly wrong." His demeanor darkened.

"Wha-what do you mean horribly wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

"What happened to me, losing your wings." He pointed to Dash. "Your horn." He pointed to Rarity. "You might become paralyze." He pointed to Applejack. "Or you can die horribly, and that's only what a minor dosage would do."

The mares shared uneasy glances at each other.

"You can live, but your skin will melt, your mind would be a wreck, you'll be nothing but a savage animal that eats everything. You could mutate into some sort of hybrid of stone. You could be comatosed and live your life in an eternal nightmare. But, I'll teach you how to fight it off." Time Turner fished into his coat's pocket.

He pulled out six small round objects. "These are Magic Blockers, put them on and they will stop any form of magic, even the Elements, I made these so if some sort of evil can corrupt the Elements I could fight it back, seems like it's first use would be a rescue mission." He tossed one to each of the ponies and Spike. "These can protect you from magic, but only for a short time, and this portal, it's erratic, meaning you won't land where Twilight landed, there's even a possibility to land in a different world, hundreds of different worlds, there's no guarantee you'll even land in the same world."

They all hesitated.

"I understand if you need to think this through. I'll be checking out the area." He said and pulled out one of his devices. "Don't follow me, not yet." With that, Time Turner went off, leaving the worried ponies even more worried.

"What if that stuff said happened to Twilight?" Pinkie asked, a concerned look on her usually up-beat face.

"No, that can't happen! She's the Element of bucking Magic! She's the strongest unicorn in all time! She can't be dead!" Rainbow yelled. Tears welling up in her eyes. She flew off.

"RAINBOW DASH!" Applejack yelled and rushed to follow her. "GOSH DARNNIT! THINK IT THROUGH!"

Rainbow Dash landed right outside the Everfree Forest. "I did." She said.

"And?" Applejack caught up, out of breath.

"I don't know, and that scares me. I'm the Element of Loyalty, and I'm having second thought about saving my friend!" She yelled, tears flowing freely now.

"We'll give it one more day, if she doesn't come back, we'll go in and hog-tie her if we have to." Applejack said with a reassuring smile.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Applejack said along with the gestures.

Rainbow hugged the orange pony in a tight squeeze. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Sugercube."

Author's Note

LOL I don't know

Edit:I should really stop being drunk when I post stuff.

Chapter 5: Trust

------------------------------ Primm, 9:00 A.M ------------------------------

Twilight looked in the broken mirror, her face was covered in dirt and sand, her once perfect face was now full of scratches. Killing still made her stomach gurgle, but being here in the Mojave for almost a week made her realize that it was needed, still it didn't make her feel any better.

Daniel laid down on ruined couch, idly holding a .44 Armor Piercing bullet between his middle finger and his index finger. He idly twirled it between his fingers with a bored look in his eyes.

"So, how long are we going to stay here?" Twilight asked as he inspected a small gash on her cheek.

"Until the sandstorm blows over." Daniel calmly said. He twirled the bullet again. "I wish we were at the Mojave Outpost or something, they had a lot of booze there."

Twilight sighed. She didn't have anything to do, no paper or quill, no books to read and nothing to organize. "I'm gonna go play with my magic." She said and flicked her arms up.

"Try not to blow anything up." Daniel said and tucked away the bullet, he then took out his lighter and idly flicked it on and off.

Twilight's hands glowed a brilliant purple, making the room glow with her magic. Daniel didn't even flinch as he flicked his lighter on and off. What did make him flinch was the loud explosion that happened after.

He was rocketed to the other side of the room. He got up and dusted off the dirt and dust. "I said NOT to blow anything up." The Courier dead-panned.

"I-it wasn't me, something... happened?" Twilight said as she stared into a bright blue portal. Pictures swirled around it.

"Hello?" A voice from the portal called out. "Miss Sparkle, is that you?" The voice had a touch of Trottingham accent.

"Uh, Twilight? What's going on?" Daniel asked as he readied his gun. "If Deathclaws start spewing out of that thing, I will be very very pissed."

Twilight ignored the Courier's remarks and answered the portal. "Yes, this is Twilight Sparkle. Who is this?" She asked.

"Oh thank Celestia. This is Time Turner. Whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not go through the portal. The portal's a one-way ride and if you tried to cross back, you'll return as a mangled mess. Did you get all that?" Time Turner yelled as the portal began to shrink.

"Wait! Are my friends all right?" Twilight called out, but the portal quickly vanished.

Daniel lowered his guard. "Well... That's a reason to go out during a sandstorm." He said with a grin.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, as she tried to open the portal again.

"A mysterious voice saying not to go into a big shiny portal is just too tempting for my little heart." He said and picked up his bag. "And besides, the sandstorm's probably done by now." He said and skipped towards the door, and pushed it open. Only to be hit with a stray crate of Sunset Sarsaparilla.

Twilight laughed as the storm slowly dissipated. "Off just a few seconds."

