Chapter 15

Divided we must not fall

"I am such an idiot," Sunset Shimmer hung her head.

Flash Sentry privately agreed with her, but he knew better than to make comments like that.

"You aren't the only one who wants to tear the bandits apart for that," he spoke instead, putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

Right, Sunset remembered, he's still crushing on Twilight. Must not forget.

"But we must not hang around for too long here," the blue-haired man continued. "Given that we have caused quite a ruckus, I won't be surprised if everyone will drop here to see if there's anything of value."

"Oh... wait, shouldn't we loot the bodies?"

"What for?"

"Well, ammo, maybe a decent enough spare weapon or two..."

"Oh, OK. I will assist you."

"Much appreciated."

The looting did not take long, however. Not many things were of any actual use, since the deceased bandits apparently were complete amateurs in weapon maintenance. All Sunset took was some junk that one could sell for more than one or two caps, some knives and a few armour plates that survived her hell-fury. Flash did not find anything useful for himself, but did not comment on that.

No sooner had they finished than they heard gunfire somewhere to the right of them.

"We must go," Flash decided, showing the direction which was opposite to the apparent battle.

"Agree wholeheartedly," the fiery-haired girl said, and both of them took off, so as not to be caught in the crossfire...

"How is she, partner?" Applejack asked Bon Bon, as the truck was moving through the Wastelands.

Twilight Sparkle was still lying unconscious, under the effects of a powerful sedative. Earlier, Bon Bon had extracted several splinters out of her to the best of her abilities; these wounds were covered by bandages now. However, there still were several places where she did not risk removing the splinters, for fear of tearing something important or causing dangerous bleeding. In order to prevent Twilight from dying, she had to give the unconscious girl RegenStim injections every ten minutes. Two empty syringes were already lying down next to her.

"Critical," ex-DOI agent said bluntly. "I cannot risk removing these splinters in the field without appropriate medical equipment. How long until we reach the bunker?" she asked the Paladin who was riding with them (Focus Glass and the other one were sitting inside the cabin).

"Ten minutes tops," was the answer. "Focus Glass is already trying his best to drive you there quickly. He has radioed ahead, they said they will be preparing the surgery. Although I think they'll want a favour from you now," he finished, addressing Applejack.

"Ah just want my friends to make it," the farm girl replied. "All of them. Goldurn it, Sunset took off so fast..."

"Don't worry your head over her. She's got Senior Paladin Sentry with her. If she always fights like this, they'll own the White Knives."

Applejack could plainly see that the Paladin was not fully truthful, and that he simply wanted to make her be less worried. She did not appreciate the lying, but thought better than to call him out on it. She jerked a bit when the man in power armour spoke to her again:

"Pardon me if I am mistaken, but you are Applejack, right?"

"Yep, that's me."

"I wanted to tell you one thing. I have heard about the beef that some of our higher-ups have with you and Appletown folks. While no one's here," the Paladin lowered his voice, so he was barely audible above the noise that their truck was making, "I want you to know that I don't buy into that shit, and Senior Paladin Sentry doesn't, either."

"If y'all don't, why didn't Ah hear about it sooner?"

"We haven't been in the Brotherhood for long. Our detachment joined only about one week ago; we haven't even got a full hold of local news yet. But when Sentry heard about that stuff about you "stealing" Brotherhood's stuff and spreading misinformation about us, he called them out on their bullshit."

Applejack raised her eyebrow, looking at the Paladin. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

"OK, partner, Ah'll believe ya for now. But let's focus less on mah spat with the Brotherhood, alright? Ah'm worried about mah friend here."

"Don't worry. Our bunker has very good medical equipment and doctors. They'll fix your friend up damn well."

"In exchange for what? Ah doubt they'll do it for free."

"We'll tell them that you bailed our asses out of fire, that should shut everyone who even thinks about making you pay for this up."

The country girl was not convinced that the Brotherhood would be that benevolent, and said disbelief was clearly visible on her face, but again, she wisely decided not to comment.

Meanwhile, Bon Bon took out another RegenStim syringe and gave Twilight another injection.

"We'd better hurry," she said. "Soon enough, RegenStim will lose its regenerative effect on her due to overuse. And if we cannot compensate for all the trauma she had endured, Twilight will die."

If she does, both Flash and Sunset will be devastated. Flash is still crushing on her, and Sunset got extremely angry when she thought that those White Knives killed her. I don't want to know what would happen to Sunset if Twilight truly died, Applejack thought, worried. Then she cast a glance on her friend, who had rekindled her friendships with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

Twilight, I am going to see that you arrive there safely and that no one of them Brotherhood types does harm to you, or I am not an Apple, she vowed to herself there and then.

The Paladin with them jerked a bit, putting two fingers to his right ear. Once he put them down, he spoke:

"Brothers are opening the bunker. Get ready, we'll need to carry her, carefully."

"Thank the stars," Bon Bon breathed out. Applejack fully agreed with that sentiment.

"Oh shit!"

Flash Sentry generally did not appreciate swear words coming out of any mouth, much less a girl's mouth, but their predicament made him want to repeat this statement. He resisted, believing that swearing with ladies nearby was no way for a man to behave.

Instead, he calmly put four laser beams in a super mutant's torso, causing it to collapse on the ground, dead.

Sunset also took several shots at another super mutant with her laser pistol, driving it into rage. The hulking humanoid monster attempted to rush her, wielding some heavy-looking piece of armature.

BZ-DAM! BZ-DAM! BZ-DAM!

A lucky shot to the head by Flash Sentry ignited the super mutant, and with a ersounding clank, the piece of armature and all other gear fell onto the asphalt.

"Clear," he said, "but I think there will be more coming here. Let's move."

Both of them ran into the direction perpendicular to where the super mutants ahd come from. They did not even stop to loot the bodies - the super mutants only had a shoddy hunting rifle and very heavy armature as weapons; neither of which sounded like an attractive piece of loot (not to mention that only Flash Sentry could have used the armature thanks to his power armour).

"Grrr! Goddamn humans! Go get 'em, boys!"

Bullets whizzed past them. Apparently, other super mutants were not too far behind. Sunset and Flash darted behind the closest cover (concrete blocks near the destroyed building) and opened fire in return.

Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! Ba-zoot! BZ-DAM! BZ-DAM! Ba-zoot! BZ-DAM! BZ-DAM! BZ-DAM!

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Ba-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Boom! Bang! Boom!

Beams of laser weapons went from one side to the other; in return, assault rifle and hunting rifle bullets whizzed in the air, striking against concrete.

"We have to perform a fighting retreat!" Flash spoke up.

"Where to?"

"If we stick here, they'll surround us! There is an old underground station nearby, according to the maps; we can use it to escape!"

Privately, Sunset doubted the idea; she remembered vividly what had happened to her last time she had entered the tunnels.

But who knows what will happen this time? Maybe it won't be as bad...

"Run for the nearest cover behind us! I'll cover you!" the blue-haired guy shouted, sticking out of cover and raining down laser fire on the green-skinned hulks. Sunset ran like hell for the nearest concrete block that could be used as cover; vaulting over it, she stuck out and shouted:

"Come on!"

Flash left cover, running for the place where Sunset was hiding, his power armour allowing him to make great steps. The fiery-haired girl envied him a bit.

Sweet Celestia, that armour is nice. Wish I knew how to wear it. Maybe I could convince him...

Yeah right, how exactly? Did you forget what you had done to him?

I have changed! He saw that at the Friendship Games!

That was quite some time ago. And it's obvious he doesn't fully trust you yet. Focus on helping him now!

As Flash took his turn in covering Sunset, the Equestrian ran for the building where an entrance to underground was located. Once she took position, she fired at the super mutants, signifying that Flash could run now, and he did.

Several bullets hit his armour, despite Sunset's best attempts, but failed to do any significant damage.

Passing her by, the guitar player said:

"Now come on, we need to get to underground!"

"No need to tell twice!" Sunset replied. Both of them ran to the door and opened it...

"We're here! Come on!" Focus Glass shouted, getting out of the truck.

A welcoming committee of Brotherhood of Steel was waiting for them - six Paladins with mean-looking guns the likes of which Applejack had never seen before, and four persons in what appeared to be red robes standing near a surgical transport. As soon as the truck stopped, they rushed to it, ready to receive the wounded.

When they saw Twilight, who was being offloaded by Applejack and Bon Bon, one of them frowned.

"Really? That's the emergency you called us for? A near-dead tribal?"

If looks could kill, the speaker would have been atomized where he stood. Instead, he found himself in front of Focus Glass, who was visibly not pleased, even if his helmet hid his face.

"This tribal, as you so eloquently put it, is the reason why me and all others are still fucking alive! She and the others pulled our asses out of the fire even though they didn't need to and you'd better ensure that this girl doesn't die here! Now get her to Scribe Redheart this instant!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the scribe immediately turned back to the surgical transport and wheeled Twilight away along with others. Applejack tried to follow, but two Paladins stood in her way.

"Where are you going?" they asked.

"Ah'm goin' after mah friend!"

"You can't go inside!"

"An' how can I be sure that Twilight'll be alright?"

"You don't trust our doctors?"

"Look, Ah promised Senior Paladin Sentry that Ah would look after her," Applejack tried to convince the Paladin to let her through.

Look at me, she scolded herself, now I'm telling lies, just to make sure my friend will be OK.

"Sir, where's Senior Paladin Sentry?" one of Brotherhood soldiers addressed Focus Glass.

"He and another girl of this company had to separate from us so we would get here. They are still in that outskirts town."

"We need to extract Senior Paladin Sentry, then."

"I'll come with you to help you trace the way," Bon Bon offered.

"Fine, just don't interfere with us."

"And Ah can give mah LMG and some ammo... just give it back once it's over, OK?" Applejack said.

"Hmpf," one of Brotherhood soldiers spoke, "I wouldn't say no to that gun, that's for sure."

"Here, take it, then," and the farm girl gave away her weapon and spare ammo. "Now can Ah see mah friend?"

"Eh..." one of the Paladins who had stopped her hesitated.

"Oh what the hell, let her come. But know this, lady - we'll be watching you," another one spoke.

"Fine, lead the way."

"And so, two Paladins with Applejack entered the bunker, while Bon Bon and seven Paladins went to the rescue...

"I hate these places," Sunset spoke.

"Claustrophobic?" Flash inquired.

"No. But it's harder to see in here. I hate it when I can't properly see the possible threats."

"No flashlight?"

"No, only a Pip-Boy's lighting. What about you? How do you see everything?"

"My helmet's visor has a night vision option. Puts stress on microfusion power packs, but I certainly won't be blind."

"Lucky you. Do you know where we can find night vision goggles?"

"Aside from Brotherhood arsenals? No."

"And Brotherhood does not trade with outsiders."

"Indeed."

"Blast."

Language, Sunset. "Why would you want one?"

"So that the light of Pip-Boys or flashlights wouldn't give us away."

"Ah. You can't counter what you can't see."

"If there is a chance to avoid detection, why not use it? Unless you have power armour, of course."

"Power armour does not automatically mean invulnerability. Armour piercing rounds and heavy weapons are a danger, and energy weapons also work better than standard ammunition. And EMP is almost a death sentence."

"You aren't worried about giving away such knowledge?" Sunset raised an eyebrow.

"I think you of all people would know that already. You are a smart girl."

"Well thank you, Flash, but I'm not the one you should be giving compliments to now."

"I know," Flash's voice was terse. "I only stated the truth."

Damn, Sunset realized, I'm an insensitive git now.

"Sorry, Flash, didn't mean to..."

"I know you didn't, Sunset," the blue-haired man spoke. "Sorry if I came off as a jerk."

"You didn't; nothing to apologize for."

Silence hang between them for several minutes.

"Flash... may I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Pardon me if it's not the right time, but... back at CHS... why did you agree to date me?"

"Before your... reformation?"

"Yep, when I was a supreme git. What was it that you found attractive enough?"

"The word "git" would be an understatement... let me remember... oh hell, it sounds like it was an infinity ago..."

Indeed it does, Sunset thought.

