And here's chapter 3. Eventually. Soon... I hope... Anyways, sorry about the long wait. Real Life caught up with me finally. Um... update about my life currently... I'm finally not single. Hurray? Let's hope this one lasts longer than a couple months. Anyways, other than all that, I've been trying to think of how to do this chapter and I think I finally got it. Yipee. Thank you Pinkie Pie for... uh... inspiration...

You're welcome Knightypoo!

Yeah... that's what I deal with when I'm with her... Anyway... Here's chapter 3 of my son's story. Pinkie, no don't touch that. Pinkie!

Chapter 3.A: Salvation of Megaton

The morning after Pip and Velvet were reunited went about as expected. The introductions were made, stories were told, and Pip asked if they could go home. I will be the first to admit, hearing that Pip wanted to leave so quickly kinda hurt, since I was growing to like her, a lot. I'd had every intention of letting them leave until I remembered something Pip had mentioned to me before. "Pip... remember what you said to me on our way here? That your Overmare had said never to return to the stable." I said and she flinched as if I'd hit her. "Sorry. I'm not trying to hurt you in any way, but it's not like you can return." She nodded and Velvet looked at her as if she'd become a pariah. But the look on Velvet's face wasn't one of pity, it was thankful. In her eyes, Pip had gotten herself thrown out of their Stable for the sake of a friend. Pip stared at the table for a moment before grabbing Atremis' drink and downing half of it. Artemis touched her arm lightly and she jerked away.

"I don't need you to remind me that I can never go home. I know I can't go home because I heard them ban me from the Stable." She snapped and he stared at her, keeping his mouth closed. "I know I came out here to take Velvet home and now I have nothing to take her home too... I failed... at the whole reason I came out here... and now there's no reason to ever go back..."

"Now Pip, you came out here to save me. For all you knew there was nothing out here except darkness and death... and you still came out here..." Velvet said and she touched Pip's other hand. "I will always be grateful for that, and I couldn't ask for a better friend." She said and Pip fell into her arms, hugging her tight. Velvet held her close and rubbed her back, comforting her. Nyx walked back to the table with more drinks, non alcoholic drinks for Pip and Melody, alcohol for the others. Artemis drank his sparingly, his eyes never leaving the back of the head of one of the Slavers. "Artemis? What's wrong?"

"I know him. That one right there." He gestured at the Slaver with his head. "He works for Red-Eye, the worst Slaver in Equestria's short history. If he works for Red-Eye, then they all do. This city is worthless now. As far as I'm concerned, let's set off that bomb in the middle of the city and glass this whole area." Artemis said and Melody looked at him, sputtering a little.

"Artemis, that's cold even for you. The people of this town have done nothing wrong. We need to save them from these Slavers, not throw them all in with the Slavers." She said and he shook his head. Artemis kept his eyes on the Slaver while she talked. He knew she went on for a while, explaining why he should let them live, but all he could think of was ending the life of the Slaver he had his eyes locked on. Pip joined the conversation after a while and before long there was an argument going on between Pip, Velvet, Melody and Nyx. Calamity shook his head and walked away from their table to get something to eat and Artemis tuned them out. It wasn't hard, considering his eyes stayed locked on his target. It wasn't long before the argument stopped and Pip waved her hand in front of him.

"Huh... what?" He shook his head vigorously and looked at her. "Sorry, I kinda zoned out. What's up?"

"I think we have a way to get the slavers out of the town without causing any harm to anyone." She said and Calamity set down a couple platters of Radigator meat, cooked well and seasoned perfectly. "There's someone in town here, they can rig something up that will make the bomb inactive. We can render that thing unusable and safe. It can stay here in the town and be no threat to anyone." She said and Artemis nodded and grabbed a slab of Radigator and bit into it. While he ate, Pip watched him, almost fascinated with how well his teeth were designed to tear into the meat.

"Pip, if you keep staring at my teeth, I'm going to bite you. What is so interesting about them?" he asked her and she shook her head.

"Nothing. They're just... different and I think they're cool. They're made for tearing into meat aren't they?" She asked and he nodded. "So it's easier for you to eat meat than it is to eat other foods?" He nodded again and swallowed another bite of Radigator meat.

"The meat isn't too bad though. You should try it." He said and she levitated a piece of it over to her and sniffed at it.

