Fallout Girls

by Universal Librarian

Rating: mature
Tags: Drama, Gore, Adventure, Equestria Girls, Sex, Science Fiction, Fallout, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity, Violence, Crossover
Length: 367708

A magical malfunction sees the Equestria Girls transported across worlds and dumped in one of the most unforgiving of places... the Capital Wasteland.

Following the events of Forgotten Friendship, Sunset Shimmer and her friends work together to construct a machine that will allow them to detect and locate Equestrian magic in their world.

Upon activating the machine something goes terribly wrong and the girls are sucked into a new portal, one that catapults the girls into a dangerous new world.

Sunset and her friends must work together to survive and, eventually, find a way home.

A crossover series between Equestria Girls and the wacky world of Fallout. More mature content in the later chapters. (you have been warned!).

Kindly edited by the legendary Night Quill!

Cover art provided by Rad!

Beware of spoilers in the comments section!

I did have a character sheet to help readers keep track of the sheer number of them in this fic, but I had a little issue with Google Docs and I'm having to recreate it from scratch. Fun times. Watch this space!

Now has a TvTropes page!

Published 2018-03-30 20:50:06 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-03 18:59:32 UTC

Chapter 2 - The Other Side

Sunset Shimmer was flung backwards through the air, landing hard on a metal floor. Dazed, she looked up just in time for Rarity to land on top of her with a thump. Glancing up through a mess of purple hair, she saw a great cloud of dark energy floating above some sort of generator that was smoking profusely.

As Sunset watched, Fluttershy and Applejack came hurtling through the cloud and landed in a heap on top of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who were already in a tangled mess themselves. Once they were through, the dark mass started writhing madly until, with a rumble that shook the room, it disappeared, leaving only ruined machinery behind.

“What in the heck was that?” Applejack asked, wincing as she tried to climb off Pinkie.

“I have… no idea,” Sunset huffed. All she could see, apart from the smoking machine, was that they seemed to be in a dark room with dirty metal walls. “Is everyone okay?”

Rarity mumbled something inaudible, then lifted her face from Sunset’s chest. “I think so?”

“I will be when Flutters shifts her elbow from my ribs,” Rainbow moaned.

“Oh! I-I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy spluttered.

“Uh… girls?” Twilight called tremulously.

Rarity clambered off Sunset and helped her to her feet. Looking around, Sunset saw what had Twilight’s attention.

Four men were standing in front of the girls, all with looks of utter shock on their faces. Two of the men were wearing simple blue jumpsuits, one with brown skin and the other with skin almost as pale as Rarity’s. The third was wearing a lab coat and had light peach skin tones; probably a scientist. All three had iron-grey hair. The last, with black hair, darker peach skin and wearing some sort of riot gear, was standing protectively in front of the others. He was clutching a metal baton and looking like he wasn’t sure whether to attack or not.

“Er… hi?” Sunset ventured.

The brown-skinned man was the first to recover. “What in the world? What the hell is going on here!?”

The pale-skinned man in the jumpsuit moaned fearfully, taking several steps back. “They must be some kind of mutants from outside! I mean, Jesus, look at their skin! And their hair!”

“Mutants?” Twilight asked quizzically.

Sunset glanced around at the others, puzzled. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with them aside from a bit of dirt and some scrapes.

“And what exactly is wrong with our hair and skin?” Rarity asked testily.

“Easy now, Rarity,” Applejack said quietly.

Sunset was worried. Seven girls randomly appearing out of nowhere had understandably unnerved the men, and things could easily turn ugly if something wasn’t done to defuse the situation. Sunset slowly raised her hands, trying to show she wasn’t a threat. “I think there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. We didn’t mean to come here, we were involved in an accident and-”

She made to step forward, then flinched and stopped in her tracks as the man in the riot gear pointed his baton at her. “Don’t you come any closer! I’m warning you!”

Sunset obligingly stepped back. “Please. We don’t mean any harm.”

The brown-skinned man in the jumpsuit snorted loudly. “No harm indeed! Where the hell did you… things come from?”

“I think we all need to calm down here before anyone gets hurt,” The scientist said suddenly. He turned to the brown-skinned man. “These people don’t look dangerous, Overseer. Surely we can give them a chance to explain themselves?”

There was silence as the Overseer folded his arms, glaring at the girls. “Very well, James. You... girls... have one chance to explain yourselves. But be warned, if you do anything that seems even remotely like a threat I’ll have Officer Gomez put you all down in an instant.”

“I’d love to see you t-mmphh!” Rainbow’s challenge was cut off as Applejack clamped a hand over her mouth.

Sunset considered their options. She was confident that her friends could handle these men with their magic easily enough, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She had a sneaking suspicion that the vortex had dumped them in another world and wasn’t entirely sure their magic would work here, or if magic even existed here at all. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Sunset decided it would be best to just tell the truth, or, at least, some of it. “My name is Sunset Shimmer. Me and my friends were working on some experimental equipment when something went wrong.”

The men listened carefully. The scientist, James, seemed particularly intent on every word Sunset said.

“I don’t know exactly what caused it, but a mass of energy like the one you just saw sucked us in and somehow transported us here,” Sunset continued.

“Never seen a backup generator do anything like that before,” the pale-skinned man cowering at the back muttered.

“Quiet, Stanley!” the Overseer snapped, before turning back to the girls. “You expect me to believe that you seven were working on some sort of highly advanced technology that just happened to go wrong and randomly teleport you straight into our Vault?”

“It’s the truth,” Twilight said earnestly. “We picked up some strange electrical readings coming from somewhere we couldn’t figure out, but we didn’t have a chance to shut down the machinery before everything went wrong.”

The Overseer looked over his shoulder at the cowering man. “Stanley! When was the last time you checked this backup generator?”

Stanley flinched as if he had been struck. “Day before yesterday, sir. I make sure to check it twice a week as per regulations.”

“Did you find anything suspicious?” the Overseer asked.

Stanley shook his head. “Looked the same as always. A Radroach had chewed through one of the wires but I cleaned it up and replaced the wire just like it said in my report.”

The Overseer turned back to glare at Sunset. “Where exactly have you girls come from?”

“Canterlot High,” she replied quickly.

The Overseer raised an eyebrow. “Canterlot High?”

“That’s the school we were at when all of this happened,” Twilight supplied.

“A school?!” the Overseer spat incredulously. “You honestly expect me to believe that there is some decrepit school out there in the Wasteland with access to that kind of technology?!”

“I’ve heard of it,” James cut in quickly. “I think it’s a part of the Institute, up north in the Commonwealth.” He winked at the girls, putting a finger to his lips then whipping it away a heartbeat later as the Overseer turned to him.

“You’ve never mentioned this before,” he said suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

“You did ask me to avoid speaking of my time outside at all costs,” James replied evenly. “There were rumors circulating that they were a rogue element experimenting with dangerous teleportation technology. I never believed it might actually be real, though.”

Looking more perturbed than ever, the Overseer turned to the girls again. “Is this true?”

“Er…” Sunset hesitated. James subtly nodded his head. She had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed to be trying to help. “Yes sir, it is. We thought the safety features we had implemented were adequate but... apparently we were wrong.”

“Clearly,” the Overseer sneered.

Sunset lowered her hands. “Please, we don’t want to cause any more trouble. We just want to find a way home.”

“And what’s to say there aren’t going to be more of you turning up out of thin air and causing even more havoc?” the Overseer asked.

Sunset gestured to the still-smoking machinery behind her. “Frankly, the last I saw, the equipment on our end was in even worse shape than this.”

The Overseer mulled this over for a bit. “Alright, let’s say I believe you about this being an accident,” he gestured vaguely at the girls, “it still doesn’t explain your grotesque mutations.”

Rarity squawked indignantly. “Grotesque!?”

“Easy, Rarity,” Applejack said again, though she was frowning at the Overseer herself.

Twilight looked around at the others in confusion. “What do you mean by mutations?”

Looking at the four men in front of her, it slowly dawned on Sunset what was wrong. It was just a hunch but, aside from the dark-skinned Overseer speaking at the front, the other three had varying shades of peachy-colored skin, whereas the skin tones of Sunset and her friends were all wildly different colors.

“Perhaps it’s a side effect of whatever energy is given off by the teleportation experiments?” James suggested quickly.

“Radiation levels?” the Overseer asked instantly, nervously checking a device on his forearm.

“Nothing I can detect from here,” James replied, frowning at a similar device on his own forearm. He stepped up to Sunset, ignoring a hissed warning from the man in riot gear. “May I?” he asked, holding out his arm.

Sunset simply nodded, staying perfectly still as James passed the device on his forearm over her body. Frowning, he turned to the Overseer. “It seems they aren’t giving off any radiation whatsoever.”

Stanley let loose a sigh. “Well that’s one less thing to worry about, I suppose.”

“Might I suggest we keep them quarantined for the time being,” James said as the Overseer glared at Stanley. “Let me run some tests to check for infections. If they are clean, then we can decide what to do with them from there.”

Sunset didn’t like the thought of that, but then she supposed it was a sensible plan under the circumstances.

The Overseer didn’t seem to like it either, but at last he relented. “Very well. stand down, Officer Gomez.”

Officer Gomez relaxed slightly. Sunset was glad to see him lower his baton, but she’d feel a lot more comfortable if he put it away entirely.

“I want these girls kept contained here on this level. Put them in storage room D for now,” the Overseer ordered.

“Storage room C might be better sir,” Stanley put in. “It’s got a toilet,” he added quickly as the Overseer rounded on him.

“Fine," the Overseer huffed. "Stanley, you will lock these girls in room C, and then I want you to stay down on this level until James has given these girls a complete inspection.”

James nodded in approval. “I’ll have Jonas handle the clinic while I run the tests I need. He can manage for a few days.”

“Good. I also want you to check for any genetic aberrations while you are at it," the Overseer instructed him. "Officer Gomez, I want you to make sure these girls do not leave the storage room until I say so. If they attempt to leave you are to treat them as hostile and deal with them accordingly.”

“Yes, Sir,” Gomez replied.

“I shall have Andy sent down to cover you for breaks, but I want you to stay on this level as well until we are sure that all is safe.” The Overseer looked back to the girls. “I want you all to follow along quickly and quietly. Should you try to run or do anything foolish you will be dealt with immediately, and severely.”

Sunset nodded stiffly at him, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something defiant.

The Overseer nodded to Stanley. “Now then. Stanley, lead the way.”

The girls followed Stanley as he led them out of the room. Officer Gomez, James and the Overseer brought up the rear, making sure the girls didn’t dawdle or try to run. Sunset shivered as they were marched through a series of dark and dismal rooms.

None of the girls dared to speak until Stanley stopped outside a heavy metal door. Twisting the handle, he hauled it open and stood aside, gesturing for the girls to enter. There were a few large metal crates stacked against the one wall and several smaller boxes scattered around haphazardly. A toilet could be seen through an open door in the corner.

Sunset turned as James and the Overseer entered the room after them. “How long will we be in here for?”

“Until I decide that it is safe to do otherwise with you,” the Overseer responded imperiously.

James stepped forward, pulling a little notepad and pencil out of his pocket. “I’d like to take down your names, if that‘s alright?” He nodded to Sunset. “You said your name was… Sunset Shimmer, correct?”

“Yes, and this is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie,” Sunset replied, indicating each of the girls in turn.

“Interesting names,” James muttered, smiling faintly.

The Overseer snorted and stepped over to the door. “You are to stay here in this room until I decide otherwise. James will be down periodically to perform whatever tests he deems necessary.” He looked them all over one last time. “So long as you behave yourselves, I shall have someone sent down with food for you at appropriate times.”

“Are any of you girls allergic to anything?” James asked.

The girls all shook their heads. The men both left the room and closed the door behind them. There was a loud clang as it was locked. Sunset slumped down on a box, rubbing her sore arms as the others all collapsed on boxes or the floor around her. “Well that could have gone better,” she muttered.

“Agreed,” Rarity snorted. “Grotesque indeed!”

“Can someone please explain to me what just happened?” Applejack asked, massaging her temples.

“Something must have gone wrong with the machine, it’s the only thing I can think of,” Sunset replied.

Twilight wiped a smudge off her glasses. “Yes, but what? The Diviner wasn’t picking up any magical signals whatsoever apart from our own.” She hung her head sadly. “I’m sorry, girls, this is all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Sugarcube,” Applejack said gently as Pinkie threw an arm around her.

“Of course it’s not. There was nothing any of us could do.” Sunset frowned, thinking hard. “It must be something to do with those electrical signals we picked up. Whatever they were they must have affected this place too, or we never would have been pulled here.”

Rainbow kicked at a box. “Speaking of here, just where the heck are we? And who were those jerks?” she growled.

“And why did they think we were mutants?” Twilight asked.

Sunset held out her arms. “It’s just a hunch, but apart from the Overseer the others all had similar skin colours. Maybe being different and brightly coloured isn’t exactly normal in this world?”

“This world?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow. “You think we’ve been brought to another world like Equestria?”

Sunset shrugged. “Not like Equestria, but that portal certainly dumped us somewhere.”

Twilight nodded. “That would make sense. The mirror was connected to the portal to Equestria. The interference we picked up could have been signals coming from this world.”

Sunset thought back to what had happened with the Diviner. “So when Princess Twilight switched off the machine on her end we lost the connection to Equestria, but the mirror picked up the connection to this world instead?”

“That seems likely," Twilight agreed. "James did say that there was a group here that was studying teleportation technology. We might have accidentally gotten caught up in one of their experiments.”

“That’s if he was telling the truth about those experiments, I get the feeling he was making that up," Sunset told her.

Rarity frowned, picking dirt out of her hair. “He did seem to be covering for us for some reason.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t like the that big mean Overseer,” Pinkie mumbled.

“James did seem much nicer than the others,” Fluttershy added quietly.

They girls fell silent for a moment. Sunset was desperately trying to think of a way out of their situation, but nothing came to mind. Breaking out of captivity with their magic was probably possible, but she figured that it wasn’t worth the risk. Their captors were only trying to protect themselves, and hadn’t actually hurt any of the girls yet. For the moment, it seemed the best idea was to wait and hope that they were allowed out soon.

While she was busy thinking, Applejack suddenly spoke up, “What do you suppose happened to Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna?”

Twilight leaned back with a sigh. “They didn’t come through the portal with us, so they’re probably trying to figure out what happened.”

“But what can they do?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset slumped, dejected. “Not much from their end, but hopefully Princess Twilight will work with them on a solution.”

“What if the portal to Equestria was damaged?” Rarity asked anxiously.

“Not likely,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “It looked like Princess Twilight managed to switch their portal off before anything too bad happened. Hopefully she can come through the portal to Canterlot High and help repair the Diviner.”

Sunset stood, placing her hands on her hips. “Either way we’d best behave ourselves here, at least until these people let us out and we can start looking for a way home ourselves.”

Applejack looked up, rubbing her neck nervously. “Do you think Principal Celestia will have told our families by now?”

The others looked at each other anxiously. Sunset realized she had it easier than the other girls. Most of the people who cared about her were stuck in that storage room with her.

“They’ll be so worried about us.” Fluttershy noted, her voice wavering.

“It‘s okay!” Pinkie shouted, jumping to her feet. “They may be worried, but I know they’ll never stop looking for a way to bring us back!”

Sunset grinned. “Pinkie’s right. They won’t give up, and neither should we.”

Rarity stood as well, striking a defiant pose. “Indeed. After all, we've been through worse and come out stronger than ever!”

Twilight climbed to her feet too. “That’s right! As long as we’re together we can get through anything!”

The girls started to chatter excitedly, then fell quiet as they heard voices outside the door. There was a loud clang as the door was unlocked and they watched nervously as it was hauled open. Officer Gomez stepped through the door, Sunset was relieved to see that he had at least put his baton away.

James followed Gomez into the room, looking around at the girls. “Are you all alright?”

Sunset ran a hand through her hair. “We’re okay, just a little overwhelmed by what’s happened.”

James smiled slightly. “Understandable. You gave us all quite a fright too to be honest.”

Sunset sank back onto the box. “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“Well, you haven’t caused any real harm yet,” Officer Gomez said bracingly, “I’m sorry I was a bit aggressive with you earlier. As long as you girls behave I’m sure we’ll have you out of here just as soon as the doc gives the all clear.”

“And I’d like to get started on that right away,” James said, holding up a small medical kit, “Would you mind waiting outside while I examine them, Herman?

“Alright, doc, if you insist. Just shout if you need anything.” Gomez left the room, closing the door gently behind him.

James set down his medical kit and checked the door before turning back to the girls. “I’m sorry about this, I fear it may be my fault that you’ve been brought here,” he said with a somber look.

The girls exchanged glances before looking back at James. “What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

James sighed heavily. “I’ve been doing experiments in secret down here with my assistant. One of the experiments I was working on was testing a device I discovered before I gained entry to the Vault. I haven’t really had a chance to test it until recently.”

“What sort of device?” Sunset asked.

“Honestly I’m not sure," James replied. "I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’ve been setting it up, testing it and putting it away without anyone noticing for a little while now, hoping I could use it to help with my research.”

“What does it do?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I thought at first it was some sort of energy converter, but when I switched it on today it started pouring out that dark cloud that you girls came out of.” James shook his head in confusion. “Tell me, what kind of technology were you working on?”

Sunset paused, not sure what to tell him. Seeing her hesitation, Twilight spoke up, “It was a machine designed to detect magic.”

“Magic?” James asked, looking even more confused. “What do you mean, magic?”

Twilight touched the Geode around her neck and extended her arm. A purple glow surrounded one of the boxes as she used her magic to lift it several feet into the air.

James stepped back, gazing at Twilight in shock. He quickly recovered himself, smiling and shaking his head again. “I see, some sort of technology that manipulates magnetic fields, I assume? Very impressive. I hardly see any reason to call it magic though.”

“Oh really?” Sunset asked coyly, grinning at the other girls.

Applejack chuckled as she hefted one of the heavy crates and held it above her head one handed, scraping it against the ceiling. James’ mouth dropped in amazement. Rarity held out her hands and a complex arrangement of gemstones materialized above them. There was a rainbow-colored blur as Rainbow Dash darted all the way around the room several times, finally stopping and leaning against the wall with a smug look on her face.

James stood slack-jawed in amazement. “Incredible,” he breathed, “Simply astonishing,” He looked in disbelief at Twilight, “I never believed magic existed.”

“Perhaps it doesn’t in this world,” Fluttershy put in quietly. “It didn’t in our world at first either.”

“Your world?” James raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yep. Our world used to be ordinary ‘til a connection got opened up to Equestria,” Applejack replied.

“Equestria?” James was looking more and more baffled by the second.

“It’s the world I’m originally from, it‘s where all of our magic comes from,” Sunset answered.

Twilight nodded. “Recently we’ve been having trouble in our world with magical artefacts and creatures that came to our world from Equestria. That’s why we built a machine that could detect magical anomalies before they become a problem.”

“It also allowed us to communicate with our friends in Equestria, which is what we were doing when everything went wrong and we were sucked through to here," Sunset said sadly.

James scratched his beard, looking thoughtful. “You say you were communicating with another world, Equestria, when you were brought here. Do you think that is what the tool I found was? Some sort of… magical transportation device?”

“I don’t think so, we didn’t detect any magical signatures other than our own.” Twilight replied, frowning. “Perhaps it’s some kind of dimensional technology that interfered with our portal when you switched it on?”

“Could we take a look at it?” Sunset asked.

James shook his head, his face grim. “I’m afraid not. It was completely destroyed when that dark cloud consumed it.”

Sunset’s heart fell at that. How were they going to get back home without it?

“I‘m glad you were quick on the uptake earlier, when I lied about the Commonwealth,” James said. “I was trying to protect you and buy some extra time. The Overseer will go to extreme lengths to protect the safety of the Vault.”

“Does this Commonwealth really exist?” Twilight asked hopefully

James nodded. “I think so, I’ve heard rumors about them over the years. Nothing about teleportation though. They were simply the only group I could think of that the Overseer won’t know much about, so he wouldn’t be too suspicious.”

“Do you think they could help us?” Pinkie asked.

“I doubt it, to be honest. Even if they could, getting there across the Wastes would be an almost impossible journey, even for girls with abilities such as yours. Incidentally I wouldn't let the Overseer or anyone else know about your powers, we don’t know how they may react.” James started digging around in his kit. “First of all, lets get these tests done. If everything comes back clean, I’ll see if I can convince the Overseer to let you stay in the Vault. At least until we can find you a way back home.”

“Thanks, James,” Sunset said gratefully. “What tests do you need to do?”

“For the moment, just a cursory examination for any rashes or lesions, nothing too severe or intrusive," James replied. "Plus a few blood samples from each of you, if that is alright?”

Sunset nodded with a sigh. “Whatever you need.” The other girls all agreed too, allowing James to quickly examine and take a sample from each of them. He worked quickly and efficiently, treating them all gently and quietly reassuring Fluttershy when she was intimidated by the needle. He was clearly a skilled doctor, and a kind man.

When James was finished he quickly turned to leave the room, but as he opened the door he turned back to the girls, smirking. “This is something I never thought I would find myself saying to anyone,” he muttered, half to himself.

“What is it?” Sunset asked, expecting a comment about magic.

James smiled grimly. “Welcome to Vault 101.”

Author's Note

Just a quick note, I described the skin colors of the various men in this chapter without referring to race as from an equestria girl (or pony) pov skin color is an individual thing not a race thing. Probably pointless to even mention that, just don't want to come across as unintentionally racist.

Chapter 3 - Out of Captivity

Several days passed without much change in the girls’ circumstances. They had been provided with blankets but there were no cleaning facilities, meaning they were stuck having to use the sink in the toilet and a dwindling supply of wet wipes from Rarity. The aspiring fashionista was having a particularly hard time, forced to stay in the same increasingly dirty clothes for days on end.

Three times a day James would make the trip down to see the girls, usually bearing food and drink for them. He used these opportunities to speak to the girls about where they were from, as well as for performing detailed examinations to make sure they were healthy. In return he told the girls everything they wanted to know about the world they were in.

During each of these visits James had been intensely curious about their magic, though each time he reiterated that they should keep it a secret for now. He explained that such things were entirely unheard of in this world and he believed the Overseer would attempt to purge what he would see as dangerous mutations.

After the most recent of these visits Sunset was curled up in a ball on the floor, rocking slowly back and forth. Her monthly cycle had started that morning. Rarity had come to the rescue with spare sanitary towels but, between the cramps and the lack of real hygiene, she was feeling utterly like crap.

“Ugh, I miss being a pony. I didn’t have to deal with this.”

“You’re telling me ponies don’t get periods?” Rainbow asked., “When can I move to Equestria?”

“Don’t be vulgar Rainbow Dash.” Rarity muttered, perched glumly on a crate in the corner.

“Equines don’t menstruate in the same way that humans do, they go into estrus instead.” Twilight elaborated.

Applejack looked up from where she was resting on a blanket. “Wait a minute, you’re telling me you go into heat?”

Sunset glared at the two of them then lowered her head onto her knees. “Used to.” she grumbled.

“It actually happens to a lot of the animals I speak to.” Fluttershy added.

“Are you saying Sunset’s an animal?” Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as she tried to stammer out a denial but Applejack cut over her.

“When she was in heat? Ah’d say so. Ah’ve seen a mare in heat ah know how they behave.”

“Can we drop this subject?” Sunset ground out through gritted teeth.

Rainbow grinned at her. “Aww come on Sunshim, tell us how you used to behave like a randy animal.”

“I didn’t behave like a randy animal!” Sunset snapped, “You just have around a week of feeling restless and thinking about boys all the time. It makes you need to pee all the time too.”

“Don’t forget the winking!” Applejack called, winking at Sunset who felt the heat rising in her face, a combination of embarrassment and fury.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Winking?”

“Clitoral winking. Mares do it to… show that… they’re…” Twilight trailed off, wilting under the scorching look Sunset gave her.

An awkward silence followed, all of the girls blushing to some extent. The sudden clang of the door being unlocked startled the lot of them. Assuming it was James coming down for his latest visit, Sunset was surprised to see Officer Gomez step through the door, followed by the Overseer with James trailing close behind.

The Overseer motioned for the girls to stand and waited for them to do so before he spoke. “Well girls, you will no doubt be pleased to know that James has discovered no evidence of infection or any other contagion during his tests.”

“Well that’s good news.” Applejack said.

“Hear hear.” Rarity agreed.

“Indeed it is good news,” the Overseer remarked, “I also hear that your behavior during your quarantine has been civilized and you have treated my personnel with respect. James tells me that you are not unintelligent and that you are willing to work to make up for the damage you caused upon your arrival here.” He paused, seemingly reluctant to continue. Finally he sighed. “In light of this I have decided to permit you to join the population of the Vault on a probationary basis, while you attempt to find a way to get yourselves back wherever you came from.”

The Overseer folded his arms as the girls all made noises of relief and excitement. “However. Before we take you upstairs to your new quarters there are certain things I would like to go over. James tells me he has already made you aware of the general situation regarding the sealing of our Vault.”

Sunset looked at James, then back at the Overseer. James had indeed told them about the Vault, about how it had been constructed centuries ago to protect the population from a fierce nuclear war raging outside that had destroyed all civilization. Some people had managed to survive outside and build little communities. James himself was originally an immigrant from the Wasteland, but the current Overseer believed a policy of total isolation was safest for the Vault.

Sunset considered what to say if they were to keep up their charade of actually being from the outside themselves. “He told us it was opened in the past but has been sealed for almost two decades now, to protect it from the outside.”

The Overseer nodded curtly. “Indeed. However, as far as anyone who was born after the doors were closed is aware, Vault 101 has never been opened before and never will be again. We encouraged this belief to prevent any more ill-advised expeditions into the Wasteland.”

“We are born in the vault, we live in the vault, and we die in the vault.” James intoned. “However, this poses us a somewhat unusual problem.”

“How to explain us to the rest of the vault population?” Twilight asked.

