Sarah sat, leaning her back against the wall of the vault, her eyes half lidded as she allowed her mind to rest. Luna was sitting as well, Daybreaker half out of its sheath.

You know, you could have told her about the eyes, the mare commented privately to Nim.

I did not believe that now was the time, Nim replied with a slight mental shrug. Perhaps once we have left this atrocious place. Then mayhaps you may tell her of her cat eyes. You are her lover after all.

After the previous night I do not believe that is a valid excuse, Luna replied plainly. After all, was it not your tongue that was so deep within her?

I... shut up, Nim stated sourly. Whatever the case, now is not the time to tell her.

I suppose not, Luna agreed with a mental sigh. How is she faring by the way?

Well at the moment, she’s dozing, Nim replied. She’s tired, sore, and to be completely honest, I would recommend another two months or so of bed rest before she tries this sort of thing.

Time that we do not have, Luna said, though she wasn’t disagreeing with Nim. To be honest, she’d rather never have to try this sort of thing, ever. I worry for her greatly... though I know that doesn’t need to be said.

I know, and so does she, Nim reported, a note of tenderness slipping into her voice. Then it dropped. Luna, I sense evil pervading the area ahead of us.

As if I could not? Luna asked rhetorically. And yet; perhaps a dot of good?

Perhaps, Nim agreed. But still, I do not anticipate this journey being a ‘fun’ one.

When has anything here been fun? Luna replied archly.

Last night was rather enjoyable if I recall correctly, Nim replied with a mental smirk.

Are you going to continue bringing that up? Luna replied.

You began it, Nim stated, letting out a mental snicker.

Luna let out a sigh, she’d never been very good at arguing with herself... or someone that was almost herself. Sarah stirred from where she’d been resting as her eyes blinked fully open.

“Oh, I must have dozed off,” Sarah murmured as she yawned and rubbed a bit of the sleep out of her eyes with the softer padded part of her gauntlet.

“It’s fine, I was awake,” Luna replied with a smile as she got to her hooves. “Though how you managed sleep in a place that smells this foul is beyond me.”

“Practice, I guess,” Sarah said with a large yawn. Then she shook herself awake and smiled. “And you stayed up the whole time to protect me?”

“But of course, what else is a lover there for, if not to cover their partner as they sleep?” Luna asked, quoting an old soldier she’d known once, though he hadn’t been speaking about her at the time obviously.

“True,” Sarah replied as she began to reload her shotgun and repeater. “So, you ready for whatever is ahead of us?”

“Indeed,” Luna said with a small shrug and a ruffle of her wings. “The sooner we retrieve this G.E.C.K. the sooner we can exit this foul place.”

Yes, and then we shall take the fight to the Enclave and reclaim the Project, Nim chimed in.

“Yeah, that too,” Sarah said, her gaze hardening at the thought of taking the fight to the sons of bitches.

“Well then, unlock the door and allow us to continue,” Luna told Sarah, giving her a nuzzle and a kiss.

“Right,” Sarah said as she walked back over to the door controls and tapped a few keys.

The door slid open to reveal a red lit hallway, a door directly to the left. Sarah and Luna moved forwards, the woman covering the mare with her shotgun as her hooves made metallic sounds against the floor.

Suddenly the door on the right opened up to reveal a mutant.

“YOU TASTE GOOD! TIME TO DIE!” the mutant roared at them, a sledgehammer held in its grasp.

Sarah reacted quickly as the hammer head slammed down at her. Her body swayed away from the blow and she caught the shaft in her armoured gauntlets. That turned out to be a bad idea. The mutant was still far stronger than her and it used its superior strength to send Sarah crashing into the wall.

*Shing*

Daybreaker slashed through the hammer’s shaft right below the head, sending it in the other direction as Luna closed the distance between them and drove her diamond hard hooves into its chest. The mutant went down with a confused cry of alarm and Luna pulped its stomach with a powerful stomp.

“Are you okay, Sarah?” she called to the woman as she began to clean her hooves off.

“I’m fine,” Sarah said as she pushed herself off of the wall. “The armour took the blow.”

“Good,” Luna stated with a smile. Then she turned towards the room the mutant had exited. A safe lay within. “Shall we search that?”

Sarah caught sight of the safe and shrugged. “I’m not really up to lockpicking at the moment, especially not an actual safe. Think you can get it?”

“I shall endeavor to try,” Luna replied as she walked up to it.

