Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

Courier Six swatted aside a particularly thick bush with one of his many bowie knives, slicing a few branches off of it and then stomping it under-heel as he walked ahead.

Dash hovered lazily along a few feet behind him, with her face being one of boredom, though she kept a keen eye out for any wayward creature lurking in the bushes nearby. They were still in the Everfree, after all.

All they saw on the way were just a few squirrels close together and eating nuts.

Upon spotting them, the Courier sheathed his knife, bent down and picked up a small rock. After aiming for a few seconds, he threw it at one of the small rodents in an attempt to kill it. He just barely missed, and the creatures all scurried off into the brush.

“Hey, what are ya doing?” Dash asked, looking down at the human.

“Hunting?” he pointed out as if it were obvious.

“You eat meat?” the rainbow pony asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah?” Six said, also as if it were obvious.

“You uh… you’ve never eaten anything that talks… and/or is a pony, have you?” she asked, an expression of concern visible on her face.

“Nope and couldn’t, they’re extinct where I come from,” Six said, slashing down another bush.

Dash was both relieved and a bit concerned at the answer, but she just nodded.

The two continued on a bit further and eventually reached the small clearing of the Courier’s makeshift camp.

“Ah, home sweet home,” Six mused to himself, walking over to check the hollow tree, seeing nothing had been touched.

“What are you talking about?” Dash questioned. “This place doesn’t even have walls.”

“Not yet,” the Courier said, reaching into his stash, before soon rummaging around in his backpack with his good hand.

A few moments later, Dash watched as he pulled out a small tool belt and a strange needle thing. The Courier sat the Stimpak down on a fallen log nearby, using it as a makeshift table before he also splayed out his tools.

Dash watched as he pulled out a screwdriver from the belt and began to press and prod at one of the inner rivets on his Power Fist. He managed to soon get it into the rivet and began unscrewing it.

Slowly, bit by bit he began to disassemble the weapon stuck around his hand. He took out a large screw, sat it aside, and then did another one, with the metal frame of the weapon slowly coming apart as he worked at it.

He soon switched to a rivet on the outer side of the glove-like weapon. After a bit longer he managed to unscrew them as well, allowing the metal casing of the gauntlet to split in half.

He sat aside one of the large pieces of metal, and Rainbow Dash noticed the distinct tally marks adorning it. A faint piece of her knew what it meant, but the human soon confirmed it.

She watched as the Courier used his screwdriver and etched an additional mark into the metal sheet. After that, he gave a small chuckle to himself and got back to work.

Before long, he pulled the deconstructed gauntlet off his hand and hissed as he pulled his broken, swollen wrist free.

Blood covered his hand, and he could see that the protection of the Power Fist had failed, causing not only his leather glove to split, but also the knuckles underneath. He sighed in annoyance, adding that to the list of things to fix.

As he wiped his hand off with a rag, Dash could faintly see the bone of his knuckles when he polished off the dried blood.

She cringed back whenever she noticed that the bone itself had a distinctly metallic appearance, shimmering unnaturally. Not the off-white real bone was supposed to be.

“Stimpak didn’t heal my hand up good,” Six just shrugged to himself. "Only the stomach wound."

“W-what’s wrong with your uh… your hand?” Rainbow managed.

“My knuckles are split, what does it look like?” he shrugged.

“I mean, the bone, I can see it from here and it looks… weird,” she said, pointing a forehoof at his visible knuckle bones.

“Oh right, lot more tissue damage than I initially figured,” he shrugged. “I’ll make sure to add more padding into the Power Fist once I’m done.”

“Why does it look weird?” she finally huffed.

“That’s a long story…” he shrugged, looking at his visible, metal bones. “Best not to worry about it.”

There was a pause.

“A-are you some type of robot?” Rainbow Dash asked, her tone one of shock and awe as she thought back to Spike's comics, some of which she'd occasionally snag and read for herself.

“What? No!” he huffed, giving a pause. “The technical term would be cyborg, anyways.”

“W-what?” she responded.

He just gave a “heh” in response and grabbed his wrist.

“Alright, avert your eyes if you’re squeamish,” he said simply.

“What do you m-”

KA-CRACK!

Six grunted as he manually set his wrist bone, forcing it back into proper alignment in one shockingly swift motion, as if he’d done it before.

“Yeesh,” Rainbow Dash cringed away at that.

“Told ya,” he shrugged, as he tested his fingers.

He was getting very slight movement in them now.

Good.

He grabbed his Stimpak and with a hiss he injected half of it right into a vein in his wrist. Immediately a cooling numbness took over his nerves, giving him relief. He could feel the bone and tissue inside his hand slowly healing up.

