Wasteland Wanderers

Chapters

The Jump
Welcome to the Wasteland (pt. 1)
Welcome to the Wasteland (pt. 2)
Gunfight
Pain

The Jump

Sunset Shimmer was never entirely sure what went through Twilight Sparkle’s mind when she went on an inventing frenzy, and right now was no exception; whatever she was working on in the school science lab as she and their other friends watched her, it looked almost like an old-fashioned radio. “Okay Twilight, I enjoy a good mystery as much as the next girl, but this is getting annoying; what are you working on?” she asked finally.

“Something that will make our job a lot easier.” Twilight smiled as she finished a final adjustment.

“I’ve already got a computer at my place to help me study and it looks a lot less ridiculous than this thing.” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Oh, I-I dunno; I think it looks nice.” Fluttershy shrugged.

“Thanks Fluttershy, but it’s not a computer.” Twilight countered as she moved away from the device. “It’s a variation on the pendant I made for the Friendship Games, designed to track and analyze magic signatures.”

“So what, it’s a… magic radar?” Applejack asked.

“Eh, if you wanna call it that; sure.” Twilight shrugged. “If it works, it’ll help us track down possible magic events around town before they happen.”

“‘If’?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, I haven’t exactly had time to test it.” Twilight replied.

Rarity just smiled as she stepped forward. “No time like the present.”

“Guess that’s one way of saying it.” Sunset shrugged.

“Great.” Twilight smiled. “Now it’s specially designed to activate after a surge of magical energy, but it needs to be a big surge, so we’ll all need to channel the power from our geodes into this main receptor here.” She tapped the small dish on the center of the device’s main console.

“Alright, let’s light it up, ladies!” Pinkie smiled as the girls grouped around the device.

They all focused hard on the geodes strung around their necks and channeled the energy within into small glowing beams that shot into the dish, slowly powering it up with a low whirring whine that slowly grew louder as various relays on the device started blinking and beeping to life. “Alright, I think it’s working.” Twilight smiled. “Everyone stop.” The girls tried to stop their beams, but the magic just kept pouring on. Twilight started to get worried as she watched the power levels rise higher and higher. “Okay seriously, stop.”

“We’re trying; it’s not working.” Sunset assured as she struggled to step away from the device, but the beam seemingly anchored her in place.

“Twilight, is the detection system all you carried over from your amulet when you built this thing?” Rarity asked seriously.

“I swear it was. I don’t know what could be causing this.” Twilight was starting to panic now; the device was sparking in a way it really shouldn’t be and the beams seemed to be drawing the girls closer than they would like.

“Uh, Twilight? What’s happenin’ here?” Applejack asked seriously, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

“I don’t know!” Twilight yelled… though she quickly got the answer when the scanner seemed to self-destruct and in its place, appeared a strange wormhole that swiftly drew the girls straight through.

When they fell out the other side of the strange wormhole, the girls landed face-first into what felt like rough desert sand. “Ow!” Sunset groaned as she pulled herself up. When she opened her eyes, she was more than a bit surprised; the group were somewhere out in the desert in the middle of the night. “What the…?”

“What happened?” asked Rainbow.

“I don’t know. Maybe the machine interacted with the portal’s magic somehow and dropped us here?” Twilight suggested.

“Question is where is here?” Applejack asked and reached for her cellphone… which was when she remembered the girls had all left their phones on the table in the science room. “Great.”

“Okay, so we don’t know what happened or where we are. That’s just perfect.” Rainbow remarked.

“Indeed. I swear this sand is going to be a nightmare to wash out of my outfit.” Rarity grumbled as she looked around.

“Ooh, pretty lights!” Pinkie remarked as she looked across the desert. The others looked and saw what looked like a massive glimmering city in the distance.

“Well, that looks like as good a place to go as any.” Rainbow shrugged as she moved to stand up.

“Wait.” Sunset instructed and held her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Up there.” She pointed up the nearby ridge and the group saw a group of people nearby who appeared to be doing something… with a person down on his knees.

Marty Barron groaned as he strained to wake up. Up until what must’ve been a few hours ago, he was just another courier for the Mojave Express running a package to New Vegas; all he wanted was to deliver his package and go home… and maybe hit a bar for a drink on the way. But he’d barely gotten to Primm when someone put a knot on the back of his head. He didn’t know who and he didn’t know why, but he got a few answers when he woke up. “You got what you were after, so pay up.” one voice ordered.

“You’re cryin’ in the rain, pally.” That voice seemed a lot smoother to Marty, but what had him occupied at the moment was that his wrists were tied. He struggled to try and break free, but his bonds wouldn’t budge.

“Heh. Guess who’s wakin’ up over here.” another voice smirked. Marty looked up and saw three guys surrounding him. The two on the sides were Great Khans judging by their outfits, but the guy in the middle… Marty wasn’t sure, but he was wearing a flashy checkered suit and smoking a cigarette.

He let out one last puff as he stomped out the cigarette in the sand. “Time to cash out.” he smirked as he approached Marty.

“Will you get it over with?” the Khan on his right asked impatiently before the guy in the suit raised his finger.

“Maybe Khans kill people without lookin’ ‘em in the face, but I ain’t a fink. Dig?” he insisted. The Khans seemed annoyed by this, but Marty was just confused.

“Who are you?” he asked.

The guy in the suit just reached into his jacket and reached out a small poker chip. “You’ve made your last delivery, kid.” Marty recognized that chip easily as his package, but he couldn’t do much to struggle against his bonds… which sucked because he really wanted to punch this guy and take that chip back. “Sorry you got twisted up in this scene.” The guy put the chip back in his jacket and pulled out a glimmering silver-plated 9-mil pistol. “From where you’re kneeling, must seem like an 18-karat run of bad luck.” He leveled his pistol at Marty’s brow and smiled. “Truth is… the game was rigged from the start.” With a twitch on the trigger, a bullet flew from the gun and hit Marty square in the face.

The gunshot terrified the girls beyond belief as they watched from their hiding space behind some nearby rocks as the kneeling form crumpled into the sand, unmoving. Then the two men to the sides of the man with the gun grabbed the form and tossed it into a hole nearby. “No,” Sunset realized slowly. “Not a hole… a grave.”

“We’ve gotta get out of here.” Twilight said simply, prompting agreement from the rest of the girls as they raced down the slope as quickly and quietly as possible, trying their best not to be seen by the men on the ridge. Wherever they were now, they knew one thing; they already didn’t like it. But what they didn’t know was… their time in this hell was only going to get worse from here.

Welcome to the Wasteland (pt. 1)

Over the next few days, the girls had done everything in their power to hope that what had happened recently was nothing more than a bad dream, but as each day passed with the girls sleeping in the dirt outside a ramshackle town in the desert, it dawned on them more and more that whatever was happening… it was real.

It was only when Rainbow had gotten clawed on the leg by some strange reptilian beast that they finally dragged themselves into town looking for a doctor, with Applejack carrying Rainbow on her shoulder. It wasn’t hard to do that; there was only one shack on the outskirts of the town Twilight figured would have the proper facilities for a doctor… or at least, as close to the proper facilities as anyone could get out here in whatever this place was, so Sunset knocked on the door. An old man opened the door a few moments later and his eyes popped in surprise when he saw the girls. “All my years in this wasteland, I thought I’d seen everything,” he remarked.

“Please sir, our friend needs help,” Sunset said seriously, gesturing to the claw mark on Rainbow’s left shin, haphazardly bandaged with scrap cloth the girls had found wrapped around a piece of metal earlier but still bleeding.

“That she does.” the old doctor remarked as he looked it over. “Gecko got ya good, huh?”

“No way, man; that thing was no gecko.” Rainbow countered as she stumbled into his house, the other girls carefully following him.

“No? Big fella, two-legged, scaly, claws like combat knives?” the doctor interrogated.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Rainbow nodded cautiously as she sat down in a chair.

“Well, that’s a gecko.” the doctor shrugged as he unwrapped Rainbow’s leg, examining the mark. “Hmm… well, doesn’t look too bad. Few stitches and you’ll be fine.”

“Stitches? Ugh, I hate stitches.” Rainbow groaned as she looked away. The others watched in intrigue as the doctor sewed up the cuts in Rainbow’s leg.

As he worked, Sunset glanced up and saw something interesting on the bed nearby. “Who’s that?” The others looked and saw a young man maybe a few years older than them on a cot at the far wall.

“My other patient.” the doctor shrugged. “Got dragged in here the other day with a bullet in his brainpan, and I got asked to clean him up.” Twilight’s eyes popped at that news; this couldn’t be the same guy the girls had just seen killed and buried the other night, could it?

It looked as though they would get their answer soon as his brown eyes opened, bleary as he looked up at the ceiling fan. The doctor had just finished Rainbow’s stitches when he noticed this and sat down across from the young man. “You’re awake. How ‘bout that?” The young man groaned gently as he sat up, suddenly nursing a headache. “Whoa, easy there. Easy.” the doctor encouraged as the young man groaned at his headache. “You been out cold a couple of days now. Why don’t you just relax a second? Get your bearings.”

“Is he alright?” Sunset asked, still astounded that this guy – who not a few days ago they’d seen gunned down – was sitting up as alive as her or the others.

“Well, I suppose there’s only one way to find out.” the doctor shrugged as he looked at the young man. “Let’s see what the damage is. How about your name? Can you tell me your name?”

“Ugh… it’s… it’s Marty. Marty Barron.” he groaned.

The doctor just chuckled a bit. “Can’t say it’s what I’d have picked for ya, but if that’s your name, that’s your name.” he shrugged as he glanced at his other patients. “And who might you ladies be?”

Marty looked over and his eyes opened in surprise when he saw the unusually colored girls. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.” she introduced herself as she indicated around at her friends. “These are my friends Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow at those names. “Well, I can certainly see where ya got ‘em from,” he remarked. “I’m Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings.” He turned back to Marty with a scrutinizing eye. “Now I hope you don’t mind, but I had to go rootin’ around there in yer noggin to pull all the bits of lead out.” Rarity could just feel her stomach turning at that description. “I take pride in my needlework, but you’d better tell me if I left anything out of place.” He reached over and handed Marty a small gadget that looked like a mirror. “How’d I do?”

