Author's Note

So, before I start the chapter, I would like to inform you that I have included a mod/custom weapon, the Marine Service Rifle, as Six's weapon of choice, from the Tammer's NIF-Bashed Weapons Mega Pack mod on the Nexus.

Also, this features the "Mojave Song" by Miracle of Sound. I thought it fitting for this chapter, and just making it clear I don't own the song or the lyrics.

Here's a photo of the Marine Service Rifle, by the way.

Chapter 1 - Trixie's Story

The Great and Powerful Trixie gave a "Harumph!" of frustration as she trudged through the Everfree Forest, leg-wraps keeping her hooves free of mud. She had recently run out of Bluebonnet nectar, the primary ingredient in her smoke-bombs, and was now searching in one of the few places it was found in ample quantity.

Or so she thought, as she wasn't having much luck at the moment.

As Trixie's eyes searched for the bushes that held her prize flowers, her ears twitched at hearing something strange. It wasn't the call of a bird, or the raspy roar of a Timberwolf, or anything Trixie expected to hear in the Everfree Forest.

It was the sound of a song being sung by a male voice, in harmony with a long-string guitar. Trixie cast a vocalization spell to listen in, and she could hear the melody now. It was haunting, desolate, and yet somehow full of energy and vigor, and it reminded Trixie of the Saddle Arabian sand wastes.

Now that she was close to the singer, she could hear the lyrics.

"Broken bone and liar's lead…"

"Caught off guard and left for dead…"

"Luck keeps turning as the light begins to dull…"

"By healing hands I'm saved, pulled from my shallow grave,"

"I can feel reprisal aching through my skull…"

Trixie raised her eyebrows slightly as the music began to sound even louder. Whatever this song was about, it was actually beautiful to hear.

"Set my sights on shining spires, set out on the highways tired…"

"On the desert sands and ruined roads I roam…."

"And this old lonesome road, shall bring me what I'm owed!"

"These new empires on old stones shall be my home!"

"Ooh, under the Mojave sky...I find my flag to fly!"

Trixie mumbled the word "Mojave" to herself a couple of times. It wasn't referring to anywhere she'd been, and she'd been all over Equestria to perform. In fact, she even recently went to the Crystal Empire for a children's show, as Twilight had recommended her to Princess Cadance for the job. But that was beside the point. What or where was this "Mojave"?

Then, the beat spiked and the singer picked up the pace, singing loud and with passion.

"To tip the odds and rig the game...so deal another hand and play!"

"Every card's a shift of circumstance!"

"Let every bettor stake their claim...so deal another hand and play!"

"Stack the deck, I'm letting nothing fall to chance!"

Trixie poked her head through the bushes as she reached the singer's proximity, and dropped her jaw. She'd seen the wanted posters across Canterlot for the assassin called "Courier Six", and she even had one on her in her bag...

...and there he was, sitting by a campfire and strumming a guitar, as he continued to sing. Trixie could've easily knocked him out using a surprise blast of magic, or lunged out and demanded his surrender, but there was something about him that made her pause.

Was it the air of confidence and heroism that came from him, or the rugged face he bore, with hair of hazelnut brown and gray eyes that showed kindness?

Trixie knew that the assassin had been wearing a mask, with a red eye visor, but this being wore a red cap with a visor, with a splash of white across the brim. Emblazoned on the side was the word "Unity" in boldly painted black, and a scarf of white lay around his neck.

But what was really strange was the gauntlet he wore on his left arm. It was colored a dull greenish gray, and she could see a white-glowing screen on it. As she stood there hidden, but thoroughly spellbound, the stranger finished singing, and set his guitar down. Then, he looked down on his gauntlet, and tapped it once.

To Trixie's shock, a large cylindrical canteen appeared in his right hand, and he took a big drink of what was presumably fresh water.

Trixie watched as he hooked the canteen to his belt, and that was when she noticed his apparel. The armor was the same design as the assassin's, only it was completely clean and free of scars or damage. Instead of a long coat, he wore a black track jacket with rolled up sleeves, and some padded armor on his forearms. Around his waist was a sash emblazoned with a two-headed bear looking towards a star. A looped belt carrying what Trixie presumed were the projectiles used in the assassination attempt was around his right upper arm.

