The Lone Wanderer's Journey

by SteelyThePally

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human, Romance, Original Character, Adventure
Length: 9977

What happens when the Mane 6 are trapped forever in the Capital Wasteland?

While trying a new spell, Twilight accidentally teleports herself and her friends to the Capital Wasteland. Unaware that there is no coming back, they bump with Jason, The Lone Wanderer. How will this interfere in his journey? Will they be able to survive the harsh conditions of the Wasteland? And how will Jason react over his new companions?

Just remember that I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic OR the Fallout series.

Published 2013-10-31 02:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-08 02:37:11 UTC

A Day Of Discoveries

         Another day began in the Wasteland. The Sun was starting to raise on the horizon. Jason opened his eyes, and snapped his back, giving a satisfying 'crack' sound. After he got out of his sleeping bag, Jason woke up Dogmeat. His companion slowly opened its eyes, and started to pant as usual. The Lone Wanderer sat down staring at the sunrise. He admired the sunshine beauty for moments, and scanned his surroundings for any possible threat.

"Oh, good morning, Jason." Twilight greeted him and began to rub her eyes before yawning.

"Good morning, Twilight. Did you sleep well?" Jason replied, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Yeah, kinda." Twilight sat down at Jason's side. "Okay, I know that yesterday our questions were driving you crazy, but can I ..." She was interrupted by Jason "No, problem, I'm okay with it now."

"Why is everything so... destroyed and desert-like?" He was ready for that question. "Umm... that's a long story. Well, two hundred years ago, the world was engaged in a big war: The Resources War. It was, obviously, a war between various nations that were fighting over Earth's remaining resources. The most notable ones were the United States Of America, Russia and China. Then, near the end of the war, China tried to invade the USA through Alaska. The USA successfully repelled their attack and began to march in Chinese territory. China, in a desperate attempt, launched nuclear attacks, hitting various places in the world. After this, Earth was thrown into a nuclear fallout." Twilight looked at him impressed and shocked at the same time.

         Jason then began to think about all those events that changed the world, slowly drifting apart from reality.

"Jason? Jason!" Twilight snapped her fingers in order to get his attention.

"Huh? What is it?" Jason asked her, confused, and shook his head.

"Are you alright? You started to stare at that dead tree over there" She pointed at the mentioned object " and just stood still." Jason remembered about what he was doing. "I think I daydreamed for a moment there."

         Dogmeat approached them and stood at his owner side, who stroked it's head. "Oh, I forgot to tell about the vaults. Vaults are enormous fallout shelters constructed by Vault-Tec as a request from the US government to protect their people from a nuclear war. The suits they use in there are really ridiculous, like mine." A strange silence filled the air. Jason looked around trying to find something interesting. But one question echoed in Twilight's head : 'Will I ever go back home?'. She couldn't help herself. "Jason, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?" The Wanderer looked at her awaiting her question.

"Do you know anything I could use to go back to Equestria? Like a portal?"

"A portal? Really?" Twilight lowered her head, losing hope "Look. I don't know anything about dimensional portals, but the city I am headed is said to have a great scientist team. Maybe they could help you. And just remember that I try my best to keep you girls alive." His words reassured Twilight. "Thanks Jason! This means a lot to me!" And hugged him strongly. Jason blushed at her overly fond act "It's okay... Twilight. Now just... let me go... I can't breathe..." She released him from her strong grasp in seconds. "Sorry."

         Jason began to wake up the rest of the girls. Several minutes, and they were already awakened. "Good morning everyone. Today were going to Rivet City. It' s a 4-hour long walk so prepare yourselves." Jason collected the sleeping bags for further use, and started to walk towards his objective.

          Silence predominated in the group, only broken by Rarity's exaggerated complaints about how the Wasteland was dirty. Fluttershy kept up Jason's pace and asked him;

" I-I'm sorry if this will get you angry, but why are we going to this place?"

"To find my father." Jason answered without even looking at her.

"Di-Did you lost him?" She asked again, this time more timidly.

"No, he left me without a reason. Let me tell you my story already."

          Jason repeated his explanation about the vaults again, just using some different words."So there's were my story begins. Well, I was born in Vault 101. It wasn't the best life ever down there. I lived 19 years without problem, until my father disappeared and I went after him. After that, I looked for him in Megaton, a friendly makeshift town not far from here. Getting information from a bar owner, I ventured through Washington D.C, met up with Three Dog, a cool radio operator, helped him with his radio signal and got even more information. Then, I was going to Rivet City, but I found you girls first. So here I am."

The Wanderer's quick explanation made the group understand him better.

         During their trip, the girls saw the Wasteland typical scenario: dead trees, rock formations, decaying roads and houses, radioactive pools and collapsed bridges. Everything was alright at that point. But Jason's eyes detected a small raider outpost not far from his position. 'Great. That is exactly something that I don't need right now. But c'mon Jason, what's wrong with popping some heads today?' Jason thought before saying to the girls:

"Could you girls stay here for a moment? I'm gonna take care of some business right there." Their only response were short nods. " Let's go, boy." Dogmeat began to follow him as they approached the outpost. When he neared the location, Jason crouched, and saw a raider in the front gate. "Look who's going to be the first victim?" And aimed his rifle at the unaware raider.

         Jason pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the unsuspecting man in the head, splattering blood through the air while his body fell lifelessly to the ground. "HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?" A voice shouted from inside the outpost. Jason ran and took cover at the gate's left side while Dogmeat covered itself on the right. Jason got out of his cover, and shoot another raider, this time nearly destroying his head, sending more blood flying through the air. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!! GO TO HELL!!" Another raider shouted angrily and began to open fire at Jason, that quickly returned to cover. "Dogmeat, when he stops shooting, attack him on the neck, boy!" Dogmeat growled in response. "NOW!" Jason shouted, and shot the raider in the leg, who cried in pain. Dogmeat jumped on the wounded men's neck, pulling him to the ground, and viciously bit his neck. " DIE YOU USELESS MUTT!" Other raider came from the outpost's inner area, armed with a shotgun.

