Hush Now, Quiet Now

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Prologue
(BONUS) A Happy story for a Sad Friend
An Announcement

Chapter 1

Well, here it is. After more than two weeks of a wait, the official first chapter is out. I want to give some thanks to Crushric for his advice on writing. Thanks to you, I actually have my ending and a few things in between. Anyhow, enjoy the show.

Chapter 1

Not a day goes by that there isn't a delicious smell coming from Sugarcube Corner. Something was always baking in Ponyville's premiere cake shop, and this day was no different.

Ding!

“Whee!” a high voice cried out, and a pink blur raced over to the oven. The oven door swung open, filling the kitchen with the scent of warm chocolate.

Pinkie Pie breathed in the aroma and sighed happily. “Perfect,” she muttered as she pulled out the cupcake trays and set them on the counter. Even without the frosting, they looked delicious. However, it took all of Pinkie's willpower – or some variant thereof – to refrain from eating the pastries; they weren't all just for her, after all.

Pinkie let in a deep breath as she coated the tops of each cake with the colorful frosting, the scent of the baked confections flooding her nostrils. A thin layer of drool coated her lower lip, and the temptation was too great.

'I'm sure Twilight wouldn't mind if I eat just one little cupcake,’ she mused, licking her lips. 'This is a baker’s dozen, after all.' She then took one of the treats and popped the whole thing into her mouth, pink-and-purple frosting coating around her mouth, which she promptly licked off. It was practically the most delicious thing she had ever tasted, but then again, anything with even the smallest amount of sugar was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

Pinkie was tempted to take another cupcake once she swallowed the first one down, but she kept strong as she put the cupcakes in a delivery box. Sliding the box into her pink saddlebag, she trotted out through the front door and out into the bright Equestrian sunlight.

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“Let’s see,” Twilight Sparkle whispered to herself, her horn aglow with a pinkish-violet aura. All around her, hundreds, if not thousands, of books hovered in the air, the same glow surrounding each cover. One by one, the books lowered in front of her face, and the violet unicorn read the titles of each silently to herself.

‘History of Equestria, Volume 1,’ she read. She didn’t have to think very long before deducting, ‘History, obviously.’ The book then floated over to one of the many bookshelves that lined the main room of the library.

Of the many days that Twilight looked forward to, Book Reshelving Day was just one of many.

‘The Epic of Star Swirl the Bearded…that’ll fall under Classic Literature,’ she thought, and another book flew to the appropriate shelf. ‘Donkey Oat-Hay goes in Literature. Robin Hoof, another for Literature. Beastly Bestiary of the Everfree Forest...that's closer to Science.’

One by one, Twilight sorted through her books, each book slipping into their shelves. She was barely halfway through when the door slammed open and a shrill voice called out, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Twilight jumped nearly ten feet in the air and out of her purple coat, and she had lost focus on her magic, sending the books crashing down on top of her.

Pinkie Pie tried, and failed, to force back the laughs that threatened to push their way out of her mouth. “Sorry, Twilight,” she apologized, wiping a tear away with her hoof. Said unicorn forced her way out from under the pile and turned to the pink party pony standing in the open doorway.

She let out a sigh – not of exasperation, but rather of relief – before saying, “It's fine, Pinkie.” Climbing out of the pile of books, she added, “But my birthday isn’t for another couple of months.”

Pinkie's giggle fit halted, and she put a hoof to her chin. “Oh…well, um…” she started, trying to find something else. She looked around the room, but the only thing really out of the ordinary was the pile of books that stood under Twilight. Normally, that meant Twilight was either studying or…

Pinkie’s smile grew once more as she cheered, “Well then, HAPPY BOOK RESHELVING DAY!”

Twilight could only chuckle; Pinkie could find a day to celebrate, no matter how trivial. She remembered one time when Pinkie threw a party to celebrate a “Three-Months-Since-Gummy’s-Birthday-Party” party.

Wait a second…

"So, where’s the party going to be?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pinkie simply scratched the back of her head as she answered, “Actually, I’m still a little pooped from babysitting the twins yesterday.” At this point, the pink pony reached into her saddlebag and pulled out the box, finishing, “So I thought I’d just bring you a dozen cupcakes in honor of your birthday, or um, Book Reshelving Day.”

Pinkie held the box out to Twilight with a large smile on her face. The unicorn happily lifted the box out of Pinkie’s hooves with her magic and popped the lid open. At that moment, the grin on Twilight’s face turned to a look of confusion.

“Umm, Pinkie,” she started, looking up at her friend. “You said there were a dozen cupcakes…so where are the other seven?” As if to harden the question, Twilight turned the Box over so that Pinkie could see. Sure enough, there were only five cupcakes topped with purple-and-pink icing, and the only indicator that there were more was the stray icing on the sides of the box.

Pinkie stayed silent for a minute as she tried to come up with a good excuse. It didn’t matter, though; Twilight had already noticed the icing on Pinkie’s face. She only shook her head and chuckled, saying, “Oh, Pinkie Pie. You and your sweet tooth.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Pinkie defended. “I just got hungry on the way here, so I thought I’d just take one, but then one turned to two, then to three, so--”

“Pinkie!” Twilight called out, quieting the earth pony before her motor-mouth could come into play. “I’m not mad.” She then magically lifted a cupcake out of the box and took a small bite. “In fact, considering these, I might’ve done the same,” she added happily, munching down the confection. “These are delicious.” Pinkie could only flash a giant grin at that; she loved to make her friends smile.

Twilight finished the first cupcake, and she was about to take another when she heard a voice say, “Ooh, cupcakes. Don’t mind if I do.” A scaly purple hand reached in and was about to take a pastry, but Twilight lifted the box out of reach.

“Spike,” she started sternly, giving the baby dragon an evil look.

Spike only sighed and asked in a flat dejected voice, “May I please have a cupcake?”

Twilight didn’t answer, but Spike figured that the cupcake that had floated into his hand was an answer enough. Spike grinned as he shoved the entire pastry into his mouth, leaving only a glob of frosting on his snout.

Twilight shook her head, showing a small grin, as she moved the box over to Pinkie. “You want another cupcake,” she asked the pink earth pony, “Or are you too full?”

Pinkie giggled and replied, “You silly-willy. Of course I'd like another cu--” The words died in her throat as she suddenly erupted into a violent shudder. She shook for about three seconds before falling back on her haunches.

Twilight's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Umm...please tell me that wasn't your Pinkie Sense just now.” However she wanted the outcome, the answer was already obvious.

Before Pinkie even gave Twilight an answer, Spike was already starting to panic. “Oh, no, no, no,” he muttered, clutched his head tightly. Already, several different scenarios were running through his head. “What is it this time? An earthquake? A meteor shower?” He was running around in circles as fear pounded through his chest. He soon froze where he was, and the pupils of his eyes shrunk down to pinheads as the most horrible thought came to him.

“What if the cupcakes are alive...and are plotting to take over Ponyville?” Without a moment's hesitation, Spike lunged for the box, intent on preventing an impending tyranny ruled with a frosting-coated fist. However, before he reached the box, Spike froze in midair and was moved further away from the pastries, courtesy of Twilight's magic.

“Spike, I doubt the cupcakes are plotting anything.” Twilight started, glaring sternly at the dragon in her telekinetic grip. “If anything, it's probably nothing really dangerous.” It made sense when she thought about it; the last time Pinkie's sense predicted a “doozy,” as she called it, they had thought it involved the Hydra in the bog, when really, it was just Twilight believing that Pinkie's sixth sense really did exist. Odds were that this would be something similar, to some degree.

Twilight then turned to Pinkie, who now wore a worrisome look on her face. “Pinkie, do you know what's going to happen?”

Pinkie only shook her head as she replied, “All I know is that going to be something nopony would ever expect.”

Twilight only sighed. She should've seen that coming. “Well, do you know where it's going to be, at least?”

Pinkie suddenly began shaking in her hooves again as soon as Twilight asked that. By the time she stopped, her eyes were wider than before. “Sugarcube...Corner,” she said simply.

“I told ya,” Spike stated matter-of-factly. “Evil cupcakes.”

Twilight sighed as she plopped the dragon onto her back. “Come on, Pinkie,” she started, making her way for the door. “Let's go see what’s up.” Without another word from the trio – which is quite strange in Pinkie's case – the two rushed out the door and towards the bakery.

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Pinkie was the first to charge through the doors of the bakery, and the first thing she noticed was the emptiness. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were nowhere in sight, and there was neither coat nor mane of Pumpkin and Pound.

Twilight walked in right after, noticing the vacancy as well. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake?” she called out, looking about the bakery.

“Pumpkin? Pound?” Pinkie cried out afterwards. “Where are you?” With each passing second, Pinkie’s fear grew more and more. Was this the doozy – everypony in Ponyville vanishing in the blink of an eye…and the Cakes just happened to be first ones to go?

However, all traces of that fear vanished when she heard a familiar voice call out from the pantry. “Psst…Pinkie, Twilight, over here.” A sense of relief washed over both ponies as they noticed a familiar pink hair-do (mane-do?) poke out from the door.

Pinkie charged into the pantry and wrapped her front legs around Mrs. Cake’s shoulders, tears forming in the corners of her giant blue eyes. Twilight walked in right after and found Mr. Cake near the back of the pantry, cradling the twins in each arm. The foals both looked as though something scared them to tears, which made a lot of sense, considering the frightened look in Mr. Cake’s eyes.

“Oh thank Celestia,” Pinkie Pie started, her voice starting to falter. “I’m so glad you guys are okay. My Pinkie Sense went off and said that there was going to be a doozy here, so Twilight and I came as fast as we could, but when we came in, no one was here, so I thought that the doozy was everyone disappearing like ‘POOF’ and I’d be all alo--”
Mrs. Cake shushed the pink pony – possibly to keep her motor-mouth at bay – and said, “It’s okay, dearie. We’re just glad to see you’re alright.”