"There were multiple reasons. You were not like other girls; you kind of stood up above them. I was popular even back then, the majority of them would have readily agreed to date me, but I didn't want to simply... how to put it... snatch one, I guess, and have fun..."

"You wanted a challenge?"

"Sort of. I also noticed that you were highly intelligent; I always found that bit attractive in girls. And your looks, of course. Your flame hair, leather jacket and that skirt kinda... completed that impression that dating you would be... thrilling."

"Thrilling, you say... Interesting," the fiery-haired girl mused aloud. "So you genuinely enjoyed our time together?"

"I did... until, of course, I had learned about your... negative side."

"When did you learn about it?"

"Three months before our break-up."

"That long?"

"Yes."

"But you only broke up with me three weeks before the Fall Formal..."

"Well, when I first learned about your not-so-good deeds, I decided not to rush things up. The network of relationships in CHS was quite complicated. Instead, I decided to gather additional information. Three weeks later, I finally ralized that I... couldn't date you anymore. But I knew that I could not simply dump you without covering my weaknesses first. Two months were needed to ensure I would be protected. Finally, I was also planninng the break-up for a week."

"Why a week?"

"To find the best way - well, for me, that is - to announce it. I had to plan carefully, so as to mitigate the fallout."

"I have to admit, I had been impressed when you announced it. I recall people being surprised I hadn't done anything nasty to you in the aftermath."

"Had you... planned to?"

"You want a blunt, honest answer?"

"Yes."

"Your... precautions did throw a spanner into my revenge plans, but in several weeks I would have concocted a way to mess with you. I did not believe it necessary until the completion of Fall Formal, though. It wouldn't have mattered by then."

"Determined and passionate. A wonderful combination."

"But a dangerous one."

"If used to commit evil deeds, yes. But you are different from then. I had been too... stubborn to see that before Friendship Games, though."

You didn't see what I did to White Knives' corpses from the last attack, Sunset thought sadly.

"Stubborn?"

"Yes. I... never believed that a person could change overnight, and remained suspicious. And honestly, a part of me also felt... vindicated whenever I saw your struggles."

"Ouch. That stung, even if I deserved it. And forgive me for saying this, but it kinda sounds... petty."

"Yes, it does - now. But eight years ago, I would have disagreed. When I realized that you used me to gain popularity, I was... very upset and angry. I never liked being used for selfish gains."

"I'm sorry, Flash," Sunset looked into the helmet's visor. "I was a supreme bitch to you and everyone else in that time."

"I already forgave you. I did see you change for the better. It's just... I moved on."

"Thank you."

Two wanderers went deeper into the tunnel.

"You can't enter there while we perform surgery, Applejack," Scribe Redheart, previously a nurse at Canterlot High School, was telling the farm girl. Other Scribes wheeled Twilight into a medical bloc and into surgery room, but as Applejack tried to go in, she was blocked. "I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to save your friend, but if you carry an infection in there, it will all be for naught."

"OK, Miss... Miss Redheart, Ah... understand," Applejack spoke.

"Splendid. Now, I need to go," with these words, Redheart closed the doors to surgery room. The farmgirl exhaled, suddenly feeling weakness invading her muscles.

Now is not the time! she scolded herself. However, her organism seemed to have lost any strength she had with adrenaline flushing out of her system. In the end, she lowered herself onto a bench.

"Rough day?" one of the Paladins asked her.

"Y'all can say that."

"What happened?.. That is, if you want to tell..."

This fella kinda sounds like Fluttershy, Applejack thought.

"Well, me and mah friends needed some decent guns and ammo, 'cause, ya know, Elder Aegis wants us all to find him four power armour suits."

"Where were you going to look for power armour?"

"They say there's an old military base of Mechanized Infantry nearby, might be worth checking out."

"Wow, babe, you certainly have guts," the second Paladin spoke. "The bases have automated defenses, you know that?"

"Duh. Naturally."

"Even Brotherhood hesitates to venture there. Just why do you need four suits?"

"'Cause there is a suit that belonged to a decent guy who was exiled for disagreeing with superiors, and Ah promised him Ah wouldn't give it back. Helmet Steadfast already came for it once, and Ah threw him out."

Two Paladins guffawed at that.

"What's so funny?!"

"Forget what I said about guts, this girl here has some big balls - not literally, of course - to do that," the second Paladin spoke again.

"Point is, Aegis still wants that suit, so he told mah friends - and they told me - about this little demand of his. They agreed, so we have a deal. Ah need to find the suits."

"Indeed we had a deal," came a voice out of seemingly nowhere. The Paladins stood at attention immediately.

"Elder Aegis, sir!"

"At ease, brothers," the aged man turned to the country girl who was looking at him suspiciously. "Applejack, right?"

"Eeyup."

"I need to talk to you. Please follow me to my office."

"Why not here?"

"This conversation is not for ears of any third parties."

"Can't it wait 'till Ah know mah friend is alright in there?"

"Your friend is in the surgery?"

"Yes, sir," the first Paladin spoke, "this lady and her friends bailed Senior Paladin Sentry and his squad outta some big problem, but got separated from him and their friend. Others went for Senior Paladin Sentry, and she remained here."

"Our troops went along with non-Brotherhood members?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see. Scribe Redheart is overseeing the operation?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see. Miss Applejack," Elder Aegis turned to Applejack, "I guarantee to you that your friend will be safe in there. If her wounds are not fatal, Redheart will cure them. The operation will take long, and our talk won't, but it's no less important than the life of your friend.

Best I can tell, he isn't lying. "OK then, lead the way," the country girl said.

"Feral ghouls again?!" Sunset exclaimed disbelievingly, firing her newly-modded R91. "Does someone up there have no imagination?"

"I think it's better to not insult the powers that be!" Flash answered. BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! One of the ghouls fell onto the ground. "Wait, what do you mean, "again"?"

"Me and Twilight had already encountered feral ghouls in Hoofington underground!" Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Two ghouls down. "It's kinda exasperating! Reloading!"

"They are quite annoying, aren't they?" BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! Three ghouls down.

"They wouldn't be if they weren't rushing us!" Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Two down. "All rush and no brains!"

"I agree!" BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! "And those were the last ones. Reloading," Flash replaced a microfusion cell in his laser rifle.