"Hey! Don't you guys ever give up?" Jason said ironically. He fired his last shot, hitting the raider's arm before he could take Dogmeat's life. However, the bullet ripped off the raider's arm. The man fell on the ground yelling in pain. "C'mon, Dogmeat. Finish him." The dog obeyed, and killed the man with a strong bite in the neck. "Nothing special in here. I'll just loot them and return to the..." The Lone Wanderer was interrupted by a raider armed with a knife rushing at him. Before Jason could take any action, the raider stabbed him in the shoulder. Jason screamed in pain, and headbutted the raider, repeatedly punching him in the stomach with his left arm. The raider fell to the ground, while Jason painfully removed the offending knife from his shoulder, and stabbed his opponent in the head.

         The Wanderer slowly got up, and looked at his wound. The bleeding dyed his right shoulder red. "Oh God, That hurts. "I'll use a stimpak and just return to the... Oh God." He looked back and saw the girls staring shocked at the small carnage. "Great. What now?" Jason whispered to himself. However, the girls just stood still, not saying a word.

"What did you do here?" Rainbow asked Jason, trembling in fear.

"I did what was meant to be done." He replied, clearly showing no emotions for the dead raiders.

"YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER! YOU KILLED THEM WITHOUT A REASON!" Rainbow shouted at him, but was interrupted by The Wanderer:

"You think I'm the heartless monster here? Look girl, I'm trying to protect you! And you think that they are the good guys? For God's sake, they torture, rape, mutilate and kill! FUCKING KILL! And you girls are lucky that I found you first!" The group stared down. "And before you say something like 'they wouldn't hurt a fly' can you see this wound over here? Can you see that guy over there?" He pointed at a mutilated corpse impaled by a wooden stake. Jason then used a stimpak in his wound, that miraculously healed, not even leaving a scar. "Now, let's just keep walking, please."

         During the walk, no one muttered a word. The girls were still in shock after seeing such gruesome sight. Jason was thinking about what he said earlier. "Hey, I see that being in this damned Wasteland is difficult, but I can't be considered guilty just because I'm trying to stay alive. I'm sorry if this shocks you girls, but that's the way I survive." The group walked some kilometers in total silence. "Applejack and Rainbow. Please, carry this with you. To defend yourselves." They received two pistols and ammo from Jason. The Wanderer was met with more silence.

         At that point their surroundings were beginning to change from desert to a decaying city. Noticing this, Jason realized that he was nearing Rivet City. They walked through the destroyed city, surprisingly not being attacked by Super-Mutants. After nothing more than 20 minutes, the group saw the giant aircraft carrier. "My God this thing is enormous." Jason whispered to himself. "This is a city?!?" Twilight asked, amused. Jason nodded at her in response. "C'mon, Let's get inside."

         The group neared a intercom, but before Jason could say something, a voice greeted them:

"Welcome to Rivet City. Please wait as the bridges extents."

         After the said bridge was extended, The Lone Wanderer and his group reached Rivet City. "You're welcome, as long as you don't cause any trouble." A guard reminded them, looking awkwardly at the girl's hair colors. They entered the city, hot air surrounded them. "So, where we going?" Rainbow asked. "We're going to the science lab, find Dr. Li." Jason replied while looking at a sign pointing where the lab was.

         When the group entered the lab, almost every scientist glanced at them. An awkward silence filled the air.  When The Wanderer went downstairs, a scientist that looked exactly like Madison Li commented:

"Who are you?"

"Name's Jason Miller, and you are...?" Jason asked confused. The other scientists continued to work and argue about advanced subjects.

"I'm Madison Li, head of this scientist team." Li stopped for a second " Wait, your name is Jason Miller? Are you son of James Miller?"

"Yes, ma'am. But how do you know my father's name? "

"Your father and your mother were working with us in the 'Project Purity", that would purify Potomac River water. Your mother gave birth to you at the Jefferson Memorial, where the purifier is, but died of cardiac arrest. James then abandoned the project and fled to Vault 101." Her explanation made Jason thought that his father lied to him. However, he asked:

"So you were at my birth?" Li answered with a quick nod. "Okay but do you know where my father went?" Jason asked eagerly waiting for her response.

"He didn't told me, but he said that he was looking for someone named Stanislaus Braun. If I were you, I would look at Jefferson Memorial, northeast of here. There maybe contain some clues about where he went."

"Look, I know this is ridiculous, but my friends say that they are from a alternate dimension. Is there anyway they could get back to their universe?" Madison stared at Jason weirdly. "I don't make a freaking idea, Jason. Now, go search for your father." Jason called the girls. While walking through the city, Twilight asked Jason:

"So, what did she told you?"

"That my father was a scientist trying to purify a entire river. And that she didn't know how you guys are going back to your land, I'm sorry." His words worried Twilight. The Wanderer opened the metal door leading to the outside. "Oh God, dad, where are you now?" Jason whispered to himself while he walked with his group towards the Memorial.

Revelations Part 1

Revelations

        Jason thought about Li's words. His father wasn't simply a doctor from Vault 101, but someone who cared for the Wasteland future. Even though James lied to him, Jason had to thank his dad for getting him out of his boring life. The Wanderer could just read the same comic a thousand times, or practice his shooting in the same place.

        After nothing more than 20 minutes, the group found the Memorial. Big pipes sticking out of it, ending in the Tidal Basin. Platforms with some patrolling Super-Mutants. This last sight made Jason pick his sniper rifle off the Pipboy, and aim towards them. "Before you kill those things right there, could you tell us what they are, darling?" Rarity asked him, obviously provoking Jason about his earlier battle with the raiders. Jason sighed irritated:

"Super-Mutants. People who were infected by a virus, had their size doubled and strength increased, but became mindless. Their favorite pastimes are mutilation and, well, killing." Jason looked again at his scope. When he pulled the trigger, the Mutant's head exploded gruesomely, blood splattering everywhere. Fluttershy whined at the horrendous sight, before hiding her face into Twilight's chest. "Fluttershy, just don't look at the corpses, please. It's better for you." He realized how difficult it was for them. They came from peaceful world, and now are trapped in a cruel Wasteland. However, he could do nothing but to protect them. God knows what would happen to them if Jason dumped the girls in Megaton or another city.

