Chapter 6

Rest and repercussions

Light.

Although Twilight Sparkle's eyes were closed, she could still sense solar rays assaulting her eyelids. She did not feel pain per se (not there, at least; her other body parts that had suffered in her life-or-death fight with Fast Grabber still felt sore), but the sensation was still not in "pleasant" category.

But why is it bright in here? Am I not in the cave? There is not that much light in caves...

Finally coming to a conclusion that there was not enough information to go on by, Twilight opened her eyes - and closed them again, trying to accustom herself to the brightness of her surroundings.

Ugh, my eyelids feel like lead.

Once she felt it safe to give another try, she opened her eyes again, more slowly this time. She did not need to shield them again, fortunately.

The first thing she saw was wood. Wooden ceiling, to be exact.

That's when Twilight's vestibular apparatus finally managed to inform her that she was lying on her back, looking upwards.

And her nerve endings indicated that she was not lying on the hard surface of Fast Grabber's HQ/house, but on something soft, and that something else was lying under her head.

The brain made a titanic effort and finally came to a conclusion that Twilight Sparkle was lying in a bed.

The girl tried to move - and nerves flared with painful sensations in places where she was hit.

"Urghhh..." she moaned.

"Huh? Oh, Twilight, you are awake!"

Before Twilight was able to recognize the voice, hair of familiar red and yellow colouring fully obscured her vision, and she felt something resembling a hug (resembling, because hugging someone who is lying on a bed never works properly).

"Sunset?.." she tried to say, but her dry throat prevented the sounds from forming properly.

"Yes, that's me, and Spike's here, too," familiar barking sounds proved the statement to be correct, "and we were worried. We heard shooting, shouting, then all went quiet, and we couldn't do anything..."

Sunset finally stopped kinda-hugging Twilight, allowing the latter to see her properly. Sunset was not wearing her armour or helmet anymore, back in her Vault 75 jumpsuit, and no weapons were present on her person.

"Where..?" Twilight tried to say, but was unable to formulate the sounds properly.

"Oh, I forgot. Let me get you some water," the fiery-haired girl disappeared from her vision field, and returned with a glass full of water. "It's warm a bit, but it should do fine in making your throat feel better."

"Thanks," Twilight croaked, rising a bit and taking the glass with her right hand. The water was warm indeed, but it felt like a revitalizing nectar to her. She downed the whole glass in several big gulps and then tried to ask again:

"Where... are we?" This time, she felt no problem speaking.

"Back in the Vault Village," Sunset replied. "All of the raiders are dead. We won the battle, Twilight," she smiled, although her smile was a tired one.

"But... how did I get here?"

"Well..."

*FLASHBACK*

"Ugh..." Sunset groaned, "I can't get out from under here! Spike, go help Twilight, don't worry about me!"

"I want to, Sunset, I really do," Spike replied, quietly, "but I can't just leave you here helpless, too. Blast, I'm torn! I don't know what I should do!" his voice became more frantic. "Oh, I hope she'll be fine..."

No sooner had he said that than sounds of gun fire could be heard in a distance.

"Go!" Sunset insisted. "The last raider is busy with Twilight, he won't be thinking about me! Go, Spike!"

Spike turned into the direction where Twilight went, his mind in panic, when suddenly...

"Sunset," he quickly whispered to her, "someone's behind us!"

"Hey, lady!" both of them heard an unfamiliar male voice. "Need some help?"

"No, I'm enjoying lying buried under wooden blocks here," Sunset replied with sarcasm plainly hearable in her voice. "Of course I need help, you dolt!"

"Well let us just get there and..." the fiery-haired girl heard sounds that indicated someone trying to fit into the holes in the blockade caused by explosion, and then saw a man in an unfamiliar type of armour crawling his way out.

"And who are you?" she asked, trying to train her combat shotgun on the new arrival (but only with one hand, it proved nearly impossible and the attempt looked almost comical).

"Name's Torso Shield (yeah, sounds stupid, I know), me and my buddies are known as Rapid Rangers," he said, helping another similarly dressed man out of the rubble. "We heard on CWN that your village needs help, and tried to get here ASAP. Turned out we were too slow," he grumbled, tones of regret present in his voice, "you villagers already turned the tables on these raider bastards. One guy, Point Blank, I think, told us that two girls had gone to this cave to take out remaining raiders. Our medic remained behind, we hurried here."

Turned out that there were four Rangers, Torso Shield included. Three of them tried to push the rubble upward, and the wooden blocks gave way a little. The last raider quickly dragged Sunset out.

"Phew... thanks", the girl said, picking her shotgun and standing up.

"You're welcome," Torso said.

"Damn, girl, you are of stronger stuff than you look," one of the Rangers complimented, "those woods looked heavy."

