Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

As the sun dipped over the horizon fully, Scootaloo let loose another cry of horror as darkness engulfed her. She couldn’t do a big scream this time, as her lungs were burning from the marathon she was sprinting currently, so most of it died in her throat, but the little filly still choked out a whimpering moan.

Her mane was sagging down against her head now, soaked with water, which also covered her coat. She was close to crying now. Even the other times she’d been stuck in the woods at night, at least then it wasn’t raining. This was far, far worse. Especially as her mind began playing tricks on her.

Out of the corner of her eyes she swore she kept seeing strange figures approaching. Creatures or trees that were ready to swallow her up. She didn’t dare slow, lest one of these monsters get her!

Scootaloo swore she saw a big beast up ahead, a large clawed limb reaching at her. She turned to the right, sprinting off in complete fear. Sadly, said limb was just a particularly placed branch, swaying wildly in the wind. To make matters worse, the little filly herself had just booked it into a particularly rough thicket of forest.

Twilight’s moon didn’t help her see much as the trees overhead were thick, darkening the little light she had to work with. It was almost a miracle she didn’t trip as she slammed her hoof into rough, mossy rocks and thick, uncovered tree roots.

She breathed deeply as she forced her body to give all it had to give. She wished she’d eaten a bigger lunch because her stomach was now growling too. Oh how she wished she had taken a baggie of marshmallows with her!

All of those regrets could be saved for later though, as currently she was focusing on not getting trapped in the wilderness during a rainstorm. She briefly considered if she could climb a tree and find a vantage point, perhaps she could see the campsite from here?

Those hopes were dashed when she was nearly tipped over from a particularly strong gust of wind. She shrieked as she stumbled around, forcing all four of her hooves beneath her as her underdeveloped wings stuck to her sides out of instinct.

She looked around again, and then picked a random direction to run towards. A loud crackle of thunder rang out from above, and she shouted in fear once more as she continued running without direction or reasoning.

Fear had taken hold of the poor filly, and now without any adult to guide her, she was letting it take hold. This situation was far worse than even her numerous nightmares. She was close to tears as she smashed through a thicket.

She was in a clearing now, a big one. A small field, actually! Didn’t help much, though. She could barely see more than five paces in front of her face from the oppressive darkness, and the tall grass that dotted said field didn’t help any either, as it was almost up past her cheeks.

Still, she rushed forwards, trampling it down as she tried to allow her eyes to adjust. They sadly didn’t and even if they did, the rain was too much for her. At least Twilight’s moon was helping her, albeit barely, as faint traces poked between the clouds above.

“Oh why did I ever do something so stupid!” she cursed herself with a whimpering tone as she reached up a forehoof to wipe the muck and water from her eyes.

Scootaloo shook her mane side to side, and yet it didn’t help much, making her whimper in sadness. The little pegasus soon began sniffling as well. She was getting cold now, and she shivered instinctively as the frigid rain poured down onto her without mercy.

She tried to position herself underneath a nearby tree, but the leaves didn’t stave off the storm. She could feel tears in her eyes now. They were forcing themselves up from deep within, and even as she tried choking them down, she just sobbed instead.

Her cries were barely audible over the storm above, especially when another blast of thunder lit up the area around her. She tried to keep her ears peeled despite this. She could just sit here and wait for rescue! Yeah!

Maybe Rainbow Dash would approach her any minute! She would bust through the treeline and sweep her off her hooves, and hug her and break up the clouds, and assure her that she was safe! Yeah, just thinking about it made Scootaloo feel better-

“Hey!” a voice rang out from the treeline ahead.

That… definitely wasn’t Dash’s voice. Or any of her friends or their sisters either…

It was deep, muffled, and masculine.

Scootaloo looked up, still hopeful that perhaps some weather pony had found her! She expected some knight in shining armor to be standing before her, greeting her with a polite gesture, no doubt here to save her!

