Thanatos' Creed

by Shadowflash

First published 27th of January, 2013

Rainbow Dash ends up in a pretty bad storm. Turns out that the storm sent her to a place of insanity, desperation, and a man named Aeron.

First three chapters are being edited sometime later on. If they bug you because they're not up-to-quality with the rest of the story, feel free to skim them. Chapter 3 is the worst offender.

Rainbow Dash just wanted to go home. The weather was grim, sure, but she had to get home. Staying at Twilight Sparkle's library wouldn't cut it for her. Besides, she was too busy sorting out things. However, things take a drastic turn for the worse when she finds that going through the weather was beyond what she wanted. Even worse, she's now stuck with someone who may either be the pinnacle of her death, or her last and best hope of survival...

Aeron

New Art by: dreamingnoctis - dA
Old Art by: Eldorado - dA

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A/N: Fallout Crossover?! How original, Shadowflash! Do elaborate on such a creative idea!
Now, now, calm down. This is a twist to the original crossovers - I've yet to see one where The Lone Wanderer was evil and where Rainbow Dash is sent there, instead. I've thought about this long and hard, and it's time to do this crossover properly. Let's get to business, and I hope you enjoy. Love you all<3

Aeron

Rainbow Dash burst through the doors of the Golden Oaks Library, furiously shaking the snow off her wings. A dim fire crackled in the hearth to her left, and she rushed towards it, warming up from the freezing weather outside.

"Rainbow Dash! What're you doing here?" a voice questioned behind her, causing her to turn around.

"Was freezing cold, and that snow’s making my wings too heavy!" she explained in reply to the voice, which came from none other than Twilight Sparkle.

"Well, a knock would've been appreciated, too," Twilight joined Dash by the fire, sighing.

"Sorry," Dash gave a small giggle, shrugging.

"Well, how're you going to get to your house in this storm? Unless you want to stay here," The rainbow maned pegasus shook her head.

"No way, I don't want to stay here! Clouds are way comfier. Besides, I was hoping you'd just teleport me to my house, or something," Dash said hopefully, but Twilight shook her head.

"Not in this weather. It'll disrupt the link between you and your house, and probably place you somewhere else. The chances of you ending up at your house are about one in one thousand," Twilight explained, and the pegasus groaned.

"Oh, come on! Like it'll actually happen. Twi, just teleport me so I don't have to go to my house in this weather."

Twilight shook her head again. "No, Dash. Just stay here. One night won't kill you. Besides, I have cocoa ready if you'd like some."

Dash sighed. "I'll take some cocoa, but no way I’m staying here."

"Why, because it's a library?" Twilight deadpanned.

She shook her head in retaliation. "No, it's because I want to be at my house. I don't like mooching off other ponies!"

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead. "Dash, is this a pride thing? Really, it doesn't matter. You're my friend and you're welcome to stay here. Don't think of it as a mooching thing. Think of it as me offering you shelter in an awful storm."

The pegasus thought for a moment, but shook her head. "Nope. No can do!" She snickered, making Twilight groan.

"Well, at least have some cocoa. Don't say I didn't offer to let you stay, either," She nodded as Twilight got up, heading to the kitchen adjacent the fireplace at which she sat at.

Rainbow Dash waited idly, staring at the flickering flames. The warmth brought blood to her wings, letting her relax and stretch out in comfort. She curled her wings and spread them out, before putting them at her sides She laid down as Twilight re-entered the room, levitating two cups on a silver tray. Lowering the tray to Dash, the pegasus took the cup in her hooves, blowing on the piping hot cocoa.

"So, how long is this weather supposed to keep up?" Twilight asked, seating herself next to her friend.

"Until tomorrow morning. Morning crew will come up and sweep it away. About... six or seven feet of snow," Rainbow Dash took a small sip from the mug, letting the sweet liquid warm her throat.

"That’s quite a bit for Ponyville. Hopefully it doesn't cause too much trouble," Twilight took a gentle sip of her cocoa. Dash nodded in response.

They sat by the fire for the next few hours, discussing trivial things. New Daring Do books, Celestia, the upcoming weather, et cetera. Rainbow Dash kept looking back at a clock on the wall, keeping in check with the time. Six-thirty became seven. Seven became eight. Eight became ten. Once it hit eleven, she knew she had to leave. Her cocoa had been finished long ago, so she stood up, stretched her wings, and gave one last look to Twilight.

"Well, I'm off!" The pegasus turned around, heading for the door.

"Wait, Dash!" Twilight stopped her, causing her to turn around.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? I don't want you getting hurt," Twilight pushed once more, but the stubborn mare wouldn't have it.

Shaking her head, Dash grinned with pride. "I'll be fine, Twilight! I'm the best flyer in Equestria, after all! Besides, it’s only a little snow. Shouldn't be that bad."

Twilight sighed, and nodded. "Be careful, then. See you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yup! See ya tomorrow, Twi!"

Dash swiftly opened the door to be greeted by a much gentler breeze than before. The snowstorm was still whiting out everything ten feet from her face, but she launched herself into the cold night anyways, forgetting to close the door.

Flying in the direction of her cloud home, the Pegasus sped off into the white sea of precipitation. A torrent of fluffy flakes trailed behind her as she did so, and the breeze turned into a rush of wind, chilling her sides. But it didn't aggravate her as much as before. This weather had the frigidity of a cold shower, rather than that of an ice cube.

Nonetheless, Rainbow Dash kept her speed. Unfortunately for her, the storm decided to pick up further, causing her range of sight to shorten. Unable to see past her face, Rainbow stopped. She was mostly hoping it was her speed, but it was not. No, the snow was raging furiously into a blizzard, and small shards of ice started to beat against her wings.

“Hail?” She thought. “Only one place causes this weather... the Everfree.” Dash smacked a hoof against her forehead as the ice shards continued to beat against her wings with even more force. “I must've flew by my house completely! I gotta get ou ”

Everything was hazy as Dash awoke. Darkness shrouded her peripheral, but a bright light was beaming onto her eyes. She squinted at it, her heart beating faster and her eyes constricting in retaliation. The pegasus coughed as she tried to move, finding herself unable to. Something next to her spoke with a high-pitched, raspy voice.

"... The hell is that thing, kid?" It sounded like a guy to Rainbow, but she couldn't be sure.

"It's a pegasus, Jericho," a sophisticated voice replied. The voice was... elusive to Rainbow. It was almost like how Rarity's noble friends would talk, only male.

"A pega-what?" the guy named 'Jericho' responded next to Dash.

"I read it on some old files from an Enclave computer. Pegasus was a Greek legend a majestic stallion with wings and was raised by the 'gods', only to be turned into one of the constellations. Which is a formation of stars, mind you," the sophisticated man explained, and Jericho grunted.

"Well, whatever..." A clink noise was let off, along with an audible snap. Dash turned over to see a something pointing at her.

"Let's eat, then?" Dash sat up upon hearing those words.

Her eyes were greeted with a thick black circle in the middle of her vision, which menacingly stared at her. Feeling her heart race, and her mind telling her to move, she quickly blasted out of the way. A deafening noise entered into Dash’s ears, which sounded much like a firework going off, and soon began to ring in her ears. She looked to Jericho, seeing that smoke was coming out of his object. Whatever that sound was, it definitely came from that.

Heart racing, vision clearing and ears ringing, Dash started to make out the shapes before her. Although she could make out the shapes of the figures before her, she could still not make out their faces. The one on the right, which she assumed to be Jericho, was something she had never seen before. He stood up, on his hind legs, perfectly balanced. At its sides were were hands, similar to Spike’s only with five fingers, which were clenched in a threatening manner. Alongside that, he wore a brown and shiny-like metallic suit. It had the symbol of a talon on the left plate under the man’s shoulder. When trying to make out the rest of him, she could see that he wasn't a pony.

On the left, the other creature wore a black material, instead. It was shiny like Jericho's, only it seemed to reflect more than the other’s, probably being metal. On the right side of his clothing, from Rainbow Dash's perspective, was an odd symbol resembling a talon of a bird. The man stood up next to Jericho, and crossed his arms.

The blur dissipated by now, and she could make out their weird faces. Jericho had small, beady eyes, which were of a sickly green colour. His face was an odd white, too, though stained with grime. Atop all that, his 'mane' seemed to be shaved.

The creature on the left seemed to be darker than Jericho. His—from what Rainbow Dash could tell—hide was brownish in color. Despite this man's eyes being beady like the companion next to him, they were a bright blue, surrounded by their whites. Somehow, they brought a sense of calm to Dash; though she was still scared for her life.

"Looks like it heard me, eh?" Jericho threw a backhand at his partner, making a slightly audible thud against his side.

"Seems like it..." They both stepped closer, Rainbow Dash scrambling back as they did, only to hit a wall, which crumbled around her.

"P-please, don't eat me! I-I'll do whatever you want!" Rainbow cried out, bringing looks of confusion to the faces of the creatures before her.

"Sapience; there's a variable I didn’t anticipate. Well, Jericho, we're not taking this as food."

Jericho let out a sigh. "Dang. Well then, what do we do with it?" Jericho held his tube-like weapon in one hand, aiming it at the ground.

Dash finally clued in to her surroundings. Everything was a hazy green against a sick yellow sky. The clouds above looked dark and polluted, accompanied by a lack of sunlight. Around her lay rubble and a lot of buildings which looked to be collapsing on themselves. Rainbow Dash looked around further, and found that what she hit was actually the door to a ruined building.

"So... you talk. Why not tell us your name? Do you have one?" The one in shiny black questioned softly, slowly walking forward.

"Uhh... uhm... R-Rainbow Dash," the creature raised an eyebrow, looking her over. Jericho was at his side, still holding... whatever it was in his hand.

"Odd name... Dash, what are you doing out here?"

Rainbow Dash struggled to answer his question. "I... I don't know. One minute I'm going home, the next I'm waking up to that guy wanting to eat me!" Jericho let out a chuckle as Dash pointed a hoof over to him.

"Yes. Well, I can assure you, that won't happen. My name is Aeron, by the way. Pleasure to meet you," Rainbow Dash nodded, shivering slightly.

"So, Dash, seeing you're out here all alone, why not come with us? We're heading back to our home, and I'd like to get to know you a tad better."

"Kid, you sure that's a good idea? She's brighter than a fucking Glowing One, she’s sure to draw some attention."

Aeron nodded. "I'm positive."

Rainbow Dash shook her head at Aeron. "N-no way! I'm not going to trust you just like that!" she yelled, and Aeron put a finger to his lips.

"Shhh... Quiet. Never yell out here, Dash."

Dash shook her head again. "I'll yell all I want!" Dash stated. "LALALALALALALALA!" Dash sang, standing and starting to prance back and forth.

"Dash, sh—"

A few cracks of dirt shot up near Dash's hooves, making her jump back on instinct. Aeron and Jericho looked over to see where it came from.

"Ah-haha! It's killing time!" someone yelled in the distance, and Jericho held up his weapon.

"Incoming!" Jericho yelled out, the piece of metal in his hand bursting with light and a deafening report. The sounds of metal scraping metal and pressured gas hit Dash's ears as she hid behind the small wall of rock near her.

Aeron drew an object similar to Jericho’s in shape, except for some changes in colour. Rapid bursts of flame erupted from his weapon as he aimed it at the distant shouts, the chattering noise making Dash wince in pain. Blood-curdling screams could be heard in the direction they were firing as Rainbow Dash listened to the onslaught.

"Surprise, motherfucker!" A creature who looked like Aeron and Jericho, but obviously much less friendly, came out of seemingly nowhere with a large sledgehammer, a weapon Rainbow Dash actually recognized.

He swung for Aeron's head, missing and receiving a blow to the head from the other. Aeron shoved his weapon into the creature’s face, letting loose a volley of fire as blood spurted out of the man’s head and neck some spraying Rainbow Dash. Aeron turned to Jericho, slapping him on the back. Dash, however, was far from impressed.

