Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

A cigarette filled his hand nicely. He brought it up to his face, and then shoved it straight through his riot helmet’s gas filter. Shockingly this somehow worked, and it met his lips, letting him take a drag.

Smoke filled his mouth and soon enough his throat and lungs as well. He let it sit there, absorbing it into his body before he exhaled, sending it billowing out of his mask’s filters.

He stood atop a snowy mountain’s peak. Looking down he saw a village that reminded him of Jacobstown. He could see super mutants walking with centaurs, who were on leashes. He even spotted some of the strange creatures vomiting their acidic stomach bile into bushes.

“More cake, dear?” he heard a deep, guttural yet surprisingly friendly voice from behind his shoulder.

“No thanks, Lily,” he turned, meeting the massive, hulking Nightkin with a smile beneath his mask.

In one of her palms was a small ceramic plate, adorned with an extra-large piece of chocolate cakes. It looked immaculate, right out of one of the pre-war magazines he’d read.

Despite this, she nodded, and he turned back to Novac.

He was stood atop a large cliffside overlooking the town. He could see the massive T-Rex rooted in place. He casually took a drag off his cigarette as the huge reptile just stood up straight, threw aside the sign, and walked off, stomping into the desert wastes.

“Huh?” he mused, before giving his cigarette another drag.

Smoke obscured his vision, and he swatted it away with his free hand.

When it cleared, he noticed Camp Golf looked nice. The misfits were going about their training and-

“Wait,” he managed, before he suddenly raised his hand.

He then concentrated for a moment, before suddenly a mini-nuke flew out of his open palm and right towards the camp. He cringed back as the entire place was leveled in the resulting mushroom cloud.

“What the fuck? This is the first dream I’ve had in years and I get this shit?” he said with a degree of lucidity, throwing aside his cigarette.

Cake and friendly Nightkin aside, he began to think of something else he'd actually enjoy.

“Ah, got it,” he smirked, and snapped his fingers.

He was in the Lucky 38 penthouse, overlooking the Strip while being sat in a nice, cushioned recliner. In front of him was a delicious sat out meal of YumYum deviled eggs, Brahmin steak, boiled corn, and a big bowl of stew, which had cooked chunks of Mole Rat meat floating around in it.

He picked up an egg and devoured it, shoving it through his mask and into his mouth without it ever making contact with anything other than his lips. He then pulled a Bloatfly slider from literally nowhere and ate that as well.

The Courier leaned back, chewing on his meal before he took a bite of the boiled corn and then slurped down an entire ladle’s worth of the stew. He looked over to a newly appeared bowl of fully cooked InstaMash, a true Wasteland rarity. He smirked and then took a massive bite of that too.

He took another moment to look around at his surroundings. No House. No Legion. No NCR. Only a giant moon with a unicorn’s face on it. That was much better!

…

Wait.

He stood up quickly, inadvertently knocking his feast to the floor, making him groan as all of the food suddenly turned to sand and blew away in a current that appeared from out of nowhere.

“Alright, asshole. I know someone else is here,” he growled, looking around as a strange sensation came over him.

He pulled out a .45 pistol and scanned the room. After a moment, he even jerked himself out of the Lucky 38, through the window and let himself hover over the New Vegas streets. It was as if he turned off any form of collision or gravity as he floated there, aiming all around himself.

“You have five seconds to show yourself!” he growled, looking about.

“Five,” he began after not getting a response.

“Four,” he continued, noticing the stars suddenly beginning to shift about, twinkling brighter as they did.

“T-three,” he said, distracted as the stars grew closer to him and he felt like they were now flowing about, almost like a river.

“Two?” a managed in an unsure, surprised tone, .45 still in hand. The billowing stars seemed to almost take form now.

He could soon see something within them! A great, black figure. Four legged. The details were hard to make out though, too dark! It was as if it absorbed all the light the stars gave into itself. Was that... flowing hair?

Suddenly, the moon leaned in, swallowing up the sky and filling his vision before-

His eyes shot open, filling with the visage of a curious orange filly.

“Six?” Scootaloo managed, poking the slumbering human.

She didn’t expect him to jump up to his feet like a damned cat, as he pulled out a strange looking L-shaped device from under his duster.

