Chapter Three: Familiar Friends, Familiar Foes

The cracked, decayed road still had several cars on it, nuclear cars. How much fun I'd have with those in Fallout 3. There wasn't time to waste blowing up cars, and unfortunately, this wasn't Fallout 3, it was real life. Another universe, yes, though still reality in every way. What wasn't reality anymore? I thought about that often after my first trans-universal adventure, and this second journey brought back these thoughts. Was every concievable fictional universe actually real? It made my head spin. All the characters, all the places, all of it fiction- until Discord gave me this power, allowing me to fully appreciate the sheer scale of the multiverse that had only begun to manifest itself in the minds of humans. It may not be real in my universe, but now I knew that in some universe, somewhere, the stories I played games of, the stories I read in books, it was all real, and I was in one of those very stories at this very moment.

"I wonder if all the other universes I've read stories about are real," I said, trying to start a conversation on the matter.

"I've wondered that too, Zach. Since, well, you knew about us before you even came to Equestria the first time, and you told us that you actually watched stories about us using machines. It's really quite interesting to think about, isn't it?" Twilight said.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash had just had a startling realization, and was quick to share. "Daring Do might actually be real?"

"Well, you're real and you only appeared in stories before I actually met any of you, so I suppose so."

"Can you take me to that universe sometime?"

"Rainbow, there are no jungles with ancient ruins or anything like that anywhere near Ponyville. You'd never be able to find her," Spike said, visibly shattering Rainbow's hopes.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right..."

"Maybe we can later, after we're done," I assured her. It'd be a small favor to perform, but I'd have to go with her, to bring her back. Rainbow smiled in response.

We came upon a fork in the road, and a sign that was still stuck in the ground after two hundred years advertising Vault 46's limited, precious slots and pointing in the direction of one of the roads. We turned onto the road, and after a short while longer, we came across a large cave opening, obviously the entrance. I began walking in.

"It's dark in there..." Spike said, nervously. It then occurred to me that Spike would draw much more attention than my equine companions if the Vault was inhabited. They'd probably think he was some sort of gecko and react... accordingly.

"Spike, maybe you could wait out here. If anything scary happens or any other humans show up, don't panic, just come into the cave," I suggested, and no one objected.

Spike dismounted Twilight, visibly reducing her load, which had seemed to bother her somewhat. I began to wonder what in the world she had brought in those saddlebags of hers, quite heavily laden as they were. I hadn't been listening very closely when she was checking things off of her checklist. Spike sat down on a rock not far from the cave mouth, and began idly throwing stones.

The cave was quiet, bathed in a purplish glow from Twilight's horn. The cave was eerie and quite narrow, winding slightly. Eventually we came upon the great, gear-esque door, bearing the number '46'. This section of the cavern was brightly lit. I keyed the door panel, finding it unlocked. The three of us stood in front of the door, waiting patiently for it to do its thing, which took an awfully long time. Though it was an awfully heavy door, designed to keep out atomic weapon blasts as well as radiation. The entrance chamber was brightly lit with the cool-white lights of a functioning Vault. There was, however, nobody in sight. The three of us entered, and the door began to close by itself.

"I don't like this." Twilight took the words right out of my mouth.

"I don't either. This place is giving me the creeps already," Rainbow commented.

A loud bang was heard, and a concussive shockwave blew us all off our feet, the peculiar ordinance knocking the wind out of me, and, evidently, the ponies as well. A hiss was heard, and we were breathless, helpless, as some sort of gas caused me to lose consciousness.

*****

"He's waking up," a woman's voice said. I opened my eyes to see a bright white light. I tried to move my arm to shield my eyes, but they were both bound to what seemed like some sort of surgical table. I looked around. I was clearly in the Vault's clinic, the woman was close-by, dressed in a familiar red robe with a familiar emblem on it. I couldn't quite place it, but it was very familiar.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"A scribe of the Brotherhood of Steel," she replied.

"The Brotherhood of Steel? What are you doing in this Vault?"

"You are the one who will be answering the questions, not asking them," an older-sounding male voice said, from beyond my line of sight. He came into view then. He was clad in power armor, not wearing a helmet, revealing an middle-aged man's face.

"Young man, why have you come here?" He wasn't hostile in his manners, but wasn

"I'm looking for someone," I answered. What had happened to Twilight and Rainbow? I couldn't see them from where I was.