Pinkie smiled as she let Mrs. Cake out of her embrace, wiping away the tears. Twilight chose that moment to speak up. “So what happened? Why are you all hiding in here?”

Mr. Cake was the one who answered. “There’s something in Pinkie Pie’s room, and we--”

“Ooh! A surprise for me?” Pinkie cheered, now back to her normal chipper self. It was amazing how fast she could rebound, Twilight noted with a sigh.

“Perhaps you should start at the beginning,” Twilight requested simply, to which the Cakes agreed.

“Alright,” Mr. Cake spoke up. “Not long after Pinkie left for your place, I was busy decorating a three-tiered wedding cake while the missus here was watching Pumpkin and Pound here.” He motioned to the twins still nestled in his arms as Mrs. Cake continued, “Everything was calm and peaceful, until we heard a loud crash upstairs from your room. We didn't know what it was, so my husband and I both went up to check. When we looked inside...”

Mrs. Cake trailed off as she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, to which her husband finished, “Pinkie...there's some kind of...monster in your room.” Pinkie's and Twilight's eyes widened, but they both kept silent as Mr. Cake added, “I don't know what it is, but it doesn't look like any pony I've ever seen.” Like his wife, Mr. Cake had the same fearful look in his eyes, and Pumpkin and Pound looked to be on the verge of tears.

Twilight soaked in the information as she looked between the frightened family. She then let out a breath as she told the Cakes, “Don't worry. Pinkie and I will look into this 'monster' situation.” That seemed to calm the twins down as well as the husband and wife.

“Are you sure you'll both be okay, Twilight?” Mrs. Cake asked, her voice only quivering slightly. Twilight nodded as she assured her, “If that so-called monster tries anything, Mrs. Cake, I'll take care of things with my magic.” As if to prove her point, her horn flashed a bright violet. Mrs. Cake let out a relieved sigh as Mr. Cake replied, “Okay, but be careful.”
Twilight and Pinkie both turned and trotted towards the stairs. It was only when Twilight's hoof reached the first step when she noticed the lack of a certain weight on her back.

Twilight turned her head around and was about to call for the baby dragon, but that was unnecessary; Spike was standing in front of the cupcake display cabinet, staring at the pastries with intense malice. He wore a cooking pot on his head like a soldier helmet, and a spatula was held in his right claw like a club.

“You're not taking over my town, cupcakes,” he hissed out, holding the spatula threateningly at his side. “Not while Spikey-Wikey's around.” Before he could intimidate the sweet little 'conquerors' any further, a sharp pain erupted at the base of his tail, and he was swung onto Twilight's back.

“For crying out loud, Spike,” Twilight snapped, following Pinkie up the stairs. “The cupcakes are not plotting to take over!”

As Twilight and Pinkie both disappeared up the stairs, Pound and Pumpkin Cake reached their tiny little hooves out, almost beckoning for their babysitter.

“Pinkie.”

“Pie.”

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

The door to Pinkie's room was shut tightly, almost as if the flimsy wood would be enough to hold the creature at bay. Twilight stepped in front of the door and tentatively knocked on it with the front of her hoof.

There was no answer.

Twilight knocked once more with more force.

Again, the same result.

A scenario ran through the unicorn's mind. Perhaps the creature wasn't in the room at all? What if it escaped when she and Pinkie were racing to Sugarcube Corner? Twilight shuddered to think of what would happen if a potentially dangerous beast got free and started wreaking havoc on the denizens of Ponyville. It was bad enough that Ponyville had to deal with Discord and Spike, and there was no need to go for a third strike.

The second image: maybe the creature was unconscious...or asleep, even? Both were plausible. If it was out cold, they could take the creature to the Everfree Forest, or wherever else it may have resided, and release it in its own habitat, and no one would be hurt in the process. Best Case Solution.

However, the best possibility was that there was no monster in the first place. Mr. and Mrs. Cake may have seen something completely different, like maybe Gummy just jumping around with his blanket over his head. Twilight's pounding heart was calmed at the idea.

Unfortunately, her pulse sped right back up as her imagination did a 180 turn. What if there was some sort of monster in Pinkie's room, one that was wild, savage...and hungry? It probably knew they were just outside, and was silently waiting to pounce and enjoy its fresh meal. Twilight swallowed the lump that formed in her throat; if that were the case, then they would have to be quick and careful.

Twilight's magical aura wrapped around the door handle as she pressed herself against the wall. Pinkie did the same, as did Spike, still wielding his pot helmet and spatula Excalibur. Pinkie glanced over to Twilight, her blue eyes meeting the unicorn's purple ones, and they both nodded in silence. Using her magic, Twilight turned the knob and swung the door open.

Nothing leaped out, which was good, Twilight deducted. 'I can rule out lurking predator,' she thought to herself. Even then, however, she wasn't going to take any chances. Ever so slowly, Twilight peered around the doorway, half-expecting to see something glare at her with fierce, predatory eyes, but nothing sprung out.

Wait a second. What was that? Out of the corner of her vision, Twilight spotted something poking out from behind Pinkie Pie's bed. She couldn't get a good look, but she could swear it looked like some kind of...leg.

She and Pinkie crept closer to the shape by the bed, and already, they were hit with a horrible smell. A sickening combination of sweat, dirt, and vomit penetrated the mares' and dragon's nostrils, and they had to fight down the bile that rose up their throats. Once the feeling of nausea passed, Twilight held her breath as she inched further around the bed.

Pinkie and Spike didn't want to get any closer to whatever was making that smell; they were having enough trouble breathing properly just standing where they were.

As she rounded the corner, what lay before her was...disturbing, to say the least. This didn't look anything like a pony, nor any of the creatures she had ever encountered. Its body was slender and long, practically void of any fur on its body, save for the thick patch of black on its head. Its legs were strange as well; on the ends of its forelegs, five fleshy digits stuck out from where its hooves should've been, and on its rear legs, the hooves were pointed outward and wrapped in some thick hide.

Replacing the withheld breath in her lungs, Twilight moved closer to the monster for a better look. The flesh on the creature's back and right foreleg was cracking and colored a sickly red, and large boils were dotted along its back. When she put her hoof up to the flesh, it felt incredibly warm to the touch. The creature groaned and shifted under her touch. Twilight recoiled, fearing that she had just woken up something savage, only for the beast to calm once again.

Twilight let out a sigh before she noticed something on the thing's left forearm. At first glance, it almost looked like a dungeon shackle, except there was some sort of glass screen on the front. Behind the glass, a green light glowed softly, shining down on the floor.

It was then that Twilight got a good look at the monster's face. Well, maybe monster wouldn't really be the best word to use anymore. The creature's face looked peaceful, angelic even, despite the fact that it was smudged with something too dark to be mud. She could hear the being breathe softly through its nose – at least, what she assumed was the nose. All in all, the being didn't look anything at all like a monster; was this what scared the Cakes?

Twilight flinched and spun around when she heard the window slide open, but she let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Spike, now breathing freely. “Man, this place needs some air freshener,” he muttered, sticking his head out of the window to breathe in the fresh air. He then turned around and saw what Twilight was just looking at, and he damn near scrambled out of the open window in fear.

“Wh-what is that thing?” he stammered, his eyes shrunk down to pea-size.

Before Twilight could answer, Pinkie Pie sped over and stood atop her bed, looking down at the creature. Her eyes held more curiosity than fear as she studied the prone being.

After a few moments, she excitedly began, “Maybe it's an alien. It doesn't look anything like a pony, and I know everypony in the world. Well, maybe not the world, but everypony in Ponyville, at least.” She then turned to Twilight and asked her, “Do you know what this thing is, Twilight?”

Twilight only shook her head. “If anything, it looks like it's hurt. These burns look awful.” She then turned to Spike and requested, “I need you to get my first aid kit and every bestiary in the library, quickly.” Spike gave a mock salute and sped out the door towards the library.

After Spike left, Pinkie said to Twilight, “I have a very important question to ask you.”

“Oka--”

“Twilight, this is serious business, so I want you to give me your honest answer.”

“Alright,” Twilight agreed, a little freaked out by her friend's behavior. “What do you nee--”

“The answer you give me could be the difference between good and evil, life and death, salvation and destruction, Heaven and--”

She was cut off when Twilight snapped, “Pinkie! What is it?”

Pinkie let out a deep breath, unfazed by Twilight's outburst. She then pointed at the prone figure by her bed as she asked, “Do you think it likes parties?”

Twilight's could only respond with a facehoof.

Hey, that was actually on my mind, too. Parties are serious business, believe it or not. Well, I hope you enjoyed that chapter, next one's coming along.

Also, if anyone can happen to find some MLP/Fallout crossover artwork that's not related to Fallout: Equestria, I'd really appreciate it.

Chapter 2

Twilight flipped through the pages of the fourth bestiary Spike brought from the library. The pages contained information on just about every monster in the Everfree Forest, from the petrifying cockatrice to the gluttonous parasprite to the vicious manticore. However, none of these matched the one she was looking for. Twilight groaned as she tossed the book to the side and grabbed another from the pile of books she had yet to check.

Spike chose that moment to pipe up from the corner, “You may as well give up, Twi. If you haven't found anything by now, then it can't be found anywhere.” Twilight looked over the dragon, who was lying back against the wall. Despite his relaxed position, Spike was nervously glancing over to the…thing which was asleep on Pinkie Pie’s bed.

The creature in question was bandaged up from its waist, to its chest, to its strangely disfigured forelegs and the pink quilt was pulled up to its chest. The bed itself was pushed up closer to the open window in an attempt to air out the being’s foul stench. Despite what it had recently just went through, what with the cleansing of its burns and bandaging of its wounds, the creature remained asleep, peaceful even, and Twilight began wondering how long the being’s sleep cycle lasted.