“You... you killed him?!” Aeron looked to Dash, only for more sprays of dirt to appear near him.

“Stay down, Dash!” Aeron yelled, firing loud bursts from his lethal object, Jericho joining in.

Maniacal laughing and screaming could be heard all around. Loud bursts were let off in the distance, and Dash could see small holes popping up around her. As the crackle of stone and dirt popped up around her, she instinctively backed away, trying to get to safety. Scared for her life, she placed her hooves on her head, cradling herself. Whatever was trying to hit them was missing.

“Fucking druggie maniacs! Can’t hit worth shit!” Jericho yelled as another scream echoed over the barren landscape.

“Fuck this! Grenade!” someone nearby yelled, as a small, yellow-and-black ball bounced off a nearby wall, landing in the rubble just a short distance away.

Dash was watching the scene unfold before her. It was utter chaos and warfare from her perspective. She was shuddering in fear, and the ticking of whatever the ‘grenade’ was was quite audible.

“Shit!” Aeron yelled as he and Jericho dove near Dash, narrowly escaping a plume of flames.

Metal chunks were flung everywhere. Many pieces lodged into the cracked building behind them and the rest were falling onto the road, either on fire or melting. Laughter erupted around them again it grew louder and closer.

“Fuck sakes, Aeron! We can’t take this kind of fire. How’d Raiders get so well armed?” Jericho thumbed something into his weapon, and an audible click was heard.

“We just keep killing until they run away or stop. They don’t know who they’re messing with.” Aeron mimicked Jericho’s actions, refilling his own weapon..

“I’m gonna eat you alive!” Before Aeron and Jericho could react, their weapons were knocked from their hands, and two males grabbed them by their arms, holding them back.

“Fuck you, pigs!” Jericho yelled, spitting in one of their faces.

Dash looked up from her frightened state, looking up at the three Raiders that came near. They all wore spiked suits, much like Jericho’s, only bearing studs and other miscellaneous items. A few in particular stood out to Dash, however. From one Raider’s belt hung two severed hands. Dash cringed upon seeing what looked to be fresh blood upon them.

The one Raider that wasn’t holding Aeron and Jericho back approached Rainbow Dash. Dash wanted to do something, anything, but he was aiming one of the weapons towards her. Dash moved back, only to be grabbed by a fourth member of their clique.

“Ah, what’s a little horse doin’ out here? Never seen something like that before. Whatever. I’ve always wanted to ride a horse...” Dash’s face was shoved into the asphalt below her, and her tail was pulled into the air, making her raise her rump.

“This is going to be fun. For me, anyways.” Dash’s ears twitched upon hearing a sound of a zipper unzipping behind her.

No! Not like this! Please, no! Dash’s thoughts were raging as tears of anguish were spilling down the sides of her face. She’d ended up in... wherever she was, watched these things kill each other, and now she was about to lose her innocence.

Just as she felt the heat of the male behind her, she reared her hind legs and bucked forcefully into him. He bounced back in pain, and Dash bolted free. The two holding Aeron and Jericho stared at Rainbow Dash with astonishment. Her allies looked at each other and immediately bunted their elbows into the Raiders’ groins.

Collapsing, Aeron and Jericho immediately grabbed their weapons, aiming it at the Raider holding Rainbow Dash. The Raider let go of her tail and put his hands up; only to be killed by Aeron. Jericho’s weapon let off multiple bursts, consecutively, taking out the rest of the raiders.

“You okay, Dash?” Aeron looked over at Dash. She was breathing heavily and slowly rising to her hooves.

“Am I ‘okay’? I don’t know... I just woke up, watched you two senselessly kill those guys, and then my... m-my innocence was nearly taken from me!” Rainbow Dash turned around, her magenta eyes ablaze with anger.

“Do I look okay? No, I’m not okay! How could you just kill them?! What’d they do to you?!” Aeron shook his head, smacking his forehead.

“They were trying to kill us, Rainbow Dash. What did you expect us to do? Hand them lollipops and tell them we’re friends? Or, how about we let you get raped?” Dash’s brow furrowed at this.

“You could’ve talked them out of it!”

Jericho shook his head. “Kid, Raiders can’t be bargained or reasoned with. Alright? They don’t care who you are. They’ll either rape you, slowly kill you, or eat your dead corpse. In that order, if you’re lucky. You should be thankful we killed them for you. We never do that kind of thing,” Jericho explained simply to Dash.

“So, every now and then, you just get up in the morning and kill others?” Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches, “‘Today is a fine day to go out and kill some innocents who I could easily avoid!’” Rainbow Dash mocked Jericho raspy voice.

“Hey, watch your tongue, kid. I could just kill you right now,” Jericho threatened.

“Easy, Jericho. Listen, Rainbow Dash, it’s better to just not think about this. Those Raiders are hard to avoid, and will do anything to kill whoever is near. They just don’t care who you are. Just, calm down and let us talk about this a little, okay?” Aeron suggested calmly, and Rainbow Dash gave a nod, a little bit of anger still dwelling in the back of her mind.

“Fine. So, you killed them in self-defense. Is that what everypony does here?”

Aeron nodded for a second. “Wait, everypo– nevermind. Anyways, yes. That’s what we do here in the Capital Wasteland. Essentially, anyways.”

“Well, what if no one is trying to kill you?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Simple. We don’t kill them. Unless they’re on some sort of hit-list,” Jericho answered.

“Mmm...” Rainbow Dash sighed. Her heart was racing with anger and confusion, but her mind was stuck on why she wasn’t home. How did a simple storm turn her world into... this?

“Rainbow Dash, it’s best if you come with us. We’ll provide you a place of safety until we get a few things sorted out,” Aeron stated simply, and Rainbow Dash looked up at him.

“Why should I go with you? How do I know you’re not going to just get up and kill me? I mean, Jericho was pretty close,” she reminded them, pointing at Jericho.

“That’s because we didn’t know you were sapient, and my radar wasn’t detecting if you were hostile or not.” Aeron held up his arm, where a green device was wrapped around it. Dash didn’t bother questioning it. Not now, at least.

“Dash, just come with us. I’m not asking you to go out of the way and trust us. I just want you to get out of this area, because nightfall is when most of the creatures start to lurk for food. I don’t think you’d like to know what an albino radscorpion would do to you.” Rainbow Dash looked at Aeron. He had a good point, and as stubborn as Dash was, she had to get out of here.

“Okay... I’ll come with you. But, if you guys try to kill me, I’m flyin’ outta here!” Jericho laughed at her ‘threat’.

“Oh, God, please... You’ll just get shot because you’re the brightest thing in this wasteland.” Jericho couldn’t stop laughing at Rainbow Dash.

Author's Notes:

For those who don't know, Dash did not get raped. So, don't assume so. She pulled away before anything could happen.

Alongside that, thanks to the editors and pre-readers for going over this, and the next chapter, extensively. I'm going to be working on this very hard to make sure it isn't bad like most Fallout fanfics. Going to try and keep the plotline consistent and not let it descend into a total crapfest.

Tenpenny Tower

Rainbow Dash trotted alongside Aeron and Jericho, looking over the scenery around her. Buildings were on the precipice of collapsing, roads were cracked and worn with odd metallic ‘objects’—as Dash decided to call them—covered in rust and grime, and the dull yellows and grays barely gave any contrast to the Wasteland.

Smoke ascended to the sky in the distance and merged to create a sickly overcast above. The sun was barely peeking through, down upon the desolate wastes, and where it was visible, it seemed to be setting. The Pegasus stared upwards, looking to Aeron. He seemed to be content with his surroundings, but Dash beyond curious to where exactly she was.

"So, what is this place, again?"

"The Capital Wasteland," Aeron answered bluntly.

"...That's it?" She gave a displeased look to him, and he just chuckled.

"What you saw back there sums up what happens here. There’s quite a lot of gruesome things out here, and eventually, you’ll experience it all," Dash wanted to push him for more, but decided to not pressure him into saying what else was 'gruesome'.

They walked together for another couple of minutes, Dash's eyes slowly moving around the awful scenery once more. She spotted a few houses in the distance, all in varied states of ruin, few of them still, more or less, standing and even fewer that resembled houses. She immediately shook the thoughts out of her head and looked back at Aeron.

"So... what exactly are those things you carry?" The pegasus gestured a hoof to Aeron's weapon, then eyed Jericho's.

"Guns," Jericho answered, grunting slightly.

"Guns?"

"They're firearms,” Aeron explained. “I use a Chinese assault rifle which fires a five-point-five-six millimeter ro–"

"Whoa, whoa. Just give me the basics...” Rainbow interrupted Aeron. “Giving me a headache..."

"...Alright. It's an assault rifle, which means it fires small projectiles really fast. Fast enough to kill a man, anyways," Aeron explained simply.

"Okay... and Jericho has a...?"

"Combat shotgun. Same thing, only fires eight smaller pellets. It shreds through armour. Or flesh, your choice," the pegasus shivered at the thought.

"How can you be so...'cool' with killing? Doesn't it... affect you?"

"It's life, here; you get used to it,” Aeron replied dismissively. “Honestly, I've killed so many idiots I've lost track."

Jericho grunted in agreement, but Dash just gawked.

"Are you kidding me?! Back where I come from, none of that would've happened!"

"Well, you're not home, now are you?" Jericho chuckled.

No... No, I'm not... Rainbow let out a sigh as a heavy weight was placed upon her mind. I wonder what the others are doing. Maybe they know I'm gone and are trying to get me back! Yeah, that's it! Or, maybe they’ll just think I’m resting, hiding from the storm... She tried to be optimistic about her situation, but was soon flooded with negativity. No... They probably haven't noticed... Even if they did, they’d never be able to get me back from this place.

"Why so glum, Dash?" Aeron asked, crossing his arms.

"Just... thinking about home. I don't want to be here," she admitted.

"No one does. But, we’ve got to live with it," Aeron stated.

"That's encouraging..." Dash deadpanned.

Aeron thought for a moment. Brutes like Jericho were nice to have around when the bullets started flying, but Aeron was always the strategist. He liked to plan, strategist, optimize their damage and create a plan that would work flawlessly.

If she can fly, I could put her to use as a scout, so we’d know what’s ahead of us. Alongside that, making good use of her flank from the sky, or rooftops would be handy... But, getting her alliance . . . She doesn’t even believe in killing, let alone squashing a bug... Unless...

"Well, there may be a way to get you home," Aeron spoke smoothly.

"Oh, and what's that?" Rainbow looked up from her deadpanned state.

"Well, I've heard rumours of a book that can transport things or people to places they desire the most. We can ‘work’ together, try to find it, and send you home. If you catch my drift," Aeron smiled lightly, not making eye contact with Rainbow Dash directly.

"What...? No! I'm not being your toy to kill... whatever you are!" Rainbow blustered, and Aeron just laughed.

"We're humans, and the term you're looking for is 'people'. Anyways, if you don't want to get home, then you're welcome to live out in the dust of the wastes and probably have another friendly encounter with raiders," Aeron knew he had her now, letting a small grin creep onto his face.

He has a point... If I stay out here, I'm a sitting duck! But, if I go with him, I'll have to.... to hurt these things, these 'people'.... Her options were thin and limited. The chances of her getting home could be slim, even nonexistent, but she was always one to take a chance. Not wanting to feel another Raider creep up behind her again, she let out a grunt.

"Fine. I'll 'team up’ with you two... But don't expect me to like it." Aeron smiled, and Jericho let out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” She glared over to Jericho, and he just shook his head.

“Nothing,” he responded simply.

"Good,” Aeron stated. “Now then, we've arrived where I wanted us to be. Our home, and our 'base of operations', if you will," Aeron gestured his arn outwards to a large tower, which jutted upwards from the barren plains.

