Chapter 8

New faces, friendly and otherwise

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes - and found out she could not recognize the place she was in.

The surroundings felt pretty familiar, but her mind just could not conjure the corresponding name to them.

She looked around. Much to her surprise, she saw green grass and asphalt roads surrounding her bed (which had been transported in this place somehow).

Honk!

She jumped up at the sound, but got herself tangled in the sheets (wait, did I use sheets?) and fell down on the pavement.

"I'm OK!" she screamed to no one in particular.

I'll never get used to these cars, she thought.

Once she got herself out of the mess her sheets turned into, she managed to look around properly.

She was in the same place where she would always find herself if she used the portal to the human world.

And there is Canterlot High School. But wait...

Before her mind actually managed to formulate a thought, the portal flashed with dark-pink light. The smooth stony surface became a swirl that resembled a tunnel of sorts.

Twilight immediately realized what it was. A gateway back to Equestria!

Without a pause, she rushed into the portal. This time, the transition went smoothly, without any Discord-worthy twisting and turning.

The transition from bipedal to quadrupedal form was never a pleasant business if you actually forgot (or did not know) on how to use it properly.

Twilight was unable to get used to her normal form quick enough, and ended up on her back.

"OW!"

She turned over to her stomach, planting her hooves on the ground. After a small muscular exertion, she managed to stand up.

Her wings were now in her usual place, as was her horn.

"Yeee-haw!" Twilight emitted a small scream, using her now-returned magic to levitate some random objects in the room and move them around aimlessly. "So good to have my magic back!"

After a minute, however, she paused. Then she put the objects she had levitated on the floor haphazardly.

Something did not feel right. Something was absent.

Where are my friends?

Twilight decided to move around her castle (for the place she was in now was her own Friendship Rainbow Kingdom Castle) and see if there was a chance of finding anypony within.

She did not need to move around for long, however.

Once she came into the throne room, she found all her friends sitting in their respective places according to their cutie marks, while her own throne was occupied by Princess Celestia, and Spike's place was converted to fit its current user - Princess Luna.

Twilight's spirits soared. She was back and everypony was waiting for her!

She did not notice herself lifting off the ground as she rushed into the circle formed by thrones, her wings giving her additional speed.

However, as she tried to approach her mentor in order to give her a hug (which she would not normally do, but her mood was too high for her to care)...

Bump!

Twilight bounced off from the magical force field that surrounded the throne where Princess Celestia was sitting, falling to the floor.

"Ow! What the..."

She rose. And only then did she notice that the sun-raising diarch was not, in fact, pleased to see her.

The expression Princess Celestia bore was stern and serious, and the glare she leveled at her student was usually reserved only for those who managed to piss the diarch off something fierce. In fact, her younger sister bore the same expression, with extra malice coming from her own glare.

The Princess of Friendship was puzzled.

Just what is going on here?!

Turning around, she noticed that hoping to find supoprt from her friends was futile, too. On their faces (muzzles?) she could see anything but joy at her own return.

Instead, she received the looks of contempt, anger, disappointment, fury, disapproval and hatred. Even Fluttershy was looking angrily at her, which was not something one would expect from the meek pegasus.

Her puzzlement only grew.

"What's going on?!" she addressed nopony in particular, but as she finished turning around, she found herself face-to-face with Applejack, which apparently made the latter think that the question was directed towards her.

The earth pony stepped from her throne and started stepping towards Twilight, the expression of disdain not going anywhere.

As she approached the purple alicorn, she suddenly turned around, putting more of her weight on her forelegs.

WHACK!

Twilight flew away from Applejack under the force of impact, landing on the floor and hitting the left side of her head, which only served to exacerbate the pain she was feeling now.

"Ah'll tell ya what's goin' on," she heard the accented voice of her friend somewhere above her, "we've put together an appropriate greeting for a murderer," the last word was laced with disdain.

"Murderer?" Words were more difficult to pronounce after the hard buck Twilight had received. "Wha..?"

"We know everything, Twilight!" If the alicorn did not see Fluttershy's mouth moving, she wouldn't have believed that furious voice to belong to her friend. "You are a killer! A murderer! You were killing others in that world! How could you do this?!"

"What? But I..."

"Of all the worst things you could have done, this is the worst. Possible. Thing!" Rarity's voice joined the other accusers. "Such an uncouth, barbaric thing to do! You behaved like the worst dishonourable ruffian!"

"I had to defend myself!" Twilight desperately tried to explain everything to her friends, but it appeared that nopony wanted to listen.

"Yeah, right," Rainbow Dash joined the fray, "try this excuse on something else. You didn't kill changelings, or Nightmare Moon, or Tirek! And then you started killing others! That's so totally undeniably unquestionably uncool!"

"They were different! They..."

"They were the same ponies as here, just in a different form!" Pinkie Pie's voice was bordering on frequencies that couldn't be heard by ponies. "And you killed them! Now my human counterpart won't throw the awesome super-duper parties for them! You have become a party-pooper!"

"Do you actually know what kind of ponies - curse it - humans they were? They were party-poopers themselves! The worst kind!"

"That does not, nor shall it ever, excuse the callous disregard for the lives of others you have showed, Twilight Sparkle," the calm, yet stern and angry voice of Princess Celestia cut the purple pony's heart like a thousand ice blades, "and such behaviour is not appropriate for the Princess of Friendship. I have believed you capable of being a good example of royalty, but I see now that I have made a terrible mistake."

Twilight's insides went even colder than she believed it possible. The appropriate description would be "below the absolute zero", but, as any good scientist knew, achieving that feat was impossible.

"I, Princess Celestia, do hereby declare Twilight Sparkle stripped of her status of Princess of Equestria," with the words, Celestia's horn glowed brightly and two beams of sun rays raced towards Twilight. To her horror, her wings started burning.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" she screamed from the unbearable pain she was feeling, trying to run but being unable to move at all. She could only scream as her wings were burning down to ashes until nothing was left of them, making her a unicorn once again. Once the pain subsided, she collapsed to the cold floor without an ounce of strength left inside.

The worst part, however, was yet to come.

"I also hereby declare that for her multiple crimes, Twilight Sparkle shall be banished to the depths of Tartarus forever!"