Despite Twilight's slight interest in the creature's physiology, her curiosity was more affixed at the rest of the wounds on the creature’s body, some of which she immediately recognized as bite marks and slashes from claws. Others, however, looked completely unlike any animal attack. Its flesh was pockmarked with quite a few strange round wounds, almost as though several small stakes had been rammed through its body, and there were several smaller burn marks that didn’t match the larger burn on its back. As Twilight and Spike finished applying first-aid, the unicorn couldn’t help but ask herself, “Just what did this creature have to go through?”

Twilight shook her head at Spike’s earlier statement before saying, “I can’t give up, Spike. There has to be something about this beast, but none of the Equestrian encyclopedias mention anything about it.” She put her head in her hooves as she finished, “There’s not even an actual picture I can find to match with it.” Once Twilight exhausted the book of its information, she sighed and discarded the book. “Whatever it is, it's as though it doesn't even exist.”

“I told you, maybe it's a space alien,” Pinkie's chipper voice suggested as she walked out of the bathroom, a small alligator clamped onto her tail. “I found Gummy, by the way. The alien must've scared him, because he was hiding in the bathtub, which is weird because he never gets in the tub unless there's water and it’s his bathtime.”

Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples with her hooves, as she said, “I highly doubt that it's an alien, Pinkie. They don't even exist, and even if they did, why bother coming here?”

Pinkie looked as though she had been insulted. “They do too exist!” she snapped, setting her baby alligator on the floor by her back hooves. “One time, I knew this pony who knew this pony who read about this pegasus who interviewed this unicorn's sister who was abducted by aliens from another planet, and she said that they were actually a lot of fun. They went zooming through space and shot the stars and--”

She was cut off when Twilight's hoof was jammed into her mouth. “Pinkie, despite your sources, I don't think the thing lying in your bed right now is an alien.” She then turned to look at the figure asleep in the party pony's bed before adding, “Though that would be the only thing to call it now.”

The three flinched when they heard the creature groaning in its sleep. No, not groaning; rather, it sounded like it was...gagging. Its body lurched with each muffled choke, and Twilight could just see a small spurt of bile erupt from its mouth.

“Oh no,” she muttered, rushing to the bedside. She pushed the creature onto its side, careful not to put too much pressure on its wound, as she called out to Pinkie, “Bring the trashcan! Hurry!”

Pinkie gave a mock salute and raced over, waste bucket in hand. Carefully, Twilight pushed the creature's head over the held out wastebasket, and a stream of vomit poured out from between its lips. Both ponies nearly gagged at the sight, and Pinkie wasted no time in getting basket out of her grip.

“Well, we know that it's sick with something,” Twilight deducted with a grimace, swallowing whatever had just come up. “We just need to know what its sick with.”

“Do we have to?” Spike asked, more disgusted then afraid. The purple scales on his face were tinged with green.

Twilight didn't answer right away, but rather, she went over to the first-aid kit and pulled out a book titled In Sickness and in Health: an Encyclopedia of All Known Diseases. As she flipped the book open, she asked Spike and Pinkie, “Other than nausea, what else looks wrong?”

Spike was tentative to get closer to the creature than need be, but he swallowed his fear and hoisted himself up to the mattress, now crouched next to the unconscious alien. Pinkie stayed on the opposite side of the bed as she placed a hoof on the alien's forehead.

“It's freezing,” she called out before noticing the moisture on the unshorn fur around her hoof, “and soaking wet.”

Spike got a better – if not unwanted – look at the alien from his vantage point. Carefully, he pried open the creature's eyelids. “Eyes are yellow and bloodshot.”

Pinkie then put her ear up to the creature’s chest, listening for the thumping in its chest. “The heart’s beating just fine,” she said, “but it’s breathing all scratchy-like.”

Twilight nodded and marked them down mentally before flipping through the pages. ‘Let’s see,’ she thought to herself. ‘Cold sweats, bloodshot eyes, difficulty breathing…’ She flipped through the book twice over before letting out an exasperated sigh. “It’s still too vague. See if you can find anything else.”

Pinkie gave the creature another complete look-over, leaving no spot unchecked, but other than the fact that he had no fur anywhere but the top of his head, nothing else seemed wrong…at least, that was what she thought. She then raced to Spike’s side of the bed and held up the creature’s left arm. Pointing at the shackle on its wrist, she spoke up, “Maybe this weird bracelet can tell us.”

Twilight shook her head and sighed out, “I don’t think that’s possible, Pinkie. It looks like an ordinary shackle.”

The pony in question shot Twilight a glare before pointing to the glowing screen. “If it’s just a shackle, then why is it shining like this?”

Twilight hadn’t thought of that. She had assumed that there was some kind of magic giving it that eerie green glow. Why a shackle would need to illuminate anything, however, was beyond even her. Moreover, why was the creature even wearing such a cuff in the first place? It couldn’t have been a dungeon shackle, because there would have to be a loop that would connect it to a chain link. Perhaps it was a ceremonial accessory. It was plausible; Zecora wore strange jewelry from her homeland that she considered to be tradition, so who was to say that the Zebras were the only ones to follow tradition?

“Hey, Twi! Look at this!” Spike called out, rousing the unicorn from her thoughts. She turned to find both Pinkie and the dragon staring intently at the green glow on the shackle. Twilight went over to the shackle, her eyebrow raised, before seeing what the two were staring at.

Amidst the glow of the creature’s shackle was cartoonish figure of, well, the creature itself. There were no great details; just a rough outline of the creature’s body and a childish face in the center of the head. Other than that, there was nothing else noticeable on the screen, save for the flashing text under the cartoon’s legs.

WARNING!

Radiation Poisoning Critical!

Seek Medical Attention ASAP!

Twilight’s brow furrowed at the message. Poisoning, she understood, but what exactly was “radiation?” Maybe her encyclopedia had the answer.

She rushed over to where the book lay and flipped through the pages. “Poisoning, poisoning, poisoning,” she muttered once she reached the P’s. “Let’s see…food poisoning, hay poisoning, grass poisoning…nothing about radiation. Maybe it’s in the R’s.” She flipped to the section and scanned through each article quickly; again, nothing about radiation.

Twilight groaned out of frustration and tossed the book over her shoulder before putting her chin in her hoof. There had to be a way to help this creature, but it was poisoned with something she had never heard before until that day. With any luck, Zecora would know what to do. Wait a minute…

“Spike, Pinkie, both of you stay here,” the unicorn requested, earning a raised eyebrow from the two. Twilight slipped her saddlebag on and headed for the door, saying only, “There’s just one book I need to get.” Before they could ask her anything, Twilight opened the door and raced out of Sugarcube Corner, headed towards the library.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Twilight had only been gone for two minutes, so nothing particularly spectacular happened. The creature was still asleep in the bed, its skin sweaty and colored a deathly white, save for a red mark on its forehead that was shaped oddly like an upside-down hoof print.

Pinkie tapped her hoof against the creature’s forehead once more, but it still didn’t stir. Pinkie huffed out a sigh of annoyance. She had so many questions to ask it, most of them revolving around cupcakes and parties. However, the creature remained asleep in her bed like a log, barely moving every time she smacked its head with the bottom of her hoof.

Pinkie decided to go for broke this time around. She raised her hoof high into the air and, just before she was about to bring it down onto the alien’s head, she felt something pull her foreleg back.

“Are you crazy?” Spike nearly shouted in her ear. “What do you think will happen if that thing wakes up?”

Pinkie pulled her hoof out of the dragon’s grip and scratched her chin in thought. After a moment, she guessed with a smile on her face, “We’ll have a party and be best friends?”

Spike could only slap his own forehead. “Pinkie, think about it,” Spike began. “What if it’s not as friendly as you think? What if it eats ponies for an afternoon snack, and dragons for dessert?” His voice grew more frantic and his eyes shrunk down as he continued, “What if it’s strong enough to destroy Ponyville with a single step, and it could bring the moon crashing down just by thinking about it?”

By now, Spike’s pupils were the size of pinhead as he muttered, “Maybe it’s here…to bring the destruction of Ponyville?” The scene flashed before his shrunken pupils…

Ponyville was in flames. The screams of ponies filled the air as everypony scrambled for safety. Most had already fled into Whitetail Woods for cover. For others…it was simply too late.

Spike sprinted through the commotion, ducking through the crowd of scared mares. Twilight had already made it to the woods, along with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy’s cottage was well out of the distance, as was Applejack’s farm, so they didn’t have to worry…for now.

However, Spike realized that one pony was unaccounted for: Rarity, his one true love. She must’ve been holed up in the Carousel Boutique, right in the middle of town. Spike wouldn’t let the monster get to her. That much, he was certain.

He rounded the corner of the street and found himself in front of Rarity’s workshop, the same building designed almost like a white-and-purple wedding cake, but he wasn’t the first to arrive. Standing atop the boutique was the monster itself, slouched over in a predatory stance. Even in the darkness of the night and smoke, Spike could see its fangs gleam brightly, mirroring the moonlight.

However, his attention was soon taken by the frantic screams coming from inside the building. “Somepony, anypony, HELP ME!” Spike froze; only one pony in Ponyville had a beautiful voice like that.

Without hesitation, Spike sprinted towards the front door of the boutique, intent on saving his true love, but the monster wouldn’t allow that. The creature raised its fist up to the night sky and plunged it into the roof of the building. Jagged cracks began running down the sides, and Rarity’s cries rang out even louder. Her voice was soon silenced as the building collapsed into itself, leaving only a pile of rubble in place of the towering workshop.

Spike was frozen where he was, down on his knees as he stared at the rubble of his beloved’s boutique – now her grave. Tears welled up in his eyes as he hoped, wished, BEGGED even for Rarity to somehow still be alive, but it was futile. The monster stood amidst the wreckage, unhurt from the fall. As the beast reared its head back and let out a mighty roar – one that would put even the Ursa Major to shame – Spike could only shout one word to the heavens.

“NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Back in reality, Pinkie waved her hoof in front of the frozen dragon’s face, hoping to break him out of his trance. She was knocked back, however, when Spike suddenly cried out, “I WON’T LET THAT HAPPEN!”

Without warning, Spike reached out for the nearest weapon – which happened to be the same spatula he had earlier – and charged for the sleeping figure. Almost halfway towards the bed, time seemed to slow down all around the dragon. Spike could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he neared the creature, intent on striking down whatever evil it may hold. He was frightened, that much he admitted, but he was going to do this, for Ponyville, for his friends, and most of all, he would do it for Rarity.

Before Spike could do anything, however, he was suddenly yanked back when Gummy clamped down on his tail. “Spike,” Pinkie started, a tone of worry in her voice. “You should really be more careful. You could’ve hurt the alien.”

Spike could only give a look that said, “Are you kidding me?” “Then why were you smacking its head over and over again?” he asked incredulously.

“Because I wanted him to wake up sooner,” Pinkie answered simply, her bubbly smile pasted on her face. Spike could only groan, putting his face into his palm once again.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Pinkie called out, gaining Spike’s attention. He turned to find her standing by the unconscious creature, holding up the shackled arm as she suggested, “This bracelet thingy told Twilight that the alien was sick, so maybe it can tell us more about it.”

“Uh, Pinkie,” Spike began. “As good an idea as that sounds…well, we don’t even know how it works.”

Pinkie paid the dragon no attention as she immediately started trying to work on the shackle. She tapped her hoof against the glass screen a few times, resounding with an audible clink. She beat her hoof against the glass a few more times, adding a little more force behind each tap. When she realized nothing was happening, she resorted to taking the alien’s wrist and shaking the shackle, hoping that something would happen.

Spike shook his head as he went over to the pink pony, who seemed to be growing more frustrated with each passing second. Holding out his hand, the dragon offered, “Let me see if I can get it to work.”

Pinkie, rather than allowing the dragon to see the bracelet, hoisted the alien's arm higher as she defended, “Don't worry, I think I'm close to getting this thing.”

A deadpan look crossed Spike's features as he muttered, “You could've fooled me.” He then reached out and swiped the shackle from Pinkie's grip and he began turning a knob at the side.

Before he could see if anything happened, the party pony swiped it out of the dragon's claw and went to beating against the cold metal with her hoof.

“It looks like you're about to break it,” Spike snapped, once again taking the cuff into his claws. “I'm the one who can press the buttons, anyway.”

It wasn't long before Pinkie took back the bracelet, arguing, “But it was MY idea first, so I should get to do this!” Pinkie went back to fiddling with the bracelet before Spike wrapped his claws around it, pulling it towards him. Pinkie kept her grip, however, as she tried to yank it back.

This went on for a good part of three minutes, the two fighting over the shackle like two foals fighting over a toy. It soon turned into a game of tug-of-war, with the alien's wrist as the rope. As the two pulled and fumbled their grips, they unknowingly tampered with the knobs and buttons on the shackle.

“Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first.”

Spike and Pinkie froze where they were when the male voice suddenly sounded out of nowhere. Spike looked over at the alien, but it was still out cold. No, the voice wasn't coming from the alien itself, or even from somewhere around the room, but rather, the two found out immediately, from the bracelet.

The voice itself sounded sorrowful, disheartened even, as it began, “I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know.”

The voice went on, but it was drowned out by Pinkie Pie shouting into the glass screen, “Hello? Is there anyone in there?”

Almost immediately, Spike brought his claws up to the pony's mouth and clamped down tightly on her lips, putting a finger up to his own mouth in a shushing motion. The disembodied voice continued on as if there was no interruption, “...the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going.”

The voice suddenly changed from the deep tone that it held to something much younger, as though there was another speaking as well. “Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with.”

“Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you.” Just like that, the voice cut off, leaving the room in stony silence. Neither Spike nor Pinkie dared to say a word – which was quite strange, considering the hyperactive pony – as Spike gently set the alien's arm down on the bed.

Clearing his throat, Spike suggested, “Maybe...maybe we should let this thing get some rest.” For once in the past few moments, Pinkie didn't argue as she stepped away from her own bed, following Spike to the opposite side of the room and sitting against the wall.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Twilight was taken aback when she walked into the silent room. She figured that Pinkie would be driving Spike up a wall with her ideas about the creature, or that the two would argue over what to do with it, but no; she walked in to find them both sitting side-by-side, a heavy aura around them. Spike had his knees pulled up to his chest, and Pinky was holding onto Gummy, stroking his back like one would pet a cat.

“Um,” she started tentatively, slowly walking into the room. “Did I...miss anything?”

The pony and dragon both looked up at the lavender unicorn, and Twilight could see the looks in their eyes: depression, anxiety, and even pity.

Spike glanced at the creature in Pinkie's bed, a sad look in his eyes rather than the usual look of fear, before turning to Pinkie and offered, “You wanna tell her, or should I?” Pinkie scratched the side of her head and thought for a moment before saying, “I think I'll tell her.”

Twilight could only raise an eyebrow as she asked, “Tell me what?”

If Twilight truly knew anything about Pinkie, it was that the party pony would talk anypony's ear off when something incredible happened. Usually, these rapid-fire monologues would usually contain something about how Pinkie felt when she saw or whether or not she had her daily dozen cookies that day or something along those lines.

This time, however, Pinkie kept it plain and simple, only emphasizing the important details to what had happened.

Despite her concealed surprise, Twilight put her hoof up to her chin and asked, “So, the one that made the voice recording was important to our alien in some way, and apparently the other way around.” She then looked up at Pinkie and asked, “A family member, maybe?”

“That was what I thought,” Pinkie spoke up. “Like maybe a dad or an uncle…or maybe even a bigger brother.”

Twilight nodded in agreement before asking, “But why leave? What was so important?”

Pinkie thought about that as well; she spent a good ten seconds trying to find an answer, but nothing would come up. She couldn’t understand why anyone would leave their children.“Maybe we can ask the alien when it wakes up,” Pinkie suggested, pointing to said creature as her tone took on a slightly more peppy edge.

Twilight nodded again before realization struck her. Using her magic, Twilight telekinetically opened her saddlebags and pulled out a small burlap sack and a thick green book. The cover of the latter read, Supernaturals; All-Natural Remedies and Cure-Alls that are Simply Super.

“You find anything worth trying?” Spike piped up, as though the answer wouldn’t be obvious.

“Of course,” Twilight reassured with a smile. She flipped open the book – once again, using magic – to a page
humorously titled ‘Spongy Salve.’ Spike could only raise an eyebrow as he read the title.

“This is a simple recipe for a salve that’s supposed to absorb any toxic substance from anypony’s body,” Twilight explained before hoisting up the bag. “When I found it, I looked all around Ponyville for some of the easier ingredients.”

Pinkie took the bag from Twilight’s magical grip and peered inside. In the bag, she found a tulip flower, a small jar full of water, and a small piece of an aloe vera leaf.

“The only thing I need that I couldn’t find in the market,” Twilight went on, reading off of the recipe, “is a dragon’s scale.”

Pinkie perked up and pointed a hoof at Spike, saying, “We have a dragon right here, and he’s covered in scales!”

“I don’t know, Pinkie,” Spike uttered, scratching at the green ridge atop his scaly head. He turned to Twilight and asked, “Can it just be any dragon or does it have to be one old enough?”

Twilight scanned the book quickly before answering, “It doesn’t say, so I guess a scale off of you would work.”

Spike nodded as he held his arm up and gritted his teeth. The skin under his scales was still pretty sensitive, and the last time he plucked a scale off his back, he had a huge welt under his scales that ached with each movement. Still, this was the only thing needed of him, so it may as well have been worth the pain. Heck, he would do it in a heartbeat if it was Rarity who was si--

He was cut out of his thoughts when a sharp pain erupted from his shoulder. He let out a small yelp and gripped his aching shoulder, glaring daggers at Pinkie who now held a small purple scale between her teeth.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Twilight said as she magically lifted the scale out of the party pony’s mouth. Setting the scale amongst the other ingredients, she then opened her and pulled out a wooden mortar and pestle before reading the directions for the salve.

“First things first,” Twilight began, her eyes skimming over the instructions. “We have to take the tulip’s petals – exactly ten – and crush them in the mortar and pestle. When they’re finely crushed, I’ll put the aloe vera leaf in so they can be mixed we can move on to the next step.”

Spike nodded as he picked up the red flower and plucked off the petals, placing them in the wooden bowl, before working with the press. Once the petals were crushed into a reddish-brown paste, Twilight tossed the aloe piece into the mix as Spike continued to mix. Within a few moments, the mixture turned a dingy pink gel. A few bits of tulip petal were visible in the mix.

“Now,” Twilight continued. “We add the dragon scale and pulverize it into the mix. According to the instructions, the latent magic within the scale should activate the healing properties of the tulip and aloe.”

Spike chose to ignore the explanation – Twilight always had to find a logical explanation for something, he guessed – as he tossed the scale in and pressed down with the wooden rod, feeling the scale give way with a satisfying snap. He pressed down harder, crushing the scale to smaller bits, before mixing the small fragments and paste together.

“So what now, Twi?” Spike asked once the paste was churned once again. Twilight didn’t answer directly, but rather, she just telekinetically lifted the mortar and pestle and the jar of water. She pried the lid open and scooped the viscous mixture into the open mouth of the jar, plopping with a light splash into the clear water.

Twilight then turned to the hyperactive pink pony and asked, “Do you think you can shake this up?”

