Chapter 1: The first step takes the most courage. Part 1
Chapter 1: The first step takes the most courage, Part 1.
Lyra was a normal unicorn living her best life in Ponyville, but if you ask any other pony they would say she had an odd obsession with humans. A race the ponies only knew in folklore and legends, the mention of humans had fallen from popularity after Nightmaremoon's banishment. Only in the rare conversations did the myth of humans were mentioned, and most of the time they were short.
Lyra was looking at her reflection in a stained window at Canterlot wondering if what was happening was real, she managed to get a meeting with all four princesses. Getting to see one princess was hard in itself, if everything went right not only would she be able to show humans are not a myth but prove to everypony she was not crazy.
"Ok Lyra, you got this, it's only the most important moment of your life. Just calm down, everything will be fine," Lyra said to herself feeling nervous.
Bon Bon feeling Lyra's nervous mood walked over and nuzzled her neck, "Hey, everything is going to be ok, I promise."
After a minute Lyra calmed down, the earth pony knew this day was stressful, and Lyra had tried from every place she could to present her proposal. Bon Bon found the concept of human civilization to be nonsensical, having highly advanced technology without magic, made no sense to her, but she still supported Lyra and her efforts.
The door to the throne room opened and a guard announced that the princesses were ready.
"Do you want me to come in?" Bon Bon asked her love.
"No, I think I can do this... I need to try, let's just hope everything goes right," Lyra answered though some nervousness still lingered.
Picking up everything Lyra brought for the proposal she made her way into the throne room.
"Good luck Lyra, I know you will knock it out of the park," Bon Bon said as the doors closed.
Though she was not with her marefriend, she was glad that she was in the hall and not the throne room. Bon Bon didn't need any stress from meeting her old boss after the agency was disbanded.
The last thing Lyra heard was Bon Bon giving her words of encouragement, setting up everything she had, Lyra turned to give the hardest speech she had given. Giving a bow at the five in the room Lyra didn't notice that there was a fifth member in the meeting.
Princess Celestia raising her hoof said, "You may rise, I do apologize for not informing you that Shining armor would be here."
Lyra was caught off guard and was speechless at what Celestia said, a silence had settled in the room and before it could grow Twilight broke it, "Please can you show us what you have."
"I am interested in what you have to show us," Luna stated.
Lyra studdered but managed to start, "First off, I’d like to thank all of you for taking the time to hear my proposal. Now, we’ve all heard of the legends of humanity, a species somewhere in the far-forgotten part of our world that was an advanced civilization possessing technology far beyond our own."
Lyra felt small droplets of sweat form on her head but continued, "Thanks to Starswirl the bearded, he discovered some sort of cataclysmic event that caused their downfall. Now some of you might ask, why humanity? They're just a myth, right? pure fantasy, well that's where you'd be wrong. At least 10,000 years before the pyramids, humans had the power of electricity, advanced medicine, and even the power of flight, all with no magic. Impossible you say, well no, no not for them, it said that they managed to unlock the power of the sun and use it to push their tech to the limit and do things we could only dream of-."
Twilight stopped Lyra before she continued, "I'm sorry but, this sounds like science fiction, what you are saying is impossible. Every Civilisation on Equis needed the power of magic to grow. I do admit it would be inspiring to see that, but it is impossible."
"I'm sorry, but... I have to agree with Twilight on this, even the griffins needed some magic to grow," Celestia agreed though she sounded somewhat saddened.
Luna added her say as well, "I too must agree, We have tried to find these humans and came with nothing."
Lyra started feeling dread crawl up her spine, "B-but I have proof Humans did exist, if you wo-"
Lyra was once cut off again by Celestia, "I am deeply sorry, but what you speak... Does not exist. I think it would be best if we stop before you are disappointed by what you find."
Holding back tears, Lyra responded, "T-thanks, f-for your t-t-time, I'll make my way o-out."
Grabbing her things she walked quickly to the door, once on the other side she ran down the hall tears running down her face.
"Don't you think we could have at least heard her out?" Cadence asked worried for the mint-green unicorn.
"Cadence, many ponies have tried looking for humans, but they all came back empty hooved," Celestia answered.