        Another Super-Mutant came to investigate the dead body, only to be shot in the head, falling over his comrade body. "I think it's all clear now." The girls followed Jason, stopping shortly at a green door. A sign nearby said 'Gift Shop'. Jason opened the door and immediately crouched. "Hey! Get down or they will see you girls!" He whispered, alarming them about the dangers that could be lurking inside. They walked down the hallway, and took cover behind a wall. The Wanderer tucked his head to see what was awaiting them: 3 Super-Mutants. "Great. AJ and Rainbow, come over here." The Wanderer whispered. "Help me take those guys down." They stared at each other for seconds. Finally, Rainbow said:

"But we never killed somepony before..." Her comment made Jason feel angry, but he tried to keep calm. "Can't Dogmeat and ya take 'em down, sugarcube?" Asked Applejack, clearly showing her fear of killing. "No, because they're too tall for Dogmeat jump on their necks, and all my higher-grade weapons are low in ammo, and this rifle is slow. Please."

"Then, just teach us how to use those things." Rainbow commented, incredibly determined. The Lone Wanderer furrowed his eyebrows at her:

"Just aim at their heads and pull the trigger. Let's do it. Three, two, one..." His voice was muffled by three loud shots, leading the three unaware mutants to the ground. This made Applejack and Rainbow feel strongly guilty for their deaths. "Don't worry, I felt the same way in my first time. Though, they're better dead than mutilating our corpses." Jason tried to reassure them. However, they were still in shock. As they ventured through the Memorial darkened halls, The Wanderer and his dog looked closely for any holodisks or notes about his father. When they reached the rotunda, two Super-Mutants, one armed with a sledgehammer and the other with a hunting rifle, immediately noticed them.

        Jason got rid of the armed one, but the mutant with the sledgehammer rushed incredibly fast at them, hitting Twilight in the arm, sending the unarmed girl helplessly through the air, before landing violently on the ground.

"Twilight!!" Jason shouted, worried, and shot the offending mutant. He ran to see if the girl was okay. She lifted her head to see her friends worried looks. Twilight let out a small whine in pain. "M-My arm... I can't move... it." Jason looked at her arm as if he was a medic. "Hell, that guy beat you hard. I think I'll have to 'fix' it. Don't move for God's sake." The Wanderer then held her arm, and swung it, giving a painful "crack" sound. Twilight screamed in pain, and glanced painfully at Jason, moving her arm again. "Thanks, Jason." She thanked him. "It's nothing really. My dad is a medic, so I learned many things about medicine with him."

        The group walked around the Rotunda, and found a small pile of holodisks. "Perfect" Jason whispered as he collected them. Giving a closer look, he saw that they had small pieces of paper, with "Project Purity journal" written on it, alongside with numbers 1, 3 and 5. Jason stored them inside his Pipboy for future hearing. They returned to the Gift Shop, and followed Jason, who alongside Dogmeat neared a metal door. Before The Wanderer opened it, he warned:

"Let's be more careful now, so nobody gets hurt or even killed."

        Jason pressed the button, and the door opened with some metallic sounds, before disappearing underground. This led them to a staircase. After going downstairs, Jason saw two Super-Mutants. He signaled to the two armed girls, who understood him almost immediately. They shot the mutants in the head, letting them fall flat on their faces. "You guys are getting better. Just remember that I'm not trying to turn you girls into killers or murderers, I'm teaching you how to survive." Jason said trying to comfort the other girls, who now feared their own friends. They entered the large room, and examined it as The Lone Wanderer looted the corpses for ammo and money. Rarity found a gore bag, and almost puked at the horrendous sight. "What... the hay are these?" She asked, putting her hand at her mouth. "Gore bags. Where they store all the remains of their victims." Jason replied, with his tone sounding overly serious.

        At a small table, another pile of holodisks were found. 4 this time, and named 'Project Purity personal journal', numbers 1, 4 and 8. "Man, dad really liked to record himself talking alone." Jason whispered, ironically referring about the large number of audio logs he found. Descending another set of staircases, the group found themselves in the 'living quarters' of the purifier. Several rooms that resembled bedrooms. Jason entered each of them, looking for clues. He occasionally found his father's room, filled with bottles of scotch and another pile of holodisks. "Finally, I think those are the last. Let's go girls, back to the surface."

"At least, I'll see the Sun's glorious light again!" Rarity commented exaggeratedly.

"Ah, Rarity. It's been 20 minutes since we were up there." Jason replied, glancing weirdly at her.

        After leaving the purifier with (probably) no survivors, the group walked towards the Wasteland, again.

"Why are we returning to the desert?" Twilight asked him

"I don't really know. Maybe..." His response was lifted away from his thoughts. 'Let me hear those audio logs." He thought quickly and pressed 'play in his Pipboy (Another fact that Jason didn't know how it worked). But the first ones were just about his father talking about the project progression.

"God, this is getting me nowhere. Maybe those personal ones are..." He was interrupted by his father voice on the log, talking about his son. James commented on how he was now 'handsome, intelligent and headstrong' before saying that he didn't need his father anymore. This nearly brought tears to The Wanderer's eyes. Jason now realized how much he missed him. The next one didn't help, and another talked about a drunken night in the vault. But the eighth got his attention. James mentioned someone named Stanislaus Braun, the same man that Li told him. Jason increased his attention. The tenth was the last, but the most important. James talked about Vault 112, that was hidden in a garage, in the middle of the Wasteland.

"So that's were we are headed to!" Jason commented, but saw that the sun was setting on the horizon. "Or maybe tomorrow. Let me just find somewhere safe to set camp."

        Twilight neared him and said:

"Jason, you're pretty mature for someone of your age. Really"

"Yes, I am... Wait, how do you know that I'm 19?"

"This thing on your wrist has your age right here." She pointed at the Pipboy.

"Umm. you're very eagle-eyed to see something so tiny. And yes, I'm mature because this hellhole made me spend 2 weeks thinking and talking alone. It's tough to maintain your sanity in this loneliness."

        The group stopped under a decaying bridge. Jason took the sleeping bags off his wrist-computer and gave them to the girls. The Wanderer took some wooden planks off a pile of rubble and created another campfire. After lighting it up, Rainbow said:

"Finally, I'll get some rest. I am beat!"

        They sat around the campfire. Applejack and Rainbow were at Jason's side, while the others were at the opposite side.

"AJ and Rainbow, I have to admit, you two are very good at shooting, considering that you girls 'started' today."

"Ahnn, thanks Jason. But you're really better." Rainbow replied at her. His response was a chuckle.

