Fallout Equestria: Black Gold

“The time has come, chosen one. Step forward!”

Silence fell all around me as I did as I was ordered, and stepped forward into the middle of the circle of observers. I was standing on a wide and open field,  a large group of ponies all around me, watching my every move. I nervously looked around, my hooves absent-mindedly scraping on the ground.

This was it. The day I’ve awaited for so long and yet feared for the last few years. Today was the day I would undergo my final test, which would determine my future role in the tribe. If I succeeded It meant that I would be ready, that I would be counted as a full member of the tribe, ready to start a life on my own and maybe even form a family. Should I fail however, it would mean that I would stay a child for another year, meaning I would have to obey the rules of others even longer. I snorted. I would do this, I knew that I could.

While I was hanging on my own thoughts, Whisper Wind continued. She was our “Wise Mare”, meaning she functioned as seer, shaman and adviser for the whole tribe. She was one of the oldest member of our tribe, beaten only by one, who was around since our foundation, yet no one really knew how she looked. She always wore the same outfit, a long shamanic robe in a deep blue color which hid most of her body, only a small piece of her light purple muzzle could be seen through the hoods opening. A wooden staff, said to be made out of a special wood with great magical properties, floated besides her, basked in a magical glow.

“Young warrior...” Whisper said addressing me and pulling me out of my thoughts. “Are you ready to begin?” I looked at the mare standing in front of me and bowed down.

“Yes I am.” I answered honestly to Whisper

“Then prepare yourself” she intoned.

“I am prepared” I replied, giving her the traditional answer.

“Then take this weapon. It will protect you and help you on your way.”

Hearing her cue, a green mare, her black mane falling loosely around her face, her golden eyes fixating me, trotted over to me. She was holding a long, wooden spear in her magical grip, no doubt the promised means of defend. This was my sister, Jade Dream. She had volunteered to be the part of my family that would give me my equipment like it was tradition.

Jade was a few years younger than me, barely old enough to call her a mare. Soon she would undergo the tribes first trial herself, marking her an adult and able to pull her own weight in the tribe. She may have been a little bit to trusting and maybe a little bit naive, but she was the best sister I could ask for.

Soon she had reached me and handed over the weapon. She just stood in front of me for a moment, before she looked me in the eyes. “Be careful” she said.

“Of course I'll be. You know that I can do this!” I said flashing her a grin and patting her on the head. She looked a little annoyed by the gesture, but nodded and turned back to retake her place in the group. Once she was back at her place, Whisper addressed me again.

“You were prepared for this task, young one. You have been trained by the warriors of our clan and equipped with everything you need. Now go and face the challenge, I wish you luck”

I bowed again before the ponies watching me, before turning around and making my way to my destination.

They called it the “Temple of Trials”. It was an old stone building, Its roof reaching far into the sky. I stood before the entrance, staring at the old metal door that was blocking my path. I took a deep breath, before touching the door, an unseen mechanism letting it slide into the walls.

Looking into the black darkness of the room before me I pulled together my courage, sharpened my senses and moved into the building.

I slowly walked through the small corridors, my eyes shifting around, registering every movement around me. My ears perked up as a quite slither, a few rooms behind me, indicated a body moving over the floor. Hastily I disappeared into the shadows and pressed my body against the next best wall. I powered up my horn, closed my eyes and let the glow envelop them. Opening them again my sight had improved by far, letting me see through the darkness surrounding me. Standing in my hiding spot, I observed the creature slowly coming closer.

It was an ant, as big as a dog, Its antennas darting around in front of its head, Its big mandibles clicking in front of its mouth. I gulped, my hooves playing with the spear I held between them. I slowly turned towards the ant, giving great caution not to make any noises whilst moving towards It. I slowly lifted the spear, its tip pointed at the insect before me.

I drew the spear back, took aim and let it go. It sailed through the air, hitting and penetrating the ants thick armor and destroying its brain. I let out a sigh of relief, thanking the Goddesses that I'm still alive. My moment of relief was very short lived.

Turning my head sideways I noticed a giant scorpion coming closer, this one bigger than a full grown stallion. It blocked my path, my only means of defense stuck in the head of the ant quite a distance away.

The scorpion hadn't noticed me yet, but it was only a matter of time before It spots me. It's claws made a disturbing clacking sound that echoed throughout the eerie temple.