"A little bit of luck, and you can beat worse odds," Sunset replied, but whatever else she wanted to say was drowned by an echo of gun fire.

"The second one went ahead?" Torso Shield asked.

"Yep," the unicorn-turned-human said. "My friend, her name's Twilight."

"Let's get there!" the leader of the Rangers barked, and everyone took forward.

While they were running, the shooting sounds stopped.

Sunset paled.

This is either very good, or very, VERY bad.

"Double time!" Torso ordered.

The group found a house situated in the cave's dead end, and stormed inside.

Immediately, a ceiling turret turned to them, but Rangers' assault rifles quickly finished it before it managed to shoot anyone.

"Watch it," one of the Rangers said, "there could be booby traps."

Fortunately, they encountered none of them. Proceeding further into a house, they encountered what Sunset believed to be the living room - and stopped.

The place looked horrid.

Scorch marks from explosions were present near a concrete wall that was the entrance to Fast Grabber's lair. The shells from 5.56mm and 10mm ammo were spraed haphazardly on the floor. Blood stains were also present there.

On the left, they saw Fast Grabber sitting slumped near the wall, blood trail leaving a stripe near the locker. The hole in his head, along with torn throat and indecent amount of blood covering him left no reason to doubt his death.

In the middle of the room lay Twilight Sparkle, an assault rifle of unfamiliar design beside her.

Unmoving.

"Twilight!" Sunset and Spike screamed. Sunset's scream was much louder, however, and Spike's voice was practically indiscernible.

One of the Rangers knelt down near Twilight's body and pressed two fingers against the carotid artery.

"She's got a pulse," he said several moments later.

"And her chest's moving," another Ranger added. "She's breathing. Must be tired out."

"Grab her and let's get back to the village!" Torso Shield ordered. The Ranger who checked Twilight's pulse scooped up the girl's body, and the whole group made their way to the exit...

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"...so we've got you here. You've been unconscious for nearly a day, Twilight. The Ranger doc patched you up a little and recommended that you rest and do not move around much," Sunset finished.

"Rapid Rangers, huh?" Twilight said.

"Yeah. A group of several people who act as mercenaries but have their own morals. They only go after raiders and slavers..."

"There are slavers here?!" the violet-skinned girl interrupted, aghast.

"Twilight, Canterlot Wastelands are full of various kinds of vices and bad people who are no longer kept in check. You shouldn't be too surprised."

"This world just keeps getting worse and worse..." the Princess of Friendship muttered, then said: "So now we need to pay them something? Bottle caps?"

"No, not really. They did not kill a single raider, after all. Turns out they do not have a base of operations, and Vault Village would serve as one perfectly. And we have taken quite a number of casualties, so the number of experienced defenders is now quite low. So in exchange for a place to live and access to fresh water, Rapid Rangers will help in the village's defense. There are nine of them overall, and they are quite experienced at fighting beasts and bad people. Which will let us leave the village once you are ready."

"Leave?"

"Yes. Swift Sentinel had told me that if we manage to help with securing this area, he'll let us go. Well, with Rangers here and all of the raiders dead, the area is pretty well secure."

Twilight kept silence. After all the training and chaos that had taken place, she forgot that they planned to leave the village and try and find Sunset's magic book.

The Wastelands are quite big. And we know only a small part of it. Can we actually accomplish what we had planned?

"Before that, though, we'll need to loot the raiders' cave," Sunset's voice snapped her out of her musings.

"Loot?"

"Yes. Rangers haven't touched anything yet, and Swift Sentinel is not risking anyone of the guards now. And militiamen don't want to even hear of going out there. So we can get everything we want out of there. I took your weapons with myself when we carried you out of there, and nothing else."

"Won't someone need what's left of raiders?"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers," Sunset replied without a care. "That's how it works. Of course, if there's something the village really needs, we'll share it, but I think we are fully entitled to what we want."

Twilight Sparkle's face fell. The words her friend has just said were not illogical per se, but they implied that her now-reformed friend cared little for the village. She asked if it truly was the case.

"To be honest, Twilight, it's at least partially true," was the answer. "Since I only arrived in Trottingham shortly before the Day of Burning, I was... not really accepted there by natives, despite my best attempts. It did not help that police kept tabs on me and visited me regularly - this became a standard practice when someone settled in another town during war time, since the government started suffering from spymania - which automatically made me sort-of-suspicious. And in Vault 75, while I was never told that in my face, I felt resentment coming from them for "taking the place which rightfully belonged to a Trottingham citizen", the girl made air quotation marks, "in spite of the fact that Vault-Tec gave places in Vaults based on who paid the needed sum, not on who lived where. So I've never been close to anyone in Vault 75, and I didn't have a single friend there and by extension here."

