Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

Six leaned back in his seat, a small saddle bag at his side, filled with mail. A moderately sized duffle bag was clutched in his grasp. He looked out the window of the train, enjoying the scenery passing him by as he relaxed. His first train ride wasn’t exactly all that enjoyable, but given he didn’t currently have a chip on his shoulder, this one was far more entertaining.

Lyra and Bon Bon sat across from him, talking amongst themselves. He wasn’t fully listening in on them, just catching the occasional stuff like “Is that Sea Swirl?” and “You think Carrot Top’s coming?” and “I wonder if Minuette, Twinkleshine, or Lemon Hearts will be there!” and so on and so forth.

For his part, he just leaned further back into his seat. Wished he had something to prop his feet up, but this was relatively comfy. Not a word often used outside of perhaps the Strip.

He rifled through his duffle bag. Wasn’t one he originally brought with him from the Mojave, as this one was a good deal smaller... and it had flowers and polka dots on it, but that wasn't important.

He'd bought it that morning, actually. Was decently sturdy fabric; he just needed it to hold a few fun things for his trip without ripping. That was the important part.

“You packed heavy, huh Six?” Lyra noted, pulling him from his mind and into the conversation. She snickered a bit at the pink bag being held by such a gritty figure.

“Just taking a few precautions,” he said to himself as he continued looking through his luggage.

Soon enough, he pulled out a small metal lunchbox. The same recycled Vault-Tec one that used to hold his Caravan Lunch, actually. As he moved it aside, three grenades sat in the bottom of the bag, along with the wooden stock of a rifle. He looked away from them and examined inside the lunchbox itself.

A Psycho, Med-X, pack of Buffout, and a Steady. Nice.

He latched it shut and put it back inside the duffle bag, covering the grenade and rifle stock again, before he zipped the whole thing up. It was like the fifth time he’d checked it, but he wanted to be extra, extra, extra prepared.

The train ride from then on was relatively calm. No hiccups or anything. Just small talk with Bon Bon and Lyra.

The duo managed to order drinks, (the train had on-board service) so they spent a good amount of the trip sipping and sharing fruity cocktails with one another. Non-alcoholic, thankfully.

Six himself tried one, but it was a bit too sweet, so the mailman didn’t bother ordering another.

Hours passed and the sun had drifted downwards in the sky, giving way to evening. The grassy hills had transformed into wide, open, desert by this point. Felt homely, in a way at least.

“Why the hell would there be a big musical show in the middle of some small desert town?” Six asked, finally getting a decent topic on his mind.

“Ah right,” Lyra said, looking up at him from her drink. “You weren’t here for that whole Countess Coloratura thing.”

“Oh no, I was there the whole time,” he snarked back, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, well there was this whole thing about her and Applejack having a big falling out, but it all got patched up, and in the end, Coloratura wound up trying to rebrand. She’s going on tours to smaller, more out of the way towns as a whole charity ordeal. Been planning this for months, easily,” explained the unicorn. “Said all about it in the paper.”

“Yeah I don’t keep up with that stuff,” he shrugged, looking out the window at the desert.

“It helps that Dodge has expanded in the past few years too,” Bon Bon added. “It’s quadrupled in size, easily.”

Six nodded at that and went back to waiting out the journey.

It was about an hour or two later that the train ride finally ended, and the evening sky had been replaced with the pale blueness of an oncoming night. Six, Lyra, Bon Bon, and dozens of other ponies exited out of the cart as they stepped onto the Dodge Junction station.

The human looked around the place. Town wasn’t super large but had about four, maybe five or six dozen buildings. All of them were old west-styled, saloons and wooden houses and all that. Reminded him of a few historical photos he’d seen in magazines, that or Goodsprings anyways.

Seemed to have a lot more hustle and bustle than typical though. Dozens and dozens, possibly a hundred or so ponies were walking around the town, no doubt here for the show. A bunch seemed like tourists, not exactly the western type.

“It’s a good thing we booked the hotel when we did,” Bon Bon said, looking around as the two walked deeper into town.

“I told you Sapphire and Coloratura were a huge draw!” Lyra chuckled.

“I wonder if they have any sarsaparilla here,” Six mused to himself, his mind on the important things.

