> The Lone Wanderer's Journey
>  by SteelyThePally
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Something Unexpected
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Jason, best known as "The Lone Wanderer", opened the rusty metro gates, returning to surface after helping helping Three Dog with Galaxy News Radio signal in exchange for information where his father went. Followed by his faithful and friendly dog, Dogmeat, Jason tiredly went upstairs, being greeted by the Sun's heat and the Wasteland's vastness. He let out a long sigh, his eyes wandering around the lifeless remains of the Capital Wasteland.

"That was a big adventure, wasn't it, Dogmeat?" The Wanderer said, stroking his dog's head.    

The dog barked happily at it's owner gesture, and sat down near the staircase leading to the metro station's entrance, panting calmly.

"A hell of an adventure..." He whispered, memories of his wanderings through Washington D.C played inside his mind.

Even though he emerged from Vault 101 two weeks ago, Jason was getting used to the Wasteland's harsh lifestyle. He lost considerable weight thanks to the absence of food during his journey to find his father. His mind was being hardened as days passed, his eyes witnessing cruel scenes of torture, murder, and even seeing helpless wastelanders die from starvation, thirst, and many other problems

As time passed, Jason's face was quickly being recognized around the people of the Wasteland. A 6 feet tall individual, with disheveled brown hair. This description was quickly spread through the settlements. But his fame could be given by the fact that Jason managed to disarm Megaton's atomic bomb, being seen as symbol of hope. The Lone Wanderer also had helped Moira Brown with the 'Wasteland Survival Guide', being occasionally taunted by scavengers who followed the book's tips. The Wanderer wasn't the one to receive the scolding, though. He was only a volunteer.

Jason's equipment was a simple Vault 101 armored jumpsuit, whose blue lost it's vividness as sand and dried blood stained it. He carried few weapons within his personal computer, the Pip-Boy 3000, such as common pistols, an assault rifle, the peculiar Fat Man and average numbers of ammo for his rusty but trusty hunting rifle. The rest of his items were food, and an alarming low quantity of medications.

He lifted his left arm, staring blankly at the Pip-Boy's green screen. The Wanderer scanned the map of the Capital Wasteland, groaning defeated after he discovered the distance between his current position and Rivet City's location, the wrecked aircraft carrier that Three Dog said to be the place where his father, James, might have ran to. Noticing that the he was roughly 4 miles from Rivet City, Jason let out a long yawn escape from his lips, his legs aching slightly from his adventure.

"I don't think I'm up for a big-ass walk again. I need to rest..." He lowered his head, his eye slits getting heavier as sleep deprivation tormented him again. It has been two days since he slept, considering the Capital Wasteland's violent inhabitants and creatures.

The Sun was starting to set in the horizon, enveloping the Wasteland with a bright orange light. Jason started another probable long walk, his eyes hunting for a safe place to take a rest.

Always moving with a fast pace, Jason was far from the metro station in minutes. Much to his frustration, he couldn't spot any place safe enough for him. Not even the town of Megaton was nearby. He halted his walk completely, taking some time to rest his aching legs. The Wanderer groaned loudly, lifting his head slightly. He scanned the surroundings for the last time: A collapsed bridge, the mountain range that dominated the Wasteland's limits, the ruins of Washington, and a seemingly endless desert. Giving up, he slowly lowered himself to sit and lean his head against a rock to take a nap. But before he could do that, a bright flash of light popped in the distance, making his sleepy eyes shot open. The flash of light then dissipated, leaving snow-white particles dancing around.

"What the fuck was that?" Jason said to himself. Losing his sleepiness completely, he jogged to the location where the flash of light was last seen. "Let's go, Dogmeat!"

When he neared it's presumed site, Jason crouched almost immediately, noticing a group of people standing idly there. He placed a finger over Dogmeat's mouth before it could growl, effectively hiding his position. The Lone Wanderer leaned his back against a nearby rock, noticing that the members where having a conversation, their voices sounding like desperate yells.

"Is everypony okay?" A feminine voice said, pure angst in her tone. 'Everypony? What are they talking about?' A quick thought swept through Jason's mind, his eyebrow furrowing at the awkward word use.

"What the hay is goin' on?" Another voice was heard with a thick southern accent. "And why my body is like this?"

That was enough for Jason's curiosity explode. Silently chuckling at their use of words, The Wanderer slowly raised his head, being able to catch a glimpse of the group. Before he was able to actually look at who was talking, one of the women spotted him. He quickly slid his head down, trying not to give away his position.

"Hey! Who are you?" That was enough for Jason's heart beat faster. He held his breath, and put his rifle in hand

"Why are you hiding? Are you scared?" A scratchy, somewhat of a tomboyish voice taunted the hiding wanderer,                  

Infuriated by the taunt, The Lone Wanderer stood up, cocked his rifle, and aimed at his provoker, threatening to shoot.

"Who do you think you are..." His voice faded away as he noticed something that made his cheeks burn with the heat of the Sun: they were naked. This sight made his anger dissipate completely, numerous questions racing through his mind. Jason's eyes widened as he examined each of their bodies with interest.

"What the fuck is this?" The Wanderer whispered to himself in confusion, lowering his rifle slightly. His arms and legs tensed, rendering him immobile. Dogmeat, however, angrily growled at them. Before the duo's eyes, stood 6 naked girls, their hairs being strangely colored.

"Who are you? And where we are?" One of the girls asked him. Her hair was sapphire blue with brilliant rose streaks on it. Her question made Jason furrow his eyebrows in suspicion, effectively losing the tension in his limbs. He struggled to think of a good response, considering the rare sight before him.

"Firstly, who are you guys, and can you explain what the fuck are you doing naked in the middle of nowhere? Are you on drugs or somethin'?" He asked, finally yielding his rifle completely. Well, he had to admit that seeing six butt-naked girls standing on the middle of nowhere was surely... new. A blush crept to his face as he felt an immense amount of blood rushing south.

Jason's face looked like a tomato right now. The whole situation was embarrassing. He himself had never seen a woman naked in such an... exposed way. Well, he had sneaked into Amata's room while she was changing clothes, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that he found a group of completely crazy women, and that he had a bulge growing in his pants.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy." The same girl who asked for Jason's name pointed at her friends, receiving an even awkward look from him.

"Weird names..." He whispered, examining the women's hairs like if they were alien, but not looking at their breasts. "Ahn, nice to meet you... Twilight. I'm Jason Miller. What the hell are you doing around here, unarmed? Did someone robbed your equipment, you got lost from your caravan, something like that?" He tried to reason with them, one hand hiding his erection, and the other scratching the back of his head.

"No... I was trying a new teleportation spell, and, well, here we are. Could you escort us home?" Twilight's eyes filled with hope, considering that she was now in a new body, and a new land. For Jason, however, it was awkward and confusing to the limits.
Her request of an escort was tiring to the already worn-out wanderer, but he couldn't just leave them defenseless. Being the good individual that he was, The Wanderer lent a hand:

"Well, I'm no strange to escort. Were exactly you people live?" He smiled, trying to mask away his suspicion and confusion. And his growing erection. The jumpsuit wasn't helping at all. What if they were another raider trap?

"Ponyville." Twilight answered, smiling back at him.

"What?!? Ponyville? What's that, the new kid-inhabited settlement around here? Never heard of it." Jason joked and folded his arms, sharp glares coming from both the rainbow-haired and blonde girl. He stared back, diverting their gazes successfully. The Wanderer looked back at Twilight, who was at the edge of hyperventilating.

"Are you sure that you don't know?" Twilight asked again, nearly dropping on her knees. Jason nodded awkwardly, causing Twilight to walk in circles, mumbling quietly. In response, The Lone Wanderer simply scratched his head, not understanding her worry. He was having a hard time with not looking at their exposed breasts. 

"Aren't you lying to us?" The rainbow-haired girl, Rainbow, shot a sharp glare at him.

"No, I ain't lying. I don't know any city or village called 'Ponyville'." With this, the expression on their faces turned out to be of instant angst.

"So, yeah... I think that I'm..." Before he could complete the phrase and leave the area, he was assaulted by his conscience. So that's the good and kind Wanderer? Leaving girls for dead? He froze still, not moving a muscle. Taking a look back, he felt how desperate these girls where, even that Rainbow one, who appeared to be the bravest. This made his heart sink. Going back to them, he blushed again, considering their nudity.

"Don't worry girls, I'll won't leave you guys alone." He stood at their center, pondering deeply on what to say next. "I think I'll try to give you guys some clothes." The girls face's lightened up with The Wanderer's sudden mind change.

At this point, the moonlight already illuminated the Wasteland with it's weak pale light, a cold breeze wheezing, contradicting the hot weather that fatigued any traveler quickly hours ago. To Jason, the wind was cool, giving him a refreshing sensation. For the girls, the wind blew like freezing water, shivering as the cold air enveloped them. The Lone Wanderer noticed their reactions, a simple yet good idea coming to mind. Walking up to a dead tree, he ripped off some branches, broke them into smaller pieces, and left them over the sand, forming a small campfire. Collecting some loose rocks from the ground, he banged them together, orange sparks coming from the friction. when a particular spark came in contact with the wood, they ignited into flames, a bright orange light illuminating the surroundings. Jason smiled at the small campfire and stood up, the fire warming his tired legs.

"You guys can warm yourselves here. I'll find something for you guys to wear." As if his words were magic, the girls launched themselves to the campfire, sticking their hands out. Jason could only chuckle at the scene. Climbing on top of a rock, he scanned the environment for somewhere worth a scavenging run. A collapsed bridge, destroyed houses, rocks, dead trees, and an abandoned military camp. Wait. A military camp! Finally, a stroke of good luck. The Wanderer thought, preparing to walk to the camp and loot it's content.

Suddenly, he felt a finger poking his shoulder. Slowly turning around, he nearly spitted his heart out at the sight of Pinkie, the pink haired girl which was literally bouncing around, staring at him while upside down. She beamed a big smile upon him, his eyes examining her position: she was floating!

"I just wanted to say that we're very grateful for your help, Jasy!" She then gave The Lone Wanderer a firm handshake, which Jason replied weakly. Pinkie dropped from her floating position, landing gracefully on the ground, Jason's eyes still widened at her scientifically impossible action.

"N-no problem at all... Pinkie." Jason then took a long breath to regain his posture again, his attention being diverted to the military camp located at mere meters from his position. I'll need some extra muscle to bring whatever equipment that this camp may have down there.

Turning back again, he examined the girl's bodies, trying not to think of perverted things. It was still hard for someone who lived underground for most of his life. Noticing that the Rainbow's and blonde's girl bodies were more muscular than their friends', he thought that they would perfectly help him.

"Hey, you two there. Rainbow and Applejack, aren't you?" Both girls nodded, confusion clearly written on their faces. "Could you help me with somethings?"

