Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

The Courier gently pressed his spatula underneath the sunny side up egg as it sizzled satisfyingly in the pan. He didn’t really know how the magical stove worked. There was no gas, and to his knowledge, this particular home wasn’t on the power grid. Didn’t really question it.

As he waited for the egg to fully finish cooking, he adjusted himself, shifting his weight onto his right ankle, feeling some tenseness in it. It was tender, and the swollen flesh pressed against the inside of his boots. He refused to take them off and refused any medical help much to the chagrin of Redheart, who actually arrived on the scene to check for any injuries.

Still though, he wanted to trek back to the woods, get some Broc flower, Xander root; make a stim if possible. However, for the time being he was utterly exhausted, needed some rest. Several ponies invited him in, wanted him to rest up, offered him guest rooms.

He refused everyone…

Well, almost everyone.

“I’m perfectly fine with cooking for you, you know,” Cherry Berry said, standing behind the human. She looked as if she were waiting for him to fall at any moment, ready to spring up and catch him.

“If a man can’t cook for himself, then what good is he, exactly?” the human rhetorically replied.

“That sounds like some old stupid saying right out of a fortune cookie,” Cherry said, giving a rhetorical answer.

The human just rolled his eyes, plating the egg and handing it off to the smaller mare. She grabbed it with a forehoof, rolling her own eyes.

“Will you move aside now? Lyra and Bon Bon can be here at any minute, and I have to make enough oats for all of-”

“I have to make my toast first,” the human replied back, putting a few spoonfuls of butter into the cast iron.

The pan continued sizzling as he waited for the dairy product to melt, before throwing in a few pieces of bread behind it. As he cooked, he recalled the married mares’ worry of him the night before, when they arrived at the scene of the fight.

It was the same spiel as the bugbear incident, but this time he was awake to hear them worry over him. Even though it felt nice to have friends, it didn’t exactly feel great having someone proverbially breathing down his neck and fretting over every decision he made-

“I have a toaster, you know,” Cherry huffed from behind him, knocking him out of his thoughts.

“Those things are mentally unstable,” he replied flatly.

She just raised a brow at that, looking at him as if he were insane. Which to be fair, he probably was.

After a bit, the human was seated at the earth mare’s small dining table, with the cloth spread out over the circular wooden frame and everything. There were only four chairs, one for her, one for him, two unoccupied, with the human and pony sitting across from one another. In the center of the table was a larger pot of cooked oats, enough for the expected guests.

Cherry Berry spooned some oatmeal into her mouth, as she watched the Courier apply generous amounts of pepper to his eggs and toast before cutting into them with his fork. She considered trying to stare at him to see if she could find a slipup, something to partly expose his face. Six just ate stealthily, looking away or hiding behind his napkin as he took bite after bite of the small meal.

Her face scrunched, she looked up at the clock on her wall. It was one of the few decorations of the small, homely kitchen. Other than a calendar that was covered with various types of hot air balloons beautifully lit against an evening sun. Every month had a picture of the glorious vehicles, actually. Except for the ones that had helicopters. Glorious, glorious helicopters…

What was she doing again?

Crunch.

Ah right, toast eating alien in her home.

“Ahem…” she courteously managed, raising her hoof and coughing into it in a lady-like manner. Might as well be soft as Rarity for the moment.

There was no reply.

She coughed again, trying to be courteous.

He just took another loud bite of the toast he made from her bread.

She knew he was ignoring her by this point…

Then again, this was-

“Six!”

He leaned back, she could tell he was rolling his eyes.

“The leg is fine, Cherry,” he growled. “Don’t pull this deja vu repeat shit on me, especially after what happened back in Dodge.”

“Fighting big brawls like that every other week isn’t a good thing, Six!” the concerned mare growled back.

“You think I wanted to get my limbs smashed?” he tiredly replied.

“You just ran in without a plan!” she scolded. “Didn’t even wait for anypony else to help you!”

“What did you want me to do? Just step back and let everp- everyone get eaten?” he replied, raising his voice. “That what you want? Huh!”

She bit her lip, silencing herself as she looked away. She stared at no particular corner of the room, just a dark, shadowy part behind the fridge.

“Look…” she managed with a huff. “I just… I care for you, alright?”

“Never heard that before,” he replied, crossing his arms, crumbs from the toast flaking off of his dark black gloves.

“Why are you always such a prick!?!” she snapped.