He was getting his fair share of stares by this point. No doubt word hadn’t spread throughout Equestria of his existence, so no shock a lot of ponies were eyeing him down. Some even looked hateful.

He flipped them off on occasion for fun.

“What are you doing?” Lyra asked.

“Don't worry. It means world peace,” Six chuckled.

She cocked a brow, unsure if he was being truthful.

Trek to the hotel was slowish, but even then, they got there relatively quickly. It was a two-story building, probably one of the only ones in the town. Still was made of wood though.

Interior was nice, clean, all woody with a lobby with tables and chairs and a small snack bar. Place was moderately packed already, several ponies eating and chatting, though the chatter slowed as Six walked past, with them gawking at him. One mare even dropped a spoonful of her oats in shock, with it clattering back into her bowl.

The old, gray bearded stallion at the front desk eyed the human suspiciously as he handed off the keys to Lyra. Both the unicorn and her wife seemed a bit annoyed by the staring by this point.

“Never seen a human before?” she huffed back as she magically took the keys.

He just scoffed, turning to help some other patrons as the trio made their way up the stairs and down a hallway to their room. No carpets or anything, just solid wood that gave off a loud thud with each step.

“Room… 38!” Lyra said after they trekked for a bit longer.

“Great,” the Courier shrugged.

The door was soon unlocked, and they entered. Immediately after flipping on a lantern, (which was the only decent light source) Bon Bon and Lyra gave a deep sigh of annoyance.

“One freaking bed, are you kidding?” the unicorn of the group grunted, looking around the drab, wooden room.

Six figured it looked right out of an 1800s inn. Ancient history come to life going by his standards.

“Got a chair at least,” he pointed out, looking at the old rocking chair in the corner. Had a faint lair of dust and cobwebs on the underside of it. Definitely rarely used or cleaned.

“The only solace is we’ll probably be too drunk and tired to care by the end of the night,” the unicorn huffed as she sat her saddlebags aside.

“Mind if I use the bed for a sec?” Six asked, however he just flopped down his bright pink duffle bag immediately after asking, opening it back up with a loud zip.

“Suit yourself,” Bon Bon rolled her eyes with a smirk.

Six nodded and pulled out a few items from the bag.

To the ponies, it looked like a weirdly shaped piece of wood and a metal tube, along with a few other strangely shaped parts.

To Courier Six… it was art.

He began reassembling the rifle, his hands quick and adept for the familiar task. His gloved fingers danced about like spiders as he would occasionally respectfully wipe off the weapon of any minor dirt or grime or lent from the bag. He didn’t have any lube for the mechanisms yet, was hard to find anything suitable in Ponyville, but he did ensure they were as clean as possible as he fully assembled it.

An antique weapon.

A beautiful machine.

“What is that exactly?” Lyra piped up, having watched him assemble the rifle the whole time.

“After the ordeal with that bear-bug bastard, I figured I might as well carry something with a bit more stopping power, especially while on my mail runs. I would’ve brought the 5.56, but I find the .308 typically offers superior penetration, at least if I deal with a larger target,” he explained, looking on proudly.

“I knew it was one of your explody-firey-things,” Lyra huffed. “But what is it specifically?”

“M1 Garand. This one’s a more ‘recent’ replica or offshoot than an exact copy of the original, but variations of this baby fought in the Second World War, easily over three hundred years ago,” he continued on, gently rubbing a gloved finger over the old girl’s wooden finish. “They might call her ancient, but I just say you can’t change perfection. That’s why I carry Lucky too, and the .45s.”

“Lucky? You named one of them,” Lyra chuckled.

“He deserved it, he’s… unique,” Six replied, gently reaching his hand into the duster and patting the holstered revolver in question, as if it were an old friend. “The battle rifle here has more stopping power than him though. Would’ve brought the All-American but the clips are easier to store more of than full mags.”

“You named more than one of them?” Bon Bon asked.

“Hey, they’re the only ones that’d never leave my side, gets lonely out there in the desert every now and then,” pointed out the mailman.

“Riiight…” Lyra replied, nodding. “Well, it’s a good thing we became your friends before you started naming your knives too.”

She and her wife gave soft chuckles.

Six remained silent.

He didn’t tell them about Blood-Nap. Now that would be difficult to explain.

After the laughing died down, the mares fully sat aside their minor luggage and turned to leave.

