Back in the Mojave

“The heck was that?” Spike asked as he and Twilight sat at the table, eating their plates of omelette.

“I don’t know.” Twilight responded “Sounded like something hitting the roof.” After listening for a bit longer she concluded that it was probably something blowing in the wind and was of little consequence. She continued to dig into her omelette and enjoy its delicious qualities. The taste of it reminded her of the times that Princess Celestia had brought back exotic foods from other countries, back when Twilight was her student and still staying with her.

“This is really good.” Spike said, his claw covering his mouth so the food in his mouth was neither visible nor flying across the table. The same level of table manners was not being shown by his mother who was eating hers rather messily and getting small pieces of food all over her side of the table.

“Yeah, I normally don’t like exceedingly cheesy food, but this is delicious.” She muffled out, her mouth almost full to the brim with omelettey goodness.

“Jeez mom, can you not talk with your mouth full please?” Spike urged “It’s getting food everywhere.”

“Sorry.” She said before swallowing her shockingly large mouthful in one go and wiping her mouth with a hoof. “This has to be one of the nicest meals I’ve had.” At Spikes frown she quickly added, “That you didn’t make of course, nopony can beat your culinary mastery.”

“And don’t you forget it.” Spike then looked down at his meal then back up at Twilight with a smile. “I might have to ask for this recipe though.”

“I could give it to you know if you like?” Came Reds voice as she hopped up into the Truck and shut the door behind her.

“You’re back earlier than I expected.” Twilight said, one of her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. “It’s barely been 15 minutes since you left.”

“Turns out that Yes Man had actually managed to get a lot of the stuff I needed to do done while we were away so all I had to do was grab your new gun and some other supplies.” Red said as she pulled off her back pack and placed it on the floor before budging up Spike and sitting next to him. She then pulled out a long lever action hunting carbine with a light receiver and longer ammo tube and placed it on the table. “This is Medicine Stick, one of the best rifles I own.” She held it out at arm’s length and Twilight carefully picked it up with her magic.

“What makes it so special?” Spike asked sceptically.

“It has a much longer ammo tube than the standard variant you find in these parts which I have made even longer with a bit of modification. I modified the receiver to make it far more durable and perform better under high stress situations, although I wouldn’t recommend doing too much damage to it.” She said, indicating to the parts as she went along. “I installed a makeshift attachment holder which I mainly use for a scope when I need to do some long range marksmanship and I haven’t brought my anti-mat.”

“What ammunition does it use?” Twilight looked up at Red with a slight tilt of her head.

“It uses .45-70-405 rounds which come in Hollow Point and SWC variants.” Red said as she handed a box of said ammo. “I thought that you might want to give it a try and come shoot some bottles with me in McCarran.”

Twilight thought about it for a bit before nodding her head and levitating the ammo box and the rifle onto the straps on her back.

“What about me?” Spike asked indignantly.

“Have you actually read the Wasteland Survival Guide yet?” Red asked as she started looking through the books and magazines on the shelf. When she got a no from Spike she pulled out the guide and handed it to him. “I would recommend reading it then since you should know the factions and creatures that roam these wastes.” She then pulled open a draw and sifted through it until she found a holotape with the words ‘Music-Reds’ written on the front. “If you want to listen to some songs as well then this tape has my favourites on it.”

“Thanks” Spike said as he grabbed the holotape and sat at the table with the guide in front of him.

“Let’s get going then shall we?” Red asked as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and opened the back of the truck.

“Okay then.” Twilight said as she followed Red out the back and onto the tarmac of the strip. She turned back towards the truck and waved to Spike. “I’ll see you in a bit Spike!”

“Bye mom!” He called back with his own wave as the door was closed.

Outside the strip was decidedly less busy, the sounds of the wind and distant gunfights being the only sound around. Now that Twilight had gotten a good look at the Mojave itself, she could see why it had gained the title of wasteland by those who either lived within it or those who had merely visited it. The destroyed buildings stretched on for what seemed like miles, their crumbling walls and roofs slowly getting more and more sparse as they travelled further through the ruins.