"You have a sidearm? Might be better to use it, since feral ghouls aren't that tough. Now if we meet super mutants..."

"Please don't give fate ideas on how to screw with us," the ex-guitar player swapped his weapons as recommended.

"I tend to believe that fate already knows all the ideas on that point."

"Then don't remind fate of it."

"Ha ha. Point taken."

On picking up bottle caps that somehow remained of feral ghouls they had just killed, Flash asked Sunset:

"Ahem... if you don't mind, I would like to know where you have spent these last seven years."

"After the apocalypse?"

"Yes."

"I was hiding in Vault 75."

"A Vault?!" Flash turned to his ex-classmate, shocked. "But..."

"What?"

"I don't know if you knew, but... Vaults, they were... built not to preserve human lives... not exactly, at least."

"I am aware of this. Me and Twilight had encountered another Vault not far from here somewhere. Vault 49. The stuff in there could induce nightmares, if one is very impressionable."

"What did you find there?"

"Blast-a-ton of shell casings, blood stains, empty armouries, a chemical lab for creating explosives and skeletons. Also, when we went to Overseer's office, we found a secret hideout, and there was a letter. Turned out that a certain Dr. Mobius Loop had a "brilliant" idea to stick criminals into a Vault twice beyond its capacity and have more armouries than normal which could be broken into and see whether they would build a society there. Societal Preservation Program, my flank."

"Wait... did you just mention a Dr. Mobius Loop? And Societal Preservation Program?"

"I did. What? You heard something of that?"

"Yes. Dr. Mobius Loop is... or was... the head of one of branches of military R&D department, but not the usual ones... he was involved with Blacklight branch."

"Never heard of it."

"And you never will. The stuff they were doing in there, according to the rumours, is nightmarish. No one truly knows what exactly they did there. It could be weapons of mass destruction, or sick experiments designed to create super soldiers, or advanced interrogation and torture techniques... no one truly knows. But if it is true... then that means that Vaults were designed with a far more nefarious purpose."

"Wait. Wasn't Vault-Tec a private company?"

"Until a certain moment, it was. But somewhere along the line, Vault-Tec and various governmental programs became so intertwined that, for all intents and purposes, Vault-Tec became government property."

Sunset felt even sicker than when she had learned about the true purpose of Vault 49.

It's... astounding. I can freely believe in an out-of-control corporation with a corrupt CEO going off its rails and doing sick experiments... but if Vault-Tec was co-opted by the government, then the latter was supposed to shut it down! But they didn't! Didn't they know about this?

Or they did know? another voice appeared in her mind, reminding her of her own demonic form. What if they knew and allowed it to go on?

What if it was the government who was behind this?

And just what was Vault 75 designed for, then?

"Sunset? You OK?" Flash's voice derailed her line of thoughts, for which she was only grateful.

"I'm... fine. Just surprised. Come on, we must go further..."

"Hulks on your left!"

"I see them!"

BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dat!

"One down!"

"Take cover!"

Boom! Boom!

"Headshot!"

"Nice one, girl!"

"Thanks!"

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dat! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dat!

"More ogres incoming!"

"Throwing a frag!"

BOOM!

"Ha-ha, tore his leg clean off!

BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! BZ-DAT! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dat!

"Targets down!"

"Clear!"

"Not for a long time," Bon Bon breathed out.

This was the third firefight the rescue team of Brotherhood of Steel had gotten themselves into.

First it was a pack of feral ghouls that had occupied a former hospital. They rushed the group when the team was passing by, but, fortunately, they proved to be no match for superior protection and firepower.

However, the ruckus attracted the attention of local super mutants, who proved to be a greater threat than mindless zombies. Their weapons could actually make Brotherhood Paladins scatter for cover, so Bon Bon performed the role of a marksman along with two other Paladins who were armed with laser rifles.

Fortunately, super mutants generally lacked any viable tactics, which allowed the rescue team to outsmart them reliably. Two packs of greenskins (considering the one they had destroyed only several seconds ago) have already fallen to their superior training, and Paladins were optimistic in general; only Focus Glass was not as cheerful, trying to raise Flash Sentry on the radio but failing to establish contact.

"Still no success?" Bon Bon addressed him.

"No. Our radios are not as strong, but I still should've been able to raise Senior Paladin Sentry now. Something's not right here."

"Can you trace his last known location somehow?"

"That's where we are actually going," Focus Glass showed on his own Pip-Boy where they were supposed to go.

"Wait... I know that place. It's an entrance to Hoofington underground stations. If they went in there, the signal of T-72d's integrated radio will not be strong enough."

"Tartarus damn it. We can search for them forever in there!"

"Actually, we might not need to. If they would try to go to Brotherhood bunker..."

"That they would."

"...then the only tunnel they can use is this one," Bon Bon showed the location on the Pip-Boy map with her finger.

"So we need to go there?"

"Actually, I thought that we should go to another exit of this tunnel instead."

"How come?"

"The tunnels in these areas should not be dangerous - I have camped in there for some time before these White Knives caught me. But the other end of the tunnel is overrun by super mutants who lure others into their trap. If they travel there unprepared, they'll be in great trouble. We must meet them halfway."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"I suggest that we take the truck to this location," Bon Bon showed the needed place, "and descend into the tunnel via staff entrance. Perfect opportunity to strike super mutants in the back. That way we can catch up to Sentry and Shimmer instead of tiring ourselves out."

"I agree. Boys, get back to the truck, we need to give the greenskins a good old backstab!"

The cheers of other Paladins made Bon Bon's hair rise on the neck.

"OK, partner," Applejack spoke with her usual country girl drawl and without formalities, "what did ya want to talk about? Spill."

Both Paladin guards, along with Star Paladin Rampart, bristled visibly at her lack of courtesy, but Elder Aegis didn't even move an eyebrow.

"Miss Applejack," he began, "while we haven't been on best terms lately, I do not wish for our... antagonism to continue. I have laready told your... emissaries, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, that the Brotherhood of Steel will withdraw their claim on your water chip, since, according to technical documentation, it is vastly different from those that our bunker utilizes and is ultimately of little use to us. Moreover, given that the survival of Appletown apparently depends on it, I am... not as inclined to deprive its inhabitants from the only means of survival. However, you do not wish to give us the T-72d power armour suit that you have, even if it is of no use to you. Twilight and Sunset already passed me your words on that one, but I would like to hear you say them in person."

