Author's Note
Here's Chapter I, and I hope you all liked it. If not, I'll try to do better, and edit this story. Until then, here you go, and the such.
Chapter I
Chapter I
My name is John, John Maxson. Others call me the Lone Wanderer, or Courier, hell, even Messiah. My life in the Wasteland was harsh, brutal, someplace I tried to fix long ago. I never could, but I kept trying. I wanted to bring the earth back to life, make life there great and wonderful... but sometimes dreams can only be dreams.
I was traveling with my friends back to the Capitol Wasteland, they were Ulysses, Joshua Graham, and Raul. My best friends. They watched my back for a good few years, and we never parted ways. Heck, I think Fawkes was with us too, hard to remember when you've been in a black void for so long.
I think I'm coming two now, because I'm starting to hear Fawkes' voice. Nice change of pace so far.
...
My eyes slowly opened and I found myself face to face with a large, green... horse? Did I say that right? Whatever it was, it had large green eyes, a bald head, and a large horn coming out of it's forehead. And boy was it massive.
The thing pulled me up, and spoke with a hearty laugh. "HAHA! Good to see you awaken, my friend!"
Yep, that was Fawkes, hell if I know what happened, but that sure was him.
Fawkes sat me down on the ground, which made me fall onto my ass, and rose an eyebrow. I then looked down at my body, and I couldn't help but grunt at my luck. Sure, I was the luckiest sonofabitch alive, but sometimes it did the craziest things to me.
I was just like Fawkes, only smaller, though I had a horn too, and wings. My coat was a nice, fitting brown, and I had a black, messy mane. I had a tail, to my disappointment, and I had some kind of tattoo on my ass. One that, strangely, changed from all the different factions I was a member of, and/or helped. Thankfully I still had my PipBoy though.
I looked up at Fawkes, and spoke the first words I could think of. "What the hell happened to us? Scratch that, what the hell are we?"
Fawkes gave a large grin, which I could finally tell thanks to his form. "We're one of Earth's oldest species, a pony." I gave an annoyed look at the name. "The name may make you upset, but at least others would call themselves the same. I am what mythology calls a Alicorn." I folded my... forelegs. "As for you, you are the same thing."
I gave a small groan in response, and began to, somehow, rub my temples.
Just then I heard Ulysses. "History appears to be continuing on, I see, bringing back the old world."
I tilted to the side to see Ulysses, and even saw Joshua Graham, and they looked just like us, but different.
Ulysses was a brown pony, no horn or wings, and wore his usual duster with the old world flag on it's back. He had his Old Glory staff, and still wore that mask, while having dreadlocks. Best way to remember him was the mask though.
Joshua, he was a pony with a long black horn, and wore bandages around his entire body, also wearing the nice looking pants, and vest, with a shirt under it. Still looked badass, though I'm guessing he still had burnt skin, along with the cracked horn.
I waved at them. "Hey, guys. Looks like you're both awake!"
Joshua gave a painful nod. "It seems god still believes I am needed, and I will not disappoint him."
I nodded in response, then looked at Raul, who looked just like himself, though ponified. His skin was still partly gone, he had his usual mustache, and wore that green jumpsuit while having a horn. He looked cool too.
I then heard a groan behind me, making me look back, and raised an eyebrow. Three ponies I have no idea about.
One was covered in black and red armor, with a long sword on his back, go figure, they get weapons too. He had horns, and a black visor, and also had both wings and a horn that was different compared to the other two.
His two friends were kinda like him too. One was big and rugged, while the other wore blue robes. Hell, they had a dragon with them as well, and he looked Badass!
I got to my hooves, awkwardly, and stumbled a little as I took a few steps towards the four. I then spoke. "Yo! Sleeping armored people, wake up!"
The one in black armor groggily groaned and sat up, then glanced at me, before giving a tilt of his head. He then spoke. "What in the name of Talos are you?"
I gave a snicker. "Same thing you are, dumbass."
The armored pony went wide eyed, and looked down at his body, seeing the same features as my body, which made him start panicking. So much that he accidentally rammed into a tree, then was out like a light.
I chuckled a little at this, then glanced at the other three, who have woken up, heard what I said, saw their boss run around, and decided not to panic badly like him.
I trotted over to them, and offered my hoof to the closest one. "Nice to meet you three, I'm John." I helped the pony in robes up. "Sup."
He tilted his head at my words, then hummed slightly. "Such a strange form of language, I never knew one could sound so... different."
I gave a snort. "It's called modern, buddy."
The robed pony nods slowly. "Interesting."
I then glanced at the buff one. "Who might you be, big guy?"
The pony stood to his full height, which was not as big as Fawkes, but still intimidating to the normal man. "My name is Vilkas, and I am a member of the Companions."
I gave a small nod. "Alrighty then, and who's your big friend there?"
They looked back at the dragon, making the robed pony look at me. "That is Alduin, former World Eater. After the Dragonborn over there talked him down, they joined forces to bring the world back to the light."
I rolled my eyes. "Alright, preacher, I get it."
The pony was confused now. "I am not a preacher, but a mage who practices much magic. My name is Farengar."
I slowly nodded. "Oookay, whatever you say, crazy."
Farengar was about to speak in anger, until Alduin spoke. "Farengar, he is not from our own world, so he does not know what we talk of."
I clapped my hooves at this. "Great! Talking dragons too! What else could this world throw at me?"
Fawkes responded to that. "Possibly the inhabitants of this planet are ponies, which would explain our sudden change of looks."
I clapped again. "Bravo! Now if you all don't mind, I'm going to go unconscious because of how crazy this all is." I looked at Fawkes. "Wake me up when we reach some kind of settlement."
Fawkes nodded in response, and I was out like a light, seeing nothing but darkness.
So yeah, that was how I took it in.
...
I groaned as I slowly blinked my eyes open, and saw an upside down pony in black armor. This made me speak. "I'm still in pony land, ain't I?"
Fawkes chuckled. "I'm afraid so, my friend."
I sighed heavily in response, and rolled onto my stomach, taking in the sight of the forest. It was boring to say the least, dark, damp, and overall ugly. Sure, the Wasteland could strangle this, shit on it, piss on it, throw it in a ditch, and shoot it for good measures... but this place was like a god awful cartoon holotape. I've seen scarier places, believe me.