"Yeah, yeah." Daniel said and stood back up.

"So, where should we go now?" Twilight asked.

Daniel shrugged. "I dunno. You're the magic expert."

Twilight sighed. "I honestly don't know where to go."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Crap. Well, let's go back to our original plan and head to Vegas." He said and started making his way to the road. "But," He said and quickly turned around. "I need to go to Mojave Outpost."

"Wait, why do we need to- Ohhh! I see!" Twilight said with a huge grin. "Looks like somebody has a crush."

"Pff-puff-wha? No, you must be mistaken, Ms. Sparkle." Daniel said with a small grin. "I just, uhhh, left my, uhhh, caravan deck! That's right! My caravan deck."

Twilight laughed. "Whatever you say. Lover boy."

"Up yours, Egghead."

They shared a small laughed and went on their way.

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 10:00 A.M ------------------------------

"-and so I said 'Squirrel Stew? Are you crazy?' and then he said-"

"We're here." Twilight pointed out, during the Courier's little rant.

"Oh. As I was saying Squirrel Stew as an animal repellant? Talk about crazy." Daniel finished.

"Hey," A voice from above called out. "You two, up here." The local sniper called out.

"Huh? Can we help you?" Daniel asked and shielded his eyes from the sun.

"My name's Ghost, and I got a job for you. Come up here so we can talk." Ghost said.

Daniel shrugged towards Twilight. She only responded with a blank stare. "Ghost Ops." Daniel said with another shrug.

The two went through the fenced gate and walked around to the building with the bar. Twilight and Daniel made their way to the top of the building. The view was nice, despite the giant statue blocking most of the Mojave.

"So," Daniel started and took a seat on the nearby chair, he picked up the Binoculars on the table and peered through it. "What's this job, you want me to do?"

"Smoke coming from Nipton, we had a few NCR stationed there, but no one's picking up. I need you to look into it." Ghost said, her stoic expression betrayed little or no emotion.

"And you can't leave your post because the NCR would chew you out." Daniel said and turned to look at Nipton in the distance. Smoke lifted up from the ground. He could see some people, but he was unsure if those were NCR.

"Spot on." Ghost replied. "I just need a status report, not a firefight, if things get hairy, I suggest you leave and head back here."

"We'll get it done." Daniel replied. "Mind if we take this?" He said and pointed to the Binoculars.

"Not at all, we have a lot of spares." Ghost said.

Daniel and Twilight nodded and went down the ramp. Daniel made a bee-line towards the bar.

"Cassidy!" Daniel called out. A bottle of empty Whisky flew right towards his face.

"Never call me that again." Cass said with a bemused expression. "What do you want?"

Daniel picked himself up from the floor. Mentally counting the times he got hit by something today. "Do you want to go traveling? Beats staying here all day."

Cass sighed. "My caravan papers are keeping me here, even though my caravan got burnt to the ground."

"Actually," Twilight started. "I fixed all that yesterday. You're free to go." Twilight stated.

Cass raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Still, I don't know where to go."

"Still better than here, right?" Daniel smiled.

Cass thought for a moment. "Yeah, I've got someplace I want to visit, if we have time."

"Sweet! The more the merrier!" Daniel grabbed Cass and Twilight's arms and bolted out the door.

"Hey!"

"Whoa!"

The trio quickly made their way towards Nipton. Daniel singing "Jingle Jangle Jingle" as they walked.

------------------------------ Nipton, 1:00 P.M ------------------------------

"Oh my god..." Cass groaned, as she followed the singing Courier. "Please just stop singing..."

"-And they sing. Oh, ain't you glad you're single!" Daniel sang(more like choked) as they walked.

"You'll get used to it." Twilight shrugged towards Cass.

"Yeah, but he's been singing for three hours straight!" Cass tried to drown out Daniel's voice. "I could really use... anything really."

Daniel stopped, the smoke from Nipton had an odd smell along with it. Daniel shushed his two companions and sniffed the air. "Flesh, old burning flesh. Stay close."

Daniel pulled out his revolver and crouched towards the town.

"YEAH! Smell that air! Couldn't you just drink it like it was booze!" A man dressed as a Powder Ganger cheered to the air. "OH YEAH! I just won the lottery! Who won? Me! That's who! WOOOO!" He cheered and bolted off to god-knows-where.

"That was... weird." Cass whispered quietly. Daniel shushed them and sneaked their way into the ruined town.

Bodies were littered everywhere, blood painted the streets and houses. Most were burnt, or cut up, or crucified. Twilight was about to vomit, when Daniel pressed his hands on her mouth.

"Legion. Stay quiet." He ordered and the two nodded. He peeked around the corner, seeing nearly a dozen armed Legionaries with shotguns, spears, and machetes patrolling the area.

Daniel spotted their leader, due to his ornate clothing and wolf headwear, a Vulpus. Daniel turned to his companions. "Cass, cover fire. Twilight, make some cover with that magic of yours. I'm going to flank them."