“Where the fuck is it!?!” he shouted, looking around, waving his .45 for a moment, before he suddenly realized exactly where he was and pointed the pistol at the ceiling.

The CMC and their respective sisters stared at him in shock. The camp supplies had been packed up and the fire had died out, showing they were ready to move on with the trip.

“Where’s what, Six?” cried a worried Scootaloo.

“I uh…” he managed, swallowing dryly before he put the handgun away. “Bad dream.”

Applejack and Rarity gave him the side eye, and Rainbow Dash looked concerned. The other CMC members were spooked too, worry plain on their faces.

“I should just go now, you guys are all safe,” he said, grabbing the All-American and slinging it over his shoulder.

“W-wait!” Scootaloo squeaked as he began to walk outside, his heavy boots stomping down the wet grass as he left the cave.

The filly scurried in front of him, making him stop with a sigh.

“Don’t you just run off on us now! We’ve still gotta get to Winsome Falls!” she squeaked.

“Again with that?” he responded, reaching up to rub the matter from his eyes. His fingers just made contact with his eye lenses before he realized his mistake.

“Hey we had this talk last night!” Scootaloo said.

“It was only until the storm cleared up,” he retorted.

“You’ve not even had a smore yet!” she shot back.

“I don’t-” he paused with another tired huff as the others exited the cave.

“You can come along I guess,” called Rainbow Dash as she looked down at Scootaloo. No doubt she was doing this to make her sister happy.

He looked at the other two mares, gauging their reactions.

“Well, I suppose after all he’s done, there’d be no harm in it,” mused Rarity.

“It might not be the worst idea to have an extra set of mitts helpin’ us,” agreed Applejack.

“Alright,” he sighed, looking down at Scootaloo first, before turning his gaze to the adult mares. He motioned with his hand. “Lead the way.”

Scootaloo hugged his leg again, making him grunt in annoyance. He could hear some of the others chuckle at the sight as he tried to walk about with the filly practically stapled to his shin.

He hung back as Applejack led the way for the group, with Rarity taking up second place. However, as he let the ponies get a headstart, he noticed Sweetie Belle struggling with the pair of bags resting on her back.

The little filly was sweating visibly through her coat. She wasn’t fully straining to carry them, but they definitely didn’t look comfortable.

Scootaloo had let go of his leg by this point, so he easily walked over and tugged both of the large suitcases off of the little unicorn’s back. He felt his eyes widen a bit at their weight.

“Damn, these are heavier than I expected,” he said as she looked up at him, surprised. “How the hell do you carry all this?”

“Oh, I uh… I usually carry Rarity’s stuff,” she answered bashfully.

“You’re just a kid though,” he pointed out.

“It’s not that bad,” she answered with a chuckle, “you should’ve seen the first year we had this meetup!”

“Fucking hell,” he huffed, biting his tongue for a moment as he remembered he wasn’t supposed to swear. “Just uh, go frolick or do whatever preschoolers do.”

Sweetie made a face that was a mixture of confusion and annoyance as he walked ahead of her. Scootaloo trotted up alongside her, letting the unicorn filly turn to her fellow Crusader.

“What’s his deal?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“He’s… different,” answered Scootaloo, only getting a deadpan face back from her friend, making the pegasus filly elaborate. “I mean in how he acts! I think he’s some type of knight or somethin’. The rough and tumble type, like out of one of Spike’s old comics!”

“He’s not very chivalrous,” pointed out Sweetie.

“Well, he did take those bags off yer back,” pointed out Apple Bloom as she joined her fellow Crusaders at the back of the pack.

“Yeah,” Sweetie nodded, feeling a sense of relief on her spine as she stared ahead at the human, who seemed to be lost in his own world of thought as he trudged ahead. “I just hope Rarity doesn’t mind.”

Rarity did mind.

She minded a great deal, actually.

Whenever she finally realized he’d taken her luggage, every few paces she’d look back at him. More specifically, she’d lock her eyes on his gloves. She was examining them, checking to see if they were dirty or grimy.

While the pony had gotten used to the likes of mud and dirt on these long adventurous hikes, having a strange, unknown, grimy creature carrying her items still seemed like a smidge too far. Still, she didn’t say anything, and kept herself in decent spirits, looking on the bright side as she did.