Just then I heard Joshua speak. "God's light is everywhere, no death, no chaos, no hatred. I am starting to feel like we've gone to heaven."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Heaven, great, where you get turned into a fucking pony, and have to deal with shit like people from different times. Some heaven."
They all shared a laugh while I continued with my misery, trying very hard to figure this all out. God how I hated cartoons back then, no action or epic moments in them, just love and peace. Loads of brahmin shit.
Just then I heard Fawkes give out a hearty laugh. "We found something, my friend!"
I sat up and looked over Fawkes' shoulder, seeing the ruins across a old, rickety bridge. Not much of a surprise really.
I hopped off of Fawkes' back, and began walking across the bridge, with the others close behind. I personally went back to my annoyed thoughts, and failed to notice the first step into this tower.
I yelped in surprise as I face-planted into the stone floor. And letted out a groan as I pulled off of it. "Fuck... gotta remember to not daydream when exploring."
Fawkes chuckled as he patted my back, and we all walked into the ruins. It was empty for sure, but all there really was were those five stones on the ground. This made me walk over to them, and raised an eyebrow. "That's all this place has? Five stone balls?"
Fawkes stopped next to me and examined them. "Hmm, strange. They hold markings on them, and appear to be important in some way." He glanced up at his horn. "I wonder." He placed his horn on the stone, and it vibrated a bit, before going still. This made him laugh. "AHA!" He looked at me. "My friend, place your horn on one of these stones."
I shrugged in response, and did just that. In response, a massive shock of energy shot through my body, making me yelp in shock, and fell to the ground with a smoking horn. I began to mutter to myself about this being the dumbest idea ever, then looked at Fawkes, who motioned to the others.
I gave a annoyed grunt. "Just remember Fawkes, you owe me one." Fawkes nodded in response, and I repeated the process, getting four more shocking bolts in my body.
I pulled away and began mumbling to myself as my two friends, Ulysses and Joshua, placed their foreheads on two stones they liked, which made them shatter, turn into necklaces, and wrapped around their necks.
I grunted in response. "Oh sure, they act fine for you, but I get a shock of pain! That's fucking brahminshit!"
Joshua's necklace was a orange bible, while Ulysses's was a red bull.
I then looked at the three others. "Go ahead, I'm sure they'll work for you three too, why wouldn't it?!"
They did just that, and the same thing happened to them. The black armored one had a yellow pair of dragon wings, the big guy had a purple hammer, and the robed guy had a pink cross.
I groaned in response, and folded my forelegs in defeat, until we heard a loud bang come from the upper tower, which made me jump to my hooves, and nodded to my friends. "Come on, guys, somethings going on up there."
They nodded in response and we all rushed up the stairs.
Once we reached the upper level, we saw six ponies in front of another pony, who was much taller and held wings and a horn. She was laughing at the six (females I guess) as she spoke. "See, none of you have the elements of harmony, no matter what the trials were that you went through. Night will last, forever!"
I gave a snort in response, making all of them look at us, and go wide eyed. I gave an annoyed wave, and began trotting forward while speaking. "Sup, big, black, and ugly?" The all gasped. "What was that you said about night? I couldn't hear you over your massive ego."
The tall mare glared at me. "You dare insult Us?"
I tilted my head in mock confusion. "Who's 'Us' bitch? Because to me all that's standing there is a overgrown donkey."
The female was blood red with anger now, while the females behind me were very shocked by how I was treating this thing. The female then shot out a blast of lightning from her horn, making me roll out of the way, draw my pistol, and fired it off, and since I was keeping from killing her, I only made it scratch her cheek.
The girls behind me gasped in horror, while the mare placed her hoof on her cheek, feeling the blood leak from it, and narrowed her eyes at me. I gave a mock smile and spoke. "Does horsy want to go for a ride?"
She roared with a high pitched vocal, which would have hurted other's ears, but thanks to my mutations and synthetic enhancements, it sounded just annoying.
I then yelled out. "OH SHUT UP ALREADY!"
She glared daggers at me while I patted my hoof against my head, making water come out my other ear. I then looked at her. "Is that your best attack? Trying to defen us?"
The mare huffed in response, and charged at me. This made me smile as I jumped up at the last second, grabbed her by the head, and spun a little before throwing her back at the place she came from. Then landed on my ass, which hurt like a bitch.
I began to grumble to myself while I rubbed my ass, then glanced over at the lavender mare who was holding a stone ball. "I'll take that." I took it from her, making her protest quite a bit as I placed my horn against it, and it transformed into a very badass crown, with a large green crystal, which would change form occasionally like my tattoo.
This made the mare speak in shock. "What? Y-Your the Element of Magic?"
I looked at her with a dumbfounded look. "The fuck you talking about, woman?"
Her jaw dropped to the ground at my response, and I got to my hooves, and smirked when I felt power rushing through my... crown, strangely enough. I then glanced at my friends, who felt it too, and I spoke. "All in favor at figuring out what these things do, say 'I'."
Joshua stepped forward. "I."
Ulysses next. "I."
The black armored guy gave a nod.
Robe Boy shrugged. "I don't see why not."
Finally the big guy. "I."
I nodded, and let the crown take over, which made a massive light engulf me, as well as my friends, and the things shot a, and I shit you not, a rainbow straight at the bitch. Then everything went black.
...Third POV...
Once the lights dimmed a bit, Fawkes, Raul, and Alduin stopped blocking their eyes, and walked over to their friends. Well, Fawkes went over to John, while the dragon and Raul got the other five.
Fawkes lifted him with his forelegs, and put him on his back, then glanced over at the still wide eyed and slack-jawed mares. He gave a bow of his head in response. "Hello, young ones. Do any of you know where the nearest settlement is?"
The mares looked between each other, until the one with a rainbow mane cried out as her forelegs flailed in the air. "That was so awesome!"
Fawkes gave out a hearty chuckle. "Indeed! My friend here has been known to go against impossible odds and come back the victor. He's been called a Messiah in fact!"
The girls went from shock to complete awe in mere moments.
Just then, a strange Alicorn floated into the room, and was surprised to see the extra ponies. She landed next to Twilight and smiled at her. "I knew you could do it, my faithful student." She then raised an eyebrow. "Where are the elements?"