With half of the Stim gone, he then turned his hand around, letting his busted knuckles facing him. He carefully shoved the needle into the top side of his hand and injected the rest of the medicine into it.

He sighed as right before his eyes the damaged flesh tissue was slowly scabbing over. Not only that, but he was getting better movement back into his fingers!

“What was in that?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Xander Root and Broc Flower,” he answered casually, as if she knew what any of that was.

He sat aside the needle onto the log for later usage and eyed the pieces of his Power Fist.

“Damn,” he grunted, looking at the locked-up servos. “This shit’ll take a solid few hours to fix up.”

He sat the piece aside with a grunt.

“Fuck it. I’ll do it later,” he huffed to himself.

Rainbow Dash watched as he collected the pieces of metal and the empty syringe and soon deposited them into his backpack in his stash. He then returned over to the smokey, burnt out firepit in the center of his camp with a small metal grate in one hand, and what seemed to be a gigantic mantis claw in his other.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Cooking?” he replied back, sitting down the grate over some rocks, before he re-started the firepit with a few twigs and leaves.

“You’re cooking... at a time like this?” she asked, shocked.

“Yeah?” he retorted. “I just broke my fucking wrist. I deserve a snack.”

“I… how can you even have an appetite after everything that happened today?” she asked.

“I’ve ate after worse,” he shrugged.

Dash watched as he then pulled out a small jingling sack of bits from one of his satchels and tossed it at her. She caught it with her forehooves and looked at him in surprise.

“You’re quicker than me and you know the stores, go grab me a bottle of wine,” he said. “Cheapest they’ve got. None of that fancy shit.”

“W-what?” she asked.

“I can’t make grilled mantis without the wine,” he said, as if it were obvious.

“You’re still hurt!” she managed.

“Do I look hurt?” he asked, waggling his outstretched right hand at her.

After a moment of looking at him, Rainbow huffed.

“You’re lucky that Scoots likes you,” she said in annoyance, before flying off, his bits in tow.

She arrived back about ten minutes later, which was good as the fire was roaring properly to life now, letting the Courier rest the mantis foreleg on the grate he had balanced over it.

“I don’t know why you’d get drunk at a time like this,” huffed Rainbow, returning his wine and bits.

“I’m not getting drunk, numbskull,” Six growled, pouring the wine into a small metal pot, which he put onto the grate as well, right by the mantis claw.

After a few more minutes, he watched the red wine boil as he put away his bits, smirking to himself.

“You’re boiling it?” she asked.

“Reducing,” he answered, ripping up and crushing a honey mesquite pod in his hand, tossing it into the pot afterwards. He stirred at the pot with a long, wooden spoon.

“Fuck, forgot to tell you to get salt,” he huffed to himself, throwing some flour into the boiling wine.

“Looks like you’re the numbskull this time,” smirked Rainbow Dash as she sat on a stump nearby.

“Glad you agree you were the numbskull every other time,” he said casually, stirring in the powder to thicken up his wine.

After a few minutes he had reduced it by a third into a thick, saucy glaze, and once he stirred it a bit more, he soon grabbed a small brush.

Rainbow Dash watched on as he dunked the brush into the thickened sauce and then rubbed it onto the mantis foreleg, letting it coat the chitinous exoskeleton.

He leaned back finally, watching his creation grill and sizzle. There was little juice compared to red or white meat, but that didn’t stop him from salivating over the mantid’s limb.

“You uh… cooked animals a lot?” she asked, fidgeting nervously a bit.

“All the time where I come from,” he nodded.

She cringed.

“How in the hay could you live eating that crap?” Dash managed.

“It’s not bad,” he said casually. “Where I’m from, you learn to survive, or you go hungry.”

She frowned at that.

“You don’t have to do that here, you know?” she pointed out. “There’s plenty of food for everypo- everycreature, in Equestria.”

“And what happens if you ever get a supply shortage?” he asked back. “Or a bad crop yield?”

“Well, in those times ponies used to eat grass, I think,” she offered. “But we’ve gotten a lot better at keeping stuff uh… not go bad.”

“Preserved,” he nodded.

“Yeah!” she offered.

“Well good for you guys, but just know, it only takes one fuck up and-” he snapped his fingers, “-BOOM! It’s all gone.”

“You’re a ray of sunshine, you know that?” she asked.

“I’m a realist,” he said, scratching his neck.

“I think Twilight had a name for guys like you…” Rainbow managed, racking her brain. “Neighelist?”

“Nihilist,” he corrected.

“Whatever,” she said back. It was a bit later that the Courier flipped over his mantis limb and then brushed down the other side with his makeshift wine-glaze, letting it sizzle.