“Precisely.” the Overseer replied, “However I believe we have come up with a workable solution. We have told the other residents that you are from the old North block.”

Sunset waited for someone to elaborate. “North block?” she prompted.

“It was a fairly small section of the vault that has been sealed since long before I even arrived here almost twenty years ago.” James explained.

“It was mostly residential quarters, with a cafeteria and a spare generator,” Officer Gomez clarified. “The reactor section was prone to Radroach infestations and eventually one of them damaged the generator, causing that to start leaking radiation.”

Nodding again, the Overseer continued. “Seeing that this would be an ongoing drain on our resources the remaining residents of North block were moved to safer areas and the whole section was closed off. Security are sent in periodically to ensure the radroach population is kept to manageable levels and that the reactor hasn’t started leaking again.” The Overseer gestured vaguely around at the girls. “The story we have given to the other vault residents is that you girls are the last descendants of a group that refused to leave and have been living separate in North block ever since.”

“This also allows us to explain your… coloration… as a side-effect of unusual radiation from the malfunctioning reactor.” James added.

Applejack frowned and folded her arms. “Surely there will be some residents who know this isn’t true though. Won’t that cause problems?”

The Overseer shook his head. “I shouldn’t think so. There are a few senior members of the hierarchy who have been made aware of the true situation and those others who may be able to connect the dots can be trusted to keep quiet. All of the residents have been ordered not to ask you about life in North block, and you are hereby forbidden to speak of life outside the vault if you wish to remain here.”

Sunset picked up on the unspoken threat. “We understand, right girls?”

All of the girls quickly agreed, this seemed the quickest and easiest way to start working on a way home.

“Good. Since that is settled then, Stanley?”

Stanley came through the door at the Overseer’s summons, carrying a pile of neatly folded clothes which he set down on a box.

“This is the standard attire of all Vault 101 residents and is to be worn at all times.” The Overseer explained. “Your current clothes will be placed in storage for the time being.”

Sunset fingered her Geode worriedly. “What about our necklaces?”

The Overseer frowned, considering. “I suppose you may keep your little, decorations.” he said, his lip curling with distaste.

“Let us know once you are done changing.” James said as he and the others left the room.

Once the door was closed Sunset turned to the others. “Well girls, at least this is an improvement.”

Rarity grimaced. “Speak for yourself darling.” She held out the clothes she had picked up, a simple blue jumpsuit with yellow trim around the zip and a yellow ‘101’ on the back. They were just like ones the men were wearing.

“They ain’t so bad,” Applejack said cheerfully. “Kinda like work overalls.”

The girls each stripped down and put on their new jumpsuits, Rarity with audible reluctance. Once they were all dressed and had piled their old clothes neatly Sunset knocked on the door. The Overseer came in with Stanley close behind carrying a heavy looking box.

The Overseer frowned for a moment at Applejack's Stetson, but decided to let it slide. “Now that you are suitably dressed, you will be given these, which are also required to be worn at all times save for when you are sleeping.”

Stanley pulled several devices out of the box that matched those the men all wore on their forearms. “They’re called Pip-Boys,” He said, holding one up. “These are the old 3000a model, it’s an older model but very reliable.”

Sunset allowed Stanley to slip one onto her forearm, examining it as he went around the others. It looked like a very old computer system, with several knobs and a little screen. As she watched it switched itself on, going through what looked like several loading and diagnostic screens covered in glowing green script before finally settling on a stylized image of a smiling boy wearing a vault jumpsuit.

The Overseer pointed at the screen on his own Pip-Boy. “These contain a general overview of your health, a map of the vault and any work assignments you will be given. They can also be used for any notes you wish to remember as well as for picking up radio transmissions such as the Vault 101 PA system. Mr Brotch will give you a more comprehensive lesson on their use tomorrow.”

Sunset tried to smile at the Overseer. “Thanks, we really are grateful for the help you’re giving us.”

The Overseer’s expression didn’t soften in the slightest. “So long as you follow the rules and perform the tasks expected of you as Vault 101 residents, I have no problem allowing you remain here for the time being. You may use your free time to attempt to find a way back to your home, but remember that you are not to speak of it to any other than myself or, if he is not working himself, James.”

James frowned, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I will be busy catching up on the work I’ve missed so I won’t be able to help much sorry girls.” he apologized.

“It’s alright, you've helped us so much already.” Twilight said as the other girls all nodded in agreement.

He smiled warmly. “Well if that’s settled, shall we show them to their quarters Overseer?”

“Very well, follow me now, quietly if you please.”

The girls followed the Overseer and James out of the storage room and through what James had told them was the Reactor level, with Officer Gomez bringing up the rear. Stanley split off from the rest of the group and headed off to the room where the girls had originally arrived, wondering aloud how far along Andy was with a review of the damage.
Following the Overseer up a set of stairs the girls came to a cleaner, brighter series of corridors.

Sunset looked around as they walked, making a mental note of everything they passed. One thing struck her as odd. “Where is everyone?”

The Overseer called over his shoulder. “Aside from security all other residents have been asked to remain in their quarters until you are safely ensconced in yours. Please refrain from speaking any further until we are there.”

Sunset glowered at his back, but couldn’t suppress a smile as she saw James roll his eyes. Continuing on they passed by a cafeteria area and into another corridor, this one with several doors leading off. The Overseer led them straight to the end of the corridor, to the very last room. Another security officer was standing outside. He stood to attention as the Overseer approached, snapping a crisp salute.

“Everything clear in this section Overseer”

The Overseer smiled for the first time since the girls had seen him. “Thank you Chief Hannon, we can take over from here. I want you to check on the rest of your team and meet me back at my office with a full report once you are done.”

“Yes Overseer!” Chief Hannon snapped another salute and marched away, unable to help glancing at the girls as he walked past. He flinched as Pinkie waved enthusiastically at him.

James pressed a button next to the doorway and, instead of opening inwards, the door slid smoothly up into the ceiling. He and the Overseer stood aside to allow the girls into a living area with a couple of sofas and a dining table surrounded by chairs.

“These will be your quarters for the duration of your stay.” the Overseer said. He indicated a door in the corner. “Through there you will find your bedroom and cleaning facilities.”

“There are only two beds so I’m afraid you will have to make do.” James said apologetically.

“We’ll manage, thank you.” Sunset replied.

Pinkie Pie darted into the room, diving on one of the sofas. “It’s going to be just like a big slumber party!!”

The Overseer threw a glare at Pinkie then turned to the others. “I don’t want any of you to leave this room for the rest of the night. I shall send someone along tomorrow morning to give you a quick tour of the vault and introduce you to some of the residents. After that you will be handed over to Mr Brotch who will test your abilities and decide on suitable work placements. Depending on your behavior you will receive your first assignments the following day.”

The Overseer narrowed his eyes, giving each of the girls a hard look. “While I may be allowing you to join the population of the vault on a probationary basis, I want to make it clear that I will not tolerate any… ‘fraternizing’ with the other residents.”

Sunset felt her face warm as she realized what he was talking about. Twilight and Fluttershy both shifted uncomfortably, and Rarity muttered indignantly under her breath as she caught on too. Sunset opened her mouth to steer the conversation in another direction but Applejack cut in first.

“Frater- what now?” she asked.

James replied absently, not looked up from his notes. “What the Overseer means is that, for the time being, we would like you all to refrain from any sexual interaction with the other vault residents.”

There was a moment of shocked, awkward silence.

“Sorry I asked.” Applejack muttered, pulling her hat down low to hide her blush..

“Just what kind of girls do you take us for!?” Rarity spluttered angrily.

“Until James has finished analyzing your genetic makeup for any abnormalities I don’t want some multi-coloured trollop threatening the genetic stability of this vault.” the Overseer countered.

“That‘s… not the kind of party we‘re looking for right now.” Pinkie muttered awkwardly, tugging at the neck of her jumpsuit.

“Seriously. Not cool.” Rainbow added, trying to hide a blush of her own.

“You won‘t have to worry about that from us,” Twilight said, giggling nervously. “Besides I kind of already have someone back home… that I’m interested in… I mean not in that way.. I mean not not in that way but…”

Sunset spoke up as Twilight buried her face in her hands, blushing furiously. “I think that’s the last thing on any of our minds at the moment.”

“It had better stay that way,” the Overseer sniffed, “Now, I have other things I must attend to. I want you to stay in these rooms until someone comes to collect you in the morning. James, I leave them I your hands.”

“Thank you Overseer.” James said quietly.

Sunset let out a deep breath as the Overseer stalked away, helping herself to a chair. Something about that man made her nervous. The other girls settled themselves on the sofas, Rarity still muttering angrily, as James closed the door.

“I’m sorry about that girls, I could have put that a little more delicately.” he said gently.

“It’s alright. It was just a little… unexpected.” Sunset said, smiling awkwardly.

“You said it sugarcube.” Applejack added quietly, a pink tinge still on her cheeks.

“At least now we get an actual bed to sleep in.” Fluttershy said.

“And a chance for a wash at last.” Rarity sighed.

“Take your time tonight to get yourselves settled, just make sure you are up early in the morning,” James advised. “I doubt the Overseer will come to collect you himself but whoever is sent to collect you will probably expect you to be up and dressed at least.”

“What time should we expect them by?” Twilight asked.

“I’d say probably around 9 o’clock. Most of the vault residents will be up and at their work assignments by then. And don’t forget, keep your magic a secret.” James opened the door again. “Well, I shall leave you too it. There’s some sandwiches in your bedroom if you are hungry. My room is the next one on the left so if you need anything desperately in the night just let me know, just don’t let anyone catch you out of your room.”

“We will. Thanks James.” Sunset smiled.

“Goodnight then girls”

There was a chorus of goodnight's from the girls as he left, closing the door. Feeling famished, Sunset and the others rushed into the bedroom to find the food and a jug of water laid out on a tray on a dresser unit. Two large beds had been made up with several extra blankets folded on top of a chest of drawers. Curling up on the beds with sandwiches, the girls finally managed to relax somewhat.

“So, what do you think?.” Sunset asked the group, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

“Well I think that Overseer is an absolute brute!” Rarity replied tartly.

“He’s got a mean streak all right,” Applejack agreed, “Hopefully there’s some more decent folk like James here too.”

“Officer Gomez and Stanley seem like nice people too.” Fluttershy chimed in.

“James is a gentleman, though he does lack a certain amount of tact.” Rarity finished her sandwich and got to her feet. “Right now though, the only thing I care about is a soak.” She flicked her hair and sauntered off to the washroom.

Sunset leaned back on a pillow as the sound of running water filled the room. “We’ll find out what everyone else is like soon enough I guess, we are getting a guided tour of the place tomorrow.”

Pinkie suddenly shot bolt upright. “Do you think they’ll throw a party?!”

“Why would they throw a party?” Twilight asked.

“It could be a welcome-to-the-vault-for-our-new-friends-party!” Pinkie yelled, waving her arms madly.

“I doubt they will somehow, sorry Pinkie.” Sunset said.

“Awwww” Pinkie slumped back onto the bed.

Rainbow grabbed another sandwich. “I hope we get to see what the outside looks like.”

“You mean the Wastelands? What the heck for?” Applejack asked.

“Hello? Post-apocalyptic wastelands? It sounds totally awesome!” Rainbow cried.

“I bet they’re filled with all sorts of glowy mutants and creeeepy skeletons!” Pinkie added, perking right back up.

“I hope we don’t see them, they don’t sound very nice.” Fluttershy muttered.

Twilight tilted her head, thinking. “Well the vault is sealed, so I don’t think we’ll really be able to see that much. I’m more concerned about the test the Overseer said we’ll be having tomorrow afternoon.”

Sunset finished the last of her sandwiches and stood up, brushing crumbs off her lap. “First we‘d all best have a wash and get an early night. We want to make a good impression when we meet the other residents tomorrow.”

Applejack tilted her hat back. “You say you we should all get an early night tonight, right?”

“Yeah?”

“So why in the heck did we let Rarity use the washroom first?”

“I heard that!” Rarity called as the others fell about laughing.

Chapter 4 - Vault 101

Sunset Shimmer woke up early the next morning, Twilight sleeping peacefully beside her. Looking around groggily, she saw Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity were still asleep in the double bed. Taking care not to wake anyone, Sunset crept out of bed and made herself a drink. She wrinkled her nose at the laundry basket as she passed by, profoundly grateful that Pinkie had found fresh underwear in the drawers last night, and even more grateful that some of them actually fit. Poking her head into the living area, Sunset saw Applejack and Fluttershy still sleeping, each wrapped in blankets on a sofa. Shivering slightly, she decided she’d take a quick shower to warm herself up before getting dressed.

The shower unit in the washroom was quite nicely sized. Sunset assumed the quarters they were in were originally intended for a family to use. As she had scrubbed herself thoroughly the night before, Sunset didn’t bother this time around, just taking care of the essentials then relaxing and enjoying the hot water.

Getting out and drying herself off, Sunset idly wondered what she was going to do until someone else woke up. She decided it wasn’t worth trying to think of a way home yet, they needed more information first. She quite fancied doing a little artwork, but didn’t have any of the materials she needed. Deciding she would fiddle with her Pip-Boy for a while, Sunset opened the door, then leaped back with a yelp as she nearly collided with Rarity.

Rarity barely seemed to have noticed. Mumbling incoherently, she waved absently at Sunset as she passed and started running a shower. Sunset quickly left and closed the door before the half-asleep Rarity started stripping herself down. The noise seemed to have woken the others, who were shifting under the covers.

Twilight rolled over, groping for her glasses. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just Rarity doing her morning zombie thing.” Pinkie answered sleepily.

“Sorry to wake you girls.” Sunset apologized, rifling through the drawers.

Twilight yawned widely. “It’s fine, I was awake anyway, I just couldn’t be bothered to move.”

“Mornin’ y’all.” Applejack called as she strolled into the room.

“Good morning everyone.” Fluttershy said softly as she came in too, still wrapped in a blanket.

“Morning!” Pinkie mumbled, waving from under the covers.

Sunset slipped into a clean jumpsuit before sitting at the dresser to sort out the tangled mess that was her hair. Applejack perched herself on the bed with Twilight and Fluttershy curled up on the floor with her blanket, bundled up so that all you could see was her face.

“So what’s the plan for this morning?” Applejack asked.

“It’s up to you guys,” Sunset replied, wrestling with her hair. “If you’re all quick there should be just enough time for everyone to have another shower before someone comes to collect us.”

“What time is it?” Rainbow groaned from the bed.

“Time to get up.” Applejack said, whipping the covers back. Rainbow and Pinkie both hissed at the sudden chill, yanking the blanket back over. At that moment Rarity came back out of the washroom, looking refreshed and radiant.

“Really girls whatever is all the fuss about?” she asked, sauntering over to the dresser where Sunset was still wrestling with her hair. “Allow me darling.” she said, taking the brush.

“Thanks Rarity.” Sunset sighed, enjoying the feel of practiced hands running through her hair.

“Ah guess ah’ll take the next one.” Applejack said, grabbing a towel from the drawers.

“Too slow!” There was a blur as Rainbow darted into the washroom at top speed.

“Hey, no fair!” Applejack called, thumping on the door as the others laughed.

Eventually the girls were all showered and dressed, Rarity’s discovery of a hair dryer in the dresser speeding up the process somewhat. Once they were finished Rarity sat at the dresser herself to finish off her makeup and style her hair using some cosmetics she’d had in her pockets when they first got dumped in Vault 101. Sunset was sat at the dining table with Twilight, trying out their Pip-Boys. Between the two of them Sunset thought they had it mostly figured out.

“How much longer do we have to wait here?” Rainbow asked again.

“It’s not quite 9 yet,” Sunset said, checking her Pip-Boy. “James said they’ll probably be here around then.”

Rarity strolled into the room and dropped onto a sofa. “I do hope we stop off in the diner first. I’m positively famished.”

“Me too, ah hope they got something good to eat.” Applejack agreed.

“I just hope the other residents are all nice people.” Fluttershy added nervously. The girls all jumped when they heard a knock at the door.

“Now remember girls, no magic.” Twilight whispered as Sunset went to the door, wondering if the others were as nervous as she was. She paused before opening it, looking back at her friends. They all gave her a quick thumbs up. Her heart pounding, Sunset opened the door. A young woman was standing on the other side, her jet-black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw Sunset, but she recovered quickly.

“Good morning, my name is Amata Almodovar. I’ll be in charge of showing you around the vault and helping you get settled in today.”

“Thanks, my name’s Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset replied. She gestured at the other girls, “These are Rainbow Dash, Twilight
Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” Each of the girls waved as Sunset introduced them. Amata couldn’t hold her surprise this time, her eyes going wide and her mouth dropping.

“Wow he really wasn’t kidding.” she said quietly. Amata looked mortified as Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you! It’s just that my father said you girls were a little… different but, honestly, I thought he was exaggerating.”

Sunset smiled awkwardly. “It’s alright, I suppose we are a bit out of place here.”

Amata ducked her head, blushing slightly. “Do you mind if I come in? There’s some things I’d like to go over before we start the tour.”

“Oh, of course. Er… come on in.” Sunset said, stepping aside. Amata beamed as she entered the room. Sunset closed the door and sat back at the table. Amata stayed standing, looking around at everyone.

“Okay, first of all I’d just like to say how exciting it is to have all of you join us here in the vault. There aren’t really that many people around my age here and I’m not great friends with the other girls so when I heard we were getting seven new girls out of the blue I couldn’t believe it.”

Amata spoke very quickly, so excited she seemed fit to burst. “Honestly I always thought the North wing was totally trashed, I had no idea people were still living in there!”

Sunset felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She had been so worried about how the other vault residents would react to her and her friends. If Amata could be so excited to meet them, perhaps the others would too.

“Well it’s nice to finally meet someone who’s happy to see us.” Applejack chuckled, clearly thinking along the same lines.

“Hear hear!” Rarity called. “If we‘re being honest I must say that being constantly treated like freaks is starting to wear a little thin.”

“Oh, but James doesn’t treat us like that.” Fluttershy said earnestly.

Rarity twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “True but he does get a little too… clinical?”

“He’s an egghead, what do you expect?” Rainbow asked.

“Hey!” Twilight said sharply.

The girls all chuckled at that. Sunset was surprised to see Amata joining in. “James can get a little too much into doctor mode.” she agreed.

Twilight wiped her glasses on her sleeve. “In his defense, it must be fascinating for him to meet people so different to those he would usually interact with.”

“It’s amazing, I’ve never seen anything like your skin before,” Amata said, looking curiously around at each of the girls. “James told me it’s caused by something in the air in the North wing. Something that alters the pigmentation in the skin and hair?”

Sunset averted her eyes. “Something like that, we aren't really supposed too talk about it.”

“Ah, right, I‘m sorry. The Overseer told me he had forbidden anyone from asking you about the North wing, can’t think why though.”

“It was getting too dangerous in there for us to stay.” Sunset said quickly. She felt bad about lying to Amata, who seemed genuinely friendly, but they had promised the Overseer.

“That makes sense. I suppose some of the more idiotic residents might get stupid ideas about trying to get in if they heard too much,” Amata shrugged, “Still. We may not be able to talk about that, but I would love to get to know each of you better.”

“Sounds good to me.” Applejack said with a grin.

“First things first though, let’s get on with the Vault 101 guided tour!” Amata got up and left the room, the others quickly following her. Officer Gomez was waiting in the corridor outside.

“Morning girls.” he said nodding at them, “Sleep well?”

“We did, thanks Officer Gomez.” Sunset replied.

“Good to hear, and it’s nice to have you properly joining the vault too girls. Let me see, now,” he pointed at each of the girls in turn, “Sunset… Twilight… Rarity… Pinkie… Rainbow… Fluttershy and… Applejack?”

“Well remembered.” Twilight said.

“Well, to be honest, with most of you I just matched the names to the hair.” Gomez replied with a smirk.
Amata turned to Sunset. “The Overseer was adamant that we be escorted by a security detail, and I thought Gomez would be the best choice since he’s already met you girls. A friendly face, you know?”

“Where to first Miss Amata?” Gomez asked.

She made a show of thinking, putting a finger on her chin. “I’m thinking breakfast first, what do you girls think?”

They all agreed enthusiastically to this as Officer Gomez led them through the corridors.

Following along, Amata fell into step alongside Sunset. “There won’t be many people in the diner this morning. I figured it would be best if there aren’t too many new faces crowding around you at breakfast.” she said, talking loudly enough for all of the girls to hear.

Sunset smiled gratefully. “Thanks, we really appreciate everything you are doing for us.”

Amata waved a hand. “Don’t mention it. To be honest this is the first time any of us have ever really met someone new so this is a bit of a special day for us.”

As Sunset opened her mouth to reply, a harsh voice shouted from in front.

“Jesus! What the hell kind of freaks are you?!” A young man had come around the corner, wearing a leather jacket over his jumpsuit and carrying a tray full of food. He was looking at the girls in disgust.

Officer Gomez growled at him. “You watch your mouth with these girls Butch, they’ve been through enough.”

“What the hell are you doing down here anyway?!” Amata snarled.

Butch just sneered. “Easy alright I’m just taking some food down to my mom. Didn’t expect to be walking into a circus right outside our quarters.”

“Circus?! Where?!” Pinkie yelled, looking around excitedly.

“And just what in the heck is that supposed to mean?” Applejack growled.

“Calm down girls,” Gomez warned. “Just get to your quarters Butch, and I’m warning you, one more harsh word out of your mouth and I’ll have you in confinement. You know what the Overseer said.”

“Alright alright I hear you.” Butch called as he disappeared down a side corridor. Sunset glared at him until he was out of sight. She had expected such reactions at some point but not so brazen and not so soon.

Gomez turned to the group. “Sorry about that girls, Butch is a bit of a rogue.”

“A bit of an asshole you mean.” Amata muttered darkly, then softened as she saw the looks on the girl’s faces. “Look, don’t worry about Butch. There are a few thugs in here who think like him but most of us are just excited to meet new people, whatever they look like.”

“Thanks, I guess?” Sunset answered, trying hard to smile.

“Come on, let’s get you some breakfast. You’ll all feel better after food.” Officer Gomez said bracingly.

As the group started walking again Sunset glanced around at the others, seeing the worry she felt echoed on their faces. How many attacks like that were they going to have to endure before they got home?

Humming tunelessly, Gomez led the girls through a doorway marked ‘Diner’ and around a corner, pausing before another door on the right. “Well here we are. I‘ll be waiting outside here if that‘s alright Miss Amata.”

“Thanks Officer Gomez. Come on then girls, breakfast time.” Amata said as she opened the door and led the way in.

The girls followed Amata into a large room with a striking red-and-white chequered floor. An old-fashioned song crackled out of a battered jukebox tucked into a corner. There was a row of tables and benches along one wall and a small counter next to a door in the far corner. Sunset was glad to see there were only three other people in the diner. A bald, bespectacled man was seated at one of the benches with an attractive young woman, and a wrinkled old lady was pottering about over at the counter. The three looked over as the girls entered the room

Amata gestured to the people in the room. “Good morning all! Girls, I would like you to meet Lucy Palmer, Floyd Lewis and Christine Kendall. Everyone, please welcome Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.”

The girls nervously greeted the room as they were named, Sunset impressed that Amata had memorised their names so quickly. The seated man and woman, Floyd and Christine, both tried to quickly hide their surprise and reply but were cut off as the old lady, Miss Palmer, came bustling over, grinning widely.

“Oh hello dears! So good to see new faces, it doesn’t happen anywhere near often enough.” she beamed, shaking each of the girls’ hands in turn, “Do you know I honestly thought young James was pulling my leg when he told me about you girls, but here you are! Looking all colourful and exotic, I‘ve never seen anything so spectacular in all my life.”

“Well thank you kindly.” Applejack replied, tipping her hat.

“No need to thank me dear, it’s just so good to meet new people again after all these years.” Miss Palmer pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh but look at me rambling on, you must be hungry. Come on in and take a seat, there‘s plenty of food on the counter so just help yourselves dears.”

Thanking Miss Palmer profusely, the girls hastened to the counter where a buffet full of eggs, toast, cereals and juices sat waiting for them. Grabbing plates and bowlfuls, they quickly found space on the benches and dug in.

Floyd turned in his seat, adjusting his glasses. “So you are the new girls we’ve heard about. We were just wondering when you’d be up and about. How are you finding the vault so far?”

“So far so good.” Sunset replied warily.

“Yeah the folk we’ve met so far have been pretty nice. Or at least most of them have been.” Applejack added.

“We had a little encounter with Butch on the way up here.” Amata said in response to Floyd’s querulous look.

Floyd nodded knowingly. “Oh that little ruffian. Him and his Tunnel Snakes are a pain in the ass down here.”

“Tunnel Snakes?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a gang he set up a few years ago with some of the other young lads in the vault. They‘re always harassing someone or other.”

“Oh, I hope we don’t run into them very much.” Fluttershy moaned.

The young woman, Christine, looked up at that. “Don’t worry. My dad’s in security and he says the Overseer wants you kept away from any trouble.”

Miss Palmer waved her hand in exasperation. “Oh enough about those young hooligans. This is your first time having a proper meal here, so let’s not have any miserable talk. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourselves?”

Sunset leaned back, thinking about how to answer. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much we can say. The Overseer told us we aren’t allowed to speak about anything from before we were allowed into the main vault.”

Amata slumped her shoulders. “I’m sorry, he’s being really fierce on this. It was a nightmare convincing him that we could be trusted to eat breakfast without a security detail.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me my dear,” Miss Palmer said with a huff. “I know better even than you what your father is like about his rules and secrets.”

Twilight looked over at Amata. “Your father… the Overseer?”

“Yeah, though to be honest I’ve always seen him more as ‘The Overseer’ if you get what I mean.” Amata replied.

Christine shifted in her seat. “So… I’ve got to ask… are those your real names? Or are they just nicknames?”

Listening to the others as they continued chatting away, Sunset felt relieved. They were getting on far better with these new people than she had dared to hope. With any luck the rest of the residents would be just as nice, and her and Twilight would be able to quickly find a safe way back home. Once the girls had finished eating Amata stood up.