Pinkie only grinned as she took the jar between her hooves and stood up on her hind legs, shaking the bottle around like a bartender mixing a cocktail. As she shook the jar, the gel began to spread out through the water, the shade of pink lightening as it thinned out. All the while, Pinkie was humming to the tune of La Cucaracha, shaking the bottle in rhythm with the music.

By the time Pinkie had finished her mariachi routine, she held the glass of pink gel over to Twilight, asking, “So what do we do with it now?”

Taking the jar in her telekinetic grip, she walked over to the unconscious creature and scooped out a small glob of the paste before spreading it into a thin layer along the comatose creature’s face. “The instructions say to wait until the salve hardens and turns black,” Twilight explained, still keeping her attention on the creature as she applied the medicine.

Pretty soon, the entirety of the monster’s face, save for its eyes and lips, was coated in a thin layer of pink. Twilight smiled, seemingly admiring her handiwork (or hoofiwork, whichever) as she said, “The paste should actually get to work in about--”

Before she could finish the thought, the paste had already begun to take on a greyish tinge, and it already looked to be losing its moisture. Twilight watched with stunned eyes as the paste darkened to a neutral gray, and within a matter of seconds, the hardening paste was replaced with a sickly black mask.

“Is it supposed to work that fast, Twilight?” Pinkie asked, appearing on the other side of the bed as she stared down at the alien’s black-coated face.

Twilight could only blink once as she answered, “Well, the description did say ‘fast-acting.’” As she telekinetically lifted the hardened paste from the creature’s face and tossed it into the wastebasket, she continued, “but I didn’t think it would be that fast.”

She then looked down at the creature, and needless to say, she was impressed with the improvement. Granted, it still looked sickly with its sunken cheeks and shadowy discoloration around its eyes, but there was some color returning to its bare flesh, resembling something of a light peach shade.

“So, uh,” Spike piped up, gaining the unicorn’s attention. “Is it gonna be…you know…”

Twilight shook her head as she answered, “Not yet, Spike. We still need to repeat the process until the gel has done its work. We'll know when that happens.” Spreading another glob across the alien’s face, she added, “No telling how many times I’ll have to do this, but considering how sick this creature was when we found it, it may take a little while.”

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

The next few minutes consisted of the same task; spread the salve, wait until it hardened, then throw it into the trash. The first couple of times were interesting for Twilight, considering that she was acting as a nurse for a creature foreign to Equestria – to the rest of the world, to some degree. However, as the time dragged on, the task turned monotonous, and all Twilight could think of was whether or not this being would wake up or not.

She hoped that it would be soon, and that they were actually making progress, because the jar of salve was just about running on empty. She had lost count of how many times she applied the salve to the creature’s face and pulled off the black mask – the last number she came to was near eleven or twelve – and a small part of her was beginning to doubt that they were even making a mark in the creature’s well-being.

However, her fears were alleviated when she took another look at the alien’s glowing shackle. The beeping text at the bottom slowed in intervals, and the message wasn’t as urgent.

Radiation Poisoning: Mild

Medical Attention Recommended.

The unicorn let out a small sigh of relief; at least they made excellent progress. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough salve in the jar left to completely cover the being’s face. There was just enough to cover it’s forehead at the very most, and that was if she used it sparingly. Still, it would hopefully be the deciding factor whether or not this creature would actually get better.

As Twilight spread the last of the salve onto the patient’s face, Spike sat in his usual corner watching the scene with cautious interest. He twitched at almost each instant, morbidly expecting the monster to just reach up and grab Twilight around the throat. She would be its first victim in the wake of the destruction of Ponyville, or possibly of Equestria.

Spike shuddered at the morbid thought, but he immediately pushed it out when he thought back to the message that played on its bracelet. Did monsters have parents that said they loved them? He wasn't really willing to ask one, all things considered, but somehow he doubted that monsters had parents that showed them even the slightest affection. If fact, when he thought about it, Spike was a monster in his own right, but Twilight had been something of an older sister, if not a mother, to him ever since he was hatched. If he had been born and raised with other dragons, would he have turned out the same?

Spike already knew the answer: a big, fat no.

Once Twilight lathered the last of the salve along the creature's forehead, she set the empty jar down on the floor, watching as the paste began to change color. The salve darkened to a dark pink – almost grayish in shade – before coming to a halt. Twilight waited for a few moments, watching to see if the salve would change any further, but nothing happened. However, the change in the being was incredible, to say the least.

Unlike a few moments prior, before Twilight began applying the salve, the creature's face was an orange-pink shade. Its gaunt, shallow cheeks were now fuller, shaping to the rest of the rounded face. The black shadows around the eyes were nonexistent, giving the creature a healthier, almost youthful appearance.

A sudden beep rang out from the creature's shackle, and a new message flashed from behind the glass.

Radiation Poisoning: N/A

Have a Wonderful Day!

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, and Pinkie and Spike took that as the cue to come up to the bedside. As the purple unicorn removed the half-dried salve – it was more like putty than a stone – she told the two, “Everything should be alright. Now we just have to wait for it to wake up.”

Pinkie grinned as she pried Gummy's jaws off her mane and set the alligator on the bed atop the creature's chest. “Gummy can keep it company until then,” she suggested happily. Meanwhile, the baby alligator stepped across the alien's chest up to its face. His purple eyes blinked once, then twice, almost staring down at the unconscious being.

“That's nice of you, Pinkie,” Twilight began, almost unsure of what to make of the party pony's offer. “Still, I think we should give it some time to rest…alone.”

Pinkie could only look at Twilight with a questioning look as she debated, “But Gummy makes a nice teddy bear.”

“I’m sure he does, Pinkie,” Twilight reassured before looking over to the sleeping creature. As she watched the toothless alligator clamp down on said creature’s nose, almost trying to chew, she added, “Somehow, that doesn’t exactly prove to be a good idea.”

Pinkie looked over and pried Gummy off of the being’s face, the alligator’s toothless jaws sliding off with a wet pop. “We don’t chew on any new friend’s faces,” she scolded her pet, her voice more chipper than stern.

Spike once again chose to speak up. “Um, Pinkie,” he began hesitantly. “How do you know that this thing wants to be our friend?” Without waiting for an answer from the pink pony, the dragon then turned to Twilight and asked, “Also, are you sure this is a good idea to wait until it wakes up? I mean, what if it’s more dangerous than a dragon, and twice as mean?”

Twilight could only roll her eyes at Spike's childish paranoia. Sometimes, he was a little too paranoid about everything. It almost made her think back to the time when they were going to the Froggy Bottom Bog to check on Fluttershy. All the way through, Spike kept going on and on about what may have happened to the yellow Pegasus. It didn’t help at all that the suggestion of her exploding twice was thrown around. Even then, Spike still had a point. They didn't know a single thing about this creature, where it came from, or whether or not it was a danger to anypony. However naïve Spike's fears, he still had good reason to be afraid.

Nonetheless, Twilight had to remain optimistic. “Spike, you need to relax,” she reassured her assistant, showing a small but confident smile. “I'm sure you're just overreacting. Besides, if anything did happen, I'm sure I could handle it.” At that, she turned her attention back to the being that still lay sleeping in Pinkie's bed.

‘At least,’ she thought to herself, subtly swallowing a lump that formed in her throat. ‘I hope that's the case.’

It was at that moment that she heard the creature let out a deep groan. Spike and Pinkie both flinched – though Spike didn't so much as flinch as he did jump seven feet in the air and hide under the bed – while Twilight just looked at the being, both nervous and excited. Its eyebrows twitched, and it's mouth contorted to a pained scowl. The being then let out a raspy breath, and everypony present could all hear the silent request beneath.

“W-water…”

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't really much care for how the medicine scene turned out, but that's just a personal preference. I could've said that she went down to Zecora's for the Spongy Salve, but that would lead to some introductions that I didn't want to bring about yet.

Anyway, I hope you were patient enough to bear with the impromptu hiatus and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter.

Chapter 3

Well, after my little procrastination episode, here you go, the third chapter of Hush Now, Quiet Now. Enjoy!

The first thing William heard when he came to was the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. Each heartbeat sounded like the waves of the Potomac on a windy day; loud, yet calming at the same time. The noise would’ve been enough to lull the Lone Wanderer back to sleep, had the sudden nerve wracking pain throughout his body not jolted him awake.

His eyelids slowly cracked opened, and he was met with blinding white light that forced him to shut his eyes, almost as though he were staring directly into the sun. He tried to move his hand up to his face to shield his eyes from whatever light, but when he tried to move his arms, they exploded with a stinging pain that not even the radscorpions could match with their tails.

William screamed out in pain, but it came out more like a whimper. His throat was dry like the arid soil of the Wasteland, and it almost hurt him to breathe. He needed water, and he didn’t care if it was the irradiated crap from the river or toxic sludge from a toilet; just as long as it could quench his thirst. He could hear voices amidst the beating heart in his ears, but he couldn’t make out their gender or what they were saying. He didn’t bother questioning; he really needed that drink.

He breathed out slowly, the puff of air scratching his parched throat, before letting out in a quiet voice, “W-water…”

He waited for a few moments, wondering if anyone was listening. William could still hear the voices, but he couldn’t make out where they were, nor if they heard him. He began wondering whether or not he was actually getting the help he needed. He had no idea where he was, but there were a few theories. Best case scenario, he was found by the Brotherhood or maybe even someone from Rivet City. Another scene flashed through his mind: a pack of slavers had found him and were taking him to Paradise Falls, where he would be sold to someone in need of unquestioning help, if he were lucky. Maybe he was a captive of the Super Mutants, forced to go to wherever it was they were sent to be eaten…or worse.

He immediately brushed the last two scenes off the list. He doubted that slavers and Super Mutants would be kind enough to let him lay on a soft bed. Nonetheless, there was still the possibility that something—or rather, someone—had found him…like the Enclave…

Of course, his fears vanished when he felt something broad tap his shoulder, and a young voice—female, he noted, now that the pulsing in his ears had lessened—said in an eerily happy tone, “Here you go!”

William opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light, before focusing on the clear glass held out in front of him, filled with the beverage that he had always taken for granted back in the Vault. All of a sudden, William noticed nothing else but the glass of water in front of him. The pink quilt draped over his body wasn’t an important detail, nor was the fact that he was in a clean, cozy bedroom.

He didn’t even bother noticing that the glass was held in a pink hoof.

Slowly raising his arms, gritting his teeth at the pain, William reached out for the glass and gripped it between his bandaged palms. He recoiled as soon as he touched the cool glass through the gauze, but he grabbed the cup with both hands and steadily moved it up to his face. The pain in his trembling arms began to lessen to a dull throb as he moved the glass up to his lips and took a deep gulp of the drink. Moving the water away from his face, his throat now cooled and quenched, he muttered in a quiet voice, “It’s…it’s clean…”

All of a sudden, the corners of his mouth tugged into a grin, and raspy laughter escaped from his lungs, starting off quiet, but slowly gaining volume. The glass fell out of his hand, landing on the floor with the water spilling out.

“You did it, Dad,” he cheered weakly, the overjoyed tone evident even through his hushed voice. As he carried on, he felt a few tears threaten to burst out of the corners of his eyes. He felt no need to hold them back. “We did it,” he continued, chuckling behind his now flowing tears. “Project Purity was a success.”

He would've just laid there where he was, oblivious to his surroundings in his incoherent state, until he heard a childish female voice, the same one he heard before he had taken the glass of water, ask, “What’s Project Purity?”

William’s giggling fit quieted down, and he turned his head to the source of the voice as he asked sarcastically, “Do you live under a ro--” Before he could get his snide remark across, he clamped his mouth shut, unsure of what to make of the creature before him. It looked almost like a tiny horse, like the ones on those Giddyup Buttercup posters he would find out in the D.C. Ruins. This, however, looked like no robot horse he had ever seen.

The first thing he noticed was the overabundance of pink; pink furry body, pink frizzy mane, and a pink tail as curly as its hair. Its large eyes, taking up less than half of its face, were a brilliant blue, filled with a scary sense of happiness. Looking the creature up and down, William noticed a small mark on its flank shaped like a trio of balloons, colored blue and yellow in contrast to the pink fur.

The horse’s smile – a wide, sweet smile that somehow sent shudders up William’s spine – changed to a look of mild curiosity as it, err, she asked him in an almost childish voice, “Are you okay?”

William didn't answer immediately; actually, he didn't answer at all. Many questions began running through his mind, most of them simply along the lines of “This horse is talking. Why is it talking?”

Of course, the pink…pony didn't seem to mind his silence. In fact, she took that as the cue to keep going, asking him whether or not he liked parties or if he had ever heard of something called a ‘chimicherry’, this of course leading to a back-and-forth with herself saying that it could also be called a ‘cherrychanga.’ “Ooh, ooh,” she went on, apparently oblivious to the look of extreme bewilderment (at best) on William’s face. “It could always be called a chimicherrycha--”

Her extensive speech was cut off, thankfully, by a purple hoof almost comically rammed into her mouth. “Pinkie,” a stern female voice called out, apparently referring to the pink pony. “You’re not exactly helping right now!”

William traced the hoof back to another vibrant pony, this one a deep violet with eyes to match. Her mane and tail, unlike those of ‘Pinkie’, were well-kept and straight, and they were colored a darker shade of purple with a pinkish-red stripe running down the middle. Like the pink pony, she also had a mark on its rear – a magenta six-pointed star surrounded by smaller white stars of the same shape. Her most noticeable feature, however, was the short purple horn that stuck out from behind her front bangs.

As if a talking pink pony weren’t enough to mess with William’s mind; a talking unicorn was enough to have the Lone Wanderer question his sanity entirely.

“I’m very sorry about Pinkie,” the unicorn apologized, a look of what William perceived to be anxious sympathy on her face. “She’s really excited about the whole…situation.”

He nodded slowly, still a little shellshocked from the whole situation, but he was caught off-guard by a cool breeze brushing the side of his face. The sudden drop in the temperature was another surprise; on a cool day, the Capital Wasteland was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, even with the wind blowing. Ignoring the searing pain in his back, William pushed himself upright and turned his head to look out the window.

The first thing he saw was the medieval-style cottages that seemed to make up something much bigger than the average wasteland settlement. Hell, by wasteland standards, a place this big could actually be considered a city. Out in the distance, he could see the tan roofs cover the area, and up close, the buildings looked pristine and well-kept, a large difference from the rundown buildings and makeshift shacks of the wastes.

However, just beyond the rooftops, something caught his attention, something that he’d never thought he’d see back in the Capital Wasteland: trees. He remembered seeing the blackened husks of what used to be tree trunks during his travels throughout the wasteland, but he had never thought he’d see one with actual green on top.

Sure, he heard Three Dog’s talk on finding some place that he called “a veritable oasis of green in that depressing sea of brown,” but considering that he added that he saw it years back when he was using Jet, William didn’t give it much credibility. Now, here he was, staring out at the lush green forest out in the distance. Could this be the place that Three Dog had talked about?

His shock and amazement only grew when he looked out further into the distance, towards the vast mountain ranges – there were hardly any mountains in the Capital Wasteland, especially those that towered that high. There, perched precariously on the mountain’s side, was a majestic castle. William couldn’t find any way to perfectly describe the sight before him, only that, even from the great distance, it left him in awe.

From what William knew about America’s history, it was controlled by a monarchy back in the 18th century, but it was never a monarchy itself.

Then…did that mean…

The sound of a clearing throat brought William back, and he turned to face the same purple unicorn that had spoken to him only a minute ago. William noted her nervousness as she offered, “I, um, I was hoping we could get to know each other before…well, before things get really awkward.”

William could only nod dumbly before turning his attention back to the view outside. He still couldn’t believe what was beyond that window, and he rubbed his eyes with a bandaged wrist to make sure he wasn’t just hallucinating. Sure enough, the sight before him remained the same. A small flash of movement down below caught his eye, and he peered downward to the street just outside the window.

Two more ponies were trotting along, unaware of the fact that William was watching them from up above. One was pale blue with a blue-and-white mane and tail. An hourglass mark adorned her flank. The other was purple with a darker mane-tail setup, and the mark on her rear was, from what William could make out, a bushel of grapes and a strawberry.

The Lone Wanderer brought his head back in through the window and ran a bandaged hand over his forehead. What happened back at Project Purity that led to, well, this? He closed his eyes and played back those last few minutes.

Running up the stairs.

Stepping into the irradiated chamber.

The first airlock door closing shut. The other sliding open.

Entering the code…

His mind suddenly went blank. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t exactly remember what happened. He knew for a fact that he entered the code; the image of his fingers pressing 2-1-6 was still clear in his head, but everything afterward was too smudged to be considered a blur.

What happened after he punched in the code? What happened when he pressed the enter key?

“Is everything alright?” the unicorn asked, worry heavy in her voice. William flinched, but he immediately relaxed as he turned his attention to the violet pony. He nodded numbly before answering, “Y-yeah. I’m just…just surprised, is all.”

That was just an understatement, of course; it took a great deal of William’s willpower not to panic. Only yesterday or the day before, he had traversed through the barren wasteland from Raven Rock all the way down to the Citadel with only a few hours of sleep, two bottles of Nuka-Cola, and a slab of brahmin steak. Now, he was laying in a soft—albeit cramped—bed in some sort of…he didn’t really want to say it, but ‘pony utopia’ could be the only way to describe his surroundings.

His attention was grabbed once again by the unicorn as she said, “Allow me to introduce myself; I’m Twilight, Twilight Sparkle.” The now introduced ‘Twilight Sparkle’ raised a hoof up to her pink counterpart and introduced her as ‘Pinkie Pie’, who in turn gave the wanderer a giant grin.

“And this is my--” Twilight began, but she froze when she looked down at the empty spot between her and Pinkie. “Where’d Spike go?”

Spike? William thought, raising an eyebrow. Even if they were sentient, I wouldn’t have pegged them to have dogs.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Meanwhile, in an apple orchard not too far away, a certain orange cowpony was leaning against a large apple tree, resting comfortably in the shade. The stetson atop her blonde mane rested comfortably over her brow, shielding her eyes from the slivers of sunlight.

She was just dozing off before she jerked her head with a sudden sneeze. Sniffing a couple of times, Applejack muttered under her breath, “It ain’t like me ta be havin’ allergies all of a sudden.” The mare waited for a few seconds, and once she was sure that no other sneeze was coming, she shifted the stetson back and dozed off once more.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

“Found him!” Pinkie called out, her head sticking under the bed on which William was laying.

“Pinkie, no!” a frantic voice called out—male this time, William noticed—as the pink pony reached her head further in. Something jumped around under the mattress, making the Lone Wanderer bounce around where he sat. After a few seconds, Pinkie pulled her head out from the bed with her teeth clamped onto…was that a…dragon?

William could only stare at the “dragon” as it flailed around, trying to get its tail free from the pony’s jaws. Its scales were violet, almost matching Twilight’s coat. A pair of neon-green fins was adorned on the sides of its face, and a row of dark-green ridges lined its spine. Eventually, the lizard-thing gave up its struggle and dangled just over the floor, its arms high above (or low below; whichever) its head, and William could see the fear in its eyes.

“Whatever you’re gonna do,” the dragon started, its voice shrinking to a whisper. “At least make it painless.”

William didn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully, though, he didn’t have to; the purple unicorn just shrugged and said, “Spike, if he were going to hurt us, he would’ve done it already.” She then turned back to the wanderer and said, “Sorry about that. He’s been a little jumpy with all that’s happened.”