"What?! But..." Twilight's protest, however, was quickly cut by a stream of confetti to her face that came out of Pinkie's (in)famous party cannon that somehow was strapped to the ceiling, and Pinkie herself:

"For-EEEEEEEE-verrrrrrr!"

"MAY THOU BURN AND ROT IN THERE FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!" Princess Luna declared in her (in)famous Royal Canterlot Voice. Her horn glowed, and the blue beam from it raced towards Twilight.

However, it did not hit her. Instead, it passed through her and hit the floor.

Crack! A square appeared on the floor with Twilight in its center, and the floor contained within it began breaking apart and falling down.

The sound of cracking and crumbling stones felt more terrifying than anything else she had experienced before.

"No!"

She tried to move, but her muscles failed her - she was barely able to lift her head. Trying to use teleportation spell did not help, either - all of her magical energy has dissipated somehow, resulting only in a few sparks around her horn and causing a massive headache. The ex-Princess realized that she could not escape now.

"NO!" she screamed again, trying to find mercy among her friends and Princesses, but all she got were looks of disdain and hatred.

"Farewell, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia uttered with a tone of finality that could only be heard in the voice of an executioner.

"NOOOOO!"

When there was nothing left to hold the central point together, the floor came apart under Twilight, and she fell into the deep abyss, totally helpless.

"Somepony... anypony... HELP!"

Only silence answered her.

"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Please! Help!"

"Twilight?"

Growl.

Twilight looked below - and saw Cerberus raising his three heads, sharp teeth bared, ready to pounce at the sentenced pony as soon as she hit the ground.

"NO! No! Don't let him get me!"

Again, silence. Twilight's brain calculated that she had only one thousand meter to fall.

"Rainbow! Applejack! Rarity! Pinkie! Fluttershy!"

No answer. Five hundred meters...

"Sunset!" in her vain attempts to save herself from certain death below, she screamed for the pony that had not been present at her sentencing. "Sunset... please!"

"Twilight."

Two hundred and fifty meters. I am doomed!

"Twilight, wake up!"

One hundred...

"AAAAARGH!"

Twilight Sparkle sat up, panting heavily as if she had just finished the Running of the Leaves at her maximum speed from the start to the finish.

"Twilight?"

She paid no attention to the voice to the left of her. The darkness around her was chafing. She sat still, trying to return her breathing to normal.

"Twilight, can you hear me?"

"Yes... No! Is this Tartarus? Where is Cerberus? I must hide, I must..."

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!"

Slap.

Twilight felt a palm contacting with her left cheek painfully, then her head turned around to the right under the force of impact. Immediately after that, she felt her head being turned around in another direction.

A barely-lit-by-Pip-Boy but still recognizable face of Sunset Shimmer appeared in front of her eyes.

"Snap out of it!"

For one moment, the violet-haired girl sat still, her brain unable to comprehend anything.

Then everything dawned upon her.

"Sunset!"

Thud.

"Ooof!"

Two bodies fell on the floor as Twilight tackled Sunset in a bear-worthy hug.

"What? Huh?" Spike ran up to them.

"Twilight, much as I enjoy the hugging, one day you'll drop me and I'll bonk my head and crack my skull," the fiery-haired girl said, only half-jokingly.

"Oh, sorry, Sunset! It's just... I had a dream, a very bad dream, most likely the worst nightmare I've ever had..."

"No kidding, you were screaming. I thought that someone was attacking us. But what exactly did you dream of, Twilight?"

"Well, I dreamed that I found myself near the CHS, and the portal... everything looked fine, just like I remember it, before this war and everything... then the portal flashed purple, as if inviting me back... I ran into it, and found myself in my castle, but nopony was there to greet me..." Twilight trailed off, remembering the contents of her nightmare in full and pausing.

"Was that all, or something else happened?"

"Yes..." Twilight inhaled, and went on, "I moved on to the next room, and found myself in the room with thrones, where me and my friends sit, and everyone was sitting... my friends were sitting on their thrones, and my throne was occupied by Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna was beside her... on Spike's place... and everypony was frowning at me, and as I wanted to hug Celestia, there was a barrier preventing me from approaching her... I bounced back, and asked what was going on, and... and..."

"What happened next?" Spike asked, genuinely concerned for his mother-like figure.

"Next, Applejack approached me, and... she... bucked me with her hind legs!"

"WHAT?!" Sunset exclaimed, joined by Spike.

"Yes, she did, and then..." Twilight's eyes were now full of tears, and first trickles were already running down. She sniffed and went on, "then everypony started speaking to me, hatefully; they said I was a murderer, and that they despised me... and after that, Princess Celestia... she... she..."

Uh-oh, Sunset thought, I think I know where this is going.

"She said that she would punish me for my crimes, and... she took away my title of a Princess... not only that," at these words, the lavender-skinned girl could not hold her crying anymore, "she burnt away my wings! It hurt me, hurt so much, i could not even stand once she finished with me... but that's not the end..."

"It's NOT?!" the dragon-turned-dog exclaimed in surprise.

"NO! She also said she would banish me to Tartarus, and Princess Luna screamed at me in her Royal Canterlot Voice, and the ground started cracking... then, once it disappeared from under me, I fell... and near the end, I saw Cerberus looking at me, ready to pounce... I screamed for help, but nopony was coming, and then I almost hit the ground when I... woke... up..."

Having finished her tale of dream-woe, Twilight broke down crying. Sunset and Spike sat still, shocked by what they had just heard.

Then, Sunset sat next to her friend, giving her a hug in return. Twilight put her head on the shoulder and continued crying there. Both girls sat still for several minutes in almost absolute darkness, the only source of light being their Pip-Boys.

Once the Princess of Friendship (who badly needed a shoulder to cry on) exhausted her supply of tears, Sunset gently patted her on the back.

"There, there... it was not a reality, it was just a nightmare. It wasn't true..."

"But it was! To a certain extent..." Twilight interrupted, wiping her eyes. "I mean, I did kill, and that's not something ponies accept well... even the Royal Guard has orders to use lethal force only as last resort, when all other means have been exhausted. And capital punishment hasn't been used in centuries... yet here, we almost always kill. The word "almost" may as well be excluded, actually. I've been thinking on how other ponies back in Equestria would react... my friends, and Princesses, and my family, too..."