'Twilight' gave her a confused expression, then pointed at the six unconscious stallions, which made the alicorn go wide eyed, and stared at them. Each one of them looked to be like hardened warriors, and one wore a strange mask while another wore many bandages. And the dragon looked to be able to cause problems with ease.
The alicorn stepped towards Fawkes and gave a small smile. "Then it is you nine I have to thank. On behalf of Equestria, I thank you."
Fawkes gave a large smile. "It was a grand battle! And I am sure John here would be grateful for such words."
The alicorn tilted her head. "John?"
Fawkes pointed his hoof at the unconscious stallion that wore an amazing looking crown. This made the mare wide eyed. "I see." She then looked over all of them, until she laid eyes on Raul, and gasped in horror.
Raul waved it off while the other mares gasped as well. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
The alicorn slowly looked at Fawkes. "Who... and what, is that?"
Raul stepped forward, making the alicorn step back in disgust, while he gave a proper bow. "A pleasure to meet you, miss. My name is Raul Alfonso Tejada, and I am, by all rights, a Ghoul." He stood upright, in a proper fashion.
The alicorn was shocked that even by their reactions, he treated them nicely. If he was a griffon, he would have insulted them, but strangely, this... undead, was polite and proper.
Raul then noticed the look in her eye. "I take it you want the entire description on ghouls, si?"
The alicorn nodded.
"Ah, alright. Ghouls or necrotic post-ponies, are decreptic, rotting, zombie-like mutants. We are recipients of intensive, elongated radiation sickness which decays our skin, as well as our ligaments. Paradoxically, we also have greatly extended overall lifespans and are, allegedly, immune to, and even brought back to health by the hazards of background radiation and/or nuclear fallout."
The alicorn was very wide eyed now, as she gulped. "Are you... contagious?"
Raul shook his head, an amused smirk on his face. "Nah, nothing like that. It stays in our bodies, doesn't leave at all either. We can be in heavy doses of radiation, and can get healed by it, though if we are treated bad enough, as well as our mentality going bad, we go feral. But again, that's from bad treatment, because they think they truly are zombies. It's quite sad really."
The alicorn gave a sad smile. "I'm sorry."
Raul gave a smile again. "It's fine, I got used to it long ago, around 200 years ago."
The alicorn smiled weakly. "I'm glad, I would hate for one of my subjects to suffer by such ways."
Raul chuckled lightly. "It's fine, I'm just an old pony who needs to settle down."
The alicorn giggled in response. "I feel the same ways sometimes." She then gave her own bow. "A pleasure to meet you Raul, my name is Princess Celestia."
Raul gave another bow. "A honor, Princess."
Celestia stood with a smile, then looked at the biggest pony she's ever seen, far bigger then her. "And what might your name be?"
The massive green and bald pony in tattered blue clothes, gave a large smile. "I am Fawkes, one of the smarter, and more friendlier Super Mutants."
Celestia went wide eyed. "Your a mutant as well?"
Fawkes nodded, and stretched a bit before he began reciting.
"Super Mutants are mutated ponies, products of infection by the Forced Evolutionary Virus, or FEV for short. They are much taller, bulkier and muscular than pure strain ponies, have (mostly) green, grey, or yellowish skin, are immune to disease AND radiation, and are gifted with superpony strength and endurance. Although they are completely sterile, the rapid regeneration of their cells caused by FEV makes them virtually biologically immortal (but not immune to death from injury)."
"There are two different known sources of super mutants back home - Mariposa Military Base in the Core Region (on the West Coast) and a place called Vault 87 in a place known as the Capital Wasteland (on the East Coast). The two populations have separate histories and origins, and are yet to interact with each other. While originally the term was only used to refer to the... Mariposa stock, the Brotherhood of Steel carried the term with them and applied it to those from Vault 87 upon encountering them."
"Sadly, most who come out of the batch were dumb as rocks, but very few of us came out with our minds still intact. The ones back home chose to go to war with the ponies there, but thankfully, some of us learned to be kind and peaceful in that war filled land."
Celestia was wide eyed, and astonished that such a thing was possible. She wanted to ask more, learn everything she could about these two new species of ponies, but she had more important things to get a hold of.
She looked back at Twilight. "My faithful student, do you know of a place these six can rest while I attend the party that will most likely come when I return?"
Twilight nods at this. "Of course, Princess, they can stay at the library."
Celestia smiled. "Wonderful, thank you, Twilight."
Twilight nods in response, before Celestia turned to the much younger, and less threatening mare.
...John's POV...
My eyes slowly blinked open, and I let out a small groan as I placed my hoof on my forehead, and then looked at it. "Yep, still in ponyland... go figure."
I sigh heavily, and rolled onto my stomach, letting out a puff of air as I examined my surroundings. I was in some kind of old fashioned library, which I hardly found surprising, giving everything that's happened, and everything else I went through. So I simply sighed heavily, then looked over the small ledge, seeing that lavender mare from earlier. She was fast asleep, and I can't help but say that she looked kinda cute.
I examined her body, noticing much of it was like mine, except she had no wings. She also appeared to have a tattoo on her ass as well. Now, I know I sound like a pervert for even looking there, but... I'M LOOKING AT THE FUCKING TATTOO, NOT HER ASS! GOT IT?!
I was very confused that it was of five stars, which made me lean forward to get a better look at it. But instead of staying on the bed, I fell off and landed on the mare. This made her cry out in surprise and flail about while I simply gave an annoyed grunt.
I rolled off of her, while she quickly got to her hooves, dusted herself off, and looked at me. "What was that for?!"
I bluntly answered. "I was trying to get a closer look at that damn tattoo on your ass."
The mare blushed madly at that, and began to stutter while I began dusting myself off. I then gave her an annoyed look. "What the hell is it anyways?"
This made her stop, and give me a raised eyebrow. "You don't know what a Cutie Mark is?"
"A Cutie what?"
"A Cutie Mark?"
I flailed my forelegs into the air. "SERIOUSLY?! YOU FREAKS COULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT UP SOMETHING COOLER OR MANLIER THEN A CUTIE MARK?! WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DIGNITY?!"
