Vegas had been a beacon for many years, even before the war. In the old world it was a beacon of desire, tempting all those who heard it’s call into spending excessive amounts of money and losing most of it to rigged gambling tables. After the war it became a home for many tribes and groups that found its protected walls perfect for life. Later on it became not only a sophisticated place like it had before the war, but also a strategic landmark targeted by not only NCR but Legion as well. But it took on a new meaning after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Where it had once been a place of the elite and lucky few who could pay for entry, it now stood as something new and different. After Mr. House, sole proprietor of the establishment seven years running, was replaced by a new owner, the stage was set for one of the most devious and cunning plans ever to grace the earth. The plan was to gain complete independence from all major factions in the new world, meaning no NCR and no Legion. The new owner of the Lucky 38, also known as The Courier, had already earned the favour of the NCR and had made themselves completely vilified by Caesars Legion, going even as far to kill Caesar herself. The Courier had done many things for the NCR, including saving their President, but she was only doing it to bring them up so that they could fall all that more further. Along the way she had also dealt with a large amount of problems in the wastes.

She had managed to; Create a mass exodus of one of the wests longest running factions with zero casualties; Diffused a plot to destroy the Strip and cause mass chaos; Convinced a group of isolate, trigger happy, artillery loving gun nuts to open their gates more and trade with the wasteland; Killed four of the most dangerous raiders in the Mojave; ended a cannibalistic plot right under the noses of the entire Strip; Become a member of one of the most selective organizations currently active while also persuading an old member to quit because of clashing ideals; ease tensions between two of the most pig-headed groups in the town of Freeside; remove a criminal organisation from the wasteland both peacefully and violently; brought law to a lawless town with the aid of a trigger happy sheriff; bring five members of one of the fiercest factions to ever walk the wastes back for one last coup de grace; made an old man, who believed fully in the defeat of the NCR at Hoover Dam, retire from his job and save lives in the process; help a troubled man with a troubled past seek solace for his past deeds; fixed the brain of a loyal companion, saving him from a death that would not have fitted the life that it had lead; helped a doctor find a cure for the nightkin schizophrenia that had plagued them for much of their lives; taught a young man that the legacy of his elders should be remembered but not forced onto us by nothing but whispers of the past; helped a down-trodden woman unravel a secret plan that would have crushed all competition of two corrupt trading groups; helped an old ghoul decide that his time wandering the wastes was coming to end and that settling down didn’t sound so bad; and give an old ball of scrap a new lick of paint and In the process lend hand to a group of kind hearted souls, who wanted nothing more than to help the needy.

But their last plan had been yet to be carried out, and after much preparation and much deliberation, the plan was carried out. The courier had the aid of a large group of friends and loyal companions: A lost young lady who had become more than a friend, an old member of the 1st recon, a member of The followers of the Apocalypse with ties to the Enclave, a brotherhood of steel scribe turned aid worker, a 234 year old ghoul with a skill in repairing items with his ‘invisible toolbox that he carries around everywhere’, a woman who loves whiskey far too much for it to be considered healthy, deadly assassin that talks far too much about her grandkids, a woman all the way from DC with a heart problem, a pet Yao Guai named teddy that she picked up from a national park, two cyber dogs, one who had brain problems and the other who had only recently been made, and an old enclave eyebot. With the help of all these people, the courier wiped out the Legion forces at Hoover Dam, but even with all of the violence the Courier preferred a less violent route, the retreat of the Legion. She managed to convince one of the most deadly men in America to leave the Dam without any more bloodshed, and then convinced another man to leave the Mojave peacefully despite the forces he commanded.

Over the two years that had passed since then, the Mojave wasteland had grown stronger and stronger in its independence and many things had changed. But one thing remained a constant in all the chaos and change, was The Courier. When a new or old threat rose up, The Courier was always there to take it down. When someone called on the Lucky 38’s front door for help, The Courier answered. But she wasn’t as infallible as many had made her out to be, as had been proven by many mistakes she had made.