"I see that you're feeling bad for killing those guys, aren't you?" The Lone Wanderer asked the same question again, this time expecting answers. "Ah think yes, partner. We never did somethin' like that back in Equestria. However, if this is for our survival, Ah will do whatever it takes to stay alive." Jason looked impressed at her confidence."Me too," Rainbow completed.

        At the other side, Twilight was talking with Fluttershy about their time in the wicked Wasteland, But for a moment, Twilight started to stare at Jason's brown eyes, shining a bright orange that reflected from the campfire. She stared at him for seconds that felt like hours. A strange feeling took over her heart. However, she came back to reality as Fluttershy shook her arm trying to get her attention.

"Twilight, a-are you alright?"

"Yes Fluttershy, I zoned out for a moment. Sorry." Twilight replied and thought 'What the hay was that? Am I getting in love with a human? No, no, no it can't be this!'

         Late in the night, the girls began to lay inside their sleeping bags, resting after a tiring day. Jason extinguished the campfire with dirty water. The camp was surrounded with a pale light. Jason sat down, alongside Dogmeat, and gazed at the Moon. He meditated about the situation that he was involved. "Dogmeat, in what we got ourselves into?" His dog replied with a low whine. Suddenly a voice called him from behind:

"Jason? Can I talk with you?" It was Twilight. She sat down at his side. This made Jason remember their talk in the morning.

"Yes. What is it?"

"I need to tell you the truth about how we came here." She said reluctantly.

"Well, then tell me." Jason allowed her to explain

"As I told you, I was a unicorn, so I could use magic. I was trying a spell, but things gone wrong. So here we are."

"But what about the people back at your land? Won't they miss you?"

"That's is complicated to explain, but I'll try. When I was teleported, I was 'replaced' by another 'me', that kept doing things that I would do if I wasn't transported here. Got it?"

"Yeees... maybe. However, go to sleep. You look very tired. And give that arm a rest." He pointed at her arm. and returned to gaze at the Moon. Some minutes later, Jason put himself inside his sleeping bag, meditating again about those events that were changing his life. The Moon's light shined at the Wasteland, while the group rested peacefully. Little they knew about the problems that were awaiting them...

Revelations Part 2

The Vault

         The Sun rose in the horizon, announcing a new day. The Wanderer woke up even earlier than before, feeling determined to find his father. His morale was high again. He felt that he would find his dad, finally. "C'mon, let's go, let's go!" He said, almost jumping in excitement. "Ohh, Jason. Can't we sleep for 5 minutes more?" Rainbow asked him, completely lazy. "The Wasteland doesn't wait. Let's go now." Jason replied while scanning his surroundings.

         They walked through the morning, being warmed by the Sun's heat. 'Jesus, I haven't thought about this. There is no way they're going back to their land or dimensional plane, whatever that thing Twilight told me. Hell, they are stuck with me.' Jason thought deeply and sighed. The girls were good companions, but it looked like that they were slowing him down. Jason just put this thought aside and kept walking. He had a Vault to find.

Jason looked at his Pipboy. In the 'notes' section, he found a holodisk named "Better Days" that he hadn't heard last day. Pressing play, The Wanderer heard a voice that he wanted (since he was a child) to hear: his mother, Catherine. The audio log wasn't interesting at all, as she said about the project progress and was eventually interrupted by James. The Wanderer, however, felt happy and sad at the same time. He always wanted to see his mom. But her death destroyed the possibilities.

"Was she your mother?" Rainbow said from behind. "Yes, but let's not talk about it okay?" She understood almost immediately. They kept walking in the sun-baked sands of the Wasteland for many minutes without any problems. The girls were starting to sweat from the Sun's heat. But things became more interesting when they crossed a road with a turned bus.

"Lookie here, if isn't that little saint from the Vault? We've been searching for you!" A voice called from behind; Talon Company Mercs.

"Man, go mess with someone else." Jason replied while looking at them over his shoulder.

"No,no my friend. Someone put quite a price on your head." Another mercenary said, before aiming at Jason' head.

"Don't even dare to shoot me." Jason said calmly, and took his rifle off his back.

"Hahah, You're noth..." The mercenary was shot in the head before he could take action. "Go, behind that bus! NOW!" The Wanderer shouted, before yelling in pain as a bullet hit his leg. Jason got as fast as he could behind cover, just to see that Twilight was shot in he arm. The girl was screaming while a crimson-red liquid dripped from the wound. 'Wow, those guys like to hurt her.' Jason thought quickly and shot at the mercs. But they were better armed and armored even for Jason's deadly accuracy.

"Rainbow, Applejack, throw those things at them!" He gave the girls grenades. "Just take the pin off and throw!"

         The Wanderer took a chinese assault rifle off his pipboy. "Eat this now, you motherfuckers!" He got out of his cover, emptying his clip on two mercs, ripping of one's arm and decapitating the other. The other two were launched off the ground by the grenade explosion, flying legless through the air, blood following their leg's remains. A survivor tried to crawl away cursing Jason, but was bitten in the neck by Dogmeat. "Good job everyone. Let me help Twilight now." Jason rushed to the wounded girl, that was slowly fainting from the blood loss. "Twilight, stay with me!" Her response was a painful glance. The Wanderer took a medicinal forceps and tried to remove the bullet from her arm. "Look, Fluttershy, when I take the bullet of her arm, apply pressure to the wound right away! Understood?" She replied with a timid nod. Jason removed the bullet, while Fluttershy placed her two hands at her wound. "AJ, Rainbow, Rarity! Loot the mercs and try to find a stimpak! FAST!"

"And a stimpak looks like what, darling?" Rarity answered, confused.

"A fucking syringe with a watch over it. C'mon!" The Wanderer shouted angrily at them. "Stay strong, Twilight. You're getting out of this."

"JASON! I think I found it!" Rainbow shouted from a distance, holding a stimpak in her hand.

"Yes! Now bring it to me!." She threw the stimpak at him. Jason injected it on her wound, that closed miraculously. "You'll be better now."

"And what about you, Jason? Are you okay?" Rarity asked him while pointing at his wound. "Don't worry, I will bandage it and, well, pray to find a stimpak." Jason answered, removing the 5.56 bullet of his leg. He whined in pain, and took a bandage off a dead merc arm. "I don't know if I am going to survive this, but let's get there as fast as we can. There should be some meds in the Vault." Jason looted their bodies, and found 5.56 clips, shotgun shells and even microfusion cells. In the body of the merc that looked like their leader, was a letter. He read it, and sighed frustrated. "What is it, darling?" Rarity asked him.