I collapsed on my back, and slapped my hooves over my eyes, grumbling to myself while the mare spoke. "Are you alright?"
I grunted in response. "Fuck no." She winced. "One minute I'm walking through a war filled wasteland, heading back home, when all of the sudden I am surrounded by a black void, wake up in some forest, with my friends and some random ass ponies I just met, and the next thing I know, I get shocked by five stones that apparently prefer my friends more, then all of the sudden, this damn crown thing comes to me, ME! And I go out like a fucking light, then wake up in some old fashioned library, and now I'm being told, I have a Cutie Mark on my ass, taking away the rest of my fucking dignity!" I groaned. "Oh my fucking god, God must be laughing his ass off at me."
The mare walked over to me, and gently patted my shoulder while speaking. "Come on, it can't be all bad." My response was another annoyed grunt. "Hey, how about this. You come with me out to the party outside, and I'll see what kinds of sweets there are that could possibly make you happy."
I stayed silent for a long time, then removed my hooves. "Do you know how gay that sounds?"
She gave me puppy eyes. "Come on, just give it a try."
I gave a grunt once again. "I've seen Rex do a better puppy eyes then you." She sighed heavily. "Gah! Fine! Just make sure there's alcohol involved."
She snickered in response. "Sure thing."
I rolled my eyes at her, got to my hooves, and followed her out of the room into the library, where I saw my two friends, and the three others, talking to each other. They all see me, and Ulysses spoke. "It seams death has yet to catch you, Courier."
I grunted in response, while Joshua spoke. "God must be smiling upon you, friend, for you might not have awakened afterwards."
I gave a snort. "Yeah, God just loves to see me suffer in this child like world."
The five chuckled lightly, while the mare was amazed by something. The six of us followed the mare out into the settlement we were in, and we saw thousands of ponies all around. This made me grow worried even more, since I never was one for crowds.
We passed through the many ponies, all the while I kept my head low, and we just kept walking until we reached what I'm guessing to be the buffet table. I trotted over to the table, and examined all the pasteries, before grunting and looked at the mare. "Got something a bit less... sweet."
The mare nodded and grabbed what looked like an old world sandwich, with a few flowers in it.
Screw it, since I'm one of them, they gotta taste good now.
I took a bite of the sandwich, and was impressed by the flavor, bitter and good. I smiled slightly as I calmly ate through the sandwich, while I spotted Raul come over to me. "Hey Boss, how ya doin'?"
I smirked at him. "I'm doing good, Raul. How are the ponies treating you?"
He smiled a bit. "Thanks to some pony called Celestia, they decided to look the other way and greet me like any other pony."
I nodded in response, then raised an eyebrow. "Have you noticed that we're saying pony and pony related things instead of someone or somebody?"
Raul nodded. "Sure did, Boss. I decided to just roll with it until we find a way home."
I gave a smirk in response. "Sure thing, Zombie."
Raul placed a hoof over his chest in a mocked hurt look. "Oh, you hurt me Boss."
I let out a small laugh, as did he, and we did a hoofpound. And then I noticed the mare was listening in and examining how we acted in front of each other, and was shocked by something. This made me look at her. "What's up, Purple?"
The mare went wide eyed, blushed heavily, and cleared her throat. "Uh... my name is Twilight, Twilight Sparkle. And I was just... uh..." She began looking around, until she spotted a bowl of punch next to us. "Getting some punch, hehe."
I tilted my head in response, then shrugged it off as I walked away with Raul.
...Third Person POV...
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Twilight continued to berate herself as she stared into her cup of punch. She just met some strange stallion, who had the most colorful vocabulary she's ever seen, and she can't tell if she has a crush on him or not. She just met him for crying out loud! But then there was the strange way he and his friends joke with each other. Like insults, but they didn't feel hurt, instead they knew it was a joke. Nopony would have been able to do that in Equestria. At least, not from what she knew.
It was so strange, she gained new feelings for a total stranger, and can't figure something out. What was going on here?
...John's POV...
I continued to whistle as I walked by Raul through the crowds, still keeping to myself as we came up to who I was guessing to be Princess Celestia. She was tall, sure, but even a Deathclaw would be taller.
This 'Celestia' smiled at me as she looked at us. "Ah, I see the bearer of the Element of Magic is awake?"
I raised an eyebrow, put my hoof in my ear, and dug out a bit of earwax. "Sorry, but did you just say magic?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes, magic."
I went completely still, my face twitching every now and again, which made Raul look at me and sigh. "Here we go."
I let out a loud yelp and fell to the ground, out like a light again.
...Third Person POV...
Celestia stared at the unconscious stallion that laid on the ground, as did everypony else in the town. This made Celestia worried as she looked at Raul. "Is he alright?"
Raul nods. "Yeah, he's just not used to so much peace, harmony, love and the such. He's more used to being shot on sight, buried in graves, being sliced at, getting gnawed on, and the such. From where we're from, there's no such thing as magic, and it was considered a fairy tale and false... so..."
Celestia was wide eyed and shocked, before slowly nodding. "I see, too much to take in all at once." Raul nodded. "Hmm... perhaps he should stay inside for a while, until he gets used to where he is."
Raul once again nodded. "Yeah, that'll probably be best."
Celestia nodded, and looked at Twilight. "You will watch over the newest ponies, Twilight, meaning they will all stay with you."
Twilight went wide eyed as the blush covered her face again. "O-O-Of course, Princess!"
Celestia smiled and nodded in response. Then gave a nod to everypony. "I believe it is time for me and Luna to take our leave, but first." She looked at her sister. "Shall you do the honors?"
Luna smiled widely, and used all the power in her horn, while flying a bit into the air, and turned the entire sky into a beautiful roof of stars and the moon.
Raul placed a hoof on his forehead. "Well I'll be."
Celestia and Luna then said their goodbyes, before heading home.
...John's POV...
My eyes slowly open, albite grogily, and I couldn't help but groan as I felt myself in a bed, again. This made me grumble to myself. "Alright, take it nice and easy, nice and fucking easy." He slowly rolled onto his stomach, and looked around. "Still in ponyland, check. Same library, check. Still a pony myself..." I groaned as I saw the horn. "Fuck it, check." I then looked around. "Where the fuck is the bathroom?"