"But, she seemed that she was on to something," Cadence pointed out trying to find an excuse for Lyra.
Bon Bon felt nervous, she was wondering what was going on, but when the doors opened and Lyra ran out crying the earth pony knew it went bad. Running after the unicorn she was hoping she could calm Lyra down. Sweetie drops felt anger at the princesses for making Lyra cry.
"Why? she worked so hard to get here, why was she being punished for this?" Bon Bon thought angered.
She had reached the hotel the two were staying at and Lyra's stuff was piled in a corner half Harley placed. And Lyra was on her bed crying, it broke Bon Bon's heart to see the mare she loved crying. Walking over and getting on the bed she wrapped Lyra in a hug.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Bon Bon asked in a loving tone.
Sniffing Lyra responded, "T-they didn't even let me finish m-my presentation, I-I-I just don't know what I'm doing wrong?!"
Lyra continued to cry, Bon Bon thought it would be best to go back to Ponyville in the morning, in the meantime, she was thinking about what to have for dinner.
"Lyra, would you like to get a hayburger?" Bon Bon asked hoping to cheer her friend up.
Lyra calmed down a bit and responded, "O-ok, let me get ready."
After an hour of getting Lyra ready, both mare's made their way to the local fast-food place, having dinner in the city of Canterlot was amazing, the sights and food were wonderful. After eating the two went home and got in bed, ready to sleep the bad day off. As Lyra slipped into Luna's realm of dreams she started to fidget in bed.
Lyra knew she was not in Ponyville, or anywhere she knew, what was before the unicorn was a desert, and in the distance was a city, it looked like las pegasus. She didn't know who built them, they didn't look like they were made by ponies, but before she could do anything the odd city disappeared in a flash of light. The light was so bright Lyra had to cover her eyes with her front leg, when the light was gone there was a massive mushroom cloud in its place. In a matter of seconds, Lyra was hit by a wave of scorching fire, the pain was unbearable, nothing felt worse than that moment feeling like her entire body was falling apart. The only thing going through her mind was pain, then it stopped, and everything went dark.
Lyra woke up in a cold sweat, the phantom pain disappearing like it was never there. Getting out of bed, Lyra thought of taking a late-night walk, after making her way to the door as quietly as she could she made her way outside. Unknown that Bon Bon was a light sleeper, she wanted to follow but thought that Lyra needed some space.
~~One hour later~~
Lyra was sitting on a bench in the park looking up at the sky, she reminisced about the past years on what led her to this point. Studying history, mythology, and legends she wanted to be like her grandfather, who believed humans existed.
"Grandpa, what am I doing wrong? I thought if I tried hard and never gave up I would be able to achieve my goals," Lyra asked nopony.
She waited for any type of response, but, it seemed none would come. When out of nowhere came a shooting star, Lyra used that moment to make a wish and after five minutes of waiting, nothing happened. Lyra thought of just going back to the hotel when a second shooting star appeared, this one was brighter and seemed to get bigger. Lyra realized it was headed straight for her, after running faster than she had before in her life just in time. The star crashed into the ground where she once was making a large boom.
Looking at the object she saw it was not a rock, but something made of metal, there was writing on the side, but Lyra didn't know what it was. Walking over she saw a body of some sort, Fearing aliens she tried to hide but slid down the crater the crash made. When she got closer she saw, the alien was dead. Taking a closer look she noticed the alien was human and her excitement grew tenfold. Becoming bold she walked into the U.F.O. the inside was dark, with little light from the moon she saw nothing.
"Wow... It's so dark," Lyra said disappointed.
Using a light spell on the inside of the U.F.O. there was technology too advanced for anypony to have created. looking around she saw a slowly pulsing red light. Having the urge to press the button she did with hesitation, but when nothing happened, Lyra was disappointed. In a flash of light, the lights came on frightening the mare, seeing only the lights turned on, she turned around only to see a small room inside with odd-looking panels.
"Ok, you need to bring something back, this time you will prove you are right. And remind everypony (minus Bon Bon and those who supported her) that they were all a bunch of butts" Lyra said to herself with a smile.