“Where are we going again?” She asked, looking up at Reds almost towering form.

“We’re going to Camp McCarran, an old airport that used to be the NCR’s main hold on the Strip.” She reached into one of her pockets, pulled out the Black carton of cigarettes, lifted it up to her mouth and pulling out one of the tar sticks with her teeth, lit it with her thumb. “It’s now a refugee camp and the main stopping point for all caravans heading up to the areas like Freeside and North Vegas.”

“Why are we heading there to practise shooting?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow, shaking her head when Red offered her a cigarette.

“The people that live there have all sorts of different hobbies, and it just so happened that a large group of them liked shooting.” She took a drag from her smoke and blew it upward into the air. “They all decided, using many of the leftover supplies from when the NCR used to be stationed there, to make a shooting range that they all could use. The range also gets used to train the militia that guards many settlements outside the range of the securitrons.”

The two soon arrived in front of a large walled off structure with a large metal gate at its entrance. The gate itself had seen better days, as was evident by the many sheets of corrugated iron that were welded to it and the small holes and tears that littered its surface. On top of the stone pillars that held the gate and in front of the gate itself were men and women dressed in leather and metal armours and carrying a wide variety of rifles and weapons. All of these weapons were in various states of disrepair and had been repaired many times.

“Red! It’s great to see you.” An old woman said as she walked up to Red and Twilight. She was dressed in a heavy black coat with a few leather straps pulled over her figure and some light blueish grey trousers accompanied by a pair of laced boots that went up to just below her knees. She held a Wattz 2000 laser rifle in her gloved hands and a crowbar hung at her hip. She carried herself with confidence and calculating poise, though the fact that she was smiling widely and almost skipping towards them kind of belittled that poise.

“Lovely to see you too Florence, how are things?” Red asked as she reached out and shook the woman’s hand.

“Nothing of much to note.” Florence said as she moved her hand through her long greying hair. “Other than a few fiend raids and one incident with a group of bandits who thought that they could take us on, there hasn’t been anything interesting.” Florence then noticed the small form of Twilight next to Red and blinked a few times before looking back up at Red. “I’m not that old yet am I?” She asked, earning a chuckle from the tall lady.

“Not yet Flo, this is Twilight.” Red said as she pointed to the alicorn with her hand.

“Hi” Twilight said with a smile as she looked up at the shocked Florence.

“Um… Hi?” Florence said back. “Never met a unicorn before.”

“Alicorn actually.” Twilight said as she sifted slightly so that her wings were visible.

“This is Florence, she’s the closest thing to family I have these days with the exception of the gang.” Red said, her hand gripping Florence’s shoulder and pulling her into a sideways hug.

“Ouch! Watch it Red, I’m not as young as I used to be.” Florence said as she extracted herself from the hug and held her shoulder. “You sure do pick up some strange companions don’t you?” She raised an eyebrow at Red rubbed the back of her head and smiled awkwardly.

“Everyone seems to be saying that recently.” Red said as she took her cigarette out of her mouth, dropped it onto the floor and stamped on it with her boot. “Anyway, can we use the range? I’m hoping to teach Twilight here to shoot without V.A.T.S.”

“You know you don’t have to ask to use the range since you practically made it.” Florence exclaimed, many of the other guards who had been listening on the conversation adding their own various forms of agreement. “What have I told you bunch of lousy excuses for a militia about listening in on my conversations!?” She bellowed angrily at the nosey guards who all jumped at her loud shout. “Back to your posts or I will tan your hides with my laser rifle!”

“That brings back memories.” Red said almost dreamily, Twilight looking up at her and raising an eyebrow. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” Twilight said as she quickly looked back at Florence who had finished ranting at a particular guard who had dropped his rifle at her shout.