Marty looked himself over in the mirror, examining his stubbly well-tanned face and long dirty brown hair. The only thing that really looked out of place was the small white scar right in the middle of his brow… from the bullet the other night, no doubt. “Everything looks okay to me.”

“Well, I got most of it right, anyway.” Doc Mitchell shrugged as he stood up. “Stuff that mattered. Okay, no sense keeping you in bed anymore. Let’s see if we can get you on your feet.”

“I can try.” Marty shrugged as he pulled himself up, shaky on his legs as his vision swam.

“Here, lemme give ya a hand.” Applejack offered as she grabbed his free hand and pulled him to his feet.

Marty blinked a few times and his vision cleared as he looked around. “Ugh. Thanks.” he nodded.

“Good.” Mitchell nodded as he watched Marty stand on his own two feet. “Why don’t you walk down to the end of the room? Over by that vigor tester machine there.” He pointed with his thumb to the machine in question at the far wall. “Take it slow now; it ain’t a race.” Doc Mitchell walked over to the machine as Marty started after him.

He stumbled a bit, catching himself on a gurney before he got his bearings right and walked slowly over to the machine. “Mm, lookin’ good so far. Go ahead and give the vigor tester a try. We’ll learn right quick if you got back all your faculties.”

Marty nodded and firmly gripped the handle of the machine, ending up with a fairly balanced set of numbers on something called a SPECIAL scale. The girls weren’t sure what to make of it, but Doc Mitchell seemed to trust it as he wrote down the numbers. “Yep, that's a pretty standard score there. But after what you been through, I'd say that's great news,” he remarked as he walked to the next room, the group quickly following. “Well, we know your vitals are good. But that don’t mean them bullets didn’t leave you nuttier than a Bighorner dropping. Whaddaya say you take a seat on my couch and we go through a couple questions? See if your dogs are still barkin’.”

“Alright.” Marty shrugged and sat down. The girls figured these questions were more for Marty than for them, so they waited outside as they ran through the questions.

As they went, Rainbow started to get curious about the machine. “What’s the deal with this thing anyway?”

“Not sure. Lemme see.” Sunset said as she knelt next to the machine, looking it over as she found something… a strange label. “Looks like it was made by some company called… Vault-Tec?”

“Never heard of it.” Twilight shrugged.

“That’s not really that surprising.” Rarity remarked. “This is hardly our own world.”

“Ain’t that the understatement of the week…” Applejack scoffed.

“All right, I guess that about does it.” Doc Mitchell remarked as he strode toward the girls. “Come with me, I’ll see you out.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Twilight nodded as they followed him to the door.

The doctor stopped Marty and handed him a few things. “Here; these are yours. Was all you had on you when you was brought in.” Among the items Marty was handed were a scrap of paper, four small needle-like items, a small pouch full of what sounded like coins, a small clutch of bobby pins, a small gun, and a few dozen rounds for it. “I hope you don’t mind, but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin. But it was just something about a platinum chip.”

That helped Marty remember it; the whole reason he’d been shot was over the platinum chip he was carrying. “What’s so important about a potato chip?” asked Rainbow.

“No, a poker chip.” Marty countered. “Guy who shot me stole it. And I need to find out why.”

“Well, if you’re headin’ back out there, you oughtta have this.” Doc Mitchell shrugged and handed the young man a strange device.

“What’s that?” asked Twilight. “Looks like a computer or something.”

“They call it a Pip-Boy.” Doc Mitchell explained as he helped Marty put it – and the included glove – on his left wrist. “I grew up in one of them Vaults they made before the war. We all got one.”

“Vaults? War?” Sunset thought in confusion.

“Ain’t much use to me now, but you might want such a thing after what you been through.” Doc Mitchell shrugged. “I know what it’s like, having something taken from you.” Then he handed Mitchell a large blue jumpsuit with yellow trim. “And put this on, too, so the locals don’t pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway.”

“Thanks.” Marty nodded and pulled the jumpsuit on, zipping it up before he examined the Pip-Boy on his wrist.

Twilight looked at the back of the jumpsuit and saw a bright yellow number on the back. “21? How many Vaults are there?”

“Who knows?” Doc Mitchell shrugged.

“All I wanna know is if you know anything about the guy who shot me,” Marty noted as he looked at the doctor.

“I didn’t see him or the men with him.” Doc shrugged. “You might ask around town, though. Could be someone saw which way they was headed. Your best bet would probably be Trudy, the bartender at the saloon up the road. If anyone saw anything, she’d know about it.”

“Like who dug me up?” Marty asked.

“That’d be Victor. Curious fella. He’s sort of odd. And I don’t just mean ‘cause he’s a robot.” Doc shrugged, not noticing the surprised intrigue that flashed across Twilight and Rainbow’s faces. “I couldn’t tell you much about him. He’s real friendly, don’t get me wrong. You just get the sense that ain’t the whole picture. Just a feeling.”

“Where can I find him?” asked Marty.

“Keeps to himself, mostly.” Doc shrugged. “You want to know more about him, you’ll have to ask him yourself. He has a shack on the southern edge of town.”

“What about you, Doc? What’s your story?” asked Applejack.

“Well, I already told you I came from a Vault. After that, I was a traveling doctor for a spell.” Mitchell remembered. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. Most folks out here ain’t educated, so people with medical know-how are hard to come by. Found that I could help a lot of people with what I knew, and that was all right with me. Eventually, I went back and married my childhood sweetheart and that was the end of my traveling days. Didn’t miss it none then. Still don’t.”

“You said you had something taken from you?” Twilight asked.

“Well, ain’t we all, right?” Doc shrugged. “That was a long time ago. I don’t pay it much mind anymore.” Thinking of it now seemed to pain the old doctor, so Twilight stayed quiet. Doc quickly changed the subject. “You ladies don’t look anywhere near well-equipped enough to handle the wasteland. You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourselves in the desert. She’ll likely be at the saloon. You ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I’ll fix you up. But try not to get killed anymore.”

“Do my damndest. Thanks, Doc.” Marty nodded as he opened the door… and welcomed the whole group with the blazing desert sun.

“Agh…” Marty groaned and shielded his eyes as he let them adjust. The girls looked out in awe; they’d never really thought much about this desert they were trapped in until now, and it looked fairly impressive… at least, as impressive as what they guessed was a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland could look anyway.

“What happened to this world anyway?” Twilight said breathlessly.

Marty just scoffed. “What rock have you girls been hiding under for the last two hundred years or so?” he asked as he started down the hill.

“Well, someone’s feeling chummy,” Rainbow remarked sarcastically.

“It’s a long story, Mr. Barron.” Twilight shrugged. “And to be quite honest, I’m not completely sure you would believe it.”

“Try me.” Marty shrugged. “And call me Marty.”

“Well… Marty… to put it simply, we’re from another world.” Twilight explained quickly.

Marty raised an eyebrow as he looked over the girls. “What, you’re aliens or something?”

“Eh, something like that.” Twilight shrugged. “I’m thinking we’re probably from another dimension or something, but the point is we don’t belong here; we’ve got to get back but we don’t know how.”

“And you obviously don’t know the first thing about the wasteland either.” Marty shrugged. “My advice? Find somewhere to hunker down and figure out how to get home yourselves; I got better things to do.”

“Like what? Get shot again?” asked Rainbow.

“S’just the way things go out here. If it ain’t holdin’ a gun, it’s tryin’ to eat ya.” Marty returned. “And right now, I gotta go find the fuck who put a bullet in me and give him the same courtesy.”

A handful of the girls grimaced at that language, but Sunset tried her best to ignore it. “The least you could do is let us come with you,” Sunset said seriously. “At least then we’d have some idea of where to go instead of just wandering around for no reason.”

“Fine. Just don’t slow me down.” Marty scowled as he kept walking along the blasted-out road. “I got one question; what’s with the…?” He gestured over Rainbow, unsure of how to describe it.

“You just pointed at all of me,” Rainbow remarked. Marty shrugged as if asking for clarification.

“You wanna know why we look like this?” Twilight’s question was met by a nod. “Well… this is sort of the norm in our world.”

“Hm. Must be some world.” Marty remarked.

“Our turn. What happened to this world?” asked Rainbow.

Marty sighed as he looked around. “War happened,” he said simply. “Bout two hundred years ago, the whole world damn-near nuked itself out of existence. Most of the only survivors hid in Vaults like Doc Mitchell, popped out after everything calmed down to rebuild society… and ended up formin’ tribes and a few sovereign nations. Everyone who isn’t recognized by those tribes or states or any of that… we’re all just tryin’ to survive out here any way we can. Me, I’m a courier, runnin’ packages across the desert to make ends meet, but… well, you saw how well my last job went.”

“Yeah, firsthand.” Sunset thought to herself.

“What sort of job was it?” Rainbow asked.

“See for yourself.” Marty handed her the note Doc Mitchell had given him, which she looked over.

“‘Mojave Express Delivery Order 6 of 6’.” she read aloud. “‘Instructions; Deliver the package to the north entrance to the Vegas Strip, by way of Freeside. An agent of the recipient will meet you at the checkpoint, take possession of the package, and pay for the delivery. Bring the payment to Johnson Nash at the Mojave Express agency in Primm. Bonus on completion: 250…’ Caps?”

“Bottle caps.” Marty clarified, pulling a few of the items out of the pouch the doc had handed to him.

“You use bottle caps for currency?” Rarity asked in confusion.

“Bout all we can use, really.” Marty shrugged as he set the caps back in his… wallet, I guess you could call it? – before he put it back on his belt. “Paper’s too delicate – despite the NCR’s efforts – but these things… tough, light, and well… name one other thing you could use ‘em for in a hell like this.”

“Wait, back up; NCR?” asked Sunset.

“New California Republic.” Marty clarified and pointed out west, aided in finding the direction with the compass on his new Pip-Boy. “They’re one of the main powers out here in the Mojave; set up out west, dedicated to old-world values; democracy, rule-of-law, all that crap. Not much good out here.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Twilight.

“Look at it this way; even in the places they outright dominate out west, there’s still raiders; crazy sons-of-bitches who’ll kill ya soon as look at ya just for fun,” Marty explained. “Course, you want a real power in the Mojave, look no further than the Strip.”