"Of course, sugarcube. You know what's goin' on, after all." Jason furrowed his eyebrows at the fond expression she used, but only waited for them to be near him. "Dogmeat, Stay alert. I'll be back in no time."

Dogmeat barked, sitting down and putting itself on high alert. The Wanderer and the two girls trailed off from where the rest of the group was. As he and the girls quietly walked, his conscience came down on him:

Great one, you idiot! Now you're stuck with those weirdos! Wasn't your goal to find you father?

Yes it is. But they need help.

Cut me some slack. You don't even know them!

Of course. But will I leave someone to die in this hellhole?

No. But have you ever thought that they could get stuck with you forever? The place where they come from doesn't even exist!

With this, Jason looked up. His mind was right. For how long will them follow him? The Wanderer shook his head, trying to escape from the questions tormenting his mind.

During the short walk to the camp, the trio kept quiet, the only audible sounds being of their feet pressing against the Wasteland's sand. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash spoke up:

"I can't understand why you are helping us. Like, we're complete strangers to you!"

"Helping people is always a good deed to do in this living hell. As long as you guys don't stab or shot me on the back, I'm fine." Jason silently chuckled at his response, while both girls seemed a little uncomfortable with his joke. "Hey, I was just joking. Even though, I have to keep my eyes open. Wandering here isn't exactly a walk in the park." Rainbow and Applejack wanted to ask him about why this new place was dangerous, but kept silent.

When they reached the camp, two olive green tents stood firmly. The Wanderer said to the duo to search on one for any type of clothing. Entering one of them, he was embraced by the pitch-black darkness. Turning his Pip-Boy light on, he started to loot the tent.

After mere minutes of searching, The Lone Wanderer examined the found loot:

".308 cartridges, 10mm rounds, some mines, two merc outfits and two leather armor... strange. They're so perfectly numbered. Whatever, at least I found something useful. Lemme check on that Rainbow girl and her blonde friend." Jason whispered, putting his findings inside the Pip-Boy's digital storage. The weight of the clothing made him lose his posture for a second, a reminder that the Pip-Boy's technology distributes the weight through the owner's body, slowing his or her movements. Turning off the light coming from his wrist computer, he stepped out of the tent.

Outside, he noticed that Rainbow and Applejack were confusedly staring at two sets of combat armor with the bulletproof helmet, one dyed jet black, and the other a bright beige. Noticing Jason's presence, they diverted their gazes to the wanderer, like if he was their superior.

"Hey, I see that you two found combat armor? Not bad..."

"Oh, well. Thanks! It seems that you haven't got any luck, I guess?" Rainbow asked him, seeing that he came back with empty hands.

"Nope. I found four. They're stored here." He tapped his finger on the Pip-Boy's screen, both girls not understanding what he meant. 

"Okay, just wear this now."

"What?!?" They questioned as one, dropping the armor's edges, dust soaring through the air.

"Yeah, consider it yours. It's for your protection, after all." Jason folded his arms, but the girls remained still.

"But... aren't we stealing this from somepony?" Applejack furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Jason with her emerald green eyes.

"Well, only if you think that we're stealing from that guy." The Wanderer pointed to a skeleton, it's white color lost to the sand. Applejack and Rainbow shivered from his not-so black humor. "C'mon. We're in a lawless place right now. I may be a good person, but looting won't exactly define whether I'm a Messiah or Devil's spawn, please."

Nodding to his statement, they quickly began to dress up in the combat armor, while The Wanderer simply tucked his head inside the tent were they 'looted' the armors, just to make sure if they haven't forgot about anything. The interior was way more empty than the other tent. However, the simple sight of piled sleeping bags was enough to give him a new idea. He saw that the quantity was enough for him and the girls to rest. His eyes got sleepy again as he stared at the green sleeping bags. Grabbing them with difficulty, he exited the tent, being greeted by two armored girls, who were swinging their arms to feel comfortable with the new piece of clothing. He gave a long sigh at the thought that they weren't naked anymore.

"This feels so awesome!!" Rainbow commented, putting her helmet on.

"Still, Ah think that we stole this from somepony. But I'll go with what you said, sugarcube. Ya seem to be the only one who knows what's happenin' around here." Jason felt surprised by her early confidence. He met her hours ago, after all.

"Well, thanks for trusting me. Not many people tend to do that. And I think I could use some help here!" He exclaimed as three bags rolled down his legs, stopping prematurely at the feet of both Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"We're going camping? That sounds very cool, Jason." The Wanderer could only chuckle at Rainbow's statement. 'Huh, nice. If she only knew what happens around here...'

The duo grabbed two bags, while Jason stayed with three. They walked back to the camp, silence reigning again over the atmosphere, the Wasteland's night breeze sending chills down their spines.        

Back at the camp, The Lone Wanderer saw Dogmeat still on it's high alert position, quickly losing it when it spotted it's owner, running happily to his side. The girls noticed his presence too, their eyes staring at the now armored Applejack and Rainbow, who dropped the sleeping bags near the pile where Jason left his. Instead of asking, they kept silent. Jason then approached Twilight and Fluttershy, removing the leather armors from his Pip-Boy, green digital particles dancing through the air as the pieces of clothing materialized at his hands, gaining impressed stares from all of them.

Twilight and Fluttershy took the armors quickly, slowly trying to figure out how to wear it. Jason then moved on to Pinkie and Rarity, whose eyes were now locked on Rainbow's and Applejack's new armors. He took the outfits from his Pip-Boy's digital storage, poking Pinkie softly on her shoulder. The Wanderer delivered the armor on her arms. Her response was a ear-to-ear grin. Suddenly, the set of clothing that once laid on her arms somehow teleported to her body in a blink of an eye. The Wanderer's pupils widened at the sight as a gasp left his lips, seconds before turning on to Rarity. He offered the outfit for her, but Rarity's only response was a disgusted look in her blue eyes.

"I won't dress up in these ruffian clothes. They're simply dreadful." She gave the mercenary clothing a last look before raising her head with her eyes closed.

"Sorry if I haven't got any luck to find fancy dresses. Okay. Freeze, then." The Lone Wanderer ironically replied to her nitpicky attitude. As if to help him in his persuasion, a colder wind blew strongly, threatening to extinguish the fire that kept the rest of the group warm. Rarity shivered from it, gritting her teeth.

"Okay, okay. I'll take it!" She stared daggers at him while Jason chuckled, taking a seat around the campfire.

Nothing was said from anyone, the only audible sounds being the cracks coming from the burning wood and Dogmeat's occasional panting. Not having anything to say, The Wanderer took a nuka-cola bottle out of his Pip-Boy, and after taking it's cap off, took a long sip.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked, quizzically studying the green particles that slowly dissipated from the now-materialized bottle. The Wanderer swallowed what was left of the black liquid in his mouth, taking sometime to ask:

"Did what?"

"That thing! You made this bottle... appear on your hand!!" She responded, sounding even more curious.

"Nah, it's just my Pip-Boy. It's kind of a personal computer. Can show my condition, everything that I'm carrying, and a map." Jason explained the wrist computer, tapping his finger on top of it.

"How do you store things in there?" Twilight asked again, eager to know more about it.

"I just don't know. It's too complex, even for me. But I do know that, the more that I carry, the more I weigh." Twilight smiled enthusiastically, while most of her friends weren't showing the same interest. From what Jason saw, she appeared to be the most intelligent on their group. "Hey, are you girls thirsty? Hungry?"

They all nodded negatively. With this, Jason emptied his bottle with a long sip, leaving the object at his side. Again, silence reigned. But The Wanderer wanted to ask them some questions:

"So, where exactly are guys from? Aside from that... Ponyville place?"

"We came from Equestria." Jason shook his head at Twilight's statement.

"Could you... explain things a little?"

"Of course. You helped us, I'll help you." The Wanderer raised his brow. 'I think that telling me your story isn't exactly helpful, but whatever.' Twilight took a long breath and cleared her throat before starting her lecture:

"We came from Equestria, a land inhabited by ponies, dragons, griffin and many other creatures. Equestria is ruled by two sisters: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who respectively raise the sun and the moon. In our land, there were four kinds of ponies: the earth ponies, the unicorns, the pegasi..." Jason's eyes were getting heavier and heavier as Twilight's lecture went on, pictures of unicorns, pegasi and ponies popping in his mind. He was thinking that her story was completely a lie, but kept listening. "... and that's how we got here."

The Wanderer scratched his chin in thought. Was it real or just made-up? He had some facts that could somehow lead him to believe that they really were from some kind of alternate dimension. And other facts that could make him believe that they were using drugs. After she finished, Twilight and her friends stared deep within his dark brown eye, waiting for a response:

"I... ummmm... I have to admit that I can believe on you guys. But it's still a little hard to swallow." They all sighed in relief, what sounded like masked yawns.

"Could you..." Twilight's speech was interrupted prematurely by a long yawn, her friend's eyes getting as heavier as Jason's. "... tell me where are we? It looks like we're humans..."

"Uhhhhhh... you are humans. I am a human. But I see that you people will probably fall asleep. Why not call it a day and get some rest? Just grab a bag, and put yourself in."

"But, Jason. Haven't you said to us that this place is dangerous?" Rainbow asked, horribly masking her tiredness.

"Yeah, it might be. But we've got Dogmeat. He will alert us from any sound. Now, just get some rest." With this, the six girls took one sleeping bag for themselves, their figures being slowly enveloped in the moonlight as the campfire's flames died. Taking one for himself, Jason laid inside, and kept a close eye on the girls.

One by one, they fell into deep slumber, a dog and an wanderer watching from their spot. Noticing that all of them were asleep, Jason looked to Dogmeat, whose eyes now stared at it's owner.

"In what we got ourselves into, huh, boy?" He whispered, the dog barely paying attention to The Wanderer. Closing his eyes, Jason let the darkness take over his conscience, resting after two days of non-stop adventuring. He needed it. Because the next day, was going to be a long day...
> A Day Of Discoveries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Another day started on the Capital Wasteland. The sunlight beamed it's heat upon the dead desert that was once the state of Washington D.C, Virginia and many others. A group of seven people slept carelessly, their sleeping bags being easily spotted by any by-passer. Much to their luck, no one seemed to be nearby.

Jason's eyes shot open as he quickly raised his body from the sleeping bag, both hands on his chest. Taking mere seconds to register where he was, The Wanderer calmed down, looking at his Pip-Boy's clock: 6:06 AM.

"I can't even sleep properly... what the fuck is wrong with me?" He whispered, running his hand through his dark brown hair, his heartbeats getting slower.

Stroking Dogmeat's head weakly, he managed to get his companion's attention. The dog opened it's eyes, giving it's owner a warm look. It flexed it's legs shortly, sitting right next to Jason. The Wanderer folded his newly acquired sleeping bag and stored it in the Pip-Boy, leaving green particles flying in the air. With this, Jason turned his body to the Wasteland, giving the surroundings a quick sweep for any threat. Not spotting danger, he leaned back, his eyes wandering to the group of girls who slept quietly. 'So, yeah. I wasn't hallucinating.'

