Twilight walked around the corner of the marketplace with Spike at her side, talking about the newest 'test' given to her by Celestia since she'd become a Princess. Spike, however, was not convinced that this was that so much as it was doing Celestia's work for her.

"Spike," the alicorn continued in their conversation, "I know that Princess Celestia wouldn't just leave a possible danger to Equestria loose, especially if she found them in the Everfree Forest. I'm sure that whoever this 'Wanderer' is, he's probably somewhere around here."

The young dragon rolled his eyes before gazing at the marketplace. He raised an arm out to stop Twilight in her tracks.

"What's wrong, Spike?" she asked.

"Um, didn't the Princess mention that that Wanderer had a hat that looked like Applejack's?"

"Yes, wh- oh..."

She let her words hang in the air as they stared at the scene before them: Applejack trying to do business with the very pony that the Princess of the Sun had told them to watch.

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

"Well then," Applejack began, "How many apples ya want, Mr. Wanderer?"

"About three should be fine," Jason responded. "One for me, one for mah pal, here, and one for later on the road."

"That'll be three bits!" she stated happily.

"Alright then." Jason reached into a pouch on his side, grabbed three bottle caps with his teeth and placed them on the table. Applejack looked between him and the currency, and raised a questioning eyebrow, making Jason questi on what she was thinking before the realization hit him like a charging Deathclaw on about fifty shots of Psycho.

They were bottle caps. Not their currency.

"Shit," Jason whispered to himself.

"Uhmm..." Applejack started, "what're these? Bottle caps?"

"Oh, um... You see, I'm not from Equestria."

"Ah remember," she deadpanned with her eyebrow still raised.

"Well, in the wasteland where I'm from, we don't really have that much material to waste, especially on coins and bills, so instead of using something like... whatever you use, we just use bottle caps as money. I just... sort of forgot that it proba-"

"Hold on a sec'," Applejack interrupted. "Wasteland? Whadda ya mean, 'wasteland'?"

Jason sighed deeply before clearing his throat and looking back up at her. "Ya see, back about... two hundred years ago, my place had a nasty big war that nearly wiped out everybody. A few survived by living in underground bunkers called Vaults, and by the time the first ones opened, there was almost nothing left of the world: buildings were barely standing, vegetation was all burned away, and far as the eye could see, everything was nothing but a wasteland."

"Wait, why didn't cha just use boats to come on over to Equestria, then? I reckon there'd still be enough wood left to make enough if there were so few survivors."

Jason shook his head. "We had no idea that Equestria even existed. We were... secluded, far off from anywhere that you could find on any map. Not like any map is accurate anymore, anyways..."

Applejack was clearly taken aback by the tragedy of the Wasteland's history. "What wa s it like?"

"Well, if I could sum it up in one word... deadly, horrible, hellish. Take your pick. Whoever and wherever you are, every day is a struggle to survive. Most every critter evolved over time with one purpose: kill. If you don't die to the wildlife, then the poisoned water, the crazies, or about a million other things can do you in easily."

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

Twilight was appalled. She had been watching the two interact, subconsciously taking notes with her magic, unaware that she was even performing a spell at all. Now, however, every sentence the Wanderer had said got her closer and closer to drop the writing materials.

The alicorn looked down to see a massively terrified baby dragon, now with his metaphorical jaw on the floor. She didn't want to know what he thought of the situation at hoof, but rested one of hers on his shoulder, pulling him closer. When he looked back , Twilight gave a smile that did its best to be reassuring before returning her attention to the unicorn by the apple stand.

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

The truthful description stunned Applejack. Equestria had had its moments of conflict in the far past, but nothing close to the extent of the war Jason had described, and while there were places like the Fire Swamps or Ghastly Gorge, or even the Everfree Forest, the wasteland appeared to have about the dangers of all three combined.

Seeing what his exposition had done to the poor girl, Jason decided it best to change the subject. Noticing her fine choice of headwear, he tried to bring focus to something else. "Nice Stetson."

Applejack blinked a few times, coming out of her trance, and looked between his foreleg and her hat. "What?"

"I said that's a nice Stetson."

"Oh." She reached a foreleg up and brought it down... somehow. Whatever she did, it left Jason slightly bemused. "This ol' thing? Thanks." Applejack smiled sheepishly.

