Fawkes turned about to face the new pony that had arrived in the main room. This pony was of a wider build than the mares he had met, and sported a blue coat of fur that held some scars. However, Fawkes' eyes widened somewhat when he examined the attire of the pony. It wore a coat made of leather, a duster it seemed, and a brown cowboy hat atop its nest of a brown mane. As he locked with the pony's brown eyes, a familiar scent reached his mutated nostrils.

Tears started to sting both of their eyes as Jason and Fawkes took in the sight of one another. Fawkes slowly approached the blue pony with a shake in his step as Jason trotted up to the Meta Human.

"F-Fawkes," Jason said, "you're here?"

"My friend!" Fawkes shouted, his arms going up. "You're alive!"

Fawkes then ran up to the transmuted Jason and scooped him up in a massive hug, his mutated muscles threatening to crush Jason's metal-coated skeleton. As he did, Jason felt his eyes let loose twin streams of tears as he smiled and began cackling like a psycho, his hooves wrapping around the thick base of Fawkes' neck.

"Fawkes!" he cried out.

As the two Wastelanders embraced, Dogmeat began to howl and jump about, the ponies nearby perplexed at the sight.

"What the hay is going on?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Hey, Sweetie, ain't that the stallion that saved ya from those Diamond Dogs?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle looked down at her hooves and kicked at the ground with a small smile.

"My friend! You're alive! And... blue!"

Fawkes released the Wanderer as the unicorn cackled.

"Jesus Christ, Fawkes! I can't believe you're here!"

"So you know this thing, then?" Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Jason turned, his face falling into a glare.

"Fawkes isn't a thing, you belligerent blue bitch."

"I was asking him, actually. He may look gross on the outside, but at least he's not some asshole that goes around insulting random ponies."

"At least I'm not so insecure that I feels like I have to hype myself up when talking to some random stranger to pretend I'm not worthless!"

"You wanna go right now, fuckface!?"

"LANGUAGE!" Twilight shouted, erecting a dome around the three of them. "I don't care who insulted who, but we do NOT curse like that in front of foals or Spike!"

"Look, Twilight, I'm sorry about cursing in front of the kids, but I won't apologize for sticking up for my friend."

"I'd be more willing to accept the apology if you were to take this conflict elsewhere, sir," Twilight said with a stern look. "I don't know what went on between you and my friend here, but I'd appreciate it if you weren't hostile towards somepony in my castle. That behavior is the exact opposite kind of air I'd like to have in this place."

"Alright, sure. But if you'd be so kind, I'd like to at least hear out how you managed to find Fawkes. He's a very close friend, you see."

"Only if you keep calm when in my home and apologize to Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow smirked as though she'd won as Jason narrowed his eyes at her.

"Fine. I'm sorry for being aggressive towards you, and I hope you don't take it personally. If you do, I'd like to ask you to keep it to me, and don't involve Fawkes. He's quite sensitive."

"Whatever, shit-stain."

"Rainbow!"

"It's fine, I'm used to worse than some stuck-up brat that thinks they're the center of the world throwing out a few cuss words thinking that something will stick."

"Oh, so you're a tough guy, huh!? How about you get a taste of a hoof sandwich with extra teeth knocked out! I'll even throw in some bruises for half off your ugly mug!"

"Okay, you see, now that's better."

"Both of you STOP!" Twilight said.

The two blue ponies ceased squabbling. A yellow hand poked through the barrier and tapped Jason's shoulder. Looking behind him, Jason saw Fawkes leaning over them.

"Excuse me, Twilight... I'm sorry for my friend's... rash behavior."

"Oh, Fawkes, it's alright," Twilight lied.

"Please, allow me to... calm my friend down," he said, picking Jason up.

"Hey, I don't like this! This feels weird!" Jason said.

Fawkes and Jason both phased through Twilight's barrier, the lavender sheen dimming as it splintered apart. Twilight released the spell and watched as the ambient magic fields seemed to fade towards the two.

"Twilight, what the hay was that!?" Rainbow hissed. "You're not just gonna let that scummy bastard go off without teaching him a lesson, are you!?"

"You're not exactly being polite yourself, you know."

"Hey, I tried being nice to that jerkwad, but he decided that he had better things to do and walked away! Then, when I tried to catch up, he insulted me!"

On the other side of the room, Fawkes was still carrying Jason, who was now kicking his legs about.

"Fawkes, come on, this isn't funny! Put me down!"

"Aha ha ha ha! Stop tickling me!"

The Meta-Human released the unicorn, the Wanderer giving his mutated ally a crossed look.

"Fawkes, as glad as I am to see a familiar face around here, I need to know a few things. Namely, how and why."

Fawkes took a knee as he patted Jason on the back. Dogmeat let out a whine of jealousy at the sight.

"My friend... I followed you to that... strange facility. I tried to open the door for you, but... I was too late. However, I am... surprised that you've taken a... local form!"

"Yeah, trust me, this shit's pretty weird. Thankfully, I can harness whatever this glowing stuff is so I don't have to worry about not having my guns. Not to mention that this stuff works almost like radiation on a fundamental level, so I'm sure we're gonna be alright in long-term livability. In fact, if I were a betting man, I'd put all of my caps on this 'Magic' being the reason I'm like this."

"Then... why did I not... change?"

"Probably because it couldn't overwrite the FEV in your body. Maybe it mutated on a smaller scale for you and Dogmeat since both of you were used to radiation-based mutagens."

"Hrm... I suppose it makes... some sense."

"So, did anything happen between you and that walking eyesore over there?"

"Nothing drastic, thankfully... She just thought that... I was a monster, attacking the foals. She acted as a mother should."

"I feel bad for whoever put it in her."

Fawkes let out a chuckle as Jason smirked at the giant biped. With a reliable friend at either side, Jason felt the weight on his shoulder loosen just a little bit.

Author's Notes:

So yeah, I'm alive. And this is back. Because I have 5 classes worth of homework to do and instead of playing video games, I thought I'd do something somewhat productive.

Please check out some of my other stories like, for those who enjoy superhumans and Equestria Girls, check out: When Lightning Strikes.

For those into anime, I've got a Jojo-inspired story as well.