He snapped up a bit straight at that.

“You’re a fucking asshole to everyone an-” she stopped, took a deep calming breath, and then finally, after a few moments, managed to continue. “Six you’re my friend, alright. I know we’ve said that and talked together about it, but you just act like… like it doesn’t matter that others care for you, alright?”

She leaned down, a small number of tears welling in her large, expressive eyes.

“I can handle you getting hurt a few times, you’re tough, I get it, but fight after fight, when does that luck wear out huh-”

She was silenced as he reached across the small table and gently placed his right gloved hand on her cheek. He gently rubbed at her face with his thumb, wiping away some tears from her ducts.

“Cherry…” he himself paused for a moment, as if unsure of what to say. “You’re just taking this too hard, alright? We bantered before, back at Dodge-”

“You didn’t have a broken ankle and refuse medical help back at Dodge,” she shot back, leaning into his hand.

“Look just… trust me, alright? Trust in the process,” he said, gently patting her cheek with his palm. “And I guess I can tone down being an asshole and everything.”

“You can worry about your assholery whenever I help you back to your camp,” she said, giving a coy smile.

“Christ you’re not actually thinking of going ou-”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, a trace of fire in her voice, she reached up a forehoof and grabbed at his hand. “You’re my friend. We’re having a moment right now, aren’t we?”

Courier Six just grunted.

“My God, fine, if it’ll make you feel any better, you can be my glorified crutch back to the damn shit-shack, alright?” he caved.

“Oh yeah!” she hoofpumped. “It’s alright Six, it’ll just be an hour-long trek with you and me and nature. It’ll be so awesome!”

“Yeah, whatever you say,” the human said, obviously enthusiastic and in no way dripping with sarcasm.

She just beamed at him with a smile, though even after it slowly faded, she found herself staring at him in silence for almost half a minute or so. Or more specifically, the hand that was still in her grasp.

“Can I help you?” he asked, snapping her back into reality, trying to pull his hand from her forehooves.

“A-ah! Ah shit…” she said, looking away as she finally let him go. “Sorry.”

“What is it?” he asked, pulling his arm back.

“Don’t make me answer Six, it’s embarrassing,” she said, a faint, nearly impossible-to-spot blush on her already pink muzzle.

“I swear if you’re thinking about some weird shit, I’m out of here,” he threatened, scooting back in his chair to stand up.

“N-no!” she shouted quickly. “No, no! I…”

The reply died in her throat.

“Mhm?” he muttered.

“Can you pet me again?” she asked softly.

“Fucking hell, really?” he hissed back.

“I’m sorry alright!” she repeated. “I figured I’d be honest with you. Those pets you gave me they… It just feels good, okay. Not in that way, before you go off and call me a weirdo. But the way your fingers move, they make me feel great.”

“Hoooly shit, are you repeating what you saw out of an old nudie mag?” he grunted, nearly laughing.

“I’m not like that!” she defended vehemently. “I don’t know what you humans classify as weird or sexual or whatever, okay? I just think your hands and fingers genuinely helped me work out some tenseness, alright?”

“Probably worked out something else too, knowing my luck,” he snarked back.

“Six!” she growled.

“Alright, alright,” he held out his palm to her. “If I’m going to go out and use you as a glorified walking cane when you help me back to base, I guess I can help prevent your scoliosis and neck cramps.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she said, this time becoming a bit shy.

“Okay don’t pull this back-and-forth bullshit with me,” he said directly. “Do you want me to rub your back or not?”

Cherry Berry went deep into thought for a moment, her eyes looking down at the table. After a little bit of mulling it over, they darted upwards, and she set her gaze on him, opening her mouth to reply.

A bit later, he was pressing his knuckles into her upper spine, running his gloved hand down her back. She was the one sitting this time, with the human balancing on his feet, broken ankle and all.

“Your spine is pretty thick,” he pointed out.

“W-wha?” she managed, currently sounding lost in the sauce as he rubbed over her back, removing any tenseness her muscles had.

“I mean that you’re like, a fourth my size and your spine feels thicker than mine, all of your bones are pretty dense,” he elaborated. "Even when compared to my upgrades."

“Y-...yeah it’s uh…earth pony biology stuff,” she explained, as if she were half asleep due to the relieving sensation his hands brought.

“Can you actually wake the hell up? You look like you’re about to drool all over the damn tablecloth,” he scoffed, putting his back into massaging, well, her back.