"Twilight," Sunset interrupted her in turn, "I don't believe that your friends, or Princess Celestia would do anything of what you have described."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because if they are truly your friends, they should know better than to start launching accusations at you. They may be shocked, that's alright, but they should also ask: "What forced you to make that decision?" I mean, we aren't raiders who kill just for fun and to enjoy the suffering of other people. We protected ourselves or those who couldn't defend themselves. Plus, if Equestria suddenly were to come through the same things the UFE had endured, I hardly think that ponykind would remain the same peaceful species we know them to be now."

That makes sense... sort of, Twilight thought.

"Back in Equestria, there is still a social system: ruling body, law enforcement, standing military and so on. There is a way to keep the worst urges a sentient being can have in check... sort of; the system tends to fail in certain cases, but you aren't likely to meet someone like raiders, because the system would isolate or eliminate them quickly. But if the countermeasures were to be removed? I would bet my head that the same disreputable elements like raiders and slavers would also emerge among ponies - perhaps not immediately, but they would."

"As they did here, when the federal government of the UFE was destroyed?" Spike asked.

"Precisely, Spike. With Canterlot and many other cities burnt to the ground by atomic fire, the system that contained the worst examples of human beings collapsed entirely. Now, what happens in the Wastelands can only be described as anarchy. And in this anarchy, without a decent society, people have to fend for themselves now. Food, water, medicines and so on - you have to scavenge them, or buy them, or, if you have a steady influx, protect their source - or take them away. Vault Village has a device called "water chip" - it's basically a water filter designed to work for a long time. That's how we always had a supply of purified water. And we had to protect it, at all costs. But I digress. My point is, Princess Celestia is not stupid. Having ruled for more than a thousand years, she has to know how society works, and this world isn't so different from Equestria. She may not approve of what we did, but I believe that if she knew what this world has turned into, she would not be so quick of a judge."

"You really think so?" Twilight looked into her friend's turquoise eyes, her face lit with a resemblance of hope.

"Positive."

"But what if..."

"If she or Princess Luna or your friends still happen to be naive idiots on this issue, you can always tell them to kiss your flank and return here, to me," Sunset interrupted.

"Really?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Sunset recited the famous Pinkie Promise. "I have been through the same events as you, and even some others; I know too well how things work here now. And I am not planning to abandon my friend just because she had to take lives of those whose rightful place was in prison or grave."

These sincere words, spoken with a resolute tone, made Twilight Sparkle smile.

If the worst comes to pass, at least I will have one friend.

"Now there's the Princess of Friendship we know and love," the unicorn-in-human-form smiled in turn. "OK, do you want to try and have more sleep? I can stand watch a bit more..."

"No, no," Twilight looked at her Pip-Boy, which showed it was time for her to maintain constant vigilance, "I won't be able to sleep decently now. Have a rest."

"If you insist," with these words, the girls exchanged their positions...

The night watch was uneventful. Once Sunset's four hours of sleep passed, she had a talk with Twilight about their plans for the day.

"We are not very rich when it comes to ammo. Both of us have only two full clips for our assault rifles, plus each of us has ten spare 5.56mm ammo. I am also down to fourteen rounds for my shotgun. We also have three full pistol clips."

"I have only one clip for my SMG, and I have not three, but five clips, since I have never used my pistol," Twilight grumbled.

"Oh... you can swap two clips and a half for one full SMG clip, then."

Twilight did as suggested.

"And the rifles... let's count the ammo for hunting rifles."

As it turned out, Twilight had forty-nine ammo, and Sunset had fifty.

"I guess hunting rifles will have to be our primary weapon," the fiery-haired girl said.

"How do we get to Hoofington?" Spike asked.

"As we had intended, by moving in the south-western direction. However, we will need to be careful. No getting into firefights, unless it's really necessary. And maintain distance, so we don't need to change our weapons. Reserve assault rifles for critical situations."

"Fine by me," said the dog.

"Me too. Although I really hate the idea of leaving someone in need," Twilight said.

"If we are not able to help, then what is the point in trying to except for dying too early?" Sunset replied bluntly.

Cruel as it sounds, it makes sense, the new voice spoke in Twilight's head.

"Let's move out, carefully. I don't want any more of those zombies chasing us. My leg is not in that great condition yet."

After the firefight of the previous night, the zombies have dispersed through the village, rarely being in groups of more than two or three. The trio managed to get out of the village undetected; only on the edge they had to waste some ammo on some zombies that had tried to attack them on sight as soon as they saw the girls and the dog in the open.

When they won the short battle, both ponies-in-disguise hastily ran away from the nightmarish village.

"Where do you think the zombies came from?" Twilight asked Sunset.

"Beats me, honestly. The merchants have not mentioned anything like this in these parts. Then again, the Wastelands are full of terrors. Since none of the residents from Vault Village have tried to venture beyond the captured houses, there may be something even I have not seen before."

"Could it be so that this is a new threat, which had never been encountered before?"

"Possibly."

"But what would be the origin of such horrific changes? If we were in Equestria, I would have stated that it is the influence of dark magic, either the result of necromancy or golem creation of sorts."

"My bet would have been on necromancy."

"Why not golem creation?"

"Golem creation, as well as other "artificial life"-fields is not something you can simply dabble in. If you try to create an abomination like that, you need to be a powerful dark sorcerer and have the knowledge on which metals or their combinations work best as conduits for dark magic - which is not the knowledge you can find in a book shop, mind you - and you also need to create a mental framework, which is even more difficult than finding the materials for a golem. Plus, the process is very taxing. Necromancy, on the other hand, is more "easily" available. You can simply infuse the necromantic energies and input a single command, like "attack anything that moves", and voila."

"Sometimes I forget that you used to be Princess Celestia's personal student, too," Twilight admitted bashfully.

"I was a very motivated student. Too bad my social skills were non-existent."

"Heh, mine were too."

"Have you noticed that the two of us share a lot of similarities? Both of us are very powerful magic practitioners with higher-than-average intelligence, both used to be Celestia's students, both believed that friendship was not important..."