“‘The Strip’?” asked Sunset.

Marty walked to her side and pointed way out across the horizon. “You see that tower out there?” he asked, earning a nod from Sunset as she saw the high spire piercing the desert sky. “That there’s New Vegas; shining beacon for everyone with the wit, balls, and luck to try and make some cash. Whole town’s run by a spook called House; no one’s ever seen him in years though.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and went back to the note. “Okay, ‘Manifest: this package contains… one oversized poker chip, composed of platinum’.”

“Wait, pure platinum?” asked Twilight. “That thing must be insanely valuable.”

“Shoot, now Ah get why someone’d gun ya down fer that.” Applejack remarked to Marty.

“Yeah, I betcha there’s a lot more to it than that though.” Marty countered. “But I ain’t gonna find out standin’ around out here. So if you wanna come along, then let’s get goin’.”

“Right. Maybe we should talk to Victor first; get his story.” Twilight suggested.

“You’re just saying that because you want to see a robot.” Pinkie smirked. “Which, I guess I do too.” She giggled and snorted to herself as she skipped down the street.

“Chipper one, ain’t she?” Marty remarked.

“Yep. That’s Pinkie Pie for ya.” Applejack nodded.

Marty narrowed his eyes after Pinkie. “I give her three days. Tops.” That statement earned him some confused looks from the other girls. “Take it from one who knows; this wasteland has a way of eating people alive.”

“You’ve obviously never met Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow remarked as she limped over and handed Marty back his note. “She’s the most positive person any of us have ever met.”

“Twenty caps says I’m right.”

“You’re on,” Rainbow smirked as she clapped hands with the courier.

“You better make some money soon; I collect on my debts,” Marty smirked.

“Same to you,” Rainbow smirked right back. What she didn’t know was that she was going to end up paying that debt… and it would hurt more than her wallet.

Welcome to the Wasteland (pt. 2)

It was just then that Twilight heard what sounded like a single wheel rolling along the road behind them. She looked and saw a strange boxy machine with tube-like arms and a screen on the front… with a cowboy’s face on it. “What the…?” Marty looked and was surprised as well.

The robot whirred over and smiled at the courier. “Howdy pardner!” it smiled chipperly. “Might I say, you’re lookin’ fit as a fiddle.”

“Victor?” Marty asked flatly, almost predicting the response.

“At yer service.” the robot smiled.

“Well, thanks for diggin’ me out of that grave,” Marty noted.

“Don’t mention it. I’m always ready to lend a helpin’ hand to a stranger in need.” Victor smiled.

“How’d you happen to find him?” asked Applejack.

“I was out for a stroll that night when I heard the commotion up at the old bone orchard,” Victor remembered as he pointed up the hill. “Saw what looked like a bunch of bad eggs, so I laid low.”

“Yeah, we thought the same,” Rainbow remarked, but quickly clapped her hands over her mouth once she’d said it as Marty looked back at them.

“Wait, you saw what happened to me?!” he asked in annoyance.

“Yeah, but we ran as soon as we heard the gunshot,” Sunset assured in concern. “Frankly, we’re more than a bit surprised to see you up and about again.”

“Well, they ain’t the only ones,” Victor remarked. “Once them fellers had run off, I dug you up to see if you were still kickin’. Turns out you were, so I hauled you off to the doc right quick.”

“Do you know who they were? The guys who attacked me?” asked Marty.

“Can’t say that I’m familiar with the rascals.” Victor shrugged. “Some of the fine folks in town might be able to help you out with that.”

“I have to say, I’ve never seen a robot like you before,” Twilight remarked as she looked the machine over.

“I’m a Securitron. RobCo security model 2060-B. If you ever see any of my brothers, tell ‘em Victor says howdy.” Victor smiled.

“So how’d a nice feller like you end up out here?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, I moseyed into town, oh, ten, fifteen years ago?” Victor shrugged. “Before that, I…” He stopped, as if trying to think. “Hmmm. I can’t quite seem to recall. Odd.” Twilight quietly agreed; that was odd, but Victor didn’t seem too bothered by it. “Anyway, it’s a right peaceful town and I reckon it’s as fine a place to settle as any.”

“Thanks, Victor. See ya round.” Marty shrugged as he walked off.

“Happy trails!” Victor smiled and kept on rolling.

“So… that was weird,” Sunset remarked.

“No kidding.” Rainbow agreed. “What’s a robot like him doing all the way out here? And why doesn’t he remember anything?”

“I have a bad feeling we’ll find out and we won’t like it,” Twilight said, though she could clearly see it was upsetting Fluttershy. “On the other hand, it could just be a glitch in his systems or something.”

“Hey guys!” Pinkie called from the porch of a saloon nearby. The group quickly wandered over and smiled as they saw their friend… as well as an old man sitting against the wall.

“Howdy.” Marty nodded to the old man.

“Howdy. What can Easy Pete do for you?” the old man asked.

“Well for starters, how’d you get a name like that?” asked Rainbow.

“Was a prospector until I decided to settle here to get away from the NCR.” Pete shrugged. “Now I just take it easy and help out with the Brahmin and Bighorners.”

“Prospector… like diggin’ fer gold an’ silver?” asked Applejack.

“Nah, nah.” Pete countered. “Means I poked through old buildings lookin’ for workin’ tech and such. Some folks just call it ‘salvaging’, but never liked the term.”

“Why not?” asked Twilight.

“Well, way I see it, salvage means it’s broken, near-worthless,” Pete explained. “Me, I looked for the good stuff – guns, chems, spare parts. Good money in it.”

“Find anything really good?” asked Rainbow.

“Nope. Had a pretty good claim once, way out east by the river, but got run off by raiders.” Pete remembered. “Eventually, got too old to keep goin’ out.”

“What’s everyone’s deal with the NCR?” asked Sunset.

“Aw, don’t get me wrong; NCR’s got a lot of decent folk in it. It’s just that they make you part of ‘em whether you like it or not.” Pete explained.

“They’re conquerors.” Sunset rationalized.

“Fraid so.” Pete shrugged. “Towns like Goodsprings or Primm don’t stay independent for long, not if you’ve got something the NCR wants. Still, the NCR keeps the Legion away.”

“‘Legion’?” asked Rarity.

“Caesar’s Legion.” Marty elaborated. “Nation of slavers east of the river.” The girls were shocked; they figured the apocalypse would be bad, but they weren’t expecting slavery to be present. Especially not Sunset Shimmer; slavery in Equestria had been unheard of for thousands of years, but now she was in a place where it was part of life for some?

“Couple years ago, they tried to take over Hoover Dam, but the NCR beat ‘em back.” Pete continued. “The NCR didn’t – or couldn’t – finish the job though. Now the Legion’s got its strength back and is getting ready for another round at the Dam. My money’s still on the NCR winning, but you never know.”

“Always smart to hedge your bets in a time like this.” Marty agreed, looking back at the girls. “I’ve heard rumors about a few Legionnaires this side of the river, so unless you wanna get caught and enslaved, you gotta know how to shoot.”

“Right. Is Sunny Smiles in?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, she’s in there.” Pete nodded. “Figures a bunch of rookie outta-towners would be lookin’ for her. But I gotta say; in all my years in this wasteland, I ain’t never seen mutations quite like yours.”

“We were born like this,” Sunset said simply.

“Well then, I’d say you’re lucky.” Easy Pete remarked. “Most folks who get born with mutations don’t end up lastin’ very long.”

“So wait, what’s so important about the dam?” Rainbow asked.

“Powers a lot of New Vegas,” Pete replied. “Then there’s all that clean water sittin’ in Lake Mead too. Anybody who owns the dam owns the territory.”

“Makes sense,” Twilight remarked. “If you have access to the biggest power generator and source of clean water in the desert, you can threaten to turn it off any time you want. That gives you a lot of power.”

“Indeed it does.” Easy Pete nodded.

“So what’re them Bighorners for?” asked Applejack.

“Meat and hide, mostly.” Pete shrugged. “Can’t put a pack on ‘em; they just lay down until you take it off.” He pointed up the hill. “Can find a bunch of wild ones high up in the hills, but gotta be careful around ‘em. They can put up a decent fight if cornered.”

“What about that Victor fellow?” Rarity asked, pointing after the robot. “What do you know about him?”

“The machine?” Pete asked. “Harmless, no matter what Trudy says. She thinks it’s hidin’ something, but I think it’s just a broken-down relic with no place to be.”

“What about those guys who attacked me? Know anything about them?” asked Marty.

“The one in the fancy suit seemed to be callin’ the shots, that’s as much as I know.” Pete shrugged. “Other folks in town might know more. Word of advice though: if you ever catch up with him, watch out. The man’s got cold eyes like a snake. Can’t be trusted, I’d say.”

“Don’t gotta tell me that,” Marty noted bluntly.

“Well, thanks, Pete.” Twilight nodded. “Have a good day.”

“Keep a gun handy if you go pokin’ around some of the abandoned places around here, like the schoolhouse. Critters move in there sometimes.” Pete warned.

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Sunset noted as the group went into the saloon… and were immediately accosted by a dog in the billiard hall, which barked and snapped at them.

“Whoa there, hun; easy.” Applejack tried to soothe the beast until a young woman walked over.

“Cheyenne, stay.” The dog relaxed at that as the woman looked at the group. “Don’t worry, she won’t bite unless I tell her to.”

“You Sunny Smiles?” asked Marty.

“The one and only.”

“Doc said you could help teach these kids how to survive the wastes.” He pointed at the girls.

Sunny raised an eyebrow at the girls for a moment but shrugged. “Yeah, I guess there’s a thing or two I could show you.” She glanced up at Marty with a smirk. “Sounds like you need all the help you can get after what they done to you.”

“What do you know about them?”

“Not much. Trudy probably knows more. Right now, cmon out back.” Sunny led the group out behind the saloon where she’d set a few empty bottles on a fence. Then she handed Marty a rifle and a few rounds of ammo. “Alright, now take this and try to shoot some of those sarsaparilla bottles down.”

“Piece of cake,” Marty remarked as he shouldered the rifle. He looked down the sights and with a quick shot, one of the bottles exploded off the fence. The girls were more than a bit concerned as he reloaded the rifle and handed it to Sunset; none of them had ever needed or wanted to shoot anything before, and though they knew they were strapped for options, they still really didn’t want to.

