Chapters As Twilight and her friends stepped off the train, the mood of Canterlot was sombre bordering on afraid. Not since the changeling threat had the guards been so on edge. Heading towards the castle, the activity of ponies increased. Contractors and suppliers were being supervised by guards, bringing hidden cargo to the castle. Slowly getting closer to the castle, the density of ponies began to grow. Most gave the new alicorn nothing more than a slightly too long look before moving on.
"What gives, your a princess now, doesn't that mean something to these ponies?", Rainbow Dash asked with a mix of bafflement and annoyance.
"They're scared Rainbow, After everything that's happened recently, I don't think creating a royal welcome is on their minds" Twilight countered.
"After the attack last month, I don't think these folks are interested in anything other than answers," Applejack added.
Finally reaching the castle, The 6 friends could barely make it to the throne room from the number of ponies trying to get an audience with the Princess of the sun. Even Luna was there trying to deal with the overwhelming amount of ambassadors and nobles looking for help. Yet as soon as Celestia's eyes saw Twilight, all commotion ended as Celestia Raised her wings and made herself known.
"Today's court is over, please return tomorrow with your concerns."
"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna" Twilight greeted the sisters, both as Princesses and friends.
"it is good to see you twilight, " Celestia said with a tired smile.
"Agreed, We wish it were under more fortunate circumstances, however," Added Luna.
"Is it that bad," Twilight asked concerningly.
" Worse than you could know" Luna replied grimly.
The sisters began to walk away from the throne room, and the six friends followed.
"As you know, a few months ago, monster sightings started occurring across Equestria," Celestia stated as the group made its way towards the tower that held the elements of harmony.
"We initially believed them to escapes from Tartarus, And went to see for ourselves if the prison had been compromised."
"When Cerberus left his post, they must have escaped" Twilight Concluded.
" Yes, and no. All but one was accounted for in Tartarus, A dangerous foe we had defeated long ago, Tirek." Celestia Began.
"As much of a danger as Tirek is and must be found as soon as possible, He is not the one behind these attacks." Luna finished.
"Then who is?" Twilight in turn asked.
The two sisters stopped, everyone else stopping as well. After a moment, both sisters turned around and with worry in their eyes looked at twilight.
" We don't know" responded Celestia.
After a moment, rarity spoke up, "You don't know?" repeating the question in bafflement.
"Luna had been searching at night for the creatures where they have been spotted," Celestia said.
Luna walked up to one of the decorated windows, looking into nothing as if to recall the memories.
"These creatures are unlike anything we have ever seen, Violent monsters of nightmares that attack as soon as they saw us." Turning to face the six concerned ponies, Luna continued. "We found some that were intelligent, capable of speech. While we hid in the shadows, they talked of this place as different. They acted as if trees and grass were impossible. That the air was clean and nights peaceful."
Twilight had thought and spoken up "Maybe they're from the badlands, or even further".
Celestia cut in "No, while it has been a long since I have left Equestria, I have never seen anything like what luna has described to me. Furthermore, none of the leaders I have sent letters to know of these beings."
Rainbow Dash swooped in to have her say. "Woah Woah Woah, are you saying there's are like Aliens?"
Applejack bit rainbows tail and grounded her before responding to the pegasus's claim. " It ain't aliens Rainbow, Princess Luna would know if they were."
"You may be closer then you think," Luna responded.
The girls all looked at Luna, most with confusion, but both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie looked interested.
"While not descending from the skies, they are indeed not from its world." Luna finished.
Celestia decided now speak up. "They are being summoned here"
Twilight was the only one able to understand the implications. "But nopony has that kind of magic, I don't think even Discord can do that."
"However powerful they are, The random nature of the sightings and the beings in question suggests that they do not fully control the ability to bring them here. " Celestia responded.
"Have you tried talking to them, You said they were talking" Fluttershy spoke up.
Luna stared at Fluttershy as if Debating something, the pegasus shrinking from the attention.
Eventually, Luna gave a sigh, her deminer changing to that of defeat."Yes, We did" Luna turned herself so that her side was Viewable to everyone there. This was the response" Luna lifted her wing.
The six ponies Gasped in horror as they looked at what luna's wing had hidden. Burn scar tissue covered a large area that was hidden by her wings, the damage was healing, but the wound was clearly extensive.
As each of the six ponies began to verbalise their own response, Luna cut them off with her wing and words
Twilight was the one now to pull the sisters out of their daze. "What's wrong?".
Luna was the one who answered. " We discovered that the summonings are not completely at random, while the location is a mystery, the times are set. The creatures appear all at one time at pulses, each pulse brings more of them to our world. Once we found this information, we noticed a pattern. The pulses are quickening".
Twilight heart fell rapidly as she processed the news, "how long?".
Luna's answer was decisive "At the current pace, the next summon will within the hour."
Celestia chose this moment to explain her plan. " The reason we called the Bearers here was that we believe that the Elements may be used to influence the pulse, while they won't stop it, they may be able to influence what comes through."
Reaching Canterlot tower, Twilight was surprised to see a pink alicorn waiting for them.
"Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed before running over to hug her old baby sitter. After being embraced by her, Twilight began to start her old ritual with Cadence, who stopped Twilight in her tracks.
"I'm afraid we're short on time Twilight, the next pulse is happening in minutes" Pointing to a newly installed clock near the door to the Elements.
"We need to hurry" Luna stated as Celestia rushed to the door, Opening and rushing to retrieve the elements.
"I don't understand, what are we trying to change?" Twilight asked bewildered by the sudden urgency.
Cadence came to the rescue, " If we can influence what is brought here, we can use the Elements to find help. While Equestria has never faced these threats before, someone there might have."