“Sorry Six, it just feels… really nice,” she said, still out of it.

“You need, like, an automatic back massage machine or something,” he huffed. “This is getting annoyi-”

The front door swung open, cutting him off. While the kitchen and living room were separated, the doorway connecting the two together was visible from the front door. So, as Lyra and Bon Bon entered, they both saw Courier Six, standing over a nearly conked-out Cherry Berry, his hands roughly gripping her back. Immediately the two froze, and the Courier ceased his actions.

Bon Bon blushed a bit at the surprising sight, stifling a chuckle. Shockingly though, Lyra herself remained calm. Only when Cherry Berry perked up and realized what was happening did she too put on a face of embarrassment, scooting out of the way of the human’s hands.

“Alright, can you two just bang already?” Lyra said flatly.

“What the fuck, man?” the Courier retorted, stepping back and putting pressure onto his feet, causing him to hiss a bit.

“Lyra it’s not like that!” Cherry further defended.

“That wouldn’t even work, she’s a horse,” the human pointed out, shifting off of his sore ankle as he had to pull out a chair and sit down.

“Yeah, yeah. Say whatever you want but I know what’s going on,” Lyra replied, however she got a light bop on the back of the head from Bon Bon immediately afterwards. Not enough to really hurt, but enough to slightly sting, like a dog getting smacked with a newspaper. “Ow! What was that for?”

Her wife just rolled her eyes, before refocusing her attention on the two others.

“We came to check on you, Six, but I guess you’re alright now; enough to give backrubs anyways,” Bon Bon said, snickering a tad.

“Oh, so you can make jokes on it, but I can’t?” Lyra complained.

“I wouldn’t call myself fully back to normal,” the human said, having to lean against the table. “I slept, and that helps the flesh heal, a bit of the bones too, but I need to get something more potent.”

“Well maybe you would’ve been alright if you’d let the hospital tend to you,” Cherry Berry pointed out, coming back to normal to glare up at him.

“You’re not getting any more pets or massages from me,” he growled, turning his gaze down towards her, making the mare slink back as his red eyes seemed to glare into her own expressive ones.

After a few seconds though, she narrowed her own eyes back at him. No doubt the earth mare was ready to retort with a scathing comment, however before she could, the minty unicorn of the group spoke up.

“Can we have breakfast now?” Lyra asked, basically interrupting the stare down, with the human and mare breaking off to look at her. “That cool, Cherry?”

“Y-yeah Lyra, it’s fine,” she soon replied. Lyra and Bon Bon soon looked between each other, and then back to Cherry, who gave a nod. The two mares then fully entered into the kitchen, taking seats at the table.

“Thanks a ton for this, Cherry,” Bon Bon smiled warmly at her old friend, while Lyra herself had already eaten a spoonful of oats.

A moment later, the Courier reached down a hand and gently patted Cherry Berry on the back, as if he was silently apologizing for the snap at her.

That or he was just using her to balance himself; he did shift his weight off of the swollen ankle, after all.

Regardless, Cherry soon got up from her seat, standing on all fours at the human’s side. She tried her best to make sure he was steady. The mare briefly considered how much it must suck to only have two legs to work with, unable to use the three extras in the case one was crippled.

“You okay, big guy?” she asked.

“When am I not?” he replied.

She brushed him off, turning towards the other two mares.

“I know we were gonna have a whole breakfast and everything, but I think Six needs to get back to his medical supplies, especially since the big goober isn’t going to accept medical help,” Cherry Berry elaborated with a roll of her eyes.

“Who are you calling goober, you’re the goofy one here,” he retorted, flicking her nose, making her muzzle scrunch back.

She reached up a forehoof, waving his hand out of the way of her face as she continued.

“You guys don’t mind just doing the dishes and cleaning up after yourselves, right?” she asked.

“Of course, Cherry,” Bon Bon assured.

“Yeah sure, why not?” Lyra shrugged, eating more oats, her mouth partly full. “But uh, you wanna be back here for when Minuette arrives? She’s supposed to visit today. Figured we could all hang out and stuff if his ankle gets better.”

“Well, I guess we cou-”

“What are you speaking on my behalf for?” the Courier interrupted dickishly. “We’re not a couple.”

“I guess I could, assuming Captain Prick here doesn’t break another ankle,” Cherry shot back.

“Then I guess I will too,” he crossed his arms. “On my own behalf.”