"That's awful!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Those who thought that are dorks, plain and simple," Spike grumbled.

"Spike! Language!" the lavender-skinned girl admonished him. Sunset hid her smile behind her hands.

"Yes, mother," the Number 1 Assistant muttered under his breath, so as not to be heard.

"So you befriended no one?" Twilight returned to the topic.

"No. When it turned out I had some skill in firing a gun and could defend myself and others, I gained some respect. And of course, when it came to survival, everybody worked together, no matter the feelings. But I always remained a lone timberwolf. That's partially why I was really hurt by your "she-demon" comment - don't apologize, one time was enough - and that's why I'm not... empathic to villagers. But I do care about my friends," Sunset finished with a smile. "That's why I want us to get the best loot."

Her now-apparently-only-equine-friend did not smile, however.

I had no idea that other people could be that... unfriendly. Sunset didn't even do anything to them.

Yeah, right, another voice sounded in her head. You forgot the Anon-a-Miss incident, apparently. Was anyone really friendly to Sunset during that time?

But there was at least a logical explanation behind those attitudes. But this? Sunset hasn't done anything to them!

Zecora hadn't done anything to residents of Ponyville either. And yet even you thought she was an evil enchantress for a while. Sunset could have looked more like those in Trottingham, but she was still an outsider, just like Zecora. Face it, Twilight Sparkle, these two worlds are not THAT fundamentally different.

But we haven't destroyed our world with weapons of mass destruction!

Yet. That's because no one has invented them at this moment. But what if someone discovers the science behind the atomic bombs? Or creates a destructive spell of equal power? Can you guarantee that someone will not turn this knowledge into an instrument of evil?

I cannot, Twilight realized.

"OK," she said, "so what happens now?"

"Now? You get your well-deserved rest. I'll tell the medic of the Rangers that you woke up," Sunset replied, turning to leave the room. "I'll have to go, unfortunately, but you may get visitors later."

"Alright," Twilight allowed a smile to appear on her face, "take care! And please bring me a book. Or two. Or three. Actually, bring as many as possible."

Sunset Shimmer laughed hard.

"Same old Twilight Sparkle," she said. "Some things never change! I'll do it, unless the doctor prohibits that."

And she left the room.

Twilight leaned back into pillows, feeling tiredness take over her once again.

Approximately three minutes later, the door opened and in came an unfamiliar man wearing a bloodstained white coat with red cross on the left sleeve over a set of armour. Twilight recognized the labcoat as the one which had belonged to Redblood previously.

Seeing another person wearing it felt... wrong.

"Greetings, Twilight," the new doctor said, "my name is Silver Needle. Your friend Sunset has already told you about Rapid Rangers, right? I'm their medic. Let me take a look at you."

Silver Needle spent several minutes examining Twilight, particularly her bruises. Having finished, he concluded:

"Well, as far as I can tell, you are quite well, aside from the bruising. I have noticed a bullet wound scar, but I have been told that it was old and that you had already received an injection of RegenStim, so no worries about tearing something there. I recommend that you rest until tomorrow, and use this ice pack," he handed her the item in question, "and then you may go."

"Thank you," the lavender-skinned girl said somewhat dejectedly and held the pack against her worst bruise.

"Something bothering you?" the doctor said.

"It's just, this coat, it belonged to Redblood..."

"The local medic? Ah, I see," the man nodded. "Want me to take it off?"

"Nah, it's just... well, I'll need to adapt to it."

What's wrong with you? A good person died, and you are moving on already? Adapting? someone snapped at Twilight in her own head.

Death comes for us all, someone else objected. And here death is rather common. Adapting means greater chances of survival.

"From what I have been told, he was a really good person," Silver Needle's face fell. "I'm sorry we were unable to arrive sooner. As soon as we heard on CWN that Vault Village needed assistance, we took off. But when we arrived, we only saw carnage at two entrances, corpses here and there, blood and gore, and a fellow named Point Blank telling me that two girls went after the remaining raiders..."

"Point Blank?" Twilight's face lit up a bit. "He's alive?"

"Amazingly, yes. He got off worse than you, and will need a lot more rest, but he will live. He can't move, though. I forbade him to move around so he would not tear his stitches. Alas, the medical stitches of good enough quality are rare now."

"How many are dead?" the girl asked the dreadful question. I must know.

"I don't know, truth be told," came the answer. "I only saw those wounded and in need of immediate medical attention. Two men perished when I was trying to operate - I was too late to save them," the doctor's face fell. He was obviously saddened by this fact. "In fact, there were... not too many wounded. Several villagers, two guards and one raider. I saved those of locals who could."

"And the raider?"

"I shot him."

"WHAT?!"

