Chapter 10

The wrong Vault

Twilight Sparkle woke up, groaning.

Holy guacamole, do my muscles feel sore. Ooof. Ouch. I really don't want to move...

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"

Gah, Sunset, do you have to be so loud?

"Don't wanna," she muttered. "I feel as if someone pumped lead into my muscles..."

"No wonder," another voice sounded above her. Lyra. "After that jog in the tunnels, I really don't want to move much, either."

"See? Lyra agrees with me. Now, let me sleep," Twilight turned around and wished for nothing to disturb her.

The wish, however, did not come true - she felt something warm and wet slide against her cheek.

And again.

"Argh!" she finally opened her eyes to glare at her irritant, who turned out to be her Number 1 assistant in canine form. "Spike!" she exclaimed indignantly, sitting up and wiping her cheek.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Spike answered with dog barks, trying his best to add an undertone to them that said "Wake up, you've been sleeping for too long!"

"I said that I don't want to move, not that I wouldn't move," Lyra spoke again. "So I'm afraid you're outnumbered, Twilight."

"Great, I've been ganged up on," Twilight grumbled, rising from her cot. "So..."

Then suddenly, she recalled the events of the previous day - travelling through the tunnels, encounters, Sunset getting wounded, a desperate charge through the tunnel...

"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Sunset asked, surprised.

"Your leg, Sunset!"

"It's better now, since you two have dragged me here and found a bag of pretty advanced medicines," the fiery-haired girl replied. "It's not one hundred percent, yeah, but I can stand, walk around and even run. So it's fine."

"Oh, OK. So what now?"

"I think we'll stay here for a bit," Lyra took over the conversation, "and recuperate a little. The medicines from AMFAK-10 have not completed their course yet, so it would be best if we let Sunset's leg heal before moving out. I think it will be an hour or so."

"So I could have slept in a little more?" Twilight frowned. "Why wake me up, then?"

"First, we need to eat, and second, we've already been out for almost ten hours, which is a luxury," the green-skinned girl explained. "This place is more secure than your usual place to sleep through the night, but you never know whether it will attract the wrong kind of attention. There are people that can and will bring down the door of this hideout, if they want to."

"Who? White Knives?"

"Them or anyone who has enough explosive charges. So it's better not to sleep for too much. You'd better learn how to go on on six hours of sleep or even less."

"Fair point. So what now? We eat Meals Rejected by the Enemy?"

"Ha ha. That joke is rapidly becoming old. But yeah, let's eat."

Next fifteen minutes were spent consuming the tasteless yet (thankfully) nutrient food that could fuel them on for six hours straight (if the text on the package was to be believed). None of the girls spoke a word during that time, preferring to keep silence.

Once they finished, Lyra suggested that they look through the crates and shelves in the hideout.

"Usually, well-protected places have the best loot," she explained.

Twenty minutes of searching did not reward them nicely, though. Lyra found a spare battery for her laser pistol and an almost-depleted microfusion cell. Twilight and Sunset got themselves two assault rifle clips each, plus Twilight found a spare clip for her SMG and four .44 magnum rounds, but nothing more.

They also found a locked crate. Sunset put her lock-picking skills to good use and managed to open it. As they found out, the crate had spare batteries for Pip-Boys, which were distributed equally between anyone (Sunset, however, claimed the extra one remaining as an "award" for opening the crate, much to others' disapproval).

In the end, they also found a locked safe. However, once Sunset studied the lock, she shook her head.

"This lock is well beyond my own expertise," she informed the rest.

"I am not an expert in lockpicking either," Lyra admitted. "But there's a computer terminal nearby. Maybe we should check it out? Sometimes the locks on safes are computer-controlled."

As it turned out, the terminal was password-protected, and there was no sheet of paper with password conveniently written on it. The green-haired girl did not show disappointment, however.

"There's a way around this issue," she said. "Watch and learn."

Both Twilight and Sunset stood beside her, paying their utmost attention. Lyra launched the terminal (the words "WELCOME TO ROBCO INDUSTRIES (TM) TERMLINK" appeared) and typed:

SET TERMINAL/INQUIRE

As she pressed "Enter", she was rewarded with words:

RIT-V300

"Aha, the most popular model. That simplifies things," she said.

"How exactly?" Twilight inquired.

"RIT-V300 was the most widespread computer monoblock before the Day of Burning. Unlike later models, however, it did not really have a sophisticated file protection system. True, it could deter some hackers, but if one had patience, they could still break through the defense," Lyra explained, while typing:

SET FILE/PROTECTION=OWNER: RWED ACCOUNTS.F

Once she pressed "Enter", the terminal showed nothing. She immediately typed the next command:

SET HALT RESTART/MAINT

"And what are these two for?" Sunset asked.

"The first one transfers protection of files to one account - the account of administrator. Meaning that without an approval of an owner of administrator account, you literally cannot view any files. This is not good, of course. However, the second command launches maintenance mode, which allows for password retrieval in RIT-V300," Lyra explained, while the terminal showed:

Initializing Robco Industries (TM) MF Boot Agent v. 2.3.0
RETROS BIOS
RBIOS-4.02.08.00 52EE5.E7.E8
Copyright 2089-2094 RobCo Ind.
Uppermem: 64KB
Root (5A8)
Maintenance Mode

"And now we enter the command to allow us password retrieval for admin account," Lyra said, typing:

RUN DEBUG/ACCOUNTS.F

Once she hit "Enter", a mish-mash of symbols, words and HEX-addresses appeared on the monitor.

"And now, I must guess the password. If I fail, the system tells me how many letters from the wrong variant are in correct positions."

"Er, Lyra? It says you have only four attempts," Twilight pointed out.

"Yep, if I fail the last attempt, the terminal will lock down and become inaccessible. But simply powering down this terminal will let me try again. Although typing the same commands is irritating..."

Lyra looked attentively into the words available on screen. All of them were consisting of seven letters.

"Seven-letter password? Lame. I expected better."