“Well, you are quite the gentlecolt, carrying my luggage!” she complimented.

“I don’t know why you’d ever have a kid sling around this crap,” he replied crassly. “She looks like she weighs less than ninety pounds.”

Rarity pursed her lips, giving him a look which he didn’t seem to notice.

“In…deed,” she stated simply, turning her gaze to Applejack, who just shrugged back at her awkwardly.

Rarity considered further small talk with the Courier but decided to remain silent for the time being.

Rainbow Dash for her part was keeping her gaze on Scootaloo, now flying overhead at a slow and steady manner. Normally she’d rush along at her own pace, but going slower was worth it to make sure her sister was safe.

She still noted a friction in the two, as Scootaloo still seemed more eager to be around her fellow Crusaders and Six. The rainbow-maned pegasus frowned to herself but decided to give the filly space. Unlike the ordeal with the Washouts, she could tell the human would at least keep her sister safe.

Despite that, she still felt hurt by the cold shoulder treatment she’d been getting all morning. Hopefully by the time they set up their final campsite, everything would be a bit better.

She was at least happy her sister was doing better than last night, as the Crusaders were now walking at their own pace given Sweetie Belle wasn’t bound by Rarity’s baggage anymore. Rainbow Dash felt their excitement and happiness as they whispered amongst themselves, doing standard filly fare as they continued along at the back of the pack.

The Courier was silent while remaining in the center. He made so little noise that it was almost hard to remember he existed at times. With no motor-mouthed pegasus on his back, he was far less talkative, giving only the occasional inhale and exhale as a sign that he was still alive. Even his footsteps were quiet despite the added weight from Rarity’s luggage.

It was a few hours later he was pulled out of his mind and back into reality. A combination of Applejack stopping up ahead and his stomach growling were the culprits.

“Alright, this cave ahead is our campsite. Winsome Falls is just a little ways up yonder,” she explained to the Courier.

He nodded in response as he examined the clearing ahead. A small fire pit and several logs were strewn around it. No doubt a makeshift campsite the ponies had used before.

“Yes, and you can put down my luggage now!” Rarity insisted with a forced smile.

He sighed and partly considered dropping them in a patch of mud a few feet away. However, the Courier resisted the urge and instead walked over to the cave and dropped them at the entrance on the comparatively clean stone.

His stomach rumbled again as he dusted his gloves off, and he looked down at his lunch box, still strapped to his waist after all this time. It was a Vault-Tec classic. Too bad he only had the one.

The Courier walked over to a stump on the edge of the clearing and took a seat. He sat Knock-Knock and the All-American aside and opened the lunchbox before he began to rummage through it. He grunted in dissatisfaction as he pulled out an unopened box of InstaMash.

The Caravan Lunch wasn’t exactly the best of meals, but he’d sterilized it with a RadAway awhile back at least. His stomach grumbled as he thought back to his dream. So much good food, and all of it just out of his reach thanks to that moon demon.

He leaned away from the ponies, making sure his face was obscured as he lifted his mask up a bit. He ripped open the old packaging of the InstaMash and then dumped out a handful of dried flakes into his gloved palm. Moments later he shoved it right in his mouth, hoovering up all of it in one gulp.

He then began the process of chewing the dried, century old potato shavings into a slightly liquid mush, gulping down the barely-flavored mash. He managed another handful and then the tiny box was empty, the cardboard tossed back into his lunchbox as he sat there, chewing and looking around.

A bird flew overhead, and he considered shooting the bastard down for some real meat.

Ponies… were vegetarians, maybe? Cakes contained eggs? They still probably wouldn’t appreciate him killing an animal right in front of them. Especially the kids.

“Mister Six!” a young voice called.

As soon as he heard Sweetie Belle, he jerked away from the source, sending the Caravan Lunch to the ground as he shoved the revealed portion of his lower face into his elbow. He was almost acting like some post-apocalyptic vampire as he looked over at the filly, his vision a little obscured due to the lopsided mask.

“Uh… here’s a cupcake?” she offered, very confused at the display.

He looked down as she held it outstretched in one of her hooves, and then nodded, reaching out a hand to grab it.

“Shank yu,” he managed, his mouth filled with the horrid InstaMash.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he turned away…

And then shoved the cupcake, wrapper and all into his mouth.