Celestia used her magic to give each of the bearers their element while luna moved everyone to their place.
"Each of the elements represents one of the Elements of harmony itself, Using them, we can find noble souls to help us," Celestia added as she put the final Element on Pinkie Pie.
As soon as they were ready, Luna, Celestia and Cadence began to weave the spell. So much power was being poured into it that the room began to shake.
"Now, Use the elements!" shouted Celestia, And the Bearers did.
The rainbow of magic began to form, creating a loop that connected every bearer, From Twilight's crown came the power that had defeated so many foes. Just as the nearby clock chimed to the time of the pulse, the elements fired at the spell matrix. The room exploded with light.
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It was nighttime, the cold Mojave air was chilling to the skin. As a man in riot armour was stumbling outside a bar, He looked for a place to empty his bladder. With whiskey on his breath, he breathed the cold air and put on his helmet, no point in getting shot in the head while having a leak. Finding a spot next to a dead tree, he let nature call. When he was finished, he turned to return to the bar. his walked slowed to a stop as he noticed a glow around him, after looking at his body begin to glow brighter he lifted his hands to see the same thing. From his helmet came a slightly muffled voice
"What the fu" and In a flash, he vanished.
The office building was quiet, for ruins, this was not uncommon. For a location had been the hub of raider activity in the local area until minutes ago, it was very uncommon. Sitting at a working terminal was a man, surrounded by dead raiders and ash piles, looking through old emails. Finding what he was after, he took the laser rifle off his back at searched for the exit. Locating the door, he reached for the handle to open the door. He stopped however after seeing his hand and arm glowing, looking down at himself to see his whole body lighting up the area, the man pulled up his pipboy to check for radiation. The low rad count confused him as he searched for a cause, before himself vanishing in a flash.
The General sat at his desk, looking over reports from the commonwealth outposts, all quiet. Leaning back in his chair, he thought to himself how little his role in the Commonwealth was now. The great General of the Commonwealth spent most of his days making sure the newly named 'Commonwealth Defence Guard' was ready for anything, but most of the fighting had happened a few years ago. With the Commonwealth safe, his role was mostly ceremonial, a 'thank you' for past deeds. But to the General, the blood on his hands had never been repaid. Even for all the good he had done, he could not save his wife or his son. he could not undo the death and destruction caused by his war against the institute or his country. Here sat this soldier, For him, the war never ended. The deep thought was cut short by the fact that his candle was during the office into an interrogation room. looking to the candle, it was not the source of the light, he was. Scrambling out of his chair, He began to run out of his office towards his second in commands.
"Preston, Preston!"
The soldier vanished in a flash, the door he was running to opening.
"General?"
Author's Note
As the first chapter of my first story, I hope to find some people willing to jump in on this.
Twilight had suffered Magical feedback many times before, it was a constant risk that came with pushing her magical limits. The main effect was usually a headache that would gradually pass. This time, it was blinding. The feeling like a building had been dropped on her head was shared by her friends, even the Princesses had not been spared.
A choir of ow's and groans rose from the bearers as the three remaining princesses gathered their bearings. A spell of that magnitude could kill any normal unicorns, but the princesses were powerful beyond compare. Twilight's friends were fortunate enough not to be affected by the feedback directly, but rather the blast back. As the youngest of the alicorns, Twilight recovered slowly, managing to pull herself together in time to notice the standoff that had formed.
Standing in front of her was a tall creature, rivalling Celestia in hight. It stood on two legs and had two arms that ended in claws, covered with brown material similar to Applejacks hat. The head had a short black mane, covered with a three-sided hat made of the similar brown material. Covering most of its body was covered in a blue cotton coat that ended where boots began. The thing that caught Twilights attention most was partially hidden as she was behind the creature, what she could see was a chamber on a wooden frame that was filled with angry-looking red energy. Twilight didn't know how it worked, but it was obviously some sort of weapon, and it was pointed directly at Celestia.
"What the hell is going on?" The tall creature demanded. Seeing it was surrounded, it turned to point the weapon at ponies at random, not seemingly sure which one to aim at. Celestia instinctively and threw a shield around Twilight and her now very much alert friends, Cadence and Luna flanking her with their magic at the ready.
"Put down the weapon!" Ordered Celestia, but instead, the creature pointed the weapon back at her.
"Where am I?" Anger and confusion were evident in the voice as the creature aimed down the barrel of his weapon. But so was something else that Twilight was familiar with, panic. Having been ripped out of wherever it came from, it was probably terrified. If she didn't do something, somepony was going to be hurt. She needed to get the creature out of here and calm it down, but where to send it? Where would she want to be if she was scared? Then it hit her.
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The General of the Minutemen had done many things in his life since he left vault 111. Between the Institute, Far Harbour, and his time as the Silver Shroud, It was safe to say he had a high tolerance for the strange. Randomly being abducted by pre-war horses that had more in common with giddyup buttercups and then having an avalanche of books fall on him was probably up there. As he tried to get up, he found himself weighed down by literature. Unable to do anything he listened to the sound of someone nearby.
"Oh no no no, please be ok!" The voice was feminine, the sound of concern was evident even from below the layer of books. Slowly the weight was disappearing as books were removed. Eventually, the books were cleared enough to see his rescuer. A lavender horse that was moving the books with her mind. The books had a purple glow around them as they flew off onto shelves, the same aura was surrounding the horse's horn. A unicorn? No, there were wings as well, what the hell are these things? whatever it was, it was helping him. it was also currently speaking to him.