Then, her heart sank into the deepest pits of her stomach…

In front of her, she could see two deep, red, glowing eyes.

She froze, and so did the creature that was looking at her. It was the single most horrific sight she could imagine. Whatever it was, it was tall, taller than Dash and likely even a bit taller than Big Mac too. It was bulky, and she could see what looked like fabric billowing in the wind behind the monster, a dark, dirty looking jacket adorning its frame.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened, bugging almost out of their sockets before she inhaled a shaky breath…

And then gave out one of the loudest screams she’d ever managed in her young life.

Her lungs, already burning, felt like an inferno now, especially as the scream lasted a few seconds. The monster in front of her actually reached up for his ears out of instinct before he could approach any further.

That was all she needed. She hopped to her hooves, and bolted off, running into the denser foliage in hopes he couldn’t follow. She could see him rushing towards her, an arm outstretched as he did.

“Wait!” she heard the beast shout! No doubt it was a trick! He would pretend to be all friendly and then lure her back to his cave and then eat her! The little filly ignored him as she continued on, hoping beyond all hope she’d never see those horrible red eyes again!

“Dash, did ya spot any sign of her!?” Applejack shouted over the rainstorm. The bright orange earth pony had to hold her hat down as the wind was currently picking up even more. She, Rarity, and the pegasus in question were currently outside of their cave campsite.

“If I did, do you think I’d have come back here empty hoofed!?!” growled back Rainbow Dash. “I knew I shouldn’t have let her go out there, and now look at what happened! This is all my freaking fault!”

“Dear, don’t blame yourself. That will get us nowhere,” Rarity assured her friend. The white unicorn was now adorned in a bright yellow raincoat, one of the few useful tools she had packed in her luggage.

“Just warm yourself up by the fire for a moment. Me and Rarity’ll go out and search for her again. That’ll give you time to rest up,” added Applejack, getting a nod from the unicorn by her side.

“Getting warm isn’t going to help Scootaloo!” shouted Dash, her eyes narrowed at her friend. Applejack could see faint traces of tears welling up too, and she gave a small, understanding frown.

“You won’t help her if you let the cold sap all your energy. It’ll make you sick, and then we’ll be in a real pickle,” Applejack said, her tone soft and encouraging.

Dash’s head dipped down, and she sniffled a bit, but she nodded nonetheless, knowing her friend was right. She walked back into the cave, with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom sitting near the campfire alongside her.

“This ain’t right!” Apple Bloom shouted, crossing her forehooves. “We should be out there helping ya’ll!”

“Yeah, Scootaloo’s our best friend, we can’t just sit here and do nothing!” agreed Sweetie Belle.

“That storm out there’s wicked, even for me,” Dash said, drying her wings off with one of the many towels Rarity packed, water gliding off of her in thick droplets. “We are not letting you guys get washed away too.”

“Yeah, but-” Bloom was cut off by a glare from the mare.

“Don’t ‘but’ me!” Rainbow Dash said, taking on an authoritative tone. Her teacher-side coming out, as if she were scolding misbehaving students.

Apple Bloom wilted back, but the glare that Rainbow Dash had soon faded into a sorrowful gaze.

“I’m sorry Apple Bloom, I just… We don’t need you two in danger either,” Rainbow Dash explained, looking between the filly duo. “If anything happens to you or Sweetie, Applejack and Rarity will lose their cool too, and then we’ll all be in a bad situation.”

The two fillies nodded, and sat closely beside one another, sharing their warmth along with the heat from the fire. They stared at the small, crackling blaze for a solid few minutes. There wasn’t much wood to go around given that Scootaloo never returned, but the others had collected some earlier, ensuring their sisters would be warm in the coming storm.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow Dash said, getting their attention away from the fire pit. “I swear to you guys, I’ll bring her back. She’s my sister, after all.”

