Fallout: Equestria - War, War Never Changes...

New Appleloosa, if you're lost, that's the best place where you can go...

I didn't know where I was, I knew that I was lying on a bed, but I had no idea what was happening around me; curiously, I did know that the place was serene and peaceful, I didn't feel any presence in that room, except for two, of which one was… LittlePip.

Slowly, and gradually, I began to open my eyes carefully to avoid having a headache and being forced to lie on the bed I was in at the time. While I was opening my eyes, I was seeing my surroundings; it was obvious that I was in a clinic since I was seeing some medical equipment and medicines near me.

At the same time that I was finishing opening my eyes, it became clearer that there was a person to my left since I could see a silhouette out of the corner of my left eye; progressively, I turned to see where the person was until I saw him face to face. I knew immediately that it was a man, although he was covered by a gas mask, so my options to identify him became more obvious, so the man spoke...

"Wow, Marcus... You're good even to be shot on the face. Don't you?"

"Aha... Sure. Who are you?"

"Heh... It's funny that you don't remember me, my friend... Although, well, it's been 17 years since we last saw each other."

I didn't say anything, the voice was familiar to me, yet I still couldn't recognize it; in addition, the fact that he spoke to me of not having seen him 17 years ago, made me doubt. Anyway, I had an idea of who it could be...

"You still don't remember, right?"

"No. Although, I have an idea of who you can be.”

"Heh... sure. I know you still don't remember me, so I'll make it easier for you… Remember the skirmish in the Crystal Empire?”

"...Yes, although I can only think in a couple of names, I need to ensure... Robert?"

He denied with his head, to which I had to ask, since the name that I had as an option, was about someone already dead...

"Then, who are you?"

He laughed for a few seconds since I hadn't guessed the person yet, according to him; after his laugh, he answered...

"I hope you remember me... I'm William."

Then he took off his gas mask, proving it was really him; my most fragmented hope in years had been fulfilled, at last...

"Damn man, how did you survive that horde of Ghouls?"

"Ha!... So, you remember?"

I laughed, I knew that what I had said brought memories to William; then, after laughing, I replied...

"How could you think I would forget about the Mad Protector of the North?... You're still one of my few friends in life, dammit!"

"And you still owe me that favor, Marcus."

I laughed again, I couldn't believe the fact that, even after saving a beloved one of his, I still owed him a favor. Therefore, I replied jokingly...

"Yet?... *Sigh* ...I thought I had already paid my debt to you after keeping your daughter safe, you bastard."

"Heh... Well, it seems that saving my daughter was not enough to pay off my debt, buddy."

"Ha... Son of a bitch."

We both started laughing in unison, although we didn't laugh that loud, so we wouldn't interrupt LittlePip's rest; after several minutes talking, William got up from his chair and extended his hand to help me get up, to which I agreed to give him my right hand so he could help me.

After I got up, William gave me my clothes and proceeded to wait for me outside, so I could change my clothes since I had with a patient dressing gown on; a few minutes passed, in which I finished changing my clothes, although in the process I noticed that the wound on my left foot had been healed and, it seemed, that I had healed a head injury.

It was then that I remembered everything that happened before I fell unconscious, so I understood that it was he who shot me in the leg; therefore, after collecting my bags and my weapons, and then putting them in their places, I finally left the place.

When I came out, I realized that we were on the second floor of a building, which seemed to be, precisely, a medical clinic; immediately after leaving, William, who was leaning against a railing on the balcony, turned to look at me and spoke...

"So?... What's new, pal?"

"I'm serious with you, William. You... are a great bastard."

"Many people say that to me, although most of them are raiders or slavers that I captured... and then tortured."

I looked at him surprised for a few moments, I was shocked that he kept doing that kind of things to raiders and slavers; although, to be honest, many of them deserve it, for sure. So, I told him…

“At some point, karma will reach you and you will receive your own medicine, William… *Sigh* ...Just- at least you could stop being like this; you can continue killing some, if you want, at least you would have done a good for many others... However, that doesn't mean you have to torture and then kill them all. Many also do it out of obligation or because they don't have any other option.”

"And you what? Eh?... You also kill various raiders and slavers.”