Cherry just wanted to roll her eyes again, but she’d done it so much by now she felt they’d roll right out of their sockets, almost like a prank by Discord.

“Now do you wanna be pedantic about anything else, or are we allowed to go?” Cherry said simply.

“Hmm… I don’t know, I’m sure I could find more to nitpick,” he snarked.

“By Celestia, you’re lucky you’ve got fingers, otherwise you’d be useless,” Cherry huffed.

“Are we back to that fetishization of my anatomy?” he quipped.

Lyra raised a brow, her oats making her cheeks puff out as she slowed her chewing. Bon Bon was silent, looking between the two.

“...Let’s just go before I change my mind,” Cherry finally growled.

“I’ve heard of worse ideas,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Try to keep up with me, sis.”

“Like that’ll be a challenge,” she replied, before looking down at his swollen right ankle. It seemed to bulge out his pant leg a bit. Definitely must be uncomfortable, at least with those shoes digging into his flesh anyways. No doubt he'd stumble quite a bit during the trek...

He was ahead of her a few paces as they advanced onwards through the greenery.

While the human couldn’t manage a full run, he did keep up a light jog all the way out of Ponyville and through the Everfree. Even when the foliage got denser, he pressed his way through without issue. At one point, a low hanging branch flicked backwards, making Cherry back up a step.

“Watch it, you prick!” she shouted.

“You must’ve sucked at recognizing math and postmanship if you think Courier and Six are synonymous with Prick,” he said casually, noting her reused insult. “That or you’re bad at listening.”

“You almost hit me in the face with that branch!” Cherry yelled back.

“Yeah, and I didn’t, now did I?” he pointed out, looking back at her over his shoulder. “I could’ve, if I had moved it a half inch further, but I made sure not to; otherwise, it would’ve had enough force to fly back and catch you on the muzzle.”

She just made a “hmph” at that.

He continued on ahead, turning away and shoving aside more foliage as he trekked ahead.

“I thought I was supposed to be your ‘living crutch,’ what happened to that?” she asked.

“I could use the exercise,” he replied, looking forward. “Camp’s only a few hundred paces ahead anyways.”

As the Courier reached the top of a small hill, he looked downwards. There was a bit of an overhang of rock and dirt, and when he went to descend, his ankle gave out. He attempted to take a stumbling step backwards to catch himself, however his entire leg buckled, and he tumbled forwards instead, his duster swaying this way and that as he did.

“Six!” Cherry Berry shouted, grabbing at his billowing jacket, however, to her shock, instead of the typical earth pony strength letting her hoist him up, his bulk brought her along for the ride!

She let out a squeak of fear as she and the human wound up rolling down the shallow hill. The duo wound up crashing through the overhang and slamming through a bush, with branches getting caught in Cherry’s mane and dirt showering the Courier’s jacket. All in all, the ordeal took a mere few seconds, with the world around the two becoming a rush of green and brown.

When Cherry’s world stopped spinning, she found herself lying flat on her back, looking upwards at the forest canopy. She groaned as her vision spun about, only finally returning to normal when the mask of the Courier came into view. His sturdier nature had allowed him to shrug off the tumble and get to his feet.

“You alright, Cherry?” he asked.

She narrowed her eyes up at him.

“What do you think?” she rhetorically growled.

“I think you’re bleeding a little bit, got a scratch on your lower left thigh,” he replied.

“I’ll be alright,” she growled. “Just give me a moment to get to my hoov-”

She felt his powerful hands reach down and grab her, lifting her up and hoisting her over his left shoulder. After balancing himself, he began to carry her off as if she was some type of damsel in a 50s monster movie.

“Aaand you’re carrying me…” she said, looking down at the ground, with it swaying with each step the human took.

“I could throw you instead,” he offered. “It’d be a lot easier on me.”

She soon just sighed, going limp against his body, fully giving up by now. Might as well enjoy the ride, assuming this qualified as a ride, anyways.

He just continued on unabated. Even with the injuries, the Courier carried the mare with ease, and before long, he managed to breach the clearing, finding his base.

“Shack sweet shack,” he grunted, finally swinging Cherry up and sitting her roughly down onto a log, rump first.

“Gah, you pri- dick!” she grunted, smoothly thinking up and using a different insult this time as she reached a forehoof down and rubbed her sore tailend.

“You’ve got a real original mind there,” the Courier replied.