Sunset took a breath to try and calm herself as she leveled the rifle, taking a quick shot. The rifle kicked her in the shoulder like a mule, and when she looked, she saw she’d only managed to shoot the top off of the bottle she was aiming for. She figured that was close enough, so she reloaded the rifle and passed it down the line.

The other girls all took a shot with the rifle and all ended up with variable results, though surprisingly Fluttershy was the best shot out of all of them… which was especially a surprise considering how much she didn’t want to use the rifle at all. “Well, that’s a start.” Sunny smiled. “But I don’t reckon you came to me to learn to fight sarsaparilla bottles.”

“You’re right; we didn’t,” Marty noted as he took the rifle back. “Got anything more challengin’ in mind?”

“Tell ya what; I gotta go chase some geckos away from our water supply anyway.” Sunny shrugged. “Damn critters are attracted to it. Why don’t you come along?”

“I suppose if you want us…” Rarity shrugged.

“Follow me; it’s just down to the southeast a short ways.” Sunny remarked as she hiked off in that direction, the group quickly following her along the old road through what looked like residential ruins until they reached a high ridgeline… where the girls heard some familiar snarling. “Hear that? Them’s the geckos.”

“So what are they; mutated desert lizards or something?” asked Twilight.

“Buncha little monsters is what they are.” Sunny smirked. “Seems like Doc Mitchell treats more gecko bites than anything else.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Rainbow noted as she gestured to her stitched-up leg. “Look, I don’t know how much help I’m gonna be here.”

“Just stay low; we can handle it,” Marty assured as he and Sunny prepped their rifles.

“Let’s see if we can get a little closer.” Sunny suggested. “If we move quietly, we can get the jump on ‘em. More likely to hit something vital that way.”

“Right.” The two quickly slunk around toward the well, with the girls following close behind. There were only two geckos the group could see near the large well, and it looked like they didn’t notice the group yet… until Marty whistled tauntingly which immediately drew their attention and sent the geckos running straight at them until Marty and Sunny put them both down with a few well-placed bullets. “Bullseye.”

“Two more wells that still need clearing.” Sunny suggested. “Might be nice to let the kids have a turn with the rifles. Be worth a few caps if you help me out.”

“Sure.” Marty smiled as he passed Rainbow his rifle. “I still intend to collect when I win that bet.”

“Someone’s awfully confident,” Rainbow smirked as she checked the rifle.

“Let’s just say I know how people react to the unfamiliar.” Marty shrugged.

“Whatever.” Rainbow shrugged as she slung the rifle onto her shoulder.

“Shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes. Especially with you guys helpin’.” Sunny said as she led the group onward. Rainbow seemed to be dragging her leg a bit to keep up with her though, and Marty noticed.

“Here,” he said and handed her a small needle with a strange gauge at the top.

“What’s this?” Rainbow asked.

“Stimpak. Painkillers, stimulants, and coagulants; wanderer’s best friend for when they’re hurt, even heals bones a good degree.” Marty shrugged. “I’ve only got a few on me though, so unless I can loot some more, I’ve gotta be sparing with ‘em.”

“Looting? That seems a bit dark, don’t you think?” Rarity remarked.

“Listen, kid, I don’t know what it’s like in your world, but when someone puts a bullet in your head or steals meds from you in the Mojave, they ain’t doin’ it ‘cause they wanna be your friend.” Marty returned, turning back to Rainbow. “If you don’t want the Stimpak, give it back.”

“No,” Rainbow said almost protectively as she brought the needle to her leg. It hurt more than a bit going in, but once she pulled the small trigger and let the contents into her leg, it immediately felt better. “Huh. Man, this thing’s nice.”

“Yeah. One use only though.” Marty shrugged. “You can just drop that in the sand; no one cares.”

“Um… I-I care.” Fluttershy countered quietly.

“Fluttershy’s an environmentalist.” Rarity explained simply.

“Pfft. Look around, kid; this place is a radioactive dustbowl full of bloodthirsty pests.” Marty shrugged. “It doesn’t care about us; why should we care about it?”

“Heads up; more geckos.” Sunny remarked, driving the group from this discussion as they saw the lizards charging toward them. Rainbow quickly raised her rifle and took one of the geckos down with a quick headshot as Sunny took another, but the third was still charging.

Rainbow tried to shoot it, but her gun wouldn’t work. “Uh, I think I’m jammed!” she remarked.

“I got it.” Marty nodded as he pulled his pistol. It took a few more bullets from this gun than the other to take down the lizard, but it went down all the same.

As they moved to the third well, Rainbow did her best to unjam her gun. They reached the third well, but Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Everything looks okay to me.”

Suddenly the group heard someone screaming near a lower ridge. “You were saying?” Twilight asked as they followed the screaming… and saw a settler cornered by a group of geckos.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Applejack remarked as she grabbed the rifle from Rainbow, which she quickly managed to unjam and kill all three of the assailing geckos.

Twilight was relieved this was over, but couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for Fluttershy. “Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know…” Fluttershy shrugged. She’d tried to talk to the gecko that attacked Rainbow that morning, but it wouldn’t listen to a word she said, and she knew these geckos were no different, but that didn’t make it any better to see them die.

“You okay there, pardner?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, thanks.” the settler nodded up at them. “If you hadn’t come here like you done, I’d be a goner for sure.”

“What are you doing out here?” asked Sunset.

“I came up here to draw water, but here.” the settler tossed Sunset a small pack full of freshly-filled water bottles. “You should have what I got. You look thirsty.”

“We can’t accept this,” Sunset said seriously.

“Naw, sure ya can. Think of it as me makin’ sure we’re even.” the settler smiled as she wandered off back toward town.

Sunny smiled as she approached the two. “Now that was some good work,” she said. “Even got a little exciting there at the end.”

“I’d say so.” Sunset shrugged as she slung the small pack over her shoulder.

“Here. Little spending money for your trouble.” Sunny handed Twilight a small pouch of caps.

“Thanks,” she said as she checked, seeing it pretty well-filled.

“One more thing I wanted to show you.” Sunny noted as she walked over to a small campfire made of cinder blocks. “Thought I might teach you about living off the land and making useful things for yourself. Interested?”

“Couldn’t hurt.” Twilight shrugged.

“Alright then. We’ll need a couple ingredients to get started; Xander root and a broc flower.” Sunny noted.

“And where do we find those?” asked Applejack.

“Uh, lemme think now; I know I’ve seen Broc flowers growing up at the graveyard.” Sunny pondered. “And I seem to remember there being Xander Root over by the schoolhouse. Bring those on back to me here, and we’ll get cooking.”

“Looks like we’re splitting up.” Twilight shrugged. “Half of us check the graveyard, half check the schoolhouse.”

“I’m goin’ to the graveyard, that’s for damn sure,” Marty noted. “Wanna see where I was buried; try and find some clues as to who that guy in the suit was.”

“Alright, Twilight and I will go with you,” Sunset noted. “You too, Rainbow. The rest of you check the schoolhouse for that root stuff.”

“Got it.” Applejack nodded.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa, when did we put you in charge?” asked Rainbow.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack seemed offended by this suggestion.

“What? I’m just saying that maybe we’re a little out of our depth here.” Rainbow remarked. “Shouldn’t we have the more experienced guy take charge?”

“This ‘more experienced guy’ got shot in the head and wants to find out why. I think you’re better off with your own hierarchy.” Marty countered as he leaned against the rocks nearby.

“Look, I know this isn’t ideal, but fundamentally, it’s no different than anything else we’ve ever gone through,” Sunset assured. “As long as we’re all together, we’ll manage just fine.”

Rainbow sighed as she looked at her friend. “I hope you’re right. For all our sakes,” she said as she walked up the ridge back toward town.

“Me too,” Sunset muttered to herself.

Soon enough, the group had all made it back to Goodsprings and Applejack had led her team into the ruins of the town as the others went up the hill. “Think you’ll be able to talk whatever critters we find here down, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked seriously.

“I- I hope so.” she returned; she was still worried that all the animals of the Mojave might be just as violent as geckos, but was silently hoping for something better.

It wasn’t hard to find the schoolhouse; it was a large red building near the hills. They searched the perimeter but didn’t find any of the root Sunny sent them after… but they did find some interesting critters; two abnormally massive praying mantises near the east door. “You’re on.” Applejack whispered to Fluttershy.

She gulped a bit and approached, quietly talking to the mantises which seemed to understand as they clicked and chittered to her. Fluttershy smiled as she stood up. “They know where the root is and they say they’ll lead us to it.”

“Well, that’s lovely. We were due for a spot of good luck today.” Rarity smiled as the mantises led the group to a certain spot where the bugs started digging and produced a small claw full of strange brown roots.

“What’s so special about this stuff?” asked Applejack.

Pinkie immediately took one of the roots and licked it, much to everyone’s concern but Pinkie just spit into the dirt nearby. “Ugh! Bitter. Whatever Sunny wants to teach us how to cook, it can’t taste good.”

“You make me ask a lot of questions I never thought I would otherwise.” Applejack remarked.

Once they’d separated off from the group, Marty and the others wandered up the hill to the north. There were a few giant scorpions and a few large strange flying insects Marty referred to as bloatflies they had to deal with, but once they were cleared out, the cemetery was clear… and it was bleak. The view was magnificent, but being surrounded by so many graves unsettled Sunset more than a bit.

But what really unsettled her was a recently opened grave near a large “keep out” sign at the northern ridge. “This was it,” she noted to Marty. “Where we saw those guys bury you.”

“Well, they gave me a nice view at least.” Marty joked though it didn’t do anywhere near enough to help ease his mood. With nothing else to do, he started looking around the grave… and saw some distinctive cigarette butts lying around. “Hm… this oughtta come in handy.” He picked up a handful of these butts and slipped them into his satchel.

Twilight wasn’t sure those would be enough to really help Marty, but it didn’t matter to her because she suddenly found a small plant nearby. She plucked a flower from it and examined it in her hand. “Is this what we’re looking for?” she asked.