"Read it by yourself." He threw the paper at her hands. Rarity read the letter out loud:

"Hello, again, ladies and gentlemen. We now have this new holier than-thou white-knight who needs some putting down. Details go on here: Jason Miller, Caucasian, Male, 19 years old, and accompanied by a dog. Some recent reports say that he is now with 6 girls. The bounty is now 1000 caps and, for a change of pace, they want the head this time. Good hunting!"

"You're being hunted for money? That is horrible!" Rarity said at Jason, who replied with a short nod. "Rarity, I'm hunted by a thousand things in this wonderful place."

Their trip was slower than Jason thought. Twilight was still recovering from her blood loss, and he was limping due to the wound. Twilight talked to him:

"Thanks again Jason, for saving my life. I owe you."

"Twilight, you don't owe me nothing. I'm just trying to keep you girls safe." Jason got nearer and whispered in her ear. "And you should really tell your friends about the truth."

Minute after minute, The Wanderer felt weaker and weaker. Believing that he would faint due to blood loss, he gave Fluttershy a syringe. "Wh-what is this?" She asked, before hiding her face behind her light pink hair. "An adrenaline shot. If I faint, inject it on my chest." Jason's prediction about his faint were right. While crossing a rocky area, he almost fell flat on his face. If Applejack didn't catch him in time...

       Finally, Jason fainted due to the blood loss. He fell lifelessly on the sand, and didn't move. Rarity asked, almost in panic:

"I-Is he dead?"

"Let's hope not!" Rainbow put her ear at Jason's chest, hearing a weak heartbeat. "C'mon Fluttershy! Use that syringe on him!" The timid girl injected the syringe's liquid in The Wanderer chest. He got up almost immediately, breathing heavily, and held Fluttershy's hand strongly. Recognizing the girl, he quickly got up due to the adrenaline flowing through his body. "We need to hurry up."

        At last, they found the garage. They opened the door, and found radroaches. "Uhh, what are those things?" Twilight asked at the nasty insects. "Cockroaches that mutated, simply. Dogmeat, help me here." Jason crushed a radroach while Dogmeat threw another through the air. The Wanderer then proceeded, looking behind the balcony, looking for any clue that a Vault was in fact hidden in there. He opened a safe that contained 10mm ammo and nothing more. When he turned back, a mole rat jumped on Dogmeat, and tried to bite the dog, that fought without any success. Applejack was fast enough and shot the rat in the head, making it fall at the dog's side. "Thanks, AJ. You're really getting better at shooting." Jason thanked her for saving his dog. "It was nothin', Jas."

        Jason went further in the garage. Finding nothing more than a rusty Corvega, The Wanderer sighed in frustration. His wound began to hurt again. For his luck, he found a stimpak inside a first aid box, finally getting rid of his bleeding. "Girls, please look for a switch or something. There must be a hidden door or underground hatch. Maybe over..." He was interrupted by a hatch that opened from the ground. "Is it that what you wanted, Jay?" Pinkie asked, looking happily at The Wanderer. "Yes, Pinkie! Good One!" The underground resembled some maintenance tunnels that Jason used to go to the D.C ruins. At the end of the tunnel, was a vault door with '112' written on it. This made Jason remember his escape from Vault 101, an event that he didn't like to relive.

        As the door opened slowly, alarms gone off, disturbing even more Jason's mind. Inside, they walked in the dimly lit halls, meeting with a Robobrain. It turned around and 'welcomed' the visitors:

"Welcome to Vault 112, sir. At our calculations, you arrived 202.3 years behind schedule. Please, take your Jumpsuit and sit on a unoccupied Tranquility Lounger. Enjoy your stay." Jason received the jumpsuit, and after passing by the robobrain, threw it on the ground. "I already have one, so why use another?" He whispered, and went downstairs, where the Loungers were. Jason neared one, but was interrupted by Twilight:

"Jason, I know that this is strange, but do you have something to read? Because it looks like that you're going to pass some time inside this thing." The Wanderer looked up, and removed a book entitled 'World's HIstory: From The Pre-historic Era To The Space Age'. "Oh, Thanks!" Twilight removed the book from his hand. and comically darted herself to the ground, nearly burying her head in the book. "Jesus Christ."

"Jay! How are we going to eat?" Pinkie called him from a distance.

"Ask the robot. They got tons of food in here." He replied and climbed the machine. After sitting down, it's chamber closed, and a monitor came to his face, showing a black-and-white image of a small town. It then showed for half a second a image of a girl, and returned to the original image. Jason's world turned white...

         Tranquility Lane Simulation, 2277.

        The Wanderer opened his eyes, to find himself in a black-and-white, Pre-war-like neighborhood. "What the hell is this?" He muttered to himself. He immediately checked his left arm, but only saw a wristwatch. "Great, no Pipboy, weapons and..." Jason looked down and realized how short he was."... I'm a child. Just fucking great." He neared a girl that was watering the flowers in the playground. "Oh, hello! Finally a new friend to play! I'm Betty! What's your name?" Jason glanced weirdly and replied:

"Name's Jason. And I don't think I would like to play a game."

"Oh but, that is totally a different game." The girl replied, and stopped watering the flowers for a second. The Wanderer let out a bored sigh and asked her:

"What game is it then?"

"Make Timmy Neusbaum cry. Simple isn't it?" Betty stared at him with her wicked eyes. Jason couldn't keep eye contact with such diabolical stare. "So, you want me to make a kid cry? You gotta be kidding me..."

"Hey, you need held, don't you? So help me, and I'll help you." He had no choice but to help her. "Okay, who is this boy?" She replied pointing at a child that was selling lemonade mere meters of the playground. 'Jason, in what did you got yourself into?'

          Near the lemonade stand, Jason stopped for a second. 'How I am supposed to make a child cry?' His face lighten up as an idea came to his mind.

"Hello, Timmy." He greeted the little boy.

"Oh, hello. You're new here, aren't you? What's your name?"

"Jason." He replied coldly.

"Want to play a game, Jason?" Timmy asked happily, as if he stood there all day.

"Maybe later. I have some bad news to tell you."

"What is it?" The innocent boy felt frightened.

"I overheard your parent's conversation. They said that they're breaking up because of you." Jason said as truly as he could.