Taking a long breath, Jason stopped moving and concentrated on hearing. Closing his eyes for concentration, he heard a low shuffling sound coming from the group of girls. Turning his head, he saw that one of the sleeping bags were moving. Withing seconds, the slender figure of the girl whose name was Twilight emerged, her hair a complete mess. 

"Good morning..." Jason took a pause to remember her name "...Twilight. Did you sleep well?"

Twilight's sleepy eyes apparently lost their tiredness as she heard her name, getting slightly startled. She calmed herself down at the sight of Jason, and stood up. Much to The Wanderer's surprise, she took a seat, near him, replying to his greeting:

"Good morning, Jason. I slept well, even though this isn't an actual bed. But it was enough. Thank you for taking care of us!" She beamed a warm smile upon him, barely changing his thoughtful expression.

"Well, that's good. I can't even sleep properly. At least I got some..." He left his words hanging, his eyes staring sorrowfully at the horizon as memories of his father raced through his head. He might have showed it too much, Twilight giving him a timid poke on his shoulder:

"Is something... wrong?"

"Yes. Let me tell you my story. You told me yours after all. But firstly, the history of how the hell we are sitting here in a lifeless piece of nothing." He cleared his throat, losing his saddened mood and assuming a more serious one. Twilight herself didn't notice his sudden change of expression, her mind focused on the knowledge that he was going to give her.

"200 years ago or so, this world was being ravaged by a war: The Resources War. Most of Earth's nations carelessly used it's natural resources to the point of global warning. Well, instead of uniting themselves and trying to make a better plan, they decided to wage war against each other. The biggest ones were the United States Of America, The Soviet Union, and China. As the war went on, China decided to invade the USA through Alaska. The USA won the battle, and began to march into chinese territory. Of course, China had their plans. While the USA marched deeper within their soil, they launched nuclear warheads all over the world, plunging the world in nuclear darkness." Twilight's thoughts were wandering. Celestia was really right about humanity.

Twilight opened her mouth to ask him how he was there if his world was completely destroyed. Jason read her expression before she could ask, silencing her effectively.

"I'm here because the USA's government created some underground shelters called the vaults, built by a company called Vault-Tec. Or because people took shelter on metro stations and other protected places. After the Vault's life support depleted, they opened their doors to the outside, and most of them created settlements. Now, my story. Me and my father happened to live at Vault 101. 19 years of complete calmness and mostly no trouble. Well, until he decided to disappear. I escaped the Vault, and here I am, after travelling to some settlements and metro systems."

Jason finished his speech with a long, sorrowful sigh. The image of his father was shown inside his head, his eyes watering slightly at his lost, dearest parent.

Twilight, however, didn't notice his sudden change of humor, and took advantage over the thoughtful Wanderer to examine him: Short cuts through his armored jumpsuit revealed hints of his skin, the jumpsuit itself was nearly skin-tight, slightly showing his bodily features. 'He looks pretty strong...' Twilight thought, briefly removing her eyes from Jason's arms, and looking over this his equipment: kneecaps made out of leather, a shoulder blade on the left side, a belt running down his torso, metal boots, finger-less gloves, a knife resting on his belt and a large wooden object that appeared to be held together by duct tape and thin steel cables. He looked like a hunter, for her.

The duo turned their heads towards the rest of the group, who appeared to wake up from their peaceful slumber. Jason, noticing this, stood up, resting his hands at his waist. One by one, the girls stood still, staring at the slightly armored wanderer like if he was about to give a speech. 'They look awful, except for that Rainbow one and Pinkie.'

"Okay, I don't really know why I'm doing this, but I'm taking you people with me during my journey till I find a settlement willing to receive new people. That's highly improbable, so, I fear that you girls will be stuck with me. But don't worry, I won't let you down." Looks of confusion crept on their faces. They came to a totally different dimension, met a stranger, and now were about to follow him to Celestia knows where.

"Can't you drop us back at Equestria? It sucks to be stuck on the ground, human." Rainbow folded her arms and beamed a slightly annoyed look upon Jason, who remained with his typical serious expression.

"Rainbow girl, your Twilight friend here told me that you came here with magic. So, it's obvious that you will need magic to go back. Problem it is, there's no magic here. I'm sorry. I wish I could be of more use. Now, let's go before the Sun gives you sunburns."

Twilight fought the urge to panic and ask him about the 'no magic' thing. However, she told herself that everything would be okay, and that she and her friends were in good hooves. Still, a hint of fear remained inside her.

At his signal, the group started walking reluctantly. Following a complete stranger in his journey isn't something that you do everyday. And this only made Rainbow Dash more suspicious. Jason's steps were way more wider than theirs, forcing the girls to half-walk, half-jog to keep up with him. They all looked around: dead trees, burnt houses, collapsed bridges, rocks and sand were the only things that they could see. Fatigue hit them before they could achieve 10 minutes of walk, except for Dogmeat, Jason and Rainbow, who showed no signs of tiredness, the later starting to feel the effects of the Wasteland's strong morning Sun.

Rainbow Dash ran briefly to Jason, looking up at him with disbelief:

"So, what do you do here?"

"Nothing. I search for my father. Other than that, I loot, repair, hack, and sometimes help people in need." The Wanderer's gaze glued on the seemingly endless desert, not even shifting his stare to the girl at his side.

"And how can I know that you won't stab us on the back when you get the chance? You have a knife and this awkward thing on your back. And you better not try that. I'll beat the Tartarus out of your sorry flank." She assumed a fighting position, receiving a chuckle from Jason as response.

"Please, Rainbow girl. I don't like to boast, but I could easily take you all down. Be it with my fists, be it with the knife." He raised his knife from the sheath, enough to make them all freeze in place. "Hey, I'm just kidding. But don't try anything funny. This place ain't a playground, and I trust nobody."

This killed Rainbow's ego for sometime, but after mere 3 minutes of suffocating silence. she summoned the courage to talk to him:

"Seriously, I don't trust you, Jason."

"Nor do I." He replied, cracking his knuckles, loud pops surrounding the air of tension. "Why, you want proof that I won't kill you when I get the chance?" She nodded frantically, Applejack slowly nearing her from behind, ready to take her friend from whatever he planned to do. "You asked for it."

With this, The Wanderer took the knife from the sheath, and with a swift movement, he opened a large cut across his palm, blood drips falling as he closed his hand. They all gasped at the sight, while his only response was a quiet groan of pain. Jason then removed some bandages from his Pip-Boy, and enveloped his bleeding hand with it, the white fabric turning into a darker shade of crimson.

"Is there any doubt now?" The girls nodded negatively at him, who frowned his eyebrows to withstand the pain. "Good."

"This is some kind of Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared by his side. Jason's heart skipped a beat at her sudden appearance. Without any response, Pinkie made gestures with her arms that resembled a 'x', flapping nonexistent wings and finalized with a fist on her closed eye. Jason only leaned himself back at her 'promise' while enveloping his bleeding hand with bandages made out of his own clothing, and continued walking quietly.

Hours passed as they kept their venture into the uncertain destination, thoughts of confusion clouding the group's minds. Except for Pinkie, who was bouncing by The Wanderer's side, asking him random things like 'Do you prefer cupcakes or muffins' and other random things that were testing his weakening sanity. And the nearly-insane questioning ended up as he raised his finger, signaling them to stop. His eyes glued on the menacing raider outpost, standing triumphantly over a small hill. 'I can take them on.'

"Hey, could you people... wait a little bit here? Me and Dogmeat will take care of a small... problem up ahead. Take a rest, and keep your eyes peeled. We will be back in no time." He took his rusty but trusty hunting rifle from his back, cocking it with a swift movement from the bolt. Dogmeat joined him, his relaxed expression changing to one of complete awareness.

"If there's any problem, I'll be glad to help ya, partner." Applejack rested her hand on Jason's shoulder, keeping him from jumping into action.

"Nah, thanks for the offer. You're unarmed, and you need some rest. We've been walking for nearly two hours. Now, stay here." The Wanderer smiled warmly at her, before trailing off to his encounter with raiders.

The group of girls sat on the hot sand, taking long breaths due to their exhaustion. Only Rainbow kept herself from resting.:

"He's up to something..."





Jason and Dogmeat sneaked their way up the hill, incredibly not being caught by the scout that searched the surroundings with a sniper rifle. 'What a scout.'

Coming to a stop, The Wanderer laid his eyes behind the rifle's iron sights, precisely putting them over the unaware raider's head. His finger ran from the gun's nose the it's trigger, and with a soft and gentle press, it released it's content, the recoil making Jason stagger a bit back.

The raider was thrown on his back, brain matter and blood flying behind his mildly severed face, a loud 'thud', accompanied by gasps and shouts of surprise. "What the fuck?!?"

"I'm right here, you fuckers! Come on get it!!!!" Jason shouted frantically as he made his way to the outpost's gates, bullets wheezing past him, a particular one ripping part of his arm's clothing. Dogmeat followed him suit, allowing more and more bullets to lift sand from the ground. The dog's movements were too quick for them, though.

"It's 101! Kill this fatherless motherfucker!" One of the raiders yelled back, correctly guessing his attacker's identity because of the blur of bright blue and yellow followed by a mildly violent dog. His taunt only fueled Jason's anger, who shot one of his friend's chest with precision.

Jason performed the bolt-action to release the cap from the rifle's innards, and nodded towards the outpost's west, Dogmeat accepting his offer and running to flank the raiders. A smirk appeared on The Wanderer's face as a agonized shout rang on his ears, followed by the visceral sound of guts being ripped and a certain crimson blood being poured. He got out of his cover for a moment, just in time to witness a raider coming from the outpost inner areas, wielding a powerful combat shotgun.

"You damned dog! I'll make you burn in hell!" He kicked Dogmeat in the stomach, sending it airborne for mere seconds before landing hard on the makeshift floor. The raider aimed his weapon at the stunned, ready to take his life.

Before the psycho could press the finger and kill Jason's only friend, a shot coming from the later's weapon ripped his arm off, blood painting Dogmeat's grey fur. He yelled in pain as his eye met with The Wanderer's brown irises, a furious glare penetrating his dreaded soul, and he whined in pay briefly as a blade carved it's way through his chest and into his heart, a defeated sigh leaving his dry lips after he exchanged a look of pity at Jason.

"So, they do have hearts..." Jason stated to himself while closing his opponent's eye with his slender fingers. He then moved to Dogmeat, who laid on his back, a rather confused gaze stamped on his eyes. The Wanderer lent a hand to help him, easily putting him back on it's paws. The dog panted normally after, taking side-way glances in search for remaining enemies.