And lying next to him was a long metal object, made from black and gray metal. As the stranger picked it up and began inspecting it, Trixie moved back into the trees to think on a course of action.

Until that course of action was chosen for her.

"Hey there. You lost?"

Trixie then realized that the stranger was talking to her. She came forward, and eyed him with as much suspicion as she could.

"What's with that look?" he asked. "I haven't done anything wrong, have I? Besides, I've only been in this forest for three days, four at most."

Trixie's train of thought suddenly came to a screeching stop.

Three days, four at the most, she thought over in her head. The assassination attempt was a week ago. If this stranger had only been here three or four days...she made a mental note to go to Ponyville as soon as she could to tell Twilight.

"Well...the Great and Powerful Trixie wants to know if this is you." she mustered her voice, handing the stranger a wanted poster of the assassin. He looked it over for some time, and then he did the one thing she didn't expect.

He started laughing.

"Oh, man. Oh, God." he chuckled. "Never thought I'd be so famous as to have someone impersonate me."

"What does that mean?" Trixie asked. "You're Courier Six, aren't you."

"Yep, that's me." he replied. "My name's Mark Rileigh. And just so you know, that's not me, not in the slightest. I can give you several good reasons why."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to hear them."

"First, that pistol." he said. "That's a Pre-War N99, 10mm." he said. "Back in the world I come from, those things are so common, any decent gunslinger has at least two. Personally, I prefer the .45 automatic. Hits harder, shoots straighter, than a 10-mil."

Mark pulled out his own pistol for comparison, and Trixie began to write on her notepad, another thing she always carried with her.

"Second, that NCR armor this guy's wearing is totally outdated. The NCR rangers stopped wearing that type of light armor shortly after the first Battle of Hoover Dam. That was some time ago, 2277, if I remember right. Plus, seeing as the Mojave's a nuclear wasteland in a desert, it's too clean, too neat. No way it'd last that long without getting dirty."

"And finally, like I said, I've only been here at most four days. This was a week ago. And miss Zecora can vouch for my every move."

"Zecora?" Trixie asked, quite surprised. She had learned of the Zebra herbalist from Twilight after their magic duel, a little before Tirek, as Twilight had helped set up her strategy to win the duel with the herbalist while Trixie controlled Ponyville.

"Yeah, when I got here, she patched me up after I stumbled into her house after some lion-scorpion thing attacked me. We traded some medicinal plants from here and the Mojave, and I've been camping here since. She comes by every so often to check on me."

Trixie was shocked to silence. Apparently whoever it was that tried to kill Twilight, Mark Rileigh wasn't him.

"If you don't mind..." Trixie said. "The Great and Powerful Trixie shall help you clear your name, Courier Six. I know Princess Twilight Sparkle, I shall speak to her when I return to Ponyville."

"By all means, I'd appreciate the help." Six replied. "I think it's for the best if you go alone. Seeing how as I'm apparently a wanted criminal, it'd look bad."

"Thanks." Trixie said. "I'll be back soon."

"See you around."

And with that, Trixie departed, and ran straight to Ponyville, all thoughts of finding the flower that she had gone there to retrieve, quickly forgotten.

====

"I see." Twilight said nervously as Trixie finished telling her of what happened. "So this Courier Six that attacked me is an imposter?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Trixie said. "Plus, Mark Rileigh didn't attack me on sight. And Zecora can vouch for him as well. According to Mark, he didn't get here until three or four days ago."

Twilight gave a sigh and leaned back in her chair, thinking hard.

"I'll tell Princess Celestia to stop the search parties and suspend the bounty." she said. "And I would very much like to meet this Mark Rileigh. If he can help us find the assassin...I guess I would be obliged to hear him out."

Trixie nodded, bid Twilight goodbye, and departed. As Twilight wrote the letter, sent it to Celestia, and looked out the window at the dawn sky, she decided to get a little more sleep before getting ready.

Because if what Trixie said was true, then Twilight had a new question for herself.

"If Courier wasn't the assassin, then who was? What could they be after?" she thought deeply, as she collapsed into bed and drifted off.