“I've killed almost all of them because they all wanted to kill me or someone else first. So, calm down a bit, buddy… I'm not in for absurd discussions.”

William was silent, as well as being thoughtful about what I said to him; consequently, I didn't speak about it anymore and changed the topic of discussion...

"And your daughter?... After I left her safe and sound here, I haven't seen her again."

"*Sigh of Sadness* ...I was going to ask you the same, Marcus. When I returned to New Appleloosa, I couldn't find her; the last thing I knew about her was that she'd been seen by Stalliongrad… but that was almost a decade ago.”

I sighed with a notorious tone of sadness in it, his daughter Charlotte had been like a niece to me, so I took out a couple of cigarettes and offered him one; William turned to look at the cigar, looked at it for a moment, and then accepted it. So, I grabbed a box of matches and lit one of them; later, he lit his cigarette and then I lit mine...

About 10 minutes passed, in which we both stayed smoking and talking about many things that happened to us during the last 19 years after the Crystal Empire; among what we talked about, we both knew many things that happened to the other one. Especially, I learned of his father's death at the hands of the Great Pegasus Enclave, in addition to how he lost his right hand and that had to replace it with one of steel. I, on the other hand, told him about my many journeys through the wasteland during these last 19 years, such as my stay in Hoofington and its dam, in addition to my trip through Vanhoover and New Pegasus, a few months before.

He was surprised by the large number of trips I had made and that I was still alive after that; I, in response to his surprise, laughed a little and then said...

"Trust me, none of those have been friendly at all, but each and every one of them has been worth it."

He nodded in response to what I said, he already knew about my attitude facing raiders and slavers, so he was not surprised at all. At the end of our conversation, we both finished smoking our cigarettes and put them out, then tossed them into a nearby trash can.

After that, we both went down the balcony stairs to the New Appleloosa Saloon, which was across the street from the front of the medical clinic. Therefore, we arrived in less than a minute walking; upon arrival, we began to listen some music coming from inside the Saloon, which I could recognize instantly, this was the song: “Way Back Home”.

We both entered the Saloon through the main door, immediately after entering the place, several ponies and griffins turned to look at us for a few moments; however, William and I looked at them defiantly as we put our hands on our revolvers, provoking an almost immediate reaction from the others, who eventually ignored us and went on with their own business.

Seeing this, we both stopped having our hands on the revolvers and walked towards the bar; when we sat down, William took out a few caps of Sparkle-Cola from his bag and put them on the bar...

"Sarah, two glasses of Vodka for me and Marcus."

One of the three bartenders, which was a red faucet with brown tones on it, turned to see us and nodded; later, she came to where we were and grabbed the bottle caps, looked at me and then spoke...

"Well, Marcus. Glad to see you again, Am I right?"

"Sarah, my dear bartender pal. Long time we haven't seen each other.”

"Yeah, 3 years... Long time, right?"

I scratched my head a little as I remembered the whole matter about Mrs. Hoof and New Pegasus; I looked at Sarah again and spoke...

"Sure is... Yeah, sorry for that. Remember I was hired in New Pegasus to end up with several problems near the city itself."

"Yeah, I remember... Who hired you, by the way?"

"I was hired by Mrs. Hoof, the leader of the entire city of New Pegasus and its surroundings."

William was surprised by hearing me say that since he didn't expect to hear that kind of stuff coming from my own mouth; then, after gazing at me for a few seconds, he spoke joking...

"Wow, you were hired by one of the most powerful ponies in the entire Equestrian wasteland... Not bad, Marcus. Not bad at all."

“Thanks… although, the jobs there were a great shit. The only thing that worth it was having received the location of several raiders and slaver camps near Manehattan, Junction R-7, and Baltimare.”

Sarah, who took the opportunity to go get our drinks, returned and handed us our glasses of Vodka; when we received them, I thanked her and said...

"And what about you, Sarah?... Have you solved the problems with those Old Appleloosa slavers?"

She immediately looked at me surprised and, later, nervous; next instant, she swallowed some saliva and spoke...

"Yeah... about that. We managed to resolve the disputes with Old Appleloosa, but... not in the way you expected."

Instantly, I realized what she was referring to since the only thing I disliked was...