“We’ll try to save a seat for ya if possible Six,” Bon Bon offered with a soft smile.

“Yeah, but try to hurry with your mail run, I don’t think we’ll have much time before the place is fully packed,” winked Lyra.

He nodded and before long the two were gone, leaving him alone with his bag of equipment. The mailman continued rummaging through it and set aside a large canister of flamer fuel. He made sure to be extremely careful with it, checking for any potential leaks. When he found none, he sat it back into the duffle bag, leaving it beside his grenades.

Really safe idea there.

He grunted.

Would be fine for the night at least. Surely.

He soon applied a strap to the battle rifle and slung it over his shoulders. After that, he grabbed just one more fun thing he’d brought with him. He took it from his duffle bag, hiding it slung under his duster as a just-in-case emergency tool.

It’d be the ‘oh shit, we have a problem!’ kind of tool. Quite fun in a way. Hopefully he wouldn’t need it though.

With that, he grabbed his bag of mail and left the chems, the grenades, and the fuel behind in the bag as he headed for the door. Stopped one time to adjust his duster in a mirror, making sure the extra special surprise was well hidden under his jacket before he left.

Thankfully the place had a post office. Not a big one, mind you. It was a rundown little ramshackle shack sat off to the side of the town, near the train station. Door creaked heavily as he opened it and entered. Without the mask, he would've noticed a faint smell of old papers in the air as he walked up to the front desk.

A mare sat in a rickety wooden chair. She was a pegasus about as old and wrinkled as Granny Smith. Thick glasses rested on her muzzle.

“Ma’am,” the human said, getting her attention away from a small crossword she was filling out.

“Ahhh hello sonny, uh…” she adjusted her glasses.

“Yes, hello, I am here on behalf of Ponyville Post Office to deliver this backlog of mail,” Six said with an air of professionalism, pointing to his saddlebags. Moments later, he pulled out a small clipboard from under his duster and handed it to the mare. “Can you point me in the direction of any of these peo- ponies.”

“They hire Diamond Dogs now?” she squinted her eyes at him, before looking down at the clipboard.

“A lot’s changed recently,” he stated simply, neither questioning nor correcting her.

“Aye well… Caramel Butterscotch moved to Manehattan a few weeks back,” she said, her old voice low and slow.

“I will add that to my notes,” Six nodded.

“Mmm… I think old Petunia Petals passed away,” she added, sounding a bit down at that. “Celestia bless her.”

“I will deliver her mail to next of kin, if possible,” he replied, sounding like he’d fulfill the request.

She nodded.

“Alright sonny, grab a pen and paper and I’ll give you their addresses, this might take a while though,” the old mailmare soon said.

He quickly pulled up the notes function on his Pip-Boy.

“I’ve got nothing but time on my hands and a will to deliver,” said the prepared Courier.

She softly smiled up at him.

A bit later, about forty minutes or so, he was wandering around Dodge, following the old mare’s advice.

Had already made two or three deliveries. Most were stashed inside mailboxes, but he did manage to catch a stallion in person, or rather, in pony? Eh, doesn't matter.

What did matter was that the pony himself was horrified at the two-legged thing approaching him so much, he passed out on his front porch. Six checked his pulse, and after finding both it and the stallion’s breathing steady, just shoved the mail under his head for him to get when he woke up.

So far so good.

Before long he was on the edge of town, and off in the distance he could see a large orchard. Had strange looking trees in it though. Pink leaves…

Hmm…

Cherries, maybe? He remembered a few old magazines and papers that had cherry blossoms so, maybe this was an equivalent? Didn’t matter much. Though he did see that a massive stage had been set up on the edge of the farm itself. Large, as impressive as the one in the Tops, actually. Must’ve taken a good bit of elbow grease to build, had lights and everything.

He looked it over, his night vision helping him see the place more clearly, though the stage lights were extra bright. A white unicorn mare with glasses on was belting out strange sounding music on stage though a set of almost comedically oversized speakers. Even from his distance he could hear it. Sounded weird. Not like the classics. Marty Robbins and Sinatra she was not.

He just shook it off as he continued on his mail route.

Saw Lyra and Bon Bon in the front row of seats, catching them out of the corner of his eye. Hopefully they’re having fun at least.