"And I thought that the library might help because this is where I went when I need to relax, but I must have been off by a bit. I haven't been to the library here for a while and some of the shelves used to be over there" The horse pointed in a direction and continued her rant.
But The General had stopped listening, instead, he was trying to comprehend the scene in from of him. Whatever this was, it acted like a brotherhood scribe or a pre-war librarian. It wasn't a bio-engineered weapon or mutated wildlife. Most importantly, it wasn't trying to kill him. The winged unicorn's words began to dry up as she saw he was removing himself from the pile of books, her ears lowered as she walked backwards.
The general said the one thing that was dominating his mind. "What are you?"
The response was delayed as it took time for the smaller creature to comprehend the question.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, The Princess of Friendship!" The response was said in a way and with a stance that indicated pride, but the General simply doubled down on the question.
"But what are you?"
This time, it seemed the question clicked.
There was a pause, "No, never seen a pony in my life" Was the General reply.
It was a blatant lie, but the wisdom of telling the pony that humans used to use them as animals of burden before blowing up the world might be the wrong answer.
"Wow, you're really not from here. What about you, what's your name?" Asked Twilight Sparkle, The pony princess of friendship.
"I'm Nate, a human." Nate's response could not have sounded more awkward if he tried, the situation seemed so surreal to him.
"Your majesty..." Nate began, before being cut off by the princess.
"Twilight is fine." Twilight blurted out, a blush forming rapidly.
Nate recovered with his usual composure that had been missing until now. "Miss Twilight, what's going on, one moment I am at my desk and the next I'm, here" He gestured around to demonstrate his point.
Twilight seemed to remember something as her eyes went wide and her ears shot straight up.
Whatever Twilight was going to say, it was ended when the library doors practically exploded and the big blue pony from before sending a beam of Nate. Once again, Nate was buried under books. From underneath the books, Nate heard twilight once again come to his aid.
"Wait, stop, he's friendly!" shouted Twilight, the sound of galloping could be heard, Twilight could again be heard, this time nearby.
"Nate, are you ok?" Twilight shouted over the second avalanche of books. This time, She just lifted all the books at once.
Nate, letting out a grunt of pain, let out a deep breath and asked to no one in particular "Why didn't I just go with Hancock today?"
After the fiasco that had been the prior hour, the human Nate was sitting at a table with seven ponies including Twilight herself. Cadence had stayed long enough to make sure Twilight was ok, then she left to return to the crystal empire, which was itself dealing with the same troubles as Equestria. Luna had left to locate any other humans that may have been pulled through by the elements of harmony.
Currently, Celestia was finishing up explaining the situation to Nate, who had only stopped to clarify what she meant by her sister normally being asleep during the day. This had, in turn, lead to Celestia explaining the roles of the princesses. Nate had almost got into an argument with the sun princess when it was mentioned she controlled the sun. According to Nate, the Planet he was from, earth, orbited the sun. Nate eventually dropped the subject when it was brought up that Celestia was over a thousand years old. Nate made some comment under his breath, while twilight didn't hear the whole thing, she did pick up something about Sympathising. after a moment of awkward silence, Nate pushed things along.
"So, the Elements, they brought me here, but why me?"
Celestia broke a soft smile, before responding. "The Elements are a manifestation of harmony, they have the ability to look inside a being and see its essence, whatever the reason, the elements saw you as worthy."
"But I don't understand, what can I do?" Nate asked looking at Celestia, "I have no idea what's causing the pulses".
Celestia dismissed the notion, "We have some of the brightest minds looking into the pulses, what we don't have is any experience fighting these threats."
If not for the threat of innocent deaths and rampant destruction, Nate would have found this refreshing, and poetic. Here was someone who barely knew him, asking him to help lead a group, to protect innocent people, while he had no knowledge of the world around him. Three years ago, even though he was dealing with his own problems, he found the time and effort to help the minutemen. It didn't matter at the time what they could do for him, or how large of a role they would play, They were just a small group from Quincy who needed his help.
After a moments pause, Nate responded. "I'll do what I can."
Celestia seemed relieved, but before she could comment further, Luna entered the room.
"We have found them!" Luna said with triumph.
Celestia stood up, and asked, "how many?"
"Two others, We have memorised the locations." Luna used what Nate had recently learnt was magic to project a map on the table, while Nate knew nothing of Equestria, the others jump on the situation.
"Well, what do ya know, That's Applelossa, I can go and see if cousin Braeburn has seen anything, he knows all the local news." Applejack offered.
"Oooo, field trip, I wanna go, pick me, pick me!" Pinkie shouted waving he hoof in the air.
Applejack looked sympathetically over at Pinkie before talking to her with thought out words. "That's all well, sugar cube, but maybe you should sit this one out, I don't know what kind of welcome you're gonna get after last time."
Twilight looked over at rarity, "what about you rarity, want to go see Appleloosa again?"
Rarity looked like she had kicked a rock and the rock had won, before composing herself and replying. "If it is all right with everypony, I would like to pass on this adventure, I still get cramps thinking about last time" Rarity looked over at pinkie in annoyance at the memory of their last trip to the frontier town.
Twilight then looked over at rainbow dash "How about you rainbow?"
Rainbow shrugged and responded, "Sure, I could use the free time, the train moves fast enough to let me practice long-distance flight."
"Girls, what about that one" Fluttershy pointed out the second marker on the map, it was over a place the 6 ponies knew all too well.
"The Everfree forest" twilight said with concern, her brow deepening as she looked at the marker.
"Are you sure you don't want us to wait until we all go together?" Applejack asked twilight.