Marty looked and shrugged. “Must be. Cmon, let’s get back down to the others.” With that, the team left the graveyard with sobering thoughts on their minds.

The team reunited on the way out of town and soon returned to Sunny near the campfire at the well. “Got what you asked for,” Rainbow noted, handing Sunny the materials.

“Yeah, these’ll do just fine. Just fine.” Sunny smiled. “Alright now, we’re gonna be making somethin’ folks on the trail call healing powder.”

“Folk medicine? Why would we need this if we have Stimpaks?” Rainbow asked in confusion.

“There aren’t that many Stimpaks left in the Mojave to go around.” Marty shrugged. “Besides, you’d be surprised how often folk medicine actually works.”

“He’s not wrong.” Fluttershy agreed nervously as she accepted the ingredients from Sunny and moved to the campfire, grinding the ingredients on a stone into a fine powder.

“Hey, that’s not bad.” Sunny nodded. “See? All it takes to make a recipe like this is the right ingredients and the right know-how.”

“Yeah, but a campfire won’t help when your gun starts to fall apart or you run out of bullets.” Marty countered.

“Yeah, important thing to get is it’s all the same idea.” Sunny remarked. “Just need to find the right place to set up shop. Workbench or… a reloading bench, whatever.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off her legs. “Well, I hope that’s enough to get you started. I’m heading back to town now; hope I didn’t miss anything good on the jukebox. Cheyenne would never forgive me.” The dog barked happily as she rubbed against Sunny’s leg.

“Alright, thanks Sunny.” Twilight smiled as the rest of the group stood up and they all made their way to town.

“Hey, do me a favor?” Sunny asked.

“Anything,” Sunset noted.

“Trudy; she’s the bartender up at the Prospector, kinda the town mom. She likes to welcome newcomers.” Sunny shrugged. “She’d be cross with me if I didn’t ask you to poke your head in and say hi.”

“Thanks, we’ll do that.” Sunset nodded as they made their way to the saloon… but what they would find there was something they were in no way prepared for.

Gunfight

As soon as the group all returned to the Prospector Saloon, Sunny and Cheyenne propped themselves up right next to the jukebox and listened. The girls were a bit confused about what to do now until they saw an older lady near the bar talking to someone… rather harshly. “I’m done being nice.” the man threatened. “If you don’t hand Ringo over soon, I’m going to get my friends and we’re burning this town to the ground, got it?”

Sunset and Twilight were more than a bit concerned by that as the lady stood her ground. “We’ll keep that in mind. Now, if you’re not going to buy something, get out.”

The man scoffed and walked toward the door, suddenly bumping into Marty on the way out. “What the hell is your problem?” he asked with an edge to his voice.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help overhearing.” Marty said simply. “Who’s this Ringo guy you’re lookin’ for?”

“He’s some trader who decided he’d rather shoot than pay the toll for being in our territory.” the thug scowled. “He’s hiding somewhere in town. Would serve these idiots right if me and my guys shot the place up after we got payback on Ringo.”

“Fraid we can’t allow that, pardner.” Applejack sneered as she walked behind him.

“Oh yeah? And what do you think you’re gonna do?” he asked.

“Trust me, pal; you don’t wanna know,” Rainbow smirked.

The thug’s eyes went wide at the sight of Rainbow and the other girls. “The fuck kinda mutants are you?”

“The kind that get born looking like this,” Sunset said simply.

“Doesn’t matter to me.” the thug remarked. “Just let me leave you with one friendly word of advice; you wanna do business in our territory, you pay our toll same as Ringo.”

“This place is your turf?” asked Sunset.

“It is now. Me and the rest of the guys busted out of the NCR prison east of here and took over. Now we’re callin’ the shots.” The girls were more than a bit surprised; they were talking to a wanted man? “And unless you want one of those shots through your pretty head, I suggest you stay out of our way.” With that, he tromped out of the saloon.

“Well, that fellow was pleasant.” Rarity remarked.

“Glad to see you folks haven’t stopped causin’ a stir.” the older lady smiled as she moved behind the bar. “Glad I finally got to meet you. Welcome to the Prospector Saloon.”

“You must be Trudy. Marty Barron; I’ll take a beer.” the courier noted as he slapped a few caps on the bar. “I’m tryin’ to track down the people who attacked me. Know anything about them?”

Trudy just shrugged as she handed Marty a bottle of beer. “Not much, other than they’re a bunch of freeloaders who expected a few rounds on the house,” she said. “I was able to get them to pay up though. Of course, one of the Great Khans did knock my radio to the floor ‘by accident’, and it hasn’t been working since.” She gestured to the small radio on the shelf behind the bar, sitting silently.

“Did they say where they were going?” asked Marty.

“They were havin’ some kind of argument about it, but the guy in the checkered coat kept shushin’ ‘em,” Trudy remembered. “Sounded like they came in from the north through Quarry Junction. If that’s the case, I can’t say I blame ‘em for not wanting to go back.”

“Why’s that?” asked Applejack.

“That whole area’s overrun with the kind of critters that just get mad if you shoot ‘em,” Trudy explained, worrying several of the girls. “Merchants avoid that whole stretch of I-15 like it’s radioactive. Which it could be for all I know.”

“So steer clear of I-15; got it,” Rainbow noted. “So where were these guys headed?”

“I didn’t hear exactly, but the leader was talking about the Strip,” Trudy remembered. “Fella wants to get there and avoid the 15, he’d have to go east. Take Highway 93 up.”

“Mind if I take a look at your radio? I might be able to fix it.” Twilight offered.

“Sure, the outside looks okay, but I think something broke on the inside.” Trudy shrugged. “There’d be caps in it for you. I do like to hear what’s going on in the world. And that Mr. New Vegas seems like such a gentleman.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” Twilight shrugged as she moved to the radio, opening up the back before she set to work.

“So who are these Great Khans?” asked Rainbow.

“Drug-runners,” Marty remembered. “They’re some of the biggest chem pushers in the Mojave. Find a vial of Jet or Psycho out here and ten-to-one it’s got a Khan stamp on it. Course, drugs don’t pay for everything so they also run mercenary work. Which is how I ended up with this beauty.” He rubbed absently at the scar on his forehead.

Finally, Twilight closed up the radio and turned it on, letting music fill the saloon again. “There we go, good as new.” she smiled as she stepped back around to the others. “Just a few things popped loose inside when it fell; not a major fix-job.”

“Well, all the same, thanks.” Trudy smiled as she slid fifty caps across the bar to her. “Here’s some caps for the work.”

“Thanks, Trudy.” Twilight smiled as she took the money.

“You know the robot that dug me up?” Marty asked.

“I know that… thing… as much as anyone else around here.” Trudy scowled. “It mostly keeps to itself, which is just fine by me.”

“So what’s he do around here?” asked Applejack.

“Other than rolling around once in a while, it doesn’t do anything useful as far as I can tell.” Trudy shrugged, turning back to Marty. “I don’t know why it took an interest in you, but I’d be careful. It’s never helped anyone before.”

“Ah yes, Easy Pete mentioned you didn’t like him.” Rarity remembered.

“It acts friendly enough, but I don’t trust that whole ‘cheerful cowboy’ act.” Trudy shrugged. “I find it all very creepy.”

“How long has he been in town?” asked Applejack.

“It was here when I took over the saloon seven years ago,” Trudy remembered. “Some people have said its owner lived here, but no one knows who it was.”

“Well, as long as we’re here, I think it should be obvious we overheard your little argument.” Sunset pointed out. “What was it all about?”

“Looks like our little town got itself dragged into the middle of something we don’t want anything to do with,” Trudy remarked. “About a week ago, this trader – Ringo – comes into town. Survivor of an attack, he says. Bad men after him, needs a place to hide. We figured he was just in shock, so we gave him a place to lie low. We didn’t actually expect anyone to come after him.”

“Lemme guess; that guy’s goons?” Rainbow pointed after the man who’d just left.

“He’s a convict. Just without the chains.” Trudy nodded. “Said his name was Cobb. Joe Cobb. ‘Powder Gangers’ is what they call themselves. Plenty more like him out there.”

“Powder Gangers?” asked Twilight.

“Chain gangs, really.” Trudy shrugged. “The NCR brought ‘em in from California to work on the rail lines. Problem is it turns out giving convicts a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder isn’t the best idea.”

“Wow, just hearing it out loud makes it sound stupid,” Rainbow remarked as she opened one of the water bottles the group got earlier. “Lemme guess; they busted loose?”

“Not too long ago, yeah.” Trudy nodded. “Some of ‘em stuck together so they could make trouble. That’s what we’re dealing with now.”

“Why not just kill Cobb and be done with it?” The girls were shocked at this suggestion from Marty, especially considering how cold he was being about it.

“You mean murder him? That’s not our way, even if Cobb is scum.” Trudy assured, which relieved the girls in ways they couldn’t describe. “He can bluster and threaten all he wants.”

“So where’s Ringo now?” asked Applejack.

“He’s holed up at the abandoned gas station up the hill.” Trudy pointed out the window up the hill.

“I know that place; we passed by it on our way up to the cemetery,” Sunset remembered.

“So what are you going to do?” asked Twilight.

“Some of the others, like Sunny, will probably stand up for Ringo if he asks for help, which he hasn’t.” Trudy shrugged. “Personally, I hope he sneaks out of town one night and takes the Powder Gangers with him.”

“That’s if they figure out that he’s snuck out,” Rainbow remarked simply.

“What do you mean?” asked Sunset.

“Think about it; if he disappears without Cobb realizing it, they’ll just make more trouble for the town,” she explained, looking at Trudy. “And if you don’t know where he went, then you won’t be able to send Cobb on his way.”

“So if we helped Ringo out…” Sunset remarked.

“If you were able to get Ringo out of this mess, you’d have a decent reputation around Goodsprings.” Trudy smiled. “I’d even set you up with a discount.”

“Done deal.” Marty nodded as he stood up. He slugged down the last of his beer and made for the door, closely followed by the girls… who were more than a bit concerned about the company they’d started keeping in the wasteland.

It wasn’t exactly difficult to find the gas station; it was up the hill next to Doc Mitchell’s place and had a large sign above it that said Poseidon Energy. “Alright, you girls stay out here. This guy’s been hidin’ from a gang of gunslingers for a few days, so he probably won’t understand you folks.”