Sweetie Belle looked on with a partly horrified expression as he then adjusted his mask back downwards, leaving a smear of icing on his helmet. Only then did he realize there were crumbs and frosting smearing his hand. Thus, he reached into his duster and pulled out a dirty rag, wiping himself off as he chewed.

God, even with the paper, it was so much better than the InstaMash.

And the Fancy Lads.

And… a lot of things in the Wasteland.

Maybe not the omelets, though. That was a discussion for another day.

When he finally swallowed, he spoke.

“That’s uh… really good, kid,” he complimented, reaching down to pat her head in a stiff, awkward manner. “You did a good job baking it.”

“Oh I didn’t make it, that was one of Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes,” Sweetie explained, a bit awkwardly herself.

“Ah,” he nodded, patting her head once more before he backed off. “Well, thanks anyways. You sure you didn’t wanna keep it?”

“Well we got a whole bagful of ‘em, and that’s not mentioning the marshmallows,” she explained.

He nodded as he collected his fallen lunchbox and food items.

“Why were you so spooked there?” she asked, noticing how quickly he’d covered his face.

“Kid, people do the things they do for a reason,” he explained while packing his unsatisfying lunch back up.

Sweetie nodded, looking up at him for a moment, before deciding to ask bluntly.

“Are you a knight of some kind?” she asked.

He looked down at her for a moment in confusion. First his mind went to the Brotherhood, and he was about to ask in shock how she knew of them. However, after mewling the question, he slowly turned back to the numerous Tæles of Chivalrie magazines he’d read. Surely, she meant a medieval knight! Maybe she’d read something similar. Maybe they existed here?

“Well…” he managed. He was technically a Brotherhood of Steel member, a knight in a way. However, he knew she didn’t exactly mean that. Being an NCR soldier likely didn’t count either.

She looked at him, a small bit of intrigue building on her face.

“I guess kinda, sorta?” he offered.

“Alright!” she nodded, before rushing off.

He watched her as she went behind some bushes, and just stared on in confusion.

“Huh,” he managed, turning back towards his lunchbox. He struggled with the idea of if he was still hungry enough to scarf down the Cram and the Pork n Beans or not.

As he did this, he didn’t realize that Sweetie had met up with her other two Crusaders behind the bushes.

“So what did ya learn?” Scootaloo excitedly asked.

“Well, he likes cupcakes… a bit too much,” Sweetie answered.

“I don’t know why we needed ta give him that anyways,” Apple Bloom added. “Couldn’t ya just ask him since you’re friends an’ all?”

“It’s to butter him up!” pointed out Scootaloo.

“Then why didn’t you give him the cupcake?” asked Sweetie.

“Duh, because he’ll expect me to give it to him! With you, he might reveal something new!” explained the pegasus, as if it were obvious. “Besides, if we all become friends with him, he might reveal more of his super-secret, super-awesome origin story!”

“Scootaloo, it ain’t like he’s Daring Do or somethin’ from an action comic!” Apple Bloom shot back. “He’s real! There’s no guarantee he even has a cool backstory like yer sayin’!”

“Well, he did say he was a knight,” Sweetie admitted, getting a glare from the country filly, which made her give a nervous addition, “sorta anyways!”

“I knew it!” Scootaloo squealed with excitement.

“Scootaloo, why are ya even this excited about him?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well duh, he saved my life!” the pegasus answered, getting a nod.

“Yeah but Rainbow Dash saved yer life more than him,” pointed out the country filly.

“But I know Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo elaborated. “I know where she lives, where she grew up, who her parents are! Heck, she’s my sister, I know everything about her! I don’t know anything about Six!”

“I really hope yer not gonna start another fanclub after what happened last time,” sighed Sweetie Belle.

“I won’t!” replied the embarrassed pegasus, before shaking it off. “But more importantly than me knowing about him, he doesn’t have any friends.”

“I wonder why,” Sweetie added, thinking back to his odd behavior he’d just displayed with the cupcake incident.

“Be serious!” glared Scootaloo. “He helped you with the saddle bags whenever he didn’t have to!”

“That was mighty kind of him,” Apple Bloom admitted with a nod.

“Yeah, and earlier this morning Rarity said he restarted the fire last night too,” Sweetie said after a moment of thought.