"Oh, don't remind me," Twilight facepalmed in embarassment, "I still can't forget the trouble I went through when trying to reconcile things with Moon Dancer..."

"Your twin-in-anything-but-blood? What happened between you two?"

"Well, when I was studying the Elements of Harmony, she prepared a party for me, Minuette, Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine. However, I told the other girls that I had a lot of study to catch up on... then I got caught up in the Nightmare Moon business, and totally forgot to keep in contact with anypony. Turned out she felt humiliated by it, and decided that friendship was worth nothing, and became a social recluse, doing nothing but studying."

"Ouch. How did you make it up to her?"

"Threw a party for her with Pinkie's help. That's when she finally bared her soul. I thought she would hit me..."

"Hit you with what?"

"A wooden stick. It was there to break a pinata, and when trying to get to her, I gave it..."

"You gave her something that she could hit you with?! Twilight Sparkle, you can be such a dork sometimes!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that she would lash out in anger? She didn't even show any signs of aggression pefore that! And it was Pinkie's idea to have a pinata, not mine!"

"So did you two reconcile?"

"We did."

"Well, I guess Moon Dancer is lucky she didn't need a rainbow beam to realize the importance of friendship..."

"Hey, no venturing down that line. You are a lot better now, and you are a good friend."

"Thanks, Twilight," Sunset smiled, "that means a lot."

"It's the truth."

Having finished the conversation, the trio made their way in silence. Thirty minutes later, Twilight decided to check the radio on a whim. The only frequencies available were the Enclave Radio and Canterlot Wastelands News. The girl turned on the latter.

Immediately, they heard a female voice:

"...I am also told that the Daring Duo that had killed Fast Grabber have left Vault Village now. Apparently, one of them needs help, so the other one, as a good friend, promised to help her out. So now, they venture into the Wastelands. I wish them luck, and insist that my listeners do so, too! And if you happen to meet two young women, one of them with fiery red and yellow hair and lightly tanned skin and the other one with violet hair and a pink strand and lavender skin, give 'em a hug! That doesn't count for raiders, though. If any of you raiders are actually listening to this, you'd better stay away from the Daring Duo. They eat you guys for breakfast. Not literally, of course; cannibalism is nasty, but you get the gist, right? If you don't, and you get killed, don't blame me. I did warn you, although maybe I shouldn't have. And now, some music! This time, let's go for something nice and quiet - "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire". An oldie, but a goodie."

The sounds of jazz music rang out from Pip-Boy's speakers, and a male voice began singing a soulful song.

"This CWN makes us look like some overpowered superheroes. And seriously? Daring Duo?" Twilight said quietly.

"Hey, don't hate, appreciate. If that sends some of the cowardly opponents running for their lives, all the better. Now shush, I want to listen to the music," Sunset replied. Everyone paused to listen to the old song.

When the music ended, Twilight turned off the radio.

"I don't recall hearing music like that before."

"This is a very old piece of music; jazz, I believe. This kind of music was very fashionable during the war, right until the Day of Burning. I'm glad someone actually transmits that. I'm sick of Enclave's patriotic music."

"Ironic name, though. "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire"... and look at the world, now."

"The irony didn't elude me, either. But this song is almost a century old. I don't recall nuclear fission having been discovered back then."

"By local calendar, when was the first nuclear bomb created?"

"In 2029, I think."

"Wait a sec, is it gun fire I'm hearing?" Spike interrupted them.

"What direction?" Twilight asked him, reflexively preparing her rifle.

"I think... forward and a bit to the right."

"Sunset? Thoughts?"

"Move stealthily in that direction. Spike, tell us if that is truly gun fire you are hearing," Sunset ordered.

"Okie-dokie."

Several minutes later, Spike confirmed that he could hear at least three different guns firing. At that moment, both girls were able to see red marks on their IFF screens.

"How about we climb onto that hill and ascertain the situation from there?" Twilight suggested, pointing to the hill in question. Its position was perfect for covert approach - it was between the enemies (there were five of them, according to Pip-Boy's IFF system) and the trio.

"Good eyes. When we are close to the top, we lie down and crawl."

"Why crawl?"

"So as to remain undetected."

"Oh. Right."

The girls went up the hill. Twilight let Spike jump onto the ground to serve as six o'clock watcher.

When they finally saw the future battlefield, they saw a scene unfamiliar to them, but not uncommon for the Wastelands.

Five people were attacking a merchant caravan.

The merchant was hiding behind the stone, unable to fire a well-aimed shot. On occasion he raised his assault rifle and fired blindly into the direction of his assailants, but he could not hit any of them. His guard was already dead, and some strange animal with many backpacks on it was also hiding behind the rocks. The merchant was doing his best to protect the animal from stray bullets.

The enemies were resembling raiders, but their equipment appeared to be in better shape. In fact, two of the "raiders" were wearing armour vests similar to those Vault 75 security tended to use, and one (apparently the ringleader) wore what Twilight assumed to be a military-grade armour vest and a helmet. He was also armed better than others - he had an AP-79, just like Twilight. The armoured "raiders" were armed with R91 assault rifles, and the remaining two had different weapons: one used an SMG, and another one had a hunting rifle with some gizmo on it.

"These enemies are very well-equipped," Twilight remarked quietly.

"Horseapples," Sunset cussed. "You see that guy's armour? Bet you my R91 that this armour came from a military base. Our hunting rifles may as well be popguns."

"But we have too little ammo for assault rifles."

"True."

"I suggest that we try to hit those with assault rifles and without helmets first. Then switch to the other helmet-less guys, and hopefully the last one will fall under crossfire," Twilight suggested a plan.

"Good tactics," Sunset praised, taking aim. "You take the one on the right, and I'll take the one on the left. Shoot when you are ready."

The violet-haired girl aligned her rifle's iron sights with her target's head, very carefully. She spent two seconds to ensure that front and rear sights were level and center, then breathed out and used the pause to align her sights again.

BOOM! BOOM!

Twilight saw a red smudge appear near her target's head, and then the "raider" twitched and moved no more.

"Bucking ponyfeathers! Missed!" Sunset's voice rang on the left.

Oh snap!