Twilight answered decisively with resolve. "No, whoever is out there might need our help, we can't wait that long. However, if you're up for it, I could use someone to help me calm them down if the need arises, what do you say Fluttershy"
Fluttershy was obviously hesitant to go but quickly stated, "If some creature may need my help, then I'll go."
"Excellent, then we shall return to our mission" Luna stated, leaving soon after.
Celestia, seeing Rarity and Pinkie Pie having nothing to do, came up with an idea.
"Miss Rarity, Miss Pie, Why don't you go and spend time with our new guest here, I'm sure he could use a guide on Equestria and its culture"
"Aye aye, Princess!" Pinkie exclaimed, saluting while wearing a name badge, savanna hat, and a whistle that was around her neck."
"Pinkie, dear, I believe she meant an information guide, not a tour one." Rarity softly told the exited pink pony, who promptly blew her whistle in a depressed manner.
"You can all meet back here when you're done, your friends can stay in the castle with Nate in the meantime." Celestia offered, to which Rarity immediately lit up at the prospect.
"Let me look into getting you a faster train to Applelossa as well, considering the importance of your mission, I feel such a change is prudent," Celestia added.
"All right girls, Let's get moving!" Twilight announced with excitement, the rest of her friends filled with as much energy.
Soon, the room was occupied by Nate and his two new guides. Looking down at Pinkie, he asked a very innocent question. "So is there somewhere we can go to get something to eat, like a bakery or...?"
Nate had seen a mininuke go off with less energy.
Author's Note
Staying up until 1 in the morning is not a smart move, Even the best mind has trouble editing while nearly falling asleep. a smart person may put off publishing until morning, but I am not a smart person.
The contrast from night to day was apparent even from inside the pre-war riot helmet, night vision still active from its wearer's excursion outside to pee. While the self-taught ranger was no stranger to being teleported or abducted, He had learnt first hand to avoid both while he was intoxicated. Moving from his feet to his ass was not the most dignified of acts, but it was the one that ended up happening. Thankfully, upon looking around, He found himself alone in an abandoned town. It looked much like every other place in the Mojave, except for the fact it looked new. Instead of dried cracked paint and old rotten wood, the buildings were pristine beyond anything he had seen.
The sound of glass breaking broke the moment, there was someone nearby. Scrambling to his feet, the slow walk towards the commotion began. One foot in front of the other, He had a mastery of his alcohol tolerance. Before reaching the location of the sounds of destruction, he stopped to notice a pie on a window sill.
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Braeburn Had never been more terrified in his life, he was currently hiding in the 'Salt Block' Saloon in the cupboard under the stairs with the saloon owner Morton Shaker. After the attack that had happened last week, all of Applelossa found that the easiest way to survive was to stay out of the way of the violent attackers. The sound of shattering glass and wood was followed up with loud roaring voices coming from outside the cupboard.
"There's nothing here, just fucking salt!" One screamed out, smashing another chair against the wall.
"It's a bar, they must have something here, keep searching" another responded loudly.
"We have searched this entire place, there's nothing here except this shit" the first one replied.
"Check under the stairs, maybe there's a basement or something, If we don't find something, Parker will have our collective ass" The second voice warned
"Parker better watch his back, he ain't got his big brother to back him up no more" the first voice was getting clearer as it was getting closer. suddenly the light was blinding as the door was opened. The two ponies froze in fear as the two-legged horror was looking at them through googles.
"I found two live ones." He called back to the others before grabbing both ponies by the mane and dragging them into the middle of the saloon.
One of the attackers was wearing a hat much like Braeburn's own. It smiled like a predator looking at a meal before walking over in front of Morton Shaker and kneeling. "Maybe one of you know where the booze is."
"We, we don't that here, this just a salt saloon, please, let us go" Shaker begged, cowering before the towering individual.
Shaking his head, the Creature stood back up and with his head motioned to one of the others. A lackey nearby walked over, pulled something out of his coat and aimed it at Shaker.
Braeburn knew death, his pappy had died a few years back, but this was something few ponies had ever seen. With a flash and bang like thunder and lightning coming from the object, the pony next to him dropped to the floor.
A hole was bleeding blood over Shakers dark grey coat, the pony limp. Braeburn may have wet himself if he hadn't gone before the attack. His eyes shrunk as he continued to stare at the body beside him, his brain trying to find a way out of this situation. He only looked away when the creature in front of him bent down again, this time looking straight at him.
"Let's try that again" The body next to Braeburn was dragged away, "Unless you want to end up like you friend" The nearby window shattered as Shaker was thrown out of it, "You're going to tell me where the strong stuff is".
Braeburn tried to say something, anything, but the paralysis caused by watching somepony die right next to him was still gripping his system.
The monster in front of him stood back up once for and continued speaking.
"Two", before the monster in the hat could finish his counting, the doors to the saloon slammed open.
Another one of the Monsters stumbled into the saloon, carrying a pie. It slowly walked in a wonky fashion over to a table and sat down, putting the pie on the table. The four other Monsters were all watching the scene, Braeburn didn't try anything, but noticed that all attention was on the newcomer.
The Newcomer was wearing a large Duster, covering some kind of black armour, on his head was a Helmet with some sort of mask on it. The Helmet was removed to show a short dirty blond mane and 5 o'clock shadow. He then rubbed his claws together, wearing some sort of black material over them.
"Oi, who the fuck are you?" One of the other Monsters yelled out
The stranger looked up to see the others of his kind and Braeburn, looking down at the pie and up again, he responded.
One of the Monsters that was leaning on a wall walked up to the sitting stranger, he then slammed its hands on the table.
"Do you have a fucking death wish?" the Lackey Roared at the stranger.
"The stranger then lifted his hands defensively. "Look, you can have the pie, no hard feelings." The stranger offered, looking around the room at all the others.
