Author's Notes:

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU READ THIS!

CelestiaXJason will NOT be the main ship anymore. This is because they're too boring together. They will still have a bit of interaction, but it'll be a more familial bond. I already have a better ship in mind, and have already began to discuss it with my editor, Jack Keller.

At this point, I have not integrated anything from Season 5. That will change in the next few chapters, where Jason will meet the gayest cowboy-themed character since [insert something witty here], and have quite the conversation with one of my new favorite characters in the show.

Alright, now...

*Grabs Defibrillator

I only know what I've seen in Left 4 Dead 2 about this, but let's try it anyway.

*Rubs paddles together

CLEAR!

Fawkes groaned as he hefted the white bag of belongings onto the wooden table, preparing to examine the contents to try and ease his mind. He reached in and grabbed the first thing he could. In his hand came a Laser Rifle, brighter and in better condition than most of the ones he had seen across the Wasteland. It reminded him of the day he was freed. The red bolts that obliterated the skulls and arms of the Super Mutants that held him prisoner.

His mind came back to the horrifying prison he was trapped in, unable to think of any place or state of being outside that damned trap before his best friend had saved him from.

Anger once again rose from the back of his mind as the words of the Super Mutants echoed.

Fawkes took in a long, deep breath, trying to calm his easily enraged blood.

He placed the Laser Rifle on the surface of the table and put his focus back onto the sack containing the forgotten items of his friend. Again, he reached in and pulled out a wooden baseball bat. The overall surface of the blunt instrument was smooth for wood, and had only a small amount of bumps on it. Fawkes turned it around in his grip and examined the branding underneath the handle, the familiar insignia of Vault-Tech seemingly taunting him with the reminder of his former Hell. This symbol, however, held a different set of numbers than the one of his prison, "101".

The only other items in the bag consisted of a few Microfusion Cells for the Laser Rifle, spare parts for other weapons, for his own as well, some novelty items, and a blue suit covered in leather armor.

A knock on the hut's door brought Fawkes' attention away from the items as he turned around.

"Yes?" he answered.

\\\\\\//////

Twilight flinched at the voice's response, thinking it belonged to something like a sick dragon. Rune went straight up to the door and cracked it open enough for him to pop his head through, but not much else.

"Hello, Fawkes," he spoke into the hut. "We've got another visitor. Apple Bloom went to find her because she believes that this one can help you. Would you like to meet her?"

"She... can help?" the voice responded.

Twilight felt a tap on her leg and looked to her right to see Apple Bloom.

"Twilight, Ah think you should know, he looks a bit scary when you first meet him," she warned.

"I promise I won't react badly, Apple Bloom," Twilight assured. "I'm sure he's better than any of the things your sister and I have seen in this forest."

Rune motioned for Twilight to come inside the hut as he opened the door fully. Twilight moved inside, but froze as she looked upon the green-yellow form of what waited inside.

"Greetings," it spoke with the same ragged voice, "I... am Fawkes. It's nice... to meet you."

When it finished speaking, it offered a yellow-green appendage to Twilight. Twilight stared wide-eyed at the beast of a being that stood before her, barely able to comprehend the situation. The alicorn felt a light jab at her side, likely from Apple Bloom, which snapped her back to reality. She shook her head to clear her senses and offered a smile to Fawkes.

"Hello, Fawkes," she finally spoke. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Nice to meet you."

When she finished her statement, she hesitantly brought up her hoof to Fawkes' meaty hand. Part of her was worried that the behemoth's grip would likely crush her arm, or that he might rip off her limb altogether, but was pleasantly surprised to feel Fawkes gently grip her hoof and slowly shake before releasing her foreleg.

"Thank you... for giving me this chance," he stated.

"Oh, it's no problem, really. I'm just surprised. What are you, exactly? I mean, I've never seen anypon- sorry, anyone, that looks like you."

"I... am a Meta Human," Fawkes explained. "It is understandable... that you would be weary of me, or... what I am. There were others, I knew of... they share my looks, but not... my brains, my habits..."

Confused by the Meta Human's answer, Twilight pressed.

The alicorn magically pulled out a stool she knew was by her from her previous visits to Zecora's hut, and sat down before questioning Fawkes.

"Well, what exactly is a Meta Human, and where are you from?"

"Meta Humans, like myself, are... rare, to say the least. I come from a... place, known as the Capital Wasteland."

'Capital Wasteland,' Twilight repeated in her head. 'Why does that sound familiar?'