"We're good. Let's just loot everything and regroup with the girls..." His voice faded away as he heard heavy steps coming from behind him. Jason turned on his heels, just in time to partially hit a killing blow from a survivor armed with a knife. The dodge kept him from dying, but not from being stabbed on his unprotected shoulder. The weapon cut through his flesh, stopping upon contact with his bone, the knife being coated in his vital fluids.

Jason's world turned grey the moment he fell, screaming in overwhelming pain, adding to his enormous loss of air he suffered after slamming his back against the sand. Dogmeat jumped furiously on his attacker's neck, brutally feasting on it before turning it's bloodied muzzle to his owner. The Wanderer concentrated in clearing his vision, seeing only blurs and shaded pictures. He shook his head repeatedly, spotting a stimpak sitting on top of a table nearby.

He crawled towards it with difficulty, the knife tilting slightly inside him. He groaned loudly, getting minimal help from his dog, who ineffectively bit his jumpsuit's arm and dragged it towards the healing miracle.

No sound was made aside from a certain wanderer's whines and cries of pain. Until a group of peculiar women appeared at the gate. They all gasped in unison, diverting their eyes from the skirmish before them. Jason felt their presence, and gathered all of his strength to scream:

"P-please... d-don't ask, I-I'm dying h-here..." He lifted his arm briefly, enough to catch their attention.

Applejack was the first to run and crouch before him, beaming a worried look over his fresh wound. The rest of the girls stared horrified at the wounded adventurer, who began coughing violently.

"O-over that... t-table, take t-the syringe..." He stuttered, blood flooding his mouth. A harsh cough was enough to spill the aforementioned liquid over the skin-melting sand. Applejack's and the girl's eyes grew wide at the sight, but Jason paid no attention to that. Applejack then quickly stood up and grabbed the stimpak, returning to The Wanderer's laid figure in a blink of an eye.

"R-remove the k-knife from my..." He groaned in pain, trying to remove the knife from his open shoulder. His arm retreated, lifting a handful of sand to withstand the pain. "D-DO IT!"

Applejack shivered terribly as her hand reluctantly grabbed the handle, and she slowly removed the sharp weapon from his shoulder. A cruel sound came from his innards as it cut through a few more veins and arteries, a bigger quantity of blood coming down his sky-blue jumpsuit. He shouted loudly, his eyes watering from the large wound. Finally, the knife was removed, leaving a cut deep enough to let any on-seer see Jason's shoulder bones.

"N-now, inject..." He grabbed her arm firmly, placing the stimpak's edge over his wound, and with a heavy movement, he stabbed himself on the region near to the wound. Everyone's eyes widened as the injury closed, leaving nothing than a barely seen scar. When the gap in his shoulder closed, The Wanderer groaned loudly, retreating to the nearest wall, resting his back on it.

"Are... you alright?" The voice coming from Twilight's shaking body asked, while Jason's head was left hanging, both eyes fixated on the ground.

"Now... I am. Thank you, Applejack. That was fucking intense." He breathed heavily, his gloved right hand tugging his chest slightly.

After a few seconds of silence and worried looks, Jason stood up, surprised to see that even Rainbow Dash looked scared from the small massacre. 

"I guess... that I owe you girls some explanations?" They were too terrified to respond, a single nod coming from Pinkie's head, her hair strangely flattened.

"These guys here are raiders." He pointed to the bloodied bodies of his foes, one of them having it's left arm brutally removed. "Don't come here and say something like 'Ah, you're a monster!' They deserved this. They rape, drug, kill and torture. Oh, and they leave their victims corpses in pikes, hanging from walls and ceilings. Lovely fellas."

"B-but, why did you... killed them?" Twilight managed to say a few words, her eyes locked on the putrefying corpse of an unfortunate wastelander, nothing but flies and decayed remains of his flesh remaining in his skeleton. The rest of her friends were still trying to comprehend how such a nice and relaxed person could easily take the live of another po.. person, and still comment on their atrocities like if they were everyday activities.

"They deserved it. Look, I don't want to start rivalries or problems here. You guys came from ponyland, peace and happiness flourishing. Here, huh. 'Survival of the fittest' is the main law. This is no friendly environment. That's why you're with me now. If a slaver found you people before me..." He lifted his hand while his head fell, trying to remove the torturing thoughts of such innocent people being sold as slaves, both laborers and... ugh... sexual.

"You're a... killer, darling. But you sounded so..." Rarity couldn't complete her phrase, Jason's firm stare penetrating her blue eyes.

"Hey. I kill. Does that make me bad? If you walk with me, you will end up killing too. Rarity, dear. I'm no monster. But if you think so, I've got my own business, and you guys can try to carry on with a peaceful life around here." He threatened to leave the area, but was quickly halted by two clothed arms, coming from Twilight Sparkle.

"No! We need you. I'm just... confused." She lowered her head, taking a long breath.

"So, I think that it's best for us to leave here, and pretend that this never happened. The last thing I want to happen is having you people wandering aimlessly around here."

They were left without choice. Of course, their minds were screaming to them to ask this nice, yet killing, individual who stood calmly at the outpost's gate, alongside a dog who is faithful to his owner.

Without a word being said, they trailed off. Jason's steps were of confidence and courage. The girl's steps were of fear, and even submission. It all happened too fast to them. From the calm and peaceful land of Equestria, to the dead and dangerous post-apocalyptic Earth. Applejack, determined to follow the stranger's way of thinking and coping him, neared the seemingly careless wanderer, and nudged him to get his attention:

"You have my trust, partner."


> Revelations Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Wasteland’s cruel sun already climbed it’s way to the sky’s top as a peculiar group of people walked right under it’s rays. The one known as The Lone Wanderer, Jason, walked with calm and a slight guilty of making the innocent women witness such a violent fight. Yes, it was normal for him. But his heart ached everytime he made someone uncomfortable. Maybe that was a side effect of his kindness. His eyes seemed to find extreme interest on the sand below his feet.

Right behind the Wanderer and his dog, stood six girls, who walked with reluctance and fear. Their mental image of Jason Miller being a good stalli… man simply dissipated from their minds. The scene they saw and the state they found their new friend was terrifying for their innocent eyes. Hours ago, they were in the peaceful and colorful world of Equestria, a place where war and even fights were alien. Now, they were stuck at the Capital Wasteland, a horrendous, dead, brutal land, tormented by conflicts between groups who should be helping each other. If there were someone to throw the guilty upon, it was Twilight.

The once-unicorn walked in front of her friends, her head hanging as low as Jason’s. Sure, the sights of the bleeding corpses and The Wanderer’s wound remained glued on her fragile mind, but something pulled that away. It was her the one responsible for bringing her own friends to this dreaded land. It was her interest who now put herself and her friends to unimaginable danger. Her expression could cast gloom on Pinkie Pie during a party. The air she breathed could suffocate any nearby living soul. Her body could crush the most well-armored member of the Royal Guard. All because of one spell.

Jason threw constant sideway glances at the group. Much to his surprise, the one called Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be the bravest one from her friends, had a clear expression of confusion and tension. He kept taking frequent looks at them, until his eyes met with Twilight’s. His gaze at her violet orbs was so deep that his chest tugged with instant sorrow. Instead of simply going on, The Lone Wanderer stopped briefly before walking by Twilight’s side, not removing his eyes from her, and wrapped his right arm around her shoulder.

Twilight startled for a bit, but calmed herself after looking briefly at Jason’s tall figure.

“Is there anything wrong? Did I scare you back there?” He asked in quick succession.

“I-I… It’s so sudden… I believed that you were a nice stallion and a good friend but you…” She couldn’t complete her sentence, taking a long breath and raising her head on the slightest.

“Yes, I killed them, Twilight. Look at me.” Jason used his finger to raise Twilight’s face to the point where she could stare at him. “Does it look that I’m going to kill you? Do I look like a bad guy?”

“No… but you--” Twilight was cut by the same finger used to higher her face.

“Hey… I know this is a difficult world to live. It sometimes hurts to think that I can’t get out of every single situation I get myself into by simply using words. People here aren’t kind. Aren’t nice. Most of them simply care about themselves.” Jason cleared his throat to speak a bit louder. “I can’t dump you people at the nearby town. I just can’t. Even if it may slow down my progress on my search for dad. Still, this world won’t change just because you are afraid of seeing some blood. Am I trying to turn you into cold-hearted people? I don’t really know. But I’m afraid that blood will be a constant sight for you people.”

Jason finished his sentence with a long sigh, enough to make his conscience play images of his wanderings. His mind was surely hardened from the violence that played before his eyes. Now, his coward self was gone. His fear of pulling the trigger to remove life from another live creature or human disappeared. He was indeed a strong-headed individual. Still, the fear of losing his father was buried deep inside his soul...

“So, I’m sorry to make you people watch all of this violence. I don’t like it. I do it because it’s necessary.” The girls didn’t seem to have bought his ‘It’s necessary’ sentence. "I wish I could at least keep you girls from harm's way. So, are we done with 'Oh, he's a heartless killer' way of thinking?"

They all nodded, with the exception of Pinkie, whose hair re-inflated to it's normal puffy state, her frequent smile back to her porcelain face. 'Even though they all seem to go on with my killing, I'll keep my eye close on that Rainbow one... in fact, I'll keep a close eye on all of them. While that talk about different dimensions and ponies might be child's tale, who knows if they are part of a plan to... No, Jason! Stop being so paranoid! Destiny just gave you the opportunity of making new friends, and having a few more hands to help you! Please, don't throw this away!' Jason finished his mental talk with a long, relieved sigh. They were indeed good opportunities of new friends, and even assistance in his wanderings. He conquered the blonde's confidence. Can he conquest the rest?

Their walk was now eased on the slightest, but enough to kill the atmosphere of fear. However, Jason knew the right thing to do. Turning on his heels and proceeding to walk with his back facing the growing minuscule dot of Rivet City in the background, he said:

"Hey, let's brief things: I'm a nice guy once you girls get to know me better, I won't hurt you, I'll take good care of you and I--" His attempt on easing the situation was cruelly halted by a certain rock placed on a certain place. The Lone Wanderer fell awkwardly on his back, air escaping his lungs upon the contact with the hot sand. All that he could hear was girly giggles.

His cheeks heated up while he got up immediately from his ridiculous fall. The girls still tried to stiffen their laughs, allowing a few fits of laughter escape. If Jason wanted to ease the air around them, then he achieved flawless success. While he angered a bit from being a laughing stock, he couldn't help but to chuckle along.

"See? I ain't bad." He said after refilling his lungs with oxygen from the fall. The Wanderer now created a perfect situation to socialize. "Just because I kill, it doesn't mean that I can't be... goofy."

"That was indeed a hard fall, sugarcube. You alright?" Applejack smiled upon him, probably commenting on the loud 'thud' heard upon his contact with the hard ground.

"Nah, I had worse."

Twilight herself let the barrier of fear and reluctance fall, opening her mouth to comment on Jason's destination:

"So, where are we going, Jason?"