"Negotiate with slavers... Are you serious, Sarah?"

William, seeing me annoyed, tried to calm me...

"I would have avoided it, but I wasn't present at the time it happened."

"I understand that, however..."

I looked at Sarah with a face full of annoyance and anger, although I did not want to explode, then I spoke...

"Why, Sarah?... Just- ...tell me why. All the town is more than capable of fighting them, you all possess a great arsenal full of weapons and, also, you negotiate with mercenaries; tell me why, Sarah. Why did you negotiate with those fucking slavers and did not attack them?”

"Many of us here have family, Marcus. I don't know if you knew that. And, if we wished to attack them, they would still end up killing us. Think before you speak, Marcus! That's why Thomas is dead, because of you!”

I was surprised to hear the name of my friend, on the other hand, William was immediately angry after hearing the name of his dead brother being used to blame me for something that occurred in the past...

"Alright, Sarah! If you ever talk about my brother like that again, I'll kill you!”

"Let's see, you two. Calm down now... William, put your gun in the holster, drink your Vodka and let's go. Trust me, it is best for both of you.”

Both Sarah and William nodded in response and laid down their weapons; while Sarah put her knife back under the bar, William proceeded to put his revolver in his holster. When they both calmed down, William grabbed my and his glasses then took the Vodka that was in both, then put both glasses on the bar and turned towards the door, while I followed behind him.

We both ended up leaving the place and headed towards the medical clinic; although, before going up, William told me...

"I'm won't let that bitch talk about my brother like that!"

"Wow! Calm down, William… She was talking to me, not you. Also, she's not a bitch. She's our friend, remember.”

"And?!... She spoke of my brother Thomas, who is buried 5 meters underground, in the village cemetery! Dammit!"

I tried to calm William for several minutes, but nothing worked, so I was forced to be frank with him...

Listen, William. I'll be honest with you… I understand you get mad at Sarah for speaking about your brother, but you must also understand that it is time to let your brother go, and she's not a bitch; it has been 20 years since he died, and yeah... I admit that it was my fault, I carry with all the responsibility... However, that does not mean you must have the same regret that I posses with myself. Calm down and everything will be fine, okay?”

"*Sniff* ...I-I know, pal. It's just-"

"Okay, I understand you, William... Just let him go."

“*Sigh* ...Okay, Marcus. Thanks, buddy."

I laughed for a few moments, I didn't make it too loud to avoid him getting mad at me or something like that, so I spoke...

"Well, 19 years is a lot of time... It's the least I can do for you, pal."

Finally, after about 5 minutes trying to reassure my great friend William, I achieved my goal by saying a phrase full of pure honesty; so, after all that happened, we both decided to enter the medical clinic, obviously, through the second-floor balcony. Therefore, and seeing that I still needed some rest, we both went up the balcony stairs at the same, although I was behind William.

When we finally reached the balcony on the second floor of the medical clinic, William went to the door and opened it, then let me in; when I entered the room, I noticed something that surprised me. Seeing 2 ponies in there near LittlePip, I was impressed, as I didn't expect to see anyone else in there, just hoped to see LittlePip still sleeping.

Immediately after I entered, one of the ponies present, precisely the one who appeared to be a doctor, walked towards us and spoke...

"Are you Marcus?"

"Yup, that's me. Who asks?"

“I am Dr. Blueheart, professional surgeon at the New Appleloosa Medical Clinic. I see you've already woken up, sir.”

"Yes, although I continue feeling a few discomforts in my left foot, every time I walk."

Dr. Blueheart put his right hoof on his chin as he began to think a little, while he thought, the other pony; this being a pegasus with a beard and mane of orange color (with a yellowish tone on it), in addition to having a rust-colored coat; walked to where I was and spoke...

"Good afternoon, Marcus. My name's Calamity… Sorry about the shot.”

"It was you?"

"Yes... That was me, however, it was not my intention to kill you both; I thought you were both raiders, because of your armors. Although, immediately, William warned me that you weren't raiders and that he knew you; later, we both carried and brought both of you here so you could recover.”

"How long have we been unconscious?"

Dr. Blueheart interrupted Calamity and replied instead...