“I will sculpt them into a force to be reckoned with sooner or later.” She mumbled with a scowl before turning to face Red and smiling. “I’ll get the boys to open up the gate and let you through.” She then turned and waved up at the two men up on the right hand pillar, one of the men nodding and shouting down to the other side of the gate. Soon after, a loud screeching was heard as the gate started to slide open and the path was opened. “I want to talk to you later though Red, the fiends are getting ballsier even after your raid shrank their numbers.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you in about an hour.” Red nodded and proceeded to walk towards the now open gate with Twilight at her side.

Once both of them were through the gate Twilight got a look around the place and took it in. There were lots of tents and scrap huts at the far side of the car park, with many people wandering around and socialising. Closer to the main building there were quite a few stalls and tables that seemed to be selling and handing out food to the caravan parties and refugees respectively. All of these people were chatting and enjoying each other’s company while the stall owners hurried around preparing more food and drinks. The area to the left of the entrance held a few tents, each bearing a strange symbol on the front. Lots of what looked like doctors rushed around this area while many people sat or lay beds.

“I always get a small sense of pride whenever I come here.” Red sighed wistfully.

“You should be, this place looks… happy.” Twilight struggled to find the right word but settled for happy.

“Yeah, I wanted to create somewhere that allowed the people with nowhere to go a safe haven and a somewhat stable home.” Red started walking along the road that went towards the main building, the gat shutting behind them as they went.

“So you mentioned that Florence was the closest thing you had to family, what did you mean by that?” Twilight asked after a short while.

“Florence pretty much raised me after my parents died and I was alone.” Red said with a shrug, “I had almost gone wild by the time that she found me, living in the wastes and all, and she took pity on me and helped me find my humanity again.” Red lifted up her Pip-Boy and checked the time before lowering it and stopping in front of the door to the terminal building. She pushed the glass door open and held it open to Twilight who thanked her and stepped in.

“Whoa” Twilight was rather shocked at the interior of the building, the suspended aeroplane to being the only reason. There were lots of people bustling around the place doing different jobs and generally wandering, with a group of sharply dressed people standing behind a few desks seeing to the queues that followed the velvet ropes. “What happens here?” Twilight asked as Red stepped up next to her.

“This is the closest place to an office that I have in my little empire.” Red said as she straightened out her attire as much as she could, pulling out a stick of lipstick and spreading it on her lips. “They deal with all the requests and complaints of the people and either deal with it themselves or send it up to me and I deal with it.”

“That sounds like a far better system than what we use back in Equestria.” Twilight snorted, already trotting ahead towards the sign that said ‘Shooting range through here’.

“Why, what’s so bad about your system?” Red asked as she caught up to Twilight.

“Everypony always brings their problems straight to the princesses, nopony checking to see if it is worth their time, no real background checks, no ‘quality control’.” Twilight was steaming by this point. “It’s a political nightmare, the noble families spare almost no thought to whether or not their requests are actually worth the princesses time and the actually worthwhile requests have to wait until the very end of the court. Not to mention how easy it is to attempt to assassinate the royalty.” Twilight finished with a sneer.

“Why hasn’t it changed if it’s so bad?” Red raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip.

“The princess can’t actually pass laws without either the noble courts consent or the authority of all Royal family members.” She sighed and lifted her hoof to brush some strands of mane out of her eyes. “Blueblood is pretty much in every noble households pocket, bless his soul. I completely forgot to tell Rarity that Blueblood was secretly gay and tried to dissuade all the female suiters by acting like a jackass.” Twilight then laughed slightly into her hoof.

“A funny story?” Red smiled and waved at the guard who was stood in front of the exit to the airstrip, who in turn stepped out the way and saluted, only glancing at the laughing alicorn before snapping back into form.

“Yeah, our first trip to the gala went atrociously bad.” Twilight said as she stopped laughing.

“Well you can tell me all about it once we’ve reached the range.” Red said as they both continued walking for a minute, each thinking about their own thoughts until they arrived at the outdoor shooting range, where a few people were practising their aim with various weapons.