"I know, that sounds bad. But he was already fatally wounded, nothing within my abilities could have saved him. Besides, we Rangers aren't really... keen on saving these worthless scumbags. Killing him was a mercy, actually."

Twilight's eyes remained wide.

"I was told you are an amnesiac, that right? So you can't remember what it was like here on the surface. Trust me, these people have long ago lost all right to be called "humans". They are degenerated, rabid beasts, no better than a radscorpion. And rabid animals are put down. There's no other cure," with these words, the combat medic left.

Twilight lay on her left side, thinking. The callousness of the words spoken to her was shocking, but in a twisted, warped way, it actually made sense.

She remembered what hororrs she had seen in the cave.

She twitched, and had to suppress a gag reflex.

Then she remembered Fast Grabber. How he insulted and hit her, just because he believed himself superior. How he tried to kill her.

Well I'm certainly not sorry that he's dead.

She closed her eyes, and allowed the dreamscape take hold of her mind.

The next day...

There seems to be a lot less people here now, Twilight Sparkle thought.

When she was released from the "hospital", she was approached by Swift Sentinel, who had bandages around his left shoulder, right hip and stomach. He was profoundly thankful that she had risked her life in order to eliminate the last raiders.

When she asked how many people died, his face fell and he said:

"Seven on your defensive line, four guys who came to help you and seventeen on mine. And two more died on operating table. Thirty in total. Could have been worse. From what Point Blank had told me, your line had to deal with the main force of the assault."

"That was main force?" Twilight's eyes bulged out.

"Yes. We had to deal with twenty raiders, and you with thirty. Although your enemies were not as well equipped. Fast Grabber sent those who wielded the heaviest weapons against my line. Apparently, he hoped to weaken us and strike us into the back once he crushed your line. The rest of our forces would have been easy pickings then."

"But his plan failed?"

"Yes, although it was a miracle. Aside from you two, no one came out unscratched. You are an incredibly lucky young woman, along with Sunset Shimmer. When the Rangers brought you back and told that Fast Grabber was already dead when they got there, I thought they were kidding. How did you manage it?"

Twilight told him how she sneaked into another entrance and found the raiders' leader with the help of her IFF screen, set a trap for him with two mines and flushed him out with a fake grenade throw, then battled with him until she shot him with his own rifle before losing consciousness.

"Good gravy girl," Swift relpied, his mouth almost hanging open, "that's one clever way to take the bastard down."

"I kinda hoped that the mines would kill him," the girl confessed.

"Torso Shield believed so, too. You were somewhat unlucky enough - the raiders are not good with weapons maintenance. He told me that those mines were in a really shitty (pardon my language) condition. But even if you only crippled his legs somewhat, you still made a very cunning trap. Mobility is a deciding factor on the battlefield - or one of them, at least."

"I wanted to ask you something," Twilight decided to change the topic.

"Spill it."

"Sunset had mentioned to me earlier that you did not want to let her go with me. And that you wanted the area around Vault Village secured first. You never believed that we would actually achieve this goal, did you?" the tone of Twilight's voice became somewhat harsher.

"On your own? No. I was not certain you would do this even if assisted by someone. The guards are under my command, and militiamen did not really want to risk attacking the raiders in their nest."

"And you did not want to lose a fighter, right?"

"Right. I know that sounds very bad, but I had to think of all the villagers, not just you. Remember how you did not want to kill? Many of ours do not even want to risk themselves getting killed, relying on us instead. Problem is, there were not so many of security guards to do so, that's why I ordered to organize a militia. Vault-Tec instructions said weapons were not to be given to civilians, but... well, I find it unlikely someone will sue me for breech of contract now," the leader of Vault Village waved his hand around, showing the post-apocalyptic scenery. "If too many people with fighting skills were allowed to leave, then it could spell doom on us all. That's why I wanted to keep her around and made that demand. Now, of course, with raiders dead and Rangers staying here, going back on my word would not be honourable."

"Sunset also mentioned that people tended to treat her... coldly," Twilight said.

"Ah..." Swift Sentinel scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Yes, I remember that."

"Why?"

"Didn't she tell you?"

"She said that she had arrived at Trottingham and people did not like her for being not one of their own, plus mentioned that police checked up on her and that didn't help."

"Well... you still don't remember the war time, do you? I'll try to explain. You see, the government was overrun by spymania back then. Not without reason - several state secrets were leaked to TODC, including some advanced weapon and armour designs, and that had quite a bad effect on the war effort. People were hysterical - casualties went through the roof. So the higher-ups decided to take a hard stance against spies, introducing stricter measures aimed at finding spies or those who sympathised with TODC. One of them was restricting travel regulations and internal migration. If someone immigrated into another town, the police would check them up regularly, to see if someone was a spy. The enforcement varied between places. Shimmer was unlucky enough to choose a place where said enforcement was strong enough. You see, before the Day of Burning, Trottingham was one of the economical hubs of UFE, and TODC spies tried their best to siphon the money for their own war effort out of there."