Clack!

Clack!

Clack!

It held Its giant stinger high above its body, ready to strike at any moment. I started to sweat, my whole body going tense. Slowly I started moving along the wall, making my way over to the fallen ant. Suddenly I felt my leg colliding with something. I only had time to think: "You've got to be kidding me", before a loud clang rang through the abandoned hallways.

The scorpion, noticing the vibration before him, let out a screech, before gaining speed, chasing after me. I left all caution behind me, only caring for my spear and my survival. I ran as fast as I could my legs could carry me, which is sadly not that fast but fast enough for me to grab my spear in time.

Without stopping I jumped out of the way, into one of the old chambers besides me. The scorpion being caught in its momentum, missed the chamber I had disappeared in, and had to turn around and walk back to find me.

Using the distraction, I stood up on my rear legs and readied my weapon. As soon as the scorpion stuck his head into the room, I struck, cutting through one of its claws. The scorpion let out a pained screech, before It started to thrash around. Now was my chance. I ran away from the injured scorpion, avoiding the claws of the beast and made my way out of there.

I ran through the old temple, two different instincts tugging at me; First was the one that told me to run as fast as I could, away from the dangerous creature. The other one reminded me, that there could still be other dangers here and I needed to be careful not to attract any more attention.

After passing two more hallways, I finally slowed down. Flaring up my horn, I once again let the magic envelope my eyes, this time using a heat detection spell to check for enemies. Finding nothing in close proximity, I slumped down on my haunches.

I let the things that happened just moments ago run through my head and snorted. ‘I had been trained better than this!’ I thought. Of course I was a thinker, but even then I should do better than what I did up till now. True, my real skills lay somewhere else, I was a master with my tongue, able to manipulate the thoughts of nearly everyone I’ve met so far.

I preferred to strike out of the shadows, unseen by my foes and ending the fight before it even started. But here this wouldn't work that well. I was only equipped with a spear, hardly useful for my abilities, and I doubted that I could talk my way out of fights with these creatures.

I shook my head and stood back up on my fours. I dusted off my clothes and started walking again, taking extra care to keep track on my surroundings. I just needed to find the object I was looking for, then I could return. How hard could that be?

A few hours and a lot of fights later, I finally stood before the great door of the ceremony hall, the place I was looking for. I activated my magic again and peered inside.

No enemies, great! I opened the door and walked in. I was standing in a great hall, the roof nearly impossible to spot in the shadows above me. All around the room great statues were standing, showing a variety of mares and stallions in strange positions. I didn't really cared for them, giving each of them just a quick glance over. Then I saw what I had came for.

In the middle of the room it lay, clearly visible to me, even in the dark room. It lay on a pedestal, positioned in the center of the room. The older warriors left the things on there, the younger were supposed to retrieve. In my case it was an old device my grandfather once wore. A small gauntlet, a mini computer with many functions built in it. What was it called again? Pip... Bud? It didn't matter, I had what I came for. I floated the device over to me, placing it around my leg. After all it was a gauntlet, what better way to transport it, right?

Happy to have what I came for I turned around, ready to leave. Suddenly I heard something from behind me and did the only thing that seemed reasonable, I ducked. Just a moment later a red beam of light shoot over my head, missing me just barely. I jumped back looking at what ever had attacked me. I growled. While scanning the room beforehand, I forgot that things needed to have a heat signature to turn up on my scanner.

There before me was a robot, its inbuilt weapons directed at me. We stared at each other for a moment, before I jumped back as it started to fire. Having a hard time to dodge, I collided with one of the statues, my Pipbud making a weird noise. I jumped away and readied my spear. With a battle cry I jumped at the construct before me, ready to strike.

Suddenly time before me stopped. I was perplex to say the least. All around in my vision strange symbols and markers appeared, leaving me wondering what they meant. Except maybe for the one in the left corner. Pretty sure that was a compass, considering the symbols for north and east being on it. Suddenly a message flashed before my eyes. I skipped through it "Welcome to S.A.T.S. .... Stable-Tec ... choose your target ... automatic..." I read. This sounded interesting. If I understood correct, I could choose a random target and the program would automatically do the work for me. It also slowed down time, giving me a great tactical advantage.