“See! That’s what I’m saying! He’s like some cool comic book hero, and he’s got no one here! No friends, no family…” Scootaloo paused for a moment to frown but shook it off. “We might as well be his first!”

“I guess that makes sense,” Sweetie shrugged.

“Twilight did teach us about friendship with other creatures an’ all that,” agreed Apple Bloom.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Scootaloo smiled.

“Still though, I don’t know how we can get him to stay, he seems pretty clear on being one of those wandering types,” Sweetie pointed out.

“Well, what if we just watch him and get to know what he does and doesn’t like!” Scootaloo offered after a moment of thought. “Maybe if we show him that there’s tons of fun things to do with us and around Ponyville, he’ll stay!”

“You know, that might work!” Sweetie Belle agreed with a smirk.

“Yeah, if he liked that cupcake, maybe he might enjoy some of our apple desserts too!” offered Apple Bloom.

“That’s the spirit, now let’s watch him, we’ve wasted enough time as is!” Scootaloo added with a tone of finality.

Moments later she and the others soon peered out from the bush, staring over at the still seated Courier. He was currently using the same rag he’d cleaned his mask with to rub the dirt off the Pip-Boy’s screen. He didn’t seem to notice them as they continued whispering amongst themselves. The two watched on for many more minutes as he cleaned himself up.

“Hygiene!” Sweetie pointed out. “He likes hygiene!”

“Ya sure? His jacket’s awfully dirty still,” added the unsure Apple Bloom.

A bit later, he soon reached into one of the many small satchels adorning his chest and felt around. After a moment, he popped one open and pulled out a small cloth sack.

The fillies leaned in close as he untied it and dumped it into his hand. Pinyon nuts soon rolled out, and he emptied the small sack. He looked at the pitiful sum before shrugging, adjusting his mask very slightly, and leaning down, devouring them in one bite as he kept his lower face hidden this time.

“Nuts! He likes nuts!” Scootaloo said with a squeak.

“Don’t almost everypony like nuts?” asked Apple Bloom.

“What about ponies who have allergies?” responded Sweetie.

The CMC continued on, watching him for many more minutes as the Courier would do the occasional menial task like checking his Pip-Boy, rubbing off some muck and wayward leaves from his duster, and even wiping down his shoes. Soon enough though, he pulled out a large bowie knife, and the girls squeaked.

“I think he likes knives,” Apple Bloom said.

“We could get him a knife set!” Scootaloo pondered with a smile.

“He doesn’t have a kitchen for them all, though,” Sweetie pointed out.

“He could!” Scootaloo shot back.

“Girls!” added a new voice, making them all give squeaks of surprise as a white forehoof parted the shrub they’d been hidden in.

They saw the face of Rarity peer in, with her giving a questioning glance between the three.

“Why are you all hiding about when we’re getting ready to start the fire? I figure you’d want to spend this time chatting and sharing smores, not hiding in some filthy bush!” said the fashionista.

“Oh, right,” Apple Bloom peeped, having nearly forgotten about the whole “sisterly camping trip” thing.

“Sorry Rarity, we were just spying on the Courier!” Sweetie squeaked, getting the other two Crusaders to sigh in annoyance.

“You what?” Rarity questioned. “Why in the world would you do that?”

“We were gonna become his friend and get him to stay,” begrudgingly admitted Scootaloo.

“I understand all of those friendship lessons paid off, but are you quite sure you should be spying on him? He seems like a very…” Rarity paused, as if mewling about what to say, before finishing, “unapproachable fellow.”

“So was Cranky Doodle, and Pinkie’s still his friend!” Scootaloo pointed out. “And Starlight too, she was way worse before Twilight became her teacher!”

“Well, those are very different cases,” Rarity said after a moment in thought. “Still, I understand you desire to be his friend after what he did, but all I want is for you all to be safe.”

“I think he wants that too,” Scootaloo replied, looking back at the Courier through the gaps in the bush.

Soon enough she sighed and looked away though.

“Oh now don’t fret dear!” Rarity said, attempting to lighten the filly’s mood. “We have plenty of marshmallows and graham crackers and other treats for making smores! It’s going to be a wonderful night!”

Apple Bloom felt her stomach rumble and looked between her two friends.