"Just waste his ass already" Was shouted by the Monster wearing a hat just in front of him.
The lackey pulled an object from his pocket that was similar to the one from before, but before he could use it, the stranger went into action.
Slamming the pie into the Attacker in front of him, the Stranger threw the table aside and grabbed the now blinded assailant. Using him as a shield, the stranger pulled out a weapon of his own and aimed back at the front of the store. Before the two guarding the door could pull out their own weapons, Each was dropped by Precise headshots one after another. The Monster in the hat and the one surviving lackey slowly walk back behind the bar for cover while firing into the now wounded goon being used as a shield. The saloon was in chaos as the sounds of the weapons made it sound like a thunderstorm was happening all around Braeburn, who was keeping himself low to the floor to avoid being hurt. From there he watched as the stranger ran to the side of the saloon behind the music box, throwing his wounded shield out a side window in the process as he dived behind the machine now being pelted with shots. As the records in the machine began to scatter from the machine, the stranger leaned out and picked up two, he calculated the best angle to throw from low to the ground and threw them like frisbees.
One made its mark, knocking down the Monster who had interrogated Braeburn moments before. The other one went wide and missed, The stranger leaned back behind the ruined music machine as the last standing thug returned to firing. The last standing thug fired repeatedly at the now destroyed music machine in a panic until his weapon stopped working, making clicking noises. The stranger, noticing the lack of sound shot up and shot the final foe. The Sound of movement came from the floor above as two of the surviving attackers raced to join the fight. The stranger, hearing the noise, ran from his cover, straight past Braeburn to the side of the stairs and waited next to the bannister. As soon as one of them began to screen the room, the Stranger grabbed the exposed weapon and fired two times into the Enemies exposed chest, then aimed up and fired once more up the stairs. The sounds of a body falling down the stairs were followed by said body rolling past the stranger and onto the floor.
Suddenly, it was silent. Braeburn slowly lifted himself off the ground and watched the stranger look around before going to grab his helmet and walked behind the bar. A weak voice came from behind the bar "What are you?", The stranger put his helmet on and the muffled, synthesised voice said "I'm the goddamn mailman" Before executing the last one.
The Battle over, the Victorious man sat down, mourning the loss of a good pie. Putting maria on the table, the gun that changed his life served as both a reminder of his past and a well-concealed weapon for such moments as now. After taking a minutes rest, He noticed something was off, looking to the side and slightly down was a weird... thingy? It was some sort of animal, but it was not aggressive, it was also looking at him.
The creature spoke. "You, saved my life, thank you."
The Man looked at the creature for a moment before reaching out with his hand. The talking animal winced as the hand came close until a finger touched it.
"Huh, your real, that's new." The man said from behind the helmet.
Taken back by the response, Braeburn shook away the confusion and continued.
The Man put his legs up on the table in front of him and leaned back "Most people know me as the courier since I was the sixth courier, You can call me six."
Braeburn found that to be a strange name, but decided now was not the time to ask questions about his hero's past.
"Well, Mr Six, You sure know how to handle yourself, these here villains have been attacking our town for a week now."
Six cut off Braeburn before he could finish. "Fucking raiders, too many guns, not enough brains. They're only good for target practice"
Braeburn continued where he left off. "There are a whole lot of them held up somewhere nearby, they already took Sheriff Silverstar. Were defenceless, please, can you help?"
Six leaned back even further on the chair, after a moment he gave his reply. "On one condition, can I get a new pie?"
Six fell backwards as a result of losing balance as the now ecstatic Braeburn shouted out in joy.
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The Creature Braeburn, which Six found out was called a pony, had managed to talk the town out of hiding, and got the local baker to work with what she could to bake a pie as Braeburn left town with Six to locate the raider base. Six had tried to tell the pony to stay behind and continued to do so all the way there.
"No how, no way, I ain't gonna let you go by yourself, you saved my life, I owe you this much," Braeburn Stated with resolve.
"I told you you don't owe me anything but a pie, now stop talking" Six ordered, The courier having lost his buzz and was now forming a headache. The man went low to the ground, looking for something. Then he saw it, some spent brass casings were partially buried in the dry earth, they must have been stepped on as the earth was bone dry. Following from the last point, they were heading in the right direction.
"How did you learn to track like that?" Braeburn inquired.
"Used to hang with a bunch of rangers, also learnt some tricks from tribals out near Zion." Replied Six, Braeburn Didn't know what a ranger was or what Zion was, but he decided it was something to ask another time.
Six stopped, looking around, then spoke up. "They must have found shelter out here, Know of anywhere nearby?"
Braeburn Thought about his location and responded. "There used to be a mine around here, but they never found enough ore to be worth the effort."
Six took off his helmet and climbed a nearby mound, and looked to the distance. Eventually, a small glint in the distance had promise. Putting his helmet back on, the continued towards the reflective source in the distance.
As they came closer to the source, they could see a Mine entrance with a clean lamp hanging from a beam holding up the roof. Sitting on a wooden crate was a raider who had dozed off under the shade. Next to him was a pickaxe leaving on a bunch of smaller wooden crates and rope hanging off a nail.
Not wanting to waste what 9mm rounds he had been able to find on the dead raiders back in town, Six snuck
Six looked at Braeburn, and with disbelief asked, "Your kidding right?"
Braeburn shook his head adamantly "He's defenceless, you can't just kill somepony like that." Braeburn stated.
"Why not?" Retorted Six, but getting a dirty look for Braeburn, threw the pick behind him "Fine"
Six grabbed the rope and knelt next to the sprawled out unconscious guard, binding his arms and legs. Giving the Guard one last kick for good measure, "Happy" Six asked.