"Wh-what?? It can't be... NO!" Timmy began to sob. Eventually, his sobs turned into tears, and he screamed loudly. 'God, I think I broke poor boy's heart.' Guilty flooded Jason's chest, but this feeling was carried away when he saw Timmy actually turn into a garden gnome. "What the fuck?!?" Jason said, confused, before walking towards Betty.

         Meanwhile, in reality...

         Twilight was totally concentrated on the book that Jason gave her, but suddenly, she started to feel homesick. She wanted to see Spike again, her house, Ponyville. And that wasn't the worst. Twilight was the one that made the girls be teleported to the human world. She was the one to feel guilty. However, she kept that thought aside, and continued to read the book. At the other side, Fluttershy was stroking Dogmeat's head, having already befriended with the dog. It was piece of cake for her to befriend animals, but the Wasteland was proving this wrong.

         Wandering through the Vault halls were Applejack, Rainbow and Pinkie (That was looking for food).

"So, what do ya think about Jason?" Applejack asked something overly strange for Rainbow's ears:

"He's somepony trying to survive in this desert full of crazies, that's what I think of him. What about you, AJ?"

"The same thing, Dash. It's bad that the other girls don't think the same."

          Without leaving a word, Pinkie disappeared, and comically appeared in the room that the robobrain was. "Could you please tell me where I can find food here, mister robot?" She blinked fastly at the machine, who just pointed where the food storage was. Pinkie literally bounced in the hallways, calling her friends for 'lunch' (If 200-year old canned food can be called lunch.) The storage room resembled a military mess hall. While they ate things like Yum Yum Delivered Eggs and Stalisbury steaks, Twilight was in her own world, meditating about what she had done, and even about her feelings for Jason last night. It didn't feel normal. She was a pony, so she liked stallions. But humans are totally different beings.But she had to admit that she found him handsome. One question echoed in her head: 'How can I show feelings for a human?" And other thing was bothering her: Tell or not tell the girls the truth. If she doesn't tell them, they will live their entire lives searching for a way back. But if she told them, God knows what reaction she would get from her friends. Twilight then encouraged herself and told her friends the truth.

         After she told them the truth, the girls reactions were lighter than Twilight thought that it would be. They only looked down, trying to hold their tears. That was an announcement meaning that they would never see their homes, family or other friends. Applejack and Rainbow were incredibly calm, Pinkie's hair deflated, Fluttershy was in verge of tears and Rarity glanced down. Nothing was said for minutes, and they returned to the lounger area.

         Tranquility Lane Simulation, 2277

"Great work, Jason!" A male voice with a german accent congratulated The Wanderer.

"WHAT THE HELL?!? Are you a demon?" Jason took 2 steps back.

"No, my little friend. I'm Stanislaus Braun. I control this simulation. So I have control over you." The Wanderer was still trying to understand what he was saying.

"Umm... could you help me find my father?"

"Of course. If you help me..." Jason was getting irritated.

"Okay, what do you want now?"

"To ruin the Rockwell's marriage. Go now please. Don't make me wait."

         Jason walked in the round street that Tranquility Lane was. 'Jesus, now I'm stuck in a simulation that is controled by a crazy old man.' While looking for the Rockwells, Jason met a old lady:

"Hey! You! You're not from here! We're not from here! We are sleeping, this is just a dream..." Firstly, the lady's words sounded like babbles, but Jason realized that she got a point.

"Finally, someone sane in this madness. Is there a way to get out?"

"Yes,there's a way to get out of this thing. Just go to that abandoned house, and use this combination to activate the fail safe. Go now! And don't let Betty see you!" The old lady immediately distance herself from Jason, leaving him with a paper in hands. "At last, a way out."

          The Wanderer neared the abandoned house door, and when Betty(Or Braun, whatever) looked away, he quickly got in. Inside the house, was some objects in strange places like a cinder block, a Nuka-Cola bottle, a Garden gnome and others. The interior was dark, and a strange silence filled the air. "I don't like this place. It is giving me creeps." He muttered to himself, and saw that the objects had buttons on it. Pressing them in the order written on the paper, Jason heard a sound from behind: The window turned into a giant terminal. "Hehe, so that is going to help me, perhaps." Accessing the computer, he clicked in the option 'Chinese Invasion' and then 'Start Chinese Invasion Failsafe'. "This should make it." Jason said as he got out of the house.

         Outside the house was a group of chinese soldiers armed with assault rifles were slaughtering the residents, with exception of a dog in the playground and Betty. Nearing the girl, she/he said:

"Noo! What did you do?"

"Take this up your ass, you crazy motherfucker! C'mon now! Where is my father?"

"Didn't you realize? It is the dog right there. You idiot, you ruined everything, now I'm all alone..." Suddenly a door appeared out of nowhere. "That's is your getaway! Go now!" Braun shouted angrily at The Wanderer, who opened the door back to reality...

         Meanwhile...

"Oh Celestia, did I do somet..." Twilight was interrupted when she saw Jason's lounger open. "Jason! You're back!" The Wanderer nodded at her, but his eye met with his father, standing there. James, the person Jason was risking his life to find. Jason hugged his father, tears coming down from his eyes. "Dad, finally!"

"My son... what are you doing here?"

"I came after you, dad!"

"Jason, it's been two weeks. Well, thanks for saving me from that simulation, my son. I didn't know that Braun was insane."

"Oh, you're saying that you didn't like being a dog?" Jason asked his father ironically.

"No son. But it's good to be back on two legs. Jason, how did you found me?"

"Your audio logs in Project Purity and Madison Li. Quite a project you had, dad."

"Yes, that's why I need to put it back on track. I'm headed to Rivet City. I'll try to convince Li that there's a way to make it function. Are you coming, my son?" Jason nodded. "And those girls are your friends? Where did you met them?"

"Ah, it's really weird. Let's keep this that way."

         Father and son then left the Vault, followed by the heart-broken girls, in their new journey to Rivet City, hoping to reactivate Project Purity, in order to give the Wasteland the greatest gift of all: Fresh, clean water

Something Unexpected

         Jason, best known as "The Lone Wanderer", opened the rusty metro gates, returning to surface after helping helping Three Dog with Galaxy News Radio signal in exchange for information where his father went. Followed by his faithful and friendly dog, Dogmeat, Jason went upstairs, being greeted by the Sun's heat and the Wasteland's vastness. He let out a long sigh.