A moment later he was at his small garden, picking a small handful of flowers and roots the earth mare was unfamiliar with. He looked them over, squinting his eyes as he examined them. It seemed they grew rather nicely in the woods when compared to the Mojave, as the flowers were blooming, and the roots had multiplied. He only took a small amount, so that the plants could continue to grow and thrive.

When he was done, Six had picked out enough to heal himself… and her.

Cherry was just wiping the grime from her mane as she examined her scar. All the while this happened, he quickly started a friction fire with some dried-out bark and a few planks. After that, he got out a pot from his shack and poured some water in it, courtesy of his canteen. He then crushed up the roots and flower with a few large rocks nearby. While it wasn't as effective as using a mortar and pestle, it still worked, with him throwing most of the life-giving dust into the brew.

However, he did set aside a small amount of the powder, no bigger than a few teaspoons worth, which he scooped carefully into his hands.

“Here Cherry,” he said, stepping over and offering it to her.

“What’s this?” the mare questioned.

“Eat it,” the human answered.

“Whenever strangers offer you strange things and demand you to eat it, it’s typically not a good idea,” she snarkily pointed out.

“It’s Healing Powder, alright? It’ll fully clear up that cut. Won’t even need bandages or anything since the wound is only skin deep,” Six replied.

“The catch?” Cherry questioned.

“It’s a small dose but it might still fuck with your perception a bit, make you a little woozy, you know?” he replied.

“I don’t know…” she cocked a brow, sniffing at the powder. “It smells a bit funky.”

“You wanna sit there bleeding?” he growled with finality. “I’m fine with eating this myself if you don't want it!”

After a few seconds of silence, she caved, leaning in. She ate it from his palm like an actual pony would. Well, if there still were ponies left to feed in the Mojave. Guess a Bighorner calf would be a better assumption. He resisted the urge to pat her head as she lapped it out of his palm, though Cherry herself wasn't having as pleasant of a time.

“Guh! It tastes like boiled cabbage mixed with dirt!” she said, leaning back after finishing eating the crushed-up mixture, sticking her tongue out in disgust. Almost reminded him of a cartoon in a way.

“Just give it a few seconds, and it’ll kick in,” he said, looking down at his Pip-Boy before he began counting down the seconds.

“Yeah right! I bet it was just a-”

“Now,” he said, raising his index finger.

Immediately Cherry’s vision went a bit woozy, however the minor pain in her thigh dissipated almost immediately. While she didn’t see it, her blood clotted, and her flesh under her fur coat was working overtime to close her wound.

“W-woah…” the mare managed.

“It typically does,” he nodded. “You shouldn’t even need a bandage; it’ll heal you fully within the next few minutes.”

“This feels… kinda cool,” she replied, watching as colors blurred into one another. Her senses felt heightened, almost catlike.

“You’d better not get the munchies,” the human growled, going back to look over his boiling brew.

She leaned back, closing her eyes partly as she felt a numbing sensation overtake her. She didn’t fall asleep, but she felt as if she was on laughing gas or something. Felt floatier than a pegasus for the moment.

Cherry just remained there in silence for a while. The only sounds she heard were the bubbling pot and the occasional chirping of birds or the rustling of the bushes by a hungry squirrel. Overall, she felt nice.

After a good few minutes though, the effects of the powder slowly began to wind down and suddenly the silent calmness of the world was interrupted by a strange odor hitting her nostrils. Cherry sniffed a few times and finally opened her eyes, looking around at the clearing.

“Hey Six?” she asked.

“Yeah?” he replied.

As the earth mare looked around, trying to find the source of the odor, his eyes were focused on the root and flower mixture boiling in the pot. He soon inserted the end of his used (but sterilized) Stimpak’s needle into the mixture and slowly began to pull back on the plunger. He made sure there were no air bubbles in the solution as he sucked it into the barrel.

“What’s that… that weird smell?” she asked, sniffing a few more times

“That bucket over; bat guano,” he said, casually pointing over his shoulder to a wooden bucket set off to the edge of the camp. It currently had a circular lid over it, thank Celestia.

“...WHY!?!” she shrieked.

“I learned from the Gun Runners-” he paused, realizing she had no idea who they were, “-I learned from some guys back where I was from; that and a few magazines. It’ll come in handy if I ever need any extra ammo.”

“What?” she questioned, not even seeming to understand the explenation.