Wasting no time, I chose the robot in front of me as a target, aiming at the part with the highest percentage, and confirmed my decision. Suddenly my body moved on its own, targeting the robot and piercing the spear through its armor, destroying the core of the machine ... and sadly my weapon within it. Landing back on the ground I massaged my muscles. That was a strange feeling, it seemed like I needed to get used to it first.

I looked at the room around me, wondering at everything that had just happened. I was curious to know what this thing could do, but decided that there was someone else who was better suited to tell me. Having reached my goal I left the temple and went for the exit.

Outside the building someone was already waiting for me; Hot Trail, the chief of the hunters of our tribe. He was a big earth pony, one or two heads bigger than most. He looked me over, noticing the Pipbuck on my leg. His grim expression didn't change, but I think I saw him smile for just a moment.

"Hello, Chip." he said.

"Hello, Trail." I replied back to the hunter.

"I was sent to retrieve you." the hunter said. I became curious. Only someone with a great amount of influence could order a pony of his rank around, and only three ponies in our tribe had that amount of power.

That meant either that Whisper Wind had send for me, which would have been unusual since normally I would have been allowed to meet my family again, before returning for the final part of the ceremony, or one of the other two would want to see me. I somehow doubted that. I knew one of them good enough to know beforehand if he wanted something from me and the other one was the chief of the tribe, and I couldn't imagine a reason why he would want to see me.

"Wind Whisper, wants to see you." he said, confirming my suspicion.

"Did she say why?" I asked. Trail shook his head.

"No, but you should hurry, you  shouldn't let her wait." I nodded. That was obvious. No one left Whisper waiting, if she sent for you. Her word meant as much as that of our leader, maybe even more. Satisfied that the message was delivered Trail turned around and walked towards our camp. I gave a quick glance down to my leg and followed him.

"Welcome back, Chip." Whisper said, as soon as I entered her tent. She smiled lightly and pointed for me to sit down at the fire burning in the center of her tent. I instantly obeyed and followed her offer which wasn't one.

"Chip..." she began "I'm sure you have noticed the recent changes around us."

"Yes." I nodded.

Of course I had, who didn't? Our tribe was caught in a drought, leaving nearly no places to plant food and killing most of our live stock and prey, due to heatstrokes. Whisper nodded, satisfied with my answer.

"We can't go on like we did before, we need help to overcome this malicious curse. If it goes on like it did, I fear for our survival. But I saw the signs. They told me that there might be hope. “You!" she said pointing her staff at me. .... Of course it was me, who else? I wasn't the Chosen One for nothing was I?

The Chosen One... This time the term chosen didn't referred to the fact that I was chosen to undergo my test today. No this "chosen" meant something else. People always saw me as something special. I was born in a special bloodline, my heritage making everyone believe I was destined to do great things. I always found this ridiculous. I loved to stay in the dark, seeing but being unseen. I just couldn't imagine ever doing something great. It seemed however that they finally had found something for me to do. I sighed. I had to try to talk my way out of it. I knew it wouldn't work, but I had to try regardless.

"I'm honored, Whisper," I said, "bu-” I didn’t finish what i was going to say as she spoke.

"No, buts" she interrupted me, crushing any hopes I may have had completely. Like I said; it wouldn't work. "You are the chosen one, the wind whispers your name. Listen young one, because this is important."

I just gestured for her to go on, knowing there was no way out of this. The old mare cleared her throat before opening her mouth.

"Once we lived in an old building, designed to protect us from the day of death. It worked and our ancestors survived, but a tragedy drove us out of our shelter. We abandoned the old home and started a new live out here, and lived in peace ever since. But now the drought threatens to kill us all and there is only one hope. You need to walk to our old home, Chosen One. In there you will find an old relic. You need to retrieve it and bring it to us. It's our only chance of survival."

I rolled my eyes. Of course I had to go there. Yeah, lucky me. I looked at the mare sitting before me and asked "When will I set out?"

"The day after tomorrow. For now go home and regain your strength. Tomorrow we will gather your gear and hold a ceremony for your success. Then you will have to leave. Do you understand?"

Once again I nodded. I could try to rebel, but then Trail and his stallions would just drag me out into the desert and leave me there without any help. This way I would at least get supplies for my journey.  I stood up, dusted myself and left the tent.

Outside I looked around for a while, taking in the view of our tribe. I sighed again and dropped my head. With an defeated expression I made my way over to my home. I wanted to visit him already when I had found the Pipbuck and now I had another reason to go.