"Well, you'll hear the same thing Ah told Twilight and Sunset: Ah made a promise to Silicon Stone not to give his armour back, and Ah keep mah promises."

"Even if it might mean the death of Appletowners?" Rampart spoke up.

"If ya folks are willing to stoop that low, that'd mean Silicon Stone was mistaken and y'all are actually worse than he described," Applejack spat out.

Elder Aegis frowned.

"And how did he describe us?"

"Technology hoarders, self-centered egotists, arrogant hoity-toity snobs, murderers, traitors - those are the words he had used."

"Bit rich of him, since he is a traitor himself," one of the guards spoke up.

"Why did you believe him?" the Elder asked.

"You might have heard that Ah'm honest and bad at lying?" at the older man's nod, Applejack continued, "Well, partner, there's another side to it: Ah can spot fairly well when someone's lyin' to me. And when Silicon Stone told me that, Ah could plainly tell he wasn't lying."

"You claim that you are honest and a good lie spotter; but how are we supposed to trust your extra-sensory abilities?" Star Paladin Rampart spoke up again, derisive tones blatantly hearable in his voice.

"Well, you can try and tell me something, then Ah'll say whether you lie or not. It's not foolproof, of course, but works most of the time. So, you wanna try?"

"Fine, oh mighty truth-finder. I have a hidden laser pistol on me."

"That's true."

"How?" one of the guards spoke up. "You didn't see his back, did you?"

"No Ah didn't."

"OK. I patrol the Wastelands with my plasma rifle."

"Ah call horseshit."

"On which part?"

"The part where you said 'bout patrolling."

"She is correct," Elder Aegis spoke.

"Bah, she could have guessed that," Rampart snorted. "I won two hundred caps playing blackjack yestarday."

"It's true."

"Yep," one of the guards spoke up, "saw that personally. May I try? I wear boxers."

"You're lyin'."

"How?!" the Paladin sputtered.

"You didn't sound like you were tellin' the truth, fella. Your voice was strained a bit."

"Damn it."

"How about me?" Elder Aegis spoke up again. "I don't have a weapon magnetized to the underside of my table."

"True."

"And yet I have it here," the older man's hand appeared from under the table, holding a laser pistol.

"Then it was on your knees, most likely. 'Cause when you told me that part, I saw that you were not lying."

"OK. I see that you do appear to have an uncanny ability to weed out liars, Miss Applejack. And since Silicon Stone has never been a great liar, it's obvious now why you believed him over us," Elder Aegis put the laser pistol away and intertwined his fingers, resting his chin on them.

"There is one certain point that I would like to turn your attention to, however."

"Which is?" the country girl prompted him.

"I have always maintained the belief that each and every human has their own truth. There is no such thing as a "universal truth" - the closest thing that would come to it is something that an absolute majority of humanity would agree on, like our planet revolving around the sun, and not vice versa. Silicon Stone told you his own truth, but, naturally, his truth is not the truth of the whole Brotherhood, or even my own."

"Maybe you're right about every human havin' their own truth, but there's got to be decency at least instead of shooting people in the back!"

"What?" the Elder's voice gained a surprised yet harsh tone.

"Yep. He told me that a group of his Paladins and Knights encountered another Brotherhood patrol an' all was fine. They parted ways, and ten seconds later, lasers, plasma bolts and bullets cut into his squad! Someone ordered to outright assassinate him, like a goldurn bandit!"

"I never ordered an assassination of Silicon Stone," Elder Aegis spoke firmly, tones of anger held within.

Applejack studied his face, looking for any sign of deception. A talk with Silicon Stone crept up her mind...

*FLASHBACK*

"Why would they do this to ya, Silicon?" Applejack asked their newest Appletown inhabitant, shortly after his wounds were no longer life threatening.

"Hmpf," the man in his late twenties harrumphed, lying in his makeshift bed, "probably to ensure that no one else would have the same ideas as we did. If someone linked our disappearance to the disagreements we had with the higher-ups, they were supposed to figure it out that they would better keep silent."

"That's..." the farm girl had trouble finding an appropriate word in her outrage; even some of Granny Smith's sayings she had picked up seemed inappropriate for the wrongness of what she just heard, "that's just disgusting."

"Well, that's the Brotherhood of Steel for you. Everything to ensure that they are well-off themselves and fuck everyone else in the Wastelands," Silicon Stone spat.

"Who do ya think did it?"

"You mean "who shot us in the back" or "who ordered this"?"

"The latter."

"Interesting question. Wish I knew that myself, so as to know whom to strangle. But the power to officially declare me exiled and after that - to give the order to assassinate me can be exercised by very few: Elder Aegis, Star Paladin Rampart and Sky Scribe Scient. But Scient never involves herself in these affairs, so it had to be someone of those two..."

*END OF FLASHBACK*

I... don't think he is lying, Applejack realized, looking into Elder's grey eyes.

"Rampart..." she growled, then shifted her look to the Star Paladin, "...so it was you! You gave the assassination order!"

"What?" the guards sputtered, taken aback. Even Elder Aegis looked perplexed at first, but then turned to Rampart, his face set in stone and promising nothing good.

"Care to explain?" he spoke, and everyone felt as if the temperature fell by several dozens degrees.

"Silicon Stone, along with his followers, was a clear and present threat to the Brotherhood of Steel, Elder Aegis," the Star Paladin answered, his voice flat and bereft of any emotions. "I acted to remove the threat."

"Rampart, when I approved the order to exile him, he didn't even get back to the base yet! The rules of Brotherhood clearly state that the one who is to be exiled must be given a right to justify their actions, so as to receive the other side of the story! Did you forget the incident with Senior Paladin Diopt in Western Canterlot Wastelands? He and his cadre were accused of unjustified waste of valuable resources, but in reality, they actually gathered even more valuable resources needed for the bunker to fully function, including a nuclear rod! Silicon Stone should have gotten the chance to defend himself, and you broke the rules by denying him this chance!"