“Alright then girls, if you are all finished it’s time for your guided tour of Vault 101.” she said with a smile.

“Do you want us to help with the dishes first?” Fluttershy asked as the girls got to their feet.

Floyd huffed a laugh. “No it’s alright thank you. Now that we’re all done I can test the dishwasher, see if Christine repaired it properly.” he chuckled, earning a glare from Christine. The girls followed Amata out of the Diner to where Officer Gomez was leaning against a wall, chatting to James.

“Good morning James.” Amata said as she saw him.

“Good morning to you too, and to all of you as well.” he answered, smiling as each of the girls greeted him in return. “How are you finding the vault so far?”

Rarity put her hands on her hips. “Well the décor is a little drab and frankly the fashion sense here seems a little… standard… but I suppose we’ll have to make do for now.”

“I can’t deny that.” James laughed, “Now if you will excuse me, I hear my breakfast calling.”

Officer Gomez stood away from the wall as James disappeared into the Diner. “Ready to carry on?” he asked.

“Absolutely, lead on” Amata replied.

“Alright, follow me then girls”

“Aren’t you going to have anything?” Fluttershy asked.

Gomez shook his head. “No, I’ve already had my breakfast. Early mornings when you’re in Vault Security.”

Turning down another corridor, Gomez and Amata led the girls through the maze-like corridors of the vault. Amata described each section and what they were used for as they passed through each area.

They saw several other residents of the vault on their tour, many of whom stopped to chat with the new additions to their little community. Most of them seemed friendly enough, though a lot of them were wary of the girls. All of them were utterly shocked at the bright colors of the girls’ skin and hair, though very few were openly rude about it and those that were quickly apologized under Officer Gomez and Amata’s angry glares.

Finally they reached the Security Office, where Amata told the girls she had to leave them for a while. As Amata walked away Sunset couldn’t help feeling a twinge of dismay. The Overseer’s daughter was the most friendly person she’d met in this strange, new world.

The security office was small, containing several large metal lockers and a little computer terminal sat on a table, with a single door leading to a cell in the back. The only other person in the office was a man Sunset recognised as Chief Hannon, the one who had been guarding their room the night before.

Officer Gomez snapped a salute as he entered the office. “Chief Hannon, we’ve completed the preliminary tour of the vault.”

“Did any of these girls cause any problems during the tour?” Hannon asked.

“No sir, they’ve been good as gold.” Gomez replied crisply.

“Were there any issues with the other residents?”

Gomez shook his head. “Nothing major, had a bit of lip from Butch but nothing to worry about.”

Chief Hannon just grunted. “Typical. Very well, please report to the Overseer for further instructions.”

As Officer Gomez snapped another salute and left, Chief Hannon turned to the girls, clasping his hands behind his back and standing tall.

“I am Security Chief Hannon. I command the Vault 101 Security Force and it is my job to ensure that the Overseer’s rules are followed to the letter.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “The Overseer has ordered me and my team to keep you lot out of trouble. Having you follow the rules will make my job a lot easier, and if you make my job easier I‘ll do what I can to make your lives here easier. If you do run into any problems with the other residents do not go around picking fights. You report it straight to me and I will deal with it. Is that understood?”

“We understand,” Sunset replied. “Chief Hannon.” she added quickly as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Good. With that out of the way, the Overseer wants to see you before you go back downstairs. Follow me.”

The girls followed him back out of the Security Office and around a corner into a reception area. “Wait here. The Overseer will call you in when he’s ready.” Chief Hannon said, then abruptly turned and walked away, leaving them alone.

“What was that about?” Rainbow asked as she flung herself into a chair.

“He wanted us to know he was in charge, that’s what that was about.” Applejack said, grabbing a seat herself. “Ah’m guessing he ain’t so fond of us.”

Pinkie pranced around the room, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “He did say if we make his job easier he’ll make our lives easier, so let’s try and make his job easier!”

Sunset leaned against a wall, trying to ease the tension she felt. “Pinkie’s right, we just have to stay on his good side. Let’s just try and stay out of trouble while we’re here.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed darling, but trouble always seems to find us.” Rarity quipped.

“You’re right,” Sunset sighed. “Still, we shouldn’t go looking for any more problems while we’re here.”

“I agree, and if we do come across anything we should do as he says and report it right away.” Twilight added.

The girls stood quickly as a door opened and Officer Gomez stepped out with the Overseer. “Well girls, Officer Gomez informs me that your behavior so far has been impeccable and your interactions with our residents have been courteous and kind. I hope you shall continue to hold yourself to this high standard.”

Glad that the Overseer finally seemed to be warming to them, Sunset smiled. “We will Overseer.”

“Excellent. While I am sure you remember I would like to reiterate that under no circumstances are you to speak to anyone else about your time before you joined the vault population. Should anyone attempt to pry you are to report it immediately to either myself or one of my security personnel, is that clear?”

“Of course.”

The Overseer frowned slightly, folding his arms. “I understand you have had a somewhat unpleasant meeting with Butch this morning. I have ordered Chief Hannon to personally ensure that he and his cronies do not cause you too much grief during your stay. Consider it a… favor… in exchange for your cooperation in keeping our little secrets. Now I believe that concludes our little chat. Officer Gomez, I leave them with you.”

The girls followed Officer Gomez back out into the corridors as the Overseer went back into his office.

Sunset smiled as she turned to Gomez. Things were looking up. “So where to now Officer?”

“Well it’s just about lunchtime so I’ll take you back down to the Diner, Amata should be waiting there too. Once you’ve finished your food I’ll be taking you to the Classroom and leaving you with Mr Brotch.”

Twilight seemed to curl inwards at that. “What kind of tests will he be giving us?”

“Today I reckon he’ll just put you through the G.O.A.T and see what kind of work would best suit you.”

The girls glanced around at each other in confusion. “Er…goat?” Applejack asked.

Officer Gomez just laughed brightly. “You’ll see soon enough.” Heading through the vault, Officer Gomez led them quickly back to the Diner. Stopping outside he gestured to the door with a flourish. “After you, girls.”

Giving him a quizzical look, Sunset pressed the button. As the door slid open she was greeted by a wave of sound.

“Surprise!”

A whole crowd of people shouted and set off party poppers, showering the girls in confetti and glitter. A large paper sign saying ‘Welcome!’ had been hung from the ceiling and the jukebox in the corner had been set to play a jaunty little tune.

Grinning widely, Sunset led the others into the room. “Wow, what is all this?”

“It’s your welcoming party,” Amata grinned back, moving to the front of the group, “We decided we’d hold it after you’d seen a little of the vault and met a few people already. Less overwhelming and all that.”

“WOOHOO!! BEST SURPRISE VAULT WELCOMING PARTY EVER!!” Pinkie screamed, bounding off into the room.

“This is amazing,” Sunset said as the other girls followed Pinkie into the crowd, “You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“It was nothing, we don’t have events like this very often. Having new people in the vault is a once in a lifetime thing so we figured we’d go all out,” Amata gestured into the room, “Go ahead, have fun.”

“Come on Sunset, they have cake!” Pinkie called.

Grinning, Sunset wandered into the crowd. There were plenty of people there that she had met already, but all of them kept coming back to talk to the girls. They refrained from asking about life in the North Wing, Sunset was glad to notice, but everyone still had plenty to talk about.

Pinkie was in her element, bouncing around exuberantly as she threw confetti and ate her way through more cake than Sunset could imagine. Rarity was eagerly discussing beauty products with a gaggle of women while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took turns arm wrestling Gomez and several of the other men, including a few more security officers who had turned up. Fluttershy had safely ensconced herself in a corner between James and his young assistant, Jonas.

Determined to get herself some cake, Sunset made her way slowly through the crowd. She could barely walk a couple of feet without someone stopping her to welcome her excitedly. As she managed to peel herself away from Miss Palmer and her friend Grandma Taylor, Twilight suddenly appeared out of the crowd.

“Looking for this?” she asked, holding out a plateful of cake.

Sunset took it with a grin. “You read my mind!”

“Should we find somewhere to sit?” Twilight asked, stuffing a piece into her mouth.

Looking through the crowd, Sunset spotted a place. “This way.” she said, grabbing Twilight’s hand. Before anyone else could stop them for a chat, Sunset and Twilight slid onto an empty bench at one of the tables, opposite a young man and woman they hadn’t met before.

“Nice to meet you.” The young man grinned as the girls sat down. “My name’s Tom Holden, and this is my wife Mary.” The young woman smiled shyly as her husband introduced them.

Sunset smiled brightly at them. “Nice to meet you too, I’m Sunset Shimmer and this is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Cool names.” Tom said, grinning.

“Thanks, so what do you two do around here?” Sunset asked, helping herself to the cake.

Tom grimaced. “I’m a waste management specialist. I’m in charge of organizing all waste and recycling facilities.”

“It could be worse Tom,” Mary said quietly, “I’m a beautician, though I also work as a masseuse.”

“What about you two? Tom asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Well, we aren’t really sure yet. We have to speak to Mr Brotch later. Apparently he’ll be giving us our work placements.”

“Oh, cool.” Tom looked around quickly then leaned forward, lowering his voice, “Look, I gotta ask. What was it like? You know, living in the North wing?”

“Tom!?” Mary moaned anxiously.

Sunset shared an anxious look with Twilight. “We aren’t really supposed to talk about it.”

“That’s right, the Overseer was very insistent.” Twilight added.

Something large and pink jumped out from under the table suddenly, startling the four of them. Pinkie straightened up and leaned in.

“It’s a secret!” she whispered loudly. Looking around conspiratorially, she slid back into the crowd.

“Where the hell did she just come from?!” Tom spluttered.

Sunset giggled at the terrified look on his face. “That’s Pinkie Pie, it’s kind of what she does.”

“I’m amazed she managed to get under the table without any of us noticing.” Mary said blankly.

“Yep, that’s Pinkie,” Twilight said, laughing nervously, “I’m just going to get some more cake, do you want any Sunset?”

“Oh, yes please.”

“I think I’ll join you in that.” Tom said eagerly.

“Definitely.” Mary agreed.

The three of them got up and headed through the crowd. Almost as soon as they disappeared Amata appeared and slipped onto the bench opposite Sunset.

“So, what do you think?” she asked.

“This is amazing. Really, I can’t thank you enough.”

Amata grinned at her. “It was nothing. I’m amazed so many people turned up to be honest. Though I shouldn’t be surprised really, given the circumstances. None of us have ever met anyone new, let alone anyone so… out there!”

Sunset smiled awkwardly. She was slowly getting used to people commenting on her skin and hair by now, but it was still a strange feeling.

“So I guess you’re kind of the group leader?” Amata asked suddenly.

“Who me?” Sunset asked, surprised, “No, not really.”

Amata raised her eyebrows. “Really? The others seem to look to you for guidance so I just assumed you were the one in charge.”

“That’s because she is. Or at least she may as well be.” Applejack said suddenly, leaning over the back of the bench.

“I agree, we really could use a group leader and Sunset would be the most logical choice.” Twilight added as she returned with cake, the other girls in tow.

“Indeed,” Rarity said as she slid next to Amata, “You’re the perfect person for the job.”

“Absolutely, though ah’m surprised you aren’t kicking up a fuss over it Rainbow?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rainbow shook her head, grinning. “Nah, Sunset’s got this. Besides, leaders get all the responsibilities and stuff. If Sunset’s leader is just gives me more room to show off how awesome I am.” Rainbow pointed out.

“Sunshim’s large and in charge.” Pinkie quipped.

“I agree, Sunset’s definitely the leader.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Wow, thanks guys.” Sunset said, touched by their words.

“I can’t believe how much things have changed since the Fall Formal.” Fluttershy added.

“The Fall Formal?” Amata asked. The girls all looked at each other awkwardly, not sure how to explain without breaking the Overseer’s rules.

“It was a sort of… party… that we held in the, uh, North wing.” Sunset said.

“Back then we weren’t exactly on the best of terms with each other.” Rarity said.

“Thanks to Sunset!” Pinkie added, grinning.

“Wait, what?” Amata asked, looking even more confused.

Sunset ran a hand through her hair, trying to hide her embarrassment. “I was… well… not a very nice person back then.”

“Meaning she was a devious, backstabbing, manipulative, raging she-demon determined to grab power at any cost.” Applejack clarified. “No offence.” she added with a wink. Sunset just smirked at her.

“Wow, sounds like you were a real bitch.” Amata said.

“Er, yeah.” Sunset admitted, frowning at the language.

“Well, it all worked out in the end at least.” Rarity said, after the silence got too awkward.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Amata said sheepishly.

“It’s alright, I got used to it a while ago,” Sunset replied quickly, standing up, “I‘m just going to go to the restroom, is there one near here?”

“Oh, yes. Just head back through the apartment section to your quarters and you should see them on the right.” Amata said.

“Oh yeah, I remember now. Thanks.”

Sunset made her way through the crowd as quickly as she could. She was surprised by the way the people here so casually spouted profanities. She supposed it must be some sort of cultural difference. Once out of the diner she made her way swiftly through the corridors and into the ladies restrooms.

Grateful for the peace and quiet, Sunset decided to wait a little while before she headed back. The air in the restroom was pleasantly cool, and the whole room was silent save for the gentle hum of the air conditioning unit, but Sunset knew she couldn’t enjoy it for too long. Someone was bound to come looking for her soon. Leaving the restroom she was about to head back to the Diner before a voice called her back.

“Hey! New girl!”

Sunset turned back. Butch was leaning against the wall next to the restrooms. Seeing her stop he pushed off and strutted over to her.

“So you’re the leader of the new freaks from North wing?” he said with a sneer, “I’m Butch, leader of the Tunnel Snakes. Our gang rules this place down here, so you watch your step around us.”

Sunset felt her temper rising. A typical bully tactic, ambushing someone while they’re alone she thought, remembering a time when she operated the same way. She took a deep breath, calming herself down. She had changed, maybe she could help him do the same? At the very least she wanted to make as few enemies in this new world as she could.

“Look Butch, we don’t want any trouble down here and the Overseer is going to come down hard on anyone who tries to cause problems with us.”

“You think I’m scared of the Overseer? I’m the top dog, er, snake, around here!”

“If that was true you wouldn't have waited until I was alone down here to say something.” Sunset remarked with a smirk, then realized what she was doing. Probably not the best way to defuse the situation she scolded herself. Sunset realized she was even more tense than she had thought. Taking a quick breath to calm herself, she continued before he had a chance to snap at her.

“Anyway, is this really worth the hassle? Look, I know me and my friends look different to the rest of you and that we stand out a bit much, but that doesn’t mean we can‘t be friends.” Sunset extended a hand.

Butch hesitated for a moment, then smirked at her and folded his arms. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that. What was your name again?”

Sunset slowly lowered her hand. “Sunset Shimmer.”

Butch sneered. “Freaky name for a freaky chick.” He leaned in closer suddenly, “You definitely look more normal than most of your weirdo buddies, how about you and me go somewhere and find out just how freaky you are?”

Sunset slapped away his hand as he went to stroke her face, throwing him a disgusted look. “I’m not interested in bullies, or anyone who insults my friends.”

Butch stepped back with a frown. “If that’s the way you want it, but I’d be more polite if I were you. That little one with the yellow skin and pink hair? I’d say she looks like an easy mark.”

Before Sunset could retort she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Looking around she saw a security officer stepping slowly towards them, tapping his baton against his leg. Something about him sent cold shivers running down Sunset’s spine. He grinned as he stalked closer, running a gloved hand over his close-cropped hair.

“Fancy seeing one of the newbies down here all alone with Butch. Having a nice little chat?” his voice was gruff, and there was something oily about it made Sunset cringe.

“None of your business Mack.” Butch replied haughtily, though Sunset noticed his hands were balled into fists.

Mack smiled, showing yellowed teeth. “I think you’ll find it is my business. The Overseer wants us Security boys to keep a close eye one the new girls. Keep them out of trouble” He pointed his baton at Butch, “Not talking about the North wing I hope?”

“We weren’t.” Sunset said quickly.

“Best not have been, or I’d have to punish you both for breaking the rules.” Mack said, smacking his baton into the palm of his hand for emphasis.

Sunset flinched, he was enjoying threatening them far too much. Butch surprised her, stepping up to Mack so they were almost nose to nose.

“I’d love to see you try it.” he snarled. Sunset was surprised. She had taken Butch for a cowardly bully, but she decided he must have some courage to stand up to an armed man like that.

Mack glared into Butch‘s eyes. “Oh? You think I’ll let you off easy ‘cos my bro’s in your pathetic little gang?”

Butch just smirked. “Nah, I think you don’t have the stones to try it. You know I’d kick your ass from one end of this vault to the other.”

Sunset watched them both squaring off, not sure whether to shout for help or not. Finally Mack stepped back.

“If I find out you have been causing asking questions about North wing or causing trouble with the new girls, I’ll make sure the Chief lets me cave your skull in.” he said menacingly.

Butch puffed himself up. “I couldn’t give a crap about the North wing, I bet all that‘s left in there is mutant shit and radroaches. I don’t have time for this.”

Butch stalked off around the corner to his quarters, making sure to shove Mack with his shoulder as he left. Sunset tensed, afraid Mack would lash out, but he simply stood glaring after Butch.

“I should probably get back to the party.” Sunset said quietly. As she made to leave Mack slammed a hand into the wall, barring her path.

“Before you go, just a friendly word of advice.” he growled, bringing his face close to hers. Sunset tried to back away but he stepped around, forcing her against the wall. His breath reeked as it washed over Sunset’s face.

“Like I said, the Overseer wants us security guys to keep an eye on you girls and I intend to keep a very close eye on you. For your own… protection.” he leered, running his eyes up and down Sunset’s body in a way that made her skin crawl. “You go getting yourself mixed up with Butch and people are going to think you’re up to no good.”

“It won‘t happen again.” Sunset said defiantly.

“See that it doesn’t. The Chief says you lot are to be looked after for now, but if I do catch you causing problems or trying to stir up trouble I promise you, I will fuck you up. Is that clear?” he asked, pressing the tip of his baton under Sunset’s chin.

Sunset froze, unable to answer. This man was dangerous in a way she’d never dealt with before. She desperately hoped someone would come down looking for her. As if in answer to her thoughts a voice screamed out from down the corridor.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?” Amata yelled as she stormed down the corridor, Officer Gomez and the rest of the girls close on her heels.

Mack stepped away from Sunset, sheathing his baton. “Just making sure she remembers the rules.”

Amata shoved him aside, seething. Rarity took hold of Sunset’s arm and gently pulled her into the middle of the group as Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood protectively in front of her.

“What the hell was she doing?!” Officer Gomez asked, glaring at Mack.

Sunset shook her head, “Butch showed up when I came out of the restrooms. I tried to reason with him so he would leave us alone.”

Mack sneered at her. “She decided she wanted a go at Butch instead of coming to find one of us security guys.”

“You didn’t really give me a chance did you?” Sunset spat.

Looking resigned, Officer Gomez turned to Amata. “You’d best take the girls back upstairs, you’re going to be late as it is. I’ll handle everything down here and hand in a report to Chief Hannon.”

“Thanks Officer Gomez. Come on girls, let’s get the hell out of here.” Amata replied, still looking furious.

She led the girls back upstairs, muttering angrily under her breath. As they passed the diner, the party still going on inside, Applejack turned to Sunset.

“You alright sugarcube?”

Sunset wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop herself from shaking. “I think so.”

Amata sighed deeply. “I’m sorry about that Sunset, Mack’s a nasty piece of work.”

“He’s an absolute brute!” Rarity snapped, “Are we really supposed to feel safe with monsters like that on the security team?”

“Believe me I know how you feel,” Amata said earnestly, “I’ll have a word with my father. I don’t care what his reasoning was he went too far there. I’ll make sure he stays away from you all from now on.”

Sunset took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. She felt a lot better now that she was with her friends. “Thanks. Why were all of you coming downstairs anyway?”

“We were coming to get you, it‘s time to go to the classroom,” Fluttershy replied, “Amata said to wait in the diner while she fetched you but we thought you might be feeling down and needing some company.”

“Officer Gomez was supposed to be escorting us for the rest of the day but he’ll be stuck dealing with Officer Mack for a while.” Amata explained. “Don’t worry, Mack won’t do anything more to jeopardise his position on the security team, he enjoys it too much.”

“I noticed.” Sunset said with a shiver.

Amata smiled reassuringly. “Officer Gomez has more pull with both Chief Hannon and the Overseer at the moment. He’ll make sure Mack doesn’t give you any more grief.”

The girls walked on in silence for a little way, Sunset desperately hoping she and her friends could avoid any more incidents like that. She decided not to mention what Butch had said about Fluttershy just yet, she’d wait until Flutters was in the shower or out of earshot before she brought it up with the others. They would have to come up with a way of keeping her safe from him and his cronies.

Sunset was still lost in her thoughts when she walked into Rainbow Dash. Amata had stopped them outside a room marked ‘Classroom’.

Amata turned, biting her lip. “I’m sorry, I had hoped your first real day here would go a little better than that.”

Sunset shook her head. “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault and you’ve done more than enough to help us already.”

Amata nodded. “Well, hopefully things go a bit better for you from here on out. I have to get back to work after this but if you ever need anything please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Thank you, you’ve been a real help.” Sunset said gratefully. The other girls all agreed with her, thanking Amata in turn. She smiled shyly and knocked on the door.

“Come on in.” a voice called.

Entering the room, the girls saw several rows of seats with small desks. A projector in the middle of the room pointed to a large blackboard on the wall. A middle-aged man with black hair and spectacles was waiting with a ginger-haired young woman. The young woman’s eyes went wide as the girls entered the room but the man didn’t react at all. Sunset supposed he either had very good self control, or was just so jaded that nothing fazed him anymore. Perhaps a bit of both, she thought.

“Good to see you‘ve finally remembered where the classroom is Amata,” the man quipped, “I was beginning to wonder if I needed to send out a search party.”

“Sorry Mr Brotch, we had a bit of an… incident… downstairs.” Amata replied.

Mr Brotch frowned slightly. “I see. Has it been resolved safely now?”

“Yes. I thought I’d best bring the girls here to you before I report to the Overseer”

Mr Brotch nodded curtly. “In that case I won’t keep you any longer. Thank you Amata.”

“No problem. See you later girls.” Amata said as she left the room.

Once she had left Mr Brotch turned to the girls. “Good afternoon girls, please take a seat.”

The girls hurried to sit down. Mr Brotch waited patiently until they had stopped fidgeting before he spoke again. “My name is Edwin Brotch and this is my assistant Susie Mack.” Sunset tried not to flinch as she heard the name, realizing Susie must be a relative of Officer Mack.

Mr Brotch continued, thankfully not noticing her discomfort “I’m the vault’s teacher so I would prefer if you refer to me as Mr Brotch, at least to my face. I hope you’ve enjoyed the vault so far because this is where it gets boring. Susie and I shall be assessing your current level of education and deciding on the most suitable roles for each of you in our little community.”

Once he finished speaking Susie handed him a clipboard. He glanced at the notes on it then looked up at the girls as Susie started placing sheets of paper face down in front of each of them.

“I am currently in the very unusual position of not having a clue who any of you are. I have a list here of your names, but I would like to put those names to faces if that’s alright. Just put your hand up and say ’here’ when I call your name please.
First up, we have Sunset Shimmer?”

“Here.” Sunset said, raising her hand.

“Very well, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Here.” Twilight said nervously, raising her hand too.

“Rarity?”

“Here.”

“Fluttershy?”

“Here.”

“Applejack?”

“Here.”

“That just leaves Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. I doubt I’ll win any prizes for guessing which of you is which.” He smirked as he looked over at them. “Now that that is out of the way it is time for you to be put through the G.O.A.T. Have any of you been told what that is?”

The girls all shook their heads. This time it was Susie who spoke to them. “G.O.A.T stands for Generalised Occupational Aptitude Test. We use it to decide what job would be most suitable for each member of the vault.”

Mr Brotch nodded. “Correct. The only problem is that the G.O.A.T is usually used in conjunction with previous test scores and other such criteria picked up in class. Obviously I don’t have that kind of data with me so we are just going to have to play it by ear and go by the notes I’ve been given on each of you.”

Twilight threw her hand up in the air, looking worried. “But we haven’t had any chance to study, what happens if we fail the test?”

Mr Brotch smiled. “Well it’s a multi-choice questionnaire with no wrong answers so I’m sure you’ll all be fine. Just make sure to answer each of the questions and hand it in to me when you are done. Once it’s over we’ll go over the results and discuss what knowledge and training you will require to fit into your new roles. Are there any questions?”

The girls all looked at each other nervously, but no one raised their hand.

“In that case, please turn over your exams sheets and let’s get started.” There was a flurry of sheets being turned over. “Question one. You are approached by a frenzied Vault scientist, who yells, ‘I'm going to put my quantum harmonizer in your photonic resonation chamber!’ What's your response?”

There was a moments silence, then each of the girls cried in unison.

“Huh?!”

Chapter 5 - Time To Go

“Ugh, I hate this stupid vault.” Sunset moaned as she trudged back towards her quarters. Her shoulders were slumped from exhaustion and she was spattered with oil, dirt and blood. Thankfully none of it was her own. Twilight trudged along with her. The crisp white lab coat she had been given was covered in the same muck that now decorated Sunset.

“He didn’t take it well then?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Did he say how much trouble we’re in?”

Sunset shook her head. “Thankfully none. He agrees it was Wally’s own stupid fault for sticking his hand in there after we told him not to.”

Twilight hung her head with a sigh. “That’s a relief.”

“Hey you guys!” They both looked up as they heard the voice, spotting Fluttershy just returning from the clinic.

“So how’s Wally?” Sunset asked as Fluttershy trotted up.

Fluttershy smiled, unrolling her sleeves. “It’s just some minor burns and a few bruises, Jonas should have him all better in no time.”

“And Officer Armstrong?”