“I was gonna ask Fluttershy to see if she could get them to all go in the buckets I left out over Applejack’s fields and in the caves, but I didn’t have time,” he continued, basically speaking more to himself as he watched the healing liquid slowly but surely drip-feed into the Stimpak. “After I do though, I can melt down some tin cans and mold them into balls-”

“Six, can you at least like, put some sage or some good smelling spices over it?” she asked.

“Why would I do that?” he asked, turning to her, his gas mask filters on full display.

Cherry scrunched her face at him, looking away.

“Nevermind,” she huffed.

Before long, his Stim was full, and he turned away from her, rolling up his pant leg a small bit, allowing himself to inject it into his heavily injured ankle. He made sure the entire needle’s worth of liquid was flushed into his veins.

As he waited for it to take effect, he rolled down his pant leg and rubbed at the flesh underneath, ensuring to massage the tenderness out of it. After a bit, he felt a cooling numbness spread over it, all the way down to the bone. A moment later he stood up straight, putting more pressure onto it as he sighed comfortably.

“Feel any better, Six?” she questioned, sounding a bit less woozy. “I know you used one of those things back at Dodge.”

“I’ll really feel better whenever I mass produce the damn things,” he said, sitting the used needle into one of his satchels to sterilize later.

“Think you can make it to the train station now?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, turning away, “come on, lets-”

He was interrupted by the sound of her falling to the ground, and he turned to see the mare flat on her stomach and sheepishly smiling up at him.

“Oops, guess that powder stuff is still more active than I thought,” she grinned.

“Don’t tell me you want to ride on my back now too,” he hissed.

“What, me? Nahhh…” she said as her smile just grew.

Courier Six just growled in annoyance as he looked down at her…

As the healed human entered into the outskirts of Ponyville, those who weren’t working (and even several of those who were) turned towards him, watching as he carried Cherry Berry in his arms. It was almost like watching a groom carrying a bride in a way, as she relaxed against his chest.

“I could get used to this,” she said, crossing her forehooves behind her head.

“You’d better find someone who isn’t me to do it for you then,” he spat back.

For once he was getting stares that were out of shock for different reasons. Didn’t exactly know how to feel about that, but oh well. Only whenever he arrived in front of the train station about half an hour later did he let her go.

Literally.

Lyra and Bon Bon were approaching the two when suddenly he let his arms give way under the pink mare. She basically rolled out of his grasp, letting out a shout of surprise as she landed hooves first onto the ground, though given she wasn’t quite ready for the sudden action, her own legs buckled a bit, and she found herself nearly faceplanting into the dirt.

“Give me a warning next time, you prick!” she growled, straightening herself up.

“You seem fine enough to walk, I don’t know what you were complaining about back in the Everfree,” he snickered back at her as she blew a stray yellow hair from her mane out of her face.

“Real funny,” she spat, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Can you two not want to kill each other for once? Minuette’s supposed to get here any minute!” Lyra said, before pointing a forehoof towards the station’s platform.

Once everything was in order, (and Cherry was assured she could properly walk) it didn’t take long before the group were waiting on the benches nearby. The Courier had found a loose magazine on the floor and was currently flipping through it as he sat at the far edge of the bench. Cherry was sitting to his left, and Lyra and Bon Bon sitting further down the bench to the pink mare's own left.

“Princess Twilight found to be not addicted to cake, unlike her predecessor,” the human read aloud, sounding confused. “Who the fuck publishes this gossipy trash?”

“That’s modern journalism for ya,” Lyra answered, rolling her eyes.

A bit later, and the train soon steamed into the station, with the Courier sitting aside the magazine as he straightened up, watching on as the doors of the carts opened, letting off their passengers. After a few minutes, a certain mare stepped off of the train carriage, with Lyra happily pointing towards her.

The Courier cocked his eyes under his mask. The mare looked familiar; strikingly familiar. He looked between the ever-excited Lyra, then up to the mare, then back to Lyra, and then so on for a few times. He knew mane styles were similar, but she was basically just-

“Isn’t she just a Blue Lyra?” he asked, pointing out at the new arrival, who magically sat down her suitcases.

She cocked a brow at him as he had at her, staring on with uncertainty. However, given this tall, bipedal creature was next to one of her best friends, she approached.

“Actually, my name is Minuette,” the unicorn corrected with uncertainty.

“You know… I might’ve preferred Blue Lyra compared to that."