"Wha- magic? I thought that was just a little parlor trick back there." Cass said and turned to Twilight.

"It's real, now trust me." Twilight said and raised her hand. A low glowing purple wall erupted from the ground and made cover for the trio.

"Now." Whispered the Courier as he went behind a ruined general store.

Cass pulled out her Caravan Shotgun and started firing. Twilight raised her hands and shot concentrated bolts of magic at the Legionaries.

Daniel moved from the right and pointed his revolver. A Legion Mongrel jumped him before he could fire his shot. Daniel used his arm to hold off the dog's biting, he pulled out the rusty knife from Goodsprings and gave a stab right at the base of the dog's neck. The Mongrel went limp and rolled off to the side

Daniel saw the blood and bite wounds on his arm, he couldn't feel it. Legion melee fighters came rushing towards Daniel.

The Courier saw that he was being circled by four Legionaries, and with his left arm limp, he was in a major disadvantage.

"I'm fucked, aren't I?" He questioned and clenched his knife tighter. A Legionarie lunged at the crippled Courier. Daniel parried the blow and gave a swift kick to the groin. He shoved the Legionarie with his shoulder, making him drop his machete and stumble backwards.

He grabbed the machete in a backhand stance.

A Legionarie threw a spear towards the Courier.

Daniel didn't notice the spear before it lodged itself on his side. The Legionaries rushed in for the killing blow.

"Nice try." Daniel said and revealed that he had an unpinned grenade in his dead hand. The only thing that held back the explosion was his hand. He dropped the grenade and threw it to the group that was firing at Twilight and Cass.

The grenade exploded and made several Legionaries into a bloody paste on the ground.

Daniel rolled back and distanced himself from the Legionaries. "A little help here!" He called out.

Cass jumped over Twilight's barrier and gave Daniel as much covering fire as possible.

Daniel dropped the machete and pulled out his revolver, six shots rang out and six more dead bodies fell to the ground.

The Legion was quickly cut down, each having a quick death.

A merciful death. The Courier thought, he noticed that Vulpus was sturggling, his leg was blown off from the grenade explosion.

"Pray to your Gods, you murdering asshole." Daniel, reloaded his revolver and pulled back the hammer of his gun. A loud shot rang out and Vulpus' body went limp.

Daniel grunted as he pulled the spear from his abdomen. He turned towards the two girls, both of them had concerned looks on their faces. "Ready to go." Daniel said in his usual up-beat tone.

"You had a spear in your guts!" Twilight yelled, she pulled out her Doctor's Bag and started sorting out what she needed.

"Let me guess," Cass said with a small smile. "He does this often."

Twilight nodded. "Getting hurt to the point he shouldn't be alive. Yeah, he does that a lot."

"You're getting really good at this, being a medic and all." He laughed. "I pegged you for the sciencey stuff."

Twilight sighed. "If only you didn't rush into things so much."

"You saw my scores on the Vito-matic. I've got the luck of a guy with thirteen black cats on a Friday." Daniel said and saw that Twilight was finished with her stitching. "I'm more likely to meet a Deathclaw on the road to Vegas than anyone."

Daniel scratched the back of his head. "Let's head back, I've got a few questions for you." His tone turned deadly serious. "There's something not quite right about you."

Twilight tensed up. She didn't know what he meant, he was being very friendly with her up until now. Now she felt like she was being examined.

------------------------------ Mojave Outpost, 2:00 P.M ------------------------------

It was a quick run back to the Outpost, much to Cass and Twilight's displeasure in running. No singing or sightseeing, just a silent sprint towards the Outpost.

"What?!" Ghost cried, surprised. "Legion? This far out west? Huh, gives me a reason to stay sharp. Thanks for making the trip, even if it was bad news." Ghost sighed and handed a small pouch of caps to Daniel.

Daniel nodded, clearly something else in his mind.

Twilight was waiting inside the bar with Cass.

"So I heard your caravan burned down. How'd that happen? The reports said that you were attacked by bandits." Twilight said and took a swig of her Sarsaparilla.

"I honestly don't know." Cass' voice was strained, she recalled what happened. "We were out, delivering some water to Mojave Outpost from Vegas. We got jumped by some thugs with laser weapons, a lot of laser weapons, they torched the caravan and burned it to the ground, they didn't even steal my cargo, they burned that too." Cass took a large swig of her Whisky.

"That must have been tough." Twilight said with a small nod. "Losing one of the last things your dad gave you."

"How'd you know that?"

"It was filed in the report."

Daniel bursted through the door. He lunged towards Twilight and pinned her up on the wall by the throat. Cass picked up her gun and pointed at the two, she didn't know what was going on.

"Wha? Dan! Drop her." Cass said and pointed her gun at Daniel.

"Tell me who you are. You are not fooling anyone with that amnesia bullshit." Daniel pulled out his machete and pressed it against Twilight's neck.