"That was a big adventure, wasn't it, Dogmeat?" The Wanderer said while stroking his dog's head.

The dog barked happily at its owner gesture, and sat down near the stair leading to the metro, starting to pant calmly.

"A hell of an adventure..." he completed as memories from his journey in the Super-Mutant infested Washington D.C went through his head.

         Jason was starting to look as a typical wastelander. Wearing his signature dirty armored Vault 101 Jumpsuit and wielding his rusty but deadly hunting rifle together with his trench knife attached at his waist. Jason was an athletic (though losing weight daily because the lack of food), 6 feet tall, 19 years-old youth with dark brown hair and eyes. The Lone Wanderer was getting famous in the Wasteland because of his actions, from disarming Megaton's atomic bomb to improving GNR's signal, and being involved as a volunteer in the "Wasteland Survival Guide".

          He looked at his Pipboy-3000 map, remembering that Three Dog instructed him to head south as soon as he gets out of the metro in order to reach Rivet City. But when Jason looked back, there was just a big pile of wreckage blocking the path. Jason whispered to himself:

"Judging by this, I'll need to contour the entire Washington D.C." Jason began to feel tired "But I don't think I'm ready for another 3-hour walk. Maybe I'll just try to find somewhere to sleep."

          The Sun was starting to set in the horizon, illuminating the Wasteland with a bright orange light. Jason started to walk, trying to find somewhere safe to sleep. Already far from the metro station, he examined his surroundings: no sign of a house or abandoned campsite (not military ones. Jason thought it was dangerous to spend a night at those, simply because they were one of the most raided places in the Wasteland). Frustrated, Jason thought "I will stop by Megaton instead." But his attention was caught by a flash of light in the distance. A flash of light that would change his life forever.

          Intrigued by the strange sight, The Lone Wanderer started walking towards the location where the flash of light was last seen. When he neared the location, Jason crouched almost immediately after noticing that there was a group. Hiding behind a small rock formation, and signaling Dogmeat not to growl, Jason tried not to give away his location.

"Is everypony okay?" A feminine voice said, sounding a little worried.

"Everypony? What are they talking about?" Jason returned his attention to the weird conversation:

"What the hay is going on?" Another voice spoke, sounding even more worried "And why my body is like this?"

          Jason's curiosity took over him. 'I need to take a look at this' he thought as he slowly raised his head. But when Jason was able to actually see who were talking, his eye met with one of the women that looked suspiciously at him. Jason immediately returned to cover, but the woman already alerted the rest of the group:

"Hey! Who are you?" Jason held his breath, and tried not to move.

"Why are you hiding? Are you scared?" Another voice provoked.

         Infuriated by the provocation, The Wanderer angrily took his rifle of his back, stood up and aimed at the group.

"Who do you think you are..." his voice lowered as he noticed something that made him blush: they were naked.

"What the fuck is this?" Jason whispered to himself in confusion. In front of him, stood six girls with strange hair colors, completely naked. Judging by their hair colors, and the way they were speaking to each other, Jason could only think that they were just a bunch of weirdos lost in the Wasteland.

"Who are you? And where we are?" One of the girls asked him. Her hair was sapphire blue with brilliant rose streaks on it. Thinking that they posed no threat, The Lone Wanderer answered:

"Name's Jason Miller. And you guys are in the Capital Wasteland" He said while trying not to look at the girl's bodies. They examined their surroundings, that shared no similarity from where they came from. " And who are you people?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy" All the girls began to look at him except for Fluttershy, who tried to hide her face with her light pink hair. Jason asked them, blushing slightly: "Soooo... what are you guys doing naked in the middle of nowhere?"

"Well, I don't know to be honest, but can you bring us back home?" Twilight asked full of hope.

         The Lone Wanderer wasn't a stranger to escorting situations, having escorted more than 5 captives from Super-Mutant campsites. But this one was going to be totally different. "Yes, I can help. Just tell me where you need to go." Jason said, obviously offering them help. "We need to go to Ponyville." Twilight responded. "Ponyville?" Jason asked, even more confused. "And where in the world is Ponyville?"

         Jason's last question made Twilight worries grow even bigger. "Are you sure you don't know where its is?" Twilight couldn't hold herself and showed how worried she was in her question's tone. Jason nodded his head in a negative way. "Nope, and to be honest, I think this place you told me about doesn't even exist." This was enough to make Twilight and her friends realize that they were no longer in Equestria, but in some kind of alternate dimension.

"Aren't you lying to us?" Rainbow asked with a tone of distrust.

"No, I ain't lying. I don't know any city or village called 'Ponyville'." Jason answered. Applejack reassured her friends:

"He's not lying, everypony" The girls felt the honesty in her words. "S-so what are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Don't worry girls, I'll won't leave you guys alone." Jason thought that he couldn't just leave them alone in the Wasteland. It was weird for him though, offering protection to 6 naked girls. "Stay here. I will try to find something for you girls to wear. Dogmeat, stay here with them, okay boy?" The dog sat down and put itself on high alert.

         At this point, the Moon started to rise in the night sky, covering the Wasteland with its pale and weak light. Jason looked around at his surroundings trying to find somewhere worth a scavenging run. Luckily, his eyes met with a military campsite not far from where he was. Jason looked at Rainbow and Applejack. "Hey, you two, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, isn't?" Applejack and Rainbow responded with a quick nod while Jason pointed at the mentioned location. "Could you help me carry some things from that camp?" The two girls looked at each other. "Whatever ya say, sugarcube." The Wanderer furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the way she called him.

         During the short walk to the camp, Rainbow questioned Jason:

"I can't understand why you are helping us." While she stared at a collapsed bridge.

"Umm... I like to help people in need, as long as they don't try to shoot or stab me in the back." He responded calmly, while Rainbow and Applejack got a little shocked by his comment.

         When they reached the camp, there was two tents. "I'll search in this one and you two go search on that one." Jason said while pointing at the other tent, that was mere meters away. Jason entered the tent and found numerous ammo boxes, 2 leather armors and 2 merc outfits. "Perfect" He thought before he started to loot the ammo boxes. Much to his frustration, he only found 10mm and .308 caliber cartridges and some frag mines. After putting the loot in his Pipboy, Jason began to carry the armor in his hands.