"What the fuck?! Who fired that?" she heard one of the raiders shout.

"Slapper is down! Fuck!"

"You'll pay for this, whoever you are!"

Two "raiders" turned in their direction. Twilight and Sunset fired again, but the former missed, and the latter hit the armour vest. The enemy she hit twitched and his shots went wide.

The other one, however, did not miss.

"AAARRGH!"

The assault rifle rounds penetrated Twilight's left arm, tearing through the unprotected skin. The girl immediately lost the ability to aim properly and felt the blood trickling down.

"Ah, shit!" Sunset cussed more dirtily this time. She fired once again, but her bullet went wide. However, her target rose a bit too high, and during the short period of chaos, the merchant was able to pepper him with more rounds. The "raider" dropped his weapon as the bullets shattered his shoulder joint, but he was far from dead.

The ringleader, however, quickly forced the merchant behind cover again.

"You three deal with whoever dares to shoot at us! I'll kill the merchant!" he screamed.

Twilight, gritting her teeth, crawled away a bit. Spike was able to jump into the backpack and take out the first aid kit. The girl thanked him with a look and started applying disinfectant.

"Twilight, please make it quick! Three enemies are closing on us!" Sunset told her in an urgent tone.

"I'm trying!"

Bz-dang! A bullet hit Sunset in the shoulder, but was unable to penetrate the armour.

"Blast! Thank Celestia for the shoulder guards!"

Twilight finished bandaging the wound and injected RegenStim, but the pain in her left hand prevented her from properly using the hunting rifle. Thinking quickly, she crawled ahead a little bit and pulled out her SMG. In the meantime, Sunset exchanged her rifle for the combat shotgun and fired blindly. A scream of pain told her that she hit someone.

"Ewww, guts!" the exclamation told them they most likely had two combat-capable enemies now instead of three.

"Focus, Snorer!"

"Let's crawl back a bit," Twilight suggested quietly.

"Good idea, and watch the sides - they may try to outflank us," the fiery-haired girl replied.

"I think they are doing exactly that, according to IFF screen."

And indeed, on Twilight's side, one of the enemies was trying to get at them.

Twilight fired a four-round burst. The "raider" quickly dashed back.

"Bitch!" he cursed.

BA-DOOM! Sunset's shotgun "spoke".

"No passage for you here, scum," the girl muttered hatefully.

The enemy, however, turned out to be smarter - or just more daring. Instead of carefully trying to dispose of his enemy, he jumped out. Sunset reacted a moment too late - her shotgun's spread did not hit him.

Instinctively, she ducked.

Bra-ta-ta-tat!

Two bullets penetrated Twilight's shoulder guard from behind and dug into her flesh.

"AARRGH!" The girl barely managed to hold onto her SMG. The force of impact, however, sent her on her knees. Sensing weakness, the other enemy attempted to press his advantage, but Twilight, gritting her teeth because of the pain, managed to release a string of bullets that forced the un-armoured "raider" back.

BA-DOOM! BA-DOOM!

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Bz-dang, bz-dang!

"Ugh," Sunset groaned. The bullets hit her vest; while the kinetic energy dissipator worked as advertised, she still felt as if two strong hammers hit her. She gave as good as she got, however; she fired another shot at the enemy as he attempted to aim better when standing up. While his armour managed to withstand the case-shots somehow, the force of impact sent him tumbling to the ground.

In the meantime, Twilight noticed that the red mark corresponding with her enemy started backing away from her, slowly. While this gave her a reprieve, she was certain this was not the end.

The pain in her right shoulder, however, was not letting her aim properly. And there was no time to waste, as the other "raider"...

BA-DOOM! BA-DOOM!

...just perished under Sunset's assault. That made the odds better, until the red mark stopped moving.

Must get rid of him now! But the pain...

Then, she felt a jolt of electricity runnig through her. Med-X!

One of the syringes with the painkiller was on her person right now, in a place where she would be able to get it quickly. Twilight took the medicine out of the pocket, using her mouth to take off the cap.

She inserted the needle and pushed.

Once the syringe was empty, the potent cocktail of morphine and regenerative meds started acting. Twilight felt as if something cold was running through the nerve system, and then the pain subsided to non-existence.

She could move her right hand without limitations now. And just in time - the enemy just tried to charge her with a knife from the hill top.

Eight bullets to the abdomen ended his charge, as well as his life, in an instant.

"Holy crap, Twilight, you are bleeding!" Susnet exclaimed, finally able to see the condition of her friend. Taking away the shoulder guard, she immediately started applying disinfectant. "You are lucky - it appears the wounds are not too damaging. A bit closer, and they would have hit the joint."

"We need to check on the merchant," Twilight said through gritted teeth. "Ouch!"

"Hold still, damn it! The bleeding needs to stop! Just a second... there, the bandages are ready," Sunset gave Twilight a dose of RegenStim and fixed the shoulder guard. "OK, now I can check on the merchant-"

"I'm with you," the lavender-skinned girl insisted.

"Can you actually aim?"

"Yes... I took a dose of Med-X..."

"What?!"

"I needed my arm functional, but with my shoulder shot, I could not aim properly through the pain."

"...OK, then, let's go. Just don't abuse the stuff, will you? Addiction is virtually impossible to cure now in the Wastelands. And many of the raiders are drug addicts that lost everything humane and would do anything for a dose."

As the girls got their hunting rifles ready, however, they were met with an unusual sight.

The ringleader was still attacking the merchant, but to the left of him, there was a human figure in the distance, all covered in black. The figure had a weapon trained on the lead "raider".

None of the girls heard a shot, but the ringleader's head suddenly cracked, along with the helmet.

"Who is that?" Twilight asked incredulously.

The figure glanced in their direction, and then turned away and ran.

"I don't know," Sunset replied honestly. "But there should be one raider left. Let's go, carefully."

However, as it turned out, the precautions were not necessary. The remaining "raider" suffered the same fate as his supposed commander.

"I guess that does it, then," the fiery-haired girl muttered, and then shouted: "Hey there! It's safe to come out now!"

Suddenly, a figure of merchant appeared from behind the stone, his assault rifle aimed at them. However, upon seeing that the girls and a dog did not appear hostile to him, he lowered his weapon.