"Why?" Sunset asked. Twilight caught onto something in her friend's tone, but she could not really name it.

"Well, this hideout was locked, right? It seems reasonable that the terminal would have better password protection," Lyra replied, not looking into Sunset's eyes and paying all attention to the terminal.

After several minutes of thinking, she decided to try the word "DANGERS". She received the following message:

Entry denied. 1/7 correct.

"Only one of seven? Darn. With such a result, any of the words can be more fitting. And powering down would give me another set of passwords, different from this one," with these words, the green-skinned girl decided to type "ROADWAY".

Entry denied. 4/7 correct.

"I think I got it!" Twilight spoke. "If four of seven are correct, then the correct password would be "RAILWAY", it fits the best."

"Let's try it," Lyra agreed. Once she typed the word and pressed "Enter", the terminal showed the following message:

Exact match! Please wait while system is accessed.

"Good eyes, Twilight! OK, let's see what the terminal will show us..."

Lyra logged in and, as predicted, found the option of opening the safe. There was a loud click, and Sunset opened the door.

"Ha!" she said triumphantly. "Now that's what I call good loot!"

Inside the safe, there were two AMFAK-10 bags, seven RegenStims, three Med-X syringes, two doses of Rad-X, three bags of RadAway, four fully charged energy batteries and a laser pistol in reasonably good condition, and eight clips of 5.56mm ammo.

Once the girls split all the loot in what they considered fair proportions, they decided to leave the hideout and move on, out of the tunnels.

"Argh," Sunset groaned, "I'll need to get used to the light now."

"You're not alone in that regard," Twilight grumbled.

The path of three girls and one dog to light went without a hitch, thankfully. They encountered no enemies on their way, and once Lyra's Pip-Boy showed them that they had arrived at the exit point, all of them gladly left the underground.

The only downside was the necessity to re-adapt to sun light, but that passed very soon.

"OK," Lyra said, looking at her Pip-Boy, "we're almost at the south-western end of the city. There are only a couple or so kilometers remaining, and after that, I think we will probably part ways."

"Part ways?" Twilight's head snapped to look in Lyra's eyes so quick that the bones almost popped.

"Sorry, but I need to go another way. I'll be going in western direction, while you will probably go further to south-west. Am I correct in that regard?"

"Yeah," the equine Princess said quietly. The thought of her and Sunset being left to fend for themselves did not feel appealing; it was akin to an abandonment.

"I'm curious: just what are you after, Lyra?" Sunset voiced the question that she was pondering over the day before.

"Me? Nothing, really. Just trying to find my purpose in the Wastelands," came the answer.

"I'm not buying it. When I glanced at your Pip-Boy map yesterday, the waypoints showed that you wanted to go in southern direction, not western."

"Are you sure you did not misread? Pip-Boy maps allow to rotate the northern direction, you know."

"Actually," Twilight joined the conversation, "Sunset is right. I have noticed the same thing too. And your north arrow is not turned differently now."

"Urgh, you two sure are a curious bunch. Fine. I'll tell you. You see, I need to find one of the humans around here, and I believed that I would find that person to the south of Hoofington. But my latest findings (which were found shortly before I got tangled in that mess you saved me from) show that this person might be to the west. So when I woke up, I changed my waypoint so it would show another direction. That's all I'm willing to say. Sorry, but I'd rather keep the rest of the info private. OK?"

"OK," Twilight said. Sunset looked like she wanted to know more, but nodded instead.

"Thanks for understanding. Now let's get out of Hoofington. I've seen enough of these super mutants and bandits to last a lifetime."

Fortunately for the girls, they have not encountered any super mutants or White Knives on their relatively short way to the city outskirts. One hour later, Lyra declared that they have reached the point where they would have to part ways.

"It's a damn shame," Sunset said. "It never hurts to have an ally with weapons that fire beams of death."

"If you're trying to coerce me into giving you one of my own, dream on, Sunset," Lyra replied with a smile that belied her stern tone.

"Who, me? Please, I am a model citizen now!" the fiery-haired girl retorted with a mock-offended tone. Everyone laughed.

"Well, fare thee well, both of you," the green-haired girl told Twilight and Sunset, giving them a hug. When Spike barked indignantly, she hugged him as well.

"You too," Twilight said sincerely. "Take care, and good luck in your endeavours."

"Thanks," Lyra replied, and turned away from the Equestrians, heading off into the Western direction.

"Well," Sunset muttered, "time to go on, I guess."

"Sunset, may I ask you a question?" Twilight asked her fellow unicorn-in-bipedal-form suddenly.

Both girls have been walking for two hours; Hoofington could barely be seen from their position. The girls have not encountered anything extremely dangerous; a pack of five mole rats was quickly disposed of by their superior firepower, and a radscorpion was picked off at a distance. In the latter fight, Twilight was able to test the ACOG sight mounted on her own hunting rifle. While it was not the best choice for a marksman's weapon (according to Sunset), it still helped a lot in hitting the targets at greater distances. The lavender-skinned girl was able to reliably land painful hits with her hunting rifle, and Sunset's shots helped to bring down the beast fairly quickly. Now the girls had extra meat and a poison sack from radscorpion (merchants could pay some caps for it).

"You already asked a question," Sunset replied with a small smile, "but you may ask another one."

"Ha ha," Twilight rolled her eyes at her friend's attempt at humour, "very witty. Now, I have noticed you have not been very... friendly to Lyra. I get it that you aren't very... trustful of other people in the Wastelands, but I didn't expect you to be like this to her. What's wrong, Sunset?"

The fiery-haired girl's face instantly lost its cheerful expression. When she spoke, her voice gained a deadly serious tone:

"I know that I am... different from what I used to be, before this war, and I know that some of my older habits, so to say, have resurfaced. And I see that you do not like it, Twilight. I understand that. You might wonder if I am going to revert back to what I used to be before my redemption."

Twilight fidgeted a bit. She did think about this from time to time, but she never said that out loud.

How did she catch up on that?