"Rivet City. A large ship, now split in a half, that houses a city." He responded, pointing his finger towards the nearing city-ship.

"You humans created a city inside... a ship?" Twilight's eyebrows raised, not in suspicion, but in plain curiosity.

"Everything to survive. As far as I hear, people who live there carry really good lives. They've got the best team of scientists, too." Jason then dropped his raised arm, removing his knife from the sheath and playfully throwing it up.

"But what exactly are we going to do inside that... thing?" Rarity asked, nearly tiptoeing as they passed through a pile of debris.

"Find my father. Three Dog told me that he headed there."

Silence fell upon them, only broken by Rarity's frequent whines of how dirty the surroundings were, and of course, their own footsteps.

"D-did you lost him?" Fluttershy asked, hiding her face behind her bright pink hair. The voice of the shy young woman was enough to allow him to tell his current goal.

"Well, he kind of left me at the Vault, underground shelters created to shield what was left of humanity during the Great War's nuclear bombardment. He didn't even told me the reason, so I took advantage of the chaos at Vault 101, my past residence, and here I am, a wanderer." Jason smiled weakly. He couldn't smile while talking about James. It simply made his heart ache. The small piece of information about his past was enough to make the girls understand his current condition.

"And now, you are here in this dreadful land, searching for him?" Rarity asked, her voice slowly raising as her feet crushed a Nuka-Cola bottle.

"Yes. I don't feel angry. I felt pretty lonely at first... but then came Dogmeat. And then came you. I have to thank ya for giving me some talking company during my travels." His voice went from gloomy to happy. Indeed, it was good to have new people talking with him. "You know, it's not nice to walk in a land full of psychopath junkies, super-mutants, all kinds of awkward creatures and people."

Jason then ran a hand through his messy hair, throwing some sand off from it and carelessly shrugging as he accidentally pulled some strands. It only helped to let it even more disheveled. Rarity herself didn't seem to care about the bloody sight she had moments ago. Now, she simply cared about how she looked like. She was more than sure that sleeping on a sack was enough to make mane horrible. Her hand gave her scalp frequent taps to keep it from getting messy. She was surely living a nightmare.

As their walk went on, the desert environment turned into the one of a metropolis' outskirts: Bridges and cars surrendering to rust were more frequent, such as the white-hot asphalt. The weigh of their clothing began to take a toll on the journey to the seemingly unreachable ship-city, and sweat already covered their tried faces. The Wanderer himself looked very calm and energetic. Whipping some sweat from her forehead, Twilight ignored for a moment the growing wetness of her own body that made her clothing stick to her, and walked up to Jason:

"Jason... why do we need to wear so many clothes? Couldn't you give us something lighter, or even let us naked?" She then panted quietly while trying to dry her wet forehead in vain, and waited for Jason's reply.

"Never walked in a desert? The more cloth you have covering your body, the better. It keeps you from having sunburns. Also, on side note, I would take quicker steps if I were you." The Lone Wanderer pointed to her feet, showing her the trail of melted rubber left behind by her boots. Her friends seemed to notice the effect, and began taking larger and quicker steps on the sun-hot asphalt. That still wasn't a problem for Pinkie Pie, who bounced happily despite the seemingly hopeless situation.

The situation was utterly uncomfortable to them. Having to follow a young man on his quest, being assaulted constantly by the sun's strong rays, and fearing death at any corner. The situation in which Jason was found was gruesome. The world in which they now walked was destroyed. And the chances of ever seeing their homeland again were diminishing.

Jason himself let a long sigh of relief as he finally reached Rivet City's entrance. A small set of staircases was everything standing on his way to Doctor Li, and possibly, his father. A smile crept on his face as he helped the tired girls go up stairs, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, who went upstairs bouncing. 'That Pinkie girl is pretty random. And she doesn't seem to care about the surroundings. Or she does care, but she's just hiding it. Hiding it very well.' Jason pointed out to himself as

The Wanderer saw a small intercom sticking on a large metal pillar. Going near it, Jason pressed the button and a quite bored voice responded to his call:

"Welcome to Rivet City. Please wait while the bridge extends."

Twilight's eyes widened as she heard the voice suddenly playing through the speaker. It was something that she never saw in her life. It was technologically advanced even for Twilight Sparkle. 

"Did that stallion just... talked from inside that thing?" She asked, curiosity in her tired words.

"Nah, he's right there." Jason pointed to the guard standing on the distance. He used the same armor as Rainbow and Applejack, and lazily lowered a lever. His gesture earned a loud metallic sound coming from the ship's higher levels. Something that looked like a makeshift crane rotated, it's cables bringing together a suspicious metal bridge. All of the girls stared at the simple machinery in awe.

The crane finally came to a stop, leaving the path clear for the group to cross the bridge. The structure seemed old, every single step making it cringe or even bounce.

"Let's set something up: keep your voices down, and don't get into any trouble. Just remember that people don't like being stared at. And Rarity... don't comment on their clothes." The fashion designer groaned quietly while rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Upon setting foot on the platform, both guards who protected the main entrance stared surprised at the sight of The Lone Wanderer, giving him full access to the door, even giving him a quiet 'Good luck' and a friendly thumbs-up. A quick turn of the wheel, and the door slammed open.

Inside, a damp and heavy air surrounded them as the door closed itself with a loud sound. Light bulbs emitted a depressing cyan light, being conflicted by a few yellow bulbs. The atmosphere and smell of putrid water was enough to make the group's stomachs to do flips, and a nearly nonexistent sway added to their nausea. Dust seemed to float in the air, as if no one had ever walked there in centuries.

"Huh, I have the slightest of the impression that this place is tilting. Let's find that Li woman fast before I throw my humble dinner up." Jason said quietly, bringing back hunger to the girl's empty bellies.

They hesitantly followed Jason after he opened another heavy door with a small, weakly lightened up sign that read 'Science Lab'. The group didn't go without being noticed: A group of 6 young girls, one of them bouncing happily through the tight halls, led by no one other than the well-know Lone Wanderer, and his dog. Most residents and guards gave them space to pass through, but stared at them nonetheless.

Rainbow, together with Rarity, were getting extremely uncomfortable with the strange scent that filled Rivet City's lifeless and metallic hallways. The rainbow-maned woman quickly passed through her friends, and nudged The Wanderer a bit too hard considering her annoyance. Jason gave her a bored look, sighing heavily and furrowing his eyebrows:

"Yes, rainbow girl?"

"Don't call me 'Rainbow girl'. But, seriously, this place smells like cra--" Her sentence was cut by Jason's elbow hitting her hard on the armored shoulder.

He pointed at a female guard who glared at them suspiciously. Rainbow's face dropped from annoyed to apologetic, her head hanging a bit lower than usual.

"What did I say about keeping your voice down? People here don't like when you comment about how bad their homes are." Jason whispered on her ear in a serious and fatherly tone. He didn't want to get in trouble. Specially with a city's guard.

A few more confusing turns to the left and right were enough to lead them to the laboratory's door. It was like all the others. However, Jason felt confident about opening it. That door may be the last thing separating him from his father. His dirty hands  swung the rusty wheel with a abnormal strength, threatening to fall off. With a big smile stamped on his porcelain face, he entered the dimly-lit lab.

The scientists, all clad in snow-white lab coats, diverted their attentions from their experiments and conversations to focus on the young man that abruptly opened their door and stomped inside followed by a quite large group. Their jaws hung in surprise at the sight of the wanderer. The woman whose face resembled Li's took several steps forward to meet with Jason, hoping to find his father. The sight of Li was enough for him.

"Who are you people, and what do you think you're doing by stopping a--" Her eyes widened in realization as she found the screaming similarity of James on Jason's face. He enlarged his smile in response. "Oh my God... are... are you...?"

"Jason Miller, 101, that crazy kid from the Vault. I presume that you're Doctor Madison Li?" Jason replied by crossing his arms and assuming a quizzical expression.

"Yes, you're right! Jesus, you look so much like James..." Madison lifted her hands towards Jason's face and touched his cheeks gently, as if he was a son that just came back from a long and violent war. Jason's eyes rolled from her gesture.

"Yadda yadda. I was told by a certain radio operator that you knew where my dad went. Am I right?" He quickly interrupted Madison by taking her rather cold hands from his face, and deeply looking at her impressed eyes eagerly waiting for a response. Jason was also doing his best to divert all gazes from the confused girls behind him.

"Oh, yes. Three Dog. You've been receiving quite the love from that man. Good work. Now, about James. He hadn't told me exactly were he went."

"What do you mean by this?" The Wanderer lost his relaxed stance and stared down at Doctor Li with a penetrating look, his arms tensing up.

"He just came by, said that he was bringing Project Purity back to life, and left in a hurry to Jefferson's Memorial. Your father is a persistent man. That project's dead by now." She said while her gaze dropped to the floor. One could say that she was utterly worried.

"Wait, slow down. Project Purity? Jefferson's Memorial? What are you talking about, Madison?"

"Your parents and I had a project to purify Potomac River's waters by building a purifier at the Jefferson Memorial. We had the help from these fines scientists around you and the not so trustworthy Brotherhood Of Steel to protect us. Then, Catherine got pregnant, you were born, she died, your father fled with you to Vault 101, and the project halted right there. James' insistence made him leave the Vault to try and activate the project. But there's no way that it will ever get functional."

The Wanderer now stood confused and with a slight feel of being fooled by his own father. It was all too sudden. He wasn't born in the Vault. His father was no ordinary doctor. The painful truth about his mother's death was revealed. He was the reason of her death. His hand climbed it's way to his chest, in a vain attempt to stop the pain coming from deep inside of him. His entire life was a lie.

"Dad lied to me..." He muttered loud enough for Madison to hear his broken voice. The doctor briefly signaled to the scientists to continue with their works, and laid a hand on Jason's leather armored shoulder.

"James tried to keep you from this world. Don't think of him as a bad person. He went too far to change this hellhole."

"O-okay, but now, where did he go?" The Wanderer quickly dried up his eyes with his sleeves and gently stroked Dogmeat's head to maintain calm. He couldn't break right there. No. He wouldn't stop his search.

"If I were you, I would look for him at the Jefferson Memorial. That might either lead you to him, or to any clue regarding his destination. I'm sorry."

"Don't feel sorry for me, Madison. Jefferson Memorial, huh? I better find something there." He coldly said and turned on his heels, with a new goal in mind. And a new fear. What if he found that his father died?

Madison opened her mouth to wish Jason good luck, but he was already gone. Her head hung lower than usual as she returned to her experiments. She needed to take James and Jason out her mind.





The Wanderer closed the laboratory's door furiously, a loud 'clank' echoing through Rivet City's bluish hallways. The girls were all trying to process everything they heard from the conversation of Jason and that mare called 'Madison'. He took a long breath, and continued walking through the tight passages, not being able to stop thinking about his father.