She noticed a slim slot where there was enough room to slide a bit of Daybreaker in between the safe’s door and the rest of its ‘body’. The mare frowned for a moment before shrugging. If it came right down to it, the safe would break before Daybreaker. With a simple movement she slotted the sword’s tip into the crevice and began to use it as a lever. There was a loud strain of metal as the safe resisted but after a few moments it snapped open, the broken remains of its locking easily visible.

“Good job, Luna,” Sarah said, giving the mare a pat on the neck before she bent down to loot the thing.

A few energy cells, 10.mm shots and a pair of stimpacks were their rewards. Sarah quickly gathered them up and placed them in the appropriate places in her duffle bag. Luna smiled at their success and the pair left the room. As they exited back into the hallway, Sarah heard a... moaning noise coming from the door across the hallway.

What... is that? Sarah asked Nim quietly.

I have no earthly idea, Nim replied. I’d advise-

Whatever Nim was going to advise was interrupted as the door slid open and a... thing crawled out. It had the upper body of a super mutant, covered in bulbous tumors and growths. Its lower body had been reduced to nothing but a pair of stumpy legs and it let out a loud moaning roar as it crawled towards them, it’s mouth opening insanely wide and its eyes dripping mucus.

Sarah let out a shriek and pumped a blast of buckshot into its face, sending its neck snapping backwards. Then as if by magic it snapped back forwards and let out another moan as it took another crawling inch forwards.

“DIE ABOMINATION!” Luna shouted as she brought Daybreaker cleaving through its skull. The silver blade connected with the abomination’s skull and sliced through it and into the thing’s chest cavity. She withdrew the blade and let the red ichor trickle off.

“The fuck is that thing?!” Sarah demanded as she stared at it.

If I were forced to guess, I would say what super mutants come from, Nim said as she did her best to keep her voice level.

“It is a foul abomination, but it is dead,” Luna said as she turned her back on the thing. “Let us continue.”

Sarah gave a shaky nod and the pair continued maybe five feet before they heard a moan from behind them. They both turned to see that the abomination’s body was whole once more and it was crawling at them with renewed vigor, it’s mouth opened in an even louder moan.

“I KILLED YOU ALREADY!” Luna roared at it as she brought Daybreaker down into its flesh again. The result was the same as before, the blade sliding easily into it the sickly flesh and causing it to collapse. This time however its eyes snapped open almost immediately and the groaning grew louder.

“I think we should run,” Sarah said worriedly as Luna thrashed it again and it still refused to die, instead the moaning just grew louder and louder.

A good suggestion, Nim agreed as Luna threw the thing down the corridor and into the doorway. The abomination impacted with a crash and began to collect itself again, it’s moaning growing so loud that Sarah wanted to shove cotton in her ears to protect them.

“Agreed!” Luna shouted and the pair turned to run. A new sound joined the moaning, the sound of meaty fists slamming against solid steel doors, and them beginning to strain.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Sarah shouted as the moaning intensified. “Who the hell thinks this kind of thing up?!”

“Someone demented!” Luna shouted back as the sound of a door being knocked completely out of its frame and impacting off of the far wall.

One of the abominations burst through a door in front of them and tackled Luna to the ground. The mare was down for but a moment before Sarah’s shotgun went off and it let out an eerie moan. It loosened its grip on Luna, it’s incredibly powerful hands releasing her. Luna’s horn glowed angrily and she used her super sledge to smash the thing from behind before it could attack Sarah.

It fell back into its cell in a boneless heap before it got back up and started to waddle towards them again like a giant mutated baby. The pair turned again and began to run.

They ran for close to ten minutes straight before they reached a point where it felt like they were far enough ahead of the abominations to take a small rest. That rest was rudely interrupted by a rough voice that sounded as if it was teetering on the edge of desperation.

“You... over there. Please, come speak to me. I’m in the room to your left. Use the intercom next to the window,” the voice begged.

Sarah and Luna exchanged a look.

That sounded like a mutant, Nim said.

“Yes, it did,” Sarah agreed in between pants.

“So it is trying to trick us somehow?” Luna asked with narrowed eyes.

"No idea,” Sarah replied. “All I know is that there is a swarm of things that didn’t bother trying to talk to us about three hundred feet behind us and we’ve got around ten minutes to spare before the unkillable bastards find us.”

“True, we have a few of those to spare... though I do not like the idea of conversing with one of these idiots,” Luna grunted.