I climbed out of bed, and shook myself a bit, then began to walk through the room, before I was in a hallway. This made me raise an eyebrow, and slowly open the first door. Purple whats-her-face's room. I gently closed the door and checked the next one. Really girly bathroom. At least they have a working shower.
I walked into the bathroom, and looked into the mirror, examining myself.
Messy black hair, check. Rough beard, check. Scar along the left eye, check. Deep gold eyes, check. Clothes... uncheck. Maybe they're still in my PipBoy.
I check my PipBoy.
Yep, they're there... but ponified. Fuck.
I sighed heavily, looked at the shower, then sniffed myself, making me yank my head back and gagged a bit. Oh yeah, I definitly need this.
I climbed into the shower, shook my body a bit, and placed my hoof on the dial. Then when I turned it. Huh, somehow pony hooves work like hands, but without the opposable thumbs. At least they still work properly.
...Third Person POV...
Twilight groans as she slowly blinked her eyes open, hearing her alarm clock going off, which made her turn it off and sat up, yawning a bit and stretching too. She looked around, and saw Spike was still asleep, which made her smile gently, and climbed out of bed.
She headed into the hallway, and opened the door to the bathroom. Once she was in, she rubbed her eyes when she saw steam, and raised an eyebrow, until she heard a familiar voice speak. "Yo, Purple, ya mind?"
Twilight yelped in surprise and looked around, until she spotted the shower, and saw John's head poking out of the curtains. This made Twilight's eyes go wide as saucers, while a massive blush covered her face. "O-O-Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, normally I wouldn't mind a mare walking in on me like this, but when they stay, then it gets a bit awkward."
Twilight blushed even harder, and quickly left the room, before closing the door behind her, and slapped herself with her hoof. What is wrong with you! You couldn't just say sorry and leave?! You had to make it more awkward?!
She groaned heavily, and went down the stairs to the kitchen. Once she was there, she was shocked to see Raul cooking.
Raul looked over at her, grew a smile, and waved at her. "Hello, senorita. I figured everypony'll be awake soon so I went ahead and started breakfast. Hope you don't mind."
Twilight shook her head, a small smile herself. "Not at all, Raul, thank you."
Raul nodded and flipped the pancake. "I may be an old colt, but that don't mean I can't learn new tricks."
Twilight giggled in response, grabbed a book from a shelf, and sat down to begin reading. As she read, she heard somepony coming down the stairs, looked up, and saw the strange pony in Dreadlocks coming down.
Twilight gave a small smile. "Hello."
He simply glanced at her, then continued walking. He then sat down at the table, and examined the place. "Even in places like this, the old world lives on."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
He looked at her. "Old World, this place holds democracy, greed, politics, and seperated nations."
Twilight tilted her head. "What's wrong with that?"
"The Old World was the same, and it led to the depletion of resources, power, and made many nations fight one another for the last of them. Until the Great War started, and all the nations burned under the invisible fires of radiation."
Twilight was once again wide eyed and shocked, before looking down and felt much worry. She doesn't want this to happen, no. She loves Equestria, and doesn't want it to go through that.
Just then the other strange pony in bandages came down stairs, sat down at the table, and gave a polite nod. "Good Morning to you."
Twilight smiled. "Good morning." She then tilted her head. "I'm sorry, but I still don't know your names."
The bandaged pony nods at that. "I am Joshua Graham, the right hand of the Lord."
Twilight tilted her head in confusion, making Raul answer as he sat a plate of pancakes in front of her. "He's religious, and believes in some higher power called God."
Twilight slowly nodded in response, then looked at Joshua. "Why do you wear those bandages?"
Joshua sighed. "I have lived a long life, and have been bapthtized twice. Once in water, once in flame." Twilight gasped. "I worked under a cruel pony named Caesar, who turned tribes into either slaves, or warriors. I was the best of the warriors, known as a Legate. But when I failed to capture what Caesar wanted, he covered me in pitch, lit me on fire, and threw me into a Grand Canyon." Twilight was in horror now. "I survived, somehow, and bandaged my wounds, where I swore to never do such a thing again, and to worship the Lord for the rest of my life." Joshua sighed. "Sometimes I still feel the fire, when I pull the bandages off to replace them. It reminds me of my life, and keeps me going to make the Lord proud again."
Twilight sniffled a little. "I... I'm so sorry, Joshua."
Joshua slowly nodded. "I learned to live with this, Miss Sparkle, and fight for all the good ponies to make sure their lives are as they currently are, full of peace and harmony."
Twilight grew a small smile. "I am glad you feel that way."
Just then John entered the kitchen, and waved at them. "Mornin'."
Twilight smiled widely, while trying to forget earlier. "Good morning, John. How are you?"
He shrugged as he opened the fridge and looked through it. "Aside from the intrusion in the bathroom, I'm fine. Just a bit hungry."
Twilight slumped her head in response. "I'm sorry."
John waved it off as he plopped into one of the table chairs, and bit into an apple. "Don't worry about it, I had to deal with the same problem back home. Except instead of attractive ponies, I had stallions, and one of them was gay, so that was really awkward for me."
Twilight blushed even harder, and couldn't get that image out of her head, but finally did as she looked at him. "So... what do you plan on doing today?"
John took another bite of the apple, and leaned against the table, waving the apple around with his hoof. "I've been thinking on that actually. I need some new clothes, some new weapons, a lot of resources to build homemade stuff, a lot of food, tons of medical equipment, and to top it all off, enough money to last at the least, six years."
Twilight's jaw was hanging now as she stared at him like he was insane. "Do you plan to get all of that in ONE day?"
He smirked at her, and pulled out a gold ingot, which made Twilight even more wide eyed. "I got enough of these puppies to last me until I pass on for the hundredth time. I think I can get a bit of stuff."
Twilight sighed heavily. "What about a place to live?"
John hummed a bit. "What's the biggest building here?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'd have to say that old mansion I saw in between Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville. It was big enough to rival Canterlot Palace. Why?" Her eyes then widened. "Oh no, you don't mean…" John's smirk was now a full on grin. "But what if somepony already lives there?! What if Mayor Mare won't let you?! What if-"
John raised his hoof to silence her. "Relax, Purple, it'll be taken care of." He then looked at Fawkes when the behemoth entered the kitchen. "Hey Fawkes." Green eyes met gold. "What say you and me head on down to Town Hall and buy ourselves a mansion?"