Him though? Just mail to deliver.

With the pondering done, he went off like a machine doing its one purpose.

In the crowd though, Lyra and Bon Bon cheered for Vinyl as she boomed out her wubs.

The mares were definitely having a good time, judging by the minor blushes on their faces and the two cups they held, the fizzy liquid inside swishing about as they bumped to the music. Lyra herself had her horn lit up, slowly waving it back and forth like one would a lighter, along with dozens of other unicorns doing the same.

Backstage, Doctor Whooves was checking over the sound system as DJ Pon-3 bumped to the bass.

All the wires looked great, yes, yes, everything was still in order. He’d double checked it all at least three times by now, but even then, he might as well do a fourth. Doctor Whooves wiped some sweat from his brow as he did so.

Behind him, he heard the other musicians making small talk. He didn’t see them as he was focused on the sound system. Was his job after all.

“You know, this place really is beautiful,” admitted the voice of Coloratura. “I know Dodge isn’t always on everypony’s go-to tourist destinations, but I’ve always loved it.”

“That’s the fifth time ya’ve said that tonight,” laughed Cherry Jubilee. “We're always happy to have ya, Rara. I know ya used ta place orders here all the time for yer shows.”

Coloratura giggled at that.

“I can’t help it, your cherries are just so delicious!” the popstar admitted.

“Hey Rara,” a third, more bombastic voice interrupted, “are you absolutely sure you don’t want a costume change? I can have Rarity hook you up with something less… plain. Could get it here in the next hour before the main event sta-”

“Sapphire, you knew that when you signed on, we were going to go for less glitz and more soul,” chuckled the other popstar.

“I know that, but this is your last chance to change that before we play, I just wanted to make absolutely sure,” offered Sapphire Shores.

The Doc just continued to toil away at the wires and the speakers and all the backstage equipment as the popstars and cherry farmer had their three-way conversation. He wiped a bead of sweat off his brow as he made sure his new sound system was absolutely perfect.

Couldn’t have the show crash and burn after all his work!

Courier Six had finished his job within the hour. All that mail and now it was delivered safe and sound to the hooves of all the ponies who needed it.

Felt good, great even!

Made him feel useful. An amazing sensation as always.

Now he was just hanging back away from the show itself. He had initially considered buying a ticket, they were only one bit apiece, but something had caught his eye.

A pink-coated, yellow-maned earth mare landed what looked like a damned helicopter a ways back. He’d been tailing beneath her as she flew earlier, and now she finally rested the machine on practically the other side of town, out in the desert where nopony would be.

Took this time to examine the vehicle. Bright pink in color, with a heart-motif. Seemed almost like a children’s toy or something. No doors on it either, just wide, heart-shaped holes on both sides. Probably not the safest but oh well.

He watched from a distance as she hopped out of her pedal-powered vehicle. An aviator’s cap and pair of goggles adorned her head. The human was intrigued by this, and seeing as he had no more mail to deliver and no interest in the show, he approached her. His rifle clattered on his back with each step.

“Hey,” he said, catching her attention.

She jerked her head towards him, and her eyes widened as she examined him in the darkness.

“Ah fuck, right,” he said, stepping back to make himself seem less threatening. “That’s a uh… helicopter, right?”

The mare stared at him, and slowly looked back to her vehicle, before nodding.

“It’s uh... nice,” he said, trying to remain casual. “I’ve not seen many air-based vehicles so that’s really unique to me.”

She nodded once more.

He nodded back.

The silence between them awkwardly dragged on.

The human considered leaving for a good several seconds before she spoke up.

“I-I’ve seen you before,” she admitted. “Around Ponyville I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. “I think I’ve caught a glance at you on occasion too.”

“I’m Cherry Berry,” she said simply.

“Here for the show?” he asked.

She looked surprised for a moment, before answering.

“Y-yeah, beats taking the train if you ask me,” she said, taking pride in her flying machine. “Just fixed her up too!”

“I bet that took a lot of skill,” Six chuckled.

“Heh, it was nothing,” she smirked back at the compliment. “Took me a bit, but she’s real easy to learn when you get a feel for her.”

He nodded at that.

“You know uh, I wouldn’t mind paying for your ticket if you wanted,” he offered.

“Are you asking for a date?” she asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at that.