As I entered the shop an old stallion looked up. He was a gray earth pony, clad in green robes covering most of his body except for his head. He had a stern but friendly expression, his face worn and covered in scars. He had a short beard and his long white mane fell free around his head. He stared at me, unconsciously polishing the long combat knife in his grip, the shelf behind him filled with all kinds of scavenged weapons.

This was Sharp Tongue the Hero of our tribe. The story Whisper told me in her tent, happened not that long ago as it seemed. In fact it was Sharp Tongue, when he was just a young stallion, who lead our people out of our old home, defending us against all dangers we encountered, among them a dangerous group of alicorns and their even more dangerous leader. Without him we probably would have all died.

Sharp Tongue finally put away the knife and looked me over, a serious expression on his face. "Welcome back." he said.

"Hi, gramps." I replied. I think you can guess why the ponies of my tribe expected much from me?

I looked him into the eyes, a small grin on my lips. "I passed." I said. He looked me over again and nodded.

"Congratulations" was all he said. Gramps and I never really shared many words, we never needed to, we always knew what the other meant. I tilted my head forming the sentences I was about to say. He noticed me thinking and went quiet, waiting for me to speak.

"Wind Whisper talked to me just now" I said. He perked up, reading from my voice that it meant something important. "She said I was chosen." I continued. "I'm supposed to go to the old home and retrieve something from there." Now i got his full attention. "I hoped you can help me prepare for it." He nodded again. "I also found this” I said holding up my front leg. "Seems pretty neat. Think you can help me figure it out?" His eyes widened as he took in the sight in front of him. He took a moment to proceed things, then he started talking.

"I might not be of as much assistance as you may believe." he said, his voice surprisingly silky. "Yes, I hail from the old home and I do know where it is, however I'm an outcast and not welcome there. When I was young, I was send out to retrieve an old artifact, a water talisman able to create as much water as we would ever need, to replace our broken one. After many trials and struggles I managed to find it and bring it back. However once I handed it over to my brothers and sisters, they denied me entrance. They said I had changed, that I was contaminated, that I wasn't any longer allowed to live with them. I tried to reason with them, but even I couldn't convince them otherwise. In the end I left. A few souls determined to come with me left the old home as well, accompanying me and the friends I made on my way. After wandering around for weeks we finally settled down, building the tribe you know today. All I can aid you in, is telling you where you can find it, the rest is up to you.”

“Concerning the device on your leg, I have good and bad news. The good one is that it will be a great aid in your quest, easing the way for you in many ways. Yes, I can teach you how to use it, but know this: by strapping it to your leg, you bound yourself to it. We know of no way to remove it again. Even I only managed to lose mine when this happened."

He lifted his leg revealing his artificial limb. If the stories he told me were true, he received it while defending our tribe and and group of wandering outsiders from an attack through raiders.

While protecting the families, a raider managed to sneak up on him, cutting off his leg. In return for his help, the outsiders took him to a unknown place where he received his new leg.

I shuddered. I wasn't happy that I would have to wear this damn thing for the rest of my live, but I wasn't quite looking forward to losing my leg either. I felt rage build up inside of me over my own stupidity, before boiling down again as soon  as I realized that it wouldn't do anything good for me to throw a fit.

"You're sure about this?" I asked him.

"One hundred percent" he answered. I let my shoulders drop in defeat.

"Well i guess there are worse things that could happen" I said, trying to cheer myself up. "Can you at least help me figuring that thing out?"

He gestured for me to sit down and I followed his invitation. He grabbed my leg, showing me the different buttons on the device and started to give me a quick tutorial about its functions. Hmm. Compass, Local Map, World Map, Radio, Health Monitor, Backpack Manager, SATS.... This thing seemed to be quite useful. Having finished my quick crash course, my grandfather backed away slightly, giving me time to think.

"Do you think I can do it?" I finally asked. He looked at me and then pointed a hoof to an mirror standing in one of the corners of the shop.

"Look at yourself" he said. I did as he said. What I saw was a brown unicorn stallion, slightly less muscular than the rest of my tribe. My long black mane was tied back into a braided ponytail, my tail cut short to prevent it from getting caught somewhere during a hunt. On my flanks was my cutie mark, an eye with an aura around it, vaguely shaped like a tear.