You’re not going to suggest that it should die for being an evil species? Nim asked sounding skeptical.

“It is not a creature of necromancy,” Luna said with a small shrug. “Besides, there is no such thing as an evil ‘species’.”

What about diamond dogs? Nim inquired as the pair approached the glass.

“They’re a stupid species, not evil,” Luna corrected.

Any further conversation was cut off as the silhouette behind the glass became fully visible. It was a downright huge mutant, almost twice as tall as Sarah. When it saw them it’s frown turned into a wide smile.

“It can’t be!” the mutant exclaimed, its voice raising and lowering in volume at random intervals. “Either you are quite real or I am going quite mad! Could you actually be a pure human... and a real live alicorn? Oh my, I must be going mad.”

“Err... no, she’s real,” Sarah said as she pressed the button on the intercom. “It’s a long story, but trust me, she’s real.”

“I see...” the mutant said before shrugging.

“So... who are you?” Luna questioned him with a frown as she too stepped up to the intercom.

“Me? You care who I am?” the mutant asked, his voice growing louder with incredulity before he added in a more calm voice. “Forgive me, but I’m not used to pleasantries. I’m more used to grunts and being struck about by the others.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sarah said, beginning to get a real grip on the situation. “So, what’s your name?”

“My name is Fawkes. I’ve lived in this... cage all my life,” Fawkes explained, lowering his head a little.

Hmm, he is remarkably well spoken for one living in a cage, Nim observed with a mental frown.

“It is rather ironic that the others seem to treat you as a mutant,” Luna observed with a small frown.

“Yes, indeed it is ironic,” he stated with a what Sarah felt was without a hint of ire, if anything he sounded impressed. “Forgive my astonishment, but I had not expected to meet someone with such a learned outlook of these things. It is a pleasant change.” Then the mutant chuckled. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, it was only a matter of time before someone like you showed up looking for the G.E.C.K.”

Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise. “What do you know about the G.E.C.K.?”

“I know what it is, I know where it is and best of all, I know how you can get your hands on it,” Fawkes replied with a grin.

Sarah frowned. “But why would you help me get it?”

“Because... you can help me,” the mutant replied, it’s voice growing a bit more desperate. “Let me out of this place! I can’t take it anymore. I can’t even recall how long I’ve been here! Take me with you and I’ll retrieve the G.E.C.K. for you.”

Sarah frowned and glanced at Luna.

What do you think? she asked Nim, confident that Luna would hear.

I think that he’s telling the truth, Luna replied, frowning. He has no real reason to lie, and as of so far he’s the closest thing we’ve seen to an intelligent mutant.

Agreed, Nim said emphatically. Though if he wants to travel with us... it may cause problems.

What do you mean? Sarah asked with a frown.

The Brotherhood does seem to have ‘shoot all mutants on sight’ as a modus operandi, Nim replied. I rather doubt that they’d be willing to allow one anywhere near the Citadel.

Hmm, she makes a good point, Luna agreed, frowning. Though I suppose we may be able to convince the Elder. After all, if they are willing to allow me within, I see no reason why they wouldn’t allow him.

“You must be having a good conversation,” Fawkes said suddenly.

“What?” Sarah asked, blinking twice.

“Your faces are moving as if you are having a conversation,” Fawkes stated. “IT stands to reason that you are talking to each other in some way! Telepathy perhaps?”

“Yes... that’s right,” Luna said slowly. “How in Equestria could you possibly know what that is?”

“I have read a great many things,” Fawkes answered with a chuckle. “Many books describe such things though I didn’t know that they EXISTED! “

The mutant’s excitement was obvious, as was the thirst for knowledge in his voice.

“Hmm, alright, we’ll let you out,” Sarah stated before adding. “But why would we need your help to get to the G.E.C.K?”

“EXCELENT!” the mutant all but cheered. “As for why you need my help; the chamber where the G.E.C.K. is resides is absolutely flooded with radiation. It is unlikely that you’d survive very long.”

“Ah...” Sarah said slowly as the pieces began to fall into place.

“Myself, on the other hand, have surprisingly inherited a useful trait from my fellow Meta Humans,” he continued, his voice becoming dry. “I am highly resistant to radiation.”

“Okay then, Luna, break the glass,” Sarah said with a smile at the mare. “And I’d advise you step away,” she added to Fawkes.

“I do not believe that it is possible to break the glass, I have tried for a long time,” Fawkes replied with a frown, though he did step away from the wall.