"We were, at one point, just Humans. But, when I woke up... for as long as I can remember, I was... in a prison. Mocked, beaten, and ignored, by who I thought were like me. Those... are Super Mutants. They too, were changed like I was... by the Forced Evolution Virus, but they... lost themselves. Nothing but rage and hatred in their minds... they terrorize the Wasteland, and hunt down any Humans they find."

"That sounds horrible," Twilight commented. "So, you were imprisoned by these, 'Super Mutants,' and were forced into changing like them?"

"Yes," Fawkes responded. "However, I retained some semblance of my former self. I can think, unlike them... I can remember some things... from my time in that prison."

"How long were you like that?"

Fawkes hesitated, blood heating in his ill-manageable rage.

"For two hundred years, I was in that prison... alone, and forgotten."

Twilight raised a hoof over her chest as she gasped in shock.

"And now... I still feel anger, because of them!" Fawkes said a bit forcefully. "They made me a monster, unable to control my rage! I wanted to take revenge against them! I wanted to beat them all until-"

Fawkes stopped himself from raging entirely. He remembered his Zen philosophy, trying to calm himself. When he looked back to the others, he saw Apple Bloom looking up at him with a worried expression, only somewhat filled with fear.

"Well," Twilight started, "I think I see now what Apple Bloom wanted me to help with."

Fawkes nodded as he leaned against the wall of the hut.

"Yes... my rage... it burns my blood, and hurts my mind."

"Well, I'm not exactly a licensed professional in Psychology, but I have glazed over a few books. I think-"

"Books?" Fawkes interrupted, standing up straight. "Do you mean, actual, intact, fully legible, paper-and-ink... books?"

"Yes, indeed," Twilight answered proudly. "I used to live in the town's library, but since a few weeks ago, I've been running the Library out of my new castle, and-"

"How many books do you have?" Fawkes asked.

"Well, last time I checked," Twilight stopped, having a sudden idea.

"I think I might know how to start helping you, Fawkes. How would you like to see what my collection has to offer?"

Fawkes didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned away and began to pack up all of the items he had spread out over the table, stuffing them back into the bag he had carried for so long.

"During my entire time in that prison, there was only one solace... all that time, all that silence, never went to waste... I read every book I could, every file I could search for... reading, knowledge, and books... are my anchors to sanity. If you help me with this... it would be the second greatest debt I would owe in my long life. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight would have to ask several questions later, but for now, she thought about who to contact regarding Fawkes' mental stability. Off the top of her head, she thought about asking Nurse Redheart, considering she has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, but knew better than to take her out of where ponies needed her the most. Her mind went straight to wondering if she should ask Princess Celestia what to do with another newcomer, but this time, she remembered that she was a Princess as well. Twilight knew that she should be able to solve situations like this on her own at one point, and knew that the start was now.

"Well, Fawkes, I hope you can enjoy what writings that Equestria has to offer. When would you like to go?"

"Ya mean, Fawkes' gonna be alright?" Apple Bloom asked hopefully.

Twilight kept a warm smile as she pat Apple Bloom on her head.

"Well, not yet. But I know that with this, he's definitely got a chance."

Apple Bloom smiled warmly and trotted right up to Fawkes' leg before standing on her hind legs and hugging his overgrown boot. Twilight's smile warmed up even more when she saw that Fawkes noticed this and knelt down to return the gesture as gently as he could.

"Thank you, Apple Bloom," he stated, petting the filly's back. "If I could cry or smile again, I would do so now without shame."

Twilight saw, in the corner of her vision, that Rune was watching the display as well, and wore a small smile as well.

"Rune?" Twilight called to the Zebra.

Rune turned his head over to look at Twilight.

"I don't suppose you'd like to see what Ponyville has to offer, do you?" Twilight asked. "I have plenty of space at the castle, and I'm sure Spike wouldn't mind some more company. What do you say?"

The Zebra had a faint blush cross over his face before nodding and retreating into another room. Twilight sighed with a shake of her head.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I need to introduce him to Rarity."

\\\\\\//////

Pinkie hummed another merry tune, as usual, as she pulled a perfectly baked batch of blueberry muffins from the oven. With a flick of her tail, she closed the oven and merrily skipped over to the window to the counter, and rang the bell once.

"Muffins are ready~!" she called in a sing-song voice.

"Thank you, deary," Mrs. Cake remarked as she reached for a few.

Pinkie watched with glee as Mrs. Cake placed the freshly baked confectioneries into a small paper bag and rolled up the end. Mrs. Cake turned to the counter and placed the bag before the customer.

"Two freshly baked blueberry muffins for our favorite mailmare!" Mrs. Cake said cheerfully.