The tower ascended high into the sky, stopping just below the clouds. Its exterior was ornately decorated; it could have passed for a tower in Canterlot, once. Unfortunately, it was now much like the buildings Rainbow Dash had passed before dilapidated and on the verge of collapse. But, the many metal sheets that surrounded one side of this building suggested that it was under constant repair.

The structure was also surrounded by tall concrete walls, creating a perimeter for whoever might reside within. The walls were laced with barbed fencing the same kind used a lot in the Equestrian training camps which suggested that this tower clearly considered itself important, and wished for no intruders.

Rainbow Dash stared in awe, as Aeron continued. "Tenpenny Tower. A fine accomplishment of Allistair Tenpenny. Too bad he's dead."

"'Tenpenny Tower'? And what do you mean 'he's dead'?" She questioned.

"Well, let me start with the former," Aeron began. "Tenpenny Tower has been here and survived since the year 2077. At least, that's the farthest the building could be traced back to. It was originally a hotel for the wealthy to live in at the time. When a Mister Allistair Tenpenny came from his Commonwealth Cove up north, he took it over and repaired it to live its former dream housing the rich, keeping out the poor."

"Unfortunately, when I came across this beauty, he was denying entrance to some ghoul named Roy. Roy was quite wealthy and wanted to live there with his friends. But, Allistair was quite the bigot—someone who really hates a set group of people—and tried shooting them. Feeling the need to beat the shit out of that old coot, I helped Roy plan a massacre to kill every resident inside. Was quite the experience.”

"Now, it houses wealthy ghouls and anyone wanting to take refuge who can afford the rent. I live here with Jericho and Roy doesn't really charge us. Does that answer your question?" Looking over at Dash, he could see the disgust and confusion on her face.

"...You kil "

"Don't even start. They were all assholes, anyways. Besides, a bigot is a bigot, and the less we have of those, the more this world can move on," Jericho grunted, cutting off Dash.

"Uhg. Well, what's a ghoul, then?" Aeron chuckled.

"You'll see," He smiled again.

She nodded, furrowed her brow and stayed silent as they all made their way to the tower's main entrance. The entrance was far less grand than the rest of the building, being built out of rusted scrap metal and salvage. Barbed fencing surrounded it, though a forbidding presence made Dash uneasy.

Aeron moved to the side of the door, pressing a button on a white box mounted to the wall there. The door slowly creaked open, the sound of sharp metal screeching against a metallic surface echoing through the wastes. Dash’s ears flopped down at the sound in annoyance. Once the door fully opened, the group made their way into the courtyard of Tenpenny Tower.

The courtyard wasn't as pleasing to the eyes as Dash was hoping. There were cracked tiles from what looked to be a marble floor, a dried up fountain, dirt, grime, and sandbags spread out everywhere. At the right of the courtyard was a small mass of rusted bed frames with destroyed beds upon them. Rusted springs jutted upwards from each mattress, and it made the mare cringe at the thought of sleeping on it.

Still following Aeron and Jericho, they made their way around the dried up fountain, and to the real entrance of Tenpenny Tower. A dirtied red carpet lead to a dark green door, which was surrounded by yellow stained marble pillars. Everything on the walls leading to the door was either breaking, broken, cracked, or destroyed.

To think these guys think this is an 'accomplishment'? It looks awful, Dash continued forward, though, as Jericho opened the door for Aeron and herself.

Alhazred... Abdul Alhazred... G'yeth, Abdul Alhazred... G'yeeeeeth... It has come, Abdul. The Fallen Angel has come for you, Abdul... Hear my cries, Alhazred. Hear them before it takes you away from me, your most faithful. Alhazred... Abdul Alhazred.

Four... Fifteen...... Fourteen... Fifteen... Twenty... Twenty-three... Fifteen... Eighteen... Eighteen... Twenty-five...

Alhazred... I await your command... Alhazred Abdul Alhazred. Four, nine, five. Four, nine, five.

"Welcome to Tenpenny Tower's main lobby. Grand, isn't it?" Aeron was the first to speak as Dash gazed around at the sights before her.

The room was lined with many pillars supporting its upper floor, which was cut out to display the bright ceiling, illuminated by the rusty chandelier, which still managed to hold up an array of lights. Two staircases led to the upper floor in front of Dash, along with an elevator between them. At her right and left were two doorways: the right labeled "New Urban Apparel" with "The Federalist Lounge" beyond it and the left labelled "Boutique Le Chic" followed by "Café Beau Monde".

Dash continued to look over the interior of the building, proceeding forward with Aeron and Jericho. She could see a few rooms up the staircase, and could tell many more were above. Unfortunately, the pegasus's eyes fell upon something... vile. Her magenta eyes grew as wide as saucers, seeing a beast before her. Its shape was similar to Jericho and Aeron's, but its skin was cracked was rotted, was veiny, and was lacking the same decency. Its hair was nonexistent, its eyes hollow, its lips gone, and its nose caved in. This was truly a monster.

"GAAAAH!" Dash screamed, flying behind Aeron and Jericho. As courageous as Dash wanted to be, that was just too much for her.

"Why I oughta..." The 'thing' spoke with a raspy, low tone, drawing a gun similar to Aeron's, only brown and slimmer.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there!" Aeron raised his hands to stop the thing as it aimed its gun through Aeron and to the pony.

"Last thing I need is another bigot in here, Aeron," it grunted.

"Roy, stop it. She's new here. Kind of like me, when we first met, remember?" Aeron tried to reason, but 'Roy' continued to aim his gun at Dash.

She peeked her head out, seeing his sickly-coloured face a hideous mixture of blue, white, and blood red flesh. Whatever this “Roy” was, it was far from pleasant, and wanted to kill her for being scared of it. What kind of po... person does that?

"Fine. That's your only chance, you equine fuck," Roy slid his weapon around his back, letting it hang from the sling.

Aeron let out a sigh. "Listen, Roy, she'll be taking one of the empty rooms upstairs. Fine with you?"

Roy nodded. "Sure. As long as she doesn't freak out around the others."

Aeron nodded, walking to the elevator between the staircases, and gestured for the blue pony to follow. Trotting away quickly, she found herself in a rust bucket of an elevator. It had a somewhat of a lustrous look to it, but was a very dull attempt at making it appear so.

Aeron pressed a button in the elevator and its doors rolled shut, leaving Dash staring into the eyes of her own reflection. No scars, cuts or bruises on her body, or face. Her mane was still frizzy, her eyes still had their regular sparkle, she didn't appear to be fatigued... but something was a little different. There was a black speck on her neck...

How'd that get there...? What is that, anyways? Scratching at it with the tip of her hoof, she noticed it seemed to be part of her coat, rather than something on it. The reflection in the door allowed her a vague glimpse of the shape, but, she needed a full-on mirror to be sure.

"Something wrong, Dash?" Jericho grunted. Dash looked back at him and shook her head.

"No... Not really. Just something on my neck... Can't see it with this mirror." Dash scratched her neck again, and Jericho just laughed.

"Probably just a scab. Plenty of those pop out of nowhere. Even if you stay inside," She just rolled her eyes, and looked back to the elevator's door.

How did I even get here...? the pegasus sighed inwardly, during which a loud ding came from the elevator.

The doors opened and the group walked out into a marble-ceramic room the walls here were much like the outside of the building: yellow and crumbling. Two pillars supported the roof, cracks surrounding their bases to show the strain the building was giving them. The room's design of pillars and marble-ceramics, as well as its perfect square layout reminded Rainbow Dash a lot of Canterlot.

Celestia’s castle was far beyond 'grand', and it always brought joy to her and her friends when they visited. Even when Equestria was being turned into a plaything by Discord, or when she and her friends had gone to the Gala, or when they visited Canterlot before the whole ‘Sombra’ ordeal it was always enjoyable to visit. Its luxurious manner, much as this room, gave off a vibe of security, wealth, and joy.

Rainbow Dash’s memories became painful as they began to fade. I'm stuck here... I- I'm in the middle of some awful place with a bunch of... ‘humans’ trying to kill each other, and I'm stuck here...!”

Rainbow Dash stopped only a few steps into the room, her face twisting in anguish. Aeron and Jericho looked back at her in confusion.

I'm stuck here... I won’t ever see my friends again... Ever. I never even told Twilight– Rainbow Dash felt sick. Her legs felt wobbly. She sat down on the cold floor, trembling, and she began to cry.

She sobbed for the first time in the desolate wasteland, the remains of a civilization. She cried in pain, desperation, and hopelessness, not knowing what else to do.

How am I supposed to know if these guys will get me home?! They don't care about me...! They're killers, they aren’t good people!

Aeron knelt down at Dash's side, while Jericho turned away, ignoring her. He ran a hand through her mane, gently stroking it, trying to calm her.

"Dash, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Dash sniffed, raising her head and looking over at him.

Her eyes were reddened and filled with despair. Aeron had seen eyes much like this, and not too long ago, either.

“Those eyes... like my father's. Strained from endless hours of work. Filled with despair when he told me to "run". They had tears in them. My father would have been a hero to his Wasteland. Now, he's dead.” The thought of Aeron's father rolled around in his mind, before he shook his head, speaking to Dash once more.

"Dash. It's going to be okay." She just shook her head.

"N-no... it isn't! I'm stranded here and my friends back home don't even know I am!"

Aeron shook his head, "Rainbow Dash, I told you I would get you home. All you have to do is listen to what I say and learn how to use a weapon, and help us. I know you don't want to, but just trust us. We know how to protect you, and we're far more intelligent than we might have come off as."

"How am I supposed to know if you two can get me home....? And how will I be able to use one of your weapons? They don't look easy to use..." Aeron smiled slightly.

"Dash, we know how to do a lot of things in the Wastes, and one is how to get people back where they belong. And guns may be hard to use, but I'll make you a proper weapon. Trust me. In fact, I have to get started on that now, so why not come into our room for a bit and relax?" Dash sniffed heavily and nodded, slowly standing to her hooves.

Aeron and Jericho lead her to the immediate right, where a rotting door stood. Opening it, Aeron presented the room to Rainbow Dash. Her eyes immediately fell onto the queen-sized bed to her left. Nightstands were at each side, holding up illuminating lamps. Two mahogany cabinets with a carved oval on each door were on its right side. To Dash's immediate front, there was a workbench, similar to ones she’d seen a lot in Cloudsdale, a safe, a door and a few refrigerators.

Much of the room was, like the rest of the building, crumbling and old. But despite the worn appearance, it was quite tidy and clean. The air was filled with a slight musty smell of old books rather than the scent of burning fuel. Pillars supported the room’s ceiling, from which lights beamed down onto every surface. It was quite a sight to behold, even if it was breaking apart at every seam like the rest of the world Dash now resided in.

"So... this is your guys’ room....?" She looked over at Aeron, and he nodded.

"Yup. I have a lot of things to teach you. So why not make yourself comfortable while I get my 'notes' in order?" Jericho let off a short laugh, walking over to the workbench and setting his shotgun down.

Dash obliged, making her way to the bed. Hopping onto it, she laid down and closed her eyes. She wanted to rest after the first hours she's been here, and the uneven grounds of the Wastes didn't prove too well for her hooves. Besides...

Author's Notes:

If you know what a Numbers Station is, then you'll figure out my little riddle in this chapter.

The Wasteland

Inclement Storm. Pegasus, weather enthusiast, scientist, and very pissed-off stallion. Not only was he the head of the Ponyville Weather Clearing Sector PWCS for short but he was treading on thin ice with the Cloudsdale Executives, due to a lot of rookie mistakes and late pegasi.

He would train rookies for hours on end, teaching them the proper technique for destroying clouds, clearing fog, working in teams to create snowfall or create rain, and working together to remove harsh weather relative to the latter. But today was his last chance to prove to Cloudsdale he could run the PWCS properly.