“You have both been here for about 4 days. To be honest, I never believed that you and she could wake up after being shot in the head and back, respectively. Especially you, Marcus. The shot you received pierced part of the skull's upper section, even damaging a small part of the right hemisphere of the brain, specifically-”

"The Parietal Lobe, I know, doc. I've already been shot so many times. Although, almost always, I was practically unscathed.”

“And the most surprising of all this: first, you should still be in a coma; second, I have not seen any old damage in that part, I have even seen how your brain has regenerated completely on its own, even I did not put any medicine or chemical to cure you.”

Calamity, the pegasus who had shot me, looked at the doctor with a face full of surprise and then asked...

"What do you mean by that, doc?"

"Marcus's body, or at least the brain and some other parts of it, can heal by itself and with surprisingly fast speed."

An entire day had passed since LittlePip and I had woken up, and it had also been a day since one of my unknown abilities was revealed, I was able to fully regenerate myself and at an impressive speed. Everyone, especially LittlePip and William, was surprised to have discovered that about me; on the other hand, I could not believe it, although that would explain the many times that I got injured and that, after a few days, my wounds had healed. However, most of them were not very severe or notorious, so it was understandable to me the fact that I had not realized it myself.

Even so, when the morning of the next day came, no one gave too much importance on the topic, but they were surprised at that; anyway, in the morning, when we woke up, I preferred to avoid the topic in order to have a pleasant morning.

When we woke up, LittlePip and Calamity, the latter having decided to accompany us on our journey to compensate us for having shot both, ended up accompanying me to the store where Derpy worked, "Absolutely Everything".

While we were walking through the town towards Derpy's store, we met William, who decided to accompany us to visit Derpy, so we ended up being 4 of us who would go to see her. Along the way, William began to tell LittlePip about the town, while Calamity decided to talk to me...

"Hey, Marcus. How do you feel?"

“Fine, considering the fact that you almost killed LittlePip and me… Although I don't blame you for it, you were right to believe we were raiders; LittlePip wore an armor that she collected from various raiders and I may have been a mercenary hired by her.”

"And you are that?"

"...Excuse me?"

"I mean, are you a mercenary?"

I was silent after hearing him ask me that since I didn't know for sure what exactly it was; of course, I helped others and seemed to be a righteous man, but exactly... what was I?

I thought about it for a long time, during that moment I told Calamity that I only ensured the defenseless' safety, but that it was not a mercenary just like that. Although, shortly before arriving at Derpy's store, it finally occurred to me to say...

“Sometimes… I'm a mercenary, although not always since I only work in exchange for information about someone who's doing harm to an innocent living being or who is threatening the safety of a town or city. I am a righteous man, who is also a mercenary.”

"I understand... And, normally, what do you do when you meet new people?"

“If they only need help and protection, I escort or accompany them to their destination to a town or city where they can stay for a few days; however, if I notice that they need protection and do not have experience with weapons or melee combat, I teach them how to fight and the basics of firearms, so they can defend themselves. Finally, if that person or pony decides to accompany me and does not know about firearms, I help them learn about weapons and melees combat, as well as accompanying them to various places to help many others who would need our help.”

"Huh... Very interesting, it is also very honorable of you to protect and ensure the others' health and safety."

“I only do what I can, it is also my duty to help others who need help. I would not like to see an Equestria devastated and full of dirty slavers and raiders who only dedicate themselves to deteriorate the already deplorable state of this desolated wasteland.”

Calamity looked ahead for a moment, then laughed a few and said...

"Right, I've never really liked slavers or raiders, specifically those in Ponyville and Old Appleloosa, those are the worst."

"Ha!... Believe me, Calamity. In Fillydelphia and New Pegasus, there are even worse slavers than those you already know… Imagine dealing with Red Eye himself, completely alone… everything around you becomes a horrible nightmare, from which it's almost impossible to escape alive.”

He stopped for a moment, surprised. What I had said perplexed him; although, he immediately asked to me...

"Wait a minute! You faced Red Eye and his slaver army, all alone?”

I turned to see him in confusion, but I immediately understood what he was referring to, so I said with a sad tone...

"I've never been on my own to confront someone, but... I almost always escaped completely alone."

TO BE CONTINUED...