“I-... what?” he answered back, utterly confused. “No... that wouldn-... I’m not a pony, that wouldn’t work.”

Cherry Berry pulled back, laughing at that.

“I’m screwing with you,” she admitted.

“Uh huh…” Six said, not returning the laughs, though he felt a bit better now. Little less awkward.

“I’m trying to work on my comedy routine, did I get ya?” she asked with a snort.

“I’d say stick to aviation,” he replied, checking his Pip-Boy, as if it'd make the time go by faster.

“Tough crowd,” she grinned back.

“But uh, ticket’s still yours, if you want,” he replied, pulling out a bit for the mare and offering it to her.

“Oh wow thanks… I didn’t think you were serious,” she said, gently taking it with a forehoof.

“Hey, maybe you can pay me back one day,” he chuckled back.

She nodded at that, and looked up at him, as if she was mewling over something.

“Are you going?” she finally asked him, figured the answer was yes, but might as well check anyways.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Crowds were never really my style, too many people or in this case, ponies.”

“Loner type?” she asked, looking up at him.

“In a way,” he said, casually leaning his back against her helicopter as he crossed his arms.

Felt surprisingly sturdy. Supported him without issue, despite its cutesy appearance.

He looked it over as he leaned against it, eyeing the controls.

“Is this fucking thing pedal-powered?” he asked in surprise, leaning down.

“Yes, and I would prefer if you didn’t press against it,” huffed the mare before he stepped back. She pulled a small rag from inside the cockpit and wiped off where he’d rested on the machine.

“Hey I’m not poisonous,” he shot back.

“I’d rather that weird spear thing of yours not chip the paint,” replied Cherry as she dusted off the copter further.

Six looked at his back, realizing he still had the battle rifle strapped to it.

“This isn’t a spear… well, not traditionally,” the human corrected.

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes, though she did give him a faint smirk, showing she wasn’t too annoyed with him. “Look I’m gonna double check my saddlebags. I guess I’ll see you at the show. Hopefully Sapphire and Rara aren't on yet.”

“Sure thing I guess. I’ll wait for you,” Six shrugged, turning back and advancing towards Cherry Hill Ranch proper.

Town was dark, no streetlamps or anything to brighten it up. Just the moon above. Thankfully though, Six had his night vision to help him along.

But as he headed deeper into the town proper, a strange… chill, went up his spine. He found himself standing in the middle of the streets, the small, western building surrounding him as a faint breeze blew his duster. He narrowed his eyes in thought. Place was empty, even more so than it had been when he was running his route. The few wayward ponies who weren't at the show were gone now. It was as if a sudden cloud of thick, muggy air overtook everything.

Saw something out of the corner of his vision duck behind a building. Looked big. About as tall as he was. He kept his eye locked in on the direction. Wasn’t a pony. Two legged. Maybe a Dragon or something else? Diamond Dog thing that one mailmare mentioned?

He approached the building with a slow but steady pace, hand ready to reach down for one of his guns if needed. The only noise was the sound of his rifle softly clattering against his back, and the soft crunch of sand underneath his boots as he stealthily moved.

Felt a bit silly at doing this, but better safe than sorry. He soon reached the small corner the shadow had turned behind and looked around the corner...

Nothing but an empty alleyway.

Six huffed, metaphorically wiping his brow as he stood up straight and walked back out into the middle of the town street. Wasn't anything after all...

He was just about to write the whole ordeal off whenever he heard the sound of hooves clattering up from behind him. Six turned with lightning-fast quickness and stumbled out of the way just in time to let a terrified, sweating stallion rush past him.

“Watch where the fuck you’re goi-” the Courier paused as the pony just continued galloping, his breath hitching in panic as he continued running.

Alright, that wasn’t right. Wasn’t right at all.

The Courier quickly turned fully back around from the direction the stallion had run from, and his eyes further homed in as he could see movement in the darkness. Heard footsteps quickly approaching and then...

And then he saw it…

Rather, he saw them.

They rounded a corner out from one of the alleyways and skidded to a stop upon spotting his large, bulky frame.

Had a strange shape, unlike anything he’d ever seen at that point. All three were about as tall as he was, give or take an inch.

