Jason kept his eyes on each of his new friends, examining what they were doing to prepare for patrols or whatever they were supposed to be ready for. Thorn Handle and Broadsword were starting to go through some papers, taking a few down from a board on the wall next to the door and replacing them with other ones. Spear Buck was taking out some things from his locker while his armor sat on the bench next to him with a rag on top of it. The stallion opened one up and began to pour a small bit onto the rag. Once there was a sizable amount, Spear flipped the rag and began to polish his armor.

The Wanderer turned his gaze over to the Thestrals of the group and watched with fascination as they began to go through their respective lockers as well. Star Buck pulled out two large objects that clamped onto her forelegs like Jason's Power Fist, but these were longer on the legs, and had a few slits of metal near the hooves. Star flicked her right foreleg out and the slits opened. When they did, three claw-like blades ejected and began to cackle with electricity, deadly arcs dancing across the blades. Jason stared in awe at the weapon, watching as Star turned it around and flipped the blades back in. He looked into her locker as she opened it again and saw a book that had the same gauntlets on the cover.

Eager to learn about the weapon, Jason got up from his seat and walked over to the Thestral. Once she saw him approaching, she smiled at him and spoke.

"What's up?"

"Just curious, what are those things?" Jason asked, pointing to the gauntlets.

"These old things? They're called Night Blades. Started around the time of the Nightmare Reign, specifically for use in the Nightmare Legions. They... sorry, I'm probably going to start boring you to near death with a history lesson," she said while looking away.

"I'm actually very fond of history lessons, believe it or not," Jason spoke truthfully.

He was truly interested in the history of the weapon, along with most of this world's history as well. He had spent a large sum of his time in the Wasteland reading old terminals that had lead up to the Bombs. Even when he was recovering in the Citadel Infirmary, Jason had asked the Scribes to regale him with what the terminals had recorded. History was an important aspect in rebuilding the world, Jason had considered, because they needed to remember where they went wrong, and how to avoid losing everything again.

"Oh, well then, why don't you sit down," she said, pointing to a bench next to them.

Jason sat down while Star opened her locker again, this time grabbing the book before she closed it and sat next to Jason.

"It was first introduced during the start of the Nightmare Reign, when Princess Luna was consumed by dark intent and rage. Nightmare Moon, her alter ego, wanted a weapon that was swifter and deadlier than the average swords and spears that the Solar Guard used. So she ordered the best minds and mages that were under her rule to start development of the Night Claw, the first iteration of the close-combat weapon you see here. They designed them to be used for fast, devastating strikes while also being able to use for defense. The first version was a full-body suit that had six claws extend from every hoof, front and back, and was basically a number of small swords that were held together by chainmail. After a few losing battles, they were re-purposed for stealth operatives, and were enchanted to not give any sound when they collided with anything. When Nightmare Moon was defeated almost two years ago, the Lunar Guard brought the idea of swift, close-combat claws without the full suit, though. They were redesigned with plating for the forelegs, and had the six blades replaced with three that had more space between each blade."

Jason nodded in fascination, examining the smooth armor of the Night Blade as he gave a low whistle.

"Damn."

"I know, right?" Star responded.

The Thestral held the book before Jason.

"If you want to know more, here's a manual with history of the weapon, as well as specifics on how parts of it function."

Jason blinked a few times before grabbing the book telekinetically. He looked to Star with a quizzical eye.

"Why would you give me this? I mean, is there a law or something about letting secrets like this out?" he asked, truly concerned about the possibilities it held if in the wrong hands. Or hooves, rather.

"Well, we're allowed to share the manual between members of the Guard, and since you're technically on our side, I don't see how it'll come back to haunt us anytime soon, considering you probably wouldn't be able to build one. I mean, you'd need several mages and a magi-forge to just get the blades to be stable, not to mention the materials you'd need aren't exactly sold anywhere in Equestria."

"Wait, then how does anyone make them?"

"They're shipped in directly to Canterlot from the Deer Countries. We exchange enchanted crystals and weapons with them, while they give us the metals and tools we need for building the Guard and weapons they can't make."

"Interesting," Jason contemplated.

Star patted him on the back, causing Jason to look up and see Star nod to a large metal door.

"Wanna see them in action?"

Jason nodded.

"Sure."

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

Fawkes kept his head low as he tried to look as non-threatening to the inhabitants of the town of Ponyville. When he first came upon the small town, he insisted on walking around it, as to not disturb the peaceful community. But after the persuasion of one Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the pleading eyes of one adorable Apple Bloom, Fawkes agreed to walk with them. So far, he had seen several ponies staring at him as he lumbered by, feeling their gazes eating away at his flesh like rabid Mole-Rats.