Making her way to the chamber, she looked around hoping to find something. She only found an odd lever on the floor but nothing else, and Lyra made her way out disappointed. Shouts from the royal guard were outside, out of shock she backed into the other room pushing the lever. A door slid closed, cutting the unicorn from the outside, out of fear she tried to teleport out but found something was not letting her. The walls started to light up and five rings of blue energy formed and started to spin around her with an odd humming sound that came from everywhere.
Lyra could hear the guard outside the door, and in a panic started to hit the door.
"Oh no, no nonononono! Somepony! anypony! LET ME OUT!" Lyra called out in fear.
On the other side were royal guards pounding at the door trying to let her out, once the humming became louder the rings of light became brighter. The pain of the humming and feeling of power pressing on her horn made Lyra fall to the ground crying out in pain. While the unicorn was not paying attention, something was clamped on her left front leg, then the sound of a large crack of teleportation was heard and everything went dark.
[Lyra fell unconscious]
[Lyra discovered the Mojave Drive-in]
[End of part 1]
Chapter 2: The first step takes the most courage. Part 2
Author's Note
I know the start was not the best, but I am still trying to work out my errors, and I hope you would stick around to see it end.
Also sorry for talking so long.
Thank you for reading my story. 
Chapter 2: The first step takes the most courage. Part 2
Chapter 2: The first step takes the most courage, Part 2.
War. War never changes.
The Romans waged war to gather slaves and wealth.
Spain built an empire from its lust for gold and territory.
Hitler shaped a battered Germany into an economic superpower.
But war never changes.
When the end of the world occurred, it was pretty much as we had predicted. Too many humans, and not enough space or resources to go around. The details are trivial and pointless, the reasons, as always, purely human ones.
On October 23rd, of 2077 atomic fire rained from the heavens, but like all things, it was not the end as everyone thought. Over a hundred underground shelters called Vaults were made before the great war and thousands were spared. Only to find when they returned the great world had been turned into a hellish wasteland, but again like everything, humanity managed to survive.
But this story is about someone else, someone who was ripped from their peace-filled home and where the morals would be put to the test to survive.
Because in all things one truth still stands, even in the most peaceful of times. Even when it would only be thought of a myth, or a concept never to see the light of day, that being, is War.
War never changes.
Lyra's head was pounding like a drum, everything to the mint pony was a blur, and her senses started to come back. Lyra knew she was on the ground, but it felt off for her, it was hard like rock but smooth like dirt and yet it was not normal earth.
Trying to open her eyes she soon realized the sun was out and it seemed more lively as if Celestia allowed it to shine brighter with more heat. After a minute or two Lyra got on her hooves and looked around. The ground looked like the roads from Manehaten only left with no care, and around her were strange-looking carts, they didn't look like they could be pulled by ponies. At one end was a large movie screen, and on the opposite was a town, at first she was hoping to see if there was anypony, but the pillars of black smoke gave her a bad feeling.
"Well, I hope Bonnie is not too mad at me," Lyra thought to herself.
Picking a path she walked down hoping to find anyone that could help her, she was going to do a lot of walking to get back to ponyville. Though she was in an unknown place, Lyra was not going to give up anytime soon, she even felt like singing and one song popped into her head.
"My name is pinky pie, hello and I am here to--"
~~30 Minutes later~~
The sun was high in the sky at its apex, and would soon make its slow descent allowing the night to take over. But Lyra was more focused on the oppressive heat, she had never remembered the sun being this hot before. Not even in Saddle Arabia did the heat get this bad.
"How. (Pant), Can. (Gasp), ANYPONY LIVE HERE?!" Lyra yelled to the sky in anger.
The sun was beating the land with heat, it made Lyra see a mirage or two, the road was not safe to walk on. It felt like she would melt if she stood on it anymore, thankfully the sand was more kind than the asphalt.
"(Sigh), It's no wonder there is no pony around, this heat is killing me. It feels like the badlands," Lyra Thought with annoyance.
Looking around she was hoping to find some shade so she could rest and cool down, to her luck there was an abandoned gas station not too far. After walking inside, the heat didn't leave, but the sun was no longer able to continue its assault on the poor mare. Taking time to rest, Lyra went through the last moments in her mind before coming here.