"You're a strong warrior of our tribe" my grand father said "You're quick, smart and you have a sharp tongue, like myself." He smiled slightly. "I know you can do it. You're my grandson, you share my blood. If there is any one I believe to be capable of doing this, then it is you."

I let a small smile play over my lips. I noticed that he tried to encourage me, after all I learned all my skills from him and I could tell when he tried to manipulate someone, but I was thankful for his words either way. "I think you're right" I said, standing back up. "I think I'll go to sleep now, I need to be ready for tomorrow." I left the shop and walked over to the tent standing right next to the shop. I opened the flap and entered our home.

I was barely in, when a green streak tackled me and threw me to the ground. I groaned rubbing my head where I had landed on it, and looked at the pony hugging me. "You can let go of me now Jade" I said. The young mare still hugging me looked up, a slight frown on her face.

"But I'm so glad you're back unhurt" she said, pouting a little. I smiled, but pushed her away from me.

"Yeah, I'm glad too sis. But I'm kinda tired. Can we celebrate tomorrow?" I asked. She thought for a moment and then nodded. "Thanks sis" I said making my way over to my sleeping place. I would need to talk to her later, but right now I just wasn't ready for it. I dropped down on the floor, instantly drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next day I woke up, remembering everything that happened the day before. I groaned, trying to drift back into sleep in the hope of forgetting everything around me. However, a certain somepony had other plans.

"I talked to gramps" Jade said staring at me. I mentally face-hoofed. ‘Great, I had hoped to postpone that for later. Well no choice left ... again.’ Still wobbly on my hooves I stood up and looked at my sister.

"You know I have no choice" I said.

"But what about .." she started before being interrupted by me.

"No, Jade. No tricks, no games. If we try something the whole tribe will be after my hide." Jade tried to come up with a counter argument, but had to admit that there was no way around it.

"Can I come with you" she asked. I shook my head.

"No, this is something I need to do on my own, you are needed here by gramps and the others." She made big eyes, tears welling up in them. "Doesn't work on me, sis. I was the one who taught you that, remember?"

"Dang it" Jade said, shaking her head disappointed.

I tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I mean, you know I'm the smartest there is."

She smirked "Says the guy who was outsmarted by a brahmin" With that she meant one of the more beefy ponies in the tribe who, considering his IQ, might have been one of them. One of the unintelligent heads to be fair to the brahims.

"I was drunk! Very, very drunk and I let him win on purpose." I said defensively.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day it will become true" she teased.

"Why, you little..." I said, suddenly jumping up from where I stood and tackling her to the ground. She giggled and threw me off tackling me in turn and starting to tickle me. We kept our little mock battle going for a moment, before breaking away from each other.

We took a moment to catch our breath. Suddenly Jade turned to me and looked me into the eyes. "Be careful." she said.

"I will be" I promised her. After that we walked out of the tent, over to the shop where gramps was already waiting. Noticing our arrival he nodded to the door and the three of us walked outside towards Whisper’s tent, to start my preparations.

While walking through the settlement I saw few of the younger stallions glancing or outright staring at Jade. ‘Right, she had reached that age, didn't she?’ Every time one of the stallions stared too long, I gave them a stern glare, making most of them look away.

I knew Jade wouldn't really like me poking into her business, but I couldn't help it. I always was a little over protective when it came to my sister and the view of those stallions fantasizing over her kinda triggered my unfriendly side. I had to make sure gramps took good care of her when I wasn't around. Those bastards better not try anything while I'm gone.

Lost in my thoughts I didn't noticed we already were close to our goal, only stopping when I realized that my two companions were missing. I looked up, standing nearly muzzle to muzzle to Whisper. I blushed slightly, my training to keep my emotions  hidden betraying me for a moment. I took a few steps back, waiting for Whisper to begin her rites. While I did so, gramps leaned against a pillar a few feet behind me and Jade was talking to a group of ponies nearby.

"Chosen one..." Whisper said, using the title I hated so much. "We planned for a great ceremony, giving you only the best our ponies had to offer, so you could prevail. Sadly it seems that there were unforeseen problems."

My head dropped. The Goddesses certainly didn't like me. "Due to the drought we don't have much, making it impossible to provide you with the equipment we had thought off. I can only offer you so much, however please take this."