Can you do this? Sarah asked Luna.

It is not that thick, besides, Daybreaker is more then just a simple sword, Luna replied simply before lining up Daybreaker and the glass. Then with a single swing of the silver sword she slashed into the glass. The enchanted blade stabbed about three inches inwards before what looked like frost started to spread from its point of impact.

Daybreaker can also freeze things, remember? Nim added within Sarah’s mind.

Oh... Sarah’s mind drifted back to the Super Duper where the blade had first been introduced to her. That’s right... but why doesn’t she use it more often?

Because there is precious little magic here to sustain the enchantment, it would not do to use it all up in simple combat, Nim replied as Luna pushed the blade farther forwards, the glass beginning to shudder and crackle with every inch.

Then as Luna pushed it another inch, its tip coming out the other side, the glass broke apart like a wall of shattered ice. It fell to the floor with a tinkling sound and Luna used a small amount of her telekinesis to clear it out of the way.

“YOU DID IT!” Fawkes shouted, joyful exuberance shining on his face like a beacon in the darkness.

Luna let out a faint pant of effort and nodded her head. “You are wel-”

Before she could finish the sentence the mutant had vaulted out of the cell and in the blink of an eye had wrapped his arms around Luna, hugging the hell out of her.

“OH THANK YOU! I THOUGHT I WOULD BE TRAPPED IN THAT ROOM FOR THE REST OF TIME!” the mutant roared as he squeezed Luna against his chest.

The alicorn had struggled for a moment but decided that what little struggle she was able to put up wouldn’t be enough to free herself from the mutant’s grip so she may as well just go along with it. The hug wasn’t painful after all.

Well, it appears that our Luna has made a new friend, Nim commented dryly.

Err... yes, Sarah agreed as she walked forwards and tapped Fawkes on the shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt... but I’d kind of like my marefriend here to capable of walking.”

Fawkes blinked twice and then let out an apologetic chuckle as he carefully set Luna down. “My APOLOGIES, I was just so HAPPY to be free that I may have OVERREACTED!”

“It’s fine,” Sarah said before frowning. “By the way, my name is Sarah, and I think you’ve met Luna.”

“Ah, I was wondering what your names were,” Fawkes replied before turning to Luna who was in the middle of recovering. “Once again, I apologize.”

Luna let out a pant and then shrugged her shoulder. “It is fine, Fawkes. I do not blame you. This is not the first time I have been hugged by those who had resigned themselves to an awful fate,” she explained.

“Right, anyways-” Sarah was cut off as the sound of moaning suddenly reached her ears. “Shit!”

The party turned to see that there were five of the abominations nearing them.

“Oh... you woke those up did you?” Fawkes asked slowly before he pulled a super sledge off of his back. “Well then! I shall REPAY you for your kindness!”

Before either Luna or Sarah could say anything Fawkes charged forwards and met the abominations. The pair watched blankly as the large mutant stomped, bashed, crashed, cracked, split, and generally killed the abominations.

Fawkes moved like a rampaging bull yet at the same time, everything he did was measured and precise, not a single iota of energy wasted as he tore the things limb from limb and then stomped on the corpses until they were nothing but pieces of red gore.

Once he was finished he walked back over to Sarah and Luna. “Those THINGS, I was almost one of them. But I am NOT!”

“Err... glad to hear it,” Sarah said slowly, trying to comprehend what she’d just seen happen.

“Wonderful,” Luna agreed, just as shocked.

I think I’m going to like him, I think I’m going to like him a lot, Nim stated, her mental voice all but salivating at the show of force.

“To the G.E.C.K. then?” Fawkes asked.

Sarah simply nodded stiffly.

“Okay, so we have the G.E.C.K. now we just need to get back to the Citadel,” Sarah said as the three of them walked down the hallway. “This should be a piece of cake.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed with a smile. Fawkes had agreed to escort them out of the Vault before deciding where he would go in the Wasteland.

“I look forwards to seeing the OUTSIDE world,” Fawkes commented with a smile. “All of that KNOWLEDGE, so much that I can barely imagine it all!”

“Just remember that it’s not exactly a pretty place,” Sarah said as they entered a new chamber.

“After you have spent an uncountable number of years in a single cell, everything is beautiful to you,” Fawkes replied before pausing. “What was-”

ZAAAAAP

Author's Note

Don’t call it a cliffhanger, you all knew it was coming