The two fillies nodded at the older mare. Rainbow Dash could tell they had faith in her. It made her feel good. It almost gave her more energy than the heat from fire and the quick rest had. Soon enough, she’d be back into tip-top shape, and her sister would be safe and sound. She’d make sure of it!

“Why the fuck are you running!?!” the Courier shouted, reaching down and grabbing a large branch that was in his way.

He yanked on it hard, putting some of his immense strength into it as his muscles flexed beneath his duster. Of course he wound up unwittingly uprooting the entire damn bush with his rough tug, before he threw it aside, stomping over the other thickets in front of him.

The All-American battered this way and that against his back as he rushed her down. She was a scurrying little bugger, quick like a damn rabbit. He’d give her that, she had speed, but he was keeping a good pace with her.

It didn’t really cross his mind that perhaps chasing the fleeing pony was a bad idea. Especially when he looked like a beast right out of her worst nightmares. Not that he himself knew that of course!

Still, one would figure the red lenses give it away… Oh well.

He continued on, smashing through more shrubs as he tried tracking her down from the broken branches and hoof steps she was now leaving in the muddy terrain. He felt his lungs burning a bit, but he continued on undeterred.

“Get back here, kid!” he called out, swatting down another branch in his way as he stomped towards her. Probably not the best thing to shout either, all things considered.

Regardless, his helmet’s night vision let him see her with ease even as she bobbed and weaved away. The little pegasus was basically a little blotch of fuzz against the plantlife and bramble that cluttered the forest.

Still, he could see where she was going, and she couldn’t, so it wasn’t a shock he was slowly gaining on her as she weaved between bushes and trees. He smashed down another bush, trampling it underfoot and creating loud snapping sounds as he advanced.

“I’m trying to help you, you little brat!” he shouted out, though it was likely lost on her, as another crack of thunder and the loud rain drowned his voice out.

She seemingly just sped up. He could see what looked like a pair of little wings fluttering, though she didn’t seem to have the ability to fly. Maybe she was under-developed due to her age? He couldn’t exactly ponder the maturation cycle of pegasi at the moment, though, as he was still smashing his way through the overgrowth that kept blocking his path to the little filly.

He could see her ears flick back though, before she ducked behind another bush. She could likely hear the cracks of twigs and such, even over the loud rainstorm thundering in the background. Though he could also see her chest heaving, reminding him of a dog that was in the middle of a hunt. In this instance though, she was more or less the prey.

He saw her burst out the other side of the thicket and take a hard right turn, scurrying away into some more bushes. He growled in annoyance, but kept pace, his breathing becoming a bit stiff, and he could feel sweat run down his forehead beneath his mask. The Courier paid it little mind though, as he’d dealt with desert heats infinitely worse than this little sprint session.

Still, she was a fast little bugger, he’d give her that. He would catch her soon though, but the logical part of his brain was hoping he’d get her before she got herself hurt. Seconds later, he broke through the thicket into the clearing she’d reached, he banked hard to the right.

However, his eyes widened as he felt his foot slip from beneath him. His entire brain was soon yanked away from thoughts and into the present as he completely slipped.

His left foot gave out fully, flying into the air, and he fell down, slamming hard onto his right knee. He grunted as it smashed right into a particularly large rock that had been hidden in the mud.

“Fuck!” he hissed, catching his upper body with his hands before he fully fell into the wet mush.

It didn’t exactly hurt, as his knee pad absorbed the worst of the blow, but he had now lost some ground with the filly. With a growl he was back up onto his feet, and sprinting just as fast as he had been, though he paid more attention as to not trip.

As he was running and focusing on the ground though, he caught something out of the corner of his eye and turned his head for a split second. He could see a figure, running on all fours. His eye lenses were a bit clouded from the water, but even still he could see it definitely wasn’t the filly he was chasing.

In fact, it wasn’t even a pony at all. The creature looked like a big canine and… was it made of fucking wood?