Through all the turmoil though, Vegas had remained a beacon. What that beacon had meant had changed over the years, but as it stood in the year 2283, it was the brightest that it had ever been. But it was far from calm in New Vegas as the main area of Vegas was as busy as ever.

The Strip, as it was referred to, was a very noisy place. The speakers all around it kept played music throughout the day and night, repeating the same old songs. People walked through its streets constantly, talking about this, that and the other. But in the strip there was one building that remained quiet and calm.

The Lucky 38 was not a place for the average bystander, or anyone else that wanted to enter. To enter the Lucky 38 you had to have been invited by whoever ran the casino at the time. For over 200 years no one had entered its big red and black doors, and no one had come out of the building either. When New Vegas’s change in management occurred it was still not open to public view, but you could be accepted to enter if the owner allowed it.

There was a group of people though, who could enter and leave as they please without constant stops from the securitrons that guarded it. They were a rag-tag group of people that came from many different walks of life, all of whom, it was assumed, lived within the building. The daily lives of these people tended not to interfere with anyone else on the strip as they mostly just went about minding their own business. These people could often be seen leaving and returning to the casino with the boss of The Strip, The Courier. They would go out with her and return, anywhere from a day to weeks later and Mr New Vegas would tell everyone about what they had done.

So when The Courier was seen with some of her companions, sprinting through The Strip carrying, what looked like, a small purple animal in her arms, no one seemed to bat an eyelid. But this situation was far from normal for anyone among that group.

A dull pain emanating from her entire body met Twilight as she roused from her sleep, her head pounding and bruises aching all over her. Soft covers over a majority of her body, a soft pillow underneath her head and a springy mattress beneath. As she started to open her eyes, they were met by an onslaught of light, forcing her to snap them shut and place a hoof in front of her face to obscure any light that caused her discomfort. Twilight was cautiously opening her eyes when she noticed as slight weight on her body. Looking up, she saw that it was a small blob of purple and green that was curled up close to her head. It was Spike, and he looked to be sleeping quietly with soft snores and the odd scratch of his claws against the bed covers and the small blanket that covered his lower half.

Twilight moved her eyes from the sleeping Spike and moved her eyes to looking around the room she found herself in. The most noticeable thing about her room was the great big window that was adjacent to her bed and made up one of the three surfaces of the room, stretching along the entire curved wall and out of the opening that lead out of it. The walls of her room were a light red, but not quite pink and they made up the last two walls of the bedroom. There were quite a few cupboards and dressers around the bed, along with a carpet that was dark red with lighter red rings within each square of it. The source of light that had blinded Twilight before was actually the sunlight pouring in through the large window.

Slowly, as to not disturb Spike, Twilight started to climb out of the bed and finding the process rather hard because of her shaky legs. She sat at the edge of the bed and slowly lowered herself onto the floor, her weak legs trying valiantly to keep her from falling over and ending up in a heap on the floor. Once she was confident that her legs could hold her weight, Twilight started to take tentative steps towards the window, barely lifting her hooves of the ground as to keep as much balance as possible. When she reached the window she gasped at the sight before her. There was a huge ruin of a city that was directly visible from where she looked, with many husks of buildings and dilapidated streets. Looking down Twilight could see a less ruined section of city that was bustling with people and strange boxy looking metal machines.

“I never get tired of looking out these windows.” Said a feminine voice to Twilights right, causing her almost jump out of her fur. Turning towards the new voice, Twilight saw a tall bipedal figure standing there with a smirk on its face. “I see you’ve finally woken up after your little nap. You had us worried for a second when you stayed in a coma even after we fixed you up.” It said in a tone that indicated that it had actually been worried about her safety. “The little guy was worried sick about you the whole time you were out, which was for about two days I might add.” It said gesturing to Spike who was still asleep on the bed.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked tentatively “And where am I?”

“You are in the Lucky 38 presidential suite, and my name is Rosaline.” She said with a sweep of her arms which ended with one folded in front of her and one behind. “Though many call me by my Title, The Courier.” She said with a bow. “I know who you are thanks to Spike so don’t worry about introducing yourself.”