"Is that so? Who?"

"A person that may have passed here about three weeks ago, they might have seemed delirious, maybe saying he wasn't from this world, or something like that. Have you seen them?"

"No questions from you," he re-iterated his previous statement, "what are those creatures that entered the Vault with you?"

I debated with myself about whether or not to reveal the truth about them. The Brotherhood of Steel were not bad people, but they sought knowledge, not to help some kid on a quest. I decided that if I were to have an ally in this quest, it may as well be them. However, I didn't know this particular contingent's strength or policies, however. This was a gamble.

"They're travellers from another universe. They're my allies," I answered.

"Another universe, you say? Next question-"

"Where are they? I need to see them."

"Again, I'd like to remind you, I'm the one asking the questions. How did they get here?"

"I don't know, exactly," I lied. If they knew that I could travel between universes at will, I'd probably become something to be studied, and I didn't have time for that.

"We found nothing on your person that was unorthodox. However, how did your 'colleague' have fresh fruit in her bags? How was said fruit aquired?"

"She's from another universe, she brought the apples with her to provision us."

"Very well. You may ask questions now."

"How long was I out for?"

"Four hours." Four hours?! Spike's still out there!

"Did anything else try to enter the Vault?" A hint of panic snuck its way into my voice.

"No."

"Why did you not just dump me outside?"

"We found your group to be of interest, so we took you inside for examination."

"Where are my companions?"

"They are still unconscious, in the corner of this room." I couldn't see them, but I trusted him, for some reason.

"I assure you, I'm of no threat to you... Paladin? Could I be allowed to stand?" I guessed at his rank, and his surprised expression proved me right.

"I suppose so, but don't try anything stupid, I'll warn you now." He released my bindings, and I stood up, stiff from hours in inactivity. Sure enough, the two ponies were in the corner of the room, sleeping quietly. Twilight's saddlebags had obviously been examined then repacked, and my own backpack sat nearby. I walked over and put it on.

"Now, I am curious. What do you know about the Brotherhood of Steel?" The Paladin asked.

"Quite a bit, actually. You've got a lot of different chapters throughout the Wasteland, your hierarchy is divided between the scribes, knights and paladins of the Brotherhood, and your ultimate goal is preserving technology in all of its forms."

"How does one as young as you know so much about us?"

"Let's just say that I've played this game before."

"Hmm."

Twilight began to stir in the corner, and all present turned to look. She got up, and looked around.

"Where are we?" she asked me.

"These things can speak English!?"

"Uh, you can speak Equestrian?"

"Doesn't matter. Twilight Sparkle, meet Paladin... uh..."

"Stross." The man was clearly very confused.

"Paladin Stross," I finished.

"A pleasure meeting you, mister Stross." She extended her hoof as a greeting, and he hesitated slightly before shaking it.

"A pleasure indeed. Now, what can you tell me about-"

Stross was interrupted by Rainbow's getting up as well.

"Where the hay are we?" She asked nobody in particular.

"The Vault's clinic. It's a Brotherhood of Steel base, they're friendly," I explained, "Stross, this is Rainbow Dash."

"And I thought the other one's name was rediculous..." Stross muttered.

"Hey!" Rainbow took offense to that.

Possibly not realizing what she was showing by doing so, Twilight magically lifted her saddlebags onto her back. Stross' reaction was priceless.

"What the hell did you just do?!"

"Uh, it's magic. All unicorns have it," Twilight replied, nervously.

"They're from a different universe, their world works... differently." I explained.

"That doesn't make any sense... anyway, I'm sure the elder would like to have a word with you three. Follow me, don't touch anything." We followed Stross out into the corridor. We passed several scribes and severall knights in the halls, each regarding us with caution. They didn't know us to be friend or foe yet. The elder sat where the Overseer usually would sit in a Vault, at a desk.

"Our guests," Stross introduced us, then proceeded to stand by the door.

"I understand you three are not from around here." The elder said, "are you possibly related somehow to another man, who passed by this area several weeks ago? He described in detail creatures like these to us before we let him go."

"Yes, we're here to get him back, to bring him home, and these two 'creatures' are Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. They're just as intelligent as us."