"The police checked their own citizens?"

"Of course. TODC spies always tried to pretend being UFE citizens. And therefore police checked up on your friend. The people, who were also susceptible to spymania, thought her not worthy of trust, as a result."

"She also believes that behind her back, people resented her for taking someone's place in Vault 75."

"That, of course, doesn't sound rational, but... well, humans all too often tend to act irrational. Look where it got us - a land destroyed by atomic bombs. Anyway, Vault-Tec gave places in Vaults only to those who paid the money. Shimmer had paid, and she got her place, plain and simple; I had checked her admittance papers myself. And the places are not infinite. Each Vault can house only a thousand occupants, administration and security included. If you exclude those, there are around nine hundred places left, depending on how many of those work in a specific Vault. I believe that your friend, unfortunately, had the misfortune to share the Vault with those who believed that she took away a place that rightfully belonged to their friend, or relative, or significant other - simply because she paid for her place before them. Before you ask - no, I couldn't have stopped it, because she herself never approached me. I would have done my best to curtail that kind of talk otherwise. Instead, I simply believed her to be something of a loner, who doesn't need friends," Swift Sentinel finished apologetically.

"She did need friends - she does need friends," Twilight said.

"Well, she has you now. You two are quite close, like best friends forever of sorts."

"Believe me or not, we were enemies once," the lavender-skinned girl smirked.

"Well, we have a saying: "From fight to friendship, there's only one step". I had experienced something similar, too," the guard smiled. "Sorry, Twilight, but I've got stuff to do."

"No problem."

The guard went on his way. On an impulse, Twilight decided to listen to Canterlot Wastelands News.

"...a bad, bad idea. Heed my words, Wasteland wanderers: never leave your current place of residence without a radiation detector on your person, be it a Pip-Boy or something else! You can literally walk into ground zero of a past nuclear detonation without it. Of course, I'd like to believe no one would be that stupid, as we all know that those places are in city centers, and there's nothing to do there, but who knows? People always manage to surprise me. And now for something more optimistic. Remember my previous message about Vault Village? Well, I've been told that Rapid Rangers got there... and found no raiders to kill! Why, you ask? Simple - the raiders had already attacked this town, but the defenders managed to give them a good kick in their teeth - although not without casualties. But guess what? Two young ladies followed the retreating raider cowards, infiltrated their cave and slaughtered the remaining raiders! It was not as epic as you'd believe, but still - two ladies against six mean raiders in the enemy territory? That's nothing to sneeze at. I say, this duo has some nerve to dare to do so! So give an applause for Daring Duo! Heh, sounds similar to Daring Do, right? And now..."

"Ugh," the girl spoke, "definitely like those Power Ponies books. This is ridiculous."

"So... we venture there again," Sunset Shimmer remarked. She and Twilight were standing in front of the entrance to the former raiders' base again.

Swift Sentinel, out of curiousity, decided to join them.

"I've always wanted to see how they lived in there," he said.

"Trust me, some things are better left unseen," Twilight replied.

"Since there are no raiders left, I think it's safe to use our Pip-Boys as flashlights," Sunset told everyone, as they entered the cave.

Click.

"Mine's on," Swift replied.

"OK, I don't think we'll need more. Later we'll come across the lamps raiders had set up, then we won't need them."

Several minutes later, they arrived at their intended destination.

"Ewww..." the head of security drawled upon seeing the brutal displays raiders had set up.

"I still don't get it. What's the point of this... butchery?" Twilight asked no one in particular.

"I would say intimidation, but I don't see the point... unless Fast Grabber wnated to assert his authority in this way," Swift Sentinel took a guess.

"Killing his own? Hmm... I can actually imagine him doing that," the fiery-haired girl remarked. "Shall we proceed to his house? I think the best loot is there."

"Why not?" came the answer.

"Swift?"

"No objections from me."

The trio proceeded further until the cave came to a dead end, where Fast Grabber's house/HQ was.

"Twilight, did you find another entrance to this house when you got here?" Sunset asked her compatriot.

"Yes, there's a back door on the other side. Why you're asking?"

"It's just when me and Rangers got through the front door, we had to destroy a turret."

"Fast Grabber had a fucking turret?! Oops, sorry," Swift Sentinel apologized for his language.

"No problem. I had the same reaction myself. Lucky us, that guy did not know how to properly install it, and we destroyed it before it even fired."

"I take it that having a turret is unusual?" Twilight inquired, as the whole group proceeded to enter the house.