At one point, Fawkes was worried that the weight of all these stares would break his psyche, and cause him to go berserk. He kept his eyes closed, trying to cool his temper before he would do something he would regret for the rest of his painfully long (or swiftly shortened) life. Fawkes could feel his hand twitch over the handle of his Super Sledge, and pulled back. He had to find a calm. He couldn't lose himself here and now.

"Um, Fawkes?" Apple Bloom spoke.

Fawkes cracked open an eye to see the little one looking up at him with confused eyes.

"Why are ya keepin' your eyes shut?" she asked.

Fawkes couldn't stop his reflex as he looked up and took in the sight of the ponies around him. He would later be glad of his body's decision, since it revealed something that gave him hope.

Every pony was looking at him with a bit of concern.

They weren't running away or hiding from his line of sight, nor were they readying weapons or threatening him. They were just watching him stand there, and were actually concerned about the mutant's being. He looked around the town that surrounded him and saw that the windows that each house had weren't closed. Children were still in the streets, watching with fascinated eyes as the yellow-green tower of muscle and flesh walked amongst them. A few were actually smiling at Fawkes.

If the Meta-Human could cry or smile, he would likely be doing both.

"I... I'm, alright," he answered, feeling the tension loosening in his body. "I just... did not expect them, to be so... calm."

"Well," Twilight started, "here in Ponyville, we've seen things ranging from beings of Chaos, dragon attacks, Parasprite infestations, and the entire town being morphed and changed to wild degrees of silliness. To everypony in town, seeing something like you walking through the streets is something that we've gotten used to. No offense, Fawkes."

Fawkes stood a little bit taller, looking down at the ponies as he saw a group of children staring at him in awe. One of them, a white one with brown hair and spots, jumped above the crowd and started waving at him.

"None, taken," Fawkes replied happily, waving back to the child.

Twilight and Apple Bloom smiled to each other as they watched the yellow-green giant accept the atmosphere of Ponyville.

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

Dogmeat panted as he laid amongst a puddle of small ponies in the middle of a park. They were all napping against him, their heads resting on his fur. Some of them were getting dirt on their faces, while others were likely getting little specs of blood from his fur. The canine had enjoyed the time he spent so far with the small children of the town. Very few times in his adventures with Jason had he been able to simply play around with the townsfolk. Sometimes he was thankful for that, like when they were in that one community where everyone dressed weird and Dogmeat could smell people blood from the shed.

A new series of hoofsteps snapped Dogmeat back to reality.

A familiar shape was approaching, a yellow coat and pink hairs for her mane and tail. The scent of flowers and many different animals tickled Dogmeat's senses as she approached. When the mare came close to the pile of sleeping children, she knelt down and spoke softly.

"Aw," Fluttershy cooed, "aren't you precious."

Dogmeat's tail began wagging at the praise.

"You're so friendly and cuddly, aren't you?" she asked while bringing a hoof to pet Dogmeat's ear.

While the blunt surface was nowhere near the truly glorious euphoria of fingers behind the ears, it was still a serviceable massage nonetheless.

"Why are you so... um, dirty?" she asked him.

Dogmeat proceeded to whine and grunt as to not wake the children.

"<Wasteland is nothing but rubble. Kicked up dirt and blood in travels.>" Dogmeat responded.

The yellow lady gasped before whispering to him.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, you poor thing," she said before massaging his ear again.

After a few minutes of ear massaging, the children started to collectively wake up, yawning and stretching in a fashion that Dogmeat found very practical. They all began to pet him as well before saying their goodbyes and walking away. When it was just Fluttershy and Dogmeat, she spoke again.

"Would you like a bath to get nice and clean?"

Dogmeat tilted his head in confusion at the notion before asking her what that was through a series of whines.

"Oh, well, you get in the water, and I'll help get the dirt and... uh, other things, out of your coat. Does that sound nice?"

Dogmeat stood up and stretched as Fluttershy smiled warmly.

"Don't worry, you'll be feeling fresh as a spring breeze in just a bit," she said as they walked off to the cottage.

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

Jason watched as Star stepped into the middle of what looked like a firing range, with training dummies set up at random intervals, and closed her eyes. She took several deeps breaths as she stood there, feeling around her. Jason noticed her wings twitch a bit as her ears slowly started to rotate.

'Wait, can I do that with my ears?' Jason thought to himself.

He never got to think further on that, as the moment he thought that, Star opened her eyes. Her eyes' slits were thinner than before, and she seemed to give off a new type of air, one of a predator. Immediately, the claws from her gauntlets shot out and she used her wings to lift herself into the air. She surged forward, slashing out towards a training dummy. As her claws slashed through it, however, they merely left a large trio of red lines that seemed to exist around the wooden object. Star quickly twisted her body and adjusted her flight path, kicking off against another dummy before slicing widely through two more. She aimed her right foreleg at the last dummy before one of the claws shot out from it and impaled the thing, right in the center of a targeting ring.