Lyra began to speak to herself, "Ok, I was in the park near the train station, and an odd ship crashed almost hitting me, I climbed inside to get proof that humans did exist. And... And... I guess my memory still hasn't come back to me yet."
Getting a feel for the building she was in, it was clear the place was dilapidated, a small layer of dust covered almost everything, and on her leg was an odd device of some sort. Bringing it up closer Lyra wondered what it was, and when it turned on she backed her head away accidentally hitting the wall she was sitting by.
There was a lot of text she could not read because it went by too fast and it was in a language she didn't know. After the text passed by, a unicorn wearing some sort of odd jumpsuit appeared, it had a smile and seemed happy to be healthy.
"It doesn't seem to cause pain, so... It can't be all that bed... Right?" Lyra said to no one.
It was all so alien to her, what was she supposed to do with all this, the more Lyra learned the more questions popped up.
"Hopefully I will be home before anything gets worse... I hope," Lyra said trying not to break down.
Looking around Lyra saw a dirty bed, after doing some thorough test poking it was decided the bed was not going to kill her.
"I think it would be best to continue this at night when the heat wouldn't kill me. And besides, I can find my way home with the stars," Lyra stated with a smile.
After getting ready she got in bed and with difficulty going to sleep, she fell into the realm of dreams, though she had no dreams or nightmares.
After waking up Lyra looked out the dirty window and saw the sun had set and the night had taken over. Stretching like a cat, Lyra left the gas station and got ready to read the stars. One of the classes Lyra was good at was, map and star reading, she prided herself that no matter where she was on Equis she could always find home. It was going to be a cakewalk for the mare, but what she didn't know was it would take more than star reading to get home. Walking outside she got ready to find her home, but what she found shocked her to her core.
"W-wait, w-w-where is it, they're gone, it's all gone," Lyra whispered to herself in pure fear.
Looking to the right, looking to the left, everywhere she looked in the foreign sky was the same. Three options came to the frightened unicorn, 1 she was in the far past, 2 she was dead, and 3 she was in a whole other world. No matter which one it was Lyra knew she would never be able to get back home, all the hope she had carried crumbled into dust. With the revelation that it was her fault for getting into the mess she was in, Lyra fell to the ground and started to cry.
Down the road came three giant radscorpions on the hunt, after getting close to the gas station the crying got their attention. Walking over the scorpions saw the pony, seeing a chance to get something to eat the scorpions charged the mare.
Lyra was still in shock she was in this predicament, and all the hope she had of getting home seemed lost. As Lyra got up she heard clicking from behind her, turning around she saw there were three very large scorpions charging her with stingers poised to strike. With the fear of death starting to kick in her mind, she ran the opposite way, and the scorpions gave chase. Lyra was more scared in her life than she had been before, first being teleported to a whole new world was hard enough, but now she was being hunted like an animal.
It was hard for the mare to tell how long she ran but a few minutes passed and she had never run this much before.
"I can't... Keep this up... I need... A place to hide!" Lyra thought in panic.
In the distance was a wooden shack, it seemed to be on its last days but Lyra didn't care. Grabbing the door Lyra nearly ripped the door off the hinges when she opened it. Slamming the door she looked around and grabbed metal shelves with her magic and stacked them against the door. After hiding behind a counter Lyra heard the sound of something trying to bash the door down, closing her eyes she hoped it would be enough to keep the scorpions out. After a minute of the door bashing it stopped, Lyra opened her eyes hoping the scorpions got bored and left.
Taking time to slow her breathing she calmed down the chase made her work up a sweat, and her coat felt dirty. Seeing a window above the door she made her way over climbing on her makeshift barricade, Lyra looked out, and to her shock and horror, the scorpions were waiting outside.
"Why don't they just leave, are they really going to wait for me to come out?" Lyra said to herself.
Walking back to the counter she saw a bed mattress that she didn't notice before, it was a shock to the pony.
"Why is this here? This place looks like a store, so why is this here?" Lyra asked no one.