Braeburn nodded firmly, six then proceeded into the mine while Braeburn followed.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Braeburn was prepared for many things when he followed Six through the mine, but there was one thing he never could have been prepared for, the smell. He didn't know how Six handled the smell, Either the mask stopped it, or he had dealt with it before. The latter slightly scared Braeburn, where exactly had all of these beings come from?
When they reached a large chamber, A campfire was evident from the light moving on the walls and roof. From the shadows, Six pointed out eight raiders. Braeburn noticed a crude cage off to the side, hidden from the raiders by some built-up earth. Braeburn quietly rushed to see what was inside, Six was whispering for him to stop but stopped partway through. Inside, Braeburn saw three captives, two he knew straight away. "Sherif, Strongheart" He whispered. The pony and buffalo looked horrible, filthy conditions and a lack of sleep or food had taken its toll.
"Braeburn, what are you doing here," Sherif Silverstar asked in bafflement.
"Getting you all out of here, is he ok, are there any others?" Braeburn asked while studying the cage, it was a simple latch kept out of reach from its occupants.
The sheriff looked back at the pony lying in the back of the cage, "He's dead, no food or water, been here longer then we have. There were others, buffalo that was with Little Stronheart."
Little Stronheart look as if she was about to break into tears, "We were coming to the town to talk about water rights when we were ambushed by those things, they... they ate them, Those monsters ate them"
Both The sheriff and the chief's daughter froze as the looked behind Braeburn, their iris shrinking and ears going down.
Braeburn felt something on his back, he spun around to see Six with a digit against his masks mouthpiece.
"What are you gonna do?" Braeburn asked
Six held up a red stick and said. "Make a distraction"
When Six walked away, Braeburn looked back to see the two prisoners very confused.
Six loved dynamite, It was practical, Light it and throw it, Boom. All these years he still had benny's lighter, and this was one of the many reasons why. He waited behind a stalagmite for an opportunity to attack the raiders down below. With a practised aim, he tossed it right into the middle of the campfire, The chaos was perfect. Most of the raiders Weren't armed as they didn't expect to be attacked in their own hideout, They were easy pickings. A few sticks of dynamite took care of the ones behind cover, Then it was down to a few. A shot pinged off Six's helmet, small calibre rounds tended to do that. Well, aimed headshots dropped the few standing raiders, but the sound of automatic fire dropped Six into cover quickly. The ringleader had brought out an assault rifle and was firing at Six's cover. Using one of the last sticks of dynamite he had grabbed, the threw if over the top from behind cover, after a second, his legendary luck paid off as the gunfire ended.
Looking back up, the Chamber was quite. Six climbed down towards and past where the campfire had been, now just ash and scorch marks, to the other side of the chamber. Going up to where the ringleader had come from, he saw the remains of his foe's arm, the rifle nearby. Picking it up, he noted it was still functional but was empty. Putting it on his back with the intact strap, Six went into the small room the Raider leader had come from. Inside was a bed, a desk, a safe and a book on the desk. Picking up the book, Six open it to the marked page, it was a journal entry.
"With L.T left behind, I'm now running the Bullpits. Nothings stopping us from taken this place, little freaks are easy pickings."
Most of the past was worthless until Six read the last line.
"Crews getting restless, no chems, no booze, nothing around here except that small ass town, they must have something. I'm keeping my personal stache, in case I need some pull with the crew. If things don't change, they're gonna throw me on a spit next."
Six closed the book and looked to the safe, the only secure location he had seen. The lock was simple enough, thankfully a screwdriver and a handful of hairpins was standard procedure when going anywhere in the wasteland. Six put the screwdriver in the lock and... it was already open. Taking a minute to process how dumb he was, he opened the safe to find a bottle of scotch and a stimpack. Grabbing both and searching the rest of the camp for rounds, Six left for the surface.
The sound of a gun going off caused Six's brisk march to turn into a sprint. The first thing he saw the guard they had incapacitated free and holding a switchblade. Six tackled the Raider to the earth and tried to get the blade off him, Only to end up with it in his side. Six managed to get on top of the raider and pulled out his gun, putting two shots in his head. the third pull of the trigger announced that maria was empty. Falling of the dead raider, he collapsed to the side to see Braeburn on the ground, with a deep cut in his side. The pony and pony like creatures hovering over him wondering what to do. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the three, pulling out the stim pack on the slow walk.
The two uninjured escapes quickly moved out of his way in caution but said nothing. Falling to his knees, he stabbed the stimpack into Braeburn. The injured pony's leg kicked, the cut in his midriff sealing within seconds.
"The pain, it's gone " Braeburn muttered, slowly being to move.
Six Got back to his feet "yeah well, don't expect that again, Damn things only work once" At the statement, he threw the empty stimpack over his shoulder.
"You saved my life, again" Braeburn stated, looking at Six, then down at the blood seeping through his duster.
"Your bleeding!" Little Strongheart pointed out, All attention now on Six.
"Yeah, give it a minute" Six replied. Slowly the wound healed on its own.
Braeburn was amazed, "Can all of your folk do that?"
Six looked down at Braeburn, "Nope, I'm something of a special case."
Sherif Silverstar walked up to Braeburn "How did you both even find us?"
Braeburn enthusiastically motioned to Six "Our friend here is a tracker, he found the raiders hideout and took them out himself."
Sherif Silverstar then walked up to Six "Then I must state my gratitude, you saved our lives and the whole town. Thank you, Mr?"
Six motioned for everyone to follow him as he began to walk back towards town. "Courier, And don't thank me just yet, I still want my pie."