"Think about what you’re going to do next very carefully." Cass slowly said, her hands tensed as her grip tightened on her gun.

"The 'you remind me of a friend' thing back in Goodsprings? I could believe that, but the little quips like not knowing how to shoot or fight. You could have been one of those Vault Dwellers, never been out in the sun for over hundreds of years, but I thought that a Vault Dweller would be wearing a Vault suit and at least know what a gun was or know how to fight." He tighten his grip on the machete. "But do you know what took the cake? The portal back in Primm. You acted like you remember everything. What the hell are you hiding?"

"I don't-" Twilight choked.

"Don't bullshit me! Who do you work for?! The Brotherhood? The Legion? Did the NCR finally think they need one less loose end?"

Cass needed to stop this. One way or the other, but what would she choose?

A loud gunshot rang out, a body crashed down on the floor, a small puddle of blood spread over the dirty tiles.

------------------------------ NCRCF, 8:00 P.M ------------------------------

Sombra laughed as hundreds of criminals ran around like headless chickens. The illusion worked like a charm, some of the Powder Gangers tried fighting back, but found their weapons to be useless against the illusions and Sombra's shield.

"This will be your final warning." Sombra said calmly behind his shield. His soldiers mounted weapons across the shield, they were ready to fire on Sombra's word. "Submit or die. That is your choice!"

"Fuck you!" A Powder Ganger said and threw a stick of dynamite. Sombra caught the dynamite with his magic and shoved it back into the Powder Ganger's mouth.

"They are a stubborn lot, aren't they?" Sombra said to the soldier on his right.

Sombra's coat fluttered in the late desert wind, the flame illusions looked as if it had burned through the metal gates, giant Deathclaws and Cazadors went around and caused mass panic. Sombra smiled, his plan was coming along perfectly. Most Powder Gangers that were attacked or "burning" fell unconscious, ready to be round up later.

The moon made the show much more exciting, the light glow from the fire and the moon mixed into something beautiful. Sombra couldn't help but smile at his art. Some Powder Gangers threw down their weapons and lay in a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably. The last of them lay there, alive but unconsious.

The illusions dissipated, and everything was back to normal, the few unfortunate Gangers that were caught in friendly fire or Sombra's return throws were little more than bits of blood and gore on the sands.

Sombra motioned to his two guards. "Round them up in the courtyard, make sure to bind their hands and feet." The two soldiers bowed and ran off with a small squad to help carry the bodies.

Sombra noticed one person, a young black man held up his pistol in fear. "Y-you're- l-like her? How?" He asked and gripped his gun tighter.

Sombra raised an eyebrow. "Her? Hah! It seems I am not the only Unicorn here." He laughed, he pointed his finger to the gun and flicked it off to the side. The Powder Ganger yelped in surprise. "Tell me, who is this 'her' you speak of?"

The Powder Ganger stammered. "T-Tw-Twilight!" He yelled. "Don't hurt me!"

Sombra frowned. "Humpt! Twilight Sparkle? She should be easy to deal with, she has never seen the true powers of dark magic." Sombra pointed his finger at the Ganger's head. A small thin blast erupted and bore a hole through the poor man's head.

Twilight? Easy enough. Without the Elements, or the Crystal Heart, she is nothing more than a pawn. He thought and dusted off his cape.

------------------------------ Camp Forlorn Hope, 9:00 P.M ------------------------------

The legion had moved back in, this was bad for the NCR. The good news was that the brief respite gave them enough breathing room to resupply from the other nearby bases, like Helios I.

Pvt. Dunn, silently cleaned and repaired his rifle. Everything is fine. He kept telling himself. But why do I feel like something's wrong?

Dunn was knocked out of his thoughts by a rough hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw his parther, Cpl. Cole. Cole's rifle had been long overdue to be repaired.

"How's it going, Dunn?" Cole asked and sat down beside him. "Still having those weird dreams?"

"Every night." Dunn replied coldly, his gaze never left his rifle. "Still the same Sombra guy and his creepy hand on my head. I don't know, maybe I need my Psych checked." Dunn said and placed his rifle on the table. He picked up Cole's rifle and started cleaning.

"You don't need to do that." Cole said. He had a concerned look on his face.

"Yes I do... It keeps my hands busy and my mind from wandering off..." He said and picked up a broken rifle and stripped it for parts. "Do you feel like something's wrong? Like something's in your head, rewriting what you know?"

"Nah, can't say I have. What this about?" Cole asked.

"I dunno... I just feel... Wrong, somehow?" Dunn placed back Cole's rifle on the table.

Cole screamed as he clutched his head and fell off his chair.

"Cole?" Dunn moved over to his friend's screaming body. His head began to spin, and a searing pain shot up from all over his body. "Wh-What!?"

