Chapter 14.5: Epiphany

Dawn and Night Light hadn’t a clue about what to do, Trouble was busy reclaiming his gear from the rest stop. The bowler hat with all the caps still lay flat out on the plain, untouched.

Dawn’s curiosity got the better of her, everypony seemed to know Trouble better than her. Everypony seemed to have respect for his name, or maybe it was fear.

“What’s so bad about Trouble?” Dawn asked the Ranger, she remembered her reaction when Trouble revealed his name to her.

“He never told you? Can’t you guess at least?” Night Light replied, baffled as to why Trouble withheld the most basic information about himself to her.

Dawn remained silent, Night Light sighed “He’s a legend, a very very dangerous pony. Like most ponies in his line of work he’s not too big on rules or morals. He’s the guy you call when an army is too big and anything less is too weak.”

Dawn could have guessed that much, she seen what he was capable of but she still didn’t have her answer. “But what did he do? There was no way he was always this,” she thought for the most suitable word “respected.”

“Shit, Dawn I don’t even know where to begin. He was a Death Dealer that much you have to know, Right?” Night Light was borderline appalled with Dawn’s lack of knowledge.

“Yeah, I know he was a Death Dealer, but I don’t know who they are. And what does that make him some sort of god?” Dawn could have guessed the answer.

“In a way, yes, it was a damn shame what happened to them though. I think Trouble should tell you himself, besides he was one of them he could go into detail, I’ve only got the basics.” She left it at that, Dawn felt she was right. It was at Trouble’s discretion what to reveal about himself, not rumors that have spread about him.

Trouble emerged fully geared up, back in black. He walked on past them, snatching up the bowler hat and tipping the contents into his saddle bags. He fell onto all four of his hooves, turned to face his companions and said.

“Next stop New Pegas.”

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“Finally.” The Figure said exhausted.

“You know about the Death Dealer’s now right?” The Figure asked her.

“Of course, I learned too much over the last two months, but what I didn’t know was how hard things were going to get after New Pegas.” Dawn said, remembering.

“How so?” the Figure asked, he remained seated unlike usual.

“Well, as it turns out the shit at Ever Bright? That’s a small job for him, shit escalated.”

“Shit escalated?” The Figure asked bewildered.

Dawn nodded, “Yeah, you’ll see.”

The Figure threw up his arms and sighed,

“Right, whatever. Did anything happen on the road? Worth mentioning now. We’re running out of time.” The Figure said getting frustrated, Dawn began to think these wall were closing in on him too.

“Nope, not really. We were all fairly quiet till about the time we reached the north side gate. We talked for a while, listened to the news.”

The Figure grunted, “Gimme the short version, every second counts.”

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The group threaded down the gradient when an urge for conversation swept over Dawn.

“Hey Night Light, how did you get your cutie mark?” Dawn gingerly asked.

“Huh?” Night Light replied caught off guard.

“Your cutie mark.” Dawn repeated.

“Oh, shit it’s a long story.” Night Light said backing away from the topic.

“Sure go on ranger.” Trouble chimed in.

Night Light let out a sigh.

“Fine. It’s an oil lamp.” Night Light said quickly and annoyed.

“What?” Dawn asked confused.

“An oil lamp, you know like the ones you carry around in your mouth?” Night Light’s voice was raising, and quickening warning Dawn off.

Trouble sighed “Don’t mind her ranger, I operate mostly on a don’t ask don’t tell basis. If you don’t want to speak I won’t make you, but feel free to enlighten us.” Trouble said, he could tell Night Light didn’t want to talk about it.

“Thanks Trouble.” Night Light said her voice soothing again, she didn’t look it but Night Light was not to be fucked around with.

Dawn went back into silence, where she belonged. Night Light had something to hide. Something she wanted to keep in the dark. Who doesn’t?

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The road was long and desolate. New Pegas didn’t seem to be getting any closer, it felt like the further they travelled, the further it felt  they were from their goal. Dawn was getting tired of the desert. She had only been out here little over a week and she was already sick of it. It went from Dry Town - Hot, to Marizona - Very Hot, to Ponave - How the fuck could it be this hot!?!

The same damn scenery everywhere, sand with more sand with the odd smearing of blood. She couldn’t imagine how Trouble and Night Light haven’t been driven to insanity over it yet. They were weird but they weren’t insane.

Her mind was trailing back to what Trouble told her after they left Night Light with the young family. That he wanted to ‘Groom her into the next Trouble’ she didn’t know whether to be scared, excited or running. She had only known him for a short while but in that space of time she was: Blown up, shot at, bleeding to death and running for her life.