"I am afraid you still need to learn some subtlety, Twilight," Sunset inadvertently answered the question. "I did not become the queen bee of CHS merely because I was super-evil or others were stupid, but because I was good at gathering information. Part of that involved reading body language. Granted, it is different here, but not impossible to learn. As to why I was not really friendly of Lyra? She was surprisingly good at concealing her body language, but some things still slipped that tell me that... well... that Lyra was not really truthful with us."

"You mean - she was hiding something?"

"Yes. That alone was not enough for me to get suspicious, but there's something else as well..."

*FLASHBACK*

Sunset woke up from the rustling sounds nearby.

What in the name of Equestria... wait. Who is messing with our rucksacks?

She opened one eye carefully. She saw Twilight lying on another cot beside her, sleeping as a newborn foal. That meant that her compatriot was not the one who was rummaging in their rucksacks...

For a moment, Sunset was tempted to grab her shotgun and pump Lyra full of small metal balls, but suppressed the feeling. For all she knew, the girl might have confused the rucksacks - it was almost dark in the hideout, and there was no Pip-Boy light in vicinity, so it was quite possible to mistake one's rucksack for their own...

"Got it," she heard Lyra's voice.

Or not.

Fine, let's play that game, Sunset thought with a hint of anger.

Careful not to break the disguise of her being asleep, she turned around and looked through half-closed eyes. Lyra was standing in front of her, almost turned away, holding a small object with her fingers.

The unicorn-turned-human recognized the object immediately in the dim lighting of the hideout. It was a magneto-optic data disk, similar to the one they had seen earlier. But this very disk was different. She had used it before in order to download the data from the hub of Directorate of Intelligence she and Twilight had used as a safe haven against feral ghouls.

What would she want with it?

She watched as Lyra inserted the disk into her own Pip-Boy and started (presumably) sifting through its contents. Pressing several buttons, she did something with the files, and then took the disk out.

Realizing that she might get caught, Sunset closed her eyes. She heard footsteps, another rustling through the rucksack. Footsteps again, then she heard Lyra lying down on a free cot.

I'll need to check the disk in the morning, Sunset thought...

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"Did you?" Twilight asked.

"I did. The data were still there, but I knew a command for Pip-Boy OS that allowed to check whether there was anything done to the files. They were copied. Lyra must have thought that I would not know about this hidden option, otherwise she would have been more careful," Sunset replied.

"But why would she need them?"

"That's a good question. As far as I can tell, she was specifically interested in them, and nothing else. She must have known about the DOI hub in that feral ghoul-infested village, because once she heard about it, her facial expression showed a hint of interest for a moment. If you remember, that hub was the only viable safe house. She must have known that, too. But I have no idea as to why she wanted those files. But the fact that she lied to us, and tried to get the data without me knowing about it do not really paint her as trustworthy."

"Maybe she is an excessively private person?"

"Maybe. But even if those facts I had mentioned were not true, I still had an... instinctive feeling. And it told me to beware."

"Instinctive?" Spike butted in. "You mean a gut feeling?"

"Yes, Spike."

"Is that enough of a basis for suspicions?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Twilight, sometimes gut feelings work better than intellectual analysis. Especially here, in Canterlot Wastelands..."

The day went on. Twilight, Sunset and Spike were going into direction of Trottingham, being careful not to disturb any beasts and not to walk into an ambush of White Knives or other raiders.

So far, they have been lucky enough. However, that changed once they arrived to a small village of no more than dozen houses, closer to the evening.

Twilight walked a little ahead of Sunset, when...

Beep! Beep!

BOOM!

"AAARGH!"

On hearing the beeping sounds, Twilight tried to get away from the land mine, but the explosion still lacerated her shins, and she fell down. Fortunately, she managed not to hit her head, which was a relief - a storm of bullets ensued immediately, forcing Sunset to grab Twilight and hide behind a rock.

Thank Celestia this rock turned out to be here!

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

"Great, I'm counting seven or more enemies," Sunset muttered. "Hold on, Twilight. I need to put a bandage on your legs."

"Please be quick," Twilight begged, clutching her hunting rifle.

Sunset quickly took out the first aid kit, trying to wrap the bandages around her friend's left leg. Twilight was trying to bandage her right leg in meantime.

The gunfire stopped.

"Hey, ladies!" a gruff voice sounded in the distance. "That's not a place ya should have come to! Now you're in big trouble!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Sunset muttered, tightening the bandage. "Twilight? How do you feel?"

"I understand now how Fast Grabber felt when I damaged his legs with mines," the equine Princess was already finished with the bandages and was injecting RegenStim into her right leg. "Not an experience I want to repeat!"

"I suggest that you snipe them from afar and don't move much. I'll bear the brunt of their attack."

"Are you sure?"

"I am. My leg's fine now, thanks to your and Lyra's help."

"Well? Are you ready to surrender now? We'll be gentle, I promise. Only one of us will have their fun with you!" another voice mocked them, female this time.

Twilight took her position, lying on her stomach, while Sunset stood on one knee, ready to fire her assault rifle.

"If you want us, come get us!" she challenged.

"O-ho, the girlies want to play tough! Let's show 'em!"

Looking down her ACOG sight, Twilight spotted six attackers coming to them. They were moving in zigzag patterns, despite the fact that they had no cover between their village and the girls.

Strange, she thought, but she was unable to ruminate on that further, as Sunset's R91 spewed bullets in the direction of their enemies. She saw one body fall onto the ground with a hole in the forehead, and others threw themselves on the ground.

"Fucking dykes!" she heard one of them swear. "OK then, we'll teach you how to mess with White Knives!"

Them again? Twilight's eyes widened. Oh snap. Collect yourself, Sparkle, this is serious.

She tilted her head to the left, in order to look with her own eyes. She spotted one of the enemies rising, and looked down the ACOG sight again, aiming for the head.

Boom!

.32 caliber bullet cracked the skull of another bandit.

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Sunset's assault rifle was not keeping silence, too.