The pegasus in question merely smiled and dropped several bits onto the counter before taking the bag in her mouth and walking away.

"Come again!" Mrs. Cake called out as she waved goodbye to Derpy.

Pinkie was about to go back to baking before she heard it. Then, she heard Mrs. Cake scream in surprise. Pinkie burst out from the kitchen, her apron now hung on a wall somehow. The pink pony looked around for where he could be, then saw Mrs. Cake's face. She was staring into a booth in the corner of the bakery, usually where the Cake twins, Pumpkin and Pound, were kept during business hours, as to not have to worry about keeping an ear on a baby monitor and having to traverse the stairs several times.

Outside of their playpen, however, was a new pony. He wore a lightly colored coat that concealed almost his entire form, and wore a hat of the same color atop his head. Barely noticeable was a horn, that when looked at for long periods of time, seemed almost nonexistent. His fur's color was almost indistinguishable from the coat, then seemed to contrast it entirely the next second. His mane and tail were either the color white, or just... anything. Overall, the stranger seemed to fade somewhere in between reality and somewhere else, almost like some kind of spiritual being. Pinkie, however, knew better.

"Uncle Mysty!" Pinkie cheered as she bolted over to the coated stallion.

Upon hugging the stallion, a warm laugh filled the air, seemingly coming into existence from everywhere at once.

"Pinkie! How's my favorite niece?" the stallion asked.

"I've been doing great! Are you off work right now?"

"Sure am," he answered, now sitting in a booth behind her.

Pinkie smiled wider than usual, somehow, and ducked out of sight before popping up right beside him. The stallion chuckled as he wrapped a foreleg around the pink pony, hugging her tightly.

"Good to see you've been practicing," he observed.

"Never stopped once!"

As they sat in the booth, Mrs. Cake had hurried over to check on the twins, and sighed in relief to find they were still asleep.

"Adorable foals, if I may say," the stallion complimented.

"Oh, well, thank you," Mrs. Cake responded. "I'm afraid we haven't met before. Are you related to Pinkie?"

The stallion chuckled to himself, knowing a part of what she said wasn't true, but answered kindly, nonetheless.

"Yes, I'm her mother's brother. She calls me Uncle Mysty, but you can call me Strange, love," he answered with a tip of his hat.

"Well, nice to meet you, mister Strange. I'm Cup Cake, Pinkie's boss. I must say, she does a fantastic job with every job we can think of for her. She's taken care of our foals, she's managed the register, ran the kitchen, cleaned the place up, and anything else that needs to be done. If you had any part of that, I sincerely thank you. She's helped make running Sugarcube Corner so much easier for Carrot and I. But, why hasn't she mentioned you before?"

Strange wiped his muzzle of milk, setting down a cup that was somehow half-full and wet on the edge before he spoke.

"I taught her how to be everywhere at once. I bet you've seen her sometimes, going about doing things that make no sense, right?"

Cup Cake had no choice but to nod, ignoring the confusion of how he managed to get a glass of milk and drink it without her noticing from mere inches away.

"Well," Strange started again, his voice slightly muffled by a brownie that had come out of nowhere, "I taught her how to use earth pony magic to alter the~"

Strange's words seemed to fade into the ether as Mrs. Cake could barely comprehend the complexity of what was being said. Something about walls, timey-wimey, and buttermilk pancake batter continued to flow by Mrs. Cake's ears and back into the void of never-ending knowledge that he seemed to breathe.

A hoof was waved before Mrs. Cake's eyes before she shook her head to try and snap herself back into focus.

"Huh!? Wha? What's going on?" she stammered.

"Are you alright Mrs. Cake?" Pinkie asked looking concerned.

"Um... I'm, alright, deary. Why don't you take your Uncle to meet your friends? Or anywhere else?" Mrs. Cake pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm going to be meeting some of his friends in a few days for their 'Welcome-To-Ponyville' Party! They'll all get to meet him then. But I bet they won't remember~!" Pinkie ended on a sing-song note.

In that moment, Mrs. Cake's confusion was at the highest it has ever been, or ever will be, in her entire life. But finally, no matter how little she would recall from this small pocket of time, she now had an answer to how Pinkie Pie came to be like Pinkie Pie.

"I left the bits on the counter, and a little something for the foals," Strange said right behind her.

Mrs. Cake nearly had a heart attack of the sound of Strange's voice, but calmed down once she saw that he was no longer here. Disregarding the action as the source of all-things Pinkie, she went over to check on Pound and Pumpkin. When she looked in, they were wearing a matching set of trench coats and hats, with little symbols stitched into the right shoulders. It was a cartoon pony in a similar coat and hat set making a gesture one would use to tell others to keep quiet: a hoof to the lips.