"You would need to raid a military base to find an automated turret, and then have enough people to actually haul it there. And you also need to know how to program it. I may believe that the raiders were lucky enough to get themselves a turret, but I highly doubt someone knew how to use it properly. I bet Fast Grabber actually used the back entrance when he activated the turret, so it would not kill him," the guard explained.

Finally, the trio arrived at the scene of the battle of Twilight vs. Fast Grabber. Scorch marks and blod trails were still visible there.

The lavender-skinned participant of said battle who actually survived immediately noticed one certain thing:

"Where did the body go?"

"The Rangers took all the bodies out yesterday," Swift Sentinel explained. "Is that his office?" he pointed his finger in the direction of the hole in concrete wall near which Twilight had placed the mines previously.

"I suppose so. He was hiding there when I flushed him out," the Princess replied.

"I'll go there and check if there are any other traps. You two wait here."

None of the girls had any objections, and the guard entered the office.

"Hey, Twilight," Sunset drew her friend's attention to the bullet-shredded coat that she was holding now, "what's with this coat?"

"Oh, I used that to check whether Fast Grabber was ready to shoot anyone who enters. I threw it and he unleashed a stream of bullets, tearing it."

"Oh, I already imagine what Rarity would have said. "It was such a beautiful coat! What kind of monster would do this?!"

"Better not tell her that I had sacrificed this coat, then," Twilight snickered.

"Yeah, better not," Sunset joined the fun at their absent fashionista friend's expense.

"It's safe! Come in!" they heard the voice of Swift Sentinel.

Both girls went inside the office.

"So how do we share all this?" Twilight Sparkle asked thirty-or-so minutes later.

Having searched through the surprisingly sparse office, the looting party went to search through the rest of the house. Whatever they found useful and could carry was now thrown into a heap near the door that led back to the cave. They had also found Twilight's SMG and pistol that Rangers hadn't taken when they carried the unconscious girl out. When she took them back, something resembling contentment flowed through her. Disturbed by this, she decided not to mention that.

There were weapons, some pieces of raider armour and what passed for helmets, boxes with ammo, food, alcoholic substances and some drugs. In a separate pile, there were bottle caps.

Another pile had junk items thrown into it. When Twilight questioned the need to bring them, Sunset explained that some junk was still useful and one could get extra bottle caps for it.

Raiders, it appeared, favoured hunting rifles a lot. The trio has found ten of them.

"Hunting rifles are pretty easy to find, since this weapon was allowed for selling to civilians, which makes spare parts more available," Swift Sentinel explained. "Also, they are quite reliable and durable. If one knows their way with this gun, they can kill better-armed persons than themselves."

They have stripped six rifles for spare parts, fixing three of the four remaining and taking one for themselves. Sunset claimed one rifle for herself and Twilight - "to sell to the Rangers," as she explained. Swift did not object.

Each of the girls also took forty-one .32 ammo for themselves, leaving the rest (one hundred and two) for the guards and militiamen.

There were nine 10mm pistols in the heap. None of the girls wanted an extra, since all of them were in worse condition than theirs, so the guard took all of them for militia. They shared the ammo this way: seventy-two for Twilight (two SMG clips and one pistol clip), twenty-four for Sunset (two pistol clips) and remaining one hundred and twenty-nine went to Swift Sentinel.

They also found one sub-machine gun, but it was so shoddy that it was not even good enough to strip for spare parts. Twilight still decided to take it, in case they could sell it.

Four R91 assault rifles were divided like this: two for the girls, and two for Vault Village. Each girl got two fully-loaded spare 24-round clips, and Swift got seven. As for the ammo, girls got one hundred 5.56mm ammo each, and the rest (two hundred and seventy) went into the favour of village defenders.

The medicine went almost exclusively to the guard. Twilight and Sunset only got two syringes of RegenStim and one dose of Med-X each. The latter was visibly displeased with this.

"Medicine is what's going to cost us most of our caps," she explained.

The food was shared equally; as for the alcohol, Twilight didn't really want it, but Sunset convinced her to take several whiskey bottles, as alcohol could bring a nice income.

As for the gun that Fast Grabber had used, Swift said this:

"This is AP-79 assault rifle, the weapon used by TODC soldiers during the war. A very durable and reliable weapon, coveted almost by every soldier. Packs a better punch than R91, too."

"Why don't you take it, then?" Sunset offered.

"Good as it is, there's no other rifle like it in vicinity, so we can't repair it. I take it Fast Grabber used it to solidify his status. And if we can't fix it properly, there's no use in it. Personally, I'd leave it here - we're almost overloaded already."

However, Twilight spared another glance toward the weapon. She couldn't help but feel some... pull.

One word uttered by Swift Sentinel stuck in her mind.