“That’s… probably a good idea.” Sunset nodded.

“Oh please Darling, I’m sure I could talk him out of whatever panic he may be experiencing easily.” Rarity assured as she stepped forward. “Just step back and let a lady handle this.” With that, she opened the door… and was met by a young man holding a pistol at the ready aimed straight at her stomach.

“That’s close enough, mutant,” he warned as he cocked his pistol. “Now who are you and what do you want with me?”

Rarity was at something of a loss; she wanted to tell him to calm down, but the gun pointed at her put her heart in her throat. No one said anything until Marty leaned against the doorframe calmly. “If you’re gonna shoot, you’d better not miss,” he said chillingly.

Rarity glared back at him, more than ready to yell at him, but instead, this young man just uncocked his gun and holstered it. “Sorry about the gun; you just caught me off-guard, that’s all.”

“Whew. Well, that makes two of us.” Rarity assured as she found her voice, leaning against the gas station counter in relief.

“We got off to a bad start.” the man shrugged. “What say we start over with a friendly game of Caravan? You know how to play?”

“Ringo, ain’t it?” Applejack shrugged as the other girls all piled into the room, earning a nod from the young man. “Well, fraid not. How do ya play?”

“It’s a two-player game; winner gets the whole pot,” Ringo explained. “You build a ‘caravan’ using the cards in your deck. The goal is to create caravan bids that beat your opponent’s, so there’s more strategy than luck involved. It’s why you won’t see Caravan in any casino – too slow-paced, and more importantly, no house edge.” He reached into his belt and retrieved something. “Here, take this holotape – it goes into more specifics about the rules.” The tape looked like a large metal box with what looked like a cassette or film tape inside, which Marty took. “You’ll also need some decks, so take a few of my spares.” The decks were small and looked fairly simple, but Sunset still gladly accepted them.

“Thanks,” she said.

“So, any of you feel like playin’ a game?” Ringo asked.

“Maybe some other time.” Marty interrupted. “You know there’s a guy in town named Joe Cobb looking for you?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t look very tough, though.” Ringo shrugged. “I hear he’s afraid I’ll shoot him down from one of the windows when I see him, and he’s right.” That chilled several of the girls to the bone; the geckos they could understand – they were too feral for even Fluttershy to communicate with – but how could people talk so casually about killing other people. “I’ll have a much bigger problem once his friends show up. There’s no way I could handle all of them in a gunfight.”

“What’re you doing here anyway?” asked Twilight.

“Oh, sorry. I thought everybody knew already.” Ringo shrugged, pulling a small badge from his belt. “I’m a trader with the Crimson Caravan Company. I’m just, uh… stayin’ in town until this whole thing with Cobb blows over.”

“Crimson Caravan?”

“It’s been in business for a very long time, and is probably the biggest trading outfit in California.” Ringo shrugged as he sat down on a small chair behind the counter. “There’s a branch up in New Vegas, but it hasn’t been doing so well. Word is that the big boss herself, Alice McLafferty, is coming in to fix things.”

“Why is Cobb’s gang out to get you?” asked Rainbow.

“My caravan was on the return trip from California and heading back up to the company branch in New Vegas when we got jumped,” Ringo explained. “Not even a ‘drop your weapons and hands up’ before the bullets started flying. We put up a good fight, but there was too many of them. I took a few of the bandits down before I ran, so I figure their friends are out for revenge.”

“That’s not what Cobb told us.” Rainbow remarked.

“You spoke to him, huh?” Ringo asked, subtly reaching for his pistol.

“Relax, we’re not on his side or anything,” Twilight assured, though Ringo was still on guard.

“So what are you going to do?” asked Fluttershy.

“I’m gonna lay low for as long as I can, assuming the town doesn’t throw me to the wolves.” Ringo shrugged. “I’ve got no chance against the gang on my own.”

“Well, if you need a hired gun or eight, we’re available,” Marty smirked, earning scared looks from the girls.

“Well, I certainly appreciate that.” Ringo nodded. “All I’ve got left on me are a handful of caps, but you get me out of this, and I’ll make sure the Crimson Caravan Company pays you back. You’ve got my word.”

“There’s really no need for payment,” Sunset assured.

“Speak for yourself; I’m still out of pocket for not finishing that contract,” Marty whispered to her.

“So what’s the plan?” asked Twilight.

Ringo shook his head. “Even if it was the nine of us, we’d just end up sharin’ the same grave,” he assured. “Now, if some of the other people in town were also on board…”

“What, you don’t think we can handle ourselves?” Rainbow asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Marty, reminding her of marksmanship training.

“I was thinkin’ of myself, actually.” Ringo countered. “Who’s gonna watch my back while I’m watchin’ yours?”

“He’s not wrong,” Twilight whispered to Sunset. “I don’t know if we should tell anyone about our magic, and even with it, we’re probably outmatched; we don’t know how many men Cobb has with him.”

Sunset quietly nodded and stepped forward. “We’ll ask around town; see who we can round up to help.”

“Start with Sunny Smiles; she’s been friendlier than most around here,” Ringo suggested.

No argument there; without Sunny, the girls would barely know how to shoot. They left the gas station and tromped back down the hill to the saloon where they found Sunny still propped up against the jukebox. She smiled when she saw her new friends enter the saloon and walked over. “Hi there. Stickin’ around Goodsprings for awhile longer?”

“Long enough to deal with the Powder Gangers.” Rainbow shrugged. “We’re gonna be helping Ringo out, but we could use your help.”

“Say no more. I’m in.” Sunny said simply.

The group was more than a bit surprised. “Just like that?” asked Marty.

“Just like that.” Sunny shrugged. “I have a feeling that I’m gonna end up fighting those guys one way or another, so I might as well get it over with.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Sunset.

“Joe Cobb talks about leaving us alone if we hand over Ringo, but I know his type.” Sunny explained. “He and his friends will come after the town eventually.”

“Makes sense. But I gotta say, even with all of us and Ringo, I think we ain’t exactly a force to be reckoned with.” Applejack remarked. “We’re gonna need more help. Any ideas?”

“A lot of people around here look up to Trudy.” Sunny suggested. “Convince her to join up with us, and I bet some of the other folks in town might decide to help out too.” She looked out the window now. “I know Easy Pete’s got a stock of dynamite somewhere, and Chet just got a shipment of leather armor we could borrow. Talk to them too.”

“Doubt we’ll make it out of this without a scratch,” Marty remarked. “I’ll talk to Doc Mitchell too, see if he’s willin’ to cough up some extra meds.”

“Alright, we’ve got a plan. Let’s get to it; meet at the gas station later.” Twilight nodded as the group split up again. Twilight and Sunset remained in the saloon and went to the bar to talk to Trudy. “I take it you heard most of that?”

“The important bits.” Trudy shrugged as she scrubbed out a glass. “So you’re planning on taking on Joe Cobb’s gang. It’s a big risk, but I suppose you have to do what you think is right.”

“We can’t handle this alone,” Sunset assured. “We could use your help. Maybe set up an ambush for Cobb when he rides into town.”

“Well, I was planning on sitting this one out, but for some reason, I can’t help but like you kids.” Trudy smiled. “I’m with you. Let me have a word with a few other folks and I’ll see if I can’t round up some more members for this militia you’re creating.”

“How well-equipped will it be?” Sunset asked.

“Well, while everyone in town does own a gun, we could stand to be a little better equipped.” Trudy shrugged. “The general store probably has what we need in stock.”

“Don’t worry; the others are already handling it,” Twilight assured.

And indeed, Rarity and Fluttershy had just entered the old general store. It was a rundown old place with a dead cooler in the center of the room, a small generator rattling quietly in the corner, and blown-out glass display cases at the counter, behind which a scruffy man was wandering, but his eyebrow rose when he saw the girls. “Well now… you must be friends of the one Doc Mitchell was patching up,” he remarked.

“Indeed we are. Rarity and Fluttershy, at your service.” she introduced.

“Name’s Chet. Way I heard it, I didn’t think that guy would be walkin’ out of that office.” the owner remarked.

“Yes, that was somewhat surprising.” Rarity remarked. “While we’re on the subject, I don’t suppose you know anything about the people who attacked him?”

“Not much.” Chet shrugged. “The leader was a New Vegas type, typical city boy. He had a bunch of Great Khans with him, probably hired guns. Khans normally stay in their own territory way up northwest, on account of them being enemies with the NCR.”

“Ha- Have you ever been to New Vegas?” Fluttershy asked.

“Twice,” Chet remembered. “Both times, I drank a lot of liquor and lost most of my caps at the card tables. In that order, now that I think about it. If you ever make it out there, be sure to visit Gomorrah. It’s the best casino in the city. You won’t regret it. Word of advice though; behave. Between the NCR military police and Mr. House’s robots, you don’t want to be causing trouble on the Strip.”

“We’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Rarity nodded. “And this… Mr. House, what more do you know about him?”

“Not much, I’m afraid.” Chet shrugged. “He’s got his own casino, the Lucky 38, but nobody goes in or out except his robots. The other casinos follow his rules, so I guess that makes him the leader of New Vegas. As far as I know, nobody’s ever laid eyes on the guy. I think that robot who pulled your friend out of the dirt belongs to Mr. House.”

“Victor?” Rarity asked in surprise as she saw the Securitron rolling along the road up the hill outside the window. “How is that possible?”

“Not sure. But if Mr. House is lookin’ out for your friend, that’s gotta be a good thing, right?” Chet shrugged.

“I suppose.” Rarity said, only half-convinced. Having an apparently heavily-armored robot like Victor on their side seemed like a good thing, but now knowing that he might belong to a secretive casino owner whom no one had seen in years made her skin crawl a bit. She shook her head clear of that and looked back at Chet. “Well, enough about that for now; we need supplies to fight off the Powder Gangers.”

“Whoa-whoa, now just hold on!” Chet argued. “I never voted to take on the Powder Gangers. That’s a thousand cap investment you’re talking about.”

“A thousand?! That’s highway robbery.” Rarity remarked, insulted at the price.

“That’s business out here, sweetheart.” Chet shrugged, before Rarity noticed he was looking her and Fluttershy over with a discerning look. “Course, I’m more than willing to accept other forms of payment.”