“HA! If it isn’t my old friend Red, you here to show the rookies how it’s done?” A gruff voice called from the left of the range.

Twilight turned towards the voice and had to double take at the sheer size of the man she was looking at. He had to be at least the same height as Red if not taller, and his shoulders were incredibly broad, about three feet across. He wore a black sleeveless jacket, which had been reinforced with shoulder pads and bandoliers, over a red long sleeved jumper. He also was wearing a pair of armoured black trousers and a set of rugged boots, both of which looked rather homemade. He had a bushy brown beard and thick eyebrows the contrasted against his shaved head, though he managed to pull the look off rather well. The man was smiling broadly as he leant against the counter that he was behind, a sign on the front reading ‘Ammo and Weaponry’.

“While that may not be the reason I’m here, I can do that in the process.” Red said with a laugh as she walked up to the counter and stood in front of the beast of a man. They both smiled at each other before simultaneously head-butting so hard you sound was almost deafening. As they separated their foreheads they looked at one-another until they both burst out laughing.

“Still as thick skulled as ever Red.” The man said as he patted Red on the shoulder.

“Good to see you again Drew.” Red said as her laughter died down and she gestured Twilight forth. “I’m here to teach this Purple Pony Princess how to shoot without V.A.T.S.”

“Hello, my names Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight ventured rather timidly. She hoisted herself up so her front hooves were on the counter and held out her hoof to shake.

“Hello there Miss Sparkle, I’m Drew Gardener and I run this fine establishment.” Drew said kindly as he shook Twilights hoof gently.

“Fine establishment my ass.” Red commented with a roll of her eyes. “This place is a shit-hole inside a Cazador.”

Drew tsked at Reds words and turned back to Twilight. “People these days, they have no respect.” The mirth in both his and Reds eyes showed that it was but harmless banter.

“Come on Twilight, let’s get you set up.” Red led Twilight to one of the free stations and took her backpack off. “Okay, first I’m going to demonstrate how to shoot without V.A.T.S. and then I want you to practise until your hitting dead centre with each shot.”

“I don’t think your methods will work on me considering we have different anatomies and I have telekinesis.” Twilight said sceptically.

“Well then miss no-it-all, let’s see how it’s done.” Red folded her arms and looked at Twilight expectantly.

Twilight felt a noticeable drop in her confidence when Red said that and she cautiously pulled her rifle off of her back and loaded some shots into it. She held her rifle up to her head and made sure that the sights lined up with her eye and pulled the trigger.

*CRACK*
*SMACK*

“OW!” Twilight yelped as the gun smacked into her face and she dropped the gun.

“Ten out of Ten.” Red said as she clapped slowly with a smirk on her face, ignoring the scowl she got front Twilight who was still rubbing her bruised jaw with her hoof.

“Fine, show me how to do it.” Twilight relented as she picked up the gun and handed it to Red.

“Okay then.” Red grabbed the rifle and held so Twilight could see. “Whether you know them or not, I am going tell you the four main rules to wielding a firearm. The first Rule is to always treat every firearm as if it were loaded. No ifs, ands, or buts. Even if you know the gun is unloaded, still handle it as if it were loaded.” Red indicated to the direction that the rifle was pointing: the ground within the firing range. “Always keep the firearm pointed in a safe direction, a direction where a negligent discharge would cause minimum property damage and zero physical injury. The safest direction to point a gun is always downrange as long as there aren’t any people downrange… no matter how funny that is!” Red shouted in the direction of Drew’s counter which got a laugh from the bulky man. “Always keep your trigger finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you have your target in your sights and you know that you want to fire.” Red pointed to the fact that her rifle was pointing towards the target down the range. “Lastly, Always be sure of your target and beyond. You want to be aware of what’s in your line of fire. We don’t want you missing your shots and hitting some poor sod who for some moronic reason is behind the targets.”