However, a certain rainbow-maned pegasus was hindering his progress. He trotted furiously back and forth in his office, tracing around a table in its center. Every now and then, he'd look out the window adjacent to it, hoping the pegasus would fly on in. He would always be let down when nopony was there.

"Dammit! Where in Tartarus is that mare?" Inclement yelled, smashing a hoof on the table. "For somepony claiming to be the fastest pegasus in Equestria, she certainly knows how to take her sweet time!" Grunting, he walked out of his office and into a large room filled with six pegasi.

The room contained various diagrams of clouds, weather patterns, and team formations for pegasi. It also had a large door at its back end for masses of pegasi to enter. Inclement looked each of them Cloudchaser, Snowball, Raindrops, Flitter, Thunderlane and Storm Striker. He sighed, seeing his lead pegasus would be absent, and in turn slow down the cleanup process.

"Alright then, Dash decided it'd be fun to ruin my life, and make all of your jobs harder. You're all on your own in clearing at least six feet of that snow, and clearing some of those clouds," Inclement began to explain, lack of faith apparent in his voice. "We need enough sun to melt the snow, but not too much. Winter isn’t over yet, and I'd prefer we didn't flood Ponyville." The pegasi in front of him nodded.

"Good. Cloud, Flitter, Snowball, you clear the east section. I've laid out clouds on your map to move, and where to. Thunderlane, Raindrops and Storm Striker, you take care of the central section. Most of the snow is located there, and the markets still need to be open. Again, clouds are marked on where to be moved too. No storm is planned for tonight, so for Celestia's and Luna's sake, don't kick the damn clouds," Inclement stared over at Storm, who just rolled his eyes.

"Now, get your flanks out there, do the job right, and I might be able to keep my damn job," everypony nodded, and immediately left Inclement's sight.

He trotted back into his office, sighing and smacking his head against the table. Frustration, anger, and confusion filled him all because of Rainbow Dash.

She usually arrives an hour early so she can get started before everypony else. Why is it she chose this day, of all days, to not do so? Inclement started smacking the top of his head with his hoof.

Dammit, Rainbow Dash. I'm going to get to the bottom of this, whether you like it or not.

Inclement sat up, glaring out the window. The sky was still crisp and clear; and that meant he could travel to her house and see why she hadn't bothered to show up. Growling, he looked around the room for his saddlebags, put them on, and bolted out of his office.

Darkness. Fear of the dark is truly a fear of the unknown, anxiety of what may lie ahead, and confusion as to why it's there. A light is usually nearby when one encounters it, ready to show what hides in the shadows. But, Dash is nowhere near that light. Dash lay there, upon the bed, simply dreaming away the worries she had just encountered. Thinking about her friends back home was all she had right now. It wasn't enough.

Four... A low, barely audible whisper resonated throughout her mind. She jumped up from her sleepy state, only to notice the thick darkness around her.

"...H-hello?" she asked, receiving only silence in reply.

Not one to be frightened easily, Dash tried adjusting her eyesight. Squinting every now and then would reveal a new object or lengthen her vision. But she could never fully see what was in front of her. All that she knew for certain was that she was on a bed.

Nine... Another whisper trickled through her ears, sending a spine-tingling vibration through her body.

"Who's there?!" The pegasus sprang up, sitting on her rump and scanning around the shadowy room.

Something started to glow at the corner of her eyes. Every time she tried to investigate it, it would stop or move with her eyes. Dash was unsure what it was, but her mind was racing to find a coherent answer. Her heart was beating hard against her chest, making audible thuds in her eardrums.

Five... The whisper grew louder, almost a low rasp now. Following it was an echo of other whispers, repeating the numbers.

Four, nine, five... Dash looked around the room, frantically trying to find its source. Her mind was rapidly deteriorating into panic from the random numbers being churned into her ears.

"Who's there?" she yelled, looking all around her for an answer.

Four, nine, five... Eleven, nine, twelve, twelve... Five, fourteen, four...

"Aeron, this isn't funny!" Dash yelled for Aeron, but only the whispers responded to her. Her heart was beating against her chest furiously, and she was letting out short, jagged breaths.

Suddenly, a flash of of numbers shot across Dash's view. They were all a sickly, bright red colour, nearly blinding her and embedding themselves against her vision. Trying to close her eyes, she found herself unable to look away.

"F-four..." She spoke one of the numbers, completely entranced by its glow.

Face it, Rainbow Dash... a voice whispered in her right ear, echoing into the left.

"... N-nin... Nine..." She was trying to stop herself from repeating the numbers. Her jaw was bouncing left and right, but she couldn't stop herself from speaking.

This is your abyss, Rainbow Dash. Face it. Abdhul Alahzred commands it... Face it, Hastur. Face my master's biddings... The voice was the same rasp, sounding confident and commanding.

"Fi-... Fiii... Fiiii-nooo! No, stop it! Stop doing this! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" Dash yelled, resisting the numbers and whispers with all her might.

Four...

"No! Stop talking! Just... get out of here! I don't want to hear those numbers... Please, make it stop!" she yelled again, putting her hooves over her ears.

The darkness around her faded, the voices stopped, and the commanding whisper left her ears. The pegasus collapsed onto the bed, whimpering to herself.

"Make it stop!" Rainbow Dash arose from her sleep, finding herself screaming as she re-entered reality. Looking around her, tears in her eyes, she found that the bed she was sleeping on and everything around her was illuminated.

Aeron and Jericho were at the bedside, watching her. She looked over to them, tears visible in her eyes, then started sobbing. Placing her hooves over her head, she wept into the sheets underneath her. Jericho let out a grunt of annoyance and disgust.

"Fuck me, kid. Last thing we need is another whiny little bitch," Jericho grunted, crossing his arms.

Great... Aeron thought, running a hand through his hair, she probably had a damn nightmare. Probably the Wasteland hitting her hard. I remember when that happened to me, but I knew what I was getting myself into.

Rainbow Dash was crying furiously, tears flowing down the sides of her cheeks. Aeron shook his head, looking to Jericho.

"I'll handle this. Just go back to reading."

"Kid, I'm not going to read. You know I don't want to lea "

"Just do it, Jericho. You reading could save our asses one day. What if my eyes get clawed out, and I need you to read a medical textbook when I can’t treat my own wounds? Or how about reading signs in the metro? You know how easy it is to get lost down there," Aeron retaliated immediately. Jericho furrowed his brow in anger.

"Fine. But I ain't gonna like it," Jericho left Aeron and Dash alone.

"Dash," Aeron leaned down to her, only to get sobs in response.

"Dash, look at me," Aeron moved her hooves, only to see the reddened eyes of the weeping pegasus.

"Y-yeah...?" she sniffed, wiping some tears from her cheeks.

"Dash, I'm going to be very clear, and I don't care how you take this," Aeron leaned closer, his nose almost touching her own.

"Never cry in the Wastes. You hear me? You must never, ever cry. There are many rules to living in this fucking hellhole, and that's one of them. Oblige to the rules, and the Wasteland won't be so cruel to you. Go against them and... well, I hope you like being beaten to death by raiders," Dash's eyes widened at his response.

She was hoping to be consoled, or at least be cheered up. She didn't expect that. Aeron stood back up, turning away from her.

"Dash, if you want to live in our safety, then I suggest you listen to me. By all means, you will listen to me. Whether you want to, or not, you will listen. Got it?"

"Y-yeah..." Dash didn't fight it, still a little stunned at him ignoring her feelings.

Is he always this ignorant...? Dash wondered, but noticed Aeron speaking again.

"I want to teach you a few things, Rainbow Dash. Survival will be easier with us, but you still need to master the skills of a killing machine," Aeron turned around, arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"Do you understand, Rainbow Dash?"

"I do, but... why're you being such a jerk about this?" she questioned.

"Because, it's who I am, and what I made myself to be. Live in the Wastes long enough, you realize crying about your problems just gets you dead," Aeron responded smoothly, rubbing his upper arms.

"I just had the worst nightmare of my life, and you don't even care?" Dash yelled, only for Aeron to retaliate.

"Don't you dare say that! I've cared for more people in my life than you probably even know, and I lost each and every one of them because I became close to them!" Aeron was yelling, but Dash didn't care. She wanted answers, and was about to demand them when Aeron started again.

"I killed my best friend's father, my father was murdered, I lost three companions to the bloodiest of deaths I’ve seen in this wasteland, and to top it off, I have to deal with getting you home. I could have left you out there in the Wastes, or I could’ve had Jericho just eat your flesh, especially when food is scarce. So don't you ever claim I don't fucking care!" Dash was taken aback a little, feeling bad for claiming he didn't care.

He is trying to help me... I'm such an idiot...

Aeron sighed. "Never mind. Now, I want to teach you a few things about the Wastes, and I want us to forget you ever had a stupid nightmare, and forget we ever argued. Deal?" Dash nodded.

"Good. Now, come with me, I have a lot to show you," Aeron gestured for the pegasus to follow, which she did.

Jumping off the bed, she followed close behind Aeron, leaving the room and heading off to the elevator. Inside, Aeron pressed a button labeled "B9". Dash cocked her head, seeing that it was the lowest button on the panel, and looked up at Aeron curiously.

"It's the ninth floor in the basement," Aeron answered.

I don't have a good feeling about this...

Inclement had been flying from the PWCS to Dash's cloud home for about twenty minutes. He would take a moment to look around and see the pegasi he ordered doing their jobs. Feeling a little relieved, he sped up, flapping his wings faster and pushing himself further.

After around five minutes, he arrived to see Rainbow Dash's cloud home. A pool of rainbow was flowing a stream of spectrum into the air, while the rest of the house silently sat against the wind. Sighing, he trotted up to the door, gently rapping his hoof against it.

"Hey, Dash! You in there?" he yelled.

All that answered was the cool breeze around the house, nothing more. Sighing, he turned the knob, finding it locked. Must've gone out, he thought, and immediately picked himself up, storming off to Ponyville.

If she's not there, somepony has probably seen her flying about. Hard to miss the only rainbow-maned pegasus in Ponyville.

Descending quickly, he found himself in the center of Ponyville. The market was being cleared of snow by ponies in the town, and a few banners that displayed the words "Town Center" were being repaired. He started to trot around to a small group of ponies.

"Excuse me, ladies," Inclement began. All of them turned to him.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash anywhere? She's missing out on clearing the town, and I really need her," They all looked to each other for a moment, and then shook their heads.

"Sorry, Inclement. We haven't seen her since she brought the storm in yesterday. You could try asking her friends, though. Heck, maybe she's hanging out with them!" the red-maned pony suggested, and Inclement nodded.

"Good idea. Thanks," Inclement started trotting away from them, removing himself from the town center.

Inclement knew who all of Rainbow Dash's friends were. They had saved the Equestrian kingdom three times, so, it was hard not to know them. He was just outside the town center, and the closest place was Rarity's boutique. Heading in that direction, he could see the large purple-and-white shop.

“Hopefully she knows where Dash might be.” Inclement sighed, making his way to the door.

Opening the door, he trotted inside. Immediately to his left, he saw a white and purple pony shoot up. It was Rarity, and she was grinning with glee as her blue eyes sparkled in the shop's light.

"Welcome! How may I, Rarity, help you today? New suit? Perhaps some more formal apparel?" Rarity's eyes darted to Inclement's saddlebag, and noticed there was a hole in it.

"Or, perhaps I can fix that hole in your bag?" Rarity asked, and Inclement shook his head.

"No, I'm here to ask if you've seen Rainbow Dash. I can't find her, and it's urgent I find her to help clear some of the snow," Inclement was looking at her with a sternly, and her gleeful mood dropped a little.

"No... I haven't seen Rainbow Dash since yesterday. She's probably out practicing stunts, as usual. Did you check the open fields?" Inclement nodded to her question.