Bipedal, pair of arms, pair of legs. The skin was smooth and black as pitch. Even with his night vision they partly blended in with the darkness to an almost supernaturally degree. Had cloven hooves, and long, gnarled, boney fingers that ended in claws. Limbs were unnaturally long too.

Overall, their bodies were gaunt, slender, almost skeletal. With the only fat and notable muscle on them being in their torso, thigh, and belly areas. Gave them a putrid, almost decayed look, like that of a bloated corpse in a way. Most standout part about them though, were their faces- Hell, their entire heads!

Boar skulls. No skin coated them at all, no eyes, no nose, no ears, just the skulls, with the skin stopping at the neck. He would've figured they were wearing masks or helmets had it not been for the fact he could see straight into their heads, though their naval cavity and eye sockets. Speaking of eyes, two deep green embers were constantly burning inside their empty sockets, where their irises should be. Small balls of fire in an empty blackness.

Magic. Had to be. But he didn’t figure necromancy was something that would’ve existed in this bright and colorful place.

Felt like he was staring down a bastard monster of the week from one of those Grognak comics.

The trio of piggish beasts looked him down and actually took a step backwards as they gazed upon the Courier’s powerful frame. His red glowing lenses just gazed right back into their own green balls of magic.

The one in the middle had a pair of large tusks coming from its bottom jaw. More boar-like in nature than the other two. Leader, perhaps? Alpha male maybe?

It let loose a deep bellow at him and slammed a palm against its chest, as if it were challenging the Courier to a fight.

The human just let Lucky respond to the bellow by sounding out a gunshot, having quick-drawn the revolver in the blink of an eye.

The creature jerked back as Six blew its head apart. Its body dropped to the ground, kicking up some dust and causing a dull thud to ring out. After the first shot, Six held down the trigger on the .357, ensuring the hammer remained loose. Before the other monsters could react, he reached up his left hand and fan-fired the remaining five rounds right into the other two beasts, killing them in seconds like a true cowboy.

Two bullets slammed into the one on the left, both center of mass, near the heart; dropped the bastard without much of a fuss.

Three more into the upper chest of the one on the right, its body jerked back and forth as the rounds ripped through its skin. The sixth and final round in the cylinder shredded the creature’s neck, causing a strange, black… gas(?) to spray out as it fell to the dirt with a gurgle.

Wasn’t exactly fluid but wasn’t fully gaseous either, though. The best he could describe it would be that the piggish monster was bleeding a thick, smoggy smoke.

The trio of creatures laid dead on the ground, not even knowing what had hit them. More and more smoke billowed up from their corpses as they began to crumble, for lack of a better word. Six watched in fascination as the three bodies began to turn into what looked like ash.

Reminded him of a disintegration, but he hadn’t hit them with a laser weapon. Strange…

He didn’t have much time to muse, as he heard a faint scream behind him.

Fuck, Cherry!

Six bolted back towards the mare’s copter, holstering his emptied .357 as he did.

Cherry Berry kicked all four of her hooves at the bizarre monster as it tried to get her into its grasp. She’d been checking her bags when out of nowhere this foul monster had attacked her!

It tore off her aviator goggles and cap before tugging her down by her mane. The beast wound up ripping out some of her yellow hair as it brutally forced her down.

She screamed out for help only once before the creature placed one of its gangly hands over her muzzle and forced her head fully onto the cold ground. It held her down in the dirt, trying to keep her pinned as she slowly but surely wasted her own energy on bucking in an attempt to escape.

The mare heard it roar out as it stood over her, and from her vantage, she saw a second approaching shape in the darkness. It was another one of these horrific beasts, as she could see its strange, fireball-like eyes staring back at her.

The second beast helped the first one get a proper hold on her, and before long, she felt herself being lifted by their combined strength. One of their hands remained covering her muzzle, the other three arms were focused on restraining her hooves and body.

Cherry kicked at nothing, not being able to strike properly from her awkward angle, as she was being hoisted up between the two monsters. She felt like chattel, being manhandled by these beasts! The aviator wouldn't go without a fight though!

The pink-cared mare screamed into the palm around her mouth once more, trying to bite the beast as she jerked about in its grasp. Her tongue inadvertently made contact with its skin in the scuffle. The fight partly left her as she had to stop herself from biting any further. Instead, she began gagging, as it tasted like she’d just licked an ashtray!