Fawkes' smirk was his response, making Johnn nod and look at the rest of them. "See you all later, I got some papers to sign and a deed to get ahold of."
With that, he got up, took another bite of his apple, and headed out the door with Fawkes right behind him.
Twilight let out a long groan and placed her head in her hooves. "He's insane."
Raul chuckled lightly. "Yeah, well, having your brain removed, and being experimented on by aliens tends to do that to you."
"WHAT?!"
…John's POV...
I couldn't help but be quite impressed at how well the town moved. Market Stands, ponies everywhere, stores and factories working hard, hell, there was even a building made of bread. How the hell did that even work?
I looked over at Fawkes, and gave him a nod, earning one in return, and I walked over to the closest stand. This one had a tan mare with a long mane and tale in a ponytail (pun intended I guess), and wore a stetson hat.
I gave a nod to her, making her look at me and go wide eyed. She then smiled widely. "Well howdy pardner, good t' see y'all again." I raised an eyebrow, making her blush slightly. "Pardon, Ah was there when y'all took care of Nightmare Moon."
"Nightmare Who now?"
The pony chuckled a little. "That varmit y'all took down in those ruins." I formed a 'o' with my lips. "So, y'all looking fer some apple products?"
"Do you have change for a gold ingot?"
The mare coughed harshly on her saliva, before banging her chest, and looked at me. "Beg Pardon, but did y'all say gold ingot?"
I nodded and pulled one out, which made her eyes go wide as saucers, went to the back of her head, and she fell to the ground, out cold. This made me quite confused, before shrugging and looked at Fawkes. "Think Town Hall is close?"
Fawkes nods in response. "Indeed friend, right down that way."
I nodded in response, and we began walking towards the way he pointed. As we did, I took note of a shadow following from the air. This made me glance upwards, and spotted a rainbow dash behind a cloud. Do I remember her from somewhere? ...how the hell do I even know it's a pony? I shrugged, seeing it as another strange thing happening to me, and headed on.
Fawkes soon led me to a massive building, which we entered, and headed to the receptionist's desk. Said receptionist looked up at us, and sighed. "Yes, what can I do for you?"
I stepped forward and placed a gold ingot on the counter. "I wanted to know if that mansion near Sweet Apple Acres was for sale?"
The receptionist was wide eyed at the gold ingot, before clearing her throat to calm down, and examined it a bit, then weighed it a bit, and looked at me. "About twenty of these would do, given that each would be a thousand gold bits."
I nodded in response, and placed nineteen more down, making her slack-jawed, before she cleared her throat, pulled out the deed, and some papers, then looked at me. "Just sign these papers, and the deed is yours."
I gave a small smile in response.
...Third POV...
The Dragonborn groans as he slowly blinked his eyes open, and all he could hear was a lot of shouting coming from downstairs, lovely. Wonder what Farengar or Vilkas has to say about that. But first things first. Get up and out of that bed.
The Dragonborn pushed himself into a sitting position, and wiped his forehead with his hoof. He glanced down and saw that he forgot to pull off his boots, which made him shrug, stand up, pulled off the boots, and made sure his clothes were fitted properly. Once he knew they were, he walked over to the door, placed his hoof on the knob, then thought of something. Before I woke up here, I would hear Mora's voice in my head, given my complete acceptance to stop Miraak. So… why don't I hear him anymore?
The Dragonborn shrugged at his question and opened the door, which made the shouting much louder for him. He groaned in response, and left the room, heading downstairs. Once there, he could finally hear the purple mare's voice.
"WHAT ELSE ARE YOU HIDING FROM ME ABOUT JOHN?! WHAT ELSE COULD BE AS IMPORTANT AS THOSE TWO THINGS?!"
Yep, just another day in this strange world.
The Dragonborn sat down at the table, where Vilkas and Farengar were sitting as well, and the Dragonborn spoke. "So, what might be this morning's meal?"
Raul came up to him and sat down a plate of pancakes, same for the other two, before he went back to the stove, turned it off, and headed to the living room, with the purple mare yelling after him.
Vilkas then looked at the Dragonborn. "You know, we have been fighting side by side for months now, and I still haven't learned your name."
Farengar nods in agreement. "I must agree with him, I was stuck with simply calling you Dragonborn back then. I am truly curious myself."
The Dragonborn smiled a little. "It's Jerrold Lion-Heart."
Farengar and Vilkas nodded in response, and they began to eat calmly. Once Jerrold took a bite, he felt tears rushing down his face as he began to savor the flavor. He then cried out as he clenched his hooves. "By the Nine, this is the most amazing, most wonderful, and most perfect food I have ever tasted! I am in Sovngard!"
Vilkas gave him a raised eyebrow in response, while Farengar was chuckling lightly.
...
Raul sighed as he walked through the markets of Ponyville, after being told by Miss Sparkle to get them food for the next few days. He was truly beginning to question her sanity as he walked, and was feeling a bit cautious about her now.
Just then he spotted Alduin land next to him, and begin following him through the market as he spoke. "Greetings, Ghoul. What brings you to the markets today?"
Raul glanced up at him. "Miss Sparkle asked me to collect some food for her."
The dragon grew a large grin. "It that all you two spoke about?"
Raul groaned in response. "That mare yelled loud enough to be heard all across this town. I'm not surprised you heard her."
Alduin chuckled in response as the two came up to one of the market stands, and Raul began to purchase the stuff on that purple menace's list.
…John's POV...
I smiled a bit as I and Fawkes looked at the massive mansion that stood in front of us. This was the perfect place to make as a base of operations. Now all I needed was to hire a few carpenters, some guards, gardeners, scientists, and a lot of other ponies. But first things first, I needed to check it out and see what I could improve.
I trotted over to the front door with Fawkes in toe, and we pushed the doors open, heading straight inside. I smiled a bit at it's massive entrance, and examined the stairs on either side of the room, as well as a room ahead, to the sides, and on the upper levels, most of them being hallways most likely.
I trotted over to the table in the center of the room, which held a dead plant in a vase, and gave it an annoyed look, knocked it over, and placed my Abraham Lincoln Action Figure on it. Since I was in ponyland, it was a pony as well. Damn this world sucks.