"Hmmm... It seems you're stronger than I thought. No matter, tell your Commanding Officers that a fugitive by the name of 'Twilight Sparkle' has gone loose, she is extremely dangerous and unstable. If she is dead, find her body and bring it to the NCRCF. If not, kill her. She may be traveling with a man known as 'the Courier', kill him as well. Goodbye, do not fail me."

"Yes, Master." Both of them said and headed to the Command tent.

------------------------------ Everfree Forest ------------------------------

It's been a day already, Rainbow Dash couldn't wait, she slipped on the device Turner gave her. She was determined. Flying at an insane speed towards the portal, Rainbow Dash couldn't hear the yells from her friends to slow down or stop.

Rainbow Dash saw Time Turner poking the portal with a stick, even throwing a few rocks in it. She dive-bombed the portal, each second seemed to slow down, a flurry of magic brushed off her coat and wings. Her face started to hurt, she was going fast.

Fast enough to make a Sonic Rainboom.

Time Turner rolled back and saw Rainbow Dash fly into the portal. "NO! YOU IDIOT!" He yelled and looked over to the portal. "The portal wasn't fixed on Twilight's position! You could land anywhere! RAINBOW DASH! COME BACK!"

Rainbow Dash heard every word, but she couldn't reply, her voice was drowned by the unending pain. She felt like warm blood started pouring down her ears. The portal swirled and started to open up to a new world.

She felt herself falling... the blue sky, the sound of seagulls... She could hear it. It was by pure luck she heard a voice call out beside her.

"HEY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!" A man wearing a blue jumpsuit yelled. Rainbow Dash could barely register the voice or the creature that was beside her.

Without warning the creature grabbed her and wrapped his long arms around her. "HANG ON!" He yelled. "Guys! I got an unexpected passenger!"

The creature opened the chute and both of them drifted down slowly to the ground.

"Wha..." Rainbow Dash tried to talk but felt that her throat was dry as bones.

"You'll be alright." The man in the blue jumpsuit said. Another man wearing a red Jumpsuit floated down next to them.

"What the hell, Jason!?"

Author's Note

Farcry 3.... meh... I'll do it later...

Chapter 2: Ghost Town Throw Down

------------------------------ Goodsprings, 10:00 A.M ------------------------------

The Courier headed down to the abandoned gas station, he left Twilight in the saloon, surrounded by books instead of shot glasses.

He still didn't trust the girl, but knew that she wouldn't harm him, not yet anyway. He pushed open the large door to the gas station, it creaked and squeaked as the Courier pushed the door open.

He met face to face with a 9mm pistol aimed to his head.

"Everytime..." Daniel muttered, and raised both of his hands to signify that he wasn't a threat.

"What do you want?" The man wearing an old caravanner set of clothes said, nervously, his hand tight on the gun and trigger.

"Look, buddy, I'm here to help." Daniel said and pushed down the barrel of the gun. "Heard about your little Powder Ganger problem."

The man holstered his pistol with an apologetic sigh. "Sorry about that. Name's Ringo, been on edge for a while." He said and picked up a stack of cards. "Maybe we got off on the wrong foot, how about a game of Caravan?" He said and gave the Courier a deck of cards.

"Maybe later. Right now, I want to help." Daniel said with a salesman like smile.

Ringo narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch? 'Cause I'll have you know that I don't have any money."

"No catch. All I want is to protect this little town." Daniel said and leaned on the counter.

"... No really, what do you want?"

Daniel sighed. "I was going to loot their bodies and sell their stuff for a few caps."

"That's better. Anyway, I appreciate the help, but the two of us aren't exactly a force to be reckoned with."

"And you think I should ask the town for some help?" Daniel said with a smirk. "I'll go ask Sunny."

"Yeah, she's been the most helpful person in this town, but we might need a few more people."

"I'll work on it, you should just get ready for a fight."

------------------------------ Goodsprings, Prospector Saloon, 10:00 A.M ------------------------------

Twilight had read through all the books in the saloon. Having nothing to do, she made her way to the bar. Her pockets jingled with a few caps Daniel gave her.

Daniel reminded her a lot like Rainbow Dash. Her eyes dropped low to the ground. She was worried about her friends, she's been gone for a day now, and they would all be worried about her.

Trudy came along with a bottle of cheap beer. "Looks like you need it, hon." She said with her trademark smile.

She really did need it, but she declined. "No thank you. I was just thinking."

"About what? Someone as smart as you would have something insightful to share."

Twilight sighed and fiddled with her "fingers". "I was just thinking of my friends, were they worried? What are they doing? Were they looking for me? I really miss them."

"Friend, huh?Been a long while since I've heard those words." Trudy said with a wishful sigh. "Look, hon. If your friends really care about you then they must be looking for you." Trudy said to comfort Twilight.

"And that's the problem. If they are looking for me, then they'll be looking for me where the last time they saw me. They're going to die if they tried to go through there, and that's what worries me." Twilight said, and looked at the bottle of beer.