Rarity immediately blushed in embarrassment and fury, and turned away with a flip of her hair. “Hmph! Fine then. Let the ruffians take over the town; I’m sure your business will be far better off. Come along, Fluttershy.” Fluttershy was just as embarrassed as Rarity, and quickly turned to join her friend as they walked toward the door.

Chet sighed in annoyance as he watched them. “Alright-alright, you’ve made your point,” he assured, stopping them in their tracks. “I can provide the people with some basic leather armor and extra ammo. I sure hope it’s worth it.” He passed the girls each a few sets of the garb in question; torn leather jackets with padding and leather pants.

“Hmph. Hardly my style, but I suppose in this case, function must come before fashion.” Rarity shrugged. “Pleasure doing business with you, darling.”

“Yeah well, uh, I’ll be guarding the store while all this is going on.” Chet shrugged. “I have to put my business first, you understand.”

“Of course. Ta-ta.” Rarity smiled as she and Fluttershy strode from the store.

“Well, that went well.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yes. Would’ve been far nicer if we had left visually unmolested, but beggars can’t be choosers.” Rarity sneered over her shoulder, earning another blush from Fluttershy. “I suppose we can only hope the others are having better luck than we.”

Things were going well enough on the porch of the saloon where Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie found Easy Pete kickin’ it back as always. “So do tell, Pete; what do you know about Joe Cobb?” asked Applejack.

“Bad trouble,” Pete remarked simply.

Rainbow glanced at her friends in confusion. “That’s… helpful.”

“Welcome.”

“Feh. Reminds me of your brother.” Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

“Oh, how Ah wish Ah could disagree with that.” Applejack replied quietly before she turned back to Easy Pete. “Anyhow, we hear you got some dynamite. Might help with the Powder Gangers.”

Pete just shook his head. “Too dangerous.” he disagreed. “Gonna kill all yourselves if I let you touch it. Better to leave it buried – safer that way.”

“Oh come on, how hard can it be? Just light them and throw, right?” asked Rainbow.

“Too dangerous, sorry,” Pete assured. “Blow yourself up, blow your neighbor up, blow the whole town up.”

Rainbow almost said something, but Applejack stopped her as she leaned forward, pulling Pinkie over too. “Pinkie here happens to be familiar with the care and handlin’ of explosives, dynamite included.” Pinkie nodded quickly.

Easy Pete just raised an eyebrow as he looked Pinkie over. “This one?”

“She don’t look it, Ah know, but trust me; stick a grenade in her hand, and watch her go to work.” Applejack smiled.

“Uh-huh.” Pete nodded, still not totally convinced. “Guess you know what you’re doin’.” He groaned as he stood up. “I’ll go dig it up and get it ready. You’ll have it by the time the fighting starts.”

“Thanks, pardner.” Applejack nodded as the old man walked off. “Alright, that’s our part done. Let’s get to the meet-up spot and hope we’re prepped enough for this.”

They would be prepped. Marty would make certain of it as he walked into Doc Mitchell’s house. “Hey Doc, you in?” he called through the house. He found Doc Mitchell in the sitting room on the couch from earlier.

Doc seemed pleasantly surprised to see him there. “Welcome back. I had hoped you wouldn’t need to see me again so soon. What can I do for you?”

“Town’s gonna get hit by bandits,” Marty explained. “Anything you can do to help even the odds?”

Doc just sighed and shook his head. “Seems like wherever I go, it’s always the same. Folks just never leave each other alone.” He stood up with a groan and limped to a cabinet against the wall. “I’m not much good I a fight, with my bum leg. And my supplies are scarce, but I’ll give you what I can spare.”

“That oughtta be enough.” Marty shrugged. As it turned out, what Doc could spare was just three Stimpaks, which seemed to annoy Marty. “You kiddin’ me? They’ll be usin’ explosives, Doc. Got anything with a little more kick?”

Doc sighed as he went back to the cabinet. “I ain’t got much, but it’ll do you more good out there than it will in here. Take what I got.” This time, he handed Marty two small doctor’s bags.

“Thanks Doc. I’ll pay ya back for these,” Marty assured as he left.

Soon enough, the whole team rallied at the gas station and from the looks on their faces, everything seemed to have gone well, so they all gingerly wandered into the building where Ringo was waiting. “So what’s goin’ on? Did Sunny agree to help us?”

“Her and the whole rest of town.” Marty smiled.

“Well, I guess that means we’re ready to go.” Ringo smiled.

“We’d better be. Because I don’t think Sunny would be coming up here otherwise,” Rainbow remarked as she looked out the window and saw Sunny running up the hill. She threw open the door and stood ready with her rifle.

“Time to look alive; the Powder Gangers are here to play,” she reported.

Applejack was surprised and stole a quick glance out the window, noting the position of the sun. “Huh. Just about high noon. Ain’t that the way of it?”

“How many are there?” asked Twilight.

“At least twelve, Joe Cobb included.” Sunny noted. “They look pretty mean.”

“What about Trudy and the rest?” asked Sunset.

“They’re getting set up in cover, but it might not go well unless we get out there soon,” Sunny reported.

“We’d better be ready.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Oh, don’t worry; Easy Pete came through with the dynamite.” Sunny smirked, passing Pinkie a small bundle of five sticks. “Here’s your supply. I really hope I don’t blow myself up.” She checked her rifle one last time. “I’ll be set up by the store. Let’s hope that the gang doesn’t manage to make it that far.”

“It might not be too late. Maybe we can talk them down before this gets ugly.” Sunset insisted.

“They didn’t look to be in a talkin’ mood to me.” Sunny countered.

“It’s at least worth a try,” Twilight argued.

“When it goes south, you’d better either fight or hide.” Marty insisted as he checked the rifle before he gave it to Applejack and readied his pistol. “Ain’t got no time for anything else.”

“A little faith, please Mr. Barron.” Rarity insisted as they all left the gas station and hiked down the hill to town. They had just about reached the porch of the saloon – seeing Trudy and several townsfolk in cover – when Rainbow’s sharp eyes caught sight of twelve men approaching.

“There they are,” she noted to Sunset, pointing them out on the horizon.

Sunset nodded and stepped forward. “Cobb!” she shouted, prompting Joe Cobb and his men to stop and take up defensive positions. “I wanna talk!”

Cobb and his men seemed a bit confused before Cobb took a few steps forward. “You givin’ Ringo up?!”

“Of course not!” Sunset countered.

“Then we got nothin’ to talk about!” Even over the great distance, Sunset could practically hear it as she watched Cobb pull back the hammer on his revolver.

“I disagree! See, we know Ringo’s side of the story now!” Sunset yelled back. “How you ambushed his caravan and started shooting without a word!”

“Ah, crook’ll say anythin’ to keep from gettin’ himself killed!” Cobb yelled.

“My thoughts exactly,” Marty smirked quietly as he raised his pistol and took the safety off, but Sunset set her hand against the barrel and pushed it gently down.

“Alright look, I can’t stress enough how big this ‘if’ is, but if we let you have Ringo, what assurances do we have that you’ll leave Goodsprings alone and you won’t harm the people?!” Sunset asked seriously.

“Well… it’s already our territory!” Cobb shrugged. “We just want a little… base of operations here! Somewhere our boys can put their feet up without worry!”

“And what were to happen if someone passing through town sends word to the NCR that a bunch of their convicts are out here?!” Rainbow asked, picking up on what Sunset was getting at.

“Well, if they tried that, I’d say they’d get, uh… Whaddaya think, boys; ten feet past that saloon?!” The other Powder Gangers laughed in agreement at that.

“Toldja this was a waste of time.” Marty shrugged.

“Shh. Relax, I got him right where I want him.” Sunset whispered before she turned back to Cobb. “Alright Cobb, here’s the deal; as you’ve no doubt guessed by now, we’ve got you and your boys covered from pretty much every angle!” Sunny glanced over at Trudy in confusion at that statement, but the barkeep just shrugged, knowing apparently as much about what Sunset was talking about as the young gunslinger. “So the deal is you guys leave Goodsprings and don’t come back, and we don’t tell the NCR where you were going. Final offer; what do you think?”

She was hopeful Cobb would fall for it, but he just chuckled. “Man… it’s crazy, y’know? Even from all the way over here, I can tell one thing about you.”

“And what might that be?” Sunset asked.

“That you got a lousy poker face, ya mutant bitch.” Cobb smirked. “Burn it down, boys!” The Powder Gangers all laughed and whooped madly as they charged.

“Open fire!” Trudy yelled and the whole town erupted in gunfire. Sunset and the girls immediately dropped to cover behind a large upright wooden shipping container as lead whizzed by and dynamite exploded around the area.

Rainbow was a bit slower than usual with her wounded leg, and suddenly took a bullet to it. “Gah! Ow!” she yelled as she fell to the dirt and crawled the rest of the way to cover. “Ugh! Oh man, this hurts way more than I thought it would!”

“First time getting shot?!” Marty remarked as he fired indiscriminately at the Powder Gangers from nearby.

“Yeah! Have to say, I hate it a lot!” Rainbow nodded.

“Yeah, fuckin’ sucks!” Marty agreed as he quickly reloaded his pistol and got off another few shots.

Rarity could hardly believe the carnage unfolding before her, but then she saw one Powder Ganger closing on Ringo, having apparently snuck around the blockade. “Behind you!” Acting purely on instinct, she grasped her geode and raised her hand, summoning a crystal right next to Ringo’s head, just barely deflecting the blade of the ganger’s meat cleaver before it could cut his head off. Ringo was stunned by this action, but quickly took advantage of the situation by putting a quick bullet in the ganger’s gut.

“Well, so much for hiding our magic.” Sunset shrugged.

“Might as well give ‘em a sendoff they’ll remember.” Applejack shrugged as she activated her own powers and grabbed the large crate, hoisting it over her head with a light strain.

“What in the goddamn…?” Marty started to ask before Applejack tossed the crate toward Cobb, but it didn’t make it far before it hit the road and splintered into shrapnel.

Cobb had certainly seen enough as he started running, but he didn’t make it far before Sunny let off a quick shot through his kneecap and sent him to the ground writhing and screaming in pain as he held his destroyed knee.