Fluttershy winced at that. “He‘s still sore but his nose has stopped bleeding and he‘s feeling a lot better now.”

“That‘s good.” Twilight breathed.

Sunset looked over at Fluttershy as they walked along. She and Twilight were the only ones who had been given lab coats to wear when working. After the G.O.A.T Sunset was being trained as an engineer. Twilight was now a Systems Programmer, Rarity had been made a Vault Stylist, Pinkie the new Vault Baker and Rainbow Dash a Physical Trainer. Poor Applejack had been stuck in the maintenance department. As for Fluttershy…

“So how’re you finding being a nurse?”

“It’s nice. James is teaching me all sorts of things and Jonas is being really kind to me.” Fluttershy answered, smiling sweetly.

“I’m amazed you can deal with the needles and blood and things.” Twilight admitted.

Fluttershy shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It was a little scary at first but I’m starting to get used to it. James has been teaching me how to just focus on what you have to do and put off worrying about it until later.”

“So… doctor mode, followed by freak-out?”

Fluttershy smiled serenely. “Yep.”

The three of them laughed softly as they made their way slowly back to their quarters, Sunset and Twilight particularly looking forward to getting some sleep. Jabbing the door button, they saw Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity sat around the table waiting for them.

“We’re back.” Sunset called sleepily.

“Well it’s about time.” Applejack said, then did a double-take as she saw them. “Good gravy! What the heck happened to you two?”

Twilight collapsed onto a sofa. “We decided we’d try and fix the jukebox before we turned in for the night.”

“Did you find out what was wrong with it?” Pinkie asked eagerly.

Sunset grimaced as she dropped down next to Twilight. “We found a dead radroach in there, looked like it had gotten fried on the motherboard.”

“Cool.” Rainbow grinned. “What happened then?”

Twilight groaned, shrugging off her lab coat. “We were taking a break and having a drink when Wally came in.”

“Oh dear. I think I see where this is going.” Rarity muttered darkly.

Sunset nodded. “Yep, he starts fiddling with it. We told him to leave it alone but he just ignored us as usual.”

“So of course he got electrocuted.” Twilight waved her hands halfheartedly.

“Good riddance.” Applejack mumbled under her breath.

Sunset huffed a laugh, curling up into a ball. “Yeah, but while he was flailing around he managed to smack Officer Armstrong in the face so we ended up having to take both of them to the clinic then go and report it to the Overseer.”

“Well, at least now you’re back we can all get some sleep.” Rarity said, stifling a yawn. “Whose turn is it on the sofas tonight?”

Sunset groaned. “Mine and Twilight’s.”

Applejack chuckled. “Alright, we’ll see you in the morning then. Night you two.”

The girls all said goodnight to each other, Twilight and Sunset setting up blankets on a sofa each as the others retreated to the bedroom. Sunset sighed as she heaved her utility jumpsuit off, her tools hitting the floor with a heavy thud. As she climbed under the blankets she looked over at Twilight.

“How did the experiment with James go?”

Twilight frowned as she placed her glasses on the arm of the sofa. “Not good. I don’t think we can replicate the technology he was using when we got dragged here. I was going to ask the Overseer tomorrow if I can check the old maps of the outside. Maybe we can find out where that tool he was using came from.”

“It’s worth a shot. It’s hard to believe we’ve been here over a month already.” Sunset yawned widely, too tired to be upset about this most recent failure. “Goodnight Twilight.”

“Goodnight Sunset.”

Sunset rolled over and tried to sleep. She hated sleeping on the sofa, she could never quite get comfortable. When she finally did manage to drift off she slept fitfully, the sound of sirens filling her dreams. What felt like only moments after she had fallen asleep Sunset was shaken awake. As she came to she saw a familiar figure standing over her.

“Well it’s about darn time!” Applejack said, “How can you manage to sleep through that racket?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Sunset asked groggily. Hauling herself up, Sunset realized the sirens hadn’t been part of her dreams at all. They were blaring loud and insistently through the room. It was only because of how exhausted she had been that she had slept through them at all. All of the other girls were sat at the table, fully dressed.

“A radroach infestation, I think.” Twilight replied. “Those alarms have been going off for a while now and the Overseer has been on the P.A system telling everyone to stay in their quarters.”

Sunset groaned and wrapped the blanket around herself. “Why did you bother waking me up?”

Rarity patted her on the shoulder. “Just in case darling. Come on now, you‘d better get dressed.”

Sunset groaned again and got to her feet, shrugging off the blanket. A sudden urgent knock at the door made her grab the blanket and throw it around herself again. Pinkie looked back to make sure Sunset had covered her underwear then opened the door.

The girls gasped as Officer Gomez lurched into the room, supporting another security officer whose leg was utterly drenched in blood.

“Sweet molasses, what happened to him?!” Applejack asked as she and Rainbow rushed forward to help. Between the three of them they managed to maneuver the injured officer onto the sofa Sunset had just vacated.

“Radroaches, I think.” Gomez panted, shifting out of the way so Fluttershy could get to the sofa. “I found him slumped outside the doc’s quarters, figured it would be better to bring him straight to Fluttershy than try and drag him up to the clinic first.”

“Someone get my first aid kit!” Fluttershy snapped, pulling the officer’s helmet off and anxiously checking his pulse. Sunset recognized him as Officer Kendall, a nice enough man but strict and very no-nonsense. His skin was deathly pale and he was moaning in pain, barely even conscious.

“Why didn’t you take him straight into James?” Sunset asked, frowning at Officer Gomez as Rarity hurried over and thrust the first aid kit into Fluttershy’s hands.

Officer Gomez raised an eyebrow, still breathing hard. “You haven’t heard? James is gone. He left the Vault.”

The girls stared at him, all except Fluttershy who was busy tending to the vicious wound on Kendall’s leg, stuck in ‘doctor mode’ as she put it.

“What do you mean he left the Vault?” Applejack asked incredulously, “Ah thought this place had been shut tight for darn near twenty years?”

“It has. Hell, the only reason it hasn’t been shut for longer is because we let him in. We needed a doctor and he needed a safe place to raise his son, seemed like a fair deal.” Gomez shook his head, his face dripping with sweat, “I just wish I knew why he left now. As far as we can tell he escaped during all the confusion of this latest radroach infestation.”

“What about Adam?” Sunset asked. From all that James had told her about how dangerous the Wasteland was, she couldn’t imagine him taking his son with him out there. Not after all the trouble he had gone through to bring him into the safety of the Vault in the first place.

“He’s gone too. As far as I can tell James left without telling Adam anything. He just up and went during the chaos these radroaches have caused, must have been planning for Adam to stay here.” Gomez shook his head sadly. “Of course, the moment he found out what his dad had done he went charging off after him.”

“Good gracious.” Rarity breathed.

Sunset shared an anxious look with Twilight, James was their only real hope of getting back home. “How long ago did they leave?”

“No idea how long James has been gone, but Adam? Maybe a few hours, I’m not really sure.” Gomez sighed heavily. “To be honest, I spoke to Adam before he left. I was supposed to bring him in for questioning but I let him go. He’s a good kid, he didn’t deserve this.” Gomez suddenly looked shiftily around at each of the girls. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to the Overseer.”

“Don’t worry Gomez, we won’t rat you out.” Rainbow smiled and gave him a friendly thump on the shoulder.

“Thanks girls,” he huffed a laugh, then frowned as he looked back at his fellow officer, “How is he?”

Fluttershy nodded. She had cut away the leg of his jumpsuit and was just finishing applying a bandage. “He’s lost an awful lot of blood but I’ve disinfected the wound, stitched it up and given him a stimpak to help with the clotting and lost fluids.”

She tied the bandage off and stood up, wiping her bloody hands on a towel. “I don’t think his life is in immediate danger any more but we should get him to the clinic so we can hook him up to an IV and get Jonas to take a good look at him.” Fluttershy’s hands started to shake slightly as she spoke, “Oh my goodness that was so scary.” she muttered to herself.

Gomez’ face fell when Fluttershy mentioned Jonas. “I’m afraid it’s just you.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked, perplexed. Her eyes widened as she dropped the bloody towel. “Oh no! Jonas isn’t hurt is he?!”

Gomez looked sadly at her. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this but… Jonas is dead.”

There were cries of shock and grief from each of the girls. Fluttershy stared at Officer Gomez, as if hoping this were some sort of sick joke.

“I’m sorry.” he said quietly.

Fluttershy shook her head, tears welling up. Sunset dropped the blanket and threw her arms around Fluttershy, not giving a damn that she was still in her underwear as her friend started to sob.

“How did… how did it happen? The radroaches?” Applejack asked, pulling her Stetson off and holding it over her heart.

“N-no.” Gomez cleared his throat. “No, it was on the Overseer’s orders. He thought Jonas knew where James had gone. He ordered Chief Hannon to beat the information out of him but Officer Mack… he…” Gomez sighed and shook his head again. “He was out of control.”

Sunset’s blood felt like ice in her veins as Fluttershy sobbed harder in her arms. The thought of Officer Mack beating poor Jonas to death, on the Overseer’s orders no less, shook her to her core. Sunset and her friends had dealt with danger before, sometimes even putting their lives on the line, but they had never actually had to deal with a death like that. Magic, luck and friendship had always seen them through before the worst could happen.

Clutching Fluttershy tightly, Sunset realized she only cared about one thing right now. She would get her friends home safely, no matter what it took. To do that she needed James, and to find him…

“We have to leave the Vault.”

A moment of silence followed her little proclamation.

“You said it sister.” Applejack muttered.

“That might actually be what the Overseer wants, he wants to speak to you as soon as possible. That’s the only reason I was on my way down here in the first place, until I found Kendall.” Gomez admitted.

Rarity nervously twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “I must admit I heartily agree with leaving this wretched place… no offence darling-”

“None taken.”

“-but where are we going to go?”

“We don’t really have a choice, we have to try and find James,” Twilight replied, “He’s the only one who can help us get home.”

“First we have to get Officer Kendall to the clinic.” Fluttershy said thickly. She pulled slowly away from Sunset and accepted a tissue that Rarity held out and blew her nose loudly. It wasn’t until Rarity held out some tissues to her too that Sunset realized her shoulder was covered in tears and snot.

As Sunset absently wiped the mess away, Rarity placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Are you alright sweetie?”

“No… yes… I’ll be okay.” Fluttershy blew her nose again. “We need to get officer Kendall to the clinic, he really needs an IV.”

Sunset nodded. “Alright, we’ll carry him upstairs then we’ll go and see the Overseer.”

Rarity coughed delicately. “First darling… you may want to put some clothes on.”

“Ah, right. Yeah.” Sunset whipped her hands around herself as she remembered she was almost completely nude in front of a man, before realizing Officer Gomez had his back to her, his gaze fixed on the opposite wall to preserve her dignity. Relaxing slightly, Sunset was about to pick up her jumpsuit when an idea struck her.

Picking up the blanket instead and wrapping it around herself again, Sunset turned to the others. “Right, here’s what we’ll do. Applejack? If you and Officer Gomez carry Kendall up to the clinic with Fluttershy, the rest of us will meet you up there once I’m dressed. From there we‘ll go to the Overseer, find out what he wants and tell him we‘re leaving.”

“Sounds good to me.” Applejack said, popping her Stetson back on her head.

Officer Gomez turned around. “Here, I’ll carry him for you.”

Applejack just chuckled as she slid her hands under Officer Kendall. “Don’t you worry none, ah’m stronger than ah look. You just keep his leg straight for me, make sure we don’t pop his stitches.”

As soon as they were out of the room and on their way to the clinic, Sunset turned and headed into the bedroom. Rifling through the drawers Sunset found her clothes neatly folded away, the ones she had been wearing when she first arrived in the Vault.

“Whatever are you doing darling?” Rarity asked as Sunset started pulling them on. “You know we have to wear these ghastly jumpsuits as long as we’re in the Vault or believe me I wouldn’t be caught anywhere near one.”

“But we’re leaving the Vault.” Sunset said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but if we have to go trekking through the wasteland I’m doing it in my own clothes.”

“Count me in!” Rainbow grinned as she grabbed her clothes out of the drawer.

“Me too!” Pinkie cried as she skipped over.

Rarity didn’t say a word. She just unzipped and slipped out of her jumpsuit in one smooth, elegant motion.

“What about Applejack and Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, undoing her own jumpsuit.

“We’ll take clothes for them up to the clinic, they can get changed there.” Sunset dug around under the bed and pulled out several backpacks they had been provided with. “We should pack some spare underwear in these, plus any supplies we’ll need like food, water and stuff.”

“I’m not sure the Overseer will like that, after all these are Vault property.” Twilight said worriedly.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her. “So?”

“We’ve fixed that stupid generator we broke not to mention kept his dirty little secrets for him, he owes us this much.” Sunset frowned as she shoved bottles of water into her pack. “Besides, after what’s happened with Jonas there’s no way I’m just going to roll over and do whatever he says anymore.”

Almost as an afterthought she grabbed her utility jumpsuit, detached the tool belt and stuffed it into her pack as well, throwing the jumpsuit back on the bed.

“Wait a minute. Do you hear that?” Pinkie asked.

They all stopped and listened for a moment.

Rainbow scratched her head, puzzled. “Hear what?”

Pinkie shrugged. “The alarms have stopped.”

Sunset blinked, wondering how long it had been since that happened. “Huh, I didn’t even notice.”

“In our defense we have been somewhat… distracted?” Rarity said.

The girls quickly finished changing and packing their bags, including one each for Applejack and Fluttershy as well as their clothes. Making sure to grab Fluttershy’s first aid kit, left behind in her rush to get to the clinic, the four left their quarters.

The corridors outside were dark. The lights were usually kept on permanently to discourage radroaches but something had switched them off. Sunset hoped it was merely a malfunction or electrical fault and not something more sinister.

A trail of red droplets led from the girls’ door around the corner to James’s quarters, where they found several squashed radroaches and a disturbingly large pool of blood left behind by poor Officer Kendall.

Leaving the grim scene behind, the girls hurried through the empty corridors. They heard muffled crying coming from the diner as they passed but didn’t encounter anyone until they arrived at the clinic. The corridor was littered with the charred, still-smoking remains of what Sunset assumed had been radroaches.

Inside they Officer Kendall lying unconscious on a bed, an IV drip poking out of his arm as Fluttershy solicitously checked him over. Applejack and Gomez, standing quietly out of her way, looked over as the girls entered the room.

“There you are, we were wondering how long you were… what’s with the clothes?” Gomez frowned as he noticed what they were wearing.

“We’re figured since we’re leaving anyway we wanted our own clothes back.” Sunset handed Applejack her backpack. “Yours are in here along with some necessities and supplies.”

Fluttershy looked around in surprise as Rarity handed her a pack too. Her eyes were red but she had managed to compose herself. “Shouldn’t we really speak to the Overseer before we get changed?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, I think we should leave as soon as we’ve spoken to him. The longer we wait the further away James and Adam are going to get.”

“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy clutched her pack and hurried into the clinic’s back office to change with Applejack.

Gomez shook his head helplessly. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, the Overseer won’t be happy to have you girls wandering around dressed like that.”

Sunset shrugged. “Most people are still going to be in their quarters until the Overseer announces the all-clear so I don’t really see it causing any problems as long as we‘re quick.”

“You may be right about that, but are those clothes really going to be practical for exploring the Wasteland?”

Sunset had to admit he had a point. The only one who wasn’t going to be running around in a skirt or dress of some sort was Rainbow Dash. She was starting to second-guess herself when Rarity saved her the trouble of responding.

“Let us worry about the practicality darling. Besides if the Overseer is so desperate to keep the outside world…well… outside, wandering around in a uniform that broadcasts exactly where we came from is probably not something he would appreciate.”

Rainbow snorted. “Somehow I don’t think he’d let us keep the Vault’s jumpsuits when we leave anyway.”

“That’s if he even lets us leave.” Pinkie added darkly.

“Why wouldn’t he let us leave?” Sunset asked, her thoughts about the clothes derailed for a moment, “He’s wanted us gone since we first arrived.”

Pinkie folded her arms with a frown. “I don’t know but I’ve got a bad feeling about today.”

Sunset shared a concerned look with the others. Before they could comment on Pinkie’s unusual negativity Applejack and Fluttershy returned from the back room, Applejack back in her old skirt and t-shirt and Fluttershy in her light, fluttery dress.

“Now that feels better, these boots just ain’t comfortable to wear over a jumpsuit.” Applejack chuckled. She patted the tool belt secured around her waist, “The Overseer ain’t going to let me keep these tools is he?”

“Probably not, sorry.” Sunset said, deciding not to mention the tools she’d stowed away in her own pack.

Applejack just shrugged and threw her pack over her shoulder. “Well it’s worth asking ah suppose. We all set?”

“What about Officer Kendall?” Fluttershy asked, “He’ll be alright for now but we really should leave someone to keep an eye on him just in case.”

“Stanley should be back here any minute, he’s only gone to switch the emergency lights back on.” Gomez stepped to the door and motioned for the girls to follow. “Come on, let’s get you to the Overseer before anyone spots you dressed like that.”

Stepping gingerly over the roasted radroaches outside the clinic, the group made their way through the now-familiar corridors. Smalls scenes of violence greeted them every few meters. Squashed radroaches and the odd splatter of blood dotted the way, the remains of miniature battles between the security team and the invading wildlife. Sunset sincerely hoped no-one else had been hurt, but she had an awful feeling that Jonas and Officer Kendall weren’t the only casualties of the morning’s events.

Two security officers were waiting when they arrived in the Overseer’s reception area. Sunset recognized them as Richards and O’Brian, two of the less pleasant members of the security team. O’Brian in particular was a nasty piece of work along the same lines as Officer Mack. Thankfully the girls had hardly interacted with them. They had stayed out of trouble and the officers had seen fit to leave the girls alone.

The two officers eyed the girls' clothes curiously as Gomez stepped up to the office door. Raised voices echoed from inside, it sounded like the Overseer and his daughter were having a screaming match. The shouting stopped abruptly when Gomez knocked smartly on the window.

“Officer Gomez, reporting to the Overseer.” he called.

“Enter.” the Overseer replied from within.

Gomez cracked the door open and poked his head in. “Overseer, I’ve brought the North Wing girls with me sir.”

“Finally. Bring them in.”

Gomez peeked over his shoulder at the girls, then back into the office. “Er, do you want to speak to them privately sir?”

“Just bring them in Gomez!” the Overseer snapped.

“Yes sir.”

Gomez opened the door fully to let the girls in. The Overseer’s office was spacious and brightly lit. The room was dominated by a huge, round desk made of solid metal with a small space in the middle for the Overseer to sit. A large display covered most of one wall, displaying conditions and power levels from across the entirety of the Vault, while the opposite wall contained a round window that looked down on the Vault’s Atrium.

The Overseer himself was stood at his desk, glaring furiously at Amata. The girls gasped as Amata turned to them. Her face was a mess of bruises. Blood trickled from a split in her lip and her eyes were red-rimmed, one of them so puffy and swollen she was forced to squint. Before anyone had a chance to comment the Overseer snapped angrily at them.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing wearing those clothes! Gomez! Why did you bring them up here dressed like that!?”

Gomez snapped to attention. “They insisted sir. They wanted to speak to you and almost everyone else is still confined to their quarters so I decided to let it slide for now sir.”

The Overseer glared at Gomez, but relented. “Fine. First we shall discuss why I had you brought here and I will listen to what you have to say. As soon as that is done you will go straight back to your quarters and get changed back into your jumpsuits or I will have you thrown in the brig for insubordination!”

“Where did you even get those clothes?” Amata asked quietly.

“That is none of your concern!” the Overseer snapped. He snatched up a sheet of paper from the desk and scanned it briefly. “As you have no doubt been made aware there are no longer any fully trained medical staff in this Vault.”

“Thanks to you.” Amata mumbled.

“That’s enough Amata! As I was saying there are no medical staff left. In light of this I am appointing Fluttershy as the new Vault Doctor.”

“Um, m-me?” Fluttershy spluttered, “But I-I’m not qualified, I’m only a trainee nurse and besides-”

“You have at least basic medical training.” the Overseer interrupted, “I am assigning Twilight Sparkle to be your new assistant. Between the two of you I expect you to be able to reach at least a moderate level of competence.”

Sunset folded her arms, frowning. “Don’t the security all have basic first aid training. Not to mention Mr Brotch-”

“Secondly.” the Overseer loudly interrupted again, “I am removing Applejack from the maintenance department and placing you in charge of all waste management and recycling facilities.”

“Huh? But ain’t that Tom’s job? He ain't hurt too is he?” Applejack asked worriedly.

The Overseer dropped his notes back on the desk, averting his eyes. “Sadly he and his wife were killed earlier this morning.”

“You mean those two meat-heads out there murdered them!” Amata snapped.

Sunset put a hand to her mouth. She wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. First Jonas then Officer Kendall and now the Holdens? How many more people were going to turn up dead or seriously hurt?

Applejack put her head in her hands, moaning softly. “Oh this ain’t happening. This is just a bad dream. Someone wake me up already. OW! Hey!?” She glared at Pinkie, rubbing her arm where it had been pinched.

Pinkie shrugged sadly, “Worth a shot?”

“Officers O‘Brian and Richards were simply doing their duty.” the Overseer remarked coldly, “Tom and Mary left their quarters despite strict orders to the contrary and attempted to force their way out of the Vault.”

Sunset couldn’t believe the indifferent manner in which he was discussing the deaths of the Vault residents, the people he was supposed to protect and care for. She wondered morbidly who had caused the most damage to the Vault population, the radroaches or the Overseer. The old fool couldn't hold a candle to Princess Celestia. Then again, Sunset supposed, there probably weren't many who could.

Either not noticing or not caring about the distinctly frosty looks he was getting from all of the girls, the Overseer continued talking. “There is one last thing I would like to speak to you girls about.”

“What is it?” Sunset asked warily. She was starting to get concerned. They had expected the Overseer to order her and her friends out of the Vault. Instead he seemed to be making plans for them to stay and take on more responsibility.

The Overseer looked them all over, almost appraising them. “The recent infestation and subsequent events have taken quite a toll on the Vault population.”

Rarity scoffed. “Perhaps if you stopped having people murdered then-”

“The next person to speak out of turn will be thrown in a cell with a beating to go with it!” the Overseer snapped, slamming a palm on the desk. When no-one replied he drew himself up and folded his arms and tried to speak calmly, “Now, a few days ago I was provided with the results of your genetic screening. It appears that aside from your pigmentation you are genetically no different from ordinary humans.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, wondering if that was true. It was possible, of course, but she wouldn't have been surprised if their magic had caused some unusual results. Perhaps James had covered it up? The real question was why the Overseer was bringing it up. Sunset had an idea of where he was going with this, and she did not like it one bit. “Your point being?”

The Overseer paused to consider his words. “My point being that given the… depletion… of the Vault’s genetic reservoir I am permitting, indeed encouraging, the seven of you to seriously consider… procreation.”

Yup, I knew it, Sunset thought.

Twilight shot him a look of disgust. “That’s why you want us to stay, to help the Vault remain genetically viable.”

Applejack stuck her hands on her hips. “Are y’all trying to tell me this guy wants to use us as breeding stock?”

“Pretty much.” Sunset sighed.

There was a brief, awkward silence at that. Sunset had managed to restrain herself from snapping at the Overseer only with great difficulty. Rarity was quivering with suppressed rage while Fluttershy had blushed so deeply she was almost the same color as Sunset’s hair.

“I thought he didn’t want us doing sexy things with the other people in the Vault?” Pinkie asked baldly.

The Overseer nodded. “Indeed I didn’t at the time but now that I know you are genetically stable I see no reason to leave that particular resource untapped. Of course out of all of you Applejack is the only one who can really blend in with the Vault population but Sunset, Rarity and Fluttershy are not so utterly alien that it will be impossible for you to find partners. As for the rest of you…” He glanced at Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow, “Well there’s no accounting for taste.”

It took all of Sunset’s self control not to slap him as hard as she could. All of the others seemed to be facing the same internal struggle, even Fluttershy was scowling at him.

“You sir are by far the most repugnant person I have ever had the misfortune of meeting.” Rarity spat through gritted teeth.

“You are out of your gosh darn mind.” Applejack growled.

“You said it AJ.” Rainbow added with a glare.

“You know what, that makes this next bit so much easier to say.” Sunset stepped forward and looked the Overseer straight in the eye, “We’re leaving the Vault.”

The Overseer blinked, taken aback. Recovering swiftly, he leaned forward and rested his fists on the desk, his face a mask of fury. “There’s no way in hell I‘m letting you out of this Vault.”

“It’s not up to you.” Sunset said firmly, trying to keep her temper under control. “We’re going to see if we can track down James, he’s our only chance of finding our way back home.”

“Home?” Amata asked.

Sunset whipped around, startled. She had completely forgotten that Amata was even there.

“I knew it. The Vault has been opened before.” Amata said quietly, “You aren’t from the North Wing at all, you came from outside.” She looked at her father. “It was all a lie, wasn’t it? We’re born in the Vault, we live in the Vault and we die in the Vault, it’s all bullshit!”

“ENOUGH AMATA!” the Overseer roared. “Officer Gomez!”

Gomez snapped to attention. “Yes sir?”

“I want you to take these girls, except Miss Shimmer, back to their quarters and have them change back into their jumpsuits. Then I want you to gather everyone into the Atrium.” The Overseer jabbed a finger in Sunset’s face. “As for you, I am going to have you stripped down and beaten, in front of the whole Vault, as an example of how we deal with insubordinate scum.”

“That ain’t happening.” Applejack said darkly, stepping up alongside Sunset.

“You’ll go to your quarters this instant or you’ll suffer the same punish-”

WHAM.

Applejack slammed her fist down on the desk, the metal crumpling like paper under her magical strength. She glared at the Overseer as she wrenched her hand out of the dented desk. “Ah said. That. Ain’t. Happening.”

“Nice one Applejack!” Rainbow called as the Overseer cowered away, the blood draining from his face.