Noticing that the distraction was working, Jason decided to press further into the subject. "Got a story behind it?"

"'Scuse me?"

"It's just that, where I come from, Stetsons aren't just a nice thing to wear. There's a story behind why everyone that has one wears it. They're symbols of a promise that the owner would try to keep, no matter what the promise is. So, do you have a reason for yours?"

Applejack's features began to gradually sink into a sad smile. "I guess it kinda fits with what ya' said. It started when Ah was a filly. See, mah parents were honest workers, always makin' sure that we were up ta code on everythin' in the books, whether they're about how 'ta plant the seeds, or even fillin' our records. They were always goin' on and on 'bout how honesty is the best policy the Apple family lives by, and how we've always kept up good morals and such." Her expression fell as she continued. "A few years ago, right after they had mah little sister, Apple Bloom, they got in an accident on the side of a cliff... all the search teams could find, after days, was this here Stetson. I keep it as a reminder that no matter what, always be honest and true to mah morals."

Jason slowly nodded, feeling new-found respect for the pony before him. She had lost her parents, had a sister to look out for, and still managed to face the day with a smile, evident from when he first walked up to her.

Applejack then placed the Stetson atop her head before rubbing the area around her eyes, clearly forcing tears back down. "So, what about yours?"

Jason blinked, still as stone. "Excuse me?"

"Your Stetson. Doesn't yours have a story, or were ya tryin' ta just change the subject?"

Jason eyed her for a bit before shaking his head with a sigh. "I was trying to change the subject, sorry. I didn't want you to focus on... before. I'd rather just move on from it, to be honest."

Applejack softened her expression a bit. "Ah'm sorry ta bring it up, but-"

"No, no, I'm good." Jason interrupted. "See, I came from one of those Vaults that I mentioned earlier, the ones underground, safe from the war. When I first came out, I found a small town made out of scraps, called Megaton. The Sheriff there, Lucas Simms, was really nice, he tried to make sure everyone there was safe at all times. He never slept a wink. And then he met me. I helped him clear out some raiders from a collapsed school in a ruined town near Megaton, and he told me that from then on, I could be considered his friend. Finding friends in the Wasteland is no small feat, and making a friend is almost as hard as staying alive. I found Dogmeat here fighting for his life in a junkyard, for example."

The dog barked happily at the mention of his name, earning a slightly clumsy petting from the his master's hoof.

"But, after a few days, I met a ma-pony, in the town bar. A very bad... Pony. Just downright evil, I'd say."

"What makes ya say that?" Applejack asked.

For a second, Jason didn't respond, but then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "He wanted Megaton gone, whether with everyone still inside or not."

Applejack gasped.

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

Twilight had to cover her mouth with her hoof to ensure that she wouldn't be caught trying to spy on the Wanderer. Spike was just standing next to her, so stumped that his fins were drooping flat against his scales, while his eyes had shrunk to pinpricks. Whatever this 'Megaton' place was, there was somepony bad enough... evil enough to just want it gone. The fact that somepony would go to that extreme was outrageous.

And Twilight was writing it all down without even knowing it.

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

"Now just that, but, he wanted to pay me for making sure it was gone."

Applejack shut her mouth as her eyes blazed with righteous rage. "What kinda no-good, low-down varmint would do somethin' like that!?" she asked furiously.

"Someone that would go so low as to offer five hundred caps to someone willing to do it."

Her head shot back in surprise as Jason closed his eyes. "WHAT?! Pay that much for somethin' like THAT?!"

"The Wasteland can bring out the worst of who lives in it sometimes. Other times it keeps them that way forever. Then and there, all it would've taken is one moment of just that, one small second for someone, anyone, to say, 'deal'."

Applejack shook her head fiercely in disbelief. "What'd ya do?"

"The only thing I could think of. I brought the news to the Sheriff and we went on to arrest the guy. One thing led to another, and both the payin' devil and Sheriff Lucas ended up biting the dust. Before he died, though, he passed his Stetson to me, smiled, and told me that he was glad that there was at least one other soul in the Wasteland that knew right from wrong. He asked me to never forget those morals, never let go of what's right, and always bring justice to those that do wrong." As Jason finished, he reached to his Stetson and pushed it down a bit on his head.

Jason opened his eyes and looked to see the tearing eyes of Applejack as she held a hoof up to her mouth.