First she gave me a big flask filled with water and a little bag with food, which I took thankfully. At least I wouldn't starve or die of thirst immediately. Next came a piece of cloth, an old jumpsuit the stable dwellers wore if my memories served me right.

‘Hmm that would at least protect me a little bit against the sand.’ Next came a spear, resembling the one I used during my quest in the Temple. With this I would be able to defend myself against most dangers. Storing away the spear, I waited for Whisper to continue, but nothing came.

I waited for a moment, but as nothing came my jaw dropped. "That's it?" I asked shocked. I didn't wanted much but with only this? I would be dead after the first few steps.

"I'm sorry my child, we don't have much left." Whisper said. "I hope this will at least aid you in your quest in one way or another." I nodded still trying to process how I should survive out there. "This is all chosen one. Tonight there will be a celebration, in which we will pray for your luck. You will leave as soon as it's over." I nodded still unable to do much apart from starring. The old mare turned around and walked back into her tent, leaving me and my family back alone.

"Well that could have gone better" I muttered still upset over the lack of helpful items. My grandfather just stood there silently watching me. Then he stepped in front of me and pulled something out of his robes.

A long, silver gleaming knife, its handle and sheath a dark black. He held it out with his good hoof, offering it for me to take. Dumbstruck I looked at him. "This is "Loyalty" my personal knife. I took it with me on my quest, a keepsake for me, to always remember me of the most important thing. To always be loyal to your friends and your family. I want you to take it, so it can guide you on your undertaking too, always reminding you to do the right thing."

I grabbed the knife with trembling hooves, not knowing what to say. "Thanks" was the only thing I could come up with. "I'll keep it in honor."

Sharp Tongue nodded. "I'll have to go back. I'll see you two later" With that he turned around and left for his shop. I stood there, stunned for a moment, before shaking my head, clearing it again, and walking over to Jade. Once her friends noticed me approaching, the group split up leaving only Jade and me behind.

"Any final words?" I asked standing besides her, both of us staring at the countryside before us.

"We've already said everything there is, didn't we?" she said.

"I guess" I replied. We kept staring for a while, just enjoying the presence of the other before, she turned to me. "I'm going back home, are you coming with me?"

"No. I think I'll take my time. A last stroll through town if you know what I mean." She looked at me and nodded.

"See you later Chip."

"See you later, Jade". She took of, returning back in the direction we came from.

I on the other hoof walked through the settlement watching the ponies around me going over their lives. It all depended on me, whether they could continue or if we were all doomed, no pressure at all. I continued my walk, arriving at the end of our little settlement.

I kept walking, until I reached a small cave entrance. I entered it and powered up my horn, enhancing my eyesight in the darkness surrounding me. I walked deeper into the cave, following the old path for a while, until I reached a small passage in one of the walls. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who knew about it, since it was rather hidden, nearly impossible to find, if you couldn't see where you are going.

I followed the way until I reached a curve, sunlight filling my vision. Stepping outside I stood on a small platform on the mountains side, from where I could see the whole settlement. This was the place I normally went to think about... Well everything. I sat down on the stone beneath me, and let my thoughts wander.

Soon I would have to go back and finish preparations  for my journey, but for now i just sat there watching the only home I had ever known.

The time just flew by and soon the night fell. Our whole tribe was sitting around a grand fireplace in the middle of the settlement. Everyone was laughing, chatting, eating and drinking, probably the last time for quite a while they could do this so carefree. I was sitting at the "head" of the circle, our tribe chief, Whisper and my grandfather besides me. I watched the fire burn, while i waited for the words, which I dreaded so much, to be spoken.

Finally Whisper stood up, the chatting of the tribe instantly stopping. "Brothers and sisters!" she began "We are here to see off the chosen one, he who will travel to the Old Home and bring us to our salvation. This is a feast in his honor and for his well being. Tonight is the night he will leave us, setting out for his quest."

She looked at me. "Chosen one?" I stood up, my legs slightly shaking. "I'll wish you all luck for your journey. May the wind guide you and your undertaking bear fruits. Good bye, brother." She  bowed down, the rest of the tribe following suit.

After that there was a short moment in which my friends and family came over to me, wishing me luck and whispering encouraging words in my ears. Then it was time. With a final look at my brothers and sisters, I turned towards the location marked in my Pipbuck and set out to find our only hope or to doom us all...