"And the rest?" he asked.

"Dead," Twilight replied in turn, nonchalantly.

"And here I thought I was a goner. Thank you both, and your dog, too," the merchant, who introduced himself as Cap Collector, told the trio.

"Glad we could help," Twilight replied. She tried smiling, but the pain in her left hand has not subsided yet, and the smile was resembling a grimace.

"Are you wounded?" Cap Collector asked, worried.

"Already bandaged the wounds and injected RegenStim, and my right hand's on Med-X," the violet-haired girl replied.

"Well, it's rare to meet anyone who is willing to risk their skin and limbs against the White Knives."

"Who are White Knives?" Sunset asked.

"A group of bandits that appeared recently in the Northern Wasteland. Nasty bastards. They are like raiders, but better armed and equipped. You saw that guy's rifle? That's TODC assault rifle, and it's in a very good condition, too. And I bet the armour is military grade, too. They are trying to control the area around Hoofington now, and charge anyone exorbitant sums of caps for passage. I refused to pay them, and when they tried to shake the caps, I offed their raiding party. It appears I moved up on their shit-list. Anyway, how can I thank you besides the words? I do not have many caps, but I can give some things for free or in exchange for the loot from these gits."

"Some ammo and meds might be useful, but let's see what these guys have first."

In the end, it turned out that the bandits had one AP-79 assault rifle, two R91 assault rifles, one SMG, four pistols and one hunting rifle with some kind of sight on it, two hundred and fifty-nine 5.56mm ammo, one hundred and twenty-two 10mm ammo and forty .32 ammo, two sets of civilian clothes, two riot armour vests, one military grade armour vest and one helmet, four RegenStims, two Med-X syringes, one small bottle of Rad-X, one bag of RadAway, three days worth of food, three bottles of purified water and two bottles of slightly irradiated water plus one full Nuka-Cider bottle.

"Nice loot," Cap Collector said, the envy visible in his eyes. Even Twilight could tell that the guy didn't want to share it with them. Both girls sent him a glare that reminded him that they had just saved him from an ignoble fate. "Just saying."

Sunset used one of R91's to fix her own rifle and gave the other to Cap Collector for 147 caps. Twilight took the ringleader's AP-79, as it turned out to be in better condition, and traded her own for 170 caps. The looted pistols turned out to be in worse condition than their own, so they (plus the two that the girls had got earlier) were traded for measly 50 caps.

The clothes and riot armour were deemed useless by Sunset and traded for 120 caps in total, and the ringleader's armour was used to fix the damaged armoured Vault jumpsuits. The raiders' armour were also sold for 86 caps in total.

The girls asked Cap if he wanted to have a share in the ammo they got, but he declined ("Already have a lot," he said), so the girls took all the ammo for themselves. Sunset was visibly pleased with this development.

Also, the merchant refused (albeit reluctantly) to take the medicine, the food and the water, saying he owed them to the girls for Twilight's wounds and Sunset's damaged armour.

All in all, the girls raked in 573 caps. Combined with 45 caps from earlier, they could have 618 caps now.

"Blast, I have only 470 caps on my person," Cap Collector said.

"What is this thing?" Twilight pointed at something that looked like an optical sight on the trophy hunting rifle.

"ACOG sight. Nice little thing. Helps to aim better. Want it? It's yours for free, as my thanks to you."

Twilight took the rifle with ACOG sight and stripped her own to fix it. Suddenly, she noticed a very peculiar sidearm that was not noticed previously on the ringleader's body.

"And what is this?" she took out a weapon that resembled a pistol but had no clip in the handle; instead, it had a drum. There were only six spare ammo for it.

".44 magnum revolver. Rare thing, good in close quarters and for concealed carrying. I would have paid you for it, but you already stripped me out of caps," the merchant replied. "Can I interest you in my stuff?"

As it turned out, Cap Collector was selling .44 magnum ammo. The girls bought thirty-six of them for 108 caps. They also bought armour parts for their legs and arms, paying 320 caps (initially Cap wanted 400, but Sunset and Twilight capitalized on the fact that they saved his life, and he agreed to give them a discount). The merchant also showed an interest in yao guai meat, which was sold for 150 caps. Sunset aske dthe merchant if he had any shotgun shells, but, as it turned out, he had already sold his whole supply. There was nothing else the girls wanted to buy or sell, so the parties decided to go on their respective ways.

"Oh, wait," Twilight said, "We have seen some figure in black killing the ringleader. Any idea who that might be?"

"No, none at all," Cap Collector answered at once, "but if they are against White Knives, they are good enough in my book, so I don't particularly care. Fare well, lasses."

"You too," both girls replied, and everyone parted ways...

"There they are - the ruins of Hoofington," Sunset Shimmer said.

After hours of travelling and two encounters with wild beasts (a radscorpion and a pack of six mole rats that were swapped up in no time), the group came up to the remains of what used to be a prosperous city.

"Did Hoofington have any particular importance?" Twilight Sparkle asked out of curiousity.

"Not that I can truly recall. It was one of the most populated cities before the war, so it was the primary source of manpower for the military, but Hoofington itself does not present that much of a viable target. Anything that presented some strategic value was not located in the city or its suburbs."

"What objects of importance were the closest to it?"

"Hmmm... if I am not mistaken, there were two oil fields, the source of fuel, but they were almost worked out when the bombs hit. To the west, there was a RobCo facility which was closed for the general public - I believe it was a factory where war robots were produced. Further to the south, there was an air force base, but the military hadn't used it for ages - as far as anyone is concerned, there was nothing of importance out there. No fighters, no strategic bombers, not even refuelling facilities or ammunition stocks."

"That all?"

"There was a rumour that there was a nuclear silo somewhere within the radius of one hundred kilometers from Hoofington. I am puzzled, though - there were too few forests in this area to hide a silo from surveillance satellites. But even if it was here, no smart person would place it where the possibility of it being destroyed is higher."

"Well, maybe people from Hoofington were working on all these objects of importance, and TODC hoped that without manpower there would be no one or too few left to defend them?"

"Huh, never thought of it that way. Could be so."

"So how do we try to find the shelter? In the city or around it?"