"Again, just as this man described. You're here to rescue him, are you? I'm afraid that will be very, very difficult indeed. You see, before we let him leave, we planted a device within him that records his whereabouts and the sounds he hears and sends them to us. We have determined that he is currently being held by an immensely powerful being known as 'The Master'."

The Master!? The Master was killed at the end of Fallout 1, and there wasn't any 'Vault 46' in that game. That meant that we were far away from there, and that he'd somehow survived. Was it to fall to Spike, Twilight, Rainbow, and myself to stop him, this time?

"The Master?! The Vault Dweller killed him! He can't be alive-"

"But he is, he's somehow escaped death at the hands of the Vault Dweller, your knowledge of whom surprises me, and now resides around twenty kilometers to the north of here, in an abandoned military base. This chapter of the Brotherhood is under-strength at the moment, as the Master has begun creating an army of mutants to terrorize the wastes again. This man you seek was abducted by The Master, and, as far as we can tell, is a captive until he tells them how to move between universes. That brings me to a question: how did you get here?"

"I'm not sure, really," I lied, Twilight giving me a puzzled look. "I just know that we've got to save this guy."

"But Zach, I thought you said you could go to any universe you wanted." Rainbow just had to say that, didn't she?

"Yes, it was a lie when I said I didn't know how we got here. I can travel between universes at will," I admitted.

"How can you do this? Can you share this technology with us?" The elder was greatly interested, and not angered by my temporary deception.

"It's magic, I don't really know how it works, exactly, but I do know that it's magic, something I can control."

"Interesting. Such a powerful ability you have. Can you demonstrate it?"

"Not right here, if I used it here I'd probably end up inside the ground on the other end."

"Very well. So, if I understand correctly, you plan on going to the Master's stronghold and freeing this man?"

"Yes, if that's what it takes. If we can take out the Master while we're at it, bonus."

"Zach, are you sure that's a good idea? You described mutants before, I don't think we can fight an army of those," Twilight spoke up. She had a point. We'd need some skills and a big pile of huge guns to take on a super mutant army. But I was one person, a kid, at that. Twilight's magic and Rainbow's flight would be of use, but what about Spike and I? Dead meat.

"You three won't be able to perform this act without weapons. I will give you access to some of our armory stores, and we will assist you whenever we can, as it seems our interests are very similar to yours." The elder seemed like a reasonable, decent man. We'd made an ally out of him rather easily, but now our problems had gotten a lot worse; we'd have to fight through a small army to get through the Master's new Cathedral of the Unity.

"Thank you for your assistance, I won't forget it."

Stross led us to the Vault's armory, and I selected my armaments carefully. Twilight and Rainbow refused any weapons; they knew what guns were, and how they weren't the most humane means of dealing with foes, not to mention Rainbow's lack of any means to use said guns. The laser rifle I chose was the one that looked best, and had an adjustable power setting, which included overcharge. A nice weapon. I donned a suit of combat armor, the twenty-pound suit was heavy, but bearably so. We said farewell to the elder, and left the Vault, finding Spike at the door, napping.

"Spike, wake up," Twilight said, "Spiiiiike, wake up!"

The snoozing dragon awoke, stood, then yawned. "I waited like, two hours for you guys, then fell asleep. What took you so long?"

"We got side-tracked. We know where to find the human we're looking for, now, but it's not going to be easy," I said.

"I love challenging things! I'd like to see a super mutant get hit by supersonic pony and walk away from it!" Rainbow said, pridefully. That had actually happened to me once, and it really hurt, and she hadn't even been at full speed.

The group proceeded toward the surface, and we found it was already noon by the time we were there. If this incredible fortune kept up, we'd be done here soon, hopefully with all four of us in one piece. Still worrisome was the prospect of facing hordes of super mutants. We did have a master of pony martial arts, a unicorn with very, very powerful abilities, Spike, and myself. This would test our mettle, to be certain, but we were not without confidence: Twilight was strong and capable as an individual, and a skilled user of combat, defensive, and teleportation magic, Rainbow Dash was fast and hard-hitting, a super mutant would have a hard time hitting her. Spike was without any special abilities, and my universal portal could probably be used to avoid detection, escape dangerous situations, and such things. We were diverse, and this diversity gave us versatility, and that would probably serve us well. We began our hike northward, it would be quite a long journey, and I definitely knew that I wasn't going to be home by Sunday.