I glanced over at Fawkes, who was examining the place, and spoke. "So, what do you think? Would this work out?"
Fawkes nodded in response. "Indeed, my friend, I seems to be in perfect condition. Now all we need is to decorate it, and collect enough furniture to make the place livable."
I nodded a bit as I trotted over to a painting of Celestia. "Yeah, and it needs better paintings, something I am used to. Maybe a few paintings of the Brotherhood of Steel, or maybe the NCR, that'll make this more homelike."
Fawkes nodded as well, and continued to trot around. I was busy taking down the paintings, and tossing them into the center of the room, in the unwanted pile.
…Third POV...
Twilight sighed as she walked towards the Carousel Boutique with Spike on her back, and tried her best not to lose it again. Spike was a bit worried when he saw her, and she didn't want to do that again.
Just then Spike spoke. "So… who were those ponies back at the library?"
Twilight went wide eyed. "I'm sorry Spike, I didn't introduce you to them yet." She sighed a little. "I'll introduce you to them when we get the chance."
Spike nodded a little, and looked ahead, before going wide eyed and spoke with a large smile. "Since when did a giant dragon live here?"
Twilight looked ahead, and saw that one dragon with Raul, which made her sigh slightly, and smile at Spike. "I don't know, I don't know many of their names yet. How about we go and greet them?"
Spike nodded vigerously as they went up to Raul, who looked at them, and quickly lifted his new saddlebags in front of his face while speaking. "Back, demon donkey! I am not interested in any more yelling!"
Twilight stopped in her tracks, shocked by his sudden outburst, then looked at Spike, who was snickering. Twilight sighed and looked at Raul. "I'm sorry Raul, I didn't mean to. I just was shocked by what you said, and was worried about John's health."
Raul slowly moved his saddlebags, and examined her before slowly nodding, and sat the saddlebags back on his back. He then looked at the dragon, who was chuckling a bit.
Raul nodded again, and headed off to buy the rest of the food, while the Dragon gave a small bow of his head. "Greetings, friend of Dovahkiin, I am Alduin, former world eater, and the ruler of the dragons back home."
Spike's jaw hit the ground at this, while Twilight was shocked to say the least. Twilight just stared at the massive beast that, apparently, was the deadliest dragon alive, but appeared to be friendly… so far.
Alduin then spoke again. "I see you have a fellow dov with you, tell me young one, what brought you and this mare together?"
Spike puffed up his chest in response. "I'm Spike, and Twilight here helped raise me when I hatched from my egg. She is my best friend."
Alduin let out a long chuckle. "Did she now, hehe, reminds me of my time with Akatosh." The two raised eyebrows. "Being the first of the Dragons, first born and the such, I was a bit dark, evil, and cruel. But thanks to Dovahkiin, I have seen my mistakes, and plan to do better then I did back then."
Twilight grew a small smile, glad that this dragon has changed, much to her relief as well. Twilight then looked towards the Carousel Boutique, then to Alduin. "Would you like to come with us to Rarity's? I'm sure she'd like to meet you."
Alduin thought for a moment. "Hmm, I do not see how that could affect me in any way… perhaps, so long as she doesn't intend on insulting me."
Twilight smiled a bit. "I'm sure she wouldn't, she's a good friend of mine."
...
Jerrold, Vilkas, and Farengar continued to walk through the streets of Ponyville, examining everywhere and the such. Jerrold was currently looking at a map he was given by somepony named Lyra Heartstrings. It was helping out quite a bit, so yeah.
Vilkas then spoke as he came up to Jerrold's side. "Is there anyplace worth noting, Harbinger?"
Jerrold rolled his eyes at him. "Can't you just say my name, instead of one of my titles?"
Vilkas smirked a bit. "Of course, Jerrold."
"Just go with Jerry, alright?"
Vilkas chuckled again as the three continued through the streets of Ponyville. Soon Jerrold stopped in front of a gingerbread house, which was the strangest thing the three has seen all day. They stared at the massive building, until Jerrold spoke. "How did they get the wood to seem so much like bread?"
Farengar shrugged. "One of this world's great mysteries I believe. Shall we go inside and see what they have to sell?"
Jerrold nodded as the three entered the building, and looked around at all the seats, the counter up front, and how normal it looked inside. This made them shrug and walk over to the front counter, where a mare was standing at, and smiled upon seeing them. "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, how may I help you three today?"
Jerrold looked down at all the sweets in the counter, and began to look through them. Once he spotted what was a beautiful looking sweet, he stood up and looked at the mare. "How much gold for that there?"
The mare raised an eyebrow. "gold?"
Jerrold nodded and pulled out a gold coin, making her gasp at the beautiful coin, and he sat it on the counter. "Yes, how much of these would it cost?"
The mare slowly picked up the coin, and began to examine it, admiring it's beauty, before she looked at him with a small smile. "One of these would be at least four bits, eight max. And the sweet costs six, so how about we say eight and I give you two bits for it?"
Jerrold gave a small smile. "That sounds good."
The mare nodded, and opened the strange machine, which made Jerrold raise an eyebrow at such a contraption. The mare put the coin in there, and pulled out two very small gold coins. She then handed it to Jerrold, and smiled a bit as she pulled out the sweet, then handed it to him. "There you go, and have a pleasant day."
Jerrold smiled at her. "To you as well."
He then trotted over to a seat, with Vilkas and Farengar in front of him, and Jerrold bit into the sweet, making his eyes go wide, and tears start running down his cheeks. This made Vilkas sigh. "Here we go again."
John continued to cry as he took slow bites, and slowly chewed on the most wonderful thing he's ever tasted. This world keeps getting better and better for him, and he doesn't want to lose it.
Just then somepony spoke from next to Farengar. "Why is he crying?"
Farengar looked to his side, and let out the most girlish scream upon seeing the pink mare a mere inch from his face as he fell sideways away from her, still scared out of his mind upon seeing her next to him. He also attracted a lot of attention from the other ponies, who looked away upon seeing how close the mare was to him, and appeared to be used to these kinds of things.