"It doesn't smell that good..." She said before taking a small bite. After tiny bite, her eyes lit up and she dug in in earnest. Before long, the Radigator meat was gone. Between the two of them, they'd cleaned the plate. After they ate, they planned. He and Pip would go with Nyx to find the pony that was going to rig up the bomb deactivator while Calamity, Melody, and Velvet attempted to convince the Slavers to leave. If they couldn't talk them into leaving, Melody had a spell that could create an illusion that would scare them out. He knew they'd succeed, but he also had qualms about leaving his sister alone with Slavers. She was beautiful and a great singer, not to mention smart and an Alicorn. Keeping her gem hidden under a hood wasn't a guarantee that she'd be safe. Artemis sighed as they left the saloon, Pip and Nyx following him to their destination while Melody and the others headed to theirs. As they arrived, the door to the place they were headed swung open and out strolled Iron-Sights, the sheriff.

"Sheriff. What's going on?" Artemis asked and the sheriff shook his head.

"Altercation with one of the bandits... Mr. Flask is no longer among the living Ah'm afraid." He said and Nyx swore a little.

"And the bandit?"

"Got away Ah'm afraid... shame, Ah'd have liked to put a bullet in him. Flask was a good friend." Iron-Sights said and Artemis looked around, stopping when his eyes fell on someone in the crowd with a smirk on his face. Reaching around behind Pip, he pulled Little Mac out of its holster on her back, took aim, and fired. The resulting explosion from the gun made everyone jump, Pip and Nyx ducking away and following the vapor trail. The bandit had a look of shock on his face and a bullet whole in the middle of his forehead. "Good shot son." He said as two of his officers went over and took the body somewhere else.

"Thanks." Artemis said as he slid Little Mac back into it's holster. The crowd parted slowly and Pip looked at the building Flask had once worked in.

"Now what? With Flask dead, we don't have anyone to rig the bomb to deactivate." She said and Artemis turned and looked at the Megaspell sitting in the middle of Megaton. It was wrapped in a metal casing, but he could see the general inner workings of it. His dad had taught him how to read magic so he could dispel magic. Walking over to it, one of the idiots in the town that worshiped the bomb as a message from their deity stepped in front of him.

"Have you come to join the church of Atom?" the man asked and Artemis growled and all but back handed the man out of his way, placing his gauntlet arm on the Megaspell. As his own magic began to flow through the arm, one of the gems on the back of his hand started to glow.

"There we go. Now... to do this right without killing everyone..." He said to himself as Pip walked over to him. "Damn thing is fluctuating, but if I can aim right... I can dispel the spell inside this bomb..." He closed his eyes and Pip touched his shoulder.

"And if you can't?"

"Then this thing's going off and we're screwed cause you and I are in the epicenter of what could be a really damn big boom." He said and she swallowed.

"Alright. I'm right here with you then." she said and he nodded and snapped his eyes open, a burst of energy shooting from his palm into the bomb, seeking the center of the spell inside it. Keeping his eyes open, he concentrated as his magic wove intricate lines through the destructive magic of the Megaspell before striking the center of it, the entire spell disappearing as the key spell was destroyed. As soon as his magic flowed back into him, his arm dropped to his side and he hit the ground on his knees in the radioactive water. Nyx ran over and pulled him out of the water with Pip's help as the Sheriff stared at him.

"What'd he just do?" Iron-Sights asked and Nyx looked up at him.

"That bomb was just deactivated. He just risked his life to save everyone in this town. It won't matter what anyone does to it now, the spell is gone." She said and Iron-sights jerked back a little. A Megaspell was a combination of hundreds of destructive spells put into one, meant to destroy everything it touched. For one being to have destroyed that spell, he had to have an immense ammount of magical power.

"Well, thanks fer that." Iron-sights said as Melody and the others rejoined them, Melody sliding to a stop next to Artemis.

"Idiot... I felt your magic on the other side of town... Mom always told you not to try dangerous stuff like that alone... why do you never listen...?" She asked and he smirked.

"Cause I'm a stubborn ass hole... just like dad. Any luck getting the slavers to leave?" He asked as he sat up.

"They left when they heard the gunshot. I guess you scared them off big brother." She said and he nodded.

"Good. Let's get outa this town. We still need to get to the city and find DJ Pon3." He said and they all stood and headed out of Megaton.

"Hey, you folks be careful out there, ya here?" Iron-sights said as he ran up to them. "Ya'll will always have a home here in Megaton."

"Thanks Sheriff." Artemis said as a smile spread across his face. Pushing the gate open, he and his friends left, heading for the big city to find out if DJ Pon3 had heard anything about Radiance.

And there you have it. Chapter 3 of my Fallout Equestria story. Well, 3.A. Next up is 3.B, where they can't persuade Artemis to NOT blow up the bomb. Anywho, R&R and I'll post Chapter 3.b when I can.