"Jason, is... everything alright?" Twilight asked hesitantly, successfully making him slow down.

"I just don't know, girl... I never thought that my father would lie to me... I don't even know if he's still alive... I shouldn't have left that Vault..." He finished his sentence with another long, thoughtful sigh. "I'm sorry to make you people go through this."

"That's not a problem. I don't even know what we would be doing right now if you hadn't found us." Twilight smiled warmly at him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Jason returned the smile with one of his own. Even though they didn't seem to like him hours ago, he had acquainted himself very well with them. And he felt like doing something for them.

"Hey, are you people hungry or thirsty?" They didn't respond, except for Rainbow Dash, whose stomach growled loudly. 

He grinned as his brown eyes spotted a small sign that read 'Market' right next to a standard door. He sped up his pace to reach it and quickly entered the market area. The sounds of chatter and someone rummaging through a pile of metal objects filled his ears. His eyes scanned the market precisely: a small makeshift tent selling clothes, some barrels burning with fire and a few citizens warming themselves, and a restaurant. Jason knew what to do now.

"Could you people wait here while I buy some food and drinks? I'll be right back. Dogmeat will stay with you girls, so no worries." Dogmeat barked happily as his owner jogged downstairs to the market, and disappeared behind a steel wall.

Now being left by themselves and in the company of a seemingly friendly dog, they all weirdly stared at each other.

"He is... peculiar." Twilight muttered, looking down at Dogmeat, who stopped panting for a second and listened to her words.

"And has got quite the bad taste for clothing. These things are simply dreadful." Rarity replied while glancing at her heavy clothing with pure disgust.

"I think that's not the point, Rares. That 'Jason' guy is pretty suspicious. You saw what he did to those... stallions back there!" Rainbow Dash's voice rang in the group, raising her arms on the slightest.

"Rainbow, what's your problem with him? That 'Jason' hurt himself badly for us! Didn't ya pay attention to his conversation with that 'Madison'? Did ya even heard about what he's doing aroun' here? He's searching for his dad! And he was generous enough to bring us together in his search, instead of leavin' us alone in that scorchin' desert!" Applejack took her pointy seriously, narrowing her eyes towards Rainbow.

A nearby guard heard the conversation, and she instantly knew that it was something about the Lone Wanderer. She took a few steps towards the group and said:

"It isn't nice to intervene in other people's business, but if I were you, rainbow girl, I would pay some respect for the kid. Did you even notice how many bruises he has got? How tired he looks? How skinny he is getting? That guy is only 19 years old, and is on a fucking crazy journey. Judging him just because he killed a bunch of rapist and drugged raiders is ridiculous. Just be glad that 101 was quite generous on slowing down his search for his dad to help you people. This isn't very common around here. You better give that some value."

The guard slowly went back to her post, not even looking back at them. Rainbow herself tried to open her mouth in her defense, but stopped immediately. A shower of guilty fell upon her heart now. What that woman said was right. Spotting Jason coming back with a few boxes and some bottles in hand, she examined him: his face was covered in dirt, dark rings right under his eyes. A scar was set across his lip, followed by what seemed to be burn marks on his neck. His torso wasn't perfect too. Jason's jumpsuit was riddled by cuts revealing parts of his white skin, most of them containing scars. Still, a smirk was spread across his face.

"Well, I got you people some BlamCo Mac and Cheese and these Dandy Boy Apples, since the restaurant's hunter was out to get more food, some purified water and luckily a few bottles of ice-cold Nuka-Cola!" He left the boxes of food over their hands, the objects being stared at by confused eyes. "You can eat them when you feel like doing it."

The girls' eyes shone in unison, a line of drool coming down Pinkie's mouth. They were literally starving, and their throats were dry as the sand that covered most of the Wasteland. As Jason walked to the door leading to the outside, followed by Dogmeat's heavy steps, Twilight came up to him, still carrying the items on her pale hands, and said:

"Umm... thank you, Jason, I don---"

"Don't mention it. You were starving. I could see it. You shouldn't feel ashamed to ask me things." Jason happily smiled upon Twilight and playfully messing her purple hair. It was still new for him, to see someone with that hair color. He found it beautiful in some way.

Twilight was caught off-guard by his rather affectionate gesture. Her heart skipped a beat the second she felt Jason's hand over her head. She didn't protest, though.

And then they left Rivet City through it's rust riddled bridge, towards the fogged structure of Jefferson Memorial. To find James Miller either live... or dead.


> Revelations Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Jason's hand was raised abruptly, all of the six girls walking lazily behind him coming to a halt. They were just climbing up a particular step hill, The Wanderer's tall figure remained still on top of it, his eyes narrowed. They all shared confused glances, but looked forward as Jason pointed towards the orange-tinted horizon:

Jefferson Memorial.

The gigantic, circular structure appeared to be utterly old, most of its concrete with enormous cracks. Pipes that sooner or later would be consumed by rust and time stretched their way around the memorial, ending up in the murky, green waters of Tidal Basin. On one side, a large catwalk, probably made out of steel, seemed to be the most recent addition to the building. An aged bridge connected the memorial's surface to the rest of Washington D.C, equally damaged and cracked.

"What's that... thing?" The curious voice of Twilight Sparkle rang in, as if speaking for all of her confused friends.

"Jefferson Memorial... or should I call it 'Project Purity'? God knows why it was built, but who cares? I'm here for my father, not for historical info." Jason replied to her question, not even turning his head to face her. He was too concentrated on determining what were those little, yellow figures walking around the catwalk. The Wanderer then surprised himself as he counted four yellow spots. Trouble surely waited for him. Still, he had his own plans to solve it.

Jason accessed his Pip-Boy for a second, bringing to reality two of his scavenged 10mm pistols that he kept as back up. Both of them were loaded, ready to kill. He turned on his heels and threw them in the air.

Rainbow and Applejack grabbed the metallic, L-shaped objects in the air, their backs arching on the slightest due to the weapons' weight. Upon getting a better grip on the pistols, Dash and Applejack eyed Jason with solid, questioning stares.

"It's yours now. Make good use of them." Jason stated and thumbed the girls up.

"B-but, sugarcube! What are those things?" Applejack frowned and added a bit more of strength on her right arm to keep the handgun firm on her grasp.

"Pistols. Basic weapons. A shot to the chest or the head, and 'boom', you're dead." The Wanderer carelessly responded as he used his hands to imitate a pistol.

"W-were k-killing pon... I mean, people?" Rainbow shakily asked back, her magenta eyes gleaming in the afternoon sun with pure fear.

"Well, yes. I do need back up in combat." He replied, staring at Rainbow with a warm look, despite the situation.

Rainbow and Applejack were frightened. In their hands, in their own, bare hands, rested killing machines. Things that could easily take lives of anyone, or anything. Weapons that topped off the sharpest spear in the Royal Guard's armory. They both shivered at those thoughts. Jason himself wanted them to try them out. He suspiciously examined the surroundings, but found no possible threat.

"C'mon, give them a try. Lay your eyes behind the sights, hold it far from your face unless you want to lose some teeth, and press the trigger."

Both girls worriedly glanced at their friends: Twilight's expression was blank, Rarity seemed indifferent, Fluttershy was obviously frightened and Pinkie Pie's eyes were wide as dinner plates. Jason took a step back and lifted his arm high. The now armed young women, however, took Jason's words as orders. The arm held up high came down in one fluid gesture. They swallowed the lumps in their throats, raised the heavy pistols up front, and pressed their shaking fingers slowly towards the trigger. Rainbow's pistol muzzle was a bit lower than Applejack's, but that wouldn't be a problem, would it?

*Bang!*

Jason's eyes closed in sudden pain. Blood flew from his leg as the bullet struck him, followed by a river of the same fluid going down his foot. He threw himself on his back and landed squarely on his rear, both hands on the fresh wound on his left leg. A scream of agony filled the once quiet atmosphere around them.

If Rainbow felt guilty for badmouthing Jason earlier, her heart sunk into her chest as she saw what she just did. Her friends gasped as one as they saw his blood slowly staining his blue jumpsuit, and ran to Jason's aid, joining Dogmeat as it circled its owner with concern. But Dash remained still, wide-eyed, panicking in the inside, frozen on the outside.

"Jason! W-what happened?" Twilight worriedly looked down at his bleeding leg, cringing in horror.

"Argh... don't worry, just a shot to the..." A louder groan escaped from his lips, his face contorting at the new wave of pain coursing through his body.

He sat and rocked back and forth on the warm sand. A rather large puddle of his own blood formed under his shot leg. He signaled quickly to make the girls back up, but Dogmeat kept by his side. He had to think fast.

Taking a throaty breath to recompose himself, he accessed his PipBoy's monitor and searched frantically through the 'miscellaneous' section. His eyes narrowed as he found what he needed: a medical forceps. The metallic tool materialized itself on his hand, threatening to fall from his grasp. Jason applied more pressure on the forceps and guided the tip to his stained wound. His neck tilted to the point of letting out a bony *pop* as he screamed in agony. The tips were fiddling with every muscle, every layer of tissue on his innards. A near nonexistent noise of metal clanking against metal made him open his eyes: he had found the bullet.

Twilight turned around as she felt her stomach doing backflips. The scene was utterly gross for her eyes. Rarity joined her afterwards, followed by Fluttershy's panicking figure. The fashion designer held her friend close, trying to keep her calm. Pinkie simply looked at Jason helping himself as the forceps came out, a bloodstained small, cylindrical object in its tips. He threw it far away, weakly smiling as the bullet bounced off in the sand. She watched with new-found interest as he pulled a large set of bandages from his wrist-computer, and wrapped it around the wound. The once-snow white fabric was immediately painted in a dark red.

They all faced him with surprise, save for Rainbow, as Jason lifted himself slowly from the ground, face still contorted. He maintained his feet in the air for a second. Jason knew that he wasn't going far with a bleeding leg, not to mention a terribly aching leg. Pulling out one last item from the PipBoy that resembled a common syringe, he bent over and stabbed it on his wound. Letting out a quiet groan, he stomped on the empty syringe and stood up with a serious expression. The pain in his wound was gone

"Med-X... I should really stop taking that thing..." Jason stated as his vision went red for mere moments, blurring his eyesight afterwards.

"A-a-are you o-okay, J-Jason?" Rainbow immediately ran to his side, putting her hand on his shoulder and looking at him with a deep, utterly apologetically look. "I'm so, so, so sorry!!!"

"Rainbow... it was your first time shooting a gun. Don't worry. I've taken worse." Jason tried to reassure her with a weak smile.

She backed away and held the pistol low. The look in her magenta eyes remained the same, her gaze dropping to scorching surface beneath. Dash gave a long sigh and tried to busy herself with finding a place to store her new weapon. Applejack saw her attempts and mimicked her friend.