"When I went to her house, I didn't see her on my way. I kind of assumed she was playing hooky, but she's not at her house. Do you know anywhere she might be?" Rarity shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I don't know. I've been mostly stuck in here, and I only saw her yesterday before she set out for the storm. Maybe you could try asking some of my other friends, perhaps Twilight or Fluttershy. She usually ‘hangs out’ with them," Inclement nodded and gave her thanks, as he turned around and went out the door.

Shooting to the sky, he flew off to the library not too far into the town staying outside of Ponyville and working there for a few years really gives one the layout of the place and within a few minutes he landed outside the Golden Oaks library. Trotting up to it, he was about to knock when the door swung open, which made him fall forward into the library.

"Oh! Sorry!" exclaimed a childish voice nearby.

Inclement's face was plastered to the library’s solid wood flooring. Lifting his head, he shook it, and looked to where the childish voice came from. It was a young dragon with purple and green scales and piercing emerald eyes, staring at him curiously.

"Uhg... it's fine. Is Twilight Sparkle here, kid?" Inclement asked, and the young dragon nodded.

"Yup, just upstairs. Now, if you'll excuse me..." The dragon bolted out of the door, darting down the streets of Ponyville.

Standing to his hooves, he closed the door behind him, and walked into the library. He gazed up at the stairs to his right, and not wanting to waste time, he trotted up them to find a closed door at the top. Putting hoof to wood, he heard some scuffling of sheets, something that sounded like a box falling, and the sound of a book's pages smacking against the floor.

The door opened and Twilight's head poked out, and a nervous smile was spread across her face. Her cheeks looked quite red from what Inclement could see.

"Oh, hey, Inclement! Good to uh, see you! So, uhm, anything you need?" she asked shakily.

"Well, I was wondering if you've seen Dash. Normally, she arrives quite early for weather clearing, and it's urgent I have her here to help out with today's clearing," he answered.

"You mean she was late? That's not like her... Especially for weather duty..." Twilight walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

The two made their way downstairs, into the library's foyer. "Did you check her house, or any open areas? She usually does pra "

"Practice, I know. On my way to her house, I passed by a lot of land. She wasn't there and when I arrived at her house, she didn't answer." He let out a sigh after he interrupted her.

"Weird... She would never be this late. She usually wants to clear the skies quick and then practice for her duty as a Wonderbolt cadet..." Twilight paced for a moment, thinking to herself.

What if she got stuck in that storm last night? This could be my fault! Maybe I’m just over-analyzing... She might just be away, or perhaps just sick... Looking back at Inclement, she gave a small smile. But if she is missing... I’ll need to find her myself.

"I'll handle it, Inclement. I know you need her urgently, but if she may be missing, we'll have to wait longer than a day to file any reports on it. I'll get my friends to help out and look around Ponyville. Alright?" Inclement nodded.

"Yeah... I really need her. So, the faster you find her, the better. It's my job on the line, and hers too," Twilight gave a nod in agreement.

Inclement walked out of the library, closing the door behind him as he left. Looking to the skies, he let out a tired sigh.“Rainbow Dash, for the love of Celestia, if this is a joke, I'm going to fire you myself before the executives do.

He shot into the sky, flying off to his post. Twilight sighed as she watched Inclement fly away through the window. Let’s hope we find her. She couldn’t have gotten far. Twilight frowned, looking around her library for a quick moment...

A dull ding resounded through the elevator as it reached floor B9, and the doors slid open. Aeron and Dash stepped out into a long, metallic-green room. The rusted floor was covered by steel grating, through which she could see the masses of ancient pipes and wires that seemed to meet in the center of the room.

Within the room's center were a lot of fake torsos similar to Rarity’s mannequins but looking like Aeron’s upper body which all had two separate targets on them. One for the head, and one for the torso itself. Dash and Aeron stepped out of the elevator and started walking into the room.

“Uhm... What’s down here that’s so special?” Dash’s curious gaze slid upward to Aeron’s face.

"This is floor B9. Here, we practice firing our weapons to hone in on accuracy and form. Accuracy would concern the head, and more brute force for the body," Aeron walked away from Dash, to the left side of the room, and picked up an odd object.

Turning around, he showed it to Dash. Its back end looked similar to his own assault rifle, but the barrel was much larger, kind of like Jericho's shotgun. On top of the gun was a telescope, from what Rainbow Dash could see.

"This is a DKS-501 sniper rifle. It fires a .308 round, which roughly translates to 7.62x51 NATO T-65 rounds," Dash stood there numbly, thoroughly confused.

Aeron rolled his eyes. "A very lethal round. How about that?"

Dash nodded. "Alright... But why are you telling me this?"

"Because, you need to learn how to kill. You'll be most useful to us if you master a long-range weapon, like this; since you can fly in the air. And being able to kill someone unsuspectingly will benefit the both of us," Aeron explained simply.

Uhg... My suspicions were right... Dash sighed, lowering her head a bit.

"Do I really have to learn this? Couldn't we just talk people out of fi "

"Yes, you do. No, we can't. People know me too well, and a lot of them want to put a bullet in my damn head. So, unless you want to be shot with me, I highly suggest you try learning how to fire this weapon properly," Aeron gave her a stern, which only resulted in Dash nodding her head.

"No point in fighting it anymore. If I have to deal with... Whatever is out there, it's better from a distance. At least blood won't get all over me," Rainbow Dash said. Aeron gave a small chuckle.

"There you go. Look at the bright side! Optimism is always a good thing," Aeron continued to chuckle, but she just smiled weakly in return.

Aeron knelt down to Dash's level and then held the rifle out to her. Dash looked at it in question, and took it in her hooves. It felt quite lightweight to her, especially for its size. Unsure what to do with it, she held it close to her chest.

"Can you sit on your... er, bottom, for me? I want to put you in the correct stance," She nodded to Aeron's request, sitting on her rump.

"Left-hand ... Err... Do you write back where you come from?" Aeron asked.

"Yeah. Usually we use our mouths. Why?" Dash answered.

Aeron sighed. "Which hoof do you use more, for everyday stuff? Left or right?"

"Right, mostly."

Aeron nodded.

He took Dash's right hoof and put it just in front of the trigger guard, supporting the back end of the rifle, and then took her left hoof and put it at the front of the gun, letting its barrel rest on it. After, he lifted it up and pushed its butt into Dash's shoulder. The rifle was extended quite far away from Dash, due to its sheer size. Looking over it, Aeron nodded.

"Alright, hold this pose. I gotta make some measurements. Since it's so big on you, I’m going to make it smaller... maybe remove that trigger guard, extend the trigger. Along with that, I have to extend the pistol grip," Aeron reached into one of the many pouches on his armour and pulled out yellow measuring tape.

As he took measurements, Dash thought of more questions. "Why are you doing this again? If you're such a jerk, why are you being so nice to me?"

Aeron smiled softly. "Because, I can benefit from you, and you can benefit from me. It's simple bartering. In exchange for you getting home, a little Wasteland training and protection, you'll provide me support, teach me about what pegasi can do, and follow my orders."

Dash looked at Aeron curiously. On one hoof, he was extorting her. On another, he provided quite a valid point. A favour for a favour. She didn't bother arguing, but just watched Aeron take measurements from the barrel to her shoulder, the pistol grip on the rifle—which she assumed was the piece behind the trigger guard—and measured her arms as well.

After a moment writing it down on a sheet of paper, he gently pulled the rifle out of her hooves, and Dash relaxed, holding the thing was actually a bit tiring for her.

"I'm going to make some adjustments. It'll take a bit. In the meanti "

Before Aeron could finish, a loud growl emitted from her stomach. Blushing, she gave a small smile to him, and he just shook his head.

"If you were so hungry, I could've given you something to eat," Aeron smiled softly.

"Heh... Didn't really notice... Do you have any apples or something?" she asked hopefully, but Aeron shook his head.

"Apples are quite expensive, and take months to grow. But, I do have some beautifully irradiated food," Aeron walked to the left side of the room again, only to a large white box. It looked similar to a refrigerator, but was covered in grime.

Opening it, he pulled out a small box, and tossed them to Dash, who caught them respectively. The box was labeled "Fancy Lads Snack Cakes" and decorated in red ribbons, showing the chocolate cakes. Not wanting to waste good food, she bit the box open and pulled out the cakes.

She looked them over. They looked quite old, and held a bit of a crusty smell to them. Sniffing them a bit more, Dash could smell rotting chocolate, but preserved enough to keep a bit of its original aroma. Biting in it, a stale taste came to her mouth, followed by a dried up cream filling. They had quite a bad taste, but, something else was also off about them. Almost like a stringy, metallic taste was with them. Swallowing hard, she looked to Aeron.

"Why do these taste weird?" Aeron was at a workbench now, fixing up the rifle.

"They're irradiated. Do you not know what radiation is, either?"

"No, what is it?" Aeron sighed quite audibly.

"Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles. In laymen terms, that means its just the energy produced from atoms. There's regular radiation, but the advanced form is much stronger," Flipping the rifle over, Aeron continued. "The stronger form can cause very harmful effects to animals and humans. Mutation of cells, cancer, extra limbs on children during birth and such," Dash then put the snack cakes back in the box.

"I don't want them, then!"

Aeron just chuckled. "You'd need to eat over five hundred boxes of those snack cakes for them to kill you. Same goes for me. The amount that cake has is significant, but it's so minor compared to everything else out here, it's not a problem. Which is why I'm going to create a radiation meter to keep track of your rad levels," Aeron placed the rifle’s barrel into a vice, and grabbed a pipe saw from the workbench, slowly and carefully sawing away at it

"Well... What if I do get a high... 'rad' level?" Dash asked, eating the cake once more.

"Then it isn't a big problem. We humans developed a means of getting rid of it. It's gross, and it makes you need to use the bathroom immediately after, but it works and can save your life. So, no worries, Dashie," Aeron chuckled at his last comment, slowly sawing away at the rifle.

For the next hour, Dash and Aeron sat in silence. Dash had long finished eating her snack cakes, and only progressed to looking over the room. She found it was quite big, and extended far back to an angled platform. On the platform lay a bunch more targets for the torsos behind her.

Aeron, however, was busy working away at the rifle. So far, he'd removed the trigger guard and welded a larger piece to the trigger, so Dash had room for her hoof. He also extended the pistol grip, as he said he would, so she could simply pull the trigger into it. On the matter of its barrel length, he shortened it by a quarter of its size. It took a bit of time to take the end-piece off of the barrel, but he welded it back onto the new, shortened rifle.

But there was one problem that occurred to Aeron as he was fixing this rifle up: the issue of reloading. He could just use his index finger to press a button and release the magazine from its well, then push another mag in and cock it. However, with Dash's hooves, this produced three problems: without fingers, she couldn’t press the release, grip and insert magazines easily, or pull back the rifle’s charging handle.

Aeron, however, figured a way around this. Simply by attaching a hex-nut, her hoof would be able to just smack the side of the rifle, and keep the rifle’s simplistic design normal, making a larger magazine to hold more rounds, and increasing the size of the cocking handle would help her out. The rifle looked perfect, and Aeron solved all the issues that were obvious to him. The only other issue was her armour, but he could worry about that later.

DING

Aeron and Dash turned to the elevator to see Roy walking in, a smug grin on his horribly disfigured face. He had a cigarette in his mouth, but quickly spit it out and stomped on it.

"Well, well, well. Aeron and the little mutated rainbow," he laughed, Dash furrowing her brow.

"Hey Roy. Come to see her shoot?" Roy nodded.

"Yeah, let's see this little bitch fire a gun. I bet twenty caps she misses her first shot."

"Hey! I'm still here, you know!" Dash yelled, making Roy and Aeron laugh.

"You're on Roy. Let me just show her how to fire and reload quickly, and teach her some basics."