"I don't know, honestly. Last time we moved around the city, we stumbled into a pack of zombies and almost wasted all our ammo. I am afraid that trying this again will end even worse. Then again, in the city we may easily stumble into a radiation pocket, or a nest of bandits, or something else."

"Don't we have more cover in the city ruins?"

"So does the enemy. Or at least those that actually use covers."

"So it's a lose-lose situation. Great," Twilight grumbled.

"Well, I have a per-war coin here with me. With somebody's profile on one side and UFE's symbol on another. So... profile, we head into the suburbs; symbol, we head into the city. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

Sunset threw the coin into the air, then caught it and slapped it onto her palm. Once she uncovered it, they saw the symbol of UFE looking into the air.

"Into the city, then," she said.

The ruins of Hoofington, while rich with possible shelters for the night, were quite lacking in defensible shelters.

Twilight, Sunset and Spike were moving from building to building, taking care so they do not stumble into a radiation pocket or find themselves too close to ground zero of the explosion that leveled the city.

Their Pip-Boys had a decent map of Hoofington, fortunately, so navigating was not really a problem, except for the cases when ruins of the buildings were blocking the path. Every time that this very thing happened, Sunset cussed and studied the map, trying to find an alternate route.

One time, such alternate route took them through a radiation pocket. Even with Rad-X taken, both girls accumulated 120 rads by the time they left the dangerous zone. Once Sunset saw the readings on her Pip-Boy, she exploded into a rant that attracted the attention of a pack of rabid dogs, and they had to waste two clips of pistol ammo on the pack. After that, the fiery-haired girl lowered the volume, but still used profane vocabulary on occasion. Twilight only shook her head at that; however, once Sunset told her that a couple more routes like that would result in them getting radiation sickness and having to endure the dubious pleasure of using the RadAway, she swore herself.

The sun was going down, and the world around them was slowly delving into darkness. Both girls were feeling tiredness and were actively thinking on where to stay for the night.

Suddenly, their Pip-Boys chirped.

"What's that?" Twilight asked.

"Let's see... huh, we caught a new radio signal. Wait. Civilian General Distress, Hoofington frequency? Who would actually use that?"

"What kind of signal is that?"

"Civilian General Distress is the frequency that was used to transmit messages about various things like road accidents, the necessity for immediate medical attention, encountering wildfire and stuff. Anyone who had a receiver could easily set onto it and listen to what exactly was needed. When nuclear attack was deemed imminent, this frequency was used to declare the beginning of evacuation. I didn't know this stuff still worked. I wonder what's on it?"

As Sunset turned on the radio, they heard an unfamiliar voice, somewhat garbled by static:

"...and barely survived. I am in the ruins of RobCo central office, holding on, but ammo's dwindling. Will be grateful for help. Message repeats. I'm broadcasting this to anyone who is in Hoofington and not associated with the gangs. I've stumbled into an ambush while on the way to a secure location and barely survived. I am in the ruins of RobCo central office, holding on, but ammo's dwindling. Will be grateful for help. Message repeats. I'm broadcasting this to anyone..."

"I see," Sunset said, turning off the radio. "RobCo central office is located not far from here, we can be there in five minutes if we hurry. Daring Duo for the rescue again?"

"Please don't use that callsign," Twilight made a long face. Both girls broke into running.

Five minutes later, they came up to the central office of RobCo Corporation... and stopped in confusion.

They saw big, hulking, green humanoid figures firing at the windows on the first floor. Someone out there was desperately trying to defend themselves, firing into the monsters... with red beams.

"They have laser weapons?" Sunset muttered quietly. "I want that stuff!"

"Maybe you should pay closer attention to these... ogres, or whatever the Tartarus those are?" Twilight pointed at the abnormally big humans. "What should we attack them with?"

"Assault rifles. No alternative, at least until we get more information. If someone is trying to kill them with laser weapons, these guys are definitely tough. Stealth attack, let's try and kill the closest to us. Stick to cover," Sunset advised, grabbing her R91.

"Will do," the Princess replied, preparing her AP-79. The girls went on, careful not to give themselves away. One minute later, they had their weapons trained at the head of the closest hulking green monster.

BA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA! Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat!

The stream of bullets did not leave their target a single chance. It fell, its head torn apart and blood flowing freely from the severed arteries.

"Ew, gross," Twilight cringed, fighting the gag reflex.

"What's that?" the girls heard the gruff, rude voices of one the "hulks". "Shooting from behind? Kill these gits!"

A cacophony of gunfire followed, bullets hitting the stony blocks or whizzing past the girls.

"My IFF shows six enemies," Sunset said. "Let's concentrate fire on the same target." She risked sticking her head out and almost paid for that with her life - more bullets whizzed as she hurriedly hid behind the concrete once again. "Ponyfeathers! No, we can't do anything against such bullet storm."

BOOM!

"What has just exploded?" Twilight asked.

"Fucking grenade!" one of the "ogres" screamed.

"There's your answer," Sunset replied half-humorously, stuck out and fired again. Twilight followed her example, shooting at the same target. Overwhelmed by bullets, the "ogre" fell.

Meanwhile, a figure-in-distress fired once again. The red beam hit another hulking green anthropoid...

and ignited it, turning it to ash. The remains of the creature - the clothes, and the weapon it held - dropped onto the asphalt.

Twilight's lower jaw fell.

"What in Celestia's name..?"

"Fuck that!" they heard another shout. "Let's show 'em this!"

"What're they going to..?" both girls looked at the screamer. The "hulk" had something massive in its hands, and it had six barrels.

And it aimed the contraption in their direction.

"GET DOWN!" Sunset jumped onto Twilight, pushing her down. Moments later, a truly massive bullet storm ensued.

"The bastard has a fucking minigun?!" the unicorn-turned-human screamed, all mouth filters off. "And he, or it, fires it without falling on its ass?!"

"This is bad, I presume?!" Twilight shouted.

"Very bad! Miniguns are usually mounted on tripods; only those that wear power armour can actually carry and fire them!" came the reply.

"So what do we do?"

"I have no idea!"

The girls had to endure the onslaught for several more seconds until it stopped.