"Well then, sorry to waste your time. Come on, Dogmeat, let's find somewhere else to get some grub," he called, turning from the stand.

"Wait!" The Wanderer turned around slowly and watched as Applejack brought three apples onto the stand. "Ah can't let somepony like you go off starvin'."

Jason looked between the three apples and the vendor of the goods with narrowed eyes. "Why give me these?"

"'Cause you're right, Ah reckon. We've got history and morals to uphold, a reminder on our heads 'bout what makes us, and what we need ta keep ourselves true to. And mah family code says that even if you don't have the bits right now, you can just come back with 'em one day. And besides, Ah think you should try an' stay a bit, see that Ponyville's just about the friendliest place you can get in Equestria." She smiled warmly. "After that kind a' life, you deserve a little rest, don't cha think?"

Jason looked back down to the apples and back at her face before sighing lightly. "Thank you, thank you so much. It's just that... I've always thought myself to be just that after Sheriff Simms died, someone that the wasteland needed to protect it. But now I'm here, and there's these soldiers I met that are focusing on protecting the innocent and restoring the old world now, so it's not like I've left the folks of Megaton to fend for themselves. I think it's time I moved on. Thanks, again, Applejack, and I promise that I'll find a way to pay you back one day."

Jason then reached out his foreleg...

And rightly punched one of the apples off of the surface of the stand, sending it to the dirt.

Applejack and the Wanderer just looked at the apple, the gears in Jason's head turning in overdrive in reminder that he hadn't any hands at this time. Before the apple-vendor could ask a question Jason had an idea, and whistled.

"Here Dogmeat, come get an apple!" Jason called out.

The dog then pounced the apple with a happy bark and tore into it, sending juices flying short ways around the fruit as Dogmeat ate up every last bit of it.

The Wanderer looked on with a smile to see his friend able to happily dig-in to a rather healthy looking piece of food. He looked back over to the apples on the counter and saw that Applejack was smiling at the sight of Dogmeat enjoying one of her apples. Jason then reached a foreleg towards the apples and slid them across the table towards his bags. With some effort, he managed to flip one of them open and saw his stash of Stimpacks and Rad-Aways were untouched, thankfully, along with his other... necessities, such as Vodka. Jason plopped the remaining two apples into the bag before flipping the top back over to the side, concealing his inventory of other-worldly items.

"Shoot, reminds me of when Ah first got Winona." Applejack stated.

Jason looked up at the apple farmer with slight intrigue.

"Wait, you've got a dog too?" The Wanderer asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sure as sunshine!" She replied, turning to him.

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl. Looks an awful lot like yer dog, too, 'cept smaller. Maybe we can get 'em together one day." She added with a chuckle.

Jason smiled at the comment and turned to Dogmeat.

"Hear that, boy? You might get to meet a nice lady friend."

Dogmeat shot his head back as his tail began to wag faster than before.

"<bark! bark!>"

Jason smiled and shook his head before turning back to Applejack.

"Well, again, thanks. Have a nice day."

Applejack smiled at him.

"You too, Wanderer."

Jason nodded to her and turned around. He motioned for the dog to follow with a wave of the foreleg. Once Dogmeat was at his side, he eyed the road before him with a deep breath.

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

Twilight watched as the Wanderer began to trot away with his dog after sliding the apples into his bag. As the two began to leave, something in her mind clicked on in realization.

"Spike!" She stated.

The small Dragon snapped back to look at her.

"Yeah?"

"This is our chance! We can finally talk to this "Wanderer" Pony now!"

Spike began to rub the back of his head.

"Um, how about you go? I'm... gonna go-"

"Spike, this is important. He's a foreign Pony with no sense of how Equestria works, and, no skills in Magic, at all! We have the chance to gain a whole new perspective on variations of Pony culture from an entirely different Pony, from a completely different civilization!"

The Dragon huffed a bit before crossing his arms and responding.

"Twi, do you really think it'd be a good idea? I mean, what about that stuff he said? How do we know he isn't bad like those Ponies from... wherever he's from?"

"Spike, you're not being very fair! I thought you knew not to judge others off of one experience with them. Maybe he's a kinder Pony than that. Who knows? Maybe he's more noble than some of the Ponies we've seen."

"Pretty sure anypony's more noble than some of the Canterlot stiffies that we've seen."