Aeron walked over to Dash, went down to her level, and handed her the rifle. Putting her back into the same position as before, she found it a lot easier to hold, and catered to it quickly. Aeron smiled, then took the gun away from her.

"Now, let me show you how to reload, cock and fire," Aeron pressed the larger button on the side of the rifle, showing Dash what he was doing.

The magazine fell out and onto the ground. Pulling out another box magazine from a pouch, he put it into the rifle's well, showing Dash which way to put it in. Smacking it in firmly, an audible click was heard. He pulled back on the charging handle and another click resounded as the internal hammer cocked back. He knelt down to the floor, aimed at one of the targets, and squeezed on the trigger.

"Why isn't anything happening?" Dash asked. It was true; the gun did not fire off.

"Two reasons. One the safety trigger is on, which stops you from firing. Simply hit this," he put the rifle closer to Dash, showing a small switch. "Switch to turn it on and off. Another reason is we're in a closed area, and it'd deafen us all. So..." Aeron stood up and grabbed three pairs of headphones.

Dash put them over her ears, having to adjust her ears to allow the headphones to stay upon her head, followed by Aeron and Roy. Aeron went back to her level, and aimed the gun again. Flicking the switch, he placed his finger at the trigger, aimed the rifle at one of the many torsos in the room, and fired. The deafening report filled the room, accompanied by a bright burst of light as a bullet exploded out of the rifle.

Looking to the torso Aeron shot, Dash could see he had hit the perfect center of the target's head. Aeron unloaded the gun, ejecting the bullet casing from its chamber, before pulling the magazine out, and replacing the spent cartridge. He handed it and the rifle over to Rainbow Dash.

"Your turn," Dash looked at the rifle. The safety was off, so she decided to turn it on for this part. That elicited a smile and a nod from Aeron.

Picking up the magazine, she put it into the magwell, and smacked her hoof on its bottom. Although the headphones deadened the sounds around her, she felt the click the rifle made. Place her hoof against the cocking handle, she pulled it back until she felt another click.

She went into the stance that Aeron showed her earlier. Looking through the scope, she could see a clear zoom on the small target upon the target's head. Aiming for the middle, Dash flicked the safety off, and pressed her hoof against the trigger, allowing it to fire.

Dash was surprised at the force pushed into her shoulder. Thankfully, the rubber butt of the rifle softened the blow for her, but she could still feel a burning sensation in her shoulder. The rainbow-maned pegasus, however, hit the target.

"Yeah! Got it!" She smiled with glee, and Roy behind her was just laughing.

"Bitch, you ain't got shit. Look again," Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow at Roy, and looked back to the target. She did hit it, but she hit way off center, near the outer red ring.

"What?! But, I was aiming at the center!" Dash cried.

"Well, fuck. Looks like you're a shit rifleman," Roy insulted, laughing with his croaky voice.

Turning around, Dash scowled with anger. "Oh, and what makes you better?! We don't have these dumb things back where I come from!"

Roy just laughed. "Oh, fun! The drugged-up mutated offspring of PeeWee Herman's rainbow-colored shit is mad at me! Well, get use to it, you fucking whore."

"What'd you call me?!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Enough, you two. This is a gun training session, not a fighting session," Aeron stopped them, Roy giving off a soft chuckle.

"Whatever, kid," He pulled out another cigarette, lighting it up swiftly, and puffing smoke into the air.

"Look, I gotta take care of shit upstairs. You owe me twenty caps," Roy turned around, and walked into the elevator. It closed behind him, and a ding was heard as it left the floor.

Aeron looked to Dash, who seemed very disappointed. "Cheer up, Dash. No one learns immediately. Took me years to master weapons."

Dash shook her head. "Not that... Why is everyone so mean? What'd I do?"

"Dashie, Dashie, Dashie," Aeron mused. "You didn't do anything. But, you're just another creature of the Wastes that will be made fun of and discriminated against. It's how it is. Two-hundred years ago, that never happened. But now, things have changed. Now, would you like to learn why you missed?"

Dash nodded, and went back to her original firing stance. Aeron huddled up beside her, and placed a hand on her back to support her.

"See, being in a relaxed position will make your shot more accurate, but your breathing also affects your shot. Along with stress and anxiety," Aeron started to explain, placing a hand on Dash's chest.

"H-hey! Why’re you touching me?" Dash exclaimed, making Aeron laugh.

"Calm down. I'm not going to do anything bad. Just breathe, alright?" Dash nodded, breathing normally.

"Take a deep breath," she took in a long breath, allowing the musky air to fill her lungs. "Now aim, and slowly breathe out. This should help you hit the target."

Dash took aim directly at the center once more. She flipped the safety off, and placed her hoof at the trigger. Just as she started to breathe out, she fired the butt taking most of the force out of the rifle's kick. Putting the rifle down, she looked at the target. The bullet was near the center, about a white ring away, but it was quite the accomplishment for a second try.

"Yes!" the pegasus cheered. Although she normally aimed to be the best at everything, this was still an achievement.

"Good job. But, you’re going to need a little more than breathing out a little to get a good shot,” Aeron crouched next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You’re too tense. Being tense will completely strain your body and cause your shots to deviate away from the center. I know the position you’re in is a bit uncomfortable, but relax your shoulders a bit,” Dash nodded as Aeron continued to explain.

“On top of that, try to only focus on the target. As a sniper, you’re going to be a distance away from the enemy, and you’ll not have to worry about distractions. Also, I saw that your hoof jerked back, rather then slowly pulling back. Jerking too hard will definitely put off your shot,” Aeron then pointed over at the target.

“Finally, your targets may be moving. If the target is moving, you want to aim ahead of where it’s going, not on him. Bullets are fast, but not instant. There’s also the matter of them being quite a distance away. The multiple crosshairs on the scope will indicate set meters. I’ll explain that later. Lastly, wind in the Wasteland that will push your shot farther left, right, upwards, or downwards. Can cause you to miss, and you may need to adjust yourself.”

As Aeron finished, he stood up, taking in a deep breath. “Now, it’s time to go practice on some real targets,” Dash furrowed her brow.

“Do we have to?” Aeron just gave her a plain look.

Dash sighed, and nodded. Training on dummies was what she was hoping for, but, hope seemed to falter here. The two made their way to the elevator and Aeron clicked the button labeled "F13".

Abdul... Abdul, hear me, Abdul. I call your name. Hastur is learning... Hastur is damning you. Hastur... Your being... your goddess... is trying to kill you. Abdul, listen to me, your faithful servant... Let me lure them to my home... Let me fill them with the thoughts of destruction... Please, Abdul... Hear me.

Nine... ... Twenty-three, nine, twelve, twelve... ... One, twelve, twelve, fifteen, twenty-three... ... Nine, twenty...

Thank you, Abdul. I praise your name in holy damnation, Abdul. I will do your bidding. For you, Abdul.

Aeron and Rainbow Dash arrived at the top floor, once again heading into the suite. Jericho was still reading away, and Aeron lead Dash through the door that she spotted earlier. Upon going through it, they were standing on a balcony, with a thick stone railing guarding it. The sunset of the Wasteland was presented to her in all its grime-covered glory.

Green and grey clouds filled the sky, mixed in with a lot of smoke and fires from below, stacks of smoke filled the air in the distance, attaching themselves to the sick clouds above. The biggest of the clouds was far out to the East, however. Its smoke cloud was quite massive, expelling outwards with constant puffs of black and green hues to the sky.

Dash didn’t enjoy the sight. Everything was either a yellow mess of dried soil, burning, or turned to ash. The things that weren't destroyed just littered the landscape with their scrap heaps, and contained an abundance of rubble nearby.

“Ready to learn how to kill, Dash?” Aeron leaned the rifle against the stone railing, and looked down to Dash.

“Yeah, sure.” Dash said, not really wanting to delay the inevitable.

“Good. There’s plenty of things you can kill out in the Wastes. From small radroaches to a mutated queen ant, to a massive behemoth,” Aeron pulled a chair that was leaned up against a wall over to him, sitting down in it.

“I want you to learn how to kill starting with a radroach. Not only are they extremely hard to hit from our height, it’ll help you build confidence in killing. Besides, it’s easier to kill a bug than it is to take a person’s life.” Aeron grabbed the rifle and handed it to Dash.

Dash took it and took her stance. The railing before her presented a problem, as she couldn’t crouch and be comfortable aiming through its breaks. So, she stood up on her hind legs and rested the rifle’s barrel against the surface surface of the railing.

Aeron looked over the railing. “There’s a small group of radroaches down there... But, with a sniper, it’d be a waste of ammo.”

Dash looked over at him. “Then why tell me about starting with killing them?” she deadpanned.

“Good point. A fault on my part. Well, how about you start with that robobrain in the distance?” Aeron’s finger pointed to the West of Dash.

“A robo-what?” Dash asked.

“A robobrain. It’s a robot developed to run off of a human brain. All of the brains being "donors", of course. Humans aren’t that stupid to use brains without consent,” Aeron chuckled, still pointing west.

Gently turning the rifle and her body, she looked through the scope to see what Aeron was pointing at. Unsure, she raised question. “What’s it look like?”

“Look for a thing that’s very cylindrical, has weird tentacle arms, and a dome on its cylindrical body. If you’re lucky, you’ll see its brain,” Aeron answered, Dash scanning the dried wasteland.

After a moment of good searching, she found what he was talking about. A green, cylindrical, object was spinning slowly as its tentacle arms gently waved around in swift motions. The dome Aeron mentioned was there, connecting with many wires to its cylinder body. As Aeron had described, a brain was capsuled within it.

Aiming carefully at its large body, she readied herself. It may have been in what looked like a frenzy, but Dash had a clear shot for its large body. Flicking off the safety, she placed her hoof near the trigger, and slowly started to breathe in and out. After a few moments of breathing, she fired off a shot.

The butt of the rifle smacked gently into her shoulder as the bullet propelled out of the rifle; a loud crack of wind quickly emanated from the bullet, a hazy vapor trail left behind it. Dash’s eyes followed the stream, and she saw a small explosion in the distance going off.

“Nice, nice. Too bad it’s only a robot, and quite a weak one at that. It was at a distance at least, but we gotta slowly move you up to the big times. So, continue firing off at the few others in the distance,” Aeron said, crossing his arms and watching.

Dash did as she was told, scanning the Wastes for more signs of the robotic life and continued to pluck them off. She spotted one that looked a lot slimmer compared to the robobrain she killed, and it seemed to be fighting off a couple cockroaches, which were one hundred times larger than the regular cockroach. She aimed, and fired off another round.

The white light it had for a head blew off completely, and the roaches around it scattered from the flying debris. Continuing her practice, Dash found the more she did it, the more relaxed she became with the gun; although her shoulder was starting to get quite sore. Wanting to take a break, she turned the safety on, and set the gun against the railing.

“Uhg... That thing hurts after a while,” Dash sighed.

“Yeah. You get used to it. It actually feels good the more you use it. At least with my assault rifle, it does,” Aeron chuckled lightly.

“Hey, Aeron...” Aeron stopped chuckling, and looked to Dash. “I wanted to ask you something. About you,” the pegasus was looking to him with questions swimming in her eyes.

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?” Aeron held a smile on his face as she prepared her question.

“Well... You said the last few companions you had... died. So... I want to know a bit about them. Who they were and what happened,” She was rubbing a hoof against her left forelimb, now, signs of clear nervousness.

“Ahh...” Aeron’s smile faded, and he nodded.

Dash, tell me, do you know what it’s like to lose your family?

No... I still have my Mom and Dad. Why?

When I was just born, Dash, my mother died giving birth to me. My father never told me how, exactly, just that it was during birth. I grew up most of my life stuck in a vault that I thought was the best place in the world. Never left it until I was... nineteen, I believe.