All in all, an improvement in her standard of living.

The party came to a turn in the road, to their left was a wide road with multiple lanes leading straight towards the magnificent city, the other swung right, to the right was... More Desert, with a few tiny blips in the distance bobbing towards them.

Dawn discreetly turned the safety off Bad News, Trouble snapped his head round to face her his face alert.

“Easy kid, tourists is all. Jus come to bask in the glory of New Pegas, until their arses are broke anyhow.”

His words didn’t but Dawn at ease, she was learning lessons from the waste. She couldn’t afford to be filled with holes again.

They trudged onwards, inching closer towards their ultimate goal. Dawn felt a smile creep it’s way up along her face. She wasn’t entirely sure why, before long she started chuckling for no reason in particular.

It went from silent suppressed chuckles to climbing in frequency and volume. Her shoulders jittering up and down. She finally burst out into full blown laughter, Night Light shot her a confused look.

Night Light raised an eyebrow quizzical, the corner of her mouth twitched the smile spreading.

“What’s the joke?” Night Light asked a smile began to take charge of her face.

Dawn through her fit of laughing replied “ I haven’t a fucking clue.”

Trouble not at the least bit surprised or phased simply smiled and continued walking.

Dawn followed her body wobbly from all the laughter. NIght Light dashed over to Trouble her smile falling.

“Is she Alright?” She asked concerned.

“Probably, ya never went through this nah?” Trouble asked raising an eyebrow.

Night Light shook her head in dismay.

“Weird,” Trouble commented, he let out a laugh and continued “fuck, it happened meself. It was after my very first real firefight, we were out numbered twenty ta two, I fuckin walked out of there laughin’ couldn’t believe me own luck hey. Dawn ‘ere just experienced the wildest fuckin’ week of her life. She’s entitled to a laugh.”

Night Light cocked an eyebrow, a little bewildered.

Dawn’s fit continued, all the ponies she killed, all the ponies that tried to kill her. All those corpses that were behind her. All those poor innocent dead faces. That child in VDNKh whose skull was crushed by that Angel.

Razey who gunned down Angels with ease she remembered how he was suddenly respected after he took a life. She remembered Brick Jaw, where Trouble stabbed him, how he died without a word. The screams of the Angel while Trouble scorched his face.

The undead horde chasing her down in Caturi pass.

Dawn ducked her head down unable to support it with all the laughing, he shoulders bobbing with the hysterics. She remembered those mortars raining down on her, that whistling ordnance that scarred her. She remembered Trouble drunk against the raiders forsaking his weapon just to kill them up close, for fun. How he unloaded a magazine into the last one’s face.

She threw her head in the air with explosive laughter, her lungs were beginning to burn with this amount of hysterics. Tears began to roll from her eyes. That pony with the Harmonica that had Trouble bleeding from the eyes, the ponies who were burned alive in VDNKh.

Trouble spoke again his smile falling.

“Then you start to realise something.”

Her laughs began to falter. The Raider Adonis who had his hind hooves cut off by Trouble, Knick Knack the old raider who sentenced his son to die in his stead. The Night Mare imprisoning her. That Wall Trouble was demoralized by.

Her laughs became sobs, those tears were that of sorrow masked by laughter.

Trouble continued his face grim.

“You realise, what you just done. What you had to do to live another day.”

Dawn’s head hung low, her tears didn’t stop. The weight of the world began to cascade upon her shoulders.

“You realise, that this world is a terrible place and we put ourselves here.”

Dawn’s laughs become moans of a pained past, all the joy she felt had left her, this desert sapped it up like blood on the sand.

“You realise, there is no turning back, not now, you’ll never be the same. You can’t fix dead.”

Dawn felt her hooves begin to tremble, she watched as this hell flashed before her eyes. All the miseries and atrocities she witnessed.

“You realise, your only option is to press on. If you stop this hell will claim you as well. How you are no longer you, but rather a product of your own actions.”

Dawn fell, her knees crumbled from under her, they slowly retracted into a ball as she lay there sobbing. Snot and tears running down her face as the sun high above scorched her.

“You realise, your a shit stain on this planet, born to be wiped from it. Our time has passed, this is a new world that we’re clinging on to... And it doesn’t want us.”

Dawn ceased to move, she lay wallowing in her own melancholy as Trouble’s truth washed over her.

“What a beautiful world we’ve destroyed.”

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