He yawned for a second while poking the fire with a twig.

“Tired?” she smirked.

“I’m fine. Just had a nap,” he said back.

She chuckled, nodding as she looked out at the foliage.

“So, what are ya gonna do now that the cat’s outta the bag?” she offered.

“Same thing I did in my old home; I’m gonna work and refuse to pay taxes,” he answered with a shrug, poking the fire once more.

“You should write an autobiography,” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I bet you’d get rich, first hooman in Equestria.”

“Human,” he corrected again, before pointing at his head. “And whatever’s up here is probably best left forgotten.”

Rainbow Dash frowned at that.

“There’s no way it’s that bad,” she said.

“It’s not that bad,” he nodded. “It’s far, far worse.”

She slunk back, going silent once more.

“You need some friends,” she said.

“I thought you and the kid were my friends,” he smirked. “Breaking it off this early?”

“I’m serious, there’s plenty of ponies and other creatures who’d like to help you deal with whatever you’re going through,” she offered, her voice genuine.

He looked at her for a moment, completely silent.

She stared back, giving an awkward yet hopeful smile.

Soon enough, he just snickered, shaking his head.

“Pffft… Therapy,” he said, chuckling to himself like she’d told a hilarious joke as he poked the fire yet again.

She frowned as he just laughed on, sounding almost like a schoolboy.

“Ahahah… ahhh fuck, that’s a good one,” he said, a smirk evident.

“I’m serious!” she huffed. “I’m not a pony who gets all caught up in this mushy stuff either, but sometimes you need help.”

“Sister… you have no idea,” he managed, before giving another series of chuckles.

Of course that was the first time she’d heard him give a genuine, hearty laugh.

She huffed, rolling her eyes and letting it go before she said something brash.

“Look, I’m not gonna press, but you can talk to others about what happened, that’s what friends are for,” she finished.

“I’m sure they’ll just line up down the street for a chance to talk to me,” he snarked.

“Some would!” she countered. “And that’s more than enough!”

“Whatever you say,” he said, snapping the stick he held in half before throwing it into the fire. “Now do you want any of this mantis leg?”

“What? No!” she shouted, obviously annoyed at his lack of taking her seriously.

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, before just grabbing it off the grill with his gloved hand.

He adjusted his mask and ate messily, dripping the glaze over himself as he snacked down his insectoid meal.

“Aw fuck yeah,” he happily grumbled in the middle of messily chewing.

Rainbow Dash cringed back at the sigh, obviously a bit grossed out at the feral display of eating.

Lyra sat across from Bon Bon, who just stared down at her daisy sandwich as her wife looked at her with a hint of worry.

The two were seated on the exterior table of a small restaurant. It was no shock, given the only thing the two had that day was a milkshake, one that thankfully didn’t come back up!

Still, Mrs. Heartstrings frowned at her wife’s lack of eating, as she hadn’t touched her food.

“What’s wrong, Bonny?” Lyra asked, giving her wife her pet name.

She frowned further when even that didn’t lift the agent’s spirits, as Bon Bon continued brooding down at her plate.

“I almost lost you,” pointed out the earth pony after a few moments of silence. "That's what's wrong."

"But he saved me!” Lyra said, keeping her tone positive. “I’m fine, see?”

“I know, and I’m thankful but… that Bugbear,” Bon Bon paused, her face one of worry, as her lip quivered out of sadness. A faint piece of her told herself that it was her fault.

“You don’t think it was the same one?” Lyra asked, her tone shocked.

“I don’t know,” admitted the earth pony. “They typically never stray this far from their usual territory.”

“But it was trapped in Tartarus, wasn’t it?” Lyra pointed out.

“Yes but…” Bon Bon just sighed, not finishing her sentence.

“What are you saying, Bonny?” the unicorn questioned. “You don’t think something intentionally released the Bugbear, do you?”

“I hope I’m wrong… but I’ve got a bad feeling about something,” said the secret agent. “Feel like there’s something bad on the horizon.”

Lyra’s face was one of a grim frown.

“We’ll get through it together, Bonny,” she finally managed, giving a small yet hopeful smile. “Just like we did all those other times.”

Her wife nodded.

“I hope so, Lyra,” the earth pony sighed. “For the sake of all of us.”

After a few minutes in silence they soon heard a high-pitched, familiar voice.

“Hey Lyra, Bon Bon!” Derpy said as she trotted over to the two, Dinky at her side.

“Hey Derpy, Dinky,” the aquamarine unicorn said back, smiling at the mother-daughter duo.

“I feel like I should thank you girls, after what Dinky said you did back at the dam,” Derpy said.