I left to chase after my father. The man I adored so much. Along the way, I met a lot of interesting people. Colin Moriarty was the first bastard of the Wastes I met. Asked about where my father was to him, and he made me bargain. Either I kill some woman to get him some caps—the currency out here—or I not know where he is at all.

What’d you do?

I killed her. I went to her house, walked in with the pistol he gave me, and I shot her in the head, taking the caps she had and paid the guy. When I killed her... I felt so bad. I had the same nightmares you had not too long ago, and I couldn’t sleep for days. Constantly I tossed and turned, hearing voices... hearing her screams of anguish and pain.

Then something came to me... While I was still awake in the darkening hours of the night, I found myself going to the bar, and met a man named Burke. He intrigued me, calling me all these grand names, saying my intelligence and competence was beyond any of the townsfolk. He then gave me a proposition. One I couldn’t refuse, really.

But, I should back up. The town I was in at the time was called “Megaton”. The reason being was because it was settled around an atomic bomb. The bomb was still active, and only needed a little spark... Mister Burke gave me that spark. Swiftly attaching the “fusion pulse charge ” to the bomb, I left the town, and made my way here with Jericho. I told him what I was going to do, and he was the only person who could relate to my struggle at the time. I wanted him safe from what I was going to do...

What’s an “atomic bomb”? Also, what’s a “fusion pulse charge”?

An atomic bomb is a bomb capable of causing massive destruction across a large radius. This bomb was quite weak compared to the many ICBMs—something similar to the atomic bomb, just stronger—that were held around the Wastes. A fusion pulse charge, on the other hand, activates the energy inside the warhead, making its atoms speed up to amazing speeds, and causing a nuclear reaction.

So... what’d you do when you got here?

I watched Megaton burn. Every last piece of it. Mister Burke even gave me the honours of hitting the switch, and kaboom. The entire town exploded into nothing but that radioactive cloud you see over to the West.

Why would you do that?! How can you be so heartless?!

Because... Moriarity took my innocence away from me. He took away the beautiful life I knew in the vault, all in exchange for some bottle caps. He gave me nightmares for having me murder an innocent woman, and I repaid him with what he deserves. A face-melting explosion.

Would it be considered heartless then? Yes. Now? No. Not one bit. I don’t regret doing it. It made the nightmares stop. It made the headaches go away. It stopped those... Numbers. Those blasted numbers that constantly attacked me... I couldn’t handle it all, and by destroying that town, I served some sort of being out there, and it stopped those nightmares. I felt so alive. I felt free.

Which brings me back to my father. I decided to chase after him, trying to look for him. Jericho not wanting to be my sidekick, I made my way through the Wastes alone. People heard of my deed, and were very angry. They chased after me, and shot at me every chance they had. They didn’t understand, so I killed them all, as well. They may have been evil, or innocent. I don’t care.

During my adventures searching for my father, I met a great deal of quirky people. Clover was the first I found. She was a wild and ambitious girl from Paradise Falls; a place that gathers slaves and sells them off to people with enough caps.

You sell off... Humans here?!

Dash, why do you question this? You’ve seen what the Waste does to innocent women like yourself. Why should this be a surprise? Anyways, Clover was something I had to buy. She was an object and a bodyguard at the time. I kept her close to me, and shared all my feelings with her.

She was the loyalest of followers I’ve had, out of the three, excluding Jericho. When an enemy was near, she was ready to rip off its head and shoot down its neck. Crazy, wild, energetic. Even smart, when it came to feelings, too. But... All good things come to an end.

Clover was killed by something called a behemoth. I mentioned it before. It’s a massive creature which is a mutant offspring of a human being. The damn things carry fire-hydrants for weapons. They’re usually quite dumb, but, the one we met had a bit higher intelligence than most. This one could throw something called “Mini-nukes”.

I assume those do the same thing as the atom bomb did?

Close, Dash. It does ten times less than an actual nuke. But, its damage is quite massive and can rip a human apart just as easily. The damn behemoth threw some at us. I told her to get out of the way... But...

I watched her explode. Bits of her landing on me. I was quite angry when I saw it. The second friend I held dear to me at the time was now dead. I had to make that behemoth pay, and I killed it. No mercy.

Aeron sighed, rubbing his eyes of tears. Dash looked at him curiously, and very worriedly.

“Do you want to sto--”

“No.” Aeron interjected, “no, I... I need to say all of this. It’s been in my head too long, and I need someone to know. Jericho is great, but... I need someone else to know.”

So, as I was saying... I lost her. But, I had to move on. I had to find my father. Continuing my search, I found that he was working on a project to purify the Wasteland’s water sources. It would help rebuild the world we have around us, and would provide a much more supporting ecosystem... A little green wouldn’t hurt this place.

I dug through that project, though. Trying to find where he ran off to, and found he went to try and find something called a “G.E.C.K”. Garden of Eden Creation Kit, is what it stands for. It can create new life from nothingness. A lot of the G.E.C.K’s were unstable, and usually resulted in the death of the user. That’s not the point, though.

Trying to find him, I stumbled my way through some old Vault-Tec computers. I’ll tell you what a computer is later. But, as I dug through files, the only vault that contained a G.E.C.K was 87. I heard a lot about 87, and how hard it was to get in there. Vault 87 had a lot more information on it than the others, though. So, I went that way instead.

How was it hard to get to this ‘Vault’? Isn’t there a door?

There is, but as I told you before, radiation is very dangerous at high levels. Vault 87 was littered with it, according to what Vault-Tec computers were updated with. The update was fifty years ago, sure. But, I could imagine the build up if the inhabitants died.

So, having to find a new way in, I made my way over to a cave filled with kids. Having to convince my way through, I found the back entrance to the vault. The damn place was crawling with what we call “Super Mutants”. They’re mutated and highly-evolved forms of humans, just very stupid. I’m surprised they know how to fire off their guns without shooting themselves.

Enough of that. I made my way through the vault and met up with my second follower. It was a damn intelligent mutant. Who would’ve guessed, huh? The thing wanted to be set free, and he said he could get the G.E.C.K for me. Asking him whether he saw any other person like me, he answered “No.” saying I was the first human to trek through.

But, the G.E.C.K was still important to my father’s work, and I released him. He helped me through the vault’s crazed mutants and retrieved the G.E.C.K in a super irradiated section of said vault. Upon leaving, though, I was captured by a group of people called “The Enclave.”

Apparently they captured the Purifier, and my father was helping them repair it. Unfortunately for them, I ran off and nabbed the G.E.C.K before they could activate it. By the way, The Enclave is an army devoted to defending a voice on a terminal that they think is the President of the United States of America. Honestly, a bunch of idiots.

I broke free of their stupid capture, though. Mostly because the “President” wanted to talk with me. Upon going to his office, I was greeted by the computer screen having to fight a few crazed Enclave units beforehand, mind you and given a stupid device that would kill anything with mutated DNA in its body. Which was about anyone and anything in the Wastes.

So, instead, I knew enough about science on how to get the computer to cause itself to explode. Damn thing went insane and I bolted out of there. I met up with the intelligent mutant from before. I never caught his name until that point.

Fawkes. Funny name, really. He was quite kind, and saved my life from the Enclave. But, unfortunately, he caught word of what I’ve done. He told me it’d be best I remove my body from his sight before he killed me.

Did you kill him?

No. But I felt very ashamed... I met a very intelligent being who was a super-enhanced genetic version of humans, and he hated me because I was considered evil. It crushed me deep down, and I couldn’t help but kill anything I saw on my way to Project Purity on the other end of the Wastes, because where the Enclave was located, it was quite far away.

After a few days, I stormed into there, killing every Enclave soldier I saw. Idiots never saw me coming when I broke in. I arrived to Project Purity to find my father with a gun at his head. A man named Colonel Autumn was ready to kill him unless I handed over the device.

The event plays out still, even today:

“Don’t do it, Aeron.” Dad told me.

“I suggest you hand over the device immediately. I’m sure you don’t want to lose your precious father.” Colonel Autumn had a damn smirk on his face as his pistol was glued to my father’s head.

Not one to waste time, I knew what I had to do. I quickly whipped out my gun and fired it at that son-of-a-bitches gut, and then his chest. I made sure he fell to the ground before he fired off that damn gun. My Dad and I embraced afterwards. I missed him so much... But, even he had heard what I did, and wasn’t one to hold it back...

"Megaton destroyed... You... You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" He questioned me... I answered honestly.

"Oh, so now the father who walked out on me is going to give me a lecture?" I was angry with how he left me back there. None of this would’ve happened if he stayed home.

"What I did can't even compare to such a thing. All those people... You're still my son, and I love you, but I can't begin to tell you how disappointed in you I am.”

Those were the last words I heard from my father. A pistol fired off at him, piercing him through the chest. That damn Autumn was alive, and I made sure he died this time. I fired every last bullet I had into his damn face.

Trying to help my Dad recover, I was by his side. Holding him, and telling him it’d be alright. He looked at me, his dreary and dying eyes gazed at me with stilled disappointment. He was dying, and he was disappointed in me. I couldn’t stand the sight anymore, and I left him. I left the device, the mutagen killer, and his body there.

That was the fourth most important person in my life. He may not have been a follower, but he was still disappointed in what I did... And I made sure to never forget that he’ll always be disappointed.

Aeron sighed, tears trying to escape his eyes. Dash was still confused though... He said he lost three “companions”. Not four.

“Who was the first, Aeron?” She cocked her head, hoping for an answer.

“That’s... something I wish to keep to myself, Dash...” Aeron sniffed, wiping his eyes.

For a jerk... He’s really upset over this... She looked out over the depressing Wasteland night had befallen it, and it was littered in creatures and monstrosities she wished to never encounter.

But, look at this place. He may have been evil... But, he did it for a reason! He’s not like Sombra, who just enslaved ponies for personal gain. Looking over at Aeron, who was now looking at the dreadful night, she let off a silent sigh.

I’m not sure what to think... Letting off a yawn, she rubbed her tired eyes.

“Bedtime, then. C’mon.” Aeron stood up, leading Dash back into the suite.

Author's Notes:

Reformatted and edited this chapter.

Infamous Dunwich

A group had made their way through the desolate wastes, all sporting a set of black, metallic armour. They paced along the destroyed Earth as they made their way east. They all carried assault rifles and flashlights, except one, who was carrying a large, green box.

"So, where are we taking these explosives?" a burly voice came from the man with the box.

"Dunwich," came a reply from a lighter tone.

"Dunwich? You's gotta be kiddin', right?" an accented man exclaimed.

"They're our orders, Deimos. The Captain ordered us—Billy, Jarogniew, you and I—to deliver this to the lowest level of the building. After that, we scram and get our 5-K reward." 'Deimos' looked over at the man who spoke, nodding.

"Well's, if you's say so, Jaime."

Jaime, Deimos, Billy and Jarogniew all trucked along the long dirt path to the place known as "Dunwich". The reason Deimos seemed to be scared of the building was due to the build-up of rumours about it. Dunwich was said to be the site of innumerable religious killings, honour killings, and generally a dark and cryptic place. Many people in the Wasteland would believe this, and if asked about it, would not mention a word to its name.

Jaime never was one to put a lot of faith in rumours. He always found a way to doubt them or prove them false. His father made his way into Dunwich and came out alive. His father even said there was "nothing bad in there, just a lack of light," which is why Jaime brought powerful flashlights with him.

The dilapidated ruins of what once might have been an office building sat in the middle of the jagged, rocky terrain and steep cliffs before them. The usual husks of cars lay abandoned in front of the building, yet somehow they looked more menacing than ever before. The building almost radiated a creepiness, the endless unknown of what could be inside gnawing away at them. The dry wasteland winds were either muted or absent, lending to the gloomy paranoia of the structure.

As the group made their way closer to the Dunwich building, the sound of a baby crying could be heard just west of them. Looking over, all they saw was the rocky outcrop, a baby carriage and a large scorpion nearing it. As the scorpion's tail stabbed at the carriage, it exploded, sending the small beast into oblivion.

