The bathroom in the Presidential suite of the Lucky 38 was filled with quiet sobbing and the slight smell of vomit. Inside was the curled up form of one Twilight Sparkle and, holding her, was the tall body of The Courier, rocking the sobbing equine in her arms against her bosom. The dull light of the room casting a sombre tone over both of them. Once Twilight had settled down into just the odd sniff, The Courier placed her down on the floor and sat up straight looking at the purple unicorn with a serious expression on her face.

“Now, this may sound harsh but you are going to have to get used to death in the Mojave.” She said with a tone that spoke of experience, far too much experience. “This place is unforgiving and will likely kill you if you don’t fight back with the intent to kill.” Her expression changed to that of sorrow, “It took death of a lot of people I knew to wake me up to the harshness of this place, and this was when I was just a child. I would rather no one had to go through that so I’m going to tell it straight.” She then looked Twilight straight in the eyes. Twilight felt miniscule in comparison to the towering figure in front of her, those strangely mechanical eyes boring into her very soul and setting it all out on display. “That Fiend, the one you killed? He. Deserved. To. Die. Simple as that.”

“W-what?” Twilight sputtered out. “No one has the right to take another living beings life. I’s a crime!”

“Not here it ain’t honey.” The Courier stated with a snort

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s just not right!” Twilight shouted back, glaring at the tall figure.

“Tell that to about 90% of the population in this ruined society. It ain’t a good thing that we have to kill to survive but that’s the way it is.” The Courier stated with a shrug.

“How can you have so few morals?!” Twilight almost screeched back. This comment made The Courier pause and suddenly grow very still. Slowly, her head lowered towards Twilights, causing said alicorn to start backing away until she hit the wall behind her. When The Couriers face was only a foot away, only then did she stop.

“Don’t you dare say I don’t have morals. I have had to make some of the hardest choices any person will have to make. I have had to sacrifice so much of myself to help the people who would rather let me and many others die to save their own skin. I never, Never! Will kill an innocent person unless the lives of many rest on that decision, and if I do I will make everyone who made me make that decision pay in their own blood.” She then leaned back away from Twilight and sat up straight, staring down at the cowering pony with a stern gaze. “Would you kill a rapist in exchange for the safety of an innocent?”

“I- uh, bu,” Twilight sputtered hurriedly, eyes darting around the room.

“Would you do it for someone you knew?” The Courier Asked.

“I-“

“Would you do it for Spike?!” She shouted.

“YES!” Twilight yelled back leaping onto her hooves. A furious expression plastered on her face “I would do anything to protect Spike! I would march through the gates of Tartarus! Even if my chances of survival were 100 to 1, I would do it to keep him safe!” Twilight was panting after her little tirade, and The Courier just sat there with a smug yet kind smile on her face.

“Then you are strong and can survive this world.” The Courier smiled happily down at Twilight, her smile then grew mischievous. “With my help of course.” She then hopped up onto her feet and gestured for Twilight to follow. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat and drink, you must be famished.” A grumble from Twilights stomach punctuated the statement perfectly.

As they left the bathroom, Twilight looked up at The Courier curiously. “What should I call you then? I don’t think I know your full name.”

“My full name is Rosaline Thana Red, I prefer just Red though.” She said casually.

“Okay then, where are we going anyway?” Twilight asked as they got to the door leading out of the bedroom. Red then opened the door and stepped through, and to say that Twilight was impressed would be an understatement. The main room was massive, even being large enough to hold a swimming pool and large pillars reaching up to the high ceiling. The black and white marble floor was polished to the point that she could see her own face easily in it. Large Green drapes hung over the huge curved window and sections of the wall, the wall itself being a similar shade of red as the bedroom but slightly darker on the floor below them. The bedroom itself was on a level above the bottom floor of the suite, meaning that stairs were an obstacle that Twilight had to face, her legs still being too weak for her to do it on her own.

“You need a hand?” Red asked kindly, kneeling down and offering Twilight her hand.

“Um… Please” Twilight asked while blushing bright red. Softly chuckling, Red picked Twilight up and held Twilight over her shoulder as she descended the stairs. Once they had reached the bottom, she placed Twilight back on her own hooves and started to walk towards a door at the end of the room, where faint chatter, laughter and music could be heard emanating from. Once they had reached the door, Red opened it revealing a dining room with a long wooden table which travelled down almost the entire length of the room and ending at the kitchen. Seated at the table was Spike and two other people. One of them was a blonde female wearing a light grey vest and black sports bra underneath. The second person was a gruff looking male with scars on his face who wore a red beret and a leather jacket over light coloured body armour, he was reading what looked like a newspaper. Twilight also noticed a blonde haired man with glasses in the kitchen itself doing what looked like cooking.

“What’s cooking Arcade?” Red asked the man in the kitchen, now identified as Arcade.

“We’ve got Brahmin steak and Wasteland salad.” Arcade said back, glancing over his shoulder to see Red moving to sit next to the blonde woman. “Nice to see you finally decided to wake up.” He said cheekily, smirking at the Blushing Twilight.

“Don’t tease her Arcade, shit happens.” Red said back in an annoyed tone. “I need a drink, you want something to drink Twilight?” Twilight nodded a confirmation. The tall woman then got up and walked over to a fridge and opened the door up, she then peered inside and started reading off the contents. “We’ve got Sunset Sarsaparilla, Nuka Cola Original, Quartz and Victory, Alcohol, Bitter Drink or Blood.” Red peered over her shoulder and looked at Twilight expectantly.

“Um, would it be alright if I had a glass of blood please?” Twilight said timidly in a voice that would have made Fluttershy proud.