The mare looked at the frightened stallion, and offered a hoof to him. "Hi there! I'm Pinkie Pie! And I know everypony here, and I don't know you three, what's your names? Do you live here? Are you new?" She then gasped. "I need to get something started!" And with that, she was gone.
Farengar let out a small whimper as he sat back up, and rubbed his forehead with his hoof. "Not even my magic could track that thing down."
Jerrold simply continued to cry as he ate the sweet, completely happy with where he is.
...John's POV...
I smiled as I walked out of the mansion, a large pile of paintings in a cart behind me, and I began to walk towards Ponyville, with Fawkes next to me as he was examining the forest with a smile. The two of us soon spotted Ponyville, which made me smile and look at Fawkes. "You ready?"
Fawkes nodded. "As ever, my friend."
I nodded in response, and we soon reached Ponyville. I ignored all the curious eyes of the townsfolk, and we soon reached the Town Hall. I then placed the cart at the foot of the stairs, pulled out a wooden sign, and placed it on the cart.
'Paintings For Sale'
I smirked as many ponies came over to examine the paintings, and they were all offering many small gold coins to buy them. I didn't need them, but I accepted them anyways to give to Purple when I headed back. I also smirked at how Fawkes was giving the paintings to each buyer who bought them, and the day was going by like the wind.
Just then I heard something heading towards me, and quickly dove out of the way, making a massive crater grow where I was, and sent dirt flying which made me raise an eyebrow, trotted over to the crater, and looked inside, seeing a cyan mare with a rainbow mane, and a pair of wings. This made me raise an eyebrow, hopped into the crater, and poked her, which made her groan in response, and pull herself out of the ground.
She then looked at me, and chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, was trying to get a lot of speed for my trick."
I rolled my eyes in response. "Yeah, almost fast enough to beat a jet, what else can you ponies do?!"
I continued to rant on to myself while the mare raised an eyebrow, and trotted over to my side, then poked my shoulder. This made me stop and glance at her, which gave her the chance to speak. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria."
I snorted in response, making her glare at me, while all the ponies quickly scattered. "Yeah, right, I've seen metal move faster then that."
The mare narrowed her eyes at me. "That so?"
"Sure thing, Colors."
Her eye twitched a little. "It's Rainbow, Rainbow Dash."
I clapped my hooves in response, and pulled out a apple. "Does horsy want an apple for that trick?"
She huffed in response, and turned her back to me. "Whatever, I got more important things to do."
I rolled my eyes in response, and dusted myself off. "Yeah, well, next time you end up speaking with me, leave your ego at home. Then I'll consider treating you with respect."
Colors huffed at that, spread out her wings, and flew off with ease.
I simply rolled my eyes, and walked over to the painting thing, and once again went back to selling the things.
...Third POV...
Twilight took a sip of her tea as she sat with Rarity, and they continued to sit in silence. Alduin was sitting on the roof of the building, enjoying the large tea cettle they gave him, and Spike was gnawing on a ruby.
Just then the front doors bell rung, making Rarity get to her hooves, and headed into the main room, with Twilight behind her. "Hello and welcome to the Carousel Boutique, how may I h- Oh, hello Rainbow, how can I help you?"
Rainbow trotted into the room and huffed slightly. "Anything to get my mind off of that jerk who's selling paintings."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What jerk?"
Rainbow pointed out the door, making them look, and Twilight went wide eyed at seeing John, selling paintings that were of great quality.
"Why is he a jerk?"
Rainbow gave her a disbelieving look. "I introduced myself to the guy, and instead of introducing himself, he said that metal can move faster then me! ME! Then he called me Colors instead of my name!"
Twilight felt her ears lay back down. "Something tells me that I know how you introduced yourself."
Rarity spoke as well. "I am guessing you told him you were the Fastest Flier in all of Equestria?"
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, because I am!"
Twilight thought for a moment. "What did he say when you left?"
Rainbow opened her mouth, until Alduin spoke from above them. "Said to leave her ego at home next time she speaks with him."
They all looked up to see Alduin poking his head in through the large skylight. Rainbow simply huffed and folded her forelegs in response, while Rarity spoke. "Darling, yes he could have spoken with better words, and yes that was very rude of him, but he appears to sound like he's being very blunt. Meaning he tells the truth, but fails to say it in a way to keep from upsetting others."
Rainbow growled in response, and then sighed. "Alright, fine, so he gots stuff back home that move faster then me, so what, I'm talking about Equestria, not that place he's from."
Twilight giggled in response. "I understand, Rainbow. He is just not used to how we do stuff, and remember what Raul said? He's used to violence and hatred back home, he's not used to our peace and harmony."
Rainbow opened her mouth, then closed it, and nodded when she remembered. "Yeah, you're right, I just… I'm sorry."
Rarity smiled at her. "It's alright, Rainbow, you just didn't remember."
Rainbow slowly nodded in response, then looked out at the sky. "Hey, I gotta go, the weather ain't gonna deal with itself."
Twilight and Rarity nodded in response, and Rainbow flew out the door, straight to the clouds as Twilight sighed. And then looked up at Alduin when he began chuckling. "What's so funny, Alduin?"
He looked down at her. "Creatures of all kinds never cease to amuse me. They go from angered, to happy, to stupid, then to apologetic. It's always quite amusing for something as old as I."
Twilight rolled her eyes in response, and went back to enjoy tea with Rarity.
...John's POV...
I smiled a bit as I entered the large factory, and spotted who I presumed to be the leader of them. I walked over to him, and gave a nod. "Sup, Big guy." He looked at me. "I'm looking for some carpenters to work on a place I bought, the large mansion in-between Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, I'm willing to pay a gold bars to each pony who works on it a day, and if you go past my expectations, I'll pay an extra five gold bars for each of you."
The stallion's jaw dropped to the floor as quickly as he heard the words 'gold bars' and his eyes kept going wider and wider with how I was offering to pay and the such. He then quickly shook his head and offered his hoof. "Deal!"
I smiled and shook his hoof, then narrowed my eyes. "Think you can help me hire some guards, gardeners, servants, maids, a band, and a good bit of other stuff? As well as getting me to the best place to buy stuff for my Mansion?"
The stallion gave a very large smile in response. "I'm sure I can help you out with that, and even offer a few options for the place."
I gave a small smile myself.