\\\\\\//////

Jason stayed quiet as the group of Guards continued to talk about sports, keeping the group mostly happy after his own outburst at the bar. All around him, there were ponies that smiled and waved at their group, watching them with thankful eyes, but Jason noticed a few other types of looks. The kind he had seen in bars and by the occasional Raider. The kind of predatory desire for what he held. With these mares, however, it was different. Instead of having to lean on anything, they simply flicked their tails and bobbed their heads a bit, likely to try and lure him to their flanks.

He didn't fall for those looks in the Wasteland, he wouldn't fall for them now.

His thoughts were abruptly cut short when he bumped into someone. They both gave off a grunt and stumbled back a bit, Jason checking his weapon straps while the mare he bumped into brushed herself off.

"Sorry," Jason said, "I should've watched where I was going."

"Oh, it's alright," the mare replied.

Jason looked over the mare, seeing that she had a light coat of fur, a deep red mane and tail, pale-green eyes, and a rose for a Cutie Mark. She blinked several times before her eyes widened and she smiled warmly at Jason.

"Well, I didn't know I'd be bumping into a local hero," she said while batting her eyelashes.

Jason sighed internally, agitated by the way she was trying to compliment him. He had made that choice once before, and had made it a rule to never allow himself to fall for those tricks again.

"Sorry, I've gotta go," he excused himself while walking around the mare.

At the last second, her tail brushed by his nostrils, and again, Jason felt his limbs weaken and his senses dull as a powerful aroma assaulted his senses. She leaned in close to Jason's ear and whispered.

"Feel free to, 'bump' into me sometime around my store, alright, handsome?"

The mare walked away, leaving Jason standing there in the open, his eyelids heavy and a cold feeling going through his entire body. He shuddered one last time before shaking his head and looking for his new friends. Jason saw them up ahead, waiting for him. As he approached, Spear held out a foreleg and stopped Jason, looking at him with concern.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" The Wanderer responded.

Jason looked to his right to see Star making a wiping gesture by her nostrils, prompting Jason to do the same. He wiped a sleeve against his muzzle and examined it. It came back covered in blood.

"Is there something wrong?" Broadsword asked.

The Wanderer looked between all of the Guards and wiped what he thought was the last of his blood off of his face before speaking.

"I'm fine. Just hit my face harder than I thought," Jason lied through his teeth.

The Guards, however, bought his lie and piled inside of the Guard Station. Jason felt a brief pain in his head before walking into the station and letting the door close behind him.

Seconds later, a tall greenish-yellow being walked right past the building's entrance.

\\\\\\//////

Doctor Stable examined the diagrams with a scowl on his face, and the temptation of alcohol calling to him stronger with each passing second. He had worked over the scans several dozen times since the patient in question had been admitted to Ponyville General. Since he came in through those doors, he was an enigma. No records were available on any unicorn stallion with those kinds of scars, build, or color combination. After doing more extensive research, no records existed on what that thing on his left foreleg was. That device, Stable recalled, was displaying several important bits of medical information that they could only display using advanced scanners, yet it brought everything up like common knowledge.

Blood pressure, blood type, condition of each individual limb, records of infections, records of injuries, and even some things that he couldn't understand, like FEVs and Modification Factors. The X-rays had shown that the device wasn't too deep, but was infused with his skin, nonetheless. Stable wanted to have it removed immediately, but later found that it tied directly into the Stem of the patient's brain, and quickly decided against it. The X-ray also showed that the patient's skeleton contained an amount of metal in his bones equivalent to the frame of a two-bed two-bath single-floor house in Ponyville.

The blood samples came back with a mountain of unknowns present. Some kind of green cells were present and were highly reactive to magic, absorbing all forms of it at all times. Even Purge spells that were designed to kill viruses like that one were absorbed and made the infection stronger. Everything about this patient was a nightmare waiting to erupt and start a new kind of plague, but it was Princess Celestia's word that kept him from being quarantined and sent straight to the Badlands.

Stable focused on an envelope on the end of his desk and quickly brought it up before his face. It was addressed to the best Genetics Researcher anypony could think of, and filled it with copies of everything the patient had come in with, including the actual reason for his being in the ER. He sealed it with magic and sent it towards the "Out" mailbox. Hopefully, in the next few months, this Geneticist would be able to shed some light on this fever-dream of a medical mystery.