Star quickly settled down, taking in long breaths as her wings started to flap slower and slower. After a few seconds, she rested her wings on her back and started to breathe normally. When she opened her eyes again, the slits were at their familiar width, and she seemed far calmer. Without uttering a word, she walked over to the impaled dummy, and held her hoof up to the blade. Slowly but surely, she slid the dull end back into her gauntlet before she flicked it back into its sheath.

"Well, how was that?" she asked cockily, turning back to smirk at the Wanderer.

Jason was truly impressed. What he'd seen that most closely resembled anything "skillful" in the Wasteland was watching the Brotherhood Paladins being able to assemble their armors without even looking. After using the Power Fist for a majority of his close-range encounters, he'd never thought anything could have such a level of lethality with a similar weapon, much less being able to make it look so beautiful the way she did.

"Wow," was all he said.

Star chuckled a bit as she examined the Wanderer's personal arsenal.

"Say, I've been wondering what you do with those weapons," Star stated. "I mean, I know you've taken down some pretty heavy hitters with those, but I have no idea what they do."

Jason glanced back to his Hunting Rifle and back to the range of training dummies. Before he even thought about firing off a few rounds into the range, Jason remembered how little ammo he had to expend on anything in this world. There were no caravans that would come by to sell ammo, no places he could scavenge through to find bullets, and no way back to get more. The ammo he had with him now was the only ammo he'd ever have. Right now, he can't afford to waste any ammo.

The Wanderer looked around the room to try and find something that would give him an excuse to avoid admitting the ammo shortage. If they asked about the ammo shortage, he'd have to reveal that he's an alien, and didn't want to think about what they'd do to him. Thoughts of Mothership Zeta came to the forefront of his mind, but Jason quickly pushed those thoughts down, burying them alongside what he had done in the Pitt. Jason looked between the target dummies, the rows of wooden swords and spears, and then to the door.

The door was metallic and thick, much like the doors in Rivet City, and the Vaults. Jason suddenly remembered something he had picked up during his escape from his first true home.

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

Jason swallowed the lump of air in his throat, watching the corners of the illuminated hallways of Vault 101. He felt his right hand being weighed down by the weapon that Amata had given him. It was a 10 millimeter pistol that belonged to a Vault Security. She had also given him some ammo for the weapon, and after a minute or two trying to figure out how to properly load the gun, Jason had taken everything he could from his room and began his escape.

After seeing an armed guard, however, Jason had ducked into the women's restroom to avoid having to shoot anyone. He heard the guard yell at something before grunting in effort. Jason heard several thunks before the guard began to walk away.

Jason sighed in relief and began to reach for the door control before he heard something clack to the ground behind him. He turned and gasped in shock when he saw a Radroach approaching him, its antennae twitching madly as it clicked at him. Jason looked between it and his pistol before he brought it up and pulled the trigger.

In the small, walled-off metallic room.

BANG

"Son of a BITCH!" Jason cried out as he dropped the weapon.

The Radroach exploded in a green shower of internal organs and chitin while Jason held his ears in pain.

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

Jason cringed as he felt his ears flatten against the sides of his head. Shocked by the sensation, Jason looked over to see his ears actually move around.

'Holy shit! That's awesome!'

Jason looked back at Star Buck to see that she was looking at him quizzically. Jason cleared his throat and formulated an appropriate response.

"I'd give you a demonstration, but the first time I heard a gun go off in a tight space like this, I almost went deaf."

Star looked to the rifle and then to the walls of the room.

"Really?" she asked.

Jason nodded.

"I've never had perfect hearing, and when I learned that guns and tight spaces don't go well together, I never tried mixing them again. Plus, when I learned about that kind of terrible decision, it was with a weaker weapon that doesn't make as much noise as this one," Jason emphasized with a tug on his Hunting Rifle's strap. "Not only that, but I don't want to cause a panic when I fire off a shot, so I'd rather wait until I absolutely need to use it."

Star nodded her head in understanding as she thought about what the Wanderer had said.

"I get it. I've been in similar situations with Mages that think firing off a thunderbolt is a good idea in a vent."

"Thunderbolt?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, a magically concentrated bolt of electricity. If it's like that, then I'd likely be deaf for a week or two. You see, Thestrals have hyper-sensitive hearing compared to other Ponies, so..."

As she continued to explain the biology of the Thestrals, Jason began to fidget with his left ear a bit. He rotated it at the base and smirked inwardly.

'I've got to try this in front of a mirror,' he thought to himself.

Author's Notes:

Next Chapter coming out soon.
It's already 1K words long.