“I already knew those.” Twilight said, growing slightly impatient with how long she had been left waiting.

“Whenever I’m teaching someone to shoot, I always repeat those four rules whether they’ve heard them before. I’m sure you would agree that safety comes first?” Red admonished and Twilight sighed, acknowledging the point. “Now for your stance, I’m fairly certain that you can adapt both of the stances to fit your body, so I’ll give the rundown of both of them.” Red turned to the side and held the rifle up to her cheek and made sure the stock fit into her shoulder. “This is the bladed-off stance. It is mostly used for precision firing and stationary low rate-of-fire shots that are not dependent on how much muzzle rise you face.” She then shifted to a position that had her torso facing towards the target and her legs spread apart, with the rifle in a similar position except it ran perpendicular to her main body and the stock was further up her shoulder. “This is the squared stance. It is used for more active firefights thanks to the fact that it helps negate muzzle rise far better than the bladed-off. This stance also allows you to track your targets better since it allows for more twisting movement, although that may not apply to you.” Red handed the rifle back to Twilight so that she could test each of the different stances, after which she settled on a slightly adapted squared stance.

“I think this stance works the best because it’ll expose less of my body and it allows for more physical support against recoil.” Twilight tested firing a few times and found it easier to hold and she didn’t drop it. She held the rifle back up so Red could take it and show her the next steps.

“This one will more than likely be pointless in your case, thanks to the necessity of hands, but I’ll try and see what I can do.” Red then held the rifle so that her hands sat underneath it. “I think the best way for me to teach you the points on holding the rifle is to see what you do while holding, so here, take it.” Red watched as Twilight took the rifle in her telekinetic grip, tilting her head and looking closer as Twilight got into her stance. “Okay, I think I see where you can improve. You hold the rifle in your telekinesis completely, all of its surfaces being gripped by it. I want you to only hold the rifle on the forestock and the crook, making sure to only place the telekinesis on the trigger when you want to fire.” Red observed as Twilight tried that, and after a bit of effort trying to hold it up with the reduced amount of magic, she held it just as steady.

“Why hold it like this, when I’m more likely to be on target with the finer control of holding completely?” Twilight questioned Reds decision until she squatted down so that she could indicate to the different parts on the rifle.

“While your aim may be off a bit at first. That can be improved by practice, no, the main reason I wanted you to hold it like this is for safety reasons.” Red pointed to the trigger and crook of the weapon. “I’m not sure how your magic works but if you grip the trigger while not intending to fire it can go off at the slightest of jolts. This can lead to injuries or worse.” Twilight relented and nodded at the sound reasoning.

“Is there anything else?” Twilight asked.

“One last thing.” Red held out her hands so Twilight could place the rifle in them. “When you first tried firing you had the rifles stock on your jaw. As you now know, that can lead to bruising and strain if done so.” She held the rifle in the bladed-off stance so that Twilight could easily see. “See how only my cheek is touching the stock, and how the stock itself is planted as close to my centerline as possible?” At Red’s question Twilight nodded her head and subconsciously rubbed her bruised jaw. “Now I don’t expect you to fail as badly as you did the first time you tried to fire, so placing the stock on your jaw will only cause and ache, but a firefight may last a long time.” Red got out of her stance and gave the rifle back to Twilight who adopted her stance, held the rifle correctly and placed her cheek against the stock.

“Any last tips you want to tell me before I fire?” Twilight said as she looked up at Red out of the corner of her eye.

“If you are planning on firing from a stationary position and you want to hit something as close to the mark as possible, breathe out, not in.” Red said as she stepped back to give Twilight some room.

Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Feeling her heartbeat start to slow, she tightened her grip on the rifle and pulled the trigger.

*CRACK*

The bullet raced out of the barrel and flew right down the range. While the bullet didn’t hit the target, it did impact on the wall next to the target.