Twilight gaped at the Dragon's language.

"Spike!? Where did you hear that word!?"

"From Rainbow Dash, why?"

The Alicorn slowly began to grind her teeth. Noticing the amount of trouble that he may very well get in, Spike changed the focus back to the previous point.

"Hey, how about we go talk to that "Wanderer," huh?" He said with a fake smile.

Twilight looked down angrily at Spike before looking over to see the Wanderer turn a corner with his dog, right out of her view.

"Ugh, fine. But when we're done talking to him, I'm going to have a talk with Rainbow."

With that, Twilight picked up Spike in her magic and settled him on her back before trotting off down the road, hoping to follow the path of her last glimpse of the Unicorn in question.

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

Applejack chuckled to herself as she watched Twilight gallop off after the Wanderer.

"That gal's always doin' somethin' in a hurry, I swear."

"Oh, hello there, Applejack, darling."

The farmpony turned around and smiled when she saw a familiar white Unicorn walk towards her with a small saddlebag.

"Hey there, Rares," Applejack responded, "How ya doin'?"

Rarity stopped in front of the stand and waved a hoof.

"Oh, just got back from the spa with Fluttershy, on my way home to make sure that there weren't any messages or requests sent since I've left. What about you?"

"Just made a sale to a new Pony. Mighty nice fella, actually. Think you'd like ta take a gander at his get-up, though." She added with a smirk.

Rarity rolled her eyes with a smile before settling her gaze on the bottle caps that the Wanderer left as payment.

"Applejack, what do you have here?"

"Oh, those are just some bottle caps the new Pony tried ta use ta buy apples."

The marshmallow mare scoffed at this.

"Why would anypony ever use these as..." Rarity trailed off as she examined one closely.

"Yeah, well, he ain't exactly from Equestria, and-"

"Hold on a second, Applejack." Rarity interrupted, holding a hoof up.

With a flash of the horn, Rarity pulled a small object out of her bag and held it up between her eye and the bottle cap.

"Uh, Rare?" Applejack began to question. "Ya do realize that's just a bottle cap, right?"

"Oh my, not at all, Applejack." The Unicorn stated before returning the object to her bag, placing the cap on the stand. "I thought I saw a familiar shine to it, but I had to be sure. This bottle cap is made of a special type of aluminum, rarely found in Equestria."

Applejack shook her head while listening to her friend, trying to process the fact that the caps were apparently not worthless.

"R-really? What makes ya say that?"

"Well, I noticed that their rust along the edges seems a bit too flaky for it to be entirely mixed with the cap itself, and the grime looks as though it would peel right off. Yes, this type is hard to come by. I've heard that this kind of aluminum in particular can actually be used to make a reinforced set of dining ware, and that they only use special utensils and pans and such for royal families in other nations. Why, by the look of it, and trust me on this, I know my minerals, that this much of the metal, however rusted and grimy it may be, is worth at least 30 bits. And since you have three here, I'd say that whoever gave you these unwillingly gave you 87 bits in a tip."

Applejack gaped at the news of the worth of the small discs.

"Wow. Wonder how much that fella's got on him now?"

Rarity blew a small amount of air from her lips with a dismissive wave of the hoof.

"Applejack, please. This type of mineral is far too hard to come by. I doubt that whoever this Pony is, he doesn't have that much on him."

The white mare turned around and began to move towards the road.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home. Ta-ta!"

As she left, Applejack looked down on the small aluminum pieces with disbelief as she smiled and shook her head.

"Nah, she probably right. Fella can't have that much on him."

Author's Notes:

First off:
Special thanks to Jack Kellar for editing and proof-reading, he's really great at what he does, wouldn't have thought this deeply about the Wanderer were it not for his advice.

Now the Author's lazy babbling (you don't have to read this part):

Place your bets, step right up!

How much will the Wanderer have?

Well I'll tell you in the next Chapter, so please, leave a comment on the story or something and let my story live up to the tag of "I just want a comment," thank you.

Also, holy sh!t, 583 likes? Wow. I love this fandom. You are all awesome. We are all awesome. Someone should get everyone on this site some cake for being part of something great or something. I don't know, it's 1 in the morning and I'm still recovering from some f^ck that went down in Florida. Worry not, I'll have more uploaded soon.

PEACE!