The Lone Wander nodded his head slowly as he muttered, “It’s okay…I get where he’s coming from.”

Seeing Spike’s fearful gaze made William think back to when he first left the Vault.

The scorching heat of the dusty wasteland, the sand that stung his eyes as it billowed in the hot breeze. He remembered the stories he was told, about “topside” as he and the other Vault Dwellers called it. Most stories said that it was a constant warzone, rampant with bloodthirsty mutant creatures and crazed lunatics looking for their next kill. Others said that the world above was one where life continued; where the survivors of the Great War went on to rebuild society and turn the world into one where people wouldn’t have to fight anymore.

William would later find out that each side was equally right and wrong.

Still, he felt that he should’ve been amazed, or even shocked, at the bleakness of the outside world, but with all that had happened to him within the past hour, with his father leaving Vault 101 and himself essentially becoming a wanted criminal in the eyes of the Overseer, he was numb to the initial surprise of being outside for the first time in his life. His hands shook at his sides, still unclean from the blood he had spilt.

Those guards…some of them used to be friends of his father’s…but he had to…

The reality of the situation was too much for William to bear. Taking a human life was nothing like killing radroaches; a radroach was simply an insect made bigger from the mutations of the irradiated topside and nothing more, but humans…humans were much more valuable. How many guards had he killed? How many lives did he ruin by his own hand?

They tried to kill me, he thought to himself, hoping to ease the burden on his conscience. I was only trying to protect myself.

Despite his attempts to justify his own actions, the pressure of reality cause William’s knees to buckle, and he fell to the ground on all fours. Tears fell from his eyes and onto the sandy rock under his hands, each drop finely coated with a thin layer of dirt.

It doesn’t matter how I look at it, he thought sullenly, tears flowing freely with his sorrowful sobs. Those people died, and now I’m a murderer. That’s all there is to it.

William felt something solid press down on his shoulder, bringing him back to the bedroom in which he woke. “Is something wrong?” he heard Twilight ask, worry heavy in her voice.

He turned to meet the purple unicorn’s soft gaze and, in almost a whisper, answered, “It’s nothing…just a memory.” It wasn’t as though it was anything he truly wanted to keep with him until the day he died, but then again, He didn’t want to tell everything to these ponies just yet. His life-changing, albeit short, time in the Capital Wasteland had at least taught him one valuable lesson: Don’t be too quick to trust.

Yet, these ponies helped him. With the bandaging that covered his torso and the fact that he could smell some kind of antiseptic, they obviously helped with his injuries. Moreover, they made sure he was comfortable, and from what he could tell, they didn’t seem to want anything in return.

In the Capital Wasteland, if someone were to lay dying in the middle of the ground, and someone walked past, one of three things would happen: they would walk on like nothing was even there, they would help the one in need in exchange for caps (which, if the wastelander were poor, would lead to the first scenario), or they would put the dying wastelander out of their misery with a single bash or bullet.

Then again, William thought, looking at the castle far outside the window. I’m not in the wasteland anymore, am I?

“Well,” Twilight went on, a small smile gracing her face. “You don’t have to talk about it unless you want to.” William simply nodded, leaning slightly forward. His back hissed in pain, but it was slightly more bearable than it was a few minutes ago. The only other thing distracting him from the pain, other than the nature of his hospitable “caretakers”, was the calming sensation of the cool breeze on his bare skin.

Unfortunately, the breeze carried more than just his tension.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but her face contorted to that of disgust as she recoiled away from the Lone Wanderer, gagged and waving her foreleg over her face. Spike and Pinkie immediately followed suit, waving away whatever offensive stench that had penetrated their nostrils.

“No offense,” Twilight started, her foreleg covering her muzzle, “but you’re kind of, well…” She paused and looked down at the floor, thinking of a way to keep the conversation tact. Spike, however, was not as considerate.

“You reek to high Heaven,” the little dragon cried out, his voice muffled by both claws covering his face. “Seriously, my eyes are burning!”

Twilight glared down at the dragon next to her, silently berating him for his rudeness, before William spoke up, “Sorry. It’s just that, with all I went through, I never really found a chance to bathe.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off when Pinkie bounced to William’s bedside, knocking the purple unicorn out of the way. “Well then we need to get you cleaned up,” Pinkie chirped, a wide toothy grin plastered on her face. “We can’t have you walking around town stinking up the place, now can we?”

The pink pony didn’t even give William a chance to answer as she skipped to what he guessed was the bathroom. He heard the squeaking of the valves and the telltale stream of water as it flowed into the tub.

William chose that moment to get out of bed. He slowly slid his legs off the side of the bed and planted his feet onto the cool hardwood floor. His head throbbed before he could even push himself onto his feet, but the ever-present sting in his arms disallowed whatever minor comfort his hands could give him. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, eyes clenched tightly as he tried to push the ache back.

“If you need any help, I can--” Twilight began to offer, but she was promptly cut off as William cleared his throat, looking down at the purple unicorn with a neutral gaze.

“It’s fine,” he croaked. “I just need to…get my bearings.” He then pushed himself off the bed and stood upright, his head only a foot from touching the ceiling. He felt the blanket slide off his legs, and he was immediately aware of something missing…

Something important…

“That’s…a weird place for his horn,” Spike muttered, and his vision was immediately cut off by a blushing Twilight’s hoof.

Just to clear things up, since Spike is always described as a "baby" dragon, I figured he would still be uninformed of "the talk," despite being surrounded by ponies that are always in the buff.

Prologue

Prologue

“No, no, no,” he muttered frantically, his brown eyes wide with fear. He punched the code in again, 2-1-6, and pressed the enter key. Nothing; the water in the holding tank was still murky, and the alarm continued to blare.

“No, no,” he panicked, trying the code again for a third and fourth time, only to meet the same result. He gave the console a smack as he commanded fruitlessly, “Come on, dammit, work!” In a hurry, he pressed the enter key twice, hopefully to coax some sort of reaction, but nothing happened.

“Shit!” he cried out, clutching his black hair by the fistfuls. Project Purity should work. It had to work; his father died to make sure the Enclave wouldn’t get their grubby mitts on it. He died to make sure the Wasteland would be given fresh, clean water for generations to come. He died…

Tears formed in the young man’s eyes as he thought, ‘Dad died…for me.’

“William,” a muffled female voice called out, rousing the young man from his thoughts. Behind him, shielded by a thick piece of glass, was a woman only slightly older than he was. Her thick metal armor covered her entire body, save her head. Her bright blond hair was tied back into a messy bun, and her green eyes, normally blazing with confidence, were dim with worry. It was a look that William had never seen before in Sentinel Lyons.

“William,” she called out once more, banging her fist against the glass. “What’s happening?”

“Something must be disconnected in the console,” William cried out in urgency, and he could immediately see the flash of fear in the woman’s eyes. “I could repair it, but I’m not sure it’ll be--”

Before he could finish his sentence, a hacking cough forced its way out of his throat. He hunched over, keeping himself propped up on the console, as agonizing pain shot through his chest. He almost felt some bile rise up, and it took whatever he could muster to swallow it back.

Great, radiation poisoning; just another thing William had to deal with. He thought the Rad-X would last long enough, but he wound up putting too much faith in the last pill that he had. To make matters worse, he had used up his last pack of RadAway after getting the G.E.C.K. from Vault 87.

William lowered himself to the floor, the radiation sapping his strength. Another wave of nausea flowed through his body, spilling onto the floor in a puddle of vomit. His vision clouded over as another coughing fit forced its way out of his lungs. There was no denying it; just as it was for his father, Project Purity would soon be his grave as well.

“Sentinel,” he rasped out, just barely audible over the alarm. “You need…you need to get out of here.”

“Just give me a minute,” he heard her call out. He turned his head, to see her trying to get the airlock door open. “I’ll get you out of there and we’ll head back to the Citadel.”

“Listen to me--”

“I am not letting you die in there, soldier!” Lyons continued, and William, despite his confused senses, could just make out the sense of urgency in her voice. “We're getting out of here and--”

Gathering what little strength he could, William managed to shout at the top of his lungs, “LYONS!”

Lyons froze where she was as she turned to the teen behind, and she could truly see what horrible shape he was in. His skin was pale, tinged with a sickly yellow hue, and his eyes were bloodshot to the point where the whites of his eyes seemed completely red. William let out another hacking cough, and Lyons could see a coarse spray of blood spew from his mouth and leave a wide splatter of blood on the metal floor. From what she could see, he was struggling to keep himself propped up on his forearms. Nonetheless, there was still some kind of glimmer behind his brown irises.

Anger? Disappointment?

No.

Determination.

“I don't want you to die with me,” William groaned out, the metallic taste of his own blood still fresh on his tongue. He could see tears well up in her eyes - another thing he had never seen in the Sentinel - as he continued, “If you help me...the only thing that changes is that you die as well...”

Lyons stood there in silence, soaking in everything William had just said. Some part of her wanted to disobey him and actually try to help, but the look in his eyes wanted her to do otherwise.

'Putting his life above all others,' Lyons thought as a tear slid down her cheek. 'He would've been a great addition to the Brotherhood.'

Without another word, Lyons gave the young man a wholehearted salute. William, almost completely sapped of his strength, could only smile at the Sentinel. She stood where she was for almost a minute before rushing down the stairs and out the laboratory.

Once Lyons was gone, the strength had disappeared from his arms, and he fell face down onto the floor. The metal felt warm and oddly comforting on his cheek. He could feel the puddle of bile that he had left moments ago seep through the front of his jumpsuit, though this was far from his mind; he was moments from death, so staying clean wasn't really important at the time.

Rather, his thoughts turned to a lullaby, one that his father used to sing to him when he was young, and still living in the Vault.

Hush now,

Quiet now,

It's time to lay your sleepy head.