"Yeah, and what would have resulted from that? Did you forget already how he spoke about sharing the technology and giving it around to everyone, even those who can barely tell a trigger apart from a bolt? And how others agreed with him and followed him? If he spoke, this whole chapter would have been infected by his ideas, and our primary mission would have failed!"

"Whether our primary mission fails or not is up to me and Elder Council to decide, Star Paladin Rampart, and not you."

"It is when such failure may occur thanks to your actions, Elder. I warned you against accepting outsiders into our ranks, remember? They do not mesh in the Brotherhood as well as the original members. Silicon Stone is no more and yet that latest guy - Senior Paladin Flash Sentry, I think - already thinks in the same manner."

"I had explained before why I decided so, Rampart," casting a glance towards Applejack, Aegis looked at his subordinate again. "And Elder Council agreed with my reasoning, and so did Supreme Elder Iron Gear. if you have a problem with the decisions they have approved of, take it up with them. We will discuss more later. Kindly vacate the room."

"Yes, sir," Star Paladin Rampart spoke flatly, and left the Elder's office.

An uncomfortable silence reigned for several seconds before Applejack sputtered:

"What... in tarnation just happened?"

"Pony piss! Not again!" Sunset shouted in exasperation as a super mutant charged her and Flash.

"Rrrrrr-aaaaarrrrrrggh!" the hulkish figure roared, bringing down its heavy-looking piece of wood with nails stuck in it. Wisely deciding that the improvised weapon was potentially fatal, both humans jumped to the side.

Bz-dzoot!

Flash's laser pistol was louder than the usual one for some reason; however, as the super mutant fell, Sunset noted that the burn mark was bigger and nastier looking.

"Rip 'em to shreds!" they heard someone shouting, and a group of super mutants apeared from around the corner, guns blazing and armature in hands. Sunset and Flash jumped into cover, returning fire.

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat!

A stream of bullets hit the closest super mutant's face, but its abnormally sturdy head managed to withstand the onslaught. However, it halted in place, which allowed Flash to ignite it and turn it to ashes.

Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat! Bra-ta-ta-ta-ta-tat!

The return fire of super mutants forced him back into cover. Sunset managed to aim with her collimator sight and hit another monster to the head. This time, she was luckier - one of her bullets hit the hulk's right eye, making him roar.

"Oi! You!" another super mutant charged at them, armature in its hands. "No one hurts my fellas!"

The fiery-haired girl fired at it, but the tough skin along with some armour pieces did not let her topple the creature.

"Rr-argh!" with a growl, it swiped at her, forcing her to jump back and closer to the wall - and out of cover.

"Yaaargh!"

Sunset thought for a moment that another super mutant just appeared instead of Flash Sentry, but several laser pistol shots convinced her otherwise.

Red beams sliced through the greenskin's right arm, making it drop its armature. Seizing the opportunity, the ex-rocker grabbed it and clubbed the monster to the head, making it topple.

Seeing an opportunity, other super mutants unleashed a bulletstorm, but, lacking armour-piercing ammunition, they could not do much damage. Sunset fared worse, however - two bullets pierced her left shoulder and one got embedded in her torso, dangerously close to her lung. The girl screamed in pain and rushed back into cover, rummaging her pockets for the first aid kit.

Meanwhile, Flash jumped onto a super mutant's head. Its skull could not withstand the pressure and cracked.

"Ew," the blue-haired man commented, "mutant brains."

Hiding in cover near Sunset and taking shots at super mutants again, he asked her:

"How seriously are you wounded?"

"No arterial bleeding, thank the stars," the fiery-haired girl replied, bandaging her wounds, "but having bullets stuck within is not fun."

"You need help?"

"Deal with the mutants first."

After firing several times, Flash managed to take down one mutant. However, there were still three of them remaining, and while Sunset was out of fight, the odds did not work in their favour.

I need a gamebreaker, he thought.

Taking out a grenade of unfamiliar design and threw it into the crowd of enemies. When it exploded, it threw green flames around, dealing horrific damage to the enemies. His pistol's shots were barely hearable over the screams of pain, which reverberated through the tunnel.

Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot! Bz-dzoot!

Silence reigned.

"We're clear... for now."

"OK then, can you help me with the wound on my torso?" Sunset spoke, injecting her left shoulder with a Med-X and throwing the empty syringe away...

"Here it is," Bon Bon spoke, looking into the optic sight of her rifle. "The entrance."

"And super mutants," Focus Glass added, using his binoculars.

Indeed, several hulking monsters could be seen patrolling the area around the entrance to the underground station. Something resembling a fortress was built around it, but whoever did it, the ex-DOI agent did not think it to be a very well-defensible position.

Also, the fortress seemed to be undermanned.

Or is it undermutanted? she thought, then shook the non-existing word out of her head. All in all, she counted only half a dozen super mutants within, which seemed... strange. When she had scouted the location the last time, she counted a full dozen. And this pack was not inclined to leave that area understaffed (this word certainly sounds better), which either meant someone having inflicted casualties on them before (which was improbable - White Knives stayed the Tartarus away from this place, Brotherhood of Steel did not usually venture here, and no one else could even try and battle such a force), or...

"Damn it," she swore, "I think they have gone into the tunnel."

"So there will be more of them inside?" Focus Glass spoke again.

"Yes. I had hoped that in the worst case we would be able to draw the bulk of their force away from Paladin Sentry and Shimmer, but it appears they have managed to cause some big ruckus in there - or simply were unlucky enough to go to these tunnels when majority of these super mutants decided to stay underground for some reason."

"So what do you recommend?"

Bon Bon kept silence; instead, she lined up a shot to one of the green heads and fired.

Bo-bang!

"Never mind," the Paladin aimed at the same super mutant with his laser rifle...

"Buck my flanks, both of them," Sunset cussed again. Flash Sentry could no longer find it within himself to scold her.

Their situation was quite dire.

If stumbling into a pack of super mutants living underground that cut off your only means of escape can be called "dire", the ex-rocker thought. They had just eliminated another group of green monsters, and their ammunition reserves were almost exhausted.