Eventually though, she managed to angle her neck back as she tried to turn back to see her helicopter. The monsters were carrying her further and further away from it! Maybe if she could get loose, she could get in and fly away an-

The creature on her left stopped walking, gurgling suddenly as she felt its hands loosen. Both her and the second monster looked over to see what had happened...

A throwing knife stuck out of the beast’s neck, causing partly viscous, ashy smoke to billow out of the hole in its neck. Cherry kicked her hooves once more, breaking free from the other monster’s weakened grip. Without a second of delay, she began bolting back towards her copter, and when she reached it a few seconds later, only then did she turn back to see what had saved her...

The mare heard a grunt of effort ring out as she watched the Courier deliver a downward strike with his bowie knife, the glint of the blade shimmering out against the blackness thanks to the moon's light.

Blood-Nap smashed through the upper skull of the piggish creature’s head, with the sharp point piercing out through the bottom of the monster's jawbone below. Bone fragments and bits of brain matter coated Six's glove as he kicked the creature’s corpse onto the ground, yanking the knife out of its head as he did.

The blade was completely coated in a black, tarry slime as he examined it.

“Y-you saved me…” she whispered, piping up from a dozen feet away.

He just continued looking over the knife as he replied.

“Yeah, it’s what I do,” he said casually as he tried to shake the bowie knife about, seeing if the tar-like sludge would fly off on its own.

It did not.

“W-what are those things?” Cherry asked, pointing a hoof to the dissipating corpse of the piggish creatures.

“You think I’d know?” he snarked back, finally just wiping off the blackened blood on the left sleeve of his duster, allowing Blood-Nap’s shimmering edge to once more be visible.

She frowned deeply at that, sweat rolling off her forehead.

“Are there any more of them?” she asked once more, as she considered getting into her chopper and booking it.

“Dunno, I killed some back in town though,” Six said, sheathing the blade for now as he approached the mare.

He spotted something on the ground and reached down, grabbing it in one fluid motion as he continued approaching the pink mare.

Cherry shrunk back against her copter, shivering as he stared down at her. Despite having sort of met him, he still looked absolutely terrifying, especially now that she'd seen him kill a horrific monster like that.

Suddenly though, he reached out his hand, which was still clutching the thing he'd picked up.

It was her cap and goggles...

She felt a sense of warmth coming off of the human as she stared at his outstretched palm, and then up into his bright red lenses. Her mouth was opened in a sense of awe as she softly took back her possession from him. One of her most unique possessions, tossed aside by some unfeeling monster, and now here it was, returned to her by a stranger she'd just met.

To think she might’ve flown off without it…

She steeled herself, blinking away some tears as she put her cap back on.

“Look, Cherry, you’d better get into your chopper and get the hell out of Dodge, pronto,” Six said, as he began reloading Lucky, collecting the spent casings from the revolver and depositing them into one of the many satchels strapped to his chest. “I have a feeling shit’s going south.”

“What about you?” she asked. “I-I might have enough room in the helicopter to-”

“My friends are back at that concert,” he replied, snapping the loading gate on Lucky shut and cocking the hammer. “I’ve gotta make sure they’re alright.”

“But there could be a lot of those things lurking around town!” she called, terrified at the prospect. “Good thing I brought a bit extra firepower,” Six said with a grin, holstering Lucky and replacing him with his Garand, slinging the ol’ girl off of his shoulders and into his grasp.

She stared, her breath hitching in her throat.

“You waitin’ for a second doomsday? Go!” he shouted, waving a hand at her.

Cherry snapped to it, quickly hopping into her vehicle and putting her hooves to the pedals.

Six stepped back, eyeing around the empty desert as he aimed his rifle about, covering her from the ground for a few minutes as she began taking off.

She looked down at him with a concerned frown as she ascended.

He just gave a singular wave back, before turning away, heading back towards Dodge.

The battle rifle that saw the United States through World War 2 fit nicely in his gloved hands as he carried on. He gripped her nice and tight like any true G.I. would. Finger was resting just above the trigger, ready to snap down and pop off a shot at a moment's notice.

Over three hundred years, one nuclear apocalypse, and an interdimensional jump, and she’d still service him as well as she serviced any other troop in the old days...

Bet John Garand didn't expect that!