The Courier’s eyes widened beneath his helmet as a large wolf leapt right towards him. He managed to raise his hands up before it slammed into him, knocking him off course and leaving the both of them rolling downwards through the bushes.

The ground was a complete slurry and sloped beforehand anyways, meaning they slid harshly. Both the man and the canine were clawing at each other the entire time they tumbled. Grass and mud and rock flew this way and that while they rolled.

Six’s hand shot up and grabbed the fucker by the throat before it could bite at him, but as the two continued down slope, he felt his grip loosen a bit. Not only that, but he felt the All-American’s strap slip away, with the rifle tumbling off down the hill and out of his reach as he scuffled with the beast.

Soon enough though, he slammed harshly into a tree at the bottom of the hill they’d been rolling down. It was back first, obviously, making a loud CRACK sound ring out as the trunk of said tree indent from the harsh impact. Bark and leaves that had shaken loose from the blow fell down onto the two scuffling creatures.

The Courier let out a growl of pain and annoyance as the beast was kicking and clawing at him now that their fall was over. No doubt it was trying to get itself free from his grip, but the pissed off human wouldn’t just let it go that easily!

He reached up his other hand and shoved his thumb deep into the strange, wooden creature’s bright glowing eye. Little fucker wanted to ambush him? Alright, enjoy that plan with one fucking eye you bastard!

SQUELCH!

He looked over and saw a rather large rock on the ground nearby. With his hands still wrapped firmly around the beast’s head, he picked the bastard up and then slammed it right down onto it. He could feel the wood crack under his powerful slam, and the rock did its job by smashing the beast’s head apart, leaving roots, leaves, and pieces of wood coating the muddy ground.

The Courier quickly stood up, looking around himself as he wiped his sap-coated hands onto his duster. He growled out in annoyance as he could see more figures approaching from the treeline. He noted their glowing eyes and had he not been wearing a gas mask; he would’ve also noted a strange scent filling his nostrils.

As it stood now though, the Courier just reached down. In the blink of an eye his right hand disappeared beneath his duster, before he yanked out something…

The one that had advanced the furthest jerked back, a portion of its head splattering apart as a loud BANG filled the air.

It wasn’t thunder, though.

The beasts looked at their brother as he fell to the ground, turning into useless pieces of bramble and foliage. They then turned back to their newest prey, sizing him up as they stopped their advance for the moment.

Slowly, over a dozen wooden wolves began to surround the lone human, who held a strange looking object in his hand now. The beasts’ feet left tracks in the mud as they encircled him. He was definitely a bigger meal than the filly, even if he’d already taken down two of the pack.

Sadly for them, he wasn’t even remotely going to stop there.

The Courier just cock Lucky's hammer while smirking beneath his mask. While the All-American was out of his grasp currently, he was far from defenseless. Besides, .357 should be enough for these assholes.

“Alright you thorny fucks,” he took a deep breath, his almost psychotic smile visible just as he spoke, “come get some!”

The unnatural wolves charged…

And so did the Courier.

Scootaloo’s ears slammed downwards against her skull as she heard several loud BANGs ring out behind her. She moaned and whimpered in fear as she continued sprinting. She knew it wasn’t thunder, as it sounded too close.

Whatever it was, she wanted no part of it, and instead was trying to put as much distance between herself and that monster as possible. At one point she swore she even smelt the faint traces of Timberwolves! Oh that would be just great. Not one monster, but one monster and a pack of those horrid beasts! Just what she needed!

She felt both of her forehoove get caught on something, and her eyes widened as she slipped up, her momentum carrying her forwards all the while. The muddy ground also caused her balance to give way, and she wasn’t able to right herself in time before she slammed face-first into the muck with a groan.

Scootaloo forced herself back up onto her haunches and tried wiping the mud from her face. After a few moments, she managed to clear herself up mostly, but flecks of grime still adorned her face, staining parts of her orange coat an unflattering brown.