Sunset couldn’t resist smirking at the look on his face. “As I was saying,” she said mockingly, “We’re leaving the Vault.” Sunset glanced meaningfully down at the crumpled dent in the desk. “Unless you want to try and stop us?”

The Overseer shook his head slowly. Shaking like a leaf, he looked over at Gomez. “Officer Gomez, I want you to escort these young ladies to the exit. Make sure they leave and seal the Vault shut behind them.”

“Y-yes sir.” Gomez replied, his voice quavering as he stared at Applejack. “R-right this way girls.”

The girls followed Gomez out of the office, Amata close behind. Officer’s O’Brian and Richards were still waiting in the reception area, watching the group warily until the Overseer called them into the office.

“I guess this is where we say goodbye then?” Amata said suddenly.

Sunset nodded sadly. “I guess so, what are you going to do now?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure. Now that I know the Vault has been opened before I have a lot to think about.”

Sunset shifted awkwardly. “Are you going to be alright here?”

Amata raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Sunset inclined her head to the Overseer’s office. “Those bruises, that was him wasn’t it?”

“It was on his orders, I helped Adam escape.” Amata shook her head slowly. “Don't worry about me, I can handle myself.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “I’m sorry it had to end like this.”

“Don’t worry about it. You just worry about finding Adam and James. Try and find your way home, wherever that really is.” Amata said with a smile, turning to head to her quarters.

Smiling back at her, Sunset followed Gomez and her friends out of the reception and back through the Vault. Truth be told she felt somewhat bad about leaving, especially in such unpleasant circumstances. As much as Sunset hated the Vault, she had gotten used to life there.

None of the girls spoke as they walked along, each lost in their own thoughts. The corridors were still deserted save for the dead radroaches, a fact Sunset was privately glad for. She’d barely been up for a hour or two and already the day had been almost more than she could take.

Entering the Atrium Gomez led the girls down a corridor they had never ventured down before. Large splotches of blood marred the floor with a trail of red droplets leading back into the Vault proper, as if someone had carried a heavily bleeding body out of there. As she followed the others into the corridor Sunset looked up and back. The Overseer was standing in his office, glaring down at the girls out of his window. Sunset threw him the filthiest look she could muster before she passed out of his line of sight.

Gomez led the way up a set of steps and into a large, dark room with grimy walls. It reminded Sunset of nothing so much as the Vault’s Reactor Level. Set in the wall directly opposite them was a massive gear-shaped door. They were finally at the main entrance of Vault 101.

A set of railings lined a small path leading to the door itself. At the near end of those railings was a control panel. Gomez stepped up to it and yanked down the only lever sticking out of it. An alarm immediately started blaring. Hydraulics hissed furiously as a huge piston descended from the ceiling and shifted forward, slotting into a hole in the door. The piston retracted, dragging the gear-shaped door backwards with an almighty grinding sound then rolling it aside to reveal a long, rocky tunnel leading up and out of the vault.

"So this is it." Twilight said quietly.

"It sure is." Applejack replied.

Fluttershy looked sadly back down the stairs. "Will everyone be alright in there? They don't have a doctor anymore, what if they need me?"

Gomez patted her on the back gently. "Don't worry too much about it, all of the security officers have basic first aid training and so do a few of the others. We'll manage. We did before."

Rainbow grinned as she started down the path, "Come on guys, this is going to be awesome!"

"Going by how the rest of this day has gone, I highly doubt it." Rarity grumbled as she followed Rainbow.

"Hey! Wait for me guys!" Pinkie called, skipping down the path.

As Sunset made to follow the others Gomez put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. “Did James ever tell you anything about the Wasteland around here?”

Sunset shook her head.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but…” Gomez sighed. “They call it the Capital Wasteland. There’s a settlement not far from here, I think they called it Megaton. At least, that’s what I can remember from Old Lady Palmer’s stories. That’s probably the best place to start looking for James.”

Sunset smiled gratefully at him. “Thanks Gomez.”

“Don’t mention it, you girls just take care of yourselves out there.”

As Sunset turned to leave, the door they had came through was slammed open and Officers O‘Brian and Richards stepped through, clutching pistols and grinning evilly.

“The Overseer says he wants you freaks properly… taken care of…” O’Brian chuckled as he leveled his gun at Sunset.

“Run!” Gomez yelled, diving at O'Brian and forcing the gun away.

Not wasting another moment, Sunset vaulted over the railings and belted after the others as they fled out of the vault. Several gunshots rang out and bullets sparked off the floor and walls around her. Sprinting out of the door, Sunset tripped and almost fell over a skeleton lying outside. As she ran she saw there were several of them tangled up in the tunnel, many of them still clutching dusty placards. She wondered if they had died trying to get into the vault.

The other girls had gotten to the end of the tunnel and passed through a little wooden door. Sunset kept running as she heard shouts and more gunshots behind her. Suddenly the alarm rang out again, signalling that the door was closing. As she heard the horrific grinding of the vault being sealed once more, Sunset charged through the wooden door and out into blinding sunlight.

Author's Note

Another release!

It took me a while to decide on the name for James's son, but after considering all of the biblical references (and specifically mentions of Eden) in Fallout 3 I figured Adam was probably a decent choice.

Constructive criticism would very much be appreciated on things so far, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 6 - The Outside World

Sunset Shimmer slowed to a halt, shielding her eyes against the sudden brightness. After the dimness of the vault the sunshine was blinding. As her eyes adjusted she saw they were near the top of a large, rocky hill. Her friends were all catching their breath nearby.

Twilight looked up as Sunset approached, adjusting her glasses. “Are they following us?”

Sunset shook her head, breathing hard. That had scared her more than she cared to admit. “No… they closed the vault door behind us.”

“That’s a relief.” Fluttershy panted.

Twilight sighed as she slumped to the floor. “Well that just happened.”

Rainbow angrily kicked at a pebble. “I can’t believe the Overseer ordered those goons to shoot at us!”

“I‘m just glad Gomez stepped in.” Sunset shivered, shocked at how close she had come to getting shot.

Fluttershy looked anxiously back at the tunnel, “Um, you don’t think they hurt him… do you?”

Pinkie smiled brightly. “Of course they wouldn’t silly. After all he’s a member of the security team too.” Her smile faded as she looked around uncertainly. “Right?”

“We can only hope. With the Vault sealed there really isn’t much we can do about it.” Rarity groaned, perching herself on a nearby rock. “What an absolute nightmare today has been.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Applejack grumbled. “Ah suppose ah could try and force the door open myself if we wanted to check on him but wouldn’t that kinda defeat the point of leaving?”

Sunset nodded. “It would just make everything worse and probably get one of us shot.”

“Not to mention it would probably break the door, letting who knows what kind of mutated creatures and radiation into the Vault.” Twilight added.

The reminder about the radiation gave Sunset a jolt. “Never mind the Vault, what are the radiation levels like out here?!” She whipped her arm up to check her Pip-Boy, only to realize she’d left it in their quarters.

Twilight grimaced as she checked her own Pip-Boy. “Higher than they should be. The background radiation isn’t high enough to be dangerous in the short term but… we probably shouldn’t spend too much time out here unprotected.”

“Do you think our magic will help protect us against the radiation?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know… maybe?” Twilight shrugged, “Do we want to take the risk?”

Sunset sighed heavily, “No. No we do not.”

“Oh this is just awful! This wretched Wasteland is going to wreak havoc on my skin!” Rarity whined.

Applejack rolled her eyes at the fashionista, “Somehow I think radiation is gonna cause bigger problems than just ‘bad skin’.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, still fiddling with her Pip-Boy. “Personally I’d be more concerned about the many forms of cancer. Of course there’s also the risk of radiation poisoning, radiation burns, a compromised immune system-”

“Alright we get it.” Rainbow huffed, “If the Wasteland sucks so much how about we get moving.”

“But where do we go?” Fluttershy asked. “What are we going to do?”

“We need to try and find James, and preferably Adam too,” Sunset said shortly. “Gomez mentioned a settlement called Megaton, I guess we could start looking there.”

Rarity sighed and got up, dusting herself off. “That’s all very well and good darling, but first we’ll have to find Megaton itself.”

“Isn’t that it right there?” Pinkie piped up, skipping down the hill.

The girls followed her a short way down the hill and onto a rocky outcrop. A battered little sign at the end announced it was, somewhat ironically in Sunset’s opinion, a ‘scenic overlook’.

The Capital Wasteland stretched away below them, dotted with boulders, blasted trees and rusty pylons. Towering over the landscape to their right they could see the shattered remains of an overpass, while down the hill to their left were the charred remnants of an old town. The burnt-out shells of old-fashioned houses lined the streets leading to a larger concrete structure, still partially intact. More ruins lined the horizon as far as the eye could see. Sunset thought she could even make out the broken husk of an old monument in the distance.

Skipping to the very edge of the outcrop, Pinkie grinned and pointed ahead. In the near distance, past a broken water tower, rose huge walls made out of rusted scrap metal. They extended for quite a distance, surrounding what was clearly a settlement of some kind.

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she took it all in. “Huh, I guess that must be Megaton.”

Fluttershy stepped up next to them, her gaze roaming over the landscape. “It’s so… desolate.” she said quietly.

“Ah can see why they call it the Wasteland.” Applejack agreed. She leaned over the edge, scanning the ground below. “There’s a road down there but it heads down into that old town. You reckon we can just climb over those rocks by the water tower? It’s more of a straight route.”

“I’ll go check it out.” Rainbow replied, darting off in a multi-colored blur. Barely two seconds later she was back. “Yeah, that’s not happening. There’s a cliff right there by the water tower, no way we can all climb down safely. The terrain off to the right is really rough too so I think we should just follow the road into town and try to find a long way around.”

“Sounds like a plan, lead the way Rainbow.” Sunset said, glad to have something that at least resembled a plan.

Following Rainbow’s lead, the girls backed off the promontory and headed further down the hill, coming to the road Applejack had pointed out. The tarmac was cracked and dotted with craters filled with foul, green water. There were odd-looking cars scattered around, but none of them looked to be in good enough condition to try and drive. As the group traipsed down the road towards the ruined town a loud growling sound suddenly drew everyone’s attention.

Sunset blushed furiously. “Er, guess I’m kinda hungry.”

“Haven’t you eaten anything yet?” Twilight asked as the others giggled.

Sunset shook her head and shrugged off her pack. “It’s a good thing I thought to pack food.” she mumbled, pulling out some sandwiches that she’d made the day before and just never gotten around to eating.

“What else did you pack?” Applejack asked, “Ah haven’t actually looked in my backpack yet.”

“Clean undergarments, socks, toiletries, several bottles of water each and all of the food we had left in our quarters.” Rarity replied, counting off on her fingers. “We also packed all of our spare first aid supplies into Fluttershy’s kit.”

“That explains why it’s heavier than usual.” Fluttershy muttered.

“I packed my tool belt too.” Sunset added between mouthfuls.

Applejack glanced down at her own tool belt, secure around her waist. “Shoot, ah forgot about that. Ah’m so used to wearing it ah forgot to ask the Overseer if ah could keep it.”

“Isn’t… isn’t it technically stealing? Bringing all of this with us without permission?” Fluttershy asked quietly

“Considering the old coot just tried to have us all killed I wouldn’t worry about it.” Rainbow called over her shoulder. “Besides we all brought our Pip-Boys too.”

“I didn’t.” Sunset grumbled, inwardly cursing herself for forgetting it.

“Oh, did you want it now?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset looked up curiously, then barely reacted in time to catch the Pip-Boy Pinkie tossed at her.

“I picked it up for you when we left our quarters, just in case.” Pinkie said in response to Sunset’s incredulous look.

“Wow, thanks Pinkie!” Sunset grinned as she slotted the Pip-Boy over her arm.

“Don’t mention it!” Pinkie called, trotting over to inspect a ruined house.

The girls looked around nervously as they entered the ruined town. What used to be large, affluent-looking houses had been reduced to little more than skeletons of scorched timber. Sunset had heard about the terrible war that had raged in the past, but seeing the evidence of it up close was a sobering experience. She couldn’t help but imagine what it must have been like, going about your daily life until, out of nowhere, a bomb was dropped and everything you knew and loved was scoured away by nuclear fire.

Fluttershy suddenly let out a yelp, startling everyone.

“What is it?!” Applejack asked urgently.

Fluttershy pointed through one of the ruined buildings. “Look!”

Weaving through the ruins was some sort of floating orb. The girls noticed a distinctive buzzing sound emanating from it as it wound its way closer. As it rounded a corner Sunset realised it was a little, hovering robot. A speaker took up most of it’s front and there were several aerials poking out all over it’s ball-like body. The robot took no notice of the girls whatsoever, it just bobbed right past them, a jaunty little tune crackling out of it’s speaker as it turned around and headed back into the ruins.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, watching it float back out of sight. “Well that was random.”

“Ah’ll say.” Applejack agreed.

“Hey look!” Sunset said suddenly, rushing off in front of the others. A stylized metal sculpture of a rocket stood alone past the buildings, large red letters on it spelling out red rocket. Under the sculpture was what had drawn Sunset’s attention. A vending machine, it’s lights flickering intermittently, and a corrugated iron sign with the word MEGATON and an arrow painted on it in big yellow letters.

“Looks like we’re going the right way.” Sunset said with relief.

Pinkie skipped over to the vending machine, jabbing at a button and frowning when nothing happened.

“Ah doubt there’s anything in there somehow.” Applejack pointed out as Pinkie heaved the front of it open

“There is!” Pinkie retorted, waving a pair of bottles in the air. Little labels proclaimed them to be ‘Nuka-Cola’.

Sunset stopped her as she pulled a bottle-opener out of her pocket. “Pinkie you can‘t drink that!”

“Why not?” Pinkie blinked, puzzled.

Sunset slapped a palm to her forehead in exasperation. “They’re probably irradiated Pinkie.”

“Let me take a look at that.” Twilight said quickly, grabbing one and holding her Pip-Boy over it.

“Awwwww.”

“Are they safe?” Sunset asked.

“They are irradiated, but not much.” Twilight said, frowning at the bottle. “Frankly it’s not much worse than the background radiation.”

“Is it really worth the risk just for some dodgy old soda?” Applejack asked incredulously.

Fluttershy shook her head vehemently. “I wouldn’t say so. Not until we know what the rest of the food is like out here.”
Twilight sighed, handing the bottle back to Pinkie. “Fluttershy’s right, for all we know all of the food out here could be radioactive to some extent.”

“Oh I wish I‘d thought to see if there was any rad-x or radaway in the clinic.” Fluttershy moaned.

“What are those?” Rainbow asked.

“They’re medicines developed in this world to cleanse radiation from the body.”

Sunset frowned at the bottles. “We’ll keep them for now. If people here have a way of clearing radiation from the body then maybe they have a way of clearing it from food too?” She shrugged and turned to follow the sign. “Come on, let’s go find Megaton.”

“I hope the people there are friendly.” Fluttershy said quietly as they started walking again.

Rarity patted her on the shoulder gently. “I do hope so too but given the reception we faced when we first arrived in this dreadful world I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high.”

“They might be less hostile to us than the Vault dwellers." Twilight said, absently wiping dust from her glasses. "James wasn’t really concerned by our colors and don’t forget he was originally from the Wasteland. It‘s possible people out here are used to things like that.”

“Our skin maybe, but what about our magic?” Applejack asked, “We still keeping that hidden?”

“We should probably avoid using it unless we absolutely have to.” Sunset replied. “James may not have been bothered by us but we don’t know how everyone else out here will react. For all we know things could turn violent.”

Pinkie skipped ahead of the others and turned around, smiling back at them. “It cant be that bad. If the Wasteland is so dangerous it wouldn’t make sense for everyone to be mean to each other all the time for no reason. They have to stick together to survive.”

Sunset thought about it. “That kinda makes sense but… I don’t know.”

“Just trust in Pinkie Pie! I bet the people in Megaton are all really super-duper friendly!”

“Super-duper friendly huh?” Sunset muttered as she tried to ignore the rifle pointed directly at her face, Pinkie chuckled nervously next to her.

As she and her friends had approached the gates of Megaton a man had called down to them from his crow’s nest high on the looming walls, demanding that they come no closer unless they wanted to get shot. He had kept his gun trained on them as he shouted something to someone down in the town behind him. Sunset wished he would point that rifle somewhere else, her arms were starting to ache from holding her hands above her head.

“Are we sure we really want to be here?” Rarity whispered, flinching and holding her arms a little higher as the man took aim at her instead.

“We don’t really have any choice.” Sunset replied, “We need to find out if James or Adam came through this way.”

“Look on the bright side, at least he hasn’t actually shot at us yet.” Pinkie chuckled nervously.

“Darn it Pinkie if you tempt fate like that one more time ah swear ah’ll-” Applejack’s threat died in her throat as Megaton’s gates were heaved open.

The man who stepped out to meet them looked like he had wandered straight out of an old western movie. He was dark-skinned and black-haired, wearing a heavy duster and a matching cowboy hat. The sheriff’s badge pinned to his chest gleamed in the sunlight. The assault rifle he casually hefted did nothing to reassure Sunset about their current predicament.

The sheriff stopped dead as he saw the group. He muttered something under his breath before shaking his head and striding towards the girls. Sunset was just glad he didn’t point his gun directly at any of them. That was a good sign, right?

The sheriff halted again a few yards from Sunset. He gave the girls a good look over before speaking. “Just when I think there’s nothing that can surprise me any more the Wasteland pulls out something new. Name’s Lucas Simms, town sheriff. What’s your business in Megaton?”

Sunset wondered whether she was allowed to lower her hands yet. “Hello sheriff, er, my name’s Sunset Shimmer and these are my friends. We don’t want to cause any trouble, we’re just looking for someone.”

“Two people actually.” Twilight cut in.

“Is that a fact?” Simms raised an eyebrow. “And who exactly is it you’re looking for?”

“A guy named James. He’s a doctor, middle-aged with grey hair.” Sunset replied, “The other one’s a young man named Adam. He’s got black hair, and was probably wearing a-”

“Vault 101 jumpsuit?” Simms interrupted. He smirked at the surprised looks on the girls faces. “What, you think I’ve never seen one of those before? Honestly I‘m surprised you girls aren’t wearing them.”

“How’d you know we’re from the Vault?” Applejack asked.

“Simple really. The fact that you know Adam is proof enough. That kid wouldn’t know a raider from a yao guai and I’m guessing you girls don’t either.” Simms chuckled darkly, “Besides, the nearest settlement is a few miles from here and yet you barely have a speck of dirt on you. There’s no way you could travel any real distance across the Wastes in those fancy clothes and still be all clean and polished like that.”

“Wonderful.” Rarity huffed, eliciting another chuckle from the sheriff.

"So... have you seen James or Adam?” Sunset asked.

Simms nodded curtly, “Sure have, James came through early this morning. I didn’t really pay him much attention until Adam came through asking about him.”

“Are they still here?” Sunset stepped forward eagerly, ignoring the rifle that swung back to point at her. She was glad to finally have some good news.

Her hopes crashed right back down again as Simms shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Adam went out on some sort of errand for Moriarty. He came back afterwards but then he left again, must have been a few hours ago now. He said he was going after his father.”

“Which way did they go? I might be able to catch up!” Rainbow asked eagerly.

The sheriff just laughed at that. “You’d have to be pretty damned fast to catch up, they have a few hours head start.” He shook his head again, still smiling. “I’m sorry but I don’t know which way they went. Your best bet would be to speak to Moriarty, up at the saloon. He should know more.”

Sunset glanced up at the man in the crow‘s nest. “Does this mean you‘re going to let us in?”

Simms eyed the girls carefully. “One more question first. Are you mutants of some kind or is that some freaky Vault disease that I don’t want to know about?”

“We were born like this.” Sunset sighed.

Simms nodded grimly, “Sorry, but I had to ask. Keeping the people of this town safe is my top priority. Alright you can put your hands down.” He called up to the crow’s nest, “It’s okay Stockholm, they can pass.”

“I thought you would be used to mutants out here?” Twilight asked, rubbing her wrists to get the blood flowing again, “I mean, I know the wildlife has been mutated to some extent so I assume there are some people who have been too?”

“To an extent, I’ve never seen anything like you girls though.”

“Well there goes that theory.” Twilight muttered.

“I hate to say it, but you’re going to have to get used to people looking at you funny. Even with the radiation things don’t usually get that colorful out here in the Wastes.” Simms turned and gestured for the girls to follow. “Come on, let’s get you acquainted with the town.”

Author's Note

Another day, another chapter.

This one is a little smaller than most of the others but next week will be bigger and (hopefully) better as the girls get their first real taste of Capitol Wasteland civilization.

As always any comments or criticisms would be much appreciated

Chapter 7 - Prophets and Profits

The girls looked around as the gates clanged shut behind them. The entire settlement of Megaton was built around a huge crater. The buildings were all constructed on different levels, with walkways going between many of them high above the floor. At the very bottom of the crater, jutting out of a pool of filthy water, was a huge statue of a dropped bomb. A makeshift staircase led down the crater towards it. Everything was made out of the same rusty old scrap metal.

“Well, this is Megaton.” Simms said. He pointed up to a large building near the rear of Megaton. A sign above the door identified it as Moriarty’s Saloon. “You’ll find Moriarty up there most of the time. If anyone in this town knows were your friends went it‘ll be him. But be careful. Moriarty doesn’t give out anything for free, and he certainly isn’t someone you can trust no matter what he says.”

Sunset smiled at him. “Thanks. We‘ll be careful.”

Simms just nodded, “Is there anything else you want to know about the town?”

“There is one thing.” Sunset had been wondering about a certain problem at the back of her mind ever since they left the Vault. One she hadn’t had to deal with since she first left Equestria. “What sort of currency do you use out here?”

“I don’t know what you used down in that Vault but out here we use caps.” Simms fished one out of his pocket and held it up.

The girls just stared at it in bemusement.

It was Rarity who finally said what they were all thinking. “Is… is that a bottle cap?”

“Yep.”

“Seriously? You guys use bottle caps to buy stuff out here?” Rainbow asked.

Simms laughed softly and slipped the cap back into his pocket. “It’s all we can use really. Paper’s too fragile but caps are light, tough and they’re too small to have any other use.”

Applejack gave Pinkie a playful nudge. “Well at least those colas you picked up aren’t completely useless, even if we can’t drink ‘em.”

“Actually I had a question about that.” Twilight asked suddenly. “I understand there’s medicine that can purge radiation from our bodies, but do you have any technology that can scrub it from food too?”

“I wish.” Simms grumbled, “We’ve got a water processor here that gives us clean water but food is a whole other story. Anything we can hunt, scavenge or raise is going to be tainted with radiation in some way or another, and don’t even get me started on how hard it is to try and grow stuff.”

Fluttershy shifted awkwardly. “So, um, what do we eat when our supplies run out?”

“If you’re worried about rads from the food your best bet would be to pick up some radaway or something from Doc Church down at the clinic, but for that you‘ll need caps.” Simms said, pointing to a small hut near the bottom of the crater. “Same goes for the water I’m afraid. We just don’t have the reserves to go handing out clean water to strangers for free.”

“Wonderful.” Rarity pouted. “Well I suppose between the seven of us we can come up with some way of raising an income.”

“If and when we need to.” Sunset agreed, “Come on girls, the sooner we find out where James and Adam went the sooner we can catch up. Thanks again sheriff.”

“Alright, you girls look after yourselves. Just make sure to mind your manners and don’t go causing any trouble. If you need anything else just holler.” The sheriff turned to walk away, then stopped and called back over his shoulder. “Oh, almost forgot. Watch out for the Church of Atom.”

“The what of what now?” Rainbow asked.

Simms just chuckled darkly. “You’ll see.”

With that cryptic comment he left, strolling away around the edge of the settlement. Sharing a confused glance with her friends, Sunset led the way down the staircase and deeper into the crater. Several residents passed the girls by as they walked. None of them spoke, though all of them eyed the girls suspiciously, some of them muttering things that Sunset was privately glad she couldn’t quite hear.

“Well ain’t that something.”

Sunset looked around to see what Applejack was talking about, pulling her attention away from the two-headed mutant cow being milked outside the clinic. The others were stood nearby, gazing up at the huge bomb statue standing proud in it‘s little lake. Stepping over to join them, Sunset was not at all reassured by the faint green glow that emanated from the surface of the pool.

They weren’t the only ones looking at the statue. A small group of residents was gathered near the edge of the water, all listening intently to the words of a man standing in front of them. Knee-deep in the glowing water, the man was apparently a priest of some sort. He was delivering a sermon while facing the statue, his eyes closed and his arms held out to his sides as if bathing in it’s glory.

“Let those who dwell here in his favored land attend now to the words of the prophet of Atom. Come forth, and drink the waters of the Glow, for this ancient weapon of war is our salvation, it is the very symbol of Atom’s glory. Let it serve, as a reminder of the division that has occurred in the past, and the promise of the resplendence of our division, in the times to come. Give your bodies to Atom.”

Sunset listened as the priest droned on. He clearly had a few screws loose. .

“Do you think he’s alright?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, looking over as well. “Standing in that water can’t be good for him.”

Twilight frowned at the priest. “He’s probably going to get either radiation poisoning or some sort of cancer. Maybe both.” She raised an eyebrow as she surveyed the gathering. “Are they… worshiping the statue?”

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. “Looks to me like they’re a few bushels short of a tree.”

“I suppose it makes sense, if you think about it.” Fluttershy supplied. She blushed as the others turned to look at her. “Um, well, I mean, it was bombs like this that ended their civilization two hundred years ago. The face of the whole planet must have been changed.”

Sunset thought about what Fluttershy was saying. “Remolding a planet, ending civilizations, that does sound like the power of a god.” Or perhaps Discord. She wondered again what that must have been like, watching civilization burn as the bombs fell. Sunset shivered. That was not something she wanted to picture, especially while standing next to a representation of one of those bombs.