"Radiation? That's the problem with good friends, they always put themselves in danger for you. That's usually how you can tell if a friend's a keeper or just tagging along for the ride." Trudy said and offered the bottle again.

"They're all good friends, but there is one who would just rush in to find me, even ignoring a direct order from the Princess." Twilight said and grabbed the bottle.

"Princess? Don't know about any princesses, but I can tell you that someone like that comes around once in a blue moon." Trudy said. "And that Daniel, what do you think about him?"

"Nice, I guess? He's a bit brutal, but he's sort of caring." Twilight said and drank some of the beer.

"Not like that, I mean if you like him?"

Twilight did the classic spit take. Beer was spraying everywhere. "Huh? NoNoNoNo. I mean we just met and..." Twilight's checks began flushing bright red.

"I heard some gossiping." Sunny said and walked over to the two girls. "Who are we talking about?"

"Daniel, we were just talking if he was good marriage material." Trudy said with a smirk. Twilight was the same shade of red as Big Mac.

Sunny saw Twilight's unease and laughed. "He's definitelygonna keep you up all night."

"I... uh... need to go!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, and ran out the saloon.

As she ran out, she was the Courier ran towards the saloon. He waved and slid to a stop.

"Have you seen Sunny anywhere?" He quickly asked.

Twilight pointed inside the saloon. "Why?"

"There's gonna be a gunfight!" He said and rushed in the saloon.

He rushed and saw Sunny and Trudy have a little chat.

"Sunny, I need your help." He said. "Powder Ganger are gonna attack the town-"

"Say no more, I'll help." She said with a smile. "We aren't exactly a fighting force here, and we're lacking in supplies."

"You're just gonna help?" Daniel said with a confused look. "No payment or-"

"If it means keeping this town safe." Trudy said. "She'll do just about anything."

"Anyway, we need medical supplies, some armor, weapons and ammo, and we need more people to fight on this side." Sunny said and picked up her gun. Cheyenne howled in excitement.

"How do you suppose I get that?" Daniel asked and crossed his arms. "I barely have enough caps for my own stuff."

"You can try convincing Chet on giving you some weapons, but I think 'give' isn't Chet's vocabulary. You can go to Doc Michelle for some supplies. you can also ask Easy Pete for some dynamite, and Trudy could help rally up some more folk." She said and stared at Trudy. "Right?"

"I was planning on sitting this one out, but when she gives me the glare, she give me the glare. I'm in." Trudy said with a small sigh.

Easy Pete came running in. "We got a problem. Powder Ganger are getting ready, we have until noon before they attack." He said in a hurried tone.

"Easy Pete, we need some of your dynamite." Daniel said. "We don't have enough firepower to fight 'em back."

Easy Pete changed his tone to a more serious one. "No, you'll blow yourselves up."

"Pete, they have dynamite, they could scatter us and pick us off one by one. We need something to fight 'em back."

Easy Pete was silent for a moment. "Fine, I'll dig up my stash, but if it all goes to hell, than I'm gonna blame you for it." He said with a glare.

"That's one down." Daniel said and ran out the saloon. He saw the insane amount of Powder Gangers and felt a small smile on his face.

He noticed Twilight waiting outside the saloon and rushed to her. "Twilight, I need you to go to Doc Michelle's house and get us some extra stimpacks, tell him that the Powder Gangers are coming." Before Twilight could react he rushed off.

Twilight looked at the Courier's running figure with a confused look on her face. She decided to do as he asked and headed over to Doc Mitchell’s.

------------------------------ Goodsprings, 12:00 P.M ------------------------------

The people that gathered were all ready, their guns were loaded and dynamite at the ready. The people all had leather armor thanks to Chet and the Courier.

The sun was high and the town was aching for a fight. Daniel went over to the makeshift cover of barrels and crates.

"It won't hold, but it will slow them down." He muttered to himself. Sunny came running, rifle at the ready.

"About two dozen Powder Gangers, ready to fight." Sunny said and eyed the barrier. "There wasn't much cover out here and we would have been slaughter, thanks to your quick thinking we might be able to pull it off."

"Alright, let's get ready." Daniel said. He turned his attention to the crowd of settlers and farmer.

"Stay in cover! Take potshots and throw those dynamites right in the middle of their group!" He yelled to the townies. He glanced over the running mob of convicts and smiled. "Get ready!"

"Hold fire!" Sunny yelled. "Wait for them to get closer."

Twilight didn't want to be a part of this, she was at the back with the meds, she was meant to play the role of medic during the fight. She turned to Trudy with a worried look. "Couldn't we try talking to them? Diplomatic?"

"Honey, trust me, I've tried." Trudy said.

A shot was fired at the barrier. Sunny opened fired along with the rest of the town.

Powder Gangers were hit and scrambling for cover. Dynamites were tossed over the barrier, followed by screams and explosions. Gore and blood splattered on the sand and soil. Twilight grimiced as the screams of the Powder Gangers were cut short by bullets and explosions.