“One glass of blood coming right up.” She pulled out a blood pack and a Nuka Cola walked over to one of the overhead cabinets. She set the Cola down on the counter and pulled out two glasses, placed them next to the Cola and got out a pair of scissors from the drawer underneath. Holding the blood bag upright, she cut away a corner of it and started to pour it into the cup until the cup was full. She then placed her nail under the cap of her Nuka Cola and flicked it up, causing the cap to fly up into the air which she caught swiftly and placed into her pocket. She placed the half empty blood bag back in the fridge and walked over to the table carrying Twilights glass, an empty one and the Cola.

“Thank you.” Twilight said, accepting the glass from Reds hand with her hooves and then lifting it towards her mouth and taking a small sip. It tasted great, the slight metallic tang to the sweet yet salty beverage making her sigh in content.

“Spike told us about some of your new habits you picked up in Vault 3, for example your addiction to morphine.” Red said calmly. Twilight hung her head in shame at the realisation that they knew about that, but she felt a hand on her back and looked up to see Red looking down at her sympathetically. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I was addicted to a chem before you know. Thankfully Willow managed to get me to see help at the Mormon Fort in Freeside.” She said wistfully.

“Yeah she was quite bad. I had to knock her out and drag her there myself.” The blonde woman said with a small mischievous smile. “I’m Willow by the way.” she said extending out her arm which Twilight shook in return.

“Willow, please don’t tell everyone we meet about the embarrassing parts of my life.” Red asked with her head in her hands causing both Twilight and Willow to giggle lightly.

“Hey Spike, could you lend a hand over here.” Arcade called over from where he was cooking.

“Sure thing.” Spike said as he hopped off of the table and walked over to the counter which he managed to clamber up to.

The friendly talking that was going on in the room reminded Twilight of her friends and how much she missed all of them. The comradery that all these people seemed to share was quite calming to Twilight though, as it reminded her that the magic of friendship was everywhere, even in the harshest of places. While thinking about that though, Twilight remembered that the ring that was sending poison into her horn was no longer there and that the poison had been ejected from it when she surged. Tentatively, she tried to lift up a fork that was in front of her. As the magic started to build up in her horn, the fork started to lift of the ground and she managed to gain control over the movements of it. It was much harder than it was back in Equestria, but Twilight understood that this was most likely due to the fact that the magic field was far weaker in this world than in Equestria. Her musings were cut short by the sound of Arcades voice.

“Okay everyone, Lunch is served.” He said as he walked over to the table carrying two plates on each arm and Spike, on his shoulder, carrying the other two. He placed a plate of steak and salad in font of each of the table’s occupants. Twilight looked uneasily at the meal in front of her and looked up at Red with a hesitant expression.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that you don’t like the idea of eating animals. If it makes you feel any better, the animals aren’t sentient.” Red offered helpfully.

“Okay” twilight said sceptically, while what Red had said helped ease her worries a bit, she was still cautious of eating the meat. The inner scholar inside her decided to try it, if only so that she could document its taste and the effects it had on her when she got back. Her knife then joined the fork in her Telekinesis, she cut a small piece of the meat off of the corner of the steak and slowly lifted it towards her mouth. Quickly she placed it in her mouth and started to chew. After a few seconds she started to chew more eagerly and a smile grew on her face.

“Enjoying your first taste of meat Twilight?” Spike asked from the seat next to her. He was a lot further through his steak than Twilight and had also eaten a bit of his salad, which Twilight noted looked delicious. Deciding that she had chewed long enough, Twilight swallowed her mouthful and decided to tuck into her lunch.

After the meal had been finished, everyone seemed to separate into their own conversations. Arcade and the gruff man, she had learned was named Boone, were having a debate over independence and something called the NCR, and Red and Willow were chatting about something to do with planning. Twilight decided to ask Spike about his Pipboy.

“So, what are your S.P.E.C.I.A.L.’s then Spike?” Twilight asked as she lifted his claw over and had a look. Spikes Specials were as follows.

Strength: 3
Perception: 8
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 10
Intelligence: 6
Agility: 4
Luck: 4

“Wow, get a look at mister suave over here.” Twilight said jokingly, making Spike pull his Pipboy away and frown.

“Hey, I didn’t choose what it gave me.” He said grumpily, folding his arms and pouting. Twilight had to hold back a giggle with her forehoof at his reaction.

“Can I please see your skills?” Twilight asked, causing Spike to sigh and lift his arm to where she could see it. The skills read out,

Barter: 24
Energy Weapons: 35
Explosives: 35
Guns: 12
Lockpick: 20
Medicine: 16
Melee: 10
Repair: 16
Science: 16
Sneak: 12
Speech: 24
Survival: 14
Unarmed: 29

“I chose energy weapons because from what I read, fire counts in that department. I chose explosives because I like the idea of blowing stuff up. Lastly, I chose unarmed because my claws are naturally good at attacking while up close.” Spike explained as Twilight read through his skills. “I decided on the Fast Shot and Heavy Handed traits because it helped in most of my skills.”

“That’s very smart of you Spike.” Twilight said, ruffling his frills with her hoof. The then picked up her glass and downed the last of her blood beverage. A cough from Red brought everyone’s attention back to her.

“Okay people I think it would be best if we head out to meet Veronica and Vanessa back in Novac, so grab your gear and be ready by 2 o’clock.” Arcade, Boone and Willow got up from their chairs and started to head to get prepared. Twilight sat there awkwardly as they all left expect her, Spike and Red. The tall woman then turned to her, “Right, let’s see what we can fit you two up with. Follow me.” She then got up and started to walk towards the door, causing Twilight and Spike to hurry over to her.

Twilight looked up at Red curiously and asked, “Where are we going?” Red then looked down at Twilight and smiled mischievously.

“Were going to the Armoury”

Author's Note

Relevant Mods:

Fallout Character Overhaul

Peace out.