“Me too, you helped fight that mean old Bugbear and saved Six and I never even said thanks!” Dinky squeaked

“Makes you two the first ones to do so,” Lyra smirked.

“Keep that part on the downlow, you two,” Bon Bon huffed, remaining serious.

“Your secret’s safe with us,” smiled back their long-time friend.

Lyra smiled at that, and even Bon Bon’s expression lightened up as Dinky ran over to her, giving her leg a hug due to her small size.

“Why don’t you two join us?” offered the earth pony as she gave the unicorn a matronly pat on the head.

Lyra’s smile grew at her wife’s improved mood.

“Oh, are you sure?” Derpy said, shrinking back a bit. “I’d hate to interrupt!”

“Nonsense Derpy, you and Dinky are our friends!” Lyra pointed out, patting the mailmare with a forehoof.

Derpy blushed and pulled up a seat with her friends, before Dinky soon got onto her own booster chair.

“So, Dinky, Derpy,” began Bon Bon with curiosity, “how do you two know about the human?”

“Huh? Oh, Six!” Derpy offered. “Well, he’s my newest friend! I would’ve told you all but with my schedule, jeez, it’s a wonder I can get any time to myself.”

“They still haven’t hired a new mailpony?” asked Lyra, concerned for her friend.

“We only ever got one applicant, but she had to turn it down,” sighed Derpy. “Had obligations to another mail delivery service… She was a dang good griffon though; made less mistakes than me, too.”

“What was her name?” asked the unicorn.

“Gummy, I think? Gammy? Something like that,” answered the crosseyed mare with uncertainty.

Finally, the waiter came, and the mother and daughter took their orders, getting a tray of hayfries to share.

When he left, Bon Bon finally spoke.

“What all did that human tell you, Derpy?” she asked inquisitively.

“Well, he said that Courier Six wasn’t his original name, after he helped me repair my bags of course! Gosh, he was so nice, didn’t say anything about my eyes either!” said the mare, smiling just thinking about her friend.

“Did he say where he was from?” asked Lyra, sounding giddy.

“Hmmm, I don’t remember anything about that,” Derpy said with a look of concentration. “We were only together for an hour or two, so I didn’t get to talk that much.”

“Maybe we can find him and get some info,” Bon Bon said.

“Yeah, maybe we can invite him on that double date thing we have planned!” offered Derpy with excitement.

“Uh… he’d kind of be a third wheel, wouldn’t he mom?” asked Dinky. “I doubt he even has a date.”

“Oh well he’s still my friend, he should be allowed to come!” replied the cheerful mailmare.

“We’ll worry about that next week,” Bon Bon said. “For now, let’s focus on the human.”

“Well, maybe he’d be up to hang out?” Dinky piped up amid the adults. “Scootaloo said she’s real good friends with him.”

“Scootaloo?” asked Lyra, thinking back to the dam.

“Yeah, remember her? She said the CMC and Six are good friends,” Dinky explained. “They were at the hospital waitin’ on him and everything!”

“Yeah, and Applejack and Rarity and Pinkie… there were a lot of ponies there,” Derpy said in realization, having been too distracted by panic earlier to notice. “Except you two.”

“Well, we were just in the crowd outside. Too packed inside. Too… obvious,” Bon Bon said.

Derpy just cocked an eyebrow.

“What she means is that we just figured we’d give him space,” explained Lyra coolly.

“Anyways, he works at Sweet Apple Acres,” Dinky squeaked. “Maybe tomorrow you can see if he’d wanna do something once he gets off?”

Lyra pondered the idea, though Bon Bon seemed a bit hesitant.

“You girls don’t have to worry, he’s real nice!” Derpy reiterated.

“Yeah…” Bon Bon nodded, thinking back to seeing him save her wife. “Maybe we can work something out.”

“That’s great!” offered the mailmare with a smile, as she and her daughter got their hayfries.

Bon Bon, for her part, finally leaned down and took a bite of her sandwich, pondering her thoughts as she did.

Back in the Everfree, Six finished his meal, and was now picking his teeth with one of his knives.

“That’s dangerous, you know?” Rainbow Dash said, though she couldn’t see his lower face as he was turned away from her.

“Yeah?” Six shrugged, before spitting out a chunk of mantis he’d scraped from his teeth.

He wiped his mouth with a rag and then adjusted his helmet.

“Well, what now?” she asked.

“It’s gettin’ a bit late in the day,” he shrugged. “I guess I should start getting to work.”

“Work?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling out a small sheet of paper and unfolding.

It was a deep yellow color, showing its age, no doubt something he had since the Mojave.