The remaining Powder Gangers retreated behind what little cover they could find, and started chucking every dynamite they could take. The barricade exploded, making an opening for the remaining Powder Gangers to run through.

The Powder Gangers ran through the gap and opened fire, taking down several locals with a few well-placed shots.

Daniel rushed in with the rusty knife and dug itself deep into one of the Powder Ganger's bare chest. He took the dynamite from the dead Powder Ganger's holster and lit it.

Daniel ran to the Powder Gangers and dropped the dynamite at their feet. He rolled back and let the explosive do the work.

Twilight went to work, trying her best to patch up any wounded and trying not to puke because of the dead bodies. She saw the last of the Powder Gangers running away, she breathed a sigh of relief that it was over, the people have stopped firing and began cheering.

Everyone except Daniel.

The Courier saw the crippled Joe Cobb, slowly trying to limp away. He gave a devilish grin, and sprinted to the wounded convict. Fear filled Cobb's eyes, as he watched the Courier raised his knife ready for a killing blow. He closed his eyes, waiting for the knife, but it never came, a dark purple glow held back the Courier's arm.

Twilight held back the Courier's arm with what little magic she could muster. Whatever happened to her, her magic was also affected.

He struggled to break free. Joe slowed his breathing and turned to run away.

He sighed and dropped his stance. He looked at Twilight, his face a mix of confusion and anger. He stormed towards her.

"What the hell!?" Was all Daniel could ask. "You know he's gonna come back with more, we could have ended this!"

Twilight held her ground. "He knew that he lost, he won't be coming back." She said and glared back at the Courier. "Did you ever think that he had a family or friends that cared about him?"

"Did he think about that when he attacked Ringo'scaravan! His 'friends' killed off honest to god merchant and traders, they had no quarrel with them yet he killed them for money!" Daniel yelled, and sighed. "You know what I hate the most? Scum that think killing is easy, he never thought of the consequence of killing those people and now he paid the price." He picked up his bag filled with loot from the dead bodies. "I'm going to Primm, feel free to follow." He said and turned away.

She was anger, furious even, but Daniel had a point.

She remembered her brother, Shining Armor, it was after a large fight with Griffon terrorist, he was comatose for months, she read the report. They killed off the terrorist, but let a young Griffon free. That last Griffon got a fighting force and counter-attacked, leaving three guards dead and her brother severely injured.

"Wait!" She called out to Daniel. He didn't turn around or stop, he just kept walking at a brisk pace. "I don't think your right, but you do have a point." She said. The Courier still didn't pay any attention.

"You can follow me," The Courier said, he was still walking. "but I have a question." He stopped and turned around. "Why?"

It was a simple question, but one without an answer. "I don't-"

"'Cause from where I'm standing, we're just two strangers that only known each other for a day. I'm going to find the guy that shot me in the head and left me for dead. What are you gonna do?" He asked. "Don't say 'I don't know' because it's gonna be dangerous, and I don't want a dead body on my hands, I think you should head back and stay in Goodsprings, maybe go with Ringo to Crimson Caravan." He suggested, his eyes locked on to Twilight's.

She was silent. "You remind me of a friend... She would go through Tartarus for me and any other of my friends, and I'm gonna find a way back to them, and I can't do it sitting around in Goodsprings." She replied.

"So, just because I remind you of someone, you’re going follow me? You are a crazy lady." He said and turned to walk. "You can tag along, but I have you have some earplugs 'cause I sing when I'm traveling." He said with a small smile.

Twilight gave a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm used to breaking out into song from time to time."

The two saw a large robot rolling down the road, a smiling cowboy face was displayed on his screen. "Well, Butter my muffin and call me Ditzy, it's you. Didn't think you'd be up and running so soon." The robot said. "Now where are my manners, my name's Victor, saved your skin from Fancy pants and those Great Khan types." Victor said.

"Fancy pants?" Twilight asked. "And what... are you?"

"I think they called him Benny or something. Anyway, what are you doing up, it's only been a few hours." The robot said. "I'm a Mk II Securitron made by the Mr. House himself."

"A few hours? It's been a full day." Daniel said, he walked over to the robot and examined him.

There were several scratches and dents on the robot, and signs that he was recently tampered with.

"Huh, must ‘a been on sleep mode or something." The robot said. "Anyway, I'm heading back to Goodsprings, pack a few things and head on out. Happy trails, partner." He said and made his way back to the town.

------------------------------ Cottonwood Cove, 9:00 AM ------------------------------

A tall dark haired man was dragged along with a few other slaves, his tattered clothes covered his dark green eyes.

The legion had been merciless, brutal abuse and torture, but kept alive to do more work. He liked them, he was reminded of himself, but he wanted to be on the other side of the whip and cage.

He played for a weakling long enough, his chains melted with dark magic, he forced two Legionaries up in a magical chokehold.