"God damn it! Sniper!"

"The other bitch got me, too!"

"Let's fuck them proper!"

"Hey, watch it!"

The enemies attempted to charge at them. Twilight fired again, hitting the kneecap of a bandit and sending him toppling to the ground. Another bandit jumped to the right, trying to avoid Sunset's string of bullets...

Beep! Beep! Boom!

...and died from a mine he was unable to avoid.

"Reloading!" Sunset shouted.

"Got you covered," Twilight replied, firing again. The bandits were close enough that she couldn't miss, so she managed to drop another one (who was already wounded by Sunset) with a headshot. The last one aimed her SMG at them, and Twilight rolled behind the rock. The bullets either missed or were unable to penetrate the stone, and once the bandit stopped firing, Twilight rolled out and silenced her with a shot to a carotid artery. Her last round was to the head of a kneecapped bandit, who tried to crawl back but unwisely exposed his head.

Rolling back behind cover, Twilight reloaded her rifle.

"Nice shooting," Sunset scowled at the bolt of her assault rifle. "Celestia darn it, that thing got stuck again. I need a better gun, not this scrap metal that fails me at worst opportunities," with these words, she switched to her recently acquired laser pistol.

"You're going to regret what you've done, bitches!" an angry voice was heard, and the IFF showed another ten enemies approaching.

"That's kinda too many," Twilight said.

"Snipe as many as you can, and I'll finish them."

"Wait a sec. You have a frag grenade, right?"

"Uh, yeah. What do you think?"

"How about we let them closer, and throw it with a minimum timer setting? That should wound the most of them, plus, hopefully, they'll panic and trigger the mines."

Oh Celestia... I'm calculating the ways to inflict the highest casualties! What am I becoming?! a thought ran through Twilight's head.

"Sounds nice," Sunset prepared a grenade. "Look on that IFF screen and tell me when to throw it. And take your assault rifle, we'll need a bulletstorm now instead of marksmanship."

"OK," Twilight prepared for the execution of her plan, taking her AP-79.

"Hey you! Why so quiet now? Pissed yourselves in fear?" A mocking voice of another female bandit sounded, and others guffawed.

"When and where?" Sunset whispered.

"In that direction," Twilight showed with her finger where Sunset should throw the grenade, "wait a bit... a little bit..."

"Yo, are you alive out there?!"

"Now," the Princess of Friendship said.

Sunset tore away the safety ring and flung the grenade over the rock.

"Shit, grenade!"

"Run!"

"Hey, careful!"

Beep! Beep! Boom!

Beep! Beep! Boom!

Beep! Beep! Boom!

"AAARGH! AAAAHHH! SHIT, THAT HURT! ARRRGH!"

BOOM! the grenade exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere. Yet more screams of pain followed. Sunset and Twilight both rose and started firing at the surviving bandits which tried to run away, confused and frightened by the sudden counter-attack, but either fell to 5.56mm bullets or ran into the mines and went down after a beep, beep, BOOM sounds.

Several seconds later, there was not an enemy left standing.

Twilight almost gagged at the gory result and fought hard against her puking reflexes. Bodies were torn by bullets and shrapnel, pieces and chunks of flesh were torn away, and in some cases the limbs were missing.

"Ouch," Sunset muttered, "that was almost overkill. Almost. Let's see if anything salvageable survived this carnage."

Suddenly she turned around and put two shots into a bandit, startling Twilight.

"He was twitching," she explained nonchalantly.

Careful not to draw any more attention, they looted the bodies for ammo, spare parts for guns and medicines, and proceeded to the village.

As it turned out, the bandits that they had encountered were the only inhabitants of the village (aside from guard dogs, which Sunset quickly turned to ashes with her laser pistol).

Twilight was feeling pain in her legs despite RegenStim running through her veins, and complained that her walking would be a lot slower. Since it was closer to the evening, Sunset agreed to occupy a house for the night and maintain vigilance, so as her friend would recuperate faster.

The house they have chosen was not very high, having only one floor and a cellar which was stocked with conserved food (which was looted shamelessly by Sunset and consumed by everyone) and some ammunition (which was also looted).

The girls were almost ready to rest when suddenly they heard Spike crying for help.

"Spike!" Twilight shouted, forgetting about her legs. "Spike! Where are you?!"

"Down here," they heard him speak, "I must have stepped on a trap door or something..."

"Ah, I see," Sunset hurried into the direction of said "trap door", with Twilight close behind her. Bending down, they saw Spike, alive and unharmed...

...and staring into distance.

"I see stairs here!" he said. "Where do they lead, I wonder?"

"I see them, too," Twilight muttered. "But why would one need to hide them like this here?"

"I think this leads to some secure hideout," Sunset jumped down. "We need to check it out."

"Are you certain?"

"Positive. There could be more of these White Knives below. And we don't need to be surprised by them."

"OK, fine, let's check," gritting her teeth from discomfort in her legs, Twilight slipped down, too, and closed the "trap door" behind them.

The stairs lead down in something resembling a spiral. Using their Pip-Boys as lights, the girls stepped carefully, mindful of any possible traps.

Finally, the ladder led them into a cave of sorts, with a dead end. Sunset's face changed when she looked at what was in the dead end, and her eyes widened.

"No way," she whispered.

"No way what?" Twilight inquired.

In front of them stood a massive gigantic gear-shaped thing with a number 49 written in the middle. Nearby stood a console with switches. All these things appeared to be designed for something the equine Princess could not fathom. Sunset, however, seemed to be familiar with the objects.

"Twilight," the fiery-haired Equestrian exhaled, "it's a Vault!"

"Seriously?" both Twilight and Spike exclaimed.

"Yes! What you see is a giant door that separates the Vault from the outside world! And... yes, there is a console in case someone needs to be let into the Vault. Oh my gosh! I can't believe we have come across a Vault!"

"So this is one of those fallout shelters meant to preserve the population of the UFE?"