Coveted.

She realized that she actually wanted to take this assault rifle.

You have bested and defeated his previous owner. And no one else wants it. Now it's rightfully yours, a voice spoke in her mind.

The girl made a few steps, bent forward and took the weapon.

"You sure you want it, Sparkle?" the guard tilted his head.

"Yep."

"Suit yourself. Now let's share the load of this junk we've got to haul back..."

"Ugh. Am I glad to get rid of all this now," Sunset Shimmer groaned.

The trio made their way back to Vault Village with their loot. Swift Sentinel went to distribute his share with the defenders, and both girls went to the Rangers' merchant.

Both girls had to barter with him for almost ten minutes before they settled on a final price for junk items. At first, the guy wanted to pay them seventy caps for both of their shares.

Sunset told him flat out into his face that this price was pure robbery, and went on to tell him how many caps other merchants actually gave for the items. He stated that he was not other merchants.

He and Sunset bickered until Twilight lost her patience and told him that had the Rangers arrived faster, there would have been less dead people; as for now, the villagers needed any extra cap. Trying to fool them was dishonourable and not worthy of a Ranger, according to her.

The merchant begrudgingly agreed, but stated that his own caps were not unlimited.

In the end, they agreed on a price of sixty-seven caps to each of the girls for junk items. They also sold raider "armour" and "helmets" for ninety-eight caps in total.

That meant each girl got herself 116 caps.

Twilight had fifty extra caps (given by Point Blank previously), and Sunset had sixty-four. Also, each of them got fifty-five caps from the cave.

In total, Twilight had 221 cap right now, and Sunset had 235.

That was a small fortune. However, they had to spend their currency now.

The AP-79 rifle that Twilight took was in a bad condition. The merchant agreed to repair it - for 110 caps.

The violet-haired girl felt a bit stingy, but Sunset told her:

"If there's something you can't be stingy about, it's weapons, armour and medicine."

So Twilight agreed. Instead, she traded the R91 rifle she got from the cave, getting 79 caps for it.

She had 189 caps now.

The girls decided to pool their finances together (424 caps in total) and see what they needed.

At this moment, Twilight had:

1 pistol;
1 SMG;
91 10mm ammo;
1 hunting rifle;
43 .32 ammo;
1 TODC assault rifle;
148 5.56mm ammo;
1 Vault 75 security guard's armour (damaged);
1 Vault 75 security guard's helmet (no faceplate);
2 RegenStims;
1 Med-X;
4 bottles of whiskey;
3 days worth of food.

Sunset had:

1 pistol;
40 10mm ammo;
1 hunting rifle;
47 .32 ammo;
1 R91 assault rifle;
148 5.56mm ammo;
1 knife;
1 Vault 75 security guard's armour;
1 Vault 75 security guard's helmet;
2 RegenStims;
1 Med-X;
4 bottles of whiskey;
3 days worth of food.

The girls decided to sell all but one bottle of whiskey, bringing their capital up to 494 caps. Twilight also decided to get rid of her damaged armour, earning extra 43 caps.

"Five hundred thirty-seven? That's a fortune right there," the mechant grumbled. "Now are you going to buy anything?"

In the end, the shopping list looked like this:

42 10mm ammo (42 caps);
20 .32 ammo (20 caps);
84 5.56mm ammo (84 caps);
4 RegenStims (88 caps);
2 Med-X syringes (56 caps);
14 days worth of food (42 caps).

After that, girls still had 205 caps to spend.

Twilight wanted to buy a suit of combat armour in good condition, but the price of 450 caps was a definite turn-off. The merchant said, however:

"Well, I know a way to make you two a nice armoured jumpsuit each, and they would be more effective in firefights than those vests Vault security uses."

"And what kind of armour would that be?" Susnet inquired.

"Better than that riot-control armour you are wearing, girl. Titan-ceramic alloy with kinetic energy dissipating layer. Kinda the same that we Rangers wear."

"And how much would that cost us?"

"Each jumpsuit would cost 125 caps to make, so for both, it's 250."

"And this set of vest and helmet?" Sunset pointed to the object in question.

"I'll give ya 90 caps for them."

The girl agreed, and once they paid the merchant to have two sets of armoured jumpsuits ready for them on the next day, they left the "store" with 45 caps.

"What about water?" Twilight asked Sunset.

"I have twelve bottles stashed in my fridge. I'll get a little more that should last us ten days at least. Is there anything you want to do for now?"

"Visit Point Blank, maybe?"

"OK, let's see if Silver Needle will allow us that..."

The rest of the day was spent mingling around the Vault Village, doing basically nothing. The Rangers were patrolling the outskirts now, preventing wild beasts from threatening the village.