"That did it for the ammo, let's kill the bastard!" Sunset stood up from the ground and started firing three-round bursts, but quickly hid once again.

"Ponyfeathers, reloading," she said. Meanwhile, Twilight also hit the minigun-wielding monstrosity, but was unable to kill it. However, her bullets shattered the creature's right hand, making it drop the heavy weapon, and the figure-in-distress seized the chance. Two red beams to the head killed the "ogre". At the same time, another grenade landed near the two remaining hostiles, who were clustered together. One BOOM, and the splinters tore away their legs, killing them instantly.

"Reloading," Twilight changed the clip, "now let's see who this damsel-in-distress is."

"Let's," Sunset replied.

"Urrrgh..." Spike moaned from Twilight's backpack. "All this jumping gave me vertigo..."

As the trio made their way into RobCo's office, they saw the female figure crouching near something with her back turned to them.

"Never thought someone would hear my message. Damn transmitter. One would think there would be good equipment in RobCo's office, but noooo, I had to use this piece of shit," as she said that, she rose and kicked the transmitter hard, toppling it. "Anyway, thanks you two for coming."

"No problem, but pray tell, who are you? And what are these green ugly kinda-humans?" Twilight asked.

"Those are super mutants. You never heard of them? What are you, fresh out of the Vault or something?" the figure said somewhat derisively.

"Or something," Twilight replied, not wishing to divulge any extra information.

"Oh stop shitting me, it's plainly obvious with my back turned that you're lying."

"Listen here, missy," Sunset took over the conversation, "your behaviour really doesn't endear you to us; plus, the fact that you're wearing this mask doesn't make you trustworthy. Maybe if you showed your face and stopped showing your back to us, we can continue the conversation more politely?"

"That can be arranged," the anonymous female turned around and took off her mask. Both Twilight and Sunset inhaled sharply.

The face had an aquamarine colour, and the hair were a mixture of light-grayish cyan and white. Yellow eyes looked upon the girls.

"Hello, Sunset Shimmer. Fancy seeing you here with your friend from out of town."

"Lyra? Lyra Heartstrings?"

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle):

That Was Barely a Scratch! (requires Endurance 5): You receive a permanent +5% bonus to your Damage Resistance.

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer):

Fighting Dirty: Sneak Attack Critical Damage is increased by 20%. And no, that does not make you 20% cooler.

Canterlot Wastelands Survival Guide Entry

Directorate of Intelligence

Directorate of Intelligence (DOI for short) was a governmental organization responsible for gathering information in foreign countries, via both legal and illegal means. Although many people believed this organization to be under command of UFE's Ministry of Defense, this was not true - the organization was separate from the military. Nevertheless, DOI and military intelligence often tended to cooperate, and during the Last War, they were virtually one and the same entity. It is presumed that this organization's agents and operatives were responsible for certain victories of UFE's forces.

Given the nature of DOI, little is known about this mysterious organization. Many of its activities were classified, and with apparent destruction of Canterlot, whatever archives the Directorate may have had were lost, and the information that had somehow survived the Day of Burning is almost always heavily encrypted and/or redacted. It is known that Directorate of Intelligence had a network of hubs and bases scattered throughout the country, and was very compartmentalized - agents of one cell did not know anything about the other cells. This allowed to reduce potential damage if one of the cells were to be compromised.

DOI hubs and bases can still be found in Canterlot Wastelands. A "hub" is the name for a place where an agent or agents reside and work. The hubs rely mostly on their unnoticeability, although in certain cases off-putting reputations were built around them if the hub still stood out like a sore thumb. A "base", on the other hand, is actually a mini-Vault that had apparently been commissioned by the Directorate. Unlike hubs, bases are very dangerous - DOI took many steps to prevent the infiltration. The exact means of defense are not known, but it is safe to assume that land mines, trip-wires, automated turrets, Mr. Gutsies and Protectron robots are used. Military-grade war robots can also presumably be found within the bases. Theoretically, it is also possible to encounter hostile personnel within. If one actually manages to penetrate such defenses, however, then the lucky wanderer (or the team) may gain access to advanced pre-war technology, armour and weapons; this makes DOI Vaults an attractive target for looters.

It is known, however, that a number of Directorate's agents and operatives have survived the Day of Burning. Since each and everyone of them had undergone rigorous training regime, they all know how to use and maintain various weapons that can be found in the Wastelands. Due to the aforementioned compartmentalization, the agents are unlikely to recognize each other, and there appears to be no contingency plan for current state of the UFE. Thus, their affiliations vary; some of them have apparently joined the Enclave (if Enclave Radio is to be believed), others may have joined various organizations, and the rest look for their own and travel either alone or in small groups.

Author's Note

Phew... finished it. Finally.

Yay.

When live gives you ~~lemons~~ trouble, writing a 10k chapter is murder. And the next chapter is planned to be nearly as long as this one. So the next update will likely come in in 7-14 days. I also need to get some inspiration from Fallout: New Vegas - it's vital to my writing effort.

You may ask: "Why encounter Lyra?" Did you expect one of the Main 6? Too soon, people, too soon. Secondary characters also have a role in this story.

Also, no one was able to recognize the references I have left in Chapter 7. There were two of them.

The first reference:

What else did you expect it to run on? Magic?

This sarcastic question by Sunset Shimmer is a reference to Fallout: Equestria, where PipBucks are described as a combination of earth pony technology and unicorn magic; the latter presumably is the source of big amounts of energy, since Littlepip does not even concern herself with this issue (I presume this carried over from Fallout game mechanic). Unlike Fallout series, in this story Pip-Boys can't work forever - batteries need to be replaced or recharged (if they are rechargeable), so I decided to throw in a small joke.

The second reference is the name of Sunset's Perk from Chapter 7, "I Hate Hospitals!" - the name of this Perk was blatantly copied from Left 4 Dead, or more specifically, Francis's (in)famous "I hate X" quotes. The phrase "I hate hospitals" can be heard from him in "No Mercy" campaign.

The virtual cookie is given to HB_DS2013 and Shock Jock for trying to guess. Derpy shall deliver it

Have something to say and/or criticize? Don't be shy and use the comment box

I hope the chapter proves to be enjoyable. Stay tuned!