"Part of a population," Sunset's excitement evaporated. "Each Vault could save only one thousand people. And Vault-Tec wouldn't have been able to build enough to save the whole population even if they tried to. One would need hundreds of thousands of Vaults for that. And they are not cheap. Why do you think Vault-Tec charged money for securing a place within one?"

"That said... just how much did it cost to get a place in one?"

"The prices varied. Because of war, the economy suffered, and there was an inflation. I bought my place for one hundred twenty-five thousand UFE dollars; that equaled my half-a-year-worth salary with all taxes paid. Shortly before the Day of Burning, one had to pay two hundred forty thousand dollars; that was what, a yearly average salary or something? Somewhere around that."

"That sounds ruinously expensive." And elitist as well. It is obvious that there would be more rich citizens than common ones.

"Supply and demand, Twilight. Supply was not really high, but the demand... very high. Plus, Vault-Tec did not built those just for digging into ground. They did have to use materials that should survive shockwaves, protect from radiation, give a water supply, stuff like that. That technology did not come cheap. I heard Swift Sentinel mention once that the construction of Vault 75 cost one hundred and five million dollars."

"Meaning that if Vault 75 was filled to its maximum capacity, Vault-Tec would gain one hundred and twenty-five million dollars, with the net profit of twenty million dollars from it alone."

"Precisely."

"OK... I admit, I am curious to find out how these Vaults look like. But how do we enter? I don't think knocking on the door is an option..."

"There's a console standing. I think it has a communication device," Sunset walked up to the console and, after a slight hesitation, pushed several buttons and leaned down, speaking into something:

"Hello? Hello, can you hear me?"

Both girls and Spike held in their breaths. What would Vault inhabitants say? Will they reply? Or will they ignore the plea for help? What if they themselves are not friendly at all?

The questions, however, were left unanswered.

No one replied.

"Hello?" Sunset tried again. "Can you hear me?"

Silence, heavy as the air around them.

"Does this thing even work?" Twilight asked.

"It does. You see the lamps here? They are lit, which means the console is functional. It's someone in there," Sunset pointed at the door of Vault 49, "who is most likely sleeping at their workplace. There is supposed to be a person monitoring the comm systems, who would reply if someone used a console like this one."

"Did you have the same person in Vault 75?"

"We did; he never stopped complaining about his "lame job", as he called it," the fiery-haired girl made finger quotation marks when she said the words "lame job", "and thought it was useless, because no one has tried to gain entry into Vault 75 in all the time we were there before we left it."

"So what now?"

"The door isn't supposed to open easily. Swift Sentinel mentioned once that the entrances are password-protected. And unlike those terminals, these consoles do not allow for hacking. You merely input the password here, and the true password is kept on the other side."

"What about this switch with words "Open door" near it?"

"Without password, it shouldn't work - hey, what are you doing?" as Sunset spoke the last words, Twilight had her hand on the switch, and she pulled it down.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Hissssssssssssss!

The beeping sounds of what everyone presumed to be an alarm signal could be heard clearly, and almost immediately after the first BEEP, the hissing sound could be heard. Several seconds later, a loud SCREEEEECH forced both girls and Spike to cover their ears, as their ear drums struggled under the unbearable sounds.

"Was the door of Vault 75 as loud as this one?" Twilight shouted.

"No idea, but Point Blank complained about them once, so I assume it was!" Sunset shouted back.

The hissing sounds of what Twilight assumed to be air streams stopped. From the inside, they heard some sort of machinery creaking and screeching, as the blast door opening mechanism was connecting to the door itself. The alarms continued beeping for a few more seconds, and then everything went silent.

"Is it safe to uncover our ears now?" Spike asked.

"Not yet," Sunset replied. "If I'm not mistaken..."

SCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!

The volume of the sound of metal scraping against metal as the blast door of Vault 49 was sliding backwards so great that girls actually ran away from it. Once the screeching sound stopped, the door rolled to the left with clanking sounds which gigantic gears would make if stressed (which was probably not untrue, since the door did resemble a gear).

The blissful silence reigned again. This time - for real.

Twilight and Sunset uncovered their ears, and walked back to the now-open entrance.

"Who the hay leaves Vault doors unprotected like that?" the latter could not keep confusion from her voice.

"Maybe no one lives there anymore?" the former took a guess.

"Still no reason to abandon it like that, or at least I presume so. Well, since it's open now, how about we enter? The door won't stay open for long."

"Oh... why didn't you say earlier?" Twilight scowled, as both of them ran inside the Vault.

"Forgive me for being shocked and awed because of this situation..."

The inside of the airlock of Vault 49 was barely lit with red emergency lighting.

"Strange," Sunset remarked. "This lighting means the reactor is down and they're using the backup power generator."

"Could it break down?"

"It could, but someone would be there to fix it. There's always maintenance personnel..."

"I don't think we will see any personnel here."

"We'll see. Now, if the layout is not different, we need to go from the airlock to the atrium. It is... there."

The girls opened the door that led to the atrium, and proceeded to go there.

The scene they saw there was shocking.

Tables, chairs, lockers and other things were thrown haphazardly all over the place and sported bullet holes. Their positions indicated that at least two opposing sides were involved in a shoot-out with each other. Bullet cases were strewn haphazardly all over the place. Blood was splattered everywhere - on the floor, on the walls, and there were even spots on the ceiling. Several skeletons could be seen lying around, likely undisturbed since the day when the poor souls inside them departed the mortal plain.

And all this was lit by red emergency lamps, which only added to the horror of the scene.

"What happened here?" Twilight asked, shocked at the scene.

"I have no idea," Sunset replied. "From the looks of it, there was a firefight, but why are the objects scattered like this? One would not place them like this if they were defending the Vault from someone. It looks as if there was a small war between Vault inhabitants themselves..."

"What makes you say that?" Why would anyone do that? Twilight thought.

"I don't think they would arrange cover like that if they were fighting outsiders."

The girls crept through the atrium, trying to avoid the blood splatters even though they knew that they could not get a stain, since the blood was dry.