"Shit. Glad we didn't head over there," Billy noted, as he adjusted the green box within his hands.

"Don't drop that. Grenades and ammo are in there, bud," Jaime warned with a grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, shut up. I got this," Billy retorted.

"Much like I got your mother?" Jarogniew jabbed, making the group laugh at Billy.

"Hey, fuck you!"

"I'll gladly fucks your motha'!" Deimos retorted, a small roar uprising from both Jaime and Jarogniew.

"Alright, enough of that," Jaime chuckled one last time, making his way up the small incline to the parking lot, "we have a delivery to make."

The group followed and walked to the desolate lot where only cars resided. The sound of the building's metal bending could be heard as they neared, which caused a small stir of fear in Deimos.

"Kinda creepies. Don'cha think, guys?" Deimos smiled nervously.

The group didn't pay any mind, and only pressed on. They reached the large metal door that stood between them and the interior. Jaime reached his hand forward and gripped its handle.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you, lad," a voice called from Jaime's right.

His eyes darted to the right, and he saw a burly man standing tall. He wore a dirty trench coat and a cavalier that covered his face. All Jaime could see was the small glow from the cigarette he was smoking.

Deimos immediately withdrew his assault rifle, aiming it at the man. "Who the fucks are you’s?"

"My name is not important. I'm not here to fight you people," The man spoke softly, his voice quite deep and muffled from the cigarette in between his lips.

Deimos didn't stop aiming at him, continuing. "Then what’s ya here for, eh?"

"To warn people like you adventurers, mercs, wastelanders, travelers, tourists, dead Chinese people, you name it about this building," Jaime just chuckled.

"You seriously want us to believe this building is haunted? You realize that's stupid, right?"

The man shook his head. "I never said it was haunted. There are dangers in there, yes. It's a lot different now than it was, oh, say, two years ago."

"Right. Well, get out of our faces, we have a job to do," Jaime opened the door, and the man just laughed.

"Try not to die. You Talon Company always die the fastest when walking in there. I'll be waiting to loot your corpses," The man sat down, put out his cigarette and gave one last laugh before the group entered the building.

The darkness of the hallway that they entered covered every inch of the place. Unable to see, Jaime pulled out his flashlight and turned it on. The hallway lit up brightly, and the two doorways on either side became apparent; one leading to an office, the other to a larger room. The office was just a cubicle, while the room had a few tables and Nuka-Cola machines presumably a "break room".

"Set up shop in the room with the machines. I'm going to check that cubicle and see if it has a working computer. Jar, go with Deimos and find some spare wood and a barrel," Jaime started to make his way to the cubical, only to be stopped by Deimos.

"You sure that's a good’s idea? Startin' a fire in a small’s area?" Jaime nodded.

"Yeah, don't worry. It won't be big. Might create a bit of smoke, for sure, but we'll put it out if it becomes too hazy. Just grab a little bit of wood. Break some doors if you need to," With that, Jaime went to the cubicle while those two gathered wood.

Billy just sat down at one of the tables, guarding the green box he had with him. The place didn't seem too creepy now that he was inside of it. The flashlights helped illuminate the hallway and get rid of the darkness that over-encumbered the place. Having time on his hands, Billy withdrew a cigarette pack from a pouch at his side. Pulling out a cigarette he swiftly put it between his lips and lit it up. Inhaling deeply through its filter, a sense of calmness flowed over him, along with a burning sensation in his throat.

Deimos and Jarogniew had started busting up rotted doors in search of firewood. Splinters of wood and chunks of decaying glass shot in every direction, narrowly hitting them many times. It wasn't much of a chore, but it was no less a hassle. Once they gathered a few more broken pieces, they made their way back to the break room, grabbing a nearby metal bin and tossing it all in. Deimos lit up a couple of rotted pieces of paper and placed them in the barrel; he added a few more pieces of tinder afterwards.

Jaime was sitting down at the cubicle where an old terminal lay. Minor power was being fed into it from a nearby fission battery, along with a small lamp radiating a yellow glow around Jaime. Typing into the terminal, Jaime pulled up some old files. Many were junk about office work, some guy bitching about the untidiness of bathrooms, and then a corrupted note. The note read:

Tu!1 B*ck N&^. T(er) ar* things th!@ ^@# *^# be seen. Honestly, I can)@ imagine the last time I've been so sca6*(. Please, whoever reads this, tu^) back. &^59$ %@$% %@#899@$% )!)!)# ) (#@ $!(@34 !@#$!@# !71$!@# !@#$!#. Oh, God. % hear them whispe#@ng. Th#) !re scratching the walls... I’4 losing my mind... I need t

The text ended at that. The cursor slowly blinked after the letter "t". Jaime - not being stupid - typed in a few commands onto the terminal to access the original posting date. After a few minutes of digging, the posting date was:

"Twenty-Two-Seventy-Seven, August eighteenth. Just three days ago..." Jaime muttered to himself.

Jaime's thoughts jumped to many conclusions, but one poked out the most: "Whoever typed this was pulled away at the last minute. Something grabbed them."

Looking down Jaime could see the gentle crimson illumination from the keyboard. Jaime put a finger on the area and brought it to his nose, inhaling. The metallic smell was undeniable: blood.

"Mmm... We have a job to do. Better not let suspicion drive me insane," Jaime stood up, powered down the computer, and his way back to the other mercs.

"Find anything?" Billy inquired as Jaime took a seat next to him.

"A lot of corrupted files. Useless junk. No maps, no files detailing the buildings layout, nothing," Jaime sighed, scratching his head.

"Well, even if there is no map on the computer, there's bound to be one around the halls or something," Jarogniew offered, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"Yeah’s. Coulds be a maps or somthins," Deimos smiled to offer a bit of optimism to the conversation.

Jaime nodded. "Good point. We should take a few more minutes of rest, then begin trekking through this hellhole."

The group agreed. Jarogniew took a few Nuka-Colas from the vending machine and passed them to everyone, standing next to the fire himself. Deimos was kicking some rubble and debris out of the room—secretly, he was a neat freak and the sight of dirty rooms really got him going—and occupied himself that way. Billy chugged back his Nuka-Cola whilst he watched the delivery and Jaime was making a holotape recording:

"Why the hell would he come all the way out here? Dad's been a little nuts for some time now, but not like this. Anyways, I made enough selling the meds Billy and I scrounged to have kept myself fed for weeks. Decided to join up with Talon Company and see some excitement. Well, this is excitement right here. Currently, we're in Dunwich, and delivering a package to a man living in the basement. Probably going to leave these around so people can follow the trail. Can never be too safe."

"Just going to leave this holotape right here. Don't pick it up," Jaime set down the metal holotape recording on the table, and then withdrew his assault rifle.

"Ready to head out guys?" Everyone nodded to his question, standing up and withdrawing their own assault rifles except Billy, who was too busy carrying the box.

They all made their way down the hallway. As they reached its end, a collapsed wall was covering the entrance to a different half of the building. Looking around for a different access point, Billy found a stairwell. They made their way up the stairwell and to the second floor. They were now in a small corridor which let off to the left and right. A door was just around the corner to a maintenance closet, as well.

Hisssssss...

"Anyone else hear that?" Jarogniew announced.

"Yeah, I heards it," Deimos answered.

"Mhm," both Jaime and Billy agreed in unison.

Jarogniew raised his rifle and locked its butt to his shoulder. He slowly moved forward to the end of the corridor, making swift left and right turns to check for signs of danger. Nearby, a pipe hissed steam. Jarogniew lowered his gun.

"Heh. It was just a broken pi--"

Before he could finish, the floor beneath him collapsed and he descended down to the floor below. Jaime and Deimos ran forward quickly and aimed their lights down the newly created hole. Jarogniew laid there grunting in pain.

"Jar, you okay? Not dead, are you?" Jaime called.

"Just fucking peachy, Jaime! Jesus fucking Christ..." he answered, slowly rolling back and forth on broken tiles.

"Do you’s see’s anythin' down there?" Deimos asked.

Jarogniew looked around the darkened floor. Realizing he still had a flashlight, he grabbed it and flashed it around at the ceiling. Looking around, everything above was supported by still-standing concrete and metal pillars. The section above him seemed to be missing a lot of its support. Jarogniew squinted and could see claw marks made at the ceiling.

"Yeah... Lots of claw marks around the collapsed area. Someone thought it'd be funny to spend days weakening the floor, I guess," Jarogniew slowly moved himself in an upright position; joints popped as he did so.

"Hold on, let us come down," Jaime looked back to Billy. "Got the rope?"

Billy nodded, setting the box down and withdrawing a rope from a sack on his back. He gave it to Jaime, who tied it to a nearby pipe and threw it down the hole.

"Let's-a-go," Jaime gripped the rope and slowly eased himself down, his body weight made him nearly fall as he did so.

Tease it... Tease it... Jaime finally made his way to Jarogniew, who helped support his way down.

Soon, Billy and Deimos followed. Once all of them reached the first floor, they could make view of the collapsed offices around them. A giant crater made its way into the ground, and a few pieces of corrugated metal acted as bridges. Clear signs of life to any wastrel.

"Careful. If someone set up that floor trap they definitely set up some more. Shotguns or somethi–"

Urrrrrggg... Hsssssssssk....

Before Jaime could finish, sounds emanated from the hole. All of them stood silent as it got closer and louder, as if it was rising from the hole itself. Looking closer, Jaime could make out a person coming out.

"Hey! You here for this package?!" Billy called to the person.

The "person" was not actually a person at all. Upon it turning around, the horribly deteriorated face of a feral ghoul roamer could be seen, its glowing yellow eyes and pitless mouth gazing over its prey. Its broken Pre-War armour gleamed in the sunlight that was shining through the cracks of the building.

"Holy shit...!" For once, Deimos spoke normally and without his accent.

The ghoul hissed loudly, along with more hissing coming from nearby areas. All of them immediately rushed away from the ghoul and whatever else as well.

"Oh, fuck that. Billy, Deimos, get the hell out of here! Jarry, help me fight these things!" Jaime commanded to the others as he withdrew his assault rifle and started firing on the small horde of ghouls making its way to them.

Jarogniew covered Jaime's back as he pelted ghouls jumping down from the stories above. They were swarming; thankfully only to them. Billy and Deimos had made their way out of the main area and to the hallways once more. They found a break in the wall, booted it down, and were back in the entrance hallway.

"Alright, we're safe," Billy started. "Let's get the hell out of here and get some he–"

Before Billy could finish, a ghoul jumped him, and he was soon swarmed by four more. Deimos tried to act quickly, but only ran away as Billy let off agonizing screams. Deimos hid himself in a dark crevice near the collapsed doorway and forced his breathing to calm. Hissing and growls from the cannibalistic creatures resounded all around him. His body started shaking heavily as the shadowy area he was in soon started to enclose around him. Deimos' pupils started to constrict, his breathing starting to become erratic and his body shaking involuntarily.

"Calms downs, Deimos!" he tried telling himself, only to alert a nearby ghoul.

The ghoul pounced him quickly, and started tearing him to shreds. In his state of shock, he did nothing to save himself.

"Fuckers keep coming, Jarry!" Jaime yelled.

At this point, Jaime and Jarogniew had backed themselves into a corner guarded by collapsed cement. The ghouls fought their way through the oncoming bullets from the assault rifles. One by one they fell, but only to be replaced by another two.

"Jaime, we have to get out of here!" Jarogniew yelled, reloading his weapon.

"Alright, let "

Jaime stepped backwards, hitting a weak point on the floor he was standing on. The floor quickly collapsed and Jaime fell with it; he continued to collapse through floors until his body connected with hard ground. For Jaime, everything went black.

Author's Notes:

Reformatted and edited. Enjoy.