She continued to sit there for a few moments, realizing only now how tired she felt. Her lungs burned and her body was starting to ache from how hard she’d been pushing herself. Still, she couldn’t focus on that now! She had to get free from these monsters before she could acknowledge that medical stuff!

Still, a rest would help… She looked around for a few moments, and after finding the area clear from anything that could eat her, she backed herself up against a tree and took a few deep breaths, letting her body finally get some form of rest. She almost wanted to sleep, but the cold rain and the hot adrenaline forced her to stay awake.

Scootaloo kept her eyes and ears peeled as she looked around. Even the faintest snap of a twig, or the fluttering of a branch in the wind nearly made her bolt. However, nothing came for poor the little filly.

The orange pegasus gave a deep sigh, no doubt relieved a bit. Perhaps those monsters had gotten into a fight with each other! Maybe the Timberwolves would rip it apart and leave her alone! Maybe she’d escape after all-

BANG!

The filly immediately ducked back down, covering her head in fear, looking around for the source of the horrid noise! She couldn’t see anything nearby, but that didn’t comfort her at all. Especially as the loud sound was soon followed by a pained howl.

Wait. That means the monster was beating those Timberwolves!

“Oh no,” Scootaloo squeaked. She tried to stand, but her body was exhausted, so she just wound up collapsing back into a sitting position. The adrenaline that had carried the little filly this far seemed to have vanished, and now she was alone with her pained body.

“Oh no!” she cried again, a bit louder this time.

She soon began to crawl backwards as best she could, keeping her eyes on the direction the noise had come from all the while. She kicked all four of her hooves as she tried to stand up, only leading to her slipping back into the slurry of mud.

Scootaloo groaned as she gave it her all, grunting in effort as she managed to slowly stand back up. Despite the fact her hooves were killing her, she was able to shakily backpedal. She dared not turn away from the direction she was gazing in, as that would allow the beast to sneak up on her.

In the span of a few minutes, Scootaloo had only gotten a few dozen feet away from her starting location. Even if she did turn to run properly, her body would no doubt give out again on her soon. This slower, steady pace at least helped her keep herself up, though likely not for that much longer either.

In that time, she heard more howls and bangs, but the noises had ceased a few minutes ago by now. Soon she was left with just the occasional crack of thunder and the continuous sound of rain hitting the ground and trees around her.

Soon enough though in the darkness, she could see it.

Breaching a thicket dead ahead of the little filly, two bright glowing red eyes soon stared at her from several dozen yards away. She nearly bit her tongue in fear but managed to avoid hurting herself. However, her eyes bulged out as the beast spotted her, and began advancing, closer by the second.

She would’ve screamed, but it died in her throat as she finally turned to run, getting a second burst of energy as she finally managed a proper gait. No doubt the immediate danger drove the little filly on as she bobbed her way through the bramble. She had received several cuts from the branches, but they were better than some monster taking her!

However soon, her running stopped, as she finally reached the seeming end of the boundless forest, smashing through one final thicket to get to the end!

…

Her heart sank as she realized she was staring across a large river now. She’d breached the forest and gotten to merely a small clearing on the bank. Ahead of her were just more trees.

Scootaloo almost cried at how hopeless she felt. Even if she wasn’t exhausted, there was no way she could swim over it! And even if she could, there were untold miles of forest ahead of her anyways!

Still, she had to do something! She could hear a voice shout from behind her, deep in the treeline, but no doubt approaching rapidly.

“Hey! Come back here, kid!” it called.

Oh no! It was hot on her tail. There’d be no way to hide from it now!

Scootaloo looked behind herself and then back ahead, staring across the river. The filly felt jittery, truly caught between a rock and a hard place. She was taking quick, rapid breaths as she tried to decide what to do.

Suddenly however, a determined expression crossed her face. Her worry seemed to meld away, and the little filly looked backwards at her stunted wings. As small as they were, maybe they could help? She couldn’t fly but…

“Kid!” called the muffled monster.