As he sang the lullaby softly to himself, he soon found himself thinking back to the familiar faces at Vault 101.
Butch DeLoria, the resident “gangster” and leader of the Tunnel Snakes. To put it simply, William hated the guy with a passion, no matter the occasion. The only good time was when he had saved Butch's mom from a swarm of radroaches while Butch – the tough, fearless leader himself – hid in a dark corner. If William wasn't so weak and racked with pain, he would've busted out laughing right then and there.

Then there was Jonas; his father's friend and lab assistant. Jonas was a great guy, and he proved it when he and his father gave William a BB gun and a shooting range for his tenth birthday. He smiled at the memory, but the smile quickly vanished when he remembered Amata waking him up and telling him that Jonas was dead.

That's right, Amata; his best friend since he was just a baby. Though she was the daughter of the Overseer, William still saw her as just a friend. He still remembered the day of the G.O.A.T. exam, when Butch and his cronies were giving her a hard time. All it took were a few quick punches and a certain gang leader trying to still look cool, and they were gone.
If only he told her how he really felt before he left the Vault.

The last person to run through his mind was his father, the only person he could look up to in his crazy life. He was the one behind everything, from William's life in the Vault to the creation of Project Purity. He had known for quite a while that his father lied about their lives in the Vault and, oddly enough, he didn't care. In fact, he understood perfectly; if William had a child out in the Wastes, he would've done everything in his power to keep the kid safe, no matter the cost.

Hush now,

Quiet now,

It's time to go to bed.

The floor began to rumble underneath his cheek, but William remained still. He was dying anyway, but he was...content. He could never remember the rest of that nursery rhyme, but even those few lines were enough to keep him calm, placid, maybe even happy.

Pretty soon, the image of his father showed up in his mind. It seemed like so long ago since he died, and yet his face was still clear in his mind. Those caring eyes and that warm smile, things about him that just made almost everyone trust him with their lives.

A small smile curled up on William's lips as he quietly rasped out, “Dad...”

He closed his eyes, and the rumbling grew more vigorous. Suddenly, a bright flash pierced his eyelids, and explosive, burning pain seared through his flesh. The agony left as quickly as it came, lasting merely a second, and the searing light receded to pitch darkness.

“...I'm sorry.”

Okay, so this is the first chapter in my own Fallout/My Little Pony crossover. For those of you who aren't as Fallout-savvy as I am - no offense - here are some acronyms to shed some light.

G.E.C.K. - Garden of Eden Creation Kit, essentially life in a box.
G.O.A.T. - Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, an equivalent to the CAT

Anyway, that's just the prologue, so I'll see you guys when I publish the first chapter

(BONUS) A Happy story for a Sad Friend

The cool night breeze wafted over William's face as he lay back in the soft, green grass. A content sigh escaped from his lips as he gazed up at the countless stars in the sky. It felt nice, laying there peacefully, with barely a care in the world; back in the Capital Wasteland, he was robbed of the luxury of simple relaxation, knowing full well that, if he slept too long, either a Raider would get the jump on him while he was asleep, or a Super Mutant would tie him down and send him off to...wherever they took their prey.

Here, however, he was free of that ball-and-chain. No longer would he have to keep his guard up at all times. No longer would he have to carry a weapon just for the feeling of security. No longer would he have to fight every day just to live to see tomorrow.

William let out another sigh, reveling in his new position. How long had he been here in Ponyville? Three weeks? A month? He barely kept track of the time spent, but whether he had stayed for only a couple of days or two years even, he was already used to his new life.

And now, laying in a clearing in the middle of Whitetail Woods, William felt as though nothing could break his peace.

That is, until he heard the faint sound of sobbing coming from somewhere behind him.

He pushed himself up from the ground and turned to the forest behind him. He could've just picked himself up and went somewhere else, leaving the poor soul to their own sorrow, but he wasn't like that.

Rather, William cautiously stepped over to the woods, where he could immediately hear the crying grow louder. It sounded female – that much of which he was sure – but he couldn't tell just who it was. That question was answered when he rounded the corner.

Sitting under the thick tree trunk was a familiar gray pegasus, hunched over as though shielding herself from the world. Her bright blonde mane hung past her shoulders, and William could just make out her cutie mark to be a small cluster of bubbles. Her most noticeable trait, however, was her eyes; one dark yellow eye seemed to be staring down at the ground, while the other one of the same color was peering off in a completely opposite direction towards the canopy of the forest.

Despite her goofy-looking eyes, William also saw the redness in the whites of the pony's eyes, and the dried up tears that stained the fur around her snout.

Immediately recognizing the mare, he knelt down next to her and asked, “Derpy? Is everything alright?”

Said pegasus flinched when she heard William's voice, but relaxed when she saw the human's compassionate expression on his face. In spite of her comfort, she looked away from William and nodded her head, not saying a single word.

William could only raise an eyebrow. This wasn't the same Derpy that he knew. What happened to the mailmare that would always deliver his letters with a smile on her face, asking only for a muffin in thanks? “Is there something you want to talk about?” he pressed, sitting on the ground next to the pegasus.

Derpy turned her head ever so slightly towards the human to see him out of the corner of her vision before shaking her head. Again, she remained silent.

“Don't lie to me,” William replied, his tone now taking a stern edge. “If anything's wrong, you know I'm here to help you, right?”

The pegasus was still for a moment before nodding her head. William was about to ask again before the pegasus asked, “Do you think I'm...weird?”

William recoiled at the question. While “weird” was something that would come up, that certainly wasn't just his definition for Derpy; he would've gone more with “interesting”, or even “fun”. Still, he answered plainly and honestly, “Of course not. Why do you ask?”

Derpy sniffed as she raised a hoof to wipe a tear in her eye before turning further towards willimg and answering in a melancholy voice, “Other ponies don't really like me.” William's eyebrow went higher, but before he could ask, Derpy continued, “I heard the other ponies in Ponyville talking about me. They call me nasty things like “screw-up”, “klutz”, and even “retard”, and...and it really hurts.”

She then looked up at William, tears pushing themselves out of her wall-eyes and down her face in streaks, and she choked out, “I just...I just want it to stop.” Before William could react, Derpy plunged her face into the human's chest as she wrapped her forelegs around his chest, sobbing violently as her tears soaked into his shirt.

William could only wrap his arms around Derpy in a futile attempt to cover the sorrowful pegasus. Still, he never knew this was going on. He never heard anypony say anything about Derpy, not out loud, and he wondered how such a gentle soul like her would be cursed to such misfortune and intolerance. In the Capital Wasteland, that was just an everyday thing, but here...here, that shouldn't have been possible. Still, William couldn't truly relate to Derpy's plight; sure, back in Vault 101, he was picked on for being smarter than other kids, or for being the son of a doctor, but he didn't know anyone in the Vault being picked on for being stupid.

Or did he...?

“Derpy,” he started quietly, the pony now quieting down to a simple whimper. “Would a story cheer you up?”

The mailmare didn't respond, exactly, but she just looked up at William with confusion in her eyes. William paid this no mind as he began, “Back where I was from, I had a friend who, well, wasn't really like the others. She wasn't as smart as they were, and she looked different, so everyone just called her Ditzy.”

As soon as William dropped the name, Derpy's ears perked up as she listened intently.

“She was a lot like you in a few ways. She was very nice, she loved muffins, and she even had a bit of a fondness for bubbles. Of course, there were people there who just couldn't go past her clumsiness and the way her eyes were different, so they began calling her mean names.”

Derpy was now feeling tears well up in her eyes; this “Ditzy” human must have gone through exactly the same things she was going through now. The tears stopped, however, when William added, “Still, no matter how many people called her “stupid” or picked on her outside of school, she always had a smile on her face, so one day, I decided to ask Ditzy why she was always happy.”

The enthralled pegasus took that moment to speak up as she asked the storyteller, “What did Ditzy say?”

William smiled as he finished, “She told me, 'No matter how many people don't like me, I know there's always one person out there who loves me.”

William felt the corners of his mouth tug into a grin at the ending of his tale. He looked down at the pegasus to find that she was pressed against him once again. This time, a small smile appeared on her face.

“I like that story a lot,” she confided, tears of joy slipping out. “I'm glad Ditzy was happy.”

William's smile grew as he stroked Derpy's soft, bright mane. “So am I,” he whispered, leaning back against the tree. “So am I.”

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

William lost track of how long he and Derpy lay in the middle of the forest. By then, Derpy's sobs of joy were reduced to slow, steady breaths, and he didn't have to ask if she was asleep. William didn't mind, however; the important thing on his mind was that his friend was feeling at least somewhat better.

William shifted against the tree to get himself comfortable before closing his eyes and willing for sleep to come. Before he was pulled into unconsciousness, he whispered one thing to the sleeping pony in his lap.

“Good night, Ditzy.”

Yes, I'm well aware that I have not fully indoctrinated William into the story yet, but after hearing about the whole "Derpy Redubbing" fiasco, this just sort of popped into my head. It didn't help that I had seen the "Derpy's apology" video on youtube and I shed many a tear. That's why I chose to do this now, before the whole feeling dies down.

Anyway, the next official chapter will be coming out pretty soon, hopefully, so keep watch until then.

An Announcement

To anyone who may still be following this story and waiting for the 4th chapter--or those who have given up on waiting,

I just want to say that I'm incredibly sorry for not releasing any more chapters of this fic. I don't really have an excuse other than real life was kicking my rear, and I put this so far on the backburner that I completely forgot about it, not to mention I kinda stopped watching the show after the third season finale. And it sucks, because I was actually more proud of this than I was with anything else I've written.

I felt bad for leaving you all waiting, and after I heard that the show was scheduled to air its series finale in 2019, I figure I should probably at least give you guys one more chapter as a last hurrah, y'know?

Who knows? Maybe I'll actually be able to write more and finish this up.