"Jason? Are you still there?" Rainbow asked The Wanderer, almost shouting at him.

"Yes, I'm still here. What is it?" He answered a bit irritated (Their questions were getting on his nerves), putting his head out of the tent.

"Does this count as armor?" She showed him a full set of combat armor in her left hand and a combat helmet with a bullet-proof visor in her right hand. Applejack appeared by her side with the same equipment.

"Yes it does. Now, wear it." Jason replied.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. Consider it yours." His voice was beginning to sound angry. He let out a long sigh. 'Calm down, Jason. They're a bunch of girls that don't even know where the heck they are.' After leaving the tent, the two girls were already dressed up in their armors, moving their arms side to side in order to feel comfortable.

"I have to admit it feels pretty awesome to wear this thing!" Rainbow commented in excitement. But Applejack replied more negatively:

"Sorry if Ah am being a mood-killer Dash, but it feels like we stole this from somepony." She said staring at her armored feet.

"There is no problem at all." Jason replied at her comment. "I felt the same way when I looted for the first time." Jason tucked his head inside the tent AJ and Rainbow looted to be sure if they didn't left nothing behind. While looking inside, Jason saw something that caught his attention: Sleeping bags. There was 7, the perfect quantity for him and the girls. When he stepped out of the tent, Applejack questioned him:

"Why are ya carryin' this?"

"To give you girls a good night sleep" He answered as two of the sleeping bags fell to the ground. "And as you can see, I need some help."

"No problem, Jason." Rainbow said while taking two of the sleeping bags, and Applejack also help him by taking other two.

         But before they could return to the rest of the group, Rainbow asked:

"Jason, isn't it easier to just call the girls and spend this night here?"

"No, because these are one of the most scavenged places in this Wasteland. So I'm not taking any risks. And could I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Stop asking me questions. I'm getting irritated."

"Okay then." She replied feeling a little bit scared.

         Back at where the rest of the girls were, Jason began to give them the armors. Fluttershy and Twilight received the leather armors. When Jason was giving Rarity one of the merc outfits she complained:

"I won't dress up in these ruffian clothes." As she immediately looked back.

"What did you expect? A fancy dress? For God's sake, just take it!" She stared daggers at him, while he walked towards Pinkie Pie. "Thanks, Jason! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She said quickly, grabbed the clothing from Jason's right hand and began to shake his left hand at a incredible speed. " It's been a pleasure to meet you too, PInkie." The Wanderer held his own hand, that was still shaking from her exaggerated compliment.

         The Lone Wanderer ripped a branch off from a dead tree, and broke it in smaller pieces, putting them on the ground resembling a campfire. He then picked two nearby rocks and began to bang them together, creating several sparks, and finally lighting up the fire. "A primitive but effective way to create fire." He said to himself, staring blankly at the orange flames that danced in the air. "Could someone explain how the hell you girls got here?" He asked, looking at Twilight, as if he expected an answer from her. "I can. But you promise not to call us crazy?" His guess was right. "Yep, I won't call you girls weirdos." Jason replied, letting out a small chuckle.

         After an explanation that lasted nothing more than 15 minutes, Twilight looked back at The Wanderer. "So, let me see if I got this right. You told me that you came from a magical and peaceful land, filled with pegasi, unicorns and ponies and ruled by 2 god-like sisters?" Twilight only response was a short nod. "Yeah, I believe you. And before you ask me why, I've got 4 reasons. First: your names; Second: Your hair colors; Third: the way you talk to each other and Fourth: you told your story in a very serious way." Twilight sighed in relief.

"I bet you girls are hungry, aren't you?" Jason asked them. "Umm... yes. At least I am." Rainbow replied solely.

         Jason then took a piece of brahmin meat out off his Pipboy and a metal stick ( He didn't know why he carried that though), that suddenly appeared in his hands. The girls, noticing this action, stared at him astonished.

"Okay, okay, I'll explain what the heck is this thing on my wrist. It's a Pipboy, kind of a personal computer. It shows my body's condition, radiation level, and all the items stored in God knows where." He replied at the girl shocked expressions, and took his remarkable BB gun out of the invisible Pipboy storage, that appeared leaving some digital particles flying through the air. "And if I want to put it back in there, I just need to do this." He finished explaining about the Pipboy while he released his old gun above the small computer screen, causing it to vanish, leaving again some digital particles. "How does this work?" Twilight asked him, wanting to know more about that incredible piece of technology. "I don't know. But as long as it works, I don't care."

         Jason began to roast the brahmin meat while holding the metal stick above the campfire."What is this thing you are cooking? It looks tasty!" Pinkie commented happily. Again their questions were driving Jason crazy, but he felt that this one was okay. "It's Brahmin meat. Pretty much the only thing I eat in this damned Wasteland." Twilight gave Jason a suspicious look. "Is this flesh from a dead animal?" Jason closed his eyes and gave a long sigh, trying to remain calm. He nodded at Twilight in response. Suddenly, Fluttershy said timidly:

"W-why did you do this to the poor creature ?"

         The Lone Wanderer closed his eyes once more. "Let me guess. At this point, you must think that I'm a heartless killer, don't you? But I am not. This is how I survive. And it was not a poor creature, Fluttershy. It nearly knocked me out!" Now, the brahmin meat was grilled at a satisfying point. Believing Pinkie would eat without puking or complaining, he passed the stick to her. After a bite she almost yelled:

"It's delicious!!" And gave it another bite. "Applejack! You should prove it!" And passed the stick to her friend. Applejack bit it hesitantly, but smiled at it's good taste. "This thing is really good!"

         After everyone got a bite off from the steak, Jason ate a small bit and gave what was left for Dogmeat. Rarity asked him:

"Darling, are you okay eating just a little bit? It doesn't seem healthy."

"I am not healthy at all, to be honest. But I'm getting used to it. Don't worry." He replied,

         Jason looked at his Pipboy watch: 11:00 p.m. Strangely, this made him feel tired like he never felt before. "I think I will call this a day and get some sleep." The girls replied by getting themselves into their sleeping bags. Jason put out the fire by throwing dirty water at the campfire. Before he went to sleep, he armed some mines at his surroundings and sat down near his faithful dog. "In what I just got myself into?" He whispered to himself. After laying down inside his sleeping bag, he closed his eyes, hoping to rest. Because the next day, was going to be a LONG day...