Their walk towards the Memorial was growing awkward by each moment. Dogmeat faithfully followed the wounded Jason, licking the blood dripping from the wound to keep hydrated. The girls couldn't help but to find Jason's walking disturbing to the max: how could someone walk with such a hole in the leg? His pace was eerily normal, and his distant expression showed no signs of discomfort. The sun groggily made its way down on the horizon.

Jason shot his hands up victoriously as they reached for the bridge. He put his feet on the decaying asphalt and happily marched towards his objective. Twilight followed him close, waiting for the opportunity to ask him what he used on his injury to apparently numb it. However, his hand abruptly came up and touched her in the chest to stop. She gasped in surprise.

"Wait. I just remembered something. Hold up for a second."

He crouched to his knees and a large, silvery weapon materialized itself on his arms. A scope rested on top of it, right where Jason's eyes were set. The barrel moved from side to side, coming to a stop. A mad grin was set across his face. 

"What are you doing, darling?" Rarity's voice interrupted him.

"Simple. Sniping!"

*Pow*

The muzzle lightened up with a split-second yellow flash as Jason took a step backwards from the recoil. Recomposing himself in his shooting stance, The Wanderer set eyes on the scope again: an headless corpse of what was revealed as a Super Mutant. Its muscular, mutated body fell on the catwalk lifelessly, a fellow comrade running at its direction.

The trigger was pressed once again: the bullet hit the alerted mutant right on the side of the head, but it didn't got eviscerated. Half of his skull survived the impact, allowing Jason to get a full view of a Super Mutant's brain before it collapsed. He let out a morbid laugh that even he doubted that he could emit. This scared the girls greatly, specially Fluttershy.

The Wanderer noticed another Super Mutant madly rushing towards the source of the gunfire with an intimidating rocket launcher in its big hands. Jason's heart pounded inside his rib-cage as he saw that the missile was specially reserved for him. A shot to the chest, and blood poured like a fountain from the impressive, gory hole caused by the bullet. Much to Jason's luck, the bullet passed through the Super Mutant's limp body, and hit his other companion on the stomach. While it made way lesser damage, the yellow abomination got on its armored knees, coughed and waited for Death's embrace.

"Pffft. Didn't know Super Mutants could go down so easily." Jason stood up and chuckled, removing his eyes from the scope and slowly continuing to walk on the hole-riddled bridge.

"J-Jason, I think that there's s-something b-behind us..." Fluttershy's soft and gentle voice came in, her face disappearing behind her light pink hair.

Jason turned around and listened close: the sick laugh of a Super Mutant. They might have heard the gunfire from the distance. He didn't panic, though. He had plenty of ammo for his rifle, and two armed girls to assist him. The Wanderer laid eyes on the scope once again as he spotted a yellow forehead emerging from a pile of rubble. One more for the kill count?

*Click*

That sound. A single click that grimly announced the death of whoever was in possession of the empty gun. With that click, it's either run or die.

"You're fucking kidding me..." Jason whimpered as he checked the ammo: empty. No rounds left.

The Super Mutant revealed a big, intimidating minigun being lazily carried on his arms. The barrel spun rapidly, ready to open fire. Jason gasped.

"RUN! FOR FUCK'S SAKE, RUUUUUN!!!"

Jason and Dogmeat jumped awkwardly but effectively dodged the oncoming barrage of lightning bullets raining down. Pieces of asphalt hopped from the road, dangerously landing near The Wanderer's feet. His heart beat less crazily for the simple fact that the girls were at a good distance from himself. He sped up his pace to catch up with them.

They finally set foot on the dirt-covered piece of land where Jefferson Memorial stood proudly. The Super Mutant was thankfully out of range to even see them. Jason signaled for the huffing women to go on. They all groaned with the mere exception of Fluttershy, stood up and reached for their 'leader'. He looked with pure hope at the green door before his eyes. The Wanderer opened it, allowed them to go in first, and left a simple present to the incoming mutants: three fragmentation mines.

The door closed with the wind blowing outside and enveloped the group into a pitch-black darkness, save for the dim source of light coming down from the hallway. The disgusting scent of dampness and an incredibly cold atmosphere hit them hard the moment the door was shut. Rarity immediately brought her hands upwards and covered her nose and mouth, humming in angst. Dogmeat growled strangely, too. Jason took notice of his dog's aggressive position and her quiet hum, following their eyes and her right arm, pointing to the possible source of the putrid smell: a centaur right were the halls took a curve. Its numerous, abnormal legs moved in perfect synchronization, emitting strange and alien sounds with each step. The head, barely resembling a human, had wildly swinging tentacles coming from a distorted mouth, made entirely out of gleaming flesh.

Fluttershy clung to Jason's back in instinct the moment her eyesight caught that abomination. Jason's eyebrows shot up in surprise due to Fluttershy's selection on where to shield herself. He turned with a fatherly gaze in his brown irises, grabbed her hands and lifted them to her ears. He turned on his heels again, wielded his hunting rifle, cocked it with the growing-loose bolt and shot.

With a 'thud', the centaur fell on its head awkwardly, blood dripping from the bullet wound. Jason pushed the bolt and crouched to his knees, hearing chatter and heavy footsteps on the distance. The women followed his gesture and lowered their bodies, the footsteps coming to their ear-shot. Finally, the sounds revealed themselves to be yet another tall and bulky mutant, assault rifle in hands. He barely noticed the dead centaur laying in the light. With a harsh turn on his heels, he got back to whenever he came from.

A collective breath of relief rang out in the silent air. Jason placed one finger on his lips to seal a truce of complete, dead silence, and then used it to point towards the dying light. It was difficult for them to move so low and so slowly, specially for Applejack and Rainbow, who carried the 10mm pistols. A stop, and The Wanderer tucked his head in the room. All that he saw was two Super Mutants who thankfully had their yellow backs turned, and an ever-rotating ceiling Mark-IV turret. He quickly got back to cover and inhaled deeply.

"There's a considerable amount of bad guys there. Stay here: I'll come up with a plan." Jason whispered and earned nods from the group. 

Accessing his PipBoy, Jason's face was lit up by the green light coming from it and came up with a new object in his hands, something that resembled a flat radio full of wires and a wristband. He wrapped the device on his right, free wrist, and pressed a specific button: Jason disappeared.

"Can you guys see me?" He whispered, chuckling quietly at their amazed expressions, only Dogmeat not impressing itself. That was an 'yes' for him. "Wait for a minute: I'll be right back, then we can move on."

Being invisible to normal eyesight, and even to scanners, Jason stood up and tiptoed to the terminal that he happened to spot on his tuck-in. Typing every word with precision and a worrying slow speed, Jason typed his guess on the password: "Horse". He smiled in his stealth cloak, having full access on the turret's database. Using his mild hacking skills with terminals, he changed the assignment of targets. One click on the 'enter' key, and the turret was at his command.

It mercilessly gunned down the unsuspecting Mutants, visceral liquid painting the floor as they fell face-first. Jason whistled to get their attention, accidentally startling Twilight with his unseen hand being set on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm right here. You can clearly see my outlines. Stand up, and let's go."

"So awesome..." Rainbow muttered to herself as she saw the actual details of his body, such as the raised strands of his hair, or the torn-up parts of his cloth. His weapon was also easily seen due to its form.

Six figures raised from the dark and stepped into the light, right on the tracks of The Wanderer. Twilight easily noted that Jason had taken a stop and bent over to loot the bodies, for some reason storing some ammunition magazines in his wrist-computer, eventually storing the weapons that would probably accept those magazines. It still felt strange for her, witnessing a person robbing the dead. But after he had told her what he has been through, she mildly understood why. 

Jason noticed a door with a dusty plate on it, reading "Rotunda". If there was a place where his father could be, it would be there. He could feel it. Opening the door, he was received with a idling Super Mutant, it's figure being easily seen in the blue aura of the room. The thought that his father was either dead or seriously hurt by it overcame his mind: signaling to the girls to guard the door, he climbed a brief stair case and launched himself in the air, unsheathed his knife and brutally assaulted the creature with powerful, lightning-speed stabs. Dogmeat ran towards another mutant that emerged from the rotunda, jumping high enough to reach for the neck. A sharp-teethed bite, and it came down. He gave the already severed gut a few more bites, blooding his muzzle.

"J-Jason, I think that something i-is coming at us!" Dash shouted as she saw Jason rushing around the rotunda for any kind of information.

"I gave you that pistol for a reason!" He shouted back.

Both Dash and Applejack gulped as they heard the heavy footsteps, together with a frightening, throaty yell, neared their position. The other girls, except for Pinkie Pie who secretly grabbed a resting assault rifle from the nearest wall for no good reason, crawled behind the ill-armed duo. The grips on the handles' tightened, sweat came rolling on their porcelain faces, their breathing got heavier by each moment that passed.

Unfortunately, the Super Mutant came ready for them. Wielding a hunting rifle similar to Jason's, but way more repaired, he shot a single bullet at the group. Rainbow and Applejack ducked at the right time, feeling it darting through their hair. A whimper of pain wasn't what they were waiting for. While the shot didn't hit her completely, Fluttershy now sported a red, visceral graze on her arm. Not withstanding the burning sensation scouring her fragile body, she fell to her knees, her eyes watering.

"You hurt my friend?!? No pony hurts my friends!!! YOU MEANIE!!!!!" An enraged shriek filled the atmosphere.

The always bubbly Pinkie Pie now had a scorching look of rage in her eyes, hair going flat for a second. Her shout was so loud and so terrifying that the Super Mutant stood there, unable to even reach for the trigger, or even the bolt. Its eyes went wide for a second.

Pinkie jumped in front of her friends, assault rifle loaded. Squeezing the trigger, she barely staggered from the sudden barrage of shots coming from the muzzle. Her face was lit up in the dark room my the yellow flash, a serious, penetrating stare in her once happy and cheerful eyes. The unexpected surpressive fire ended finally, leaving only a hole-riddled torso in the distance, and a trail of grey smoke coming from the rifle's tip. Pinkie showed that she had also grabbed a few ammo magazines with her, reloading the gun with mild difficulty, but impressive knowledge for someone who never laid hands on one.

Her friends watched with utter confusion as her hair returned to its normal, puffy state, and the look of rage dissipated from her face, replaced by one of concern. She immediately got down on her knees, and with quick, confusing sentences, tried to comfort Fluttershy.

"What the hell happened here, girls?" Jason, having returned to his natural visibility, entered the lobby with a couple of audio tapes in his hands. Dogmeat followed him suit.

"Those mean, bad yellow creepies hurt Fluttershy!" Pinkie's voice answered his question, her head raising from the tight embrace that she was giving to her shy friend.

"You... somehow..." The Wanderer's face went blank as he spotted the loaded assault rifle, and the injured Fluttershy. "Nevermind. Let me help ya there, Flutters."