The man laughed. "Pathetic." He said and launched his captors towards other Legionaries. The other slaves were terrified, but they cheered the man on.

More of the Legion came in droves, the entire camp was on full alert.

"Pfff... Child's play." He said and made a wall of dark fire that blocked the Legion's advance. He melted away the chains of the other slaves and lowered his hood. His eyes glowed with a sinister purple, his hair was ragged and messy, but he still held a form of Royalty.

He turned to the crowd, still terrified, but with renewed hope. He grinned, he could use that hope. "Glory to me!Glory to King Sombra!" He yelled towards the crowd.

The crowd was reluctant at first, but slowly began chanting his name. "King Sombra! King Sombra! King Sombra!"

King Sombra smiled. The wall of flame fell and all the Legionnaires on the other side were quickly stripped of their weapons. The weapons floated towards the slaves.

They grabbed the guns and spears and other weapons and stared at their weaponless captors.

"It is their turn to be the slaves! Seize them! Keep them alive!" Sombra yelled to his new following. "This is the rise of the Dark Crystal!"

The people cheered. "Hail to King Sombra!"

"Hail to the King!"

"Hail!"

"Glory to the King!"

"This is going to be easier than I thought." King Sombra muttered to himself. He turned back to the crowd. "Let them wear the clothes of the slave and we shall teach them as such."

The people cheered.

------------------------------ Cottonwood Cove, 4:00 PM ------------------------------

In a matter of hours, the small band of slaves turned into a group of merciless slavers. Thanks to their new King.

The torture was more painful, more frequent, and much safer. Leaving the Legionaries bloody, battered, but full of energy to be forced to work.

King Sombra found the armor of Aurelius of Phoenix, the ex-leader of the encampment, he removed the gold platetings and remade it into his own armor.

The armor gave off a purple glow, a dark coating covered the arms of the armor, a dark red cape came over to him, he snapped it on.

NCR troopers came to investigate, King Sombra decided to play it safe and welcome the troopers with open arms, as much as he resented it.

"Welcome." King Sombra said with a fake toothy smile. "You must be the NCR I've been hearing about. The Legion had a certain... hatred about your type."

"Hello, I'm Cpl.Cole, and this is my partner, Pvt.Dunn, and I'm going to be as blunt about this as possible, what the hell happened?" Cole said, easing his grip on his Service Rifle.

Pvt.Dunn didn't ease up, and keep his finger on the trigger.

"We fought back, and won." Sombra said bluntly. "They were fairly easy prey."

"We can see that." Pvt.Dunn said as he saw the Aurelius of Phoenix being dragged off. "We want to know how you did it."

"Ah, yes. Let's talk privately, follow me." Sombra said and walked towards the ex-Legion HQ.

The two troopers slowed their pace. "I don't trust this guy." Pvt. Dunn whispered.

"We're just here to do some recon, maybe we can get this guy to work with us." Cpl.Cole replied.

The trio went inside the HQ. Several machines sparked and buzzed, recently broken. In the middle of the room was a small table with a map and a knife stabbed on Camp McCarran.

Pvt.Dunn was the first one who spoke up. "So, how'd you do it?"

"Ah, straight to the point."Sombra laughed. "Let me show you." King Sombra flexed his arms and slammed the two troopers to the wall. They dropped their guns with a clank on the floor.

"What the hell?!"Cpl.Cole managed to wheeze.

"I really hate doing this, it gives me a headache, but I need your services and maybe some information." King Sombra grinned and placed his hands on the two troopers.

The troopers tried to scream, but all that came out were gurgles and foaming on the mouth. Memories flashed through their minds, everything that ever happened to the two.

"Rise."Sombra said and removed his hands. "This feels different. I could only do this one at a time, the benefits of having 'hands' I guess."

The two troopers picked up their rifles and stood up. Their eyes were devoid of life, almost as if they were already dead. "Your bidding, my king." They said in unison.

Pvt.Dunn stuttered. "S-screw y-you." Sobra was caught by surprise as the soldier tried to aim his gun.

"Down."Sobra said and Pvt.Dunn lowered his weapon. "Hmm... I must be weaker than I thought." He placed his right hand on Pvt.Dunn's head.

After a few minutes of silence, Sombra smiled in contentment. "There, that should do it. I want you two to report to your Commanding Officer. Tell him that everything here is fine."

"Yes, my liege." The two said and walked out the door.

Sombra rubbed his forehead as the headache and information began to pour in. He then realized something he should have done when he first got to this world. "Did I close the portal? I can't seem to remember. No matter, no unicorn could have entered that portal and lived anyway."

With that, he left the room and headed to his new sleeping area to sleep off the headache. Aurelius of Phoenix's screams echoed through the camp. Sombra sighed and laid down on his bed. "What a beautiful noise."

Author's Note

Don't expect periodical updates, I'll write when I feel like it.

Meh.