“It appears his little congregation has noticed our attention.” Rarity noted warily.
Indeed several members of the group were nudging their fellows and pointing at the girls. Their reactions couldn’t have been further from those of the other Megaton settlers. Their eyes widened in shock, many of them smiling at the girls or clapping their hands to their mouths in excitement.

“At least they look happy to see us!” Pinkie grinned.

“Well duh, it’s about time someone around here realized how awesome we are!” Rainbow replied, sticking her hands on her hips and standing tall.

The priest frowned and opened his eyes slowly as he turned to see why his followers had stopped paying attention. Following their gazes he spotted the little group of friends. Still blinking in the sunshine, it took him a moment to register what he was seeing. As he focused on the girls his eyes went wide.

Clasping his hands together he called out joyfully. “Oh my, but you are clearly blessed by Atom! Dear children, welcome! Welcome to Megaton!” He span around to face his flock again and flung an arm out towards the girls, “Look, my dear brothers and sisters! Look upon these blessed daughters of Atom who stand before us and bask in their glorious presence!”

Rainbow slowly turned to look at her friends, confusion etched on her features. “Uh, what the heck is this guy talking about?”

“Not a darn clue.” Applejack replied, looking wide-eyed at the mad priest.

“I have no idea either darling, but I could certainly get used to it.” Rarity purred. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and struck a dignified pose, clearly enjoying the positive attention.

The priest turned back to the girls, waving them over. “Please come closer honored sisters, do not be afraid.”

Reluctantly the girls approached the priest, careful not to touch the water. The people around them shifted to give the girls plenty of room, their expressions ranging from awestruck to reverent.

The priest spread his arms as the girls stopped before him, smiling widely. “Welcome again, blessed children. I am Confessor Cromwell, prophet of Atom and humble shepherd of this faithful flock. It is truly an honor to meet such favored daughters of Atom.”

“Er… thanks.” Sunset replied, taken aback by the fervor of his welcome. “I’m Sunset Shimmer and these are my friends Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.”

Each of the girls nodded or waved a little as Sunset gestured to them, Rarity flicking her hair again and flashing a dazzling smile while Fluttershy did her level best to hide behind Applejack.

Cromwell bowed deeply. “It is truly a blessing to meet you all.” He raised a hand to indicate the statue beside him. “I noticed you blessed sisters were interested in the bearer of our salvation.”

“Oh, er, yes.” Twilight smiled nervously. “It’s an impressive, uh, monument. A very accurate representation of an early nuclear bomb.”

Pinkie nodded vigorously. “Yep, it’s a really cool statue.”

A look of confusion passed across Cromwell’s face. “Forgive me, did you say statue?” He grinned and shook his head, chuckling quietly, “My dear children, this great monument is no mere imitation or simulacrum. This holy idol is a relic of the ancient conflict, a reminder of the great division that has occurred in the past and a promise of further division yet to come.”

Applejack just blinked in confusion. “Say what now?”

Sunset felt the blood drain from her face as she realized what the Confessor meant. “It’s a real bomb… a real… nuclear… bomb…”

There was a moment of silence as each of the girls just stared at the bomb.

“Oh sugar honey iced tea.” Applejack breathed.

“So that’s seriously a real atomic bomb?” Rainbow asked quietly, “That… is… so… AWESOME!” she yelled, punching a fist in the air.

“Atom left us this instrument of his will that we may know of his glory and look forward to the great division to come.” Cromwell intoned. “It is proof of Atom’s will that one so blessed by his Glow would seek to understand the mechanism by which he brings forth new life. Please, feel free to enter the waters of the Glow and take a closer look.”

“You‘re kidding me right? You‘re not seriously saying you built a town around a real live atomic bomb!?” Applejack blurted out.

Cromwell smiled sadly at her. “I understand your concern. It can be difficult to resist the natural fear inspired by the power of the great division, even for those who enjoy the blessing of Atom. It is only by overcoming this fear, and accepting the warm embrace of the Glow, that we can truly consider ourselves to be one with Atom.”

“Don’t worry Applejack, it’s probably safe.” Twilight said, “After all, if the bomb hasn’t gone off in the last two centuries I can’t imagine why it would suddenly go off now for no reason.”

Rarity took a few paces backwards, “Much as I trust your intellect darling, I would feel a lot safer if we were to go, oh I don’t know, somewhere as far away from here as possible?”

“Come one guys, this is awesome!” Rainbow said, grinning up at the bomb. “How many people we know can say they’ve been this close to a real atomic bomb!”

“Technically calling it a atomic bomb is a misnomer, after all the energy only comes from the nucleus of the atom.” Twilight piped up.

Rainbow just rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, egghead.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at her nerdy friend. “Okay Rainbow I get, but why do you sound so happy about this?”

“Oh come on Sunset, you have to admit it’s fascinating!” Twilight exclaimed. “I wonder why the bomb never went off originally?”

“Maybe the detonator was damaged?” Sunset wondered aloud, interested despite herself. “Or maybe it wasn’t primed properly before it was dropped?”

Cromwell looked delighted, “You are knowledgeable in the ways of Atom’s great instruments?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not really, I just read somewhere that nuclear bombs actually require a very complex and precise detonation process or they won’t go off.”

“It depends on what type of bomb it is.” Twilight interjected. “This looks like an old implosion-type, which would require a very precise detonation sequence to cause a complete nuclear detonation. Though I suppose an accident of some sort could still cause a partial detonation from the conventional explosives stored inside.”

Sunset folded her arms, considering Twilight’s words.

“Anyone mind explaining what the heck she just said?” Applejack asked, clearly having trouble keeping up.

Surprisingly, it was Pinkie who answered. “She said the bomb won’t go off with a really REALLY big boom, but there is a chance we could get a regular big boom.”

Sunset grimaced at that. “The town would probably survive, but I still wouldn’t want to be stood anywhere near here if that happened.”

Cromwell reached out and stroked the bomb, almost lovingly. “By Atom’s will this wonderful relic has stood proudly here for over two hundred years. It shall only be by His will that the great division shall come again. Fear not, for when it does so it shall not be the pale imitation of mere accident, but the full might of Atom‘s glorious will.”

Sunset stared blankly at him. “Er, right. Well as… interesting as this has been we really need to get going. There’s something important we have to do and we‘re running late as it is.”

Cromwell turned back to face the girls, disappointment coloring his features. “Oh, of course. Forgive me blessed children, I shall keep you no longer.” He pointed to a building on the far side of the bomb. “Should you ever find yourselves in need of guidance or succor, please do not hesitate to call upon us. The Church of Atom would be honored to welcome such distinguished guests.”

“We will certainly consider that, er, thanks again!” Sunset called as she turned to leave, Cromwell’s followers parting to allow the girls to pass. Once they were away from the group she looked around, trying to get her bearings. “Does anyone have any idea which way the saloon is?”

“Up this way!” Pinkie called, pointing to a little signpost.

The girls followed Pinkie as she skipped up another staircase. Together the seven friends made their way up and out of the crater and onto the walkways of Megaton, ignoring the stares and mutterings of the other residents that passed them by.

While the others discussed the sheer lunacy that was the Church of Atom, Sunset was content to simply take in their surroundings. The view when they reached the upper walkways was particularly impressive. Looking down on the sprawl of Megaton, Sunset realized it had a sort of dilapidated, haphazard charm to it. She was still imagining how fun it would be to be let loose on the town with her paints when they finally arrived at the saloon.

Inside, the saloon was made of the same grimy scrap metal as the rest of the town. Several small round tables and chairs were dotted around the place, and there was a long counter lined with stools for the patrons. There were quite a few patrons spread around in there as well as two people stood behind the bar. One was sharing a laugh with a woman sat in front of him while the other, the man serving drinks, Sunset had to take a second look at him. The poor man (Sunset assumed it was a man) looked like some sort of zombie out of an old horror flick. The whole place was filled with a hubbub of conversation, all of which stopped the moment the girls walked through the door.

Sunset felt an unpleasant shiver down her spine as every single person in the room turned to stare at them. A small squeal and a nudge on her pack told her that Fluttershy had hidden behind her, right in the middle of the group. Sunset glanced nervously around the room. There were plenty of frowns, scowls and looks of complete shock on the faces of the patrons but, unlike the Church of Atom, no-one looked happy to see them. Suddenly a man shouted from on end of the bar.

“What the fuck? Moriarty, have you put fucking Jet in the booze or something?!”

Most of the other patrons laughed uproariously at that. Grinning nervously, Sunset and the others stepped over to the counter, walking up to the man standing behind the bar.

Sunset assumed this must be Moriarty. He was wearing a long, sleeveless leather coat over a clean white t-shirt. His hair and scruffy little beard were both iron-grey. He looked far cleaner and more well-maintained than anyone the girls had met since leaving Vault 101.

“Well now, this isn’t something you see every day. Colin Moriarty, at your service!” Moriarty gave an easy smile, running his eyes over the girls as he started polishing a glass. “And what brings such well-dressed and, dare I say, exotic looking ladies to my fine establishment.”

Moriarty spoke with an interesting accent that Sunset couldn’t quite place. Shireland maybe? He certainly seemed friendly, though she remembered what Simms had said about trusting the man. Sunset wondered if he would be anywhere near as friendly if they hadn’t been dressed in their own clothes.

“Hi. I’m Sunset Shimmer. We’re actually looking for a couple of people and the sheriff said you might be able to help. Two Vault residents called James and Adam, we heard they passed through here?”

Moriarty raised an eyebrow. “News travels fast. I happen to know for a fact that this is the first time Adam has been out of that Vault since he was a babe, which begs the question, how do you girls know about him?”

“We spent some time in the Vault ourselves.” Sunset replied, “Can you tell us where they went? It’s really important that we speak to James.”

“Is that a fact?” He put the glass down and looked Sunset in the eye. “Alright, here‘s how it is. Yes, James was here, and then he left. Young Adam came in afterwards looking for James himself and exchange for the information he did me a little favor. You see, information is a commodity.” He smirked slightly, folding his arms. “Now sadly I don’t have any errands that desperately need doing right now so how about we say… three hundred caps and I tell you exactly where James and Adam went.”

Sunset glanced uneasily around at her friends. “We don’t have any caps.”

“Technically we have two.” Twilight said brightly. Her smile faded quickly as the others turned to frown at her. “I guess that doesn’t really make a difference.”

Moriarty sighed theatrically, placing his hands on the counter. “Now you see, that right there is a problem.” He sucked his teeth loudly, “Hmmm, how about those pretty little necklaces? You give me those and I’ll call it even.”

Sunset grabbed her Geode protectively, “Our necklaces are not for sale.”

Rarity suddenly stepped forward, slipping one of her gold bracelets off and placing it on the counter. “How about this instead? I’m sure such a refined gentleman as yourself can see the value, and for such a simple piece of information, hmmm?” She smiled up at Moriarty, fluttering her eyelashes.

Moriarty just frowned at her, “Are you trying to swindle me with fake crap?”

Rarity’s eye twitched as her voice dropped dangerously. “Fake?”

“Listen here girlie, even if that little trinket is real there’s no fucker out here who’d be stupid enough to buy it. Meaning it’s completely fucking useless to me. You want information you bring me caps, not fucking paperweights.”

Moriarty stepped back, folding his arms again. “I’ll tell you what, since you girls obviously have no fucking clue how things work out here in the wastes I’ll help you out. Out of the kindness of my heart and all. What we’ll do is this. You girls work for me here at the bar and I’ll pay you for the work you do. There’s seven of you so each of you only has to work one day a week if that’s how you want it. Very reasonable.”

Sunset frowned at him. It certainly sounded reasonable, but there was no way Sunset wanted to wait around even a day. Let alone a whole week. Not to mention Moriarty hadn’t mentioned how much he would pay them or exactly what their work would entail. Suddenly she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. The zombie who had been serving drinks was glancing surreptitiously her way, subtly shaking his head.

That was enough for her. “Sorry Mr Moriarty, but I think we’ll find our own way of raising the money you want.”

Moriarty snorted and picked the glass back up. “You’re more than welcome to try. Now if you don’t mind, this establishment is for paying customers only.”

Sunset threw him a filthy look and led her friends back out of the saloon.

“What a creep.” Rainbow said, leaning against the railings of the walkway.

“That’s a polite way of putting it.” Rarity scowled as she slid her bracelet back onto her wrist, “Fake indeed!”

Applejack sighed and leaned next to Rainbow, “Well now what are we supposed to do?”

Sunset groaned and rubbed her temples. “I didn’t want to do this but… I think we should split up. Go through this whole settlement and see if we can find any odd jobs that people need doing.”

Pinkie‘s hand shot into the air. “Oh oh! Like planning a party? Or babysitting? Or baking a cake?”

“Anything that will get us the caps we need as quickly as possible.”

“Sounds good to me, who’s going with who?” Applejack asked.

Sunset looked around at her friends. “Rarity, you go with Rainbow Dash. Applejack and Pinkie can go together. Twilight, Fluttershy, come with me. We’ll meet back at the entrance to Megaton as soon as we can. Sound good?”

There was a chorus of agreement from the others then they all went their separate ways.

Sunset, Twilight and Fluttershy’s job hunt did not go well. First they tracked down the sheriff to see if he had any ideas. He directed them to a restaurant back down by the bomb but they weren’t willing to hire any of the girls, nor did they or any of their patrons have any odd jobs that needed doing. From there they tried asking people around the common house but that went south quickly. Hardly any of the settlers were willing to even talk to the girls, let alone pay them for anything.

“I hate this town.” Sunset moaned, folding her arms and slumping against a wall.

The three girls had given up for now and decided to have a little lunch out of their remaining Vault supplies.

“The people here aren’t very friendly.” Fluttershy muttered, “It’s even worse out here than it was in the Vault.”

Twilight just nodded, quietly munching away on a slice of cake Pinkie had baked a few days before. How it hadn’t gone stale yet Sunset couldn’t guess.

Sunset sighed heavily, “I guess we’ll just have to keep trying, hopefully the others are having more luck.”

“I doubt it.” Twilight said miserably, “The people here really don’t seem to like us, I guess we’re just too different.”

“Perhaps I can be of some assistance.”

The girls jumped as a voice called out from a nearby alleyway. A man was standing in the shadows, wearing a smart grey business suit with a fedora and sunglasses.

“Sunset Shimmer I presume?” The man tilted his hat in greeting. “My name is Mr Burke. I have a proposition for you.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the slight delay in this chapter, work has been pushing overtime lately and frankly 3am starts suck.

One thing I've never really noticed until I started this story is just how different the spelling can be between British English and American English, u's and s's and z's all doing different things. Definitely glad this site has a spell checker!

Comments and criticisms greatly appreciated as always, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 9 - Peace and Quiet

The clatter of hooves echoed off the streets of Canterlot as a young filly galloped for her life. She glanced back over her shoulder to see if the looming shadow was still chasing her. The moment of distraction cost her, a loose cobble tripping her and sending her crashing to the floor.

“My, my. Such a state you are in.”

The young woman looked up. The cobbled streets had been replaced by the halls of Canterlot High, tiled floors stretching away in front of her. Her friends were slumped over, pools of blood slowly spreading underneath them. Mr Burke strolled towards her, stepping almost casually over her friends’ bodies.

“You brought them to this.” he snarled. The young woman whimpered as he raised his gun to point at her face. “And now you‘ll pay the price.” There was a burst of light as he pulled the trigger.

Sunset Shimmer woke with a jolt.

Drenched with sweat, she glanced around frantically, ignoring the flash of pain that lanced through her skull. Her friends were there. Perfectly safe, mostly unharmed and sleeping quite soundly. A nightmare, she realised. Just a stupid nightmare.

Groaning at the throbbing in her head, Sunset hauled herself into a sitting position, grabbed a bottle of water from the bedside table and knocked back one of the pain lozenges Fluttershy had given her. She sat there for a while, waiting for her heart to stop pounding and the painkillers to kick in. After the events of the day before, Sunset really wasn’t surprised that she had had a nightmare like that. She shivered and shook her head, putting off those dark thoughts for the moment.

At least the sheriff had let the girls stay in the common house for the night, as thanks for saving his life. As much as Sunset begrudged the delay, the fact that neither her nor Rainbow were in any condition to travel far forced her to accept his offer. The beds were rickety and the blankets threadbare, but the girls were lucky enough to have the entire top floor to themselves.

Squinting around the dark room, Sunset saw Rarity and Pinkie Pie were still asleep on one bed, Applejack and Twilight curled up together on another. Rainbow Dash was snoring gently on one of her own. The girls had agreed to let her and Sunset have a bed each to themselves for the night, so their injuries would have a chance to heal.

It took a moment for Sunset to realize someone was missing.

She looked around the room again, but there was no sign of Fluttershy. The bed she had been sleeping on was empty and her clothes were gone. The only things left behind were her pack and nursing kit.

Careful not to wake anyone, Sunset climbed shakily to her feet, pulled her clothes on and crept to the stairs. She made her way down as stealthily as she could, checking each floor for her friend as she passed until she got to the bottom and quietly pried open the door to the outside.

Fluttershy was leaning on the railings outside, singing softly to herself as she gazed up at the stars. Her head whipped around as Sunset gently pulled the door closed behind her.

“Sorry. Can’t sleep?” Sunset asked.

Flutters just shook her head, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

Sunset sighed and joined her at the railings. “Yeah, me neither.”

“Is the pain keeping you awake? I can give you another stimpak if you want.”

“No it‘s not that, I just….”

Fluttershy gave her a look of sad understanding, “You can’t stop thinking about what happened?” Sunset didn’t answer. Luckily Flutters didn’t seem to need one. “Me too.”

Sunset absently reached up and felt the gauze around her temple. Through some spectacular stroke of luck Burke’s bullet had only grazed her. The bruises on her face were actually much more painful, but pain wasn’t what was interrupting her sleep.

“I just, I keep thinking about what happened. What I could have done differently, what I should have done differently.” Sunset turned and slumped against the railings, trying to keep her rising emotions in check. There was a moment’s silence, then she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“It’s not your fault, Sunset.”

“That’s just it, it is all my fault!” Sunset burst out as she slid down until she was curled up on the floor, her back against the rail. “I’m supposed to be the group leader, but all I’ve done is get us into trouble. First we had to leave the Vault and I almost got us killed doing that, then we were held at gunpoint when we tried to get in this stupid town,”

Try as she might, Sunset couldn’t stop the tears that started to trickle slowly down her face. “And then everything that happened with Burke yesterday! I knew he was dangerous, I knew he had a gun, and I still dragged all of you into that mess. It’s thanks to me the sheriff got shot and Rainbow got hurt and then Burke he… he tried to...” The images flashed through her mind again. The sheriff staggering. Rainbow crashing over the table. Burke raising his gun, pointing it right between her eyes. The moment of terror before he fired. The blood on her hand. Her blood.

That last image sent Sunset lurching to her feet. She managed to lean out over the railings just in time to avoid vomiting all over herself.

Fluttershy waited patiently until she was done, kindly rubbing her back to help her feel better. Once Sunset was finished, moaning and resting her forehead on the cool metal of the rails, Fluttershy spoke quietly.

“None of this is your fault Sunset.” Sunset didn’t answer, her little outburst had left her weak and shaking. “What happened in the Vault isn’t your fault, it’s the Overseer’s. And… I suppose… maybe James as well. A bit. I mean, he did leave without telling us anything so…” Flutters shook her head, “Anyway, it is not your fault and neither was what happened when we tried to get into Megaton. You know the only reason we were held up was because of how we look.”

I suppose that’s true, Sunset thought, there wasn’t really anything she could do about the color of their skin.

“As for what happened afterwards, a-at the saloon…” Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, her face pale, “Well, you heard what the sheriff said. Mr Burke he… he didn’t want to come quietly.”

Sunset shivered. That was true too. No matter what anyone said or did, there was no way that confrontation could’ve ended well. “I suppose you’re right. Maybe there’s nothing much I could have done but…” She sighed heavily. “The Geode Diviner was my idea. I feel like I’m responsible for everything that’s happened since that went wrong.”

“I think, um, I think both Twilights would disagree with you there.” Flutters sighed softly, “To be honest… I think it’s only thanks to you that we’ve made it this far.” Sunset frowned but let Fluttershy continue, mostly because she didn’t think she could talk without throwing up again, “I mean, ever since we got here bad things have happened, very bad, very scary things…” Fluttershy trailed off for a moment, her gaze distant. She shook her head swiftly and continued, “But we’re all still okay, and I think that’s thanks to you.” Fluttershy‘s lips twitched, “Also, um, when we said you were group leader, we were expecting things like work assignments and group projects. Not, um, not things like-”

“Not gunfights and nuclear bombs.” Sunset huffed and smiled up at her friend. She had to admit, she was starting to feel a little better. “Thanks Fluttershy, you’re the best.”

Flutters gave an embarrassed grin. “Um, you‘re welcome. Are… are you okay?”

“Not really,” Sunset admitted, “But I think I will be.”

The two girls stood in silence for a little while. Fluttershy was looking up at the stars again while Sunset gazed at the town, spreading out around and below them. At night, the town took on a completely different aspect. The dilapidated charm of the day was gone, replaced with a scene of melancholic beauty, an unkempt dream of survival against the odds. Or maybe, Sunset thought, I’m just in a funny mood thanks to everything that’s happened. And the painkillers. And the lack of sleep.

“Um…Sunset…?” Fluttershy’s quiet voice brought Sunset back to earth. “What’s up?”

A faint blush started to spread across Fluttershy’s cheeks. “I never did thank you, for down in the Vault.”

Sunset frowned. “What do you mean?”

Flutters twitched her hair, hiding her face slightly. “I know what you and the others did for me, about the Tunnel Snakes.”

Ah. That. Sunset had tried to make sure that Flutters didn’t find out about their efforts to keep Butch’s gang away from her, but apparently she’d noticed anyway. “How did you find out?”

Flutters put a finger to her lips and hummed, “I think I started to wonder the day after we took the G.O.A.T. You were all so careful not to let me go anywhere alone. She chuckled softly, “I finally asked Rainbow about it after what she did to Wally.”

Sunset groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. Rainbow had been late to meet Fluttershy from the clinic and had stumbled upon Wally, Officer Mack’s younger brother, trying to give Flutters a hard time. Most of the girls would have done something sensible, like step in or call a security officer. Rainbow had not done something sensible. Instead she’d used her super speed to dart behind Wally, kick the poor fool as hard as she could between the legs, and run away before he ever realized she was there.

“Poor Wally was terrified of me after that.” Fluttershy pouted.

“Sorry about that, Rainbow panicked.” Sunset massaged her temples, remembering the grilling she’d given the cerulean twit when she heard about it. “Wait a minute, if you spotted Rainbow doing that, why didn’t you say anything to us?”

“I asked Rainbow about it when I saw her. All she told me was that she was looking out for me, making sure I didn’t get into any trouble.” An uncharacteristic frown marred Fluttershy’s features. “She‘s a terrible liar, I realized the Tunnel Snakes were targeting me. It‘s okay!” she said quickly, seeing the look on Sunset’s face, “I wasn’t scared. Well, um, not too scared anyway. I trusted the rest of you to keep me safe but… why? Why were they after me?”

“That’s… kinda my fault.” Sunset glanced sheepishly at her, “You remember the party they threw for us, when we were allowed into the Vault population?” Flutters nodded. “Well, before that trouble with Officer Mack I ran into Butch. He, um… he sort of… made a pass at me.” Sunset couldn’t help blushing slightly, as much as the memory disgusted her, “When I rejected him, he started threatening you.”

Fluttershy just gazed at her in horror. “So… so that’s why they went after me…”

“Yeah, uh, I‘m… sorry?”

Flutters shook her head. “Oh no, don’t be. I’m just sorry you had to go through that.” Sunset smiled slightly at the look of horror on her friends face. “So that’s when you and the others decided to protect me?” Sunset nodded slowly. “But, why didn’t you tell me?”

Sunset winced, but decided it was time to tell the truth. “I’m sorry. We didn’t want you to worry so we decided we would try and make the Tunnel Snakes think you were… kinda… haunted.”

Fluttershy’s mouth dropped open. “Haunted!?”

Sunset grinned, “Yeah. We told them you were protected by the ghosts of the old North block and that bad things happened to people who tried to hurt you.” She let out a quiet laugh, “Rainbow used her super speed to hide their things and we had Twilight move stuff around using her magic to really sell it.”

“That’s really mean!” Fluttershy said, but couldn’t resist giggling herself. Her smile slowly dissolved into a frown, “I, um, I do think you went a little far though. With, um, with what Pinkie did.”

“That wasn’t planned, that was all Pinkie.” Sunset shivered as she remembered.

She and Fluttershy had been strolling through the corridors when they’d ran into all four of the Tunnel Snakes. Apparently they’d decided to prove that they were big, strong men who weren’t afraid of Flutters or her ‘ghosts’. By ganging up on her. Sunset had been tensed for a confrontation when a storage cupboard opened and out stepped Pinkie, her hair flat and straight.

Sunset had never asked what Pinkie was doing in there with the lights off, let alone why she was utterly soaking wet. She didn’t ask what the rubber chicken was about, and she really didn’t want to know why Pinkie had been clutching a meat cleaver. All things considered, Sunset really didn’t blame Butch and his cronies for screaming and running away. Heck, she’d considered doing just that herself.

The sudden creak of the door behind them grabbed the girls attention. They turned to see Twilight poking her head out of the common house.

“There you are, we wondered where you‘d got to. Is everything all right?”

Sunset smiled at her. “Sorry Twilight, we just needed some fresh air.”

“It’s fine, I understand.” Twilight smiled back, “Also, Fluttershy? Rainbow’s woken up again. She wants to know if she can have some more painkillers, the bruising on her shoulder is starting to hurt again.”

“Oh, of course. I’ll be right up.” Fluttershy said quickly, pushing off the rails.

Sunset stretched and yawned widely. “I should probably try and get some more sleep too. I just hope I don’t have any more nightmares.”