“I guess we could use a break,” admitted the farm filly.

“Yeah, I’m getting a bit hungry too,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

Scootaloo took a moment to think, and eventually just nodded along with her friends.

Before long they were out of the bush and back towards the campfire, which was roaring to life thanks to the wood that Six had collected. It had spent all night and most of the day drying out, meaning it was easier to set alight.

The sun overhead was soon lowering, turning the fading day to a deep, bluish evening. It made the fire standout more as Scootaloo plopped herself down on a log.

The pegasus watched on as Sweetie and Bloom ran up to their respective sisters, sitting next to them on their own logs as well. She waited for a moment, seeing if Rainbow Dash would fly over and try to pull the whole “what’s up squirt?” routine. She just huffed to herself, not noticing the blue pegasus in question had flown over to the Courier.

Rainbow Dash stood a few feet behind the human, looking at him as if she were unsure of what exactly to tell him. He was currently cleaning one of the strange objects he had stashed in his coat. She didn’t know what it was, other than the fact it was shiny and had a swing-out cylinder.

Moments later though, she finally formulated the words, and spoke.

“She really likes you, you know,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“What makes you say that?” he asked, still cleaning Lucky as he did.

“She spent about half an hour in a bush watching you,” said the pegasus with a dry tone.

“Yeah, I was wondering what the hell they were doing,” he admitted. “I thought it was some weird secret game or something.”

“I don’t know why, but she’s been giving me the cold shoulder all day,” Rainbow Dash said, getting back on track.

“Want me to talk to her?” he offered casually.

“I want you to-” she paused, staring at him with a confused tone.

“I don’t wanna see a pair of sisters fight. I’m not a fucking monster, after all,” he pointed out. “Besides, I doubt you’d come to me to chat about your… feathers, or rainbow pubes, or something.”

“You need to work on your manners,” scolded Rainbow Dash as if she were talking to a misbehaving student.

“I don’t think I will,” he said, standing up as he put Lucky away.

“That wasn’t a request,” she said, her expression stern. “I want you to keep it clean for Scootaloo’s sake. Whether you like it or not, you’re a role model to her now.”

“Fuck’s sake,” he huffed. “More word-policing?”

“It’s manner-policing now,” she just glared.

“Fine, fine,” he relented.

She did too, giving a nod as her expression became neutral.

“Give me like five minutes with the kid,” he said, going to walk past her, before she stopped him and extended a hoof.

“Here,” she said, offering him a marshmallow.

“What?” he answered with confusion.

“Scootaloo was talking about how you’ve never had a marshmallow on the way up here,” she pointed out.

“Oh… yeah,” he nodded, remembering he’d zoned out for basically the entire trek. “Thanks.”

“They’re alright,” Dash explained. “A bit too sweet for me at times though.”

“Thanks, just uh, go fly around or whatever. I’ll talk to the kid,” he said, walking away once more.

“I’ll keep my eye on you!” she warned, and he nodded as he continued.

As he walked, he looked down at the marshmallow Dash handed him, and after a moment of thought, nodded once more, this time to himself. Soon enough he reached the campfire, and suddenly Scootaloo noticed him approaching from the darkness. Her face lit up as he sat down next to her on the large log.

“Six!” she squeaked, but before she could hug him, he stopped her with an opened palm.

She noted the seriousness of his posture, and almost slinked back as she looked up at him with a partly worried expression.

“Kid look,” he began but stopped, looking away with a sigh. After a moment of thought, he managed to continue. “I’m not trying deliberately to give you the whole silent treatment, alright? I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like to have a friend who won’t open up to you.”

“You do?” Scootaloo perked up, looking at him in surprise, both from the admission and partly from being called a ‘friend’ albeit not flat-out.

“Yeah. He was a good guy, deep down anyways,” he paused in thought once more, before shaking himself out of it. “Look, I’ll be straight with you, alright? One day, when you’re a lot older, and if we still know each other, I’ll answer everything you want, if you still want to know, that is.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” she huffed, deflating a bit.

“Trust me kid, it’s more than fair, alright?” he offered. “As it stands, I’ll answer some stuff-”

She squeaked, before he held out a finger to calm her.

“-on occasion.” he finished.

Scootaloo huffed once more, thinking it over.