“While I had some free time, I sketched up this.” He turned the paper at the pegasus, and she just leaned in, giving a squint.

It was the entire floor plan for a small cabin, sketched with precise measurements and details.

One floor, sloped roof with shingles, no windows, even had a gardening section.

“I… what?” she managed.

“I like roughing it as much as the next guy, but I figure if I’m gonna be here for the next three weeks; might as well have something to do,” he shrugged.

"So you decided to build a house!?!” she shot back, her mouth wide.

“Yeah?” he shrugged. “No one owns this forest, right?”

“I... you… no?” she replied, still confused.

“Then I guess I’ll make myself at home,” he shrugged, before standing up and stretching.

“You got the tools?” she just questioned.

“Mostly,” he said, as he went over to his hollowed tree and reclaimed Knock-Knock. “I’m not in the logging business, but I did read up on it in my free time.”

“Do you have any idea how long that’s going to take?” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“Week? Maybe two?” he offered.

“Jus-… just give me a second,” she sighed, before suddenly she zoomed off in a rainbow-colored trail.

After a few seconds she zoomed back into view at near-sonic speeds and smashed through one of the trees.

She knocked a chunk out of it perfectly, making the trunk give before it slowly began to lean. Six watched and it soon gave way and fully fell to the forest floor with a loud THUD!

Soon enough, she landed right beside him, huffing.

“There!” she smirked.

“Well, that takes the fun out of it,” he stated as he slung the axe over his shoulder.

“There is just no pleasing you, is there?” Rainbow huffed.

He didn’t speak for a few seconds, as if he was in thought.

“Sarsaparilla!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers suddenly. “That pleases me.”

She just rolled her eyes.

“Look, I’ve gotta get home soon,” she finally huffed. “Do you wanna get back to Ponyville with me, maybe actually sleep in a real bed instead of on the dirt?”

“Who said anything about sleeping?” he chuckled. “I just woke up!”

“Whatever, suit yourself,” she finally shrugged. “I’ll check on ya tomorrow morning, make sure you’re not dead so Applejack’ll know if you’re coming in for work.”

“Thanks Dash,” he said simply, genuinely.

She looked at him, a bit surprised at the compliment.

He just ignored her and got to cutting up the fallen tree.

At Sweet Apple Acres, a small crowd of ponies waited outside the front of the farmhouse.

“Now Scoot, are ya sure ya wanna stay here tonight?” Holiday asked, looking down at her adoptive daughter.

“Yeah, I was thinking about baking some cookies!” offered Lofty with a smile.

“As long as Applejack’s fine with it, I’d like to sleep over tonight!” Scootaloo said, looking up at her aunts, a small saddlebag slung on her back.

“Well, I’m fine with it as long as ya’ll are,” Applejack said, looking between the two mares with a smile.

“Yeah, she can sleep in my room!” Apple Bloom offered with a nod.

“Well… if this is what she wants, I see no problems,” Holiday offered, turning to Lofty.

“Me neither,” agreed her wife.

“Oh thank you!” squeaked Scootaloo, hugging both her mother-figures with a smile.

They returned both the hug and the smile.

“Now we’ll be back tomorrah to pick ya up” Holiday explained, her accent as charming as ever.

“And I can bring some leftover cookies for ya and your little friend,” winked Lofty, making the orange filly giggle.

After saying their goodbyes, Scoots, Applejack, and Apple Bloom raised their forehooves, waving at the two mares as they left.

“Yer jus’ here because ya wanna see Six workin’ tomorrow,” whispered Apple Bloom as she leaned over to Scoots.

“Oh totally,” agreed the pegasus.

The little farmpony just rolled her eyes with a smirk, but didn’t say anything, doing her fellow Crusader a solid.

A few hours later, the sun began to set, and by then both of the fillies were in Apple Bloom’s room. The two Crusaders were small enough to share the bed, with Scootaloo laying on her back, tucked partly in.

“Apple Bloom?” she asked quietly, wide away.

“Yeah?” yawned the youngest of the Apple family.

“You ever think Six came here for a reason?” the filly wondered.

“What’cha mean?” the sleepy farmfilly asked.

“I mean that if he wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have saved me from that river,” Scoots said, shivering at the thought. “And that Bugbear could’ve hurt a ton of ponies without him.”

“It could just be coincidence an’ all,” shrugged the filly.

“I know, but what if it’s not?” Scoots responded.

“I guess somethin’ out there really likes ya then,” smirked Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo crinkled her muzzle at that, before huffing. She didn't say anything, though.

She soon looked out at the window, gazing at Twilight’s moon as she did. She looked at the stars and the vastness of space with an expression of curiosity.

It took a long while but sleep finally overcame her.