He gave the room a quick scour with his brown eyes and spotted a sole first-aid box attached to the wall. He gave a few steps to reach for it and checked its content: two Stimpaks, three Med-Xs and a Rad-Away. He smiled for a second, grabbed the medical tools and raced back to where Fluttershy was laying. When he looked down at her crying figure, his heart sunk: he surely knew that she was fragile, but now, with that graze on her arm, she looked utterly defenseless. The Wanderer marked that as a reminder that the Wasteland was surely the worst place that he ever set foot upon.

Crouching to her side, Jason smiled weakly to her, wiped a tear off and injected whatever the Stimpak contained in its innards. Fluttershy winced for the last time as her graze closed shut. Raising her head, she gave The Wanderer a warm, friendly with her still wet eyes. The Wanderer stood up and stretched his hand out to help her get back on her feet. With that done, a Stimpak to stop the bleeding on his leg and a quick reload in his rifle, Jason was once again ready to go on with his search.

"D-darling, what are those... things?" Rarity nudged him, her eyes gleaming in the darkness.

"Super Mutants. I don't know what they are exactly, but it's quite obvious that they were once human. The truth is that they hunt people, capture them, and try to bring those poor fellas to somewhere with the... 'Green Stuff'." The Wanderer answered, thinking deeply for a second as he scratched his chin.

"Well, sugarcube. Did ya find any clue on where yer father is?" Applejack came in.

"Well, aside from a few audio logs that look pretty old, nothing. But something tells me that this place has more than just this room..."

The Wanderer narrowed his eyes as he spotted a metallic door in the distance. It was in the same fashion as those seen at metro service tunnels, probably leading to somewhere deeper in the memorial's structure. His first guess was a maintenance area. Walking towards it, he noticed the buttons that worked as doorknobs, and with a simple push, multiple rusty noises filled their ears. The numerous pieces of steel moved into the wall, retracting to the point of leaving the gap between the lobby and the deeper reaches open.

As they entered the new, dim-lighted tight tunnels, Twilight couldn't help herself but to ponder at how many technological marvels she saw during her time with this uncanny wanderer: Weapons that launched deadly projectiles, doors that opened faster than ordinary ones, little computers wrapped to someone's wrist that could store tons of equipment, meds that healed critical wounds in matter of seconds. She wanted to ask Jason everything about them, but she couldn't find the time. Twilight sighed in defeat quietly as they descended the old metallic stairwell.

It ended in a long hallway, stretching its way to a room whose interior seemed to be uninteresting. The hall, however, divided itself to many other directions. The Wanderer walked more slowly, rifle in hands, eyes on full alert. Dogmeat gave constant sniffs to try and detect a living being. Jason took a sharp turn to the left, harshly greeted by a big hand on his face. He staggered back, hands to his nose in pain. The hand came from an unarmed mutant, laughter coming from its mouth. It bent over and grabbed Jason by the neck, ready to plant another firm punch on the face.

*Bang*

The muscular body above him went limp and the pressure around his neck was released. It collapsed lifelessly by his side, visceral liquids flowing from the forehead. Much to his surprise, his savior was in reality, Rainbow Dash herself. The young woman stood there, her eyes not showing any kind of emotion. She was frozen in place.

"Dash... I... I thank you for saving my ass..." He muttered out, standing up.

"I..." She whispered, gazing in terror at her weapon. Her gaze went to Jason, and then to the body: she had saved a life, more importantly, the life of a new friend.

"You're feeling bad, aren't you?" Jason said in his best fatherly tone. He was expecting that.

"I-I... I'm not, Jason." A sudden vigor and confidence in her voice came with such force that Jason himself was left with his mouth agape.

Without saying another word, Jason kept exploring the tunnels. He entered in a room, a strangely, oddly familiar one. On the center, stood an hospital bed, multiple life-support machines in critical repair conditions surrounding it. His heart beat faster by the second he noticed an audio tape resting on the floor. Grabbing it, The Wanderer noticed a small piece of paper on it. "Better Days", it read. Jason's mind raced with a thousand memories, remembering with a gasp: It was his birthplace. The dark, foggy memoirs of his birth were right there. The cracked ceiling, the bed, everything. Holding one hand to the forehead, Jason stored the audio log in his PipBoy and left the room, preventing himself to not fall on his knees and cry.

Taking long and deep breaths, Jason ultimately left the room. Yet another dusty, old, decaying staircase. This one led to a peculiar room, full of control panels, broken terminals and a net made of aluminium, dropping deeper into the tunnels made of pure steel. A table leaning against aforementioned net seemed to be covered in blood and produced a dripping noise, further detail not being shown as only a dying bulb illuminated the area. 

"You all, search for squared, grey and flat objects. If you find any, bring it to me."

They all obeyed his command and spread around the dark room. Rarity kept next to Jason as he neared the sound of dripping blood on the table he spotted. Much to their disgust, it was an gore bag.

"D-darling... what's that?" She whispered in his ear, shaking and putting both hands on his shoulders.

"Gore... bags. They store... things there."

His response was a loud sigh as she fell on her forehead against him. Jason startled himself when her face met his back, and turned around to hold her before she smacked hard against the floor. Noticing that she had fallen unconscious, Jason tried to wake her back to reality by snapping his fingers, but she was somehow knocked out cold. The girls neared him, but he nodded in a "I've got this" manner and, after struggling to grab her body entirely, he swung her on his shoulder so that her waist rested on it.

"Great. Now, I can't use my rifle..." He whispered, adjusting her unconscious body on his shoulder again. For a lady, she weighed a lot more...

Applejack knew that she was going to use that weapon. She couldn't feel that fear of before, though. She felt... confidence. A new-found vigor, just like Dash. After hearing what those Super Mutants do to innocent people, the former farm pony knew what needed to be done. And if it helped Jason, she would be happy to help.

Her opportunity came in a second: she happened to be near the door leading to the last level of the structure. From the dark staircase, she saw a lazy mutant going upstairs, a sledgehammer on its arms. She aimed. Her heart told her not to, but she wanted to. For her friends. For the sake of her friends. Applejack pressed the trigger, and followed by a familiar flash, the recoil, and the sound, she spotted the mutant going downstairs with his face laying down, bouncing every time it hit a step. Her heart felt heavy, but her mind told her that she had done the right thing. Applejack didn't feel bad for it, considering the atrocities committed by its race. It was something new, though. Something... grim.

They all ran to where she stood. More footsteps came from whenever the mutant killed by Applejack. The armed girls, including Pinkie, protected The Wanderer and Rarity. Applejack and Rainbow gave two of them simple headshots, while Pinkie relentlessly opened fire. The mutants went down quicker than they thought they would go, since they all carried melee weapons. Their blood painted the dull grey walls behind them. With a motion of his finger, Jason motioned and went downstairs, Dogmeat scouring ahead of him. The lower halls were more home-like, filled with desks, beds, and even couches. The lights were also lighter and blueish. Jason had lost all of his hope in finding his father by now, as Dogmeat came back and negatively shook his head. A sigh escaped his lips, and fatigue finally took over. 

The dog returned with an incredible amount of audio logs on his mouth and some others being pushed by his paws. Jason looked with surprised and grabbed them with his free hand, bringing them to eye level. They were all labeled "Project Purity Personal Logs" for some reason. Jason would surely listen to all of them. He looted every object of value in the rooms, such as ammo mags, grenades, medical kits, caps and other junk to sell, and then returned. 

"So... what now?" Twilight asked, curious as he stored the last of the audio logs in his computer.

"Now, we camp somewhere, and we listen."





27 minutes later...

Jason gave a long breath as the last transmission ended. His father wasn't no ordinary Vault doctor. No. His father was someone with a great and broad vision of the world, with the nearly impossible dream of totally purifying the waters of the Potomac River. A goal that most would see as unreachable. But in the end, something that would change the Wasteland... for good or bad.

What weighed in his heart was the simple fact that he heard the voice of his father, both in moments of happiness and sadness. He even heard the voice of his mother, sweet and soft as silk, which only brought tears to his eyes. Now, he had a new destination: Vault 112.

Nearing a decaying bridge, a group of peculiar people walked under the pale moonlight. One of them carried an unconscious woman, being assisted by a dog and three more armed girls. The look on the only man's face was of an awkward mixture of tiredness and annoyance. His shoulder grew numb by every second, and the lady resting on it didn't seem to be waking up so early.

"We're... camping under that bridge..." Jason said, pointing to the rubble underside it. He removed the sleeping bags from his PipBoy and threw them at Rainbow and Applejack. "Set camp while I tend to the lady, please?"

"Yes, sugarcube." Applejack replied as she grabbed the sleeping rolls and ran together with Dash to the underside, setting the bags down and gathering wood from the pile of debris.

"You could wake up just now, Rarity... You're heavy..." The Wanderer whined, nearly letting go of her body as he reached for the camp.

"Get your hands off me, you ruffian." Rarity. She had woke up. Being hung upside down, and in an unfamiliar environment, she started to crazily shake her legs and arms around, throwing heavy punches in his stomach.

"Hey, hey, Rarity! It's m---"

Her hand accidentally scored a critical hit on his weak spot. A hard hit. It came down so fast that it was only a blur. A painful hum was everything that he could stutter for the moment as he let go of Rarity and went to his knees. Sobs of agony filled the quiet, cool night air as Jason rested his head on the sand, eyes closed, rocking his face back and forth at his disgrace.

"Darling?"

A wave of his hand before it returned to the attacked area was everything she got. Jason started to crawl towards the set camp, an orange light already coming from it. He received weird stares from the girls sitting around.

"Jason? What's happening?" Twilight asked, perking her head from the campfire's warmness.

"Two words: critical... hit..."

A few minutes passed on as Jason groaned and grunted on the ground, sand blending on his cloth and hair with each roll. Finally, he sat on his rump and still sported a contorted face. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, slowly coming into terms with the pain up his crotch. The Wanderer had never been hit there. And now he wished that he wasn't hit there anymore in his dear life.

"Jason? Are you okay now?" Twilight asked once again.

"Y-yes... damn, that hurts..." He then inhaled deeply for one last time, opening his eyes and blinking repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, Jason, I didn't--" Rarity's apology was interrupted as his hand was pressed on her lips. He gave her a nod of agreement and removed his hand.

Silence reigned above them, except for the occasional crackles of the dead wood burning in the fire. The cold night chill nearly put the fire out for a second, being protected by Pinkie who shot up from her seat on the ground to protect it. They all stared deep into the dancing flames, all of them diving into the deepest points of their own thoughts. Jason, who finally got answers. Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack, who now had killed for the first time, stared at the orange strands with a certain grimness. Twilight, who was wildly amused by the technology. Rarity and Fluttershy, who listened closely to James' audio logs, and understood the true reason of Jason's presence around in this living hell.

Jason swung his knife for a while and plunged it down on the sand. By tomorrow, he was going to the mysterious Vault 112. Still, that same questioned flew around in his mind: Was James alive, or dead, all of this time?