And as more questions made their way out the rush of adrenaline wore off and Lyra had to put in a good amount of concentration just to stand and not fall. The run with using a good amount of her magic in a short time had put a large strain on her stamina. Walking over to the bed she lay down ready for sleep.
Lyra was walking through a field of something, she could not tell due to there being dense fog covering everything. It was almost pitch black, the moon being the only light source in the realm of the unknown.
Water was clinging to Lyra's coat, and for some reason, she could hear somepony talking but it was as if they tried to talk underwater.
Looking around she found nopony and yet she had the feeling something was watching her. Up in the sky on the moon was the outline of Princess Luna, only after hours of looking in the dream realm she found the lost pony. When she tried to enter something stopped her, and all her magic meant nothing to the barrier.
"At least I was able to find her, I need to inform sister of this... That is if Bon Bon hasn't already beaten her to a pulp," Luna thought.
~~Flashback~~
When Bon Bon was told of what happened she was in such an angry state when Celestia tried to give words of comfort to the mare it went wrong. Let's just say If it was not for the others, Celestia would have been sent to the hospital on a stretcher. For multiple broken bones and other things, the only thing that happened was the eldest alicorn getting a broken muzzle.
Luna was angry at Bon Bon but understood where the anger came from, and was disappointed Celestia had let her fighting skills fall so much.
~~End of flashback~~
It seemed whatever it was keeping her out would not yield to her so she would have to try other methods another time.
Waking from the night Lyra saw she was again in the strange world, it was starting to get bright out showing the pony the night was ending and soon. Taking a chance she walked over to the window over the door and to her relief, the scorpions had left.
It was dangerous to walk at night, and it was the same at day in many ways it was like the Everfree forest. But At least she could see better if she was attacked better in the day. Taking a deep breath she left the building/house to find Ponykind.
[End of part 2]
Smack.
Crack.
Crash!
Wack!
BOOM!
Flenching from the sound of something crashing through the wall behind him the Writer turned to find a mass of pink in his face with two big blue eyes looking back.
"Oh oh oh, hello Mister Auther, is this a story where I and my friends go to earth and fight bad guys off and save the day?!" Pinky Pie asked with excitement.
The Writer confused that Pinky Pie was there asked, "Uh, Pinky how are you here?"
"Silly filly I walked through that door over there," Pinky answered while pointing at a destroyed wall and a poorly hidden sledgehammer.
"First... That is a hole, and no this is not a main six story," The Writer answered.
"Aww, well ok, But here's a cupcake, I hope we can be the best of friends!" Pinky said with her iconic smile.
Zooming out the wall, it reformed and it said fourth wall, Taking a bite of the treat the Writer continued to write this story.
"Pinky is really the best cake maker ever," said the Writer eating the lemon cupcake with a smile of his own.
Chapter 4: A crushing reality.
Author's Note
I know it's close to Christmas, but I didn't have time for a holiday-themed chapter, and I have been pushing this one off for longer than I should have, Yeah sorry about that.
Chapter 4: A crushing reality.
Chapter 4: A crushing reality.
"Wait what?!" Lyra said in shock.
"Alex, be nice," Veronica said in annoyance bordering on anger.
"What, I don't do soft, I tell it as it should be told," Alex replied as he put the bull on a table.
"I know, but she is still dealing with a culture shock... I think... And she doesn't need to know about that," Veronica shot back.
"Well, how are you going to keep her safe if she doesn't know what the world is like," Alex pointed out.
"Wait a minute, what happened?" Lyra asked trying to understand what happened and to stop the fighting.
"Well, do you want to say something, or should I give the history lesson?" Alex asked Veronica with a sarcastic tone.
"(Ugh), Fine," Veronica groaned in annoyance. "Lyra, in the year 2077 a... War happened, it lasted two hours, but, it almost wiped all life away from the earth's surface. The death toll was countless of mass proportions."
Lyra was horrified at what she heard, how was it possible that a two-hour war could do such harm to the whole world? Why did a war happen in the first place? And the most unanswered question in her mind was, how could a war get so bad it would cause unknown amounts of death?
"I, how, uh," Lyra tried to say something but all the information she had just heard was causing her to get a migraine.