"Where to?" Twilight asked.

"There," Sunset showed at one of the doors, "it leads to living blocks. If there is anyone alive, we should find them there or in maintenance area below the blocks."

The fiery-haired girl pressed the button, and the hydraulic mechanism opened the door with a hiss.

"Is it just me, or is this place creepier than the Everfree Forest?" Spike spoke from Twilight's rucksack, as the girls made their way in...

"I don't get it," Sunset spoke for umpteenth time.

The girls have just finished investigating the living blocks. Needless to say, the scenes they have discovered did nothing to ease the pressure on their nerves.

Many cells (as Sunset was calling the living rooms due to their uncanny resemblances to prison cells) were empty aside from cots and beds and any other objects that apparently were too heavy to carry properly. Nothing could be found inside closets or anything else.

On several occasions, they found Vault 49 jumpsuits, which they decided to take with themselves. Most of these suits were bloodstained, and some were slightly torn. There were also suits too heavily damaged to be of any real use; the latter were cast aside.

On the way, they had encountered several more barricades; sometimes they were blocking the whole corridors, forcing the girls to try another way. On these occasions, Sunset was loudly wishing for some TNT.

Blood stains and bullet holes and bullet cases were in abundance, however. Twilight had recognized familiar 10mm, .32 and 5.56mm calibers, and Sunset had also seen used shotgun shells. There were other calibers which they had never used before; they found bullet cases which apparently belonged to ammunition made for sniper rifles.

The picture of carnage that had taken place long ago was omnipresent.

And Sunset Shimmer could not understand it.

It was not outside the realm of impossibility that someone could have deceived the inhabitants into letting them in, and then massacred the entire population. But unless the attackers had brought the entire army, the security contingent would have dealt with them in the airlock room - Sunset had seen automated ceiling turrets that could potentially deal even with soldiers in power armour with her own eyes. Said turrets were undamaged, however. Broken down or ammunition depletion?

And even if the enemy did get into the corridors, the cells of living blocks had hardened doors that one would have to blow up with TNT or other explosives. But there were no scorch marks consistent with the act of blowing up the doors. The armoured glass windows were mostly intact other - damaged by bullets, but almost never broken.

So far it appeared as if the inhabitants of Vault 49 had a civil war among themselves. Which wouldn't have been possible, since the security personnel was supposed to keep the weapons secure in special crates with hard locks that one couldn't just pick with screwdriver and bobby pins.

However, all such crates were empty on security outposts Twilight and Sunset came across, which totally went against Vault-Tec instructions.

In the medical lab, they saw a chemical mini-lab that apparently was designed for production of nitroglycerin, of all things. There was also sugar spread all over the table. Twilight was horrified to discover that someone was trying to synthesize the unstable and explosive liquid in a closed space, and even more horrified when Sunset informed her that the sugar was there to stabilize nitroglycerin, so as to create dynamite. Predictably, they found no medicines there.

The picture was flying in the face of everything Sunset knew about proper functioning of the Vaults.

And it irritated her to no end.

"I. Don't. Get it!" she growled.

"Sunset..." Twilight tried to calm her down, but the bacon-haired girl demonstrated her fiery side:

"What in the dark depths of Tartarus is this?! What kind of idiot just left weapons lying around? Who in their right mind would not stop the creation of nitroglycerin immediately? Why did security do nothing? And why was the Vault overcrowded?"

"Overcrowded?"

"Yes! There were spare cots all scattered around, likely for extra people! Typically, you can place four people into a cell, but there are beds and cots for eight people for cell! Do you know what kind of strain would that be? Water chip may malfunction, the stocked food would run out quick, air recyclers may break down as there would not be enough oxygen! What was Overseer thinking?!"

Suddenly, Sunset stopped in the middle of her tirade, as if struck down by a lightning. At first, Twilight was worried that her friend suffered a mantal breakdown, but then the unicorn-in-disguise grabbed her fellow compatriot and dragged her back towards the atrium.

"We need to see the Overseer's office," she said. "The answer to our question would be there."

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the destination.

The Overseer's office looked grim. Apparently, the doors to his office were blown apart (Twilight suspected that the nitroglycerin from the medical lab had something to do with it), blood splatters and bullet cases were present even here, and there was also a skeleton which most likely was Overseer's.

Fortunately, the computer terminal there was left relatively intact. While Sunset surveyed the carnage, Twilight decided to check out the terminal. Predictably, it was password-protected, but the lavender-skinned girl quickly remembered Lyra's improvised hacking lesson and put her newly-acquired skills to good use.

Once she finished guessing the ridiculously easy five-letter password, she was greeted with the following text:

Welcome, Overseer.
_____________________________

Vault-Tec Instructions

Systems Check

Access Vault PA System

Access Eye-on-You Surveillance System

Open Vault Log

Open Overseer's Tunnel

Curious as to whether the Vault was still functional, Twilight chose "Systems Check".

Systems check in progress, please stand by... Complete.

Nuclear power generator works at 12% of maximum capacity. No leakage detected. The reserves of uranium-235 will last for approximately 9 months, 3 days, 7 hours.

Air recycling units operate within acceptable parameters.

Water chip malfunction detected. WARNING! Water chip works at 0% of maximum capacity. Water purification and recycling is not possible. WARNING! Water chip is unsalvageable. Vault evacuation recommended.

Vault PA system malfunction detected. WARNING! Overseer's input device is destroyed. PA system unusable.

Eye-on-You surveillance system is turned off. Turning on... ERROR: override command triggered. Access denied.

Systems check complete.

"Well, this Vault turned out to be not as reliable as I thought," Twilight muttered. "Plus, no use in trying to access PA system or surveillance. Let's see the log..."

Vault 49 log:

21.09.2093: Vault 49 construction complete.
22.09.2093: Preliminary system check complete. All systems functional.
12.11.2093: Overseer chosen.
24.12.2093: First Vault inhabitant registered.
04.02.2094: Vault filled to maximum capacity.
17.05.2094: Omega-level threat protocols enacted. Vault closed.
[ERROR: Log section corrupted.]
09.01.2095: Overseer's vital signs flatlined.
[ERROR: Log section corrupted.]
12.06.2100: Water chip critical malfunction.
17.07.2100: PA system critical malfunction.
21.07.2100: Eye-on-You system critical malfunction.
25.07.2100: Vault opened.
29.07.2100: Vault inhabitants' number is zero.
16.05.2101: Outsider Pip-Boy signatures detected. Number: 2.

"It appears someone killed the Overseer here," Sunset, who found nothing of interest, commented while standing near Twilight.

"But why?"

"Who knows? I don't think this terminal will help us here."

"What about Vault-Tec instructions?"

"I think it's just some generic corporate jazz. Feel free to check it, if you want. I'll see if there's a clean enough place to sleep."

Once Twilight chose the instructions, she was greeted with two options:

Letter from Dr. Mobius Loop

Appendix A

"What does the letter say, I wonder?" the equine Princess mused out loud, choosing the letter.

To Overseer of this Vault:

If you are reading this message, it means that Omega-level threat protocols have been enacted and you and all inhabitants of this Vault are now securely sealed away from the horrors of the nuclear holocaust. Congratulations!

If you have not opened the sealed envelope from Vault-Tec with your instructions, do so now. You are required to follow the instructions in the letter to the "t". Be warned - deviation from these instructions is in breach of your contract with Vault-Tec and is grounds for immediate dismissal.

Some of the Vaults will be provided with a device known as G.E.C.K. - Garden of Equestria Creation Kit. Whether your Vault is to receive one of those is written in Appendix A. Regardless of whether you have one or not, we hope that you feel excellent now, because you and everyone else have sufficiently prepared for the future!

Sincerely yours,
Dr. Mobius Loop,
Head of Project Safehouse

Appendix A, as it turned out, contained very little information:

Vault 49 shall not receive a G.E.C.K. device. The Overseer of Vault 49 is to act strictly in accordance with the instructions contained in sealed envelope.

"Sunset," Twilight called, "do you see an envelope or a piece of paper somewhere?"

"No, nothing resembles it here. How should it help?"

"Take a look at what I just read."

"Hmmm..." Sunset spent several minutes on familiarizing herself with the contents, then shrugged her shoulders, "I guess it is strange somewhat. Why not just put it into the terminal? Open the Overseer's tunnel, I'm kinda curious."

Twilight did as asked, and the semi-circular table rose up, revealing a small ladder going down.

"Well..." she said unsurely, "let's go?"

Weapons raised and senses sharp, the girls went down.

Predictably, they found no person alive. They knew, of course, that the chances of finding someone were zero, but the heavy eeriness of the dead Vault (for some reason, this description felt appropriate to both of them) strained their nerves to the point where they expected something to attack them.

And something did attack them.

A radroach that had somehow gotten in long ago.

It did not even last half a second.

"At least this place is good enough to sleep," Sunset grumbled.

The girls have closed the secret door behind them and prepared for sleeping. Fortunately, the Overseer's hideout had its own air recycling system that still worked perfectly, so they did not worry about dying from the lack of oxygen.

They had a small supper and were getting ready for bed, when Twilight found something under the pillow.

It was a piece of paper with Vault-Tec logo, and looked like an official letter. Curious, both girls decided to read it.

The letter said:

VAULT-TEC SOCIETAL PRESERVATION PROGRAM

OVERSEER'S INSTRUCTIONS

To the Overseer of this Vault:

The underground fallout shelter you are in charge of now has been chosen as a part of a vital project. While the primary purpose of the Vault lies in preservation of human lives, our country cannot afford to rebulid a society only to make the same mistakes that lead us to a mutually assured destruction. Thus, a sociological experiment known as "Societal Preservation Program" has been devised for the Vaults.

Vault 49, as you may have noticed, has been filled by less reputable members of society, i. e. crime lords, their cohorts and various types of criminals. The purpose of this is to determine how a society without laws and any type of government will fare when forced into an isolation from outside most-assuredly-irradiated world, and whether cooperation in the name of survival is possible between rivals. The secondary purpose is to determine how figures of power will assert their authority.

Your role as an Overseer of Vault 49 is merely observational. You have been given your own personal hideout, a cache of weaponry and food reserves designed to make you last for 10 years, as well as an independent water chip. Meanwhile, Vault 49 will have no administration, security or maintenance personnel, and the food reserves will be stocked as normal. However, the Vault will house 2000 people (twice the maximum capacity) instead of 1000, and will have several weapon cabinets that anyone with certain skills can access. Maintenance level will be sealed off as to prevent accidental damage to vital Vault systems.

Make notes of how the people will interact with each other. Do not reveal yourself and do not interfere with everyday life of the inhabitants of Vault 49 under any circumstances.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Mobius Loop,
Head of Societal Preservation Program

Once Sunset finished reading the letter, she exploded in outrage:

"Celestia damn it all to Tartarus! What in Nightmare Moon's name is this sack of pony manure?! Who the fuck was the genius behind this idea? Oh yeah, a Dr. Mobius Loop. Who in the hoof is that?!"

"Oh ponyfeathers," Twilight cussed quietly, dropping the letter as if it burned her hands. She started shaking, and then sat onto the floor with her back against the bed, trying in vain to regain control of her nerves. Meanwhile, Sunset continued to rage, walking around the room like a caged animal:

"No wonder we are seeing skeletons and blood and barricades everywhere in this cursed place! This is what happens when you put criminals in a closed space and give them weapons and not enough food! Did the idiots behind this really think this idea would work well? Societal Preservation Program, my ass! Bet you my head that this is where White Knives came from! That's probably why this place is abandoned like this! Ponyfeathers!"

"Er... Sunset?" Spike said timidly, sticking out of Twilight's rucksack. The fiery-haired girl, however, did not hear him or simply ignored him, still furious over the whole mess.

"And what of my own Vault, I wonder?" she continued screaming. "What kind of experiment were they running on us, eh? Dictatorial authority? Exposing us all to radiation? Oh wait, "what to do when an Overseer is killed", yes, this is perfect! Nothing will go wrong with that! Horseapples! Buck their flanks! Screw this all!.."

Not being able to formulate an appropriate swear phrase, Sunset paced a little more around the room, breathing heavily (Spike was surprised that no steam was coming) and looking as if she were ready to throttle someone. However, once she tore through the haze of her fury and looked at shaking Twilight, her anger evaporated.

"Oh Twilight," she sat down to her friend, "you OK? Talk to me?"

"Oh, Sunset... I don't know," Twilight looked into the green eyes, and Sunset realized with a hint of anger that the equine Princess was crying, "I don't know! This world used to be such a pretty place. And now, everything is spoiled! Destroyed! Defaced! Debased! People have degenerated, and those who didn't fight just to live another day, and those who were supposed to save others did nothing at all! What's wrong with this world?!" once she said the last words, Twilight buried her face into Sunset's armoured shoulder and let her tears loose.

"I don't know, Twilight," Sunset hugged the lavender-skinned girl, "I don't know..."

Everyone agreed on leaving Vault 49 as soon as all of them restored their strength.

Thus, when Twilight, Sunset and Spike were all ready to brave the day, they abandoned the Vault as quickly as they could, and silently agreed never to visit it again.

Weapons in their hands, they were rising up the ladder, when they heard some shooting.

Once they got out, they discovered that a group of White Knives was engaged in a firefight with someone they could not properly see. The girls did not even debate on what they needed to do. Both of them unleashed lead hell upon the bandits that apparently did not have the decency to die in Vault 49.

The bandits were not prepared for a crossfire, and were mowed down in several seconds. However, once Twilight and Sunset risked sticking their heads out, they nearly lost them as the other side sent a bulletstorm their way.

"Hey, watch it!" Sunset shouted, hiding behind cover. "We're friendly!"

"Yeah right," a male voice replied, "and just what were you doing here?"

"We were helping you, dumbass! Don't fire at us and we will come out and talk!"

"Likely story!"

"Please, you've got to listen!" Twilight joined the conversation. "We've fought these White Knives several times already! We fought them yesterday, near the minefield!"

"Wait. What? Near the minefield? There's a carnage out there!"

"Wait a minute!" another voice interrupted, this one female, "Ah know these voices! Come outta there, an' we won't shoot ya, Ah promise!"

Twilight and Sunset stiffened as something stirred in their memories.

That accent, and the drawl... Could it be?..

Still somewhat unsure, they came out of the house and turned to the voice.

Several men and women who at best could be described as a ragtag bunch of misfits were standing in front of them, dressed in various types of armour and holding hunting rifles and shotguns. Closest of them was a tall young woman with a tanned gamboge skin, green eyes and freckles on her face, wearing a set of combat armour and carrying what Twilight recognized as AP-79 assault rifle in her hands. On her head rested a very familiar Stetson cowboy hat.

"Well colour me surprised," she said with a characteristic southern drawl while smiling, "if it ain't two of my BFFs! Ah sure am glad to see ya!"

There was no more doubt concerning the identity of the person in front of them. Putting their weapons away, Twilight and Sunset rushed towards her with a happy exclamation:

"Applejack!"

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle):

Thus Ever To Criminals: You no longer receive penalties from "Make Friends, Not War!" Trait when killing bandits.

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer):

Eagle Eye: You gain an ability to spot land mines from afar.

Applejack's S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:

Strength: 7
Perception: 5
Endurance: 8
Charisma: 5
Intellect: 4
Agility: 6
Luck: 5

Unique Trait (Applejack)

Gifted By Another World: You possess a piece of Equestrian magic. Under certain circumstances, you may gain a magical anthro-form that grants you additional bonuses.

Unique Trait (Applejack)

Element of Honesty: You are almost physiologically incapable of lying. If you do try to lie, you suffer a -3 penalty to your Charisma and -45 penalty to your Speech skill. On the other hand, you also gain an uncanny ability of being able to discover the lies told to you by others: anyone who tries to lie in your face suffers the same penalties. Note that lies of omission only suffer a -1 penalty to Charisma and -15 to Speech skill, and if you or your interlocutor truly believe that they are telling the truth (even if it's not), no penalties occur.

Author's Note

Surpriiiiiise!

I planned to introduce Applejack in the next chapter, but I was unable to build a proper scene that would have served as a filler before that event, so, here we are! Finally, Twilight and Sunset found one of their friends!

Also: yay, Friendship Games are out! Squee! Fun fact: on the very day Friendship Games aired, one of TV channels for kids in Russia showed Rainbow Rocks! (In Russian, of course. To be honest, I prefer the original voice-over.) It's fate, I tell ya. That's when inspiration struck, and I was able to continue actively working on this chapter. It also helped that my illness is finally retreating, and I can actually write longer chunks of text instead of 200-500 words.

As to what effect Friendship Games will have on my story, I can say this: I won't have to declare this movie as non-canon to Fallout: Equestria Girls. Moreover, it inspired several other ideas for this fic (although those may not be introduced in a long time). However, one moment did throw a wrench into the gears. Spoiler alert: it was the gag in the end where Princess Twilight rushes through the portal and meets Sci-Twi. This fanfic was built on the premise that these two have never met, and all trailers seemed to support this.

I did love the gag, but when I saw it for the first time, I exploded into profanities, because while I did have safety nets regarding interactions of human characters with both Twilights, I was not ready for this stunt Now I will have to see what I should do: either dismiss this gag or adapt to it. The story hasn't progressed so far that this point would be critical, so I think I will be able to adapt, but I need to think everything through. The next chapter may take 7-20 days because of it.

Well, that's all I have to say. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned

And now I need to sleep. I am party pooped.

(Best phrase in the whole franchise )