“Much better.” Red said as she lightly patted Twilight on the back and pulled a box of ammo out of her backpack. “I need to go speak with Flo, so you keep practicing until all of your shots are within the targets.”

“All of them?” Twilight asked, a bit daunted by the task.

“I know you can manage that, you just need to practice.” Red said as she pulled her backpack onto her back and waved goodbye to Twilight.

Twilight had been on the range for a good half an hour already and her aim had improved noticeable. Her shots weren’t all hitting within the rings, but they all hit the actual target board. As she had been shooting her mind had wandered and she thought back on her life in Equestria.

*I wonder how each of my friends would have dealt with being this situation?* She thought about Pinkie and snerked into her hoof. *Pinkie would probably find some way to make everyone get together for one big party.* She then frowned. *Either that, or she would murder them all. I recognize Schizophrenia when I see it and she also seems to be suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, not a good combo in a high-stress situation.*

Twilight then thought about Applejack and what she would do in her place. *AJ would probably do as much as she could to help anyone in need.* She bent down to pick up the bullet she’d dropped. *Though she may end up focusing on returning home and getting back to her family more than everyone else.* Twilight sighed and loaded the bullet into the rifle and fired.

*Rarity, while not liking the overall look and feel of the wasteland, would probably agree with Red’s ideals the most.* Twilight cocked the lever and took aim down the range again. *Though, I’m pretty sure she would end up with nothing because of how generous she is.* She pulled the trigger again and loosed another bullet down range, actually hitting one of the rings on the target, though she didn’t notice.

*I don’t think Dash would stand out all that much, apart from the obvious reason. She would more than likely enjoy the fights as long as she knew that they were bad people and that they had hurt others.* Twilight repeated the process until her rifle was empty, before loading more shots. *The wasteland would desensitize her though, and as much as I would still be friends with her, and I’m sure the girls would as well, I can’t say the same for anypony else.* She then placed the rifle down and sat on her haunches, leaning against the side of her cubicle. *Who says I’m not being desensitized by this all, I don’t think I could ever think of killing somepony coming here, and know? I’m practicing so I’ll be better at it.*

Twilight stood back up and took aim with the rifle again before hesitation and lowering it. *I don’t even want to think what Fluttershy would do in this situation.* Twilight blew a lock of her mane that was in front of her eyes. *Fluttershy’s ideals don’t fit into this world very well… although, if Arcade is right, she might be a good Follower of the Apocalypse.* She aimed down the range and fired until the rifle was empty again and started reloading it, barely noticing that all her shots were within the rings.

*What about how everyone else thinks I’m doing in this world.* She thought sadly. *My friends are probably worried sick about me, thinking that I’m barely surviving of the bare necessities.* Her thoughts turned bitter and started leaking into her speech. “The Princesses are probably expecting me to come back as I once was, untainted by the wasteland, with a new world of friendship in my wake.” She frowned and gripped her rifle more firmly. “The nobles are either wishing I stay gone or are expecting me to come back a quivering mess.” She spat to the side and aimed her rifle at the target.

“I’m not barely surviving.”

*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*

“I am not a god!”

*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*

“I’m not weak!”

*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*
“I am not whatever you expect me to be!”

*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*

“I AM JUST ME!”

*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*
*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*
*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*
*CRACK*
*KER-CHACK*
*Click*
*Click*

Twilight stood panting with the rifle held shakily in her telekinesis. She turned her head and saw Red watching her from the side of the cubicle with a sad smile on her face.

“I-“ Twilight tried to speak but she couldn’t manage anything and just collapsed into her legs weakly.

“Come on, let’s get back to the truck.” Red said soothingly as she lifted Twilight and carried her out of the range. She spared a glance back at the target and smiled before continuing on. Twilight hadn’t just hit the bull's-eye, she had eviscerated it.

Author's Note

That was a relatively fun chapter to write.

New mod's:

Nevada Skies (Just because I hadn't mentioned it yet... maybe?
EVE - Essential Visual Enhancements

сбогом