The girls all stood up and brushed themselves off with Rainbow leaning against what she guessed was a hitching post as Ringo walked over. “I don’t understand half of what just happened, but I know I owe you guys a huge favor for what you did,” he said, digging a small cap-pouch out of his pack and placing it in Sunset’s hands. “Here – these are technically Crimson Caravan funds, but I know they’ll understand once I explain things.”

“Think we’re owed an explanation first, Ringo.” Marty countered. “What’n the hell was that just now?”

“Uh… part of our mutation?” Twilight shrugged, knowing they wouldn’t believe that but also knowing she had to say something.

“Bullshit.” Yeah, there was the disbelief. “Only things I’ve seen out here with that kinda strength are Super Mutants and Deathclaws, and you don’t look like either. And you…” He pointed at Rarity. “I don’t even know what the fuck that was.”

“Neither do I, but I’m not complaining.” Ringo shrugged.

“It’s a long story.” Sunset shrugged.

“Yeah, and personally, I’d prefer to tell it after I get this bullet out of my leg.” Rainbow insisted, pointing at the still bleeding wound.

Marty almost said something before he heard a body dragging on asphalt nearby. He looked and saw Joe Cobb trying to crawl out of town, still clutching his pistol. “Hold that thought for a second,” he remarked as he walked over to Cobb with Sunset and Ringo following him. “So what happened to not being able to pay us?”

Ringo shrugged. “I did have what was left of the Crimson Caravan money, but I wasn’t sure it was my right to just give it away,” he said. “I owe you a lot more than what I gave you though, so look me up at the Crimson Caravan camp up in New Vegas if you ever visit.”

“Oh, that’s my next stop,” Marty assured as they reached Cobb, at which point Marty placed his toe against Cobb’s hand. He looked up at Marty, who just clicked his tongue down at the powder ganger. “Should’ve just taken the deal, pardner. Now I gotta take your gun.” With that in mind, he reached down and pried the revolver from Cobb’s hand. “Hm. .357 Magnum. Nice piece. Why is it that the punks always get their hands on good guns?”

“If you’re gonna shoot me, just get it over with.” Cobb groaned in pain.

“Nah Joe, I ain’t gonna shoot ya,” Marty assured as he pulled his 9-mil. and handed it to Sunset. “She is.”

“What?!” Sunset asked in surprise.

“Oh, un-unless- did you want to, Ringo?” Marty offered.

“Nah, I got enough of their blood on my hands; I just wanna get away from them for a while.” Ringo shrugged as he started the hike out of town.

“Well then, I guess it’s down to you Sunset.” Marty shrugged as he forced the pistol into Sunset’s hand.

“No!” Sunset objected immediately and dropped the gun on the cracked road.

Marty sighed as he picked the gun up. “That ain’t the way things work out here, kid. I don’t know what kinda world you and yours come from, but out here, it’s kill or be killed. Animal or human, it doesn’t matter; if they threaten you, they die. That’s the way the wasteland works. If you don’t like that, then go hide under a rock and pray you don’t get stung by a radscorpion. Otherwise, pull the trigger and put this dog out of his mercy.” He jammed the gun back into Sunset’s hand, pointed it at Cobb’s head, and took a few steps back.

Sunset’s hand shook uncontrollably as she looked at Cobb over the sights of the gun. She knew he was far from innocent, but he was still vulnerable; unarmed, laying on the ground bleeding out. She almost didn’t want to pull the trigger, but she knew that if she didn’t, Marty would do something else drastic; maybe even give him back his gun and make it a matter of him or her. So after she bolted her eyes closed and averted her gaze a bit, she squeezed. The pistol didn’t have anywhere near as much kick as the rifle Sunny had given the group, but it still had enough power to cause a small splat of what Sunset could only guess was blood and brain matter on the asphalt. And when she peeked one eye open, she saw she was right; Joe Cobb lay dead in the sand, by her own bullet.

She could feel her stomach turning, even moreso when she realized some of the blood had splattered onto her hands and boots. Finally, she couldn’t take it, dropping the gun and dashing to the other side of the road where she promptly puked. Marty sighed as he walked over and picked up the gun, putting the safety back on. “This is gonna be a long day.”

Pain

The next few hours spent in Goodsprings were long and arduous; the dead Powder Gangers were all dragged to the outskirts of town and left in the sun to cook before they were eaten by geckos and other wasteland wildlife – after Marty made sure to loot them for anything useful, which disgusted the girls to no end – and Rainbow was dragged back to Doc Mitchell’s place to get the bullet taken out of her leg.

Somehow getting the bullet removed was worse for the runner than actually getting shot, and Rainbow had to bite down hard on a piece of scrap wood to keep her screaming to a minimum as the doc dug the lead out, and the others could hardly bear to watch.

Understandably, Doc Mitchell wasn’t willing to let the group wander out into the desert after such an ordeal – especially considering the bullet removal had forced him to use all the supplies in one of the doctor’s bags he’d given Marty before the lead started flying – so the gang was forced to stay the night in town. They considered asking some of the locals if they could room in their houses, but Trudy just suggested they camp at the side of the road to get used to the way things worked in the wasteland. She provided a few bedrolls from the saloon’s supply room free of charge, and – after giving the simplest explanation possible about their magic to Marty and setting some ground rules for its use; only when there was no other option according to Twilight – they all set up for the night on the side of the road out of town.

Sunset could barely sleep out there, especially since the remaining bloodstain from where she’d blown Joe Cobb’s brains out was right there. She did eventually get to sleep, but she tossed and turned as nightmares flooded her mind… and they all ended with that bullet she put in Cobb. She still felt disgusted by what she’d done, but then it got worse somehow when Cobb shot up with blood pouring down his face and murder in his dead eyes. “AAH!” Sunset screeched in fear as she woke up, her eyes darting every which way in her skull as she looked around, seeing only sand, cracked asphalt, and blood splatter; no zombies out for revenge.

She could feel tears coming to her eyes despite herself and carefully yet desperately started digging through the rucksack of supplies Chet had sold her, much like the ones sold to the others. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for; a small syringe labeled as Med-X, but Chet had made it clear what it really was… morphine; a powerful painkiller. Sunset knew it wouldn’t actually help her mind, and she certainly wasn’t typically one to indulge in drugs, but she didn’t care right now; she just needed something right now to help her feel at ease. She looked down at her arm and grit her teeth as she held the needle closer to her skin. It was just about to enter her flesh when she saw Twilight stirring as if she was about to wake up, so she quickly put the needle back into her bag and simply got up, walking a few steps away from the group as Twilight woke up.

She looked and was surprised to see Sunset standing away from them, apparently looking out at the horizon toward New Vegas. Twilight was more than a bit worried about her; Sunset had been distant since Marty basically forced her to kill Joe Cobb. Chancing it, she climbed out of her own bedroll and walked over to her. “Can’t sleep?” Sunset didn’t respond; she just kept staring stoically at the glittering tower of Vegas. Twilight knew this wouldn’t go anywhere anytime fast if she didn’t get Sunset talking, so she tried again. “It wasn’t your fault, y’know.”

“Yes, it was. It all is.” Sunset reminded. “I’m the one who suggested that magic radar in the first place. I’m supposed to be our leader, but so far all I’ve done has gotten us hurt, exposed, or traumatized.”

Twilight was only somewhat happy they got around to that part; she could plainly see how much Sunset didn’t want to think about how she killed an unarmed man… or how close their makeshift camp was to where she’d puked her guts out afterward. “Look Sunset, I know you’re in a bad place right now, but-”

“‘A bad place’?” Sunset asked incredulously. “‘A bad place’?! I killed someone, Twilight! I shot a man in the head and left him in the desert for the buzzards! Do you have any idea how many levels of wrong that is?! Especially for me! Do you know how rare murder is in Equestria?! Ending a life, taking away everything that a person ever was and were ever going to be, just- just ripping a hole in a community like that and leaving nothing?! That’s one of the worst crimes you can commit! How am I supposed to just get over that?!” She dropped to sit down in the sand and wipe the small tears from her eyes. “It’s probably better if I just don’t go home at all.”

Twilight was shocked by this as she stepped forward to her friend. “Sunset. Look at me.” she insisted, but Sunset just kept her eyes on her feet in the dirt. “Look at me!” Sunset scowled as she stood up and looked Twilight in the eye, as if daring her to say something. “What was the first thing you thought after what happened at the Fall Formal?”

Sunset was surprised and confused about where she was going with this. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer the question; maybe you’ll find out.” Twilight goaded.

“Alright, if you must know, the first thing I thought was-” Sunset froze as she thought back to that night; kneeling there in that crater in front of Canterlot High after being defeated so completely. “…that I had to get away from CHS as fast as possible. Like nothing else would really be enough to make up for what I’d done except if no one ever saw me again.” She looked back at Twilight with a look of shock on her face, having realized exactly what her friend was getting at.

“Exactly.” Twilight nodded, placing her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “You killed someone, that’s true. But he attacked us first, and he and his men probably would’ve killed us all if they had the chance, so he was hardly innocent. And if you do still feel bad about it, then, well… that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Now Sunset’s face held an expression of bewilderment. “How is that a good thing?” she asked seriously.

“Because…” Twilight said as she tucked herself back into her bedroll. “Only a monster wouldn’t feel remorse about killing someone, right?” Sunset could barely get in another word before Twilight went back to sleep.

Sunset was left with almost too much to think about as she looked out at the horizon. She knew Twilight was right about that much; she never would have thought about murder, even in her time as the Demon Queen of Canterlot High, but it brought her back to everything she’d done at CHS up to the Fall Formal. She never felt bad about that before the dance, but after her defeat… she’d spent every spare moment up to the Battle of the Bands trying to make reparations for what she’d done. She knew it would take a lot of soul-searching before she could come to terms with it, but it almost seemed like her friends had already accepted the new rules of the Mojave Wasteland. Pinkie’s hair was still as puffy as ever as she slept so that was a good sign – if for no other reason than it meant Rainbow would win her bet with Marty if she stayed happy like that for the next two days – but she was still worried.

After all, this was just their first day in the wasteland and Sunset had already thrown up. If she knew what was in store for herself and the others in this mad world…