She jerked herself out of her thoughts, deciding her plan then and there. Thus, Scootaloo stepped back a few paces, readying herself, with her small body tensing in anticipation. Her eyes sat fixated on the riverbank in front of her.

Happy thoughts filled her mind as she amped herself up. She thought about all the times Rainbow Dash took her on personal flights. She imagined soaring through the clouds. She imagined the time she made it to Cloudsdale just from her own wicked stunt.

She smirked to herself, drawing out her confidence, and then rushed forwards, kicking up mud as she did! The little filly reached the edge of the bank, and then leapt!...

Scootaloo was in the air, soaring! It was a wonderous feeling, as her mane flung back, rain droplets slamming into her face. She was getting closer, closer to the other side! Her wings flapped as hard as she could, looking like those of a hummingbird.

Come on! So close! Maybe she could make it!

Sadly, gravity soon kicked in, and her eyes widened as her arc soon turned downwards, and her vision was filled with the flowing rapids below. She began kicking her legs this way and that, as if she were trying to flap them as well. Still, the little filly wasn’t able to do anything despite this, and now she was getting closer, and closer to the uncaring water.

She let out a loud scream of fear.

But there was no splash…

Instead, she felt a sharp pain in her tail, and her descent completely stopped, leaving her dangling. Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. Somepony had grabbed her by her tail and saved her! Maybe they were here to rescue her from those horrible monster-

Her happiness immediately faded when she turned her head upwards…

…It was the beast!

The great two-legged monster had grabbed her tail with his outstretched palm. From her position, she could also see that his other hand was latched onto a large, sturdy looking branch. Said branch hung low enough to allow him to lean outwards several feet over the water, showing how he was able to nab the filly before she landed in the rapids.

Soon enough he leaned back over so that the two were on solid ground at a slow and steady pace. While her brain was buzzing with leftover adrenaline and an immense amount of fear, a faint part of her rational mind made a note that he was doing this rather gently for a monster that she expected to eat her!

She would’ve kicked at him, but her body had now fully given out. All the fight in her was gone, replaced with a deep pit in her stomach. Sheer soon dread filled her insides as she looked up at the creature with fear. Soon enough, she was being lifted up towards his face as he leaned down.

She was sure it would be over soon. His bright red eyes made her whimper back as the horrid thought filled her head. She couldn’t take his awful gaze much more, and thus she put her hooves up over her face while whimpering.

In that frightful moment she thought about many things. She thought about the Crusaders, her aunts, and her parents. She thought about Rainbow Dash. Oh goodness, Rainbow Dash. Her own adoptive sister, the coolest pegasus in Equestria… and now she was never going to see her or any of the others ever again because this mean monster was going to eat her!

She cried, sniffling into her hooves as she did, accepting her fate-

“Jesus. Fucking! Christ!” she heard him shout. He gave out several deep, labored breaths, his words and breathing muffled as he spoke. She was so confused she didn’t even acknowledge his swear.

This confusion gave way to a twinge of curiosity, and slowly, she moved aside her hooves, inch by inch, and then peeped an eye open. Just one though! She couldn’t be sure if this monster was just toying with her!

But he didn’t seem to be. He was just staring down at her, his chest moving from his deep breathing. He looked horrifying still but… she didn’t sense any immediate threat coming from him.

“Do you ever stop running, kid?” he asked, before leaning downwards and slowly laying her down onto the muddy ground.

She just remained there on her back as he let go of her purple tail, staring up at him as he took a few steps back and leaned against a tree, clearly winded, though not as badly as she was. She continued to gaze at him as he took deeper breaths.

“Fuck’s… sake,” he said, more to himself than her. She watched as he brought a hand up to his chest and tugged a strange looking object out of a small satchel.

Wait… was that a bottle?

The creature then popped the cap off with one strong thrust of his thumb, sending it into the air. As it flew down, he caught it with his free hand and shoved it back into another satchel in one fluid motion, as if he’d done it many times before.