Fluttershy cringed. “Me too. That’s why I came out here.” A pale blush colored her cheeks again. “Well, I mean, that and I had to… let’s just say… I-I think both of us should apologize to whoever’s roof that is, um, down there.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and glanced over the railings at the house directly under where they were standing, grimacing at what was splattered down there.

“Nice.”

Author's Note

Just a short chapter this week as Sunset comes to terms with the events of last chapter.

Next week will be back to our regularly scheduled programming!

As always comments and criticisms will be welcomed!

Chapter 10 - Rainbooms Delivery Service

Bright, morning light shone down upon the town of Megaton, bathing the settlement in a warm, golden glow. Sunset hated it. She especially hated one particular shaft of sunshine that had found it’s way through a hole in the roof and came to rest squarely on her face. With a grunt she rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

Dimly, Sunset realized she could hear the sound of voices. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Fluttershy were sat together on the floor, chatting quietly. They all looked around as Sunset slowly sat up.

“Morning Sunset.” Applejack said, speaking quietly so as not to wake the others.

“Morning.” Sunset yawned, pulling her legs around to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Didn’t wake you up did we?”

Sunset slowly shook her head as she yawned again.

Fluttershy came over to inspect Sunset’s face, checking her bandage and the bruises that Burke had left. “How are you feeling this morning?” she asked, gently running her fingers over Sunset’s cheek and chin.

“A bit sore, but I’ll be fine.” Fluttershy nodded and toddled over to her pack, returning to perch next to Sunset with a bottle of water. Sunset accepted it gratefully, taking a swig then pressing the cold bottle against her cheek with a soft moan. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not long,” Twilight yawned. “Me and Applejack woke up about half an hour ago and Fluttershy got up a little while after that.” She rubbed her neck, looking awkwardly at Sunset. “Are you… y‘know… feeling alright after last night?”

Shuddering slightly, Sunset nodded. All of the girls had been awake when she and Flutters returned upstairs the night before, discussing everything that had happened. All of the girls had supported and reassured each other as they got everything out of their systems.

At some point during the discussion Flutters had started crying again, followed swiftly by Sunset. It wasn’t long before all of the girls were huddled together in one big, sobbing group hug. Once they had cried themselves out and returned to bed, they had all agreed on one thing. They needed to find Adam and James, then find a way off this awful world.

A light hiss sounded from Rainbow’s bed as she painfully hauled herself into a sitting position. Fluttershy was instantly up and checking Rainbow’s shoulder, a nasty bruise showing through the gaps in the sling.

“Easy Fluttershy.” Rainbow grumbled, wincing at her touch.

“Oh, sorry Rainbow.” Fluttershy said quietly, inspecting the bruise. “It’s not too badly swollen, I’d suggest keeping your arm in the sling for today to see how it heals.”

Rainbow nodded sleepily. “You’re the boss.”

“Ah guess now we’re just waiting on Pinkie and Rarity.” Applejack huffed.

“I’m awake.” Pinkie called drowsily, “Rarity’s just reaaally comfy.”

The girls’ heads whipped around at that. Pinkie had her arms wrapped tightly around Rarity. Sunset gaped as Pinkie nuzzled into the young fashionista’s chest, humming quietly in her half-asleep state. Either the conversation or the contact roused Rarity. She blinked slowly, glanced down at Pinkie, then closed her eyes again. Suddenly her eyes shot back open, her gaze locked on the pink menace currently buried in her cleavage, drooling onto her brassiere.

“Gaaaah!”

Rarity clapped both of her hands to Pinkie’s face and shoved her away as hard as she could. They struggled for a moment until Pinkie slipped off the bed and thumped to the floor with a squawk, sparking a round of giggles from the other girls.

“Talk about a rude awakening.” Twilight chuckled.

“Seriously, I was half expecting her to start motor-boating you!” Rainbow quipped, earning a slap upside the head from Applejack.

“I bet the readers would be into that.” Pinkie mumbled as she sat up, looking dazed.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay…?”

“Oh, you didn’t hit your head did you?” Fluttershy asked anxiously.

“Nope!” Pinkie cried, springing to her feet and pulling a cupcake out of her hair.

“Oh, that reminds me. Me and Applejack were just going through our food supplies before the rest of you woke up.” Twilight used her magic to levitate a small selection of food to everyone. “Here you go, breakfast.”

Sunset grabbed the sandwich that floated to her and dug in eagerly, too hungry to care how stale and dry it had gone. “How much of this do we have left?”

“Plenty, Pinkie packed enough to last us for a week. It may get a little stale, but we’ve already eaten everything that will perish too quickly. The problem is going to be clean water.” Twilight held up a bottle for emphasis, “Even if we’re careful, we only have enough to last for another day or so at most.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “So we either need to catch up with Adam and James somehow, or try and raise enough caps to pay Moriarty AND buy more supplies.” She looked around at the others, “Did any of you have any luck finding work yesterday?”

Rarity shook her head. “I’m afraid not darling. We hoped the Church of Atom would be able to point us in the right direction, but I’m afraid none of them had any ideas.”

“They offered to share some of their donations with us, but that just felt kinda wrong, y’know?” Rainbow added.

“That’s a shame, ah guess me and Pinkie were the only ones who got paid after all.” Applejack smirked and pulled a pouch out of her pocket, “Two hundred caps, right here.”

“Excellent!” Sunset grinned as the others all congratulated the two. “How did you manage that?”

“The water processing plant.” Pinkie replied, “Turns out they had a few leaks, so they paid us to help fix them.”

“So that means we only need, what, another hundred caps for the creep?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight nodded. “Plus however much the water costs.”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that.” Sunset shifted awkwardly on the bed. “This probably isn’t exactly ethical but… I’ve been thinking of using my magic on Moriarty, to find out where James went.”

“Instead of paying him?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset just nodded.

“That, uh… that don’t feel right.” Applejack said quietly.

“It does seem a little, dishonest.” Rarity admitted, “What if we offer him a hundred caps first? After all he is a businessman, he may be willing to haggle.”

“Sounds good to me.” Sunset agreed.

Applejack stuffed the pouch of caps back into her pocket. “Alright, now that that’s settled, what’s the plan for today?”

Sunset thought for a moment. “We should probably go and speak to Moriarty first, after that we can see about getting the supplies we need. Once we‘re ready we‘ll head out after Adam and James.”

Most of the others nodded at that, but Rarity just grimaced. “That sounds all well and good, but first I think we need to visit the restroom and get ourselves clean.”

Now that was a good idea, Sunset thought. One thing the common house lacked was any sort of cleaning facility, in fact the only way the girls could wash or use the toilet was to go to the communal women’s washroom around the corner. She and the others quickly finished their meager breakfast and hurried to get dressed.

Clutching their packs, the girls made the short trip to the washroom. There were hardly any other residents around at the moment, just a couple of people enjoying a peaceful stroll in the crisp, morning air. Soft sunlight bathed the whole town, the rusted scrap metal glowing orange with tiny pricks of light reflecting off the few shiny surfaces remaining. Sunset had to admit, she was coming to enjoy the rugged charm of this little place.

The washroom was tiny, little more than a row of toilet cubicles with a couple of sinks and a bath tucked away in the corner. Luckily Rarity had thought to pack towels and toiletries when they left Vault 101, and all of the girls had plenty of spare underclothes. They took it in turns to use the bath, being careful to ration the hot water as Simms had advised them.

Clean, dry, and wrapped up in a bath towel, Sunset opened her pack to retrieve clean panties and a bra then stopped, her eyes widening as she saw what had been placed in there.

Mr Burke’s gun, with the silencer still attached, was nestled on top of her clothes and tool belt. A small box of bullets lay next to it.

Sunset panicked for a moment, wondering how the heck they got there.

“What’s up Sunshim?” Pinkie called from the bathtub.

When Sunset didn’t answer Rarity looked up from berating Rainbow about not shaving her legs. “Are you alright darling? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Sunset held the bag out to her. Looking inside Rarity winced as she spotted the gun, lurking there ominously. “Ah, yes. I’d forgotten about that.”

“What’s it doing in there?” Sunset asked shakily.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “The sheriff gave it to you dear, don’t you remember?”

“He what?” Sunset had a vague recollection of Simms giving her something, but the details were fuzzy. Most of what had happened after the incident with Burke was just a blur of shock and painkillers.

“Y’know, after Fluttershy woke you back up?” Rainbow reminded her. “He said we should keep it, in case we need protection out in the Wastes.”

Sunset just stared blankly at them. “But… why me? I couldn’t use one of these, there’s no way! Why do I have to have it? Why did we even keep it?!”

“Cause we figured it could do less damage with us than with someone like Moriarty.” Applejack replied as she came out of a cubicle, “And we left it with you cause none of the rest of us felt comfortable with it ‘cept for Rainbow, and there‘s no way we‘d trust her not to mess with it.” AJ walked over and clasped a hand to Sunset’s shoulder, ignoring Rainbow’s glare. “Listen sugarcube, if you really don’t want it, we can stash it under a pillow or give it back to the sheriff or something. You don’t have to take it.”

Sunset looked back and forth between her pack and her friends. Finally she sighed heavily, “I’ll take it. It’s like you said, it’ll do less damage with us.” She went to reach in for her spare underwear, then stopped as another thought occurred to her. “It… it’s not going to go off or something in there, is it?”

Applejack smiled and shook her head. “Nah, the sheriff made sure the safety was on before he gave it to you.”

“Okay, good.” Sunset sighed again, this time with relief. She gingerly moved the gun aside and rummaged around for her underwear as the other went back to getting ready.

“Now then, where was I.” Rarity said quietly, “Ah yes, that was it!” She pulled a razor out of her pack and held it out to Rainbow.

“Oh come on! I’m wearing pants aren’t I!?”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile as the two returned to their bickering. Once they were all clean and dressed, the dressing on Sunset’s wound changed and Rainbow‘s sling readjusted, the girls quickly repacked their toiletries before making their way up to Moriarty’s saloon.

The saloon was surprisingly busy when they arrived. The patrons still looked around when the girls entered, but their reactions were far less negative than they had been the previous day. Several of them nodded or raised a glass to the girls as they passed. It seemed that saving the sheriff’s life had improved the girls standing among the residents. The zombie from before was scurrying around serving drinks, but even he spared the girls a quick smile when he saw them.

Looking around, Sunset was glad to see that the bloody remains of yesterday‘s incident had been cleaned away. She was less glad to spot Moriarty behind the bar, raising an eyebrow at her in a way that was far from reassuring. Nevertheless he smiled as the girls approached. “And here you are again. So have you come back to cause some more fucking mess for Gob to clean up?”

Sunset shook her head quickly. “We aren’t looking for any more trouble. We've actually brought some caps.”

“Oh really? Now we’re talking my language.” At the mere mention of caps his expression suddenly turned a lot friendlier. “Are you looking to get something to drink or have you brought the five hundred caps for your friends‘ whereabouts?”

“Wha- five hundred!?” Rarity spat. “You said it was three hundred yesterday!”

“I did yes, then you tried to swindle me with one of your cheap bracelets and refused my generous offer of work.” Moriarty shrugged, ignoring the enraged spluttering coming from Rarity. “You ought to be glad I’m only asking for five hundred, after you came back here and fucked up my bar yesterday.”

One of the patrons sat near spoke up at that. “Aw come on Moriarty that ain’t fair man.”

“Shut the fuck up Billy or you’re paying double for the rest of the week.”

Sunset glared at Moriarty, her temper starting to fray. “That monster was trying to destroy this whole town.”

“Which is why I’m being charitable and not charging you extra for shooting up the place.” Moriarty folded his arms and frowned at her. “Listen girlie, I ain't going to stand here and argue with you all fucking day. Do you have the caps or not?”

It took all of Sunset‘s willpower not to say something scathing. She’d had enough of Moriarty’s attitude and she wasn’t in the mood for haggling, now was the time for magic. The only problem was trying to do it without getting caught. Cringing inwardly, Sunset spoke in as sultry a voice as she could manage. “We don’t, but perhaps there is something else we could do for you?” She laid a hand over his, taking care to keep her eyes down. The moment her skin touched his a flood of images filled her mind.

Moriarty yanked his hand back, breaking the connection. “I ain’t into mutant sluts. You want the information you’re goin’ to have to pay for it.”

‘Oh thank Celestia’ Sunset thought, profoundly grateful he had turned her down, although one particular vision of him was going to haunt her for a while. She threw him a look of utter contempt. “You know what, I think we can find James on our own.”

Moriarty snorted. “Is that a fact? Suit yourself. Come back and find me when you finally start seeing sense. Oh, and next time? You’d better bring me plenty of fucking caps.” Without another word he turned and stalked off into a back room, slamming the door behind him. Once she was sure he couldn’t hear, Sunset turned to the others.

“What did you see?” Applejack asked.

Sunset frowned, thinking about what she had seen in Moriarty’s memories. “I saw James. He didn’t stay here long, he said he had important business to attend to. He said he was heading into the city, something about finding Galaxy News Radio. Adam‘s gone after him.”

“Great! How do we find it?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset blinked for a moment, then smacked a palm to her forehead as she realized their predicament. "I have no idea."

“Well at least it’s a start.” Applejack said with a shrug.

Rarity just flicked her hair and smiled. “Not to worry dears. Excuse me, Billy was it?” The patron who had spoken up for them looked around in surprise, “So sorry to bother you darling, but you wouldn’t happen to know where we could find Galaxy News Radio would you?”

Billy leaned back on his stool, rubbing at his eye patch as he thought. “It’s somewhere in the old downtown D.C ruins southeast of here. Not sure exactly where though, sorry.”

“Don’t be darling, you’ve been a great help.”

“You’re looking for Galaxy News?” Sunset turned to see the zombie, Gob she assumed after seeing Moriarty‘s memories, looking worriedly at the girls. His skin was decayed and flaking and his nose had rotted away entirely. A faint smell of decay and sweat rose from under his filthy clothes.

“Yeah, our friends went that way and we’re trying to catch up with them. Do you know where it is.” Sunset took great care to keep her expression neutral as she responded, she didn’t want to offend him accidentally.

“Yeah, I know where it is.” Gob’s voice was quiet and raspy, “I‘m, uh, not sure I should really tell you though.”

“Why not?”

“The D.C ruins are seriously dangerous.” he said softly, “I don’t think you girls can handle it.”

“All the more reason for us to get there as quickly as we can, our friends have gone that way and they’ll need our help.” Applejack put in. “Especially Adam, he‘s fresh out of the Vault.”

“The Vault boy who came in yesterday?” Gob asked. “He looked like he could handle himself, he had a couple of guns anyway.”

“Wait, really?” Sunset asked in surprise.

Gob just nodded. “Sure, he had a pistol and some sort of little rifle thing. Do you have any guns?”

Sunset shivered as she thought about the gun lurking in her pack at that very moment. “Nothing we can use, but don't worry, we can take care of ourselves.”

“Look, no offence but you girls are dressed like you belong up in Tenpenny Tower or down in a Vault, not scavving around the most dangerous parts of the Capital Wasteland.”

“Listen sugarcube, I know we may not look like much but I promise you, we’re a lot stronger than we look. We’ve been through plenty of rough spots before and come out on top.” Applejack said firmly.

Gob just shook his head, frowning. “You don’t get it. The D.C ruins are on a whole other level. You got super mutants, ferals-”

“Shit, I heard even Talon Company are trying to muscle their way in.” Billy interrupted.

Gob nodded sagely. “Going down there without any equipment is suicide.”

“That doesn’t sound very nice.” Fluttershy muttered.

“I’m just trying to keep you girls safe.” he said quietly, “You did this whole town a huge favor yesterday, and nearly got killed doing it. Hell, you’re some of the only people I’ve met that haven’t given me shit just because I’m a ghoul.”

“We wouldn’t dream of it darling!” Rarity said quickly.

“Nu-uh.” Pinkie added with a shake of her head.

Sunset looked pleadingly at him. “Please, we have to find our friends.”

Gob wavered for a moment. He shot Billy a glance, but got nothing more than a shrug in response. Finally he sighed and looked back up at Sunset. “Alright, fine. Prove you can handle it, and I’ll tell you how to get to Galaxy News.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Rainbow cried, “How can we prove it to you?”

Gob folded his arms and frowned, thinking.

Suddenly Billy spoke up, “Hey, I got an idea!” He turned and shouted to someone in the corner. “Hey, Lucy! You still need someone to take that letter?”

“Sure do!” A young woman made her way over to the group. Sunset recognized her as one of the residents they had passed once or twice. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and her clothes were clean and well looked after. “Hey you girls are the ones that saved the sheriff’s life yesterday right?”

“They sure are.” Billy answered, “They’re looking to get some experience out in the Wastes.”

Lucy’s face brightened at that, “Perfect! I need someone to drop a letter to my family in Arefu, think you’re up for it?”

Sunset hesitated. She hated the constant delays, but didn’t feel comfortable using her magic to invade Gob’s privacy either, he was only trying to look out for them after all. It took her a moment to realize all of the other girls were looking to her, waiting for a decision. She sighed in resignation.

“Alright, how far away is Arefu?” And why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?

Lucy grinned as she pulled a letter out of her pocket and handed it to Sunset. “Great! It‘s not that far away. Head Northwest from here until you find the Potomac, it’s on an old overpass. If you follow what’s left of the river you can’t miss it.”

Twilight stepped forward suddenly, fiddling with her Pip-Boy, “Do you think you could point it out on this map?”

“Sure thing.”

Sunset just stared at Twilight. “Wait, you have a map?”

“Well, yeah? All of our Pip-Boys have pre-war maps of the surrounding area programmed into them. The problem is they’re all over two hundred years old and not annotated in any way.” Twilight nodded her thanks to Lucy and fiddled with the Pip-Boy some more. “But we can add markers to them, I've already added ones for Vault 101 and Megaton to mine, and now I've got one for the rough location of Arefu too!”

Sunset shook her head in bemusement as her nerdy friend moved around and entered the location into everyone else‘s Pip-Boys too. “Alright, I suppose we’d better get going. The sooner we go the sooner we can get back.”

Lucy held a hand out to Sunset. “Thanks for doing this, just be careful. Evan might get a little suspicious what with your skin and all.”

“Evan?” Sunset asked as she shook her hand.

“He’s sort of the sheriff, or something. As long as you‘re friendly and tell him why you‘re there he shouldn’t give you any trouble.”

“I certainly hope so, I must admit I was expecting a little less hostility from the residents of the Wasteland.” Rarity huffed.

Lucy’s eyebrows shot up, “Really? Out here? Wow, I hope you don’t run into a raiders or you’re going to have a shock.”

“Or a slaver party.” Billy added.

“Or any super mutants.” Gob muttered.

“Don’t forget Talon Company.”

“Or the landmines.”

“Hell the critters are bad enough.”

“Not to mention the odd crazy robot wandering around.”

Sunset just blinked. Slavers? Raiders? Landmines?! Robots?!? This was starting to sound like a really bad idea.

Applejack placed a hand on Sunset‘s shoulder, cutting in quickly. “Don’t worry y‘all, we‘ll be extra careful. Come on sugarcube, let’s go deliver this letter.”

Lucy put a hand on Sunset’s arm as she turned to leave. “Hey, thanks again for doing this for me, it means a lot.” Sunset just smiled back as she was led out of the saloon.

“We know what you’re thinking sugarcube, and you can stop worrying.” Applejack said suddenly as she led the way to the main gate.

“Wha-? I-I’m not-” Sunset spluttered.

“Not worrying about how dangerous this could turn out and thinking we shouldn’t do it?” Rainbow interrupted with a grin.

Sunset sighed heavily. “It’s that obvious huh?”

Rarity shook her head. “It’s written all over your face darling.”

Twilight put a reassuring hand on Sunset‘s arm. “I know we nominated you as the group leader, but that doesn’t mean you have to take on all of the responsibility yourself.”

“Don’t worry Sunset, we’ve got this!” Pinkie cried.

“The more experience we get out there in the wastes the better.” Twilight said reasonably. “It’s the only way we’re going to be able to find James and Adam safely.”

Sunset understood what they were getting at, but she was still worried. “I agree with what you are saying, but this world is dangerous.” She shook her head sadly. “I just don’t want to see any more of my friends get hurt.”

Applejack smiled back at her. “We know what you mean, but look what we’ve been through so far.”

That’s exactly my point!” Sunset blurted out. “In just one day our lives have been at risk in a way we’ve never dealt with before.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “We’ve been through dangerous times before Sunset. I know it’s not the same as before.” she added as Sunset opened her mouth to retort. “But even with everything that’s happened since we got here we’re still alive, and we’re still together.”

Fluttershy nodded, her face set. “We’re willing to take the risk Sunset.”

Sunset looked around at her friends smiling at her. They all looked nervous, but they also looked determined. She sighed and smiled back at them. “Okay, let’s deliver this letter.”

“That’s the spirit!” Applejack clapped her on the back as the others whooped and cheered. “

“Alright.” Sunset took a deep breath, steeling herself for the journey ahead. “Let’s do this.” She took the lead, heading towards the main gate. When they arrived at the gate they shouted up to the guard in the crow‘s nest, asking him to let them out. Simms had mentioned yesterday that a pair of protective panels were closed over the gate every night and had to be opened before anyone could leave.

The guard pressed a switch and the girls heard the roar of a huge turbine engine kicking into life. They winced at the terrific grinding noise that told them the protective panels were being moved out of the way. As the roar of the engine died away he waved them through, Sunset leading the way out of the gates and once more into the wastes beyond.

Sunset led the group towards the burnt-out town they had passed through yesterday, aiming for the ruined buildings she could make out over the tops of the boulders. Going in as straight a line as they could, they found the way wasn’t as difficult to pass as it had seemed when they had came the other way the day before. There were plenty of dirt paths that wound through the rocks and down into the town, and they came out of the boulders right next to the red rocket sculpture they had found yesterday.

Rainbow suddenly pointed into the ruins. “Hey look! That thing’s still going around!” The same strange little robot they had spotted yesterday was still hovering around, apparently patrolling the ruins.

Applejack frowned at the little orb as it floated past. “What do you think it’s doing?”

“Ignoring us for the moment.” Sunset replied. As long as it left them alone, she was more than happy to ignore it and focus on the task at hand.

“Which way are we heading?” Rainbow asked as Sunset led the way through the streets and out the other side. A large ruined building loomed on their right, dwarfing the nearby houses. Not far off to their left a crumbling overpass towered over the landscape.

Sunset pointed. “I’m thinking we should go that way, under the overpass. That‘s Northwest, if we follow that way we should come to the Potomac.”

The girls turned off the road and left the ruins behind. As they neared the overpass Rainbow suddenly grabbed Sunset and pulled her into a crouch, motioning for the others to do the same.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sunset whispered urgently. Rainbow just pointed up at the overpass. A makeshift shelter had been built on top. Sunset could just make out a couple of people moving about, carrying guns.

Applejack edged forward quietly. “You don’t think they’re friendly?”

Sunset shook her head slowly. “After what Lucy said about raiders and slavers it’s not worth the risk. Let’s keep quiet until we’re well past them.”

The others nodded in agreement, keeping low to the ground and being careful not to make any noise as they sneaked under. They could hear voices far above, but Sunset couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

On the other side of the overpass the terrain was far more open. There were wide open spaces covered with yellowed grass and scrubby bushes. Blasted trees and damaged buildings dotted the rolling landscape, small hills and shallow craters breaking up the ground. It wasn’t until they were picking their way past a ruined barn that the girls encountered their first wasteland critter.

Sunset recognized it as a naked mole rat, but grown to the size of a collie dog. Fortunately the little creature understood and was happy to talk to Fluttershy, who was ecstatic to find an animal that didn’t attack on sight. It had never heard the name Arefu, but it did recognize their description of the settlement and pointed them in the right direction.

Following the mole rat’s directions, the girls climbed to the top of a small hill and looked out at the landscape sweeping away in front of them. Not too far off, nestled it’s own little valley, the Potomac river glistened in the sunlight. Another overpass sloped up and stopped halfway over the river, the other half of it lay ruined in the Potomac itself. A building made of scrap sat at the bottom of the ramp, while a few more sat atop the overpass.

“You reckon that’s Arefu?” Applejack asked, tilting her hat back to see better.

Sunset grinned as a gentle breeze tugged at her hair. “It certainly looks like it.”

A sudden shout snapped her attention back to her surroundings. A metal fence jutted out of the ground a short way down the hill, the remains of an old baseball field. What looked disturbingly like a body was dangling from the top, suspended by chains. Two men nearby had spotted the girls and were charging up the hill. Both were carrying baseball bats and hurling threats at the group.

“They don’t look friendly.” Pinkie said slowly.

Rainbow shifted awkwardly, tugging at her sling. “I know I’m awesome, but I’m not sure I’m up for a fight with my shoulder like this.”

“What are we going to do?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

Sunset eyed the men as they belted up the hill, whooping and calling out vile threats. They were spattered with muck and what looked like dried blood. “It doesn’t look like they have any guns. Rarity, do you think you can knock them down with a gemstone when they get close?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at her. “Of course I can dear… but aren't we hiding our magic?”

“Not from random thugs trying to kill us... or whatever it is those guys want to do.”

Rarity glanced disdainfully down at the men. “I see your point.” As they neared the girls she thrust her arm out towards them. A huge gemstone appeared out of thin air and smacked into the men, knocking their bats out of their hands and sending them both tumbling back down the hill.

“Nice work.” Applejack said appreciatively.

“Oh it was nothing dear.” Rarity smirked.

Sunset stalked down after them, the others close on her heels. The two men were lying in a heap at the bottom of the hill, groaning and swearing feebly. One of them rolled onto his knees and looked up as the girls approached. His blonde hair was filthy and blood streamed from his crooked nose. “What the fuck was that?”

Sunset folded her arms and glared down at him as Applejack and Rainbow took up positions over his friend. “Why did you attack us?”

Blondie spat blood over Sunset’s shoes, glaring defiantly up at her. “Fuck you, you mutant slut.”

Rarity grimaced. “I must say the language in this world is utterly appalling.”

Applejack placed a foot on the other man’s back, forcing him to the ground as he tried to get up. “You reckon these are some of those raiders that Lucy told us about?”