They did not escape unscratched either. Sunset received three more wounds, which, while not life-threatening or too heavy, took a toll on her body, adding to the combat weariness she was feeling already. Even with RegenStim, she could hardly compensate for the stress.

Flash's power armour was hit repeatedly, as he valiantly tried to protect her, and several lucky shots hit him in places between outer armour plates. Naturally, they were more vulnerable.

The medical systems in his suit attended to his wounds, but he found it unlikely that a lucky bullet would not disable the system soon. And he definitely did not want to think about what would happen if his microfusion power pack ran out. It was not supposed to, but the energy drain had increased, taking more power than usually needed; the counter already showed 29% remaining, while normally it was supposed to be 45.

Methinks it's more than dire.

"Is that one of the swears from... your birthplace?" he asked.

"Yes. Considered quite rude. Although compared to some human swear words and phrases, it's actually tame."

"I remember looking surprised at you when you shouted "ponyfeathers" once. You told me that this swearing was your own invention."

"I'm afraid I lied about that part."

"Oi! You! Humans!" they heard a gruff voice shouting at them from the side they were supposed to go to.

"What now?" Sunset moaned.

"You be good fighters! The Crusher like good fighters! But you fight us! We no like that!"

"Then let us through! We promise we won't shoot as long as no one shoots us first!" the fiery-haired girl shouted in the voice's direction. Flash looked at her with his eyes wide, mouthing, "Are you for real?" and receiving a glare which told him not to say a single word.

"We no let you through! You kill our buddies!"

"Well, we were defending ourselves!"

"You say that! All humans say that! They lie! You lie too!"

"Am not!"

"Bah! We no believe it! Go back!"

"I am afraid we can't go back now," Flash whispered.

"No kidding. If we go, we will inevitably stumble onto others. Besides, we may already be cut off if those others actually followed us. You still can't raise your team?"

"Radio signal's still too weak, but we are close to the surface. If only we can get where a signal would pass through..."

"Yeah... only that I have almost no strength... wait... I have a Buffout dose!"

"You sure you wanna mess with that?"

"It's not like I have much of a choice... dying is certainly not a choice."

"No it isn't," Flash took out his laser rifle. "Curses, I have only one cell left."

"We had managed to pick a few spares," Sunset gave him two microfusion cells she had picked earlier. "These are full."

"Much appreciated. Now, are you taking Buffout?"

"I am, it appears," the fiery-haired girl spoke, looking at a small bottle she had in her hands. Opening the cap, she shook two tablets out of it, and took them in her mouth. The instructions said to chew them, so she did as necessary (noting that the tablets tasted quite bitterly) and swallowed them.

"Argh! We tired of wait! We go kill you!" they heard the same super mutant shout again.

"Here," the blue-haired man gave two grenades to Sunset, "when I say so, take out the rings and throw the grenades at those green monsters. As soon as they explode, we try to push forward. Stay behind me, you cannot take any more bullets."

"Uh-huh," the girl replied weakly. She was not certain if she could properly stand now...

...and suddenly, Buffout kicked in.

Sunset felt as if her body was revitalized in an instant. The tiredness in her muscles was flushed out, replaced with energy and... power. The wounds were still there, but they were pushed to the back, becoming an insignificant irritant to her otherwise great newfound strength.

I feel... I feel that I can take on them without weapons! I can take on the whole world!

"Throw!" Flash commanded.

Four metal apple-sized objects flew from behind cover, and almost immediately, the humans heard four BOOM sounds reverberated by closed space of tunnels, followed by cries of pain. Flash grabbed his laser rifle and jumped out, Sunset following him.

Five super mutants were still standing, but several laser bemas quickly dropped them. Two streams of bullets to the heads of other two ended their lives in an instant. The last one tried to charge the fiery-haired Equestrian, but a BZ-DAT! later, it fell onto its stomach, and Sunset hopped onto its back. Turning around, she turned its head into a gory mess of skin, skull fragments and brains with point-blank shots.

"Reloading!" she shouted, quickly moving on. Flash checked his microfusion power pack energy level...

...and did not like what he saw.

21 percent already? What kind of strain the system's under?!

Tapping onto his Pip-Boy, he brought up a mini-screen of system diagnostics.

Energy consumption:

Power exoskeleton - 70%.
Medical systems - 15%.
Heads-up display - 7%.
Targeting system - 5%.
Secondary systems - 3%.

Seventy percent? How come I...

...and then it hit him.

Power armour was designed to augment the strength of its user, both to allow a human to actually wear the bulky suit (with it being quite heavy, only very few would be able to wear such armour without the exoskeleton) and make him (or her) a more capable soldier on the battlefield, allowing usage of such heavy weaponry as miniguns or gatling lasers. The exoskeleton assisted in any movement a soldier made within the armour, while drawing power from the microfusion pack. A special program calculated how much "augmentation" each movement needed. The more "augmnetation" it took, the more power was needed.

If a person was becoming weaker, the suit would compensate by diverting additional energy to the exoskeleton... while there was still energy to give.

One of the drawbacks of T-72d power armour was an impossibility of manual adjustment of necessary augmentation levels with the intent to save power, which meant that the weaker Flash Sentry grew, the more assistance from the exoskeleton would be needed along with the energy.

I must be on verge of exhaustion, and the armour struggles to compensate. But soon, I'll run out of energy, and most likely I won't even be able to exit the suit. What a clusterfuck.

Trying to concentrate on the fight, he still took note of how much power the power pack still held. As they destroyed another pack of super mutants, he caught two unlucky shots, one of which apparently hit his...

Warning: power exoskeleton damage. Increasing power drain to compensate. Seek the repair station immediately.

The message on his HUD made him swear silently. Checking energy consumption again, he saw:

Power exoskeleton: 80%.

"Damn it!" he swore. "Sunset... we have a problem."

"What is it?" she asked, shooting at yet another group of super mutants that blocked their way.

"My power armour is almost depleted of energy, and I'm losing it fast - the exoskeleton's damaged."

"Well that's just fan-fucking-tastic! Oh, and I've run out of ammo," the pony-turned-human took out her laser pistol and tried to do some damage to the super mutants, but despite this weapon shooting lasers instead of bullets, the damage output was not that great.