This caused Twilight to close her mouth and sheepishly turn her head away, rubbing her hoof behind her head. Movement on the bed caught Twilights attention as she saw Spike start to rouse from his sleep. He sat up from his curled position and stretched his arms with a silent yawn, blearily blinking his eyes as he became aware of his surroundings. When Spike had finally gained awareness of his location he whisked his head over to the pillow he expected Twilight to be lying on, which he saw was not the case. Quickly darting his head around, he spotted Twilight standing staring at him with a smile on her face.

“Morning sleepyhe- OOOF!” Twilight started to say before Spike latched onto her barrel and hugged her as tight. Twilight lifted one of her hooves and wrapped it around Spikes back and sat down on her haunches. While the hug continued, she noticed that her fur was wet around her neck which caused her to realise that Spike was crying. Wondering why Spike was crying the events of the last couple of weeks came back to her, making her instinctively move her rear legs together and scrunch her eyes shut as the full brunt of what she and Spike had gone through caused tears to flow freely. The Courier had the decency to remain quiet for the minutes that the two spent sobbing into each other’s embrace. After a bit more time was spent enjoying the presence of each other, Twilight and Spike finally ended their hug and wiped their eyes of tears.

“I’m sorry to break up the reunion but I need a word with Twilight, Spike why don’t you see if you can find arcade somewhere.” The Courier said with a kind voice. Spike was reluctant to leave, but a nod from Twilight made him sigh and start toward the door. “Thanks little guy, we won’t be long.”

“So why do you want to talk with me?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I’m not sure what you remember of your time spent with the Fiends but I need to make sure of some things.” The Courier asked sadly. “I know this might not be something you want to dwell on but I need all the information I can get on Rampant and his activities. Any information you give will help me track down the bastard and put a bullet between his eyes.”

Twilight sighed and started to recall her stay with Rampant and anything she thought might be of use, which The Courier jotted down on a notepad silently, When Twilight reached the last day of her capture she found that it was kind of hard to remember anything that had happened. She looked up at The Courier and said, “I can’t seem to remember anything about the last day me and Spike were there.” This caused The Courier to gain a guilty look and look to her left, out the window. She stood up and gestured Twilight to follow her. As they walked up a couple of stairs they walked up to a door which she opened. Twilight saw inside and realised that it was a bathroom that she had been brought to. “Why are we here?” She asked.

“When I found you, you were about to pass out and covered in blood. While some of it was yours, I saw that it most likely wasn’t all yours. Your horn was glowing and there was something else glowing that lead me to that conclusion.” The Courier said with little emotion in her voice.

“What else was in my magical field?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“The split head of a fiend.” The Courier said seriously

As soon as this piece of information sank in, Twilight remembered the last day she was held captive with the fiends. Rampant leaving, the Fiend named Cray and his brutal abuse, how he attacked Spike and lastly, how Twilight Violently killed him. At the realisation of what she had done, Twilight quickly located the toilet and vacated the contents of her stomach into it. The Courier stood by the doorway with a sad expression on her face, head bowed and fists clenched. After she had thrown up what little was in her stomach, Twilight turned around and slumped down against the wall next to the toilet and stared up at the ceiling with a horrified expression on her face.

“I-I killed someone. I ended another living creature’s life with my own hooves and horn.” She then slowly turned towards the Courier with wide eyes and a fearful expression and asked,,

“Then why don’t I fell guilty?”

Author's Note

Sorry if chapter upload gaps vary, it all depends on my mental state and how much time I have.

Relevant mods:

More Perks for New Vegas
New Vegas Restoration - NVR
Lucky 38 Suite Reloaded v4
Willow - A Better Companion Experience (for those who forgot the intermission link.)
Vanessa Follower NV

If you want a good representation of what my characters body looks like, the best body would be the BNB mod's body and about a foot taller than all human characters. I use the Courier face model from FCO which adds a scar to the edge of the left brow. She is also quite pale and gaunt.

Cheerio