She just watched in utter confusion as he leaned away from her. She couldn’t really see him in the darkness as he lifted up his helmet up just a tad, and then began to utterly slam back the bottled drink.

Scootaloo heard him gulping deeply. He leaned his head back, tilting the bottle straight upside down. He utterly guzzled it with a few more deep, audible swallows. Not since Pinkie slamming those root beers had she seen anypony- or, well, anything down one so quickly, but she was half-sure he would give the party pony a run for her money.

In the span of no less than a second, the bottle was gone, and the creature had stopped his deep, labored breathing. He shoved the empty bottle back into another satchel, wiped around what she assumed to be his mouth area, and then readjusted his mask so it was fully over his face.

“Anyways… like I said, why in the hell were you running around like a mad… pony?” he asked, his voice back to normal, no longer tired or labored.

That question actually triggered something in the little filly, and she hopped up onto her hooves, giving him a glare despite her exhaustion and pain.

“Why were you chasing me!?” Scootaloo retorted.

“Duh, because you screamed so loud half the forest could hear you!” he shouted back.

Oh… right. She did do that, didn’t she?

“Well,” she huffed back, “I only screamed because I got lost!”

“And what about all those times I said ‘Wait, come back!’ huh?” he countered.

“Why would I ever come to you when you look like some big scary monster!?!” she re-countered!

He would’ve hit himself in the head but held his grip. He agreed with her but didn’t want to show it. He couldn’t admit defeat to a talking plush toy! Maybe it was pride. Maybe it was because he was an asshole.

It was probably both.

“I do not look like a monster!” he shouted back, crossing his arms.

“Do too!” was her obvious response.

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

“DO NOT!”

“DO TOO!”

“Alright, you know what!” he shouted, throwing his hands up as he did. “I don’t have to take this. I came because you screamed, and I thought you needed help. Clearly, you’re perfectly fine on your own.”

With that, he made sure the All-American was firmly strapped onto his back, more so than last time at least. After losing it in the scuffle prior, he didn’t feel like losing the rifle again.

Soon he turned to leave, swatting aside a bush to walk deeper into the forest. He made it several steps into the thicket before the little pegasus took a few uncertain steps towards him.

“W-wait!” Scootaloo cried, her voice welling up with fear. “Please don’t go!”

The Courier stopped suddenly.

Damn…

He sighed silently enough she couldn’t hear it.

A scared child was still a scared child. Even if it wasn’t human. He couldn’t just ditch her. He turned his head back towards her, and she flinched back a bit as his red eye lens seemingly glared down at her.

“Yeah?” he asked, his tone a lot more neutral sounding. It filtered through his gas mask to make him sound a bit scarier, but he could now see she had an almost hopeful look on her face.

“I… I really am lost. I don’t know where my friends are, or where my sister is,” she admitted, looking downtrodden. It was almost as if she were about to weep. Hell, she might already be doing it, with the tears being lost in the ever-present rain that poured down over the two.

He sighed again, this time loud enough for her to hear.

“Alright… come on if ya want,” he said, waving his gloved hand, beckoning her to follow.

She looked at him for a moment, a look of uncertainty crossing her face. She raised a hoof to step closer but paused mid step.

“Kid, think of it like this. If I wanted something bad to happen to ya, I would’ve let ya go over into that river,” he said.

As horrible as that mental image was to her, Scootaloo had to agree. He had her dead to rights several times already, and yet she was still here, perfectly fine.

“Well… alright,” she said, nodding. As she spoke, she felt her aches come back to her now. Her body needed rest, and she looked up at him with a hopeful expression. “But… can I ask for just one thing?”

“What? Do you want a piggyback ride or something?” he asked, almost chuckling. He had a smile beneath his helmet. However, as he looked down at the sheepish pegasus, his smirk slowly faded. He soon rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” the human muttered.