“Well, better than nothing,” she concluded.

“Good,” he said with a nod. “Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve got one more thing to say.”

“Which is?” she asked.

“Ya need to go easier on your sister,” he pointed out.

“Oh, we are not having that talk,” she huffed.

“Yeah, we’re having that talk,” he replied.

He let the situation (and the filly) breathe for a moment, before continuing.

“Kid, I don’t see why you’re not forgiving her and all that. Surely she’s saved you in the past, right? Doesn’t make me special,” he explained casually, still sitting beside the small orange filly. “Bet she did it more than me too!”

“Yeah but she’s still brash too even after all those lessons she learned,” Scootaloo agreed, though she just looked down at the campfire as she spoke, her tone forlorn. “I love her, but her hitting you wasn’t right. If you weren’t so tough, she could’ve really hurt you, or worse!”

“Kid,” he began, before taking a moment to give a deep sigh, “I’ve been through a lot worse, and I already forgave her and all that. Besides, if I was in her situation, I might’ve done the same thing. To save my hypothetical little sister of course. Hell, you might’ve too!”

“Yeah, I guess,” Scootaloo agreed with a sigh.

“What is it now?” he asked, knowing her tone hadn’t lightened.

“Why can’t I just be brave like you and Rainbow Dash? I got you guys into that situation in the first place. If I just kept a level head, I would-” she was cut off by him shoving the marshmallow from earlier into her mouth to mellow her out.

“See kid, now you’re just looking for bad stuff to get upset over,” he said with a smirk. “The point of it all is that you’re here, you’re safe, and we’re all friends.”

She looked up at him with a bit of an annoyed expression, before spitting out her marshmallow.

“Knew it,” she said with a teasing smirk, her spirit seemingly raised.

“Knew what?” he responded.

“You just said we’re friends!” she said, gently hitting his forearm with her hoof. “For the second time no less!”

He paused for a second, before shaking her off of his forearm. He looked away and crossed his arms.

“Well, even someone like me can make mistakes and say things they don’t mean,” he said, looking away, though he did quickly glance back at the filly, seeing her sitting with a teasing smirk on her face.

He just turned away again, giving a good-natured huff.

“Just shut it and eat your dam-” he somehow felt the eyes of Rainbow Dash burrowing into the back of his head before he corrected himself, “-dang marshmallows or whatever the fu- uh, fudge.”

“Not without you trying one!” she squeaked.

“I filled up on nuts, kid,” he said with a sigh.

“Come on, just one?” she pleaded, pressing against his back with her forehooves.

After a solid minute of this, he rolled his eyes.

“Alright, fine,” he said, turning back towards her. “If you want me to eat one so bad, then you go make me one!”

“I’m on it!” Scootaloo said, before zipping off to the firepit, joining the other Crusaders and their sisters to make some smores!

The Courier heard and faintly felt wind billow around him as he heard Rainbow Dash land behind him.

“Again, I’m sorry abou-” she began, but he cut her off.

“Don’t worry,” the Courier sighed to the rainbow-maned pony, “I’ve forgiven people who’ve done worse.”

She looked at him, a pondering expression on her face.

“For what it’s worth. Whatever you’ve been through, I’m sorry,” she said genuinely.

“You aren’t someone who owes me an apology,” he stated flatly, arms crossed.

She was silent, wondering what someone possibly could’ve done to wrong the human.

“You gonna go make that chocolate crap with your sister now or what?” he asked, breaking the silence while pointing at Scootaloo.

The filly was attempting to make a smore by herself, looking quite the odd pony out amidst the other Crusaders, who were being helped by their respective sisters.

“Thanks again,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Between the constant ‘thanks’ and ‘I’m sorry’s’ I’m beginning to think you’ve got something scrambled up there,” he responded with a faint smirk.

“Jeez, you really are a prick,” she responded with a smile.

“Would you have it any other way?” he said.

She just rolled her eyes before zipping off towards her sister.

The Courier watched on as Scootaloo turned to the older mare. Soon enough she hugged one of Rainbow Dash’s forelegs. Good, he nodded to himself.

He soon allowed himself to zone out a bit. He was tired, but didn’t want to sleep, especially after last night. He wasn’t exactly listening to anything for the moment, and he let his head lean down, his chin pressing against his chest. If he were a robot, he’d be in ‘Low Power’ mode.