True to her word, Sunset brought ten more bottles of water. If they used it sparingly, there would be enough for two weeks.

Silver Needle also gave them a gift - two first aid kits which had bangages, plasters, tourniquets, disinfectants, 10 tablets of Rad-X and four bags of RadAway, four RegenStims and two Med-X doses.

Point Blank also gave away his shotgun, with 27 shells he had for it.

The girls did not want to take it, but he insisted.

"The wounds will keep me in the bed for quite a time. You'll make better use of it. You two've already done a damn fine job in keeping the village safe, better than the whole security contingent."

They thanked him wholeheartedly, and he replied:

"Ugh, don't go all mushy on me, or I'll start crying. Women, always infecting with tears."

Everyone shared a laugh at his rude but yet strangely welcome remark. At least Point Blank remained the same person.

When the night arrived, both girls went to bed. Sunset fell asleep almost immediately, while Twilight was contemplating what they could expect in the future.

She already knew that raiders and mutated beasts (and, apparently, slavers) were enemies. But what else could they expect? She did not put too much trust in merchants' tales, preferring to adopt "I'll believe it when I see it" policy.

But if the tales were true, then there were more enemies, a lot scarier than raiders.

We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it, she decided, and tried to get as good sleep as she could.

This is probably my last sleep in a somewhat-comfy bed I'll have in a while...

"You ready?"

Twilight has re-checked her equipment for umpteenth time.

"Ready!" she answered Sunset's question.

Both girls were now in their armoured jumpsuits, delivered as promised by the Rangers' merchant. Their weapons were locked and loaded, the gear was in their rucksacks (Spike was safely tucked into Twilight's), the load distributed comfortably.

They turned back to some of the villagers who came to see them off.

"Surely wish you could stay here, but... a promise is a promise," Swift Sentinel said.

"Thank you for keeping it," Sunset smiled.

"Wouldn't be a decent person otherwise."

"Are you going to become heroines now?" the small girl, Point Blank's daughter, asked them.

"Big heroines," it was Twilight's turn to smile at the girl's enthusiasm.

"Yippee!"

"You two be careful out there. And best of luck," Torso Shield told them.

"Wash your hands before eating!" Silver Needle quipped, and everyone laughed.

"Sure will! Goodbye, everyone!"

"Goodbye!" Twilight added.

"Bye! Goodbye! Take care!" a chorus of voices sounded.

Twilight, Sunset, and Spike turned away from the villagers, and went on away from the Vault Village, to find their missing friends, and a way to get the Princess of Friendship back into her world.

They did not know what the future had in store for them, but they were confident that their friendship could best any challenge they would meet on the way...

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle):

Field Medic: The medicines you use on yourself or your allies gain a +5% effectiveness bonus.

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer):

Watery Woman: You can spend one day without drinking any water without suffering any penalties from thirst.

Canterlot Wastelands Survival Guide Entry

Armoured Vault jumpsuit

It is not uncommon for anyone who comes from the Vault to wish for a good protection against the dangers of Canterlot Wastelands. In case Vault security armour is unavailable or proves insufficient, wandering merchants or persons who have some sort of armour-crafting experience may remake a Vault jumpsuit into a set of personal armour.

While this solution is not as effective as a full suit of military-grade combat armour, in the hands of a good craftsman this jumpsuit may become a great investment for a novice Wasteland wanderer. Depending on the materials available and the craftman's skill, this armour may range from kevlar-ceramic vests sewn into a jumpsuit to pieces of combat armour slapped onto it.

The armoured jumpsuits made by Rapid Rangers are Vault jumpsuits with added military grade titan-ceramic alloy vests and shoulder pads along with groin protection and kinetic energy dissipating layers underneath. While this kind of suit is not really effective in cases where the enemy may try to cripple the limbs, this armour is relatively light and quite comfortable to wear. Moreover, military-grade vest works very well against non-AP bullets.

Armour stats:

DR: 17 (if 100% CND)
WG: 10 kg
VAL: 125 caps (if 100% CND)

Effects:
+1 Agility
+5 Small Guns

Author's Note

I know I had promised a longer wait, but the feedback I have recently received was so great that I was invigorated to get another chapter sooner

I also couldn't stop making "squee" sounds. Still can't. SQUEE!

Thank you very much!

On a more somber note, I've been told several times that I have a tendency to miss the's. For someone who had studied English for, like, 15 years, this is quite embarrassing. If this chapter turns out to be no better in this regard, I'll need to consider getting an editor. And find out how this stuff actually works on this site.

Twilight, Sunset and Spike have finally left the Vault Village and now venture into the Wastelands! What kind of surprises await them? I have no idea!

...

Just kidding, LOL.

The next chapter is likely to appear in 5-10 days. Stay tuned!