"So have I," popping out the last microfusion cell, Flash took out his modded pistol, and tried to assist his ex-girlfriend - not that he made that big of a difference.

"Well damn. Is this the part where we say "It's been a pleasure to know you" or does it come later?"

Suddenly, laser beams and bullets tore into the ranks of super mutants from behind. Not expecting an attack from that direction, the monsters fell pretty quickly.

Sunset and Flash stood, dumbfounded, as the Paladins of Brotherhood of Steel, along with a smug beige-skinned ex-DOI agent known as Bon Bon walked up to them.

"Anyone needs a free ride to the bunker?" Focus Glass asked humorously.

"Only if someone can carry my armour," Flash answered. "The power's almost depleted."

"Well two of us can do that."

"OK then. Someone let me out of this tin can."

One of the Paladins walked up to him and turned a wheel to the left several times. Almost immediately, the armour opened up, the section on the back rising, while leg sections opened to the sides.

The ex-rocker stepped out of the armour onto the solid ground.

Sunset almost lost her jaw at the sight as her ex-boyfriend turned to her.

"Enjoying the show?" he asked with a lopsided grin, as the Paladin closed the armour suit. "That's the wonder of pre-apocalypse technology."

"Wow," the fiery-haired girl could only utter that.

"Wow indeed. I..." suddenly, Flash lurched forward, barely keeping his balance. "...oooh, I think I'm exhausted..."

A Paladin barely managed to catch him in time.

"Just for how long was he awake?" Bon Bon inquired.

"Er, before our operation, he was doing some important stuff, so it's... twenty-two hours, I think," Focus Glass replied.

"It's a wonder his power pack's not depleted yet," the beige-skinned girl shook her head.

"Yeah," the fiery-haired girl spoke up, "I..."

Before she could properly speak, however, the dose of Buffout she had taken earlier ran its course, depriving her of extra strength. And without it, there was not much she could do.

As her eyes rolled up and exhaustion finally took its hold on her, Sunset Shimmer fainted.

"They still haven't returned?"

"Not yet."

"What's taking them so long? Our plan cannot go on until they return!"

"Are you certain we need to wait? They plan to go to Trottingham, and the conditions for fulfilling the order will be perfect at that point."

"I'm afraid that Applejack will come with them."

"Won't it be an added bonus?"

"I am not certain of that."

"Anyway, is there a word on Foul Shot's group? Did anyone survive?"

"No. Most were killed by Applejack and her friends, I think. But the last two... were killed by someone else."

"By whom exactly?"

"You don't want to know..."

Earlier, 12 minutes after a failed attempt at Twilight's and Sunset's lives...

"Boy, were we lucky," one of survivors told his partner. "I'm telling ya, we're the luckiest sons of bitches in the Wastelands!"

"I wouldn't say that. The boss won't be pleased that we failed the task."

"Hey, he knows that unpredictable things can foil up the mission, and that car showing up definitely counts."

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right. Now come on, we need to get back to the base. I hope that we do get another shot at this, though."

"Maybe it's better we didn't?"

"Oh come on! You're scared of that Daring Duo?" the first one spoke mockingly. "We've been shooting such goody two-shoes like nobody's business for months. And..."

"And what?" the second one turned around to look at his comrade, who was several steps behind him and for some reason became silent.

The reason became very apparent in an instant: one can't talk with half a head missing.

As the second mercenary comprehended what just happened, a bullet entered his right shoulder - straight to the joint, making him howl in pain and drop his weapon. Turning around, he tried to run, only to cry again as another bullet went through his kneecap and sent him tumbling on the ground.

As he desperately tried to crawl away from the unknown assailant, he saw a shadow looming in front of him and then he felt a jolt of pain, as someone delivered a good kick to his side.

He felt someone turning him over. Involuntarily, he looked up.

He immediately wished he didn't.

A human was standing above him, sniper rifle of what he guessed to be a custom design hanging on his back, and a pistol with an integrated silencer in his hand.

Wait... his?

Quickly looking over the mysterious stranger, he realized that their body proportions were not like ones of a human male; plus, males did not wear armour designed like that...

And then he realized that this person was a woman.

Completely losing it, he emptied his bladder in fright.

"NO! PLEASE... PLEASE!!!" he begged for his life, but to no effect.

Phut. Phut.

Two bullets to his head quickly ended his begging abilities, along with his life.

The woman stood rigid, sensing something wrong, and sniffed the air, trying to identify the smell that just assaulted her senses.

As soon as she realized that she was smelling urine, she snorted in contempt. Taking a small sheet of paper, she tucked it securely on the mercenary's corpse, before tapping her wrist and disappearing from sight.

Anyone who would look at that sheet of paper would clearly see a stylized image of a black eight-legged spider.

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle):

I Hate Hospitals! Your natural healing rate receives a permanent +5% bonus.

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer):

You Do Not Hurt My Friends! Whenever your friend's HP falls below 50% and/or their limb is crippled, you gain +10% Damage bonus and +25% Critical Damage bonus.

Author's Note

Phoo-ey.

My life is chaos. Discord would approve.

OK, I'm exaggerating, but still - getting this chapter written was difficult. It's either job, or my friends inviting me to play something online, or me wanting to proceed through Legacy of the Void campaign.

I still can't get to watching all episodes of Season 5. Can you believe it that I watched "Tanks for the Memories", "Make New Friends But Keep Discord", "Slice of Life", "Amending Fences" and "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" and nothing else?

My brain: Of course they can, you idiot.

Me: Shut up or I'll subject you to "Cupcakes"!

My brain: Nooo! Not "Cupcakes"!

Me: Then stop calling me an idiot.

Ahem... the craziness of me talking with my own brain aside, I hope I can deliver Chapter 16 within next 10-20 days. There's one snag, however - an idea for a one-shot story is settled within my brain, and he refuses to delete it. (Maybe "Cupcakes" will help? Although... nah, maybe another time.)

So maybe, maybe, the next chapter of this story will be delayed if I decide to free my creative zone and write this one-shot. Or maybe not. There is no hard schedule on me writing, so who knows.

Share your thoughts, comments and criticisms in the comments

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned!