Fallout: Lavender Wastelander

According to Twilight’s Pip-Boy, it was six nineteen A.M., Wednesday, September 5th, 2277. Her full body ache let her know that she had slept way too long in the wrong position.

At least she had gotten some sleep after the encounter with the enraged pony.

Twilight looked for Daniel, but he was already gone. Likely working on Project Purity with his father. Throwing the cover aside, Twilight swung her legs over the side of the bed and stared at her hooves as she worked her fingers over the knots in her muscles. No position she had rolled into had been good enough for a truly restful sleep.

Which meant she was going to have another long day in the wasteland. She could feel it through the dozens of tiny aches and pains radiating off her—a deep unease that rested at the back of her mind. It stalked her thoughts like a savannah cat tracking a gazelle. Even if the gazelle knew that something was amiss, it could not see the hungry waiting jaws through the tall grass.

Her head was heavy with fatigue. There was nothing to stop her from laying it back on her pillow. She could sleep through the day and try to claim some rest… but the Knock was today. A party and a conversation with another alicorn to learn about him and his kingdom were certainly things to look forward to.

It was the little things that could get someone out of bed.

<>~<>~<>

Twilight shivered as she stalked down the twisting metro tunnel. A flickering sphere of purple light burned above her head like a miniature star, beating back the darkness. But what might lay beyond it drenched her thoughts with doubt and fear. Her experiences still did nothing to abate her sense of encroaching dread.

Calm down. Twilight thought, taking a deep breath and swinging her arm out like Cadance had taught her. Panic will get you nowhere. She turned the radio on to Galaxy News Radio to lighten the mood and checked the time. Seven fifty-eight A.M.

Just in time for Three Dog. She welcomed the company of his voice.

“Heloooooo, Capital Wasteland, it is I, Three Dawg, bow-wow-wow, and today I’m going to do something you kiddies and cats have never heard on GNR before. But first, the news.”

With the radio filling the silence, Twilight pressed onwards.

“Starting us off, some of you may have seen the Enclave flying their vertibirds around the Capital Wasteland. If you value your life, or hell, even if you don’t, do NOT shoot at them. Their bullets are bigger than your attention span. Secondly, I have a super important Public Service Announcement to all those would-be bigots out in the wasteland. Ghouls AND Equestrians are people. Just because someone looks different than you doesn’t mean you get to shoot them, just sayin’. Rounding out this broadcast as the super special treat… ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, I’m giving you a live interview of two very important figures in the Capital Wasteland. Elder Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel, and President Jacklyn of the New Enclave States.”

Twilight’s ear flicked. She turned the volume up. This would be something worth listening to.

<>~<>~<>

Applejack tipped her hat to the wrinkled, elderly man wearing a dark blue robe who sat across the table from her. His bushy beard was as white as a cloud, and in Applejack’s opinion, it was the new home of all the hair that had migrated away from the top of his liver-spotted scalp.

He respectfully nodded back.

A microphone rested on the metal table in front of him, mirroring her own, and standing guard behind him was a woman in a suit of power armor without the helmet. It revealed her dark ebony skin and aged complexion, though not as wrinkled as Elder Lyons. Slung across her back was a massive hammer with a head the size of a small anvil.

Her position matched Rainbow Dash standing behind Applejack. If Applejack knew her friend, she was trading hostile glares with Star Paladin Cross.

Two leaders meeting face-to-face, one bodyguard each, as was agreed.

Three Dog sat at the end of the metal table with his own microphone as he read off the news script. He counted down on his fingers for the big reveal.

After the news broadcast, his job would be to act as the mediator and interviewer. Applejack expected he would be biased towards Elder Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel, but she couldn’t fault him. She was representing the Enclave, who’d spent years discrediting the Brotherhood of Steel, while they protected Galaxy News Radio.

In truth, the neutral meeting spot of the GNR station wasn’t as neutral as Applejack would have wanted. She had passed by dozens of Knights and Paladins on the way in. But Three Dog was the most reliable and trusted source of news in the Capital Wasteland. It was in everyone’s best interests that the Enclave and Brotherhood cooperated.

“That’s right, folks,” Three Dog said to his audience as the count reached zero. “Both of them are in the studio with me right now. Please introduce yourselves.”

He pointed to Applejack.

“Howdy,” Applejack said, leaning forward with a wide grin. After so long being surrounded by the Enclave, someone else’s open honesty was a refreshing change of pace. “My name is Abigail Jacklyn, and I’d like to take a moment to thank Elder Lyons and Three Dog for agreein’ to meet here today.”

“It sure is strange,” Three Dog said with a laugh. “But strange is the new normal in the wasteland. I’m just embracing it.”

“These are interesting times, historic, one could say,” Elder Lyons said with a hearty wheeze. His voice was warm and comforting, but with a subtle depth that could be turned to shouting orders at a moment’s notice. He reminded Applejack of a grandfather reading a bedtime story. “As for myself, I am Elder Owen Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel. I have agreed to meet here on this day of September the Fifth, with the president of the Enclave, and to be interviewed by Three Dog.”

Elder Lyons may have looked like a kindly grandfather, but underneath was an experienced and shrewd mind. His piercing blue eyes never left Applejack or Rainbow Dash, as if he expected them to make some sort of move. Applejack wanted to break the ice and calm the tension in the air.

“Is it fine if I start us off, Three Dog?” Applejack asked. The black-skinned man nodded as he rested his elbows on the table. “Thank you. Elder Lyons, you’ve met my friend Fluttershy, right?”

“Yes, she recently left the Brotherhood of Steel on good terms,” Elder Lyons said. “It was a shame to see her leave. She was a remarkably devoted soldier—slept only four hours a night or less so she could use all her time to read field manuals or train. She was determined to find you, though that seems unnecessary given your rise in the ranks to the President of the Enclave. How did that happen so quickly?”

Those suspicious and curious blue eyes bore into her. Applejack knew she would need to word her responses carefully. Unfortunately, threading the needle between the honest answer and the politically advantageous answer was easier said than done.

“Well, to be totally honest,” Applejack said as she scratched the back of her head. “I was thrust into the position with the help of Colonel Augustus Autumn. President Eden turned out to be an old pre-war computer that had gone plum-crazy. We put him down and took over.”

Elder Lyons raised an eyebrow while Three Dog whistled.

“So all of us were right,” Three Dog said with a wide grin. “He was some pre-war hocus-pocus gumming up the airwaves.” He then nodded to Applejack. “So, now that we all know that you’re both human, what can you tell us about yourselves? Starting with you, Abigail.”

“Well, to start things off, Abigail Jacklyn isn’t my original name. I’ve had it changed, but originally I was Applejack Apple. I’m twenty-six, and I was born in Equestria, in a barn built on land annexed by the United States government two centuries ago. The ruler of Equestria never officially re-annexed the land back, so technically I was born on American soil, and I’m even a descendent of humans trapped on that side of the portal.”

“Who made contact with who first?” Elder Lyons asked, his tone shifting from suspicious to curious.

“From what I’ve been told, it was humans that done built the contraption to Equestria,” Applejack said with a nod. “I have a team of scientists working to try and build a new, stable portal between our worlds.”

Applejack pursed her lips ever so slightly. Equestria’s efforts to build a portal were on hold at the moment, according to Electrum. She had saved thousands by warning Canterlot… but she hadn’t known about the other targets. Cloudsdale was pushing out radioactive clouds by the time Electrum was allowed to return.

The thought was too grim to allow herself to dwell on it. Applejack had her own nation to stabilize and letting herself fall to pieces wouldn’t help anyone. Celestia and Luna could handle Equestria, which was why Rainbow Dash was her only other friend that knew.

With the way Elder Lyons twitched his head, however, Applejack could swear he took notice of her squirming.

“And how will this portal technology be used?” he asked.

“To open trade between Equestria and the New Enclave States,” Applejack said with a wide smile. “With Equestrian help, we will make good on Eden’s promises to build schools, hospitals, and housin’ that won’t give you tetanus by just lookin’ at it.”

Many wastelanders lived in corrugated sheet-metal shacks that were red with rust, and poorly ventilated. Wasteland houses were barely fit to be garden sheds, let alone a place where someone hung their hat.

“And how do we know you’ll keep these promises?” Elder Lyons asked with some bite. “Autocrats claim that they’ll represent their people until what their people want no longer involves them.”

“‘Cause unlike Eden, I never wanted to be a leader,” Applejack said without hesitation. She took off her hat and held it in her lap. “Truth be told, I was happy on my farm with my family less than three weeks ago. But now I’m here, and I see how miserable life in the wasteland is. I’ve been given so much power at my beck and call that I can make good changes in the wasteland. What else should power be used for if ya ain’t usin’ it to make everyone’s lives better? Which is why I want to give six vertibirds and spare parts to the Brotherhood of Steel to keep them running.”

“Why would you do that? We aren’t allies,” Elder Lyons asked as he stiffened in surprise. Star Paladin Cross raised an eyebrow.

“Because we could be allies,” Applejack offered. “Your people have fought and bled for decades in the Capital Wasteland while the Enclave hid. It ain’t right that y’all are the only ones fightin’ the good fight, so I think it’s time you got a helping hand for your efforts. I’m not askin’ the Brotherhood of Steel to submit and join the Enclave, but I am open to trading technology, weapons, supplies, and even manpower.”

Elder Lyons sucked in air sharply and started coughing.

“Y-you have my interest,” Elder Lyons wheezed as he thumped his chest, trying to clear the spittle he had accidentally inhaled. It took him a few moments before he could settle down. “But if we receive Enclave technology, then what do you get out of it?”

“It's not about what I get,” Applejack said. “What the wasteland gets is two heavily armed groups agreeing to not shoot each other. If we started a war, it wouldn't be just soldiers dyin’. The D.C. ruins and surroundin’ towns are home to thousands of people, and they already got mutants and raiders to worry about. The Brotherhood of Steel has their own traditions and way of doin’ things, the Enclave has theirs, but we can set aside our differences to help the wasteland.”

“I don’t believe it, the Enclave wants to fight the good fight, folks,” Three Dog said through a good natured chuckle. “Now, I’m going to have these two record the rest of the interview on holotapes and play them over the next few news segments. You all probably want to get back to those sweet new tunes from Equestria.”

Three Dog pressed a button on his microphone and a light on the base of all the microphones turned off.

Elder Lyons slowly steepled his fingers.

“So,” he said, staring across the table at Applejack. “Now that the little performance is over, what do you really want from the Brotherhood of Steel?”

Applejack leaned back in her chair.

“I was bein’ honest the whole time,” Applejack said, a frown creasing her face. She’d hoped she’d been convincing. “But there is one big thing that we have to talk about, well, two things, really.”

“And those are?” Elder Lyons asked cautiously.

“The first is the issue with the Brotherhood Outcasts. They harass civilians for technology, often violently if they don’t get their way, and they don’t hesitate to fight the rest of the Brotherhood over your differences. If the two of us are going to work together to help the wasteland, we don’t need a third faction of power armored soldiers stompin’ around.” Applejack shook her head. Recovered logs from President Eden painted a grim picture of the Outcasts. Applejack wasn’t sure how biased it was, but from Elder Lyons’s twisting facial expressions, there were kernels of truth to what Eden had saved.

“What are you suggesting?” Elder Lyons asked.

“I suggest that we talk things out with them, try and bring them back into the Brotherhood of Steel,” Applejack said. “If we all combine our forces, we could expand all the way to the Commonwealth in ten years. Maybe less if we get Equestrian airships. From what I’ve been told, the Brotherhood of Steel has a history of using airships.”

“The midwestern chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel used them,” Elder Lyons said, crinkling his brow. “We encountered a group in Chicago on our journey East many years ago, but they’ve gone rogue.”

He chuckled softly as he stared into the middle distance.

“Which, in hindsight, is about as rogue as my own chapter. The far-western chapters have cut off contact with us due to me wanting to help wastelanders instead of following our codex. The Outcasts, despite their name, live truer to western Brotherhood ideals than we do. It will be nearly impossible to get the Outcasts to agree to reintegrate with us. Especially now that we’re allying with our old enemy, the Enclave.”

Which meant the Outcasts likely would only leave one option. War.

“I hope cooler heads prevail,” Applejack said. “Now for my second point. A group of Enclave radicalists known as SOCOM have destroyed two Equestrian cities with nukes. I can’t return the favor with an orbital bombardment on their base because it would destroy a second portal and cause even more unpredictable portal openings.”

“A what bombardment!?” Three Dog shouted. “The Enclave still has satellites?”

Applejack nodded. When she’d learned of the Bradley-Hercules nuclear armed kill satellite, she couldn’t believe it was real. But leave it to the war-crazy humans of the past to put something like a missile silo into orbit.

“We do,” Applejack said. And if the situation went really far south with the Brotherhood, coordinates to the Pentagon. “But what we need is a weapon that can break through SOCOM’s surface defenses and crack their underground complex for our ground troops. The Brotherhood of Steel has what I need.”

Liberty Prime.