He remained this way for many minutes, until being woken from his “slumber” by both Scootaloo, who presented him with one of the fabled smores. Rainbow Dash stood behind her sister and smiled at the human as he adjusted himself.

Six reached out a hand and grabbed the gooey snack, before turning away and adjusting his helmet. They didn’t get a good look at his face as he scarfed it down loudly. Scootaloo chuckled and Rainbow Dash almost did as well, instead giving a humorous snort.

The Courier readjusted his helmet and turned back to them. He was chewing under his helmet for a few moments, before he gave a chocolate-covered thumbs up.

Rainbow Dash finally giggled at that, and a faint trace of him smirked as she did.

Many hours later, after the fire and fun had died down, and the smores had been finished off, Scootaloo woke up in the cave. She groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

A bad dream.

She’d been no stranger to them, but this one didn’t have Luna or Rainbow Dash come in to fight off the monsters.

Scootaloo looked over to her snoring older sister, thinking about waking her up as she did. She felt almost like a toddler, having bad dreams at her age. But this one felt particularly bad, even if she couldn’t remember the details.

“R-Rainbow Dash?” Scootaloo squeaked.

Shockingly, her sister’s eyes snapped open.

“Whazz-huh?” Dash managed.

“I…” the filly fidgeted for a moment, and sighed, “had a really, really, bad dream.”

Rainbow Dash yawned and sat up.

“What kind, squirt?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I don’t know,” admitted the filly, looking down with a face of sorrow. “I just remember it was really bad!”

“Headless Horse bad?” Dash questioned.

“I think it was worse,” Scootaloo admitted.

“Woah,” said the older pegasus in thought. “That is pretty bad… Wanna snuggle up with me?”

“I do,” began Scootaloo, “but… well…”

Rainbow nodded in thought, already figuring out what her sister would say.

“Alright squirt, you can go to him,” Dashie said with a smirk.

“R-really?” her sister squeaked.

“Yeah sure, just don’t come crying to me if he pulls his grumpy pants routine,” laughed the older pegasus.

After embracing her sister, Scootaloo set off, through the dark cave and towards the still, humanoid figure resting against a wall that was closer to the entrance. Moonlight bounced off his body, illuminating his form as he rested there without a hint of movement.

“Six, are you sleeping?” Scootaloo asked.

No response.

“Six?” she asked again.

Nothing.

“Six!” she whisper-shouted.

“What?” he huffed, turning to her.

“I had a bad dream,” she admitted with an embarrassed tone. “Can I lay with you?”

“I was sleeping,” SIx lied.

He hadn’t been asleep all night. He was sitting, watching, waiting. He felt if he did slumber that thing would attack him again. Come for him in his dreams like the bastard it was.

“Kid, why didn’t you go to your sister instead?” he groaned after a few moments of silence.

“I did, but she said it was alright if I wanted to go to you too,” Scootaloo admitted.

He paused for a moment, looking at her.

“I can just go back to bed with her if you want,” said the filly with a nod, turning away.

He let loose a long, annoyed-sounding sigh, which made her pause.

“Come on then,” he offered, hands outstretched.

She squeaked in excitement, but before she could rush into his arms, he held his open palms out.

“Hey, quit!” he huffed. “Keep it smooth! None of that rushdown crap, ya dig?”

“Right!” she said with a smile, slowly making her way over to him.

He gently picked her up and carefully positioned her so that no gun holsters or knife sheaths were near her. With all the expertise of a bomb squad leader, he laid the filly against his chest. Soon enough she was snuggly against him, supported by the weight of both his arms.

Scootaloo was almost like a large feline as she pressed against his chestplate. Her breathing was calm and steady. Good, no abnormalities to note.

The kid was fine.

He was fine.

Why not sleep?

…

Maybe later.

He looked down at her.

She’ll rest instead.

He then looked out of the cave’s entrance. Had he not had the night vision helmet, he would’ve enjoyed the moonlight illuminating the calm, slightly damp night.

Scootaloo’s dreams were brightened by thoughts of the Courier, coming to rescue her in numerous perilous situations.

The Courier himself had no dreams.

…

But if he did, she might’ve brightened them.