Seeing what was going through the ponies head Alex answered, "Nuclear weapons were waht caused the near death of all life. Greed, for why the war was fought in the first place. And then the how it got that bad, well, war never changes."
After calming down Lyra was confused at how the human knew what she was thinking, but the last thing he said caught in her head. "What do you mean by war never changes?"
"I mean why war exists, there are different forms of war, but they all have one thing that links them, and that is one side thinks that they are the right side," Alex stated.
"(Sigh), Really, did you have to say it like that?" Veronica asked still annoyed.
"What? I said it the kindest way it could be told, I am stating facts, not opinions," Alex shot back just as annoyed.
Lyra tuned the two humans out as she thought of the saying that war never changes, it made no sense, there hadn't been a war in at least 800 years in Equestria. But then again an immortal princess was ruling over the country, it was the reason why the sun and the moon moved around the planet. That and this was not Equestria, maybe things don't work the same way here.
"Huh, I wonder who moves the sun and moon of this planet," Lyra thought with interest.
Looking over she saw the two humans still arguing like foals.
"Look, it's not like, Lyra, is not going to stay here forever, so she should know the dangers of the wastes, and how to defend herself," Alex stated.
"What if she could use magic, I know a lot of our history was lost, but I know that unicorns have magic," Veronica replied. "Unless you don't believe in magic."
"One, I never said that magic didn't exist, and Two, it won't be enough to defend herself from everything, it only makes sense to learn how to use weapons," Alex stated with steel.
Veronica wanted to say something but knew Alex was right. She grew up protected in a bunker, while he lived in the harshness of the world.
"Uh, why do I need to learn how to use weapons?" Lyra asked confused.
The two stopped when Lyra spoke, Alex turned and answered, "Is you not becoming someone's next target or meal a good reason?"
Lyra paled at that, "Y-yes, I can see how that is a good reason."
"Again STOP, SCARING, THE PONY!" Veronica shouted in anger.
"Unless you want to lie to her, be my guest, I won't lie about the truth," Alex said as he walked out.
Before he left, Lyra spoke up, "Who is in charge of these lands?"
"No one is, it hasn't been claimed by anyone, well, not while the war goes on," Alex answered, before Lyra could say or do anything Alex left.
Veronica gave a humph at Alex's back she looked at Lyra and could only be more annoyed at Alex, she walked over to the pony and gave a hug. She knew if Lyra were to stay here she would need to learn how to survive in this hell of a world. It was easy for humans to live in a wasteland due to being omnivores, but Lyra was a pony and would have a vegetable and fruit-heavy diet. This was not looking good, nowhere good at all.
The hug from Veronica helped with the panic of what Alex said, looking out the window she had to make a life-changing decision. The only thought going through her head was if she was strong enough and not let it change her.
"Veronica... Can I ask you something?" Lyra asked with some hesitation.
Letting go of the hug, Veronica replied, "Of course, you can ask anything."
"Who was that?" Lyra asked about Alex.
"Oh, where is that man's manners, that person is Alex, he is, or was a courier," Veronica answered.
"Is it true, about what he said of the rest of the world?" Lyra asked worried for her future.
Veronica didn't want to tell the ugly truth but she Like Alex would not lie, "Yes and maybe no, I can't tell you about the rest of the world, but this Country has seen better days. It is not safe to walk out there without any weapon training."
"Well, what about Alex, is he in danger?" Lyra asked worried.
"Ha, I wouldn't be surprised if he went out in only his underwear and only dealt with a sunburn. No, he knows what he is doing, like he said, he lived in the wasteland his whole life," Veronica stated with a more cheerful tone.
"Wow, is that why he can, be... Harsh?" Lyra questioned.
"I guess," Veronica implied. "All that I do know is he most likely had a hard time out there."
Looking at the bull of food, Lyra's stomach growled, with a blush she moved the bull over so she could eat the food. The salad was fresh, well, not same-day fresh, but it did taste good.
After swallowing her food Lyra asked the question in her mind, "Where did he get this?"
"I think it was from the Crimson Caravan, they do bring stuff from the NCR, so I assume it was refrigerated the whole way here," Veronica answered the best she could.
As the elevator opened Alex put his helmet on, getting ready for the training he would do with Lyra, first, he needed to find someone to make custom armor and one for a pony. He only hoped whoever it was didn't try and have him sent to a looney bin.
"(Sigh), I hope this is the right thing," Alex said to himself but not loud enough so others didn't hear him.
As he walked off, he was mentally preparing for the foreseeable future, it seems a courier's job is never done, or at least for him. Yeah, Alex was regretting taking that job with the platinum chip, he wouldn't have to deal with shit like this, or maybe he still would, life tends to be like that with him.
As Lyra finished her food, she looked at Veronica and asked, "Do you know who moves the sun and moon?"
At hearing that, Veronica nearly spat the water she was drinking out, she was coughing but managed to talk, "What do you mean?"
"Back where I am from the sun and moon don't move on their own, and I was wondering who does that here," Lyra implied.
"Well, it doesn't work that way here," Veronica said trying to understand what she was told.
"But, it could, you did say, a lot of your history was lost," Lyra pointed out.
"I did, but, where I grew up, they kept track of pre-war history, and there was no mention of anyone moving the sun and moon," Veronica answered.
"Oh, well is there something to read?" Lyra asked hoping to not be bored.
"Well, we have books on how to make drinks," Veronica implied with a smile and shrugged. "Alex doesn't get books, due to most stuff he reads being on his PIP-BOY."
"Waht is that, a PIP-BOY?" Lyra asked in confusion.
"That is what is on your front left leg," Veronica said as she pointed to Lyra's PIP-BOY.
Finally learning what was attached to her, Lyra asked about it, "What does pip mean?"
"Uh, oh, it means Personal information processor, it was made to help people from the vaults to survive out in the wasteland," Veronica answered.
"So this will help with surviving out there? If it was made to do that, would I still have to use, weapons?" Lyra asked not wanting to hear what could be the answer.
"Yes, I'm sorry, but it isn't that great, you would still need to learn how to fire a gun," Veronica said disappointed.
Lyra didn't say anything, she didn't know what to say, the only thing she thought to do was to read, to at least distract herself from unwelcome thoughts popping into her head. "Where are these books? I would like to do some reading I would just like to think of something else."
Walking to a nearby table Veronica picked up a blue book, it was called The Art of Mixology, and when she handed it to Lyra she looked at it. But Lyra remembered that she could not read the human language.
"He, Uh, I can't read this," Lyra said embarrassed as she gave the book back.
"Oh, if you are going to be here for, well until we can help you, I can teach you to read," Veronica said while taking the book back. "We can start now if you want."
"Yeah, that would be good," Lyra said as she sat next to Veronica.
"Before we do, have you seen what your PIP-BOY says about you?" Veronica asked interested.
"Waht does that mean?" Lyra asked confused.
"Well, Alex told me that the PIP-BOY gives stats on what you are good at and what you aren't good at. Here let me show you," Veronica answered.
Lyra let her friend look at the PIP-BOY, she searched through and found what she wanted to find.
"This is your special stats, let's see, you have 5 in Strength, 7 in Perception, 6 in Endurance, 9 in Charisma and. Wow, you have 10 in Intelligence, 7 in Agility, and 9 in Luck, not bad if I say so myself," Veronica stated with a smile.
"So, that's good?" Lyra asked interested.
"Yeah, I don't know a lot about this stuff, but I do know numbers, and these are good numbers," Veronica stated with a more happy tone.
~~Five hours later~~
The sun had been setting and Alex walked back into the Lucky 38, finding a person who made custom armor was harder than he thought. The only question was how to get Lyra there without her dying from the elements, Hunters, Slavers, or worse Raiders.
"I will think of something... It's not like I have done this shit be- wait, no I haven't. Goddammit, why does the weird shit follow me around," Alex thought annoyed.
As he took the elevator up the sweet where everyone else would be for the night, As he walked into his room he saw nothing had changed. He had replaced the giant bed with a smaller one. After changing the door opened and Veronica was in the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest, her face was neutral but there was a lot of thinking behind those eyes.
"So, were you able to do everything you wanted?" Veronica asked with interest.
Confused about what she wanted Alex answered, "I found a place that will make armor for Lyra, though getting there will be hard. I had to buy more ammunition for... Does Lyra want to train to use weapons?"
"Oh, and I thought you wouldn't give her a choice," Veronica said dripping with sarcasm. The only response she got was a bird sign. "(Sigh), Sorry, I admit that was rude of me to say, but yes she is, and she is interested in learning how to read English."
"That's good, won't need to worry about trouble with that," Alex said.
"Anyways, did you have any thought of which weapons she would need?" Veronica asked with interest.
Alex took a list out of his pocket, "Yes, I was planning to give her the Medicine Stick, Mysterious Magnum, Li'l Devil, Lucky, the Liberator, and the Great Bear Grenade Rifle."
"That's... An interesting list, why those guns?" Veronica asked confused.
"They are the best for her, the PIP-BOY will do it's job, now is there anything else? It is late and I would like to sleep," Alex answered.
"Uh, excuse me," Lyra called out, "I'm sorry to interrupt but I never asked, how long was I out?"
Taking a couple of seconds Alex answered, "Three days."
"Wow, I was out that long? It... Feels like I was only out for hours," Lyra looked at the ground, she looked back to meet Alex in the eyes. "Is there a way for me to go back home?"
"Well, until I know how you got here... I honestly can't answer that," Alex stated with a neutral tone. "You might feel better after a night's rest, god knows we all can use it."
As the two left, Alex was in his room thinking about what to deal with tomorrow, training or armor. It would be better to have armor to train with, but, Lyra would be in less danger if she knew how to defend herself.
"If memory serves me right, there should be rubber bullets in the basement, and I think the Gun Runners have some for Lyra to use," Alex said to no one. "It wouldn't hurt to start that soon, let's just hope this turns out better than we think it might."
He laid down for sleep, and as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
Alex was walking through a fog-thick forest, none he had ever seen before, he didn't remember how he got there. His PIP-BOY was gone and the only weapon he had on him was Blood-Nat, thankfully for him, he still had his elite riot gear. Holding the Bowie knife, he continued forward, weary of his surroundings. As he continued, he found an odd sight, it was an old castle, though it did look like it had seen better days.
"This has to be a dream, cause I have never seen this before," Alex said to himself.
"Thow aren't right, this is a dream."
Spinning around Alex had his knife pointed at the neck of whoever decided to sneak up behind him. What he saw was shocking, he thought of Lyra but this pony was taller than the mint pony, the pony had both wings and a horn. Her fur was midnight blue and her main and tail looked like blobs of the night sky.
Luna was impressed with the human's speed but wasn't worried for her safety, no one can be physically harmed in a dream, "We must commend your swift action against an unknown force. But We, I am not your enemy."
"If you aren't my enemy then what are you?" Alex asked.
"We, I am Princess Luna bringer of night co-ruler of Equestria, what is thow's name?" Luna said.
As he put the knife down he answered, "You can call me Alex, I assume you are here because of Lyra?"
Luna was shocked but figured this was one of those meant-to-happen things, "Thow is right, how did you learn of young Lyra?"
"I pulled her out from the desert, and saved her from becoming a fried pony," Alex stated.
"Forgive us, but I have to ask, are you a human?" Luna asked interested.
"Yes," Was the only thing Alex said.
Luna was shocked to speak, she had thought humans were only myths, she and the other princesses owed Lyra a huge apology once this was over.
"Since you know of Lyra, can you keep her safe?" Luna requested with a somber tone. "We would help but thow's world is out of our reach, even though this is a far stretch of our power."
Feeling sad for the pony, Alex answered, "I can't make promises, but I will make sure she stays alive."
"Thanks, it pains us that we can't help one of our subjects in this trying time," Luna said with relief. "We must leave, like I said this is stretching it, even for my powers, my fellow princesses are helping me get this far. So it will be a while before we speak again, and tell Lyra we are doing our best to bring her back home."
After that Luna disappeared and the dream ended.
As Alex got out of bed, he knew things were going to get more complicated, "Well, let's get this show on the road."