The sheriff stared with a blank face as the Courier began to leave. "What?"
Appleoosa was celebrating as best as it could under the circumstances. The deaths of the raiders had freed them of the attacks, and the return of the sheriff meant the town leadership was returned. However, the destruction and murder of multiple settlers and natives had soured the mood slightly and it would take a long time for the trauma to heal.
The Courier, Celebrated his own way, with half the bottle of scotch he had recovered from the mine. Mixed with his blood loss, it had the desired effect at only half a bottle. The other half had been drunk by Braeburn, who along with Six had been hailed a hero. Hoping to take the edge off of the whole situation, Six had offered the stallion the rest of the scotch. Six had in fact never received his pie, as by the time it was ready, no one could find him or Braeburn.
A hangover was a good sign for Courier 6, It meant he was alive. Every day he woke up with a headache was a quick reminder of the fact he was still there to feel it. What was new was the sensation of waking up in a proper bed, Normally he woke up in a bar, outside, on a mattress, but not a normal bed. He was in a bed with propper sheets and pillows, A luxury rarely found in the wasteland. What was more concerning was the fact he was wearing nothing, A fact that was reinforced by the fact that something furry was lying next to him. Turning his head, he saw the pony Braeburn sleeping peacefully next to him. After taking a few minutes to regret his life choices, he stealthily got out of the bed, but on his gear and left the pony's house.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash waited as Applejack left the train by the station, whereas she had simply flown out the window. As Applejack walked off the platform, Rainbow Dash asked the question she had on her mind since the conductor announced they were reaching their destination.
"So how are we going to find this guy? Do I need to fly over and look?"
Applejack responded to the unnecessary question. "No Rainbow, I told you, Cousin Braeburn can help us."
Rainbow countered with annoyance, "I don't see why, its a human, it's not like it won't stick out."
Applejack argued back with irritation as they walked up to her cousins home, "Braeburn known everypony in Appleloosa, besides, it's not like it's going to pop out in front of us"
In front of them was a human quietly closing the down to Braeburn home. His helmet under his arm. turning to walk away, The human stopped dead in his tracks to look at the two now confused ponies.
Rainbow broke the silence "Are you the human we're looking for?"
Applejack quickly told Rainbowdash off "Rainbow!" then looked to the human, "I'm sorry about my friend here, I'm Applejack, and this here pony is Rainbow Dash. Were looking for a non-local who may have appeared recently, and as someone who has been here before, You fit the bill."
The human seemed taken back by the statement "what am I wanted for?"
Applejack tried to put it best she could "well, the princesses have a problem, that they think you can help with. We were sent to find you and bring you back so they can tell you themselves."
The man looked behind him at the door and answered, "Sure, fine, let's go, how are we getting there?"
"By train, come on let's go." Rainbow Dash demanded impatiently
As they proceeded towards the train station, Applejack piped up "what were you doing in mah cousins house, and why do you smell of him?"
Most of the town stopped what they were doing at Applejack shouting loudly "WHAT!"
Author's Note
If you're going to downvote this, could you at least tell me what I have done poorly? I can't do better if I have no feedback. Going to take a day or two off.
A bite to eat that's bittersweet
"And that's how Equestria was made!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie from her chair, hooves out in a show of grandeur. Both Nate and Rarity had not gotten a word in as Pinkie had told her condensed history of Equestria, as well as getting sidetracked into multiple unrelated stories. After an uncomfortable pause, Rarity was the one to move things along. "yes, thank you pinkie, that was abbreviated somewhat. I'm assuming Nate might have some questions, about more specific moments".
Nate, to his credit, was composed the entire time. He had been prepared for a lot of things, but some more than others needed to be elaborated on, if only to make sure he understood correctly.
"Wait, These elements, that are powerful enough to defeat not only someone who can control the moon, but the manifestation of chaos, is powered by friendship?".
Pinkie piped up to answer "Yep, we have these necklace thingies that have our cutie marks on them, except for twilight who has a crown, and they glow and lift us up and shoot rainbows that go pew!".
"And these Elements of Harmony, redeem people?" Nate asked.
"Not quite, with discord, they turned him to stone, it was Fluttershy who redeemed Discord. To be honest, I don't think even Celestia knows how the elements work, and it was Celestia and luna who found them" Rarity replied.
Nate continued into the next question "And the Princesses, These 'Alicorns' What's the story behind them?".
Pinkie jumped at that question "All the princesses as super-powerful ponies why have wings and horns and are really tall, except for twilight because she's a new Princess!".
Nate pressed the question, "but where did they come from?".
Rarity took over from pinkie " The Princesses have ruled since as long as anyone knows, some say as far back as when Equestria was founded".
Nate moved on to his next thought "What about the three tribes, where are they now, the homelands?".
Rarity answered, " No one knows, the location of the original home of pony kind has been lost for ages. Twilight might be a better pony to talk to about that, I only know that most of Canterlot's elite claim lineage from princess platinum".
Rarity took a bite of her rose petal jam sandwich. She looked at Nate who seemed to be looking around the room they were in. "Is something the matter Nate?".
Nate looked back at Rarity and responded, "I'm fine, I just remember the last time I saw a place this clean".
Rarity chose her words cautiously " Yes, it does seem like your clothes could use some, refreshing. I don't have my supplies with me on account of this trip being of short notice, but once I'm back at my boutique, I would happily fix your attire".
Nate raised an eyebrow, "you mend clothes?".
Rarity Explained her job "I'm a seamstress darling, I Make clothes, I also dabble in my own designs".
Pinkie jumped in, "Rarities dresses are famous, she even made us all dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala and they were so good!".
Rarity blushed a little as she continued, " While the highlight is the occasional high society clientele, most of my work is just maintenance and local sales. My boutique is in Ponyville, where I live".
Pinkie once again jumped in for her piece "I work at sugar cube corner as a baker, What I really do is plan parties".
Nate deadpanned at the statement, "Parties, really?".
Pinkie Pie beamed " Yep, birthdays, Weddings, Anniversaries, reunion, Welcomes, farewells. You name it, I've thrown a party for it!".
Nate smirked at the idea of the pink pony being in charge of a wedding, he had to ask.
Rarity frowned as she went to pinkie's defence. "Nate, don't be like that, Pinkie's skills are highly sought after, why, she helped co-ordinate Princess Cadence's Wedding".
"The one with the Changers?" Nate clarified.
"Changelings" Pinkie Corrected.
"Right, what happened to them?" Nate Asked.
Rarity Put her hoof to her chin, thinking deeply " I remember Twilight telling us about an investigation after the wedding".
She then shrugged "As far as I've heard, there hasn't been any sightings since".
Pinkie had finished her pecan pie, something that was announced by verbal disappointment.
"Be thankful I convinced him to still allow us to order food, he's still upset about the incident last time". Rarity stated, then faced Nate.
"Pinkie is banned from the palace kitchen, Applejack had to handle the wedding cake at the wedding".
Pinkie raised her hooves above her head, "They said it couldn't be done, but I created explosive custard!".
"They said it shouldn't be done, the entire wing had to be closed off for cleaning". Rarity countered
Nate moved the conversation back to his current thought pattern, "I still don't see why the princesses brought you all into this, you don't seem like much help against mutant animals and raiders."
"Well, the elements were used to bring you here, maybe we're connected?" Rarity offered as an Answer.
"Celestia Asked us to tell you about equestrian, maybe we were meant to ask you about your home?" Pinkie added her own guess.
"Pinkie has a point, perhaps the princess was hoping for a quid pro quo of stories. What better way to understand these creatures than to learn where they came from."
Pinkie's eyes went wide as an awestruck look crossed her face "Oh My Gosh, We never asked anything about you".
Out of nowhere, Pinkie donned a deerstalker hat and held a clipboard in her hoof. Pinkie broke into a barrage of questions towards Nate. "When is your birthday, when were you born, what's your favourite flavour of pie, why is it cherry?".
Rarity pulled the lamp away that was now hanging over Nate and pulled down the umbrella that had appeared above them all. " We should let Nate tell us at his pace, After all, he was patient with us so we should return the favour".
Nate, who had elected to ignore the prior events chalking up Pinkies antics to the nature of this place, was overwhelmed with what to divulge. "I wouldn't even know where to begin".
Rarity had an idea "Well, the Elements brought you here because you can help us, maybe start with your particular set of skills, so What do you do as a profession, Nate?".
" I'm a soldier, The General of the 'Commonwealth Defence Guard', although these days I mostly just handle the paperwork and politics"
Nate had said the last part with what rarity and pinkie could tell was disdain.
Pinkie was sceptic, "You don't seem that Dangerous, I mean if your kind had to survive in a world full of scary monsters."
Nate countered Pinkie, "We didn't, Two centuries ago, they didn't exist".
This took the two ponies off guard. "They didn't before?" Rarity asked.
Nate responded after a long unbroken pause. "No, they didn't, two centuries ago, the world was a different place".
Rarity was about to inquire what Nate meant, only for Pinkie to stop her with a hoof, she knew when a monologue was due.
"Humanity was discovering this thought impossible decades before, machines that could wait on your every whim, take you across the world in hours, devices that could think and remember libraries worth of knowledge that could fit on your arm. Medicine that could heal or cure what once untreatable became buyable at any corner store, life wasn't perfect, but for most, it was close enough."
"what changed?" Rarity asked. This time Pinkie didn't interfere.
Nate's head began to drop with the weight of the topic. While he didn't say it, in his head, Nate was thinking it. It's what didn't change.
"Years of consumption lead to shortages of every major resource, Oil, Uranium, Cobalt, the list was endless. In fear, we turned to greed, and from greed, we turned to war. As time went on, things only seemed to get worse, until finally, we ended the world".
"how?" Pinkie asked.
Nate looked up at the ponies, who while ever colourful, had faces that betrayed the depressing mood forming.
"We created weapons that could destroy entire cities, thousands of them, each capable of turning entire areas uninhabitable for centuries. It was thought that every major power having them it would stop them from being used, we were wrong".
"Well, I guess that explains your martial lifestyle If you were raised in a world where society had ended" Rarity Reasoned
"Actually, I was trained in the United States Army, I served during the war" Nate explained
Pinkie put two and two together "Wait, you mean before the big kaboom?"
Nate nodded.
"Oh Nate, I'm so sorry," Rarity said to Nate, A mix of pity and respect at Nate's experience.
Nate tried to reassure them "It's fine, I've come to terms with it. As best as one can come to terms with the end of the world."
"I assume having two hundred years to think over it helps," Rarity said
"Actually, for most of it, I was... Frozen, I only woke up a few years ago." Nate interjected.
Nate could see that the two ponies were confused.
"Maybe I should start from the beginning".
Pinkie looked at Rarity and back to Nate "The begging of what?"
"The day the world ended" Nate Replied
Author's Note
This was a hard one, both in terms of pure dialogue and having a 4-day long fever thanks to an infection.
23rd, October, 2077 (Optional Chapter)
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. 5th, November, 2281 (Optional Chapter)
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. The best laid plans of ponies and men
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Big Problem, Bigger Solution
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.