“Probably.” Sunset replied, not taking her eyes from the face of the blonde one. “We’re going to let you get up, and you’re going to leave this place. Get out of our sight and don’t come back.”

The raider hauled himself to his feet, staggering slightly. Applejack stepped back so he could help his friend to his feet. Throwing the girls one last look of loathing, the two limped away as quickly as they could. Once they were out of sight Sunset heaved a sigh of relief.

Rainbow smirked and nudged her. “Told you we could handle the wastes.”

“That was a little easier than I expected it to be.” Sunset admitted. “We’re lucky they didn’t have guns though. We should be more cautious when we’re walking around out here.” Sunset adjusted her pack and pointed ahead. “Come on, let’s get to Arefu before anything else happens.”

The girls set off again, crossing the dusty old baseball pitch and off towards the settlement. It didn’t take long for them to reach the building at the base of the overpass. Up close the girls could see it was built out of rusty old corrugated iron. It looked solid enough but for some reason the doors had been boarded up.

Next to the building a paddock had been marked out with wooden fencing. Several large, brown cows were lying dead inside. Something bothered Sunset about their bodies, but she couldn’t work out what was wrong. On closer inspection she realized with a start that they were all mutants. Each of the bodies had two fully grown heads.

Leaving the poor creatures behind, the girls headed onto the overpass. An old freeway sign still hung above the road. Heavy weathering had left most of the writing illegible except for the remains of one word, ‘AREFU’. Burnt-out cars and piles of rubble littered one side of the road but the other side had been kept mostly clear. Wooden planks had been laid across large cracks in the road. Crossing these carefully the girls could see the river far below, the green-tinged water glistening in the sunlight.

The rest of the settlement came slowly into view as the ramp leveled off. Several sturdy buildings had been built out of scrap. A couple of sandbag walls had been erected in front of the settlement, but Sunset couldn’t see anyone around. The whole place looked deserted.

As they got closer a man’s head suddenly popped up from behind the sandbags. He was wearing a battered old cap and had a set of flight goggles pulled down over his eyes. The man ducked down quickly then popped back up again, this time lobbing something small towards the girls. It fell far short of them and clattered noisily across the road. As it bounced closer Sunset realized what it was. “Get down!” she yelled, throwing herself to the ground just as the grenade exploded.

Author's Note

Another week, another chapter.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, positive or negative!

Chapter 11 - Just A Simple Delivery

Bits of grit and tarmac were blasted all over the place, but thankfully none of it landed near the girls. Sunset looked up warily, wondering how they had been spared. A large ring of gemstone stood glittering around the girls. So much for hiding our magic.

Rarity shot Sunset an apologetic look. “Sorry darling, I panicked.”

“It’s fine, you did the right thing.” Sunset replied, hauling herself to her feet and dusting herself off. She looked around at the others as they picked themselves up off the floor. Thankfully none of them had been hurt. Rarity let out a breath and lowered her arms, the gemstones fading into nothingness.

Their attacker was still crouched by the sandbags, a look of blank shock on his face. A battered old assault rifle dangled from his hands. “How….?”

“Twilight grab that gun, before he recovers!” Sunset hissed.

“R-right!”

The man yelped as a purple aura surrounded the gun and yanked it out of his hands. He tried to snatch it back but Twilight held it out of reach above his head.

“Nice work.” Sunset said as she started towards the sandbags, leveling a glare at the stranger. As she got closer she noticed his face was heavily wrinkled and lined with dust, he must be older than she’d thought.

The man tried to back away as the girls approached, but tripped and landed sprawling on his back. He cowered as they advanced on him. “No… stay back… get away from me!”

“We hadn’t planned on it before but ah sure as sugar am now.” Applejack growled.

“Stupid shoulder…” Rainbow muttered as she knocked back more painkillers, “As soon as these kick in he’s getting socked right in the mouth.”

“No… please… don’t hurt me…”

Fluttershy shifted awkwardly on her feet. “I think we should all calm down and, um, maybe stop threatening him?”

“You do realize he just tried to kill us, don’t you dear?” Rarity asked.

“Well… yes, but… maybe we should ask why?”

“Hey that’s a great idea!” Pinkie cried as she hopped over the sandbags. He flinched as she crouched next to him. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! Mind telling me and my friends why you tried to blow us all to smithereens?”

“I was protecting our town!” The man said quickly, his voice shaking. “Please, we don’t have anything of value, you’ve already killed all our Brahmin!”

The girls shared a confused look at that.

Applejack tilted her hat back and raised an eyebrow, “Uh, beg pardon, but what’s a Brahmin?”

“I think he means those mutated cows we saw.” Twilight replied.

“Whoa, hold on a second, those things were dead before we even got here!” Rainbow cried.

The man slowly looked around at each of them. “You… you’re not with the Family?”

“Whose family?” Pinkie asked.

The old man reached up and pulled off his goggles, glancing warily at Pinkie. “If you’re not from them, then what do you want with us?”

Sunset frowned. “I’m guessing you’re Evan?” He nodded cautiously. “A girl named Lucy sent us, from Megaton.” Sunset pulled Lucy’s letter out of her pocket and held it up. “She asked us to give this to her family.”

Evan just stared blankly at it. Sunset waited impatiently for him to say something as the seconds ticked by.

“Uhhhh… I think you broke him.” Pinkie said as he just continued to stare at the letter. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him, then licked the tip of her finger and jammed it into his ear.

Evan gave a disgusted yelp, rubbing his ear vigorously as Pinkie casually wiped her finger on his sleeve. “All right all right!”

“So? Can we deliver this now?” Sunset snapped, waving the letter for emphasis.

Evan sighed and clambered to his feet. “All right, I’ll get someone to fetch Davis for you now.” He glanced up at his gun, still gripped by Twilight’s magic. His eyes flicked between it and Twilight.

Sunset folded her arms and glared at him. “No way.”

“I’m not stupid enough to try anything.” Evan said quickly. “Please, if the Family comes back how am I supposed to defend this place without a gun?”

Sunset glared at him for a moment longer. “Fine, but if you try to hurt us again it’ll be the last thing you do.”

“I won’t, I swear.” Evan reached out tentatively as Twilight floated the gun back down towards him. The girls tensed as he gingerly took it from the purple aura, but he simply slung it over his shoulder and turned away. “Wait here a moment.” He strode to the nearest building and hammered on the door. “Ken? It’s me, Evan. Get your ass out here a minute!”

The door creaked open and a young man poked his head out. His eyes widened as he saw the girls, “What’s going on? And who the fuck are they?”

“Charming.” Rarity muttered, folding her arms and glowering at him.

“It’s okay, they’re friendly… sort of.” Evan shot a wary glance back at the girls. “They’ve got a letter from Lucy, mind fetching Davis for me?”

Ken’s face twisted with anger. “A fucking letter? You‘re supposed to be doing something about the Family, not being a gopher for some fucking mutants!”

“Oh for crying out loud, ah‘ve had enough of all this gosh darn mutant nonsense!” Applejack snapped as she stomped over to the nearest car.

Evan and Ken both gaped as Applejack bent down and gripped the car, lifting and maneuvering until she had it hefted above her head. With a grunt she launched the car over the side of the bridge. It sailed through the air and slammed down onto some rocks in the distance. The engine exploded with a colossal boom, the blast smashing the rocks underneath to dust as a great mushroom cloud bloomed overhead.

Way to go overboard AJ. Still, if it gets the job done…

Applejack turned slowly to Sunset, her eyes wide. “Ah’m, uh, ah’m mighty sorry about that. Didn’t think it would blow up like that.”

“If it ran off gasoline it wouldn’t have,” Twilight said quietly, “But in this world they use miniature nuclear reactors to power their cars.”

Applejack’s jaw dropped open. “Nuclear reactors. In cars?!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Land’s sake, the people in this world are nuttier than a porta potty at a peanut festival!”

Rarity put a hand to her mouth at that, retching slightly as her cheeks turned a pale green.

“This world?” Evan asked. Sunset winced as she realized what Applejack had said. He looked fearfully around at each of the girls again. “You mean… you’re not mutants, you’re aliens?”

Sunset shook her head vehemently. “No! No we’re not.”

“I suppose if you think about it, technically we are.” Twilight supplied.

Sunset smacked a palm to her face. “Look, can we please just deliver this letter?”

Ken was still gaping, his eyes darting between Applejack and the smoldering remains of the car in the distance. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, before he finally regained the capacity for speech. “Space aliens… letter for Davis… right. I‘ll got fetch him.”

Sunset massaged her temples as he marched away, trying to stave off the headache she could feel coming.

Evan walked slowly back to the sandbags and looked out down the ramp. “So… you girls really are aliens?” he asked quietly.

Twilight glanced at Sunset, who just shrugged. “He’s already seen our magic, he may as well know the truth.”

“Magic? That was magic?!” he asked incredulously, his head whipping around to stare at Twilight.. “I thought you said you were aliens!”

“Not exactly.” Twilight replied, “I mean technically we are, in that we’re from another world, but we didn’t come down from another planet. It’s more like we’re from another… dimension? Reality?” She shook her head slowly, “Sorry, I’m not really sure how to explain this.”

Sunset sighed and stepped forward. “The short version is, we got sucked into a portal in our world and dumped in a Vault in this world.”

Evan frowned and scratched his head. “If that’s the case, what are you doing deliveri-”

“Evan!”

Everyone turned at Ken’s shout. His face was white with fear as he ran towards the group. As he skidded to a halt next to the sherif, he leaned over and planted his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

“Easy there sonny, what‘s wrong?” Evan asked quickly.

“It’s Davis and Matilda.” Ken gasped, “They’re dead!”

Evan’s mouth fell as the girls made noises of shock and horror. “The Family must have got to them in the last attack! Sons of bitches!” he spat. He thumped the top of the sandbags, shaking his head. “Damn it! If only we had more men we could stand up to them. I’m sick of them terrorizing this town. Wait a minute…” He bent and grabbed Ken‘s shoulders. “What about Ian, is Ian okay?”

Ken shook his head desperately, “He wasn’t there, I don’t know where he is!”

“The Family must have taken him! I’ve caught that weirdo leader of theirs talking to Ian down by the river.”

Sunset felt a familiar sinking feeling in her stomach. Nothing wanted to go right in this stupid wasteland. This had turned from being a simple delivery job into something much more sinister, and she suspected it was about to get a lot worse. “Who exactly are the Family?” she asked reluctantly.

Evan straightened and heaved a sigh. “They’re a local gang. They’ve been around for a while, breaking stuff and making lots of noise, but recently things have started to get worse. First they killed all of our Brahmin, and now the West’s are dead too?!” He shook his head, slumping against the sandbags. "Damn it, I can't take much more of this!"

Fluttershy stepped over and placed a comforting hand on Evan’s shoulder. When he didn't throw it off, she nodded and turned to Sunset, “Isn’t there anything we can do to help?”

Sunset bit her lip. Much as she felt for this little community, there was no way she was going to lead her friends into another violent confrontation.

Rainbow nudged her elbow when she didn’t reply. “Come on Sunset, we can’t just leave them like this.”

Sunset shared an anxious look with the others. This was only supposed to be a delivery job, and Evan had tried to kill them all with a grenade. Still, Rainbow was right. Reluctant as she was to put her friends in such danger again, it didn’t feel right to just leave this settlement in trouble when they could do something to help. The looks on her friends faces told her they felt the same way. “Alright fine, but this time we play it safe.” she grumbled.

Evan looked hopefully at her. “You mean it, you’ll help us?”

Sunset nodded slowly. “We‘ll do what we can to reason with them. Hopefully we can convince them to leave the town alone. If things start to look dangerous though-”

“-Then we use our magic and hightail it out of there.” Applejack interrupted. “That sound about right?”

Sunset looked around at each of her friends. “Are you sure about this? This could turn out like Burke all over again?”

She couldn’t help but smile a little as each of her friends nodded and agreed, despite the danger.

Evan sagged as he let out a breath. “Thank you. Really, I can’t thank you enough for this.”

Applejack nodded and tilted her hat back. “Alright, so where do we find the Family?”

Evan shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure, I think they live somewhere east or northeast of here. Problem is, they always travel in the dark so I can’t see exactly where they go.”

“Surely you have an idea darling?” Rarity asked.

Evan folded his arms as he thought. “Maybe the old Moonbeam Cinema? You might have seen it on your way here, it’s not far from that baseball pitch down there.” He pointed back down the ramp, along the way the girls had came. “Then there’s Hamilton‘s Hideaway, that’s a bit further north from there.”

“Isn’t that the direction those mean raiders we scared off earlier went?” Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow. “Were they part of the Family?”

Evan shook his head. “No, I would’ve recognized those dipshits if they turned up alongside the Family.”

“Maybe they’ve got buddies over in that direction?” Applejack wondered aloud.

“Want me to go check it out?” Rainbow offered.

Sunset glanced at Rainbow‘s arm, still in its sling. “No. We don’t want to risk running into anymore raiders if we don’t have to.”

Evan turned and looked off to the north, over the river. “In that case… you see those buildings over there?” The girls all looked in the direction he pointed. There were a few tall old buildings that didn’t seem to be very badly damaged. A covered subway entrance poked up out of the ground in the middle of them. “That’s Northwest Seneca Station right there. It would be a good place for them to hide out, and if you want to avoid any raiders hanging around this side of the river then that might be your safest place to start.”

Sunset nodded. “Sounds like a plan, how do we cross the river?”

“The river has mostly dried up on the west side. Just head right at the bottom of the ramp and you’ll find a dry patch you can cross on. Just keep an eye out for any mirelurks roaming around.”

“Mirelurks?” Rarity asked.

Evan made a face. “Big crab-like things. Real dangerous bastards. Normally I‘d tell you to stay the hell out of sight if you see one, but I reckon you girls can handle it.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Sunset adjusted her pack on her shoulders. “Come on girls, let’s get this over with.”

Ken squatted back down by the sandbags as Evan snapped his goggles back into place. “You girls watch yourselves out there.” He squatted down next to Ken and pulled his assault rifle around. “Next time I see the Family there’s gonna be hell to pay.” he muttered darkly.

The girls left Evan to his mutterings and headed back down the ramp, turning right at the bottom as he had suggested. They didn’t have to walk far before they came to patch of dry riverbed. A rusted old boat was grounded on it, the one end of it submerged in what was left of the river. After climbing up the other side of the riverbed the ground dropped into a smaller tributary riverbed. This was dry too, but full of rubble from the broken overpass.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if I just searched using my super-speed?” Rainbow asked as the girls picked their way carefully across the debris.

“Maybe, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk.” Sunset said frankly.

“Sunset has a point Rainbow.” Fluttershy piped up as Rainbow opened her mouth to respond. “You’re already injured and if anything else were to happen to you there wouldn’t be anything we could do to help. We wouldn’t even know you were in trouble.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Rainbow grumbled.

Hauling themselves up the other side of the tributary, the girls found themselves at the end of a crumbling road that led straight to the buildings Evan had pointed out. Up close they looked like old residential blocks, with a grocers standing at the end of one of the rows. There was a bus stop and an intact map board in front of the subway entrance, and even a motorcycle that looked in good working order.

Once they were sure no-one was around, Sunset eagerly checked over the bike. It was covered in dirt and dust, but apart from that it was in fairly good condition. The tank even seemed to have fuel in it, but the keys were nowhere to be found.

“Do you think we should check the grocers first?” Pinkie asked suddenly.

“Good idea Pinkie.” Twilight called, looking over from the map board. “There might still be some salvageable supplies in there. I just hope it doesn’t belong to anyone.”

Applejack peeked in through the window. “It looks deserted to me.”

Sunset nodded, giving up on the bike. “Just be careful, we don’t want to run into any more trouble than we have to.”

“Don’t worry.” Applejack smiled nastily, cracking her knuckles. “If anything tries to get the drop on us they’re getting more than they bargained for.”

Applejack nudged the door open gently. She peeked in, then suddenly lunged forward and stomped down on something. “It’s alright.” she chuckled as the girls all darted forward. “Just a darned radroach.”

Sighing with relief, the group followed Applejack into the shop. The inside was dark and dingy. The store had clearly been ransacked before, empty bottles and tins littered the floor and shelves. A door at the back had been blocked by a ceiling collapse, preventing anyone from going upstairs.

As the others spread out to search, Sunset and Fluttershy took a look behind the counter. Fluttershy immediately checked the first aid box hanging on the wall, while Sunset was drawn by a computer terminal that still apparently had power. She booted it up, but was stymied by a password screen popping up.

Sunset had a go at trying to hack her way into the system, but after a couple of attempts was forced to admit defeat and call Twilight over. She tried not to feel too bad as Twilight breezed past the security measures, after all Twilight had had more practice with the computers of this world.

Once they were logged in they found that the system controlled the lock on a safe. A safe that was still currently locked. “That could be interesting.” Sunset mused.

Twilight frowned, looking around. “But where is it? I don’t see a safe down here, it must be upstairs.”

“If the safe was upstairs why would they put the system that controls the lock down here in such an easy to reach place?” Sunset countered. “Unlock it, maybe we’ll hear it.”

Twilight tapped a button and both of the girls started as they felt a clunk under their feet. Looking down, they realised the safe had been built into the floor. They had been standing on it’s door the whole time. Twilight stepped out of the way to let Sunset reach down and yank the door open. All that was inside was a handful of caps, some old dollar bills and an old flash camera.

“Well that was a let down.” Sunset grumbled as Twilight checked the camera over. She looked up as the others gathered around again. “Have you found anything useful?”

Fluttershy held up her medical kit with a smile. “There was a stimpak and some rad-x in here.”

Applejack was helping Pinkie stuff some things into her pack. “We found some food that looks edible and some more of that Nuka Cola.”

Pinkie held a bottle up to inspect it. “If this has been sat around for a couple of hundred years, how come it’s still fizzy?”

“Honestly I’m not sure I want to know.” Sunset stuffed the caps and bills from the safe into her pack. “Alright, I think that’s everything from in here. Let‘s get moving.”

The girls piled back out of the grocers. A chill had crept into the air and dark clouds were gathering overhead, the threat of rain looming over the wastes. The group hurried to the subway entrance. Concrete steps led down to a set of chain gates that were closed, but not locked. There was an odd, flickering light coming from somewhere inside. It was not an inviting sight.

Looking up at the clouds, Twilight spoke softly. “I’ve made a note of the subway map on my Pip-Boy, so at least we shouldn’t get lost.”

“That’s one less thing to worry about I suppose.” Rarity replied, nervously looking up too.

Sunset laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just take this slowly. Hopefully we can straighten things out without any trouble.”

“Chill out guys, we got this.” Rainbow grinned.

Sunset breathed in deeply, then let it out again slowly. “You’re right. Come on, let’s do this.” She squared her shoulders and led the way down the steps, pushing the gate open at the bottom.

Inside was dark and dusty, the light flickering off the walls didn’t illuminate much. The girls moved forward slowly, carefully treading past piles of dirt and debris that looked like it had been blown in from outside. Rounding a small corner the girls came to a ticket barrier. The tunnel beyond had caved in entirely, but just past the barrier was a side door flanked by two steel drums, fire blazing in each of them.

Surprised by the sight of the burning drums, it took the girls a moment to notice the corpse lying on it’s side in front of the ticket barrier. Taking care not to make any noise, Fluttershy checked the body. Shaking her head sadly, she whispered that whoever it was had been dead for a while.

A sudden skittering noise had the girls whirling around. A mole rat had wandered out of a door that the girls hadn’t noticed, distracted as they were. Fluttershy hurried over to speak to it. The other girls waited quietly as two more mole rats trotted out of the door to join the conversation.

“What’re they saying?” Rainbow whispered.

“They don’t know anything about the Family but…” Fluttershy looked around, her brow furrowed. “They say there are two dead things living in the room with the burning barrels?”

Pinkie raised an eyebrow at that. “Dead things? You mean like zombies?”

“Maybe they means ghouls, like Gob?” Twilight suggested.

“You reckon they’re part of the Family?” Applejack asked.

Sunset shook her head. “I doubt it, Evan probably would have mentioned something if he thought the Family were ghouls.”

Fluttershy was listening to the mole rats as they started chattering again. “Oh that’s ever so kind of you.” The mole rats suddenly turned and scampered back through the door. Fluttershy called over her shoulder as she went in after them. “They say that poor fellow there left some things in here before he died. They’re going to show us where he hid everything.”

The girls quickly followed Fluttershy and the mole rats into a waiting room of sorts. A large portion of the ceiling had collapsed on one side of the room, a broken pipe poking through and dripping foul green liquid. An eerie glow suffused the air around the rubble, illuminating a blackened skeleton sprawled on top of the pile.

The mole rats separated and headed through two different doors, a men’s toilet and a ladies’. Rainbow and Applejack followed one into the men’s room while Rarity and Fluttershy hurried after the other into the ladies. Sunset stayed behind with the others to keep watch. A couple of minutes later the girls all returned.

“What did you find?” Sunset asked.

“Just some more medical supplies.” Rarity grimaced, brushing dust out of her hair as Fluttershy thanked the mole rats.

“Good to have. I just hope we won’t need them.”

“You and me both darling.” Rarity gave up on the dirt and turned to the others. “What about you two?”

Applejack and Rainbow shared a look. AJ chuckled nervously. “Well… you see. We found… well…”

“We found some grenades.” Rainbow said bluntly.

Rainbow held her pack out as the others gasped and exclaimed in surprise. Nestled inside were five apple-sized hand grenades. “Also we found this in a toilet tank.” Rainbow held up another cylindrical object, about the same size as the grenades but with three little rods sticking out of each end. “Not really sure what it is.”

Sunset took it from her gently. “It reminds me of the plasma inductors they use in Vault 101. But it doesn’t have any sort of emitter…”

Pinkie peeked over Sunset’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s a plasma grenade?”

“Don’t be ridiculous it’s not a plasma…..” Sunset stiffened as she realized that was exactly what it was. “Rainbow? How about you keep this?” she said shakily.

“Awesome!” Rainbow gingerly took the grenade back from Sunset, slipping it carefully into one of her pack’s side pockets.

“Do you really think we should be bringing those with us?” Rarity called as she backed slowly away.

Sunset flinched as Applejack helped Rainbow sling her pack back over her shoulder. “They might come in useful as a distraction or something. At the very least we could sell them when we get back to Megaton.”

“The mole rats say that’s everything.” Fluttershy called as the mole rats scampered off. “What are we going to do now?”

Sunset folded her arms, thinking. “Right now I think we should try asking whoever lives back there-” She pointed through the door back towards the ticket barrier, “-if they know anything about the Family.”

“And hope that they’re friendly.” Applejack muttered.

Rarity tossed her hair over her shoulder and sauntered to the door. “Not to worry darling. If they do turn out to be uncivilized brutes I shall just have to block the doorway with a gemstone while we make our escape.”

Applejack shrugged and followed after her. “Works for me.”

The others followed them back through the door and towards the door between the burning drums. As they passed the corpse Sunset privately wondered whether he had been killed by the mole rats or by the ghouls.

Shaking her head to clear the morbid thoughts, Sunset vaulted over the ticket barrier and followed Rarity to the door. The heat from the flames brought welcome relief from the chill air in the tunnel. Rarity clasped her Geode tightly and clenched her other fist, ready in case anything went wrong. She nodded tightly to Sunset, who reached up and knocked sharply on the door.

Footsteps echoed behind the door before it was tugged open slowly. A ghoul was standing there, a pair of spectacles balanced precariously on his face. A second ghoul was seated at a table in the room, clad in heavy-looking combat armor and glaring at the girls.

The bespectacled ghoul blinked in surprise as he took in the group. “What the… who are… you‘re not hallucinations are you?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Uh… no?”

“Oh that’s good, thought I’d accidentally breathed in some of the Ultrajet, that stuff packs a…” His eyes widened and he glanced shiftily around at the girls. “I…uh… I mean, I don’t have any, it’s not like I’m making it or anything… uh…”

Sunset raised a hand to stop him. “Don’t worry, we’re not here because of what you’re making, or not making. We’re looking for a group called the Family.”

The ghoul sagged with relief. “Good. I was afraid I was gonna have to abandon my lab here. So what do you want with the Family?”

“You’ve heard of them?”

The ghoul nodded. “Sure I've heard of them, they live somewhere east of here. I stay away from them and they don’t bother me. It’s a good relationship. If you’re feeling foolish, I think there’s an underground way to their hideout just through my lab here.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

“And why exactly would taking that way be foolish?” Rarity asked warily.

“Mirelurks.” was the blunt reply.

“I think we can handle those.” Sunset glanced at Fluttershy, who nodded faintly. “Do you mind if we use the underground way?”

The ghoul just shrugged and opened the door wide. Sunset stepped through, closely followed by the other girls. “I didn’t catch your name, I’m Sunset.”

“Murphy, and that’s Barrett.” Murphy indicated the ghoul sat at the table, who just nodded. “It’s through this way.” He led the girls through his lab, which consisted of little more than what used to be a small office space. “So what’s with the freaky colors? You some kind of new mutant?”

“We were born like it.” Sunset replied gruffly.

Murphy snorted. “Hey I ain’t judging, I’m a ghoul for Christ’s sake.” He stopped just before a door at the end of a side corridor. “I’d prefer it if you’d keep quiet about my lab here, since I’m doing you this little favour and all.”

“Fair enough.” Sunset sighed. That explained why he was being so nice to them, she thought. Frankly she wasn’t sure who she would tell that would possibly care anyway.

Murphy shoved the door open and immediately the Geiger counter on each girl’s Pip-Boy started ticking gently. Inside was an old storage room. A manhole sat in the middle of the room, but right next to it were several steel drums leaking brightly glowing fluid.

“Down there?” Sunset asked reluctantly, she didn’t want to get any closer to that fluid than she had to.

Murphy just nodded. “Yep, don’t worry the radiation dies down once you’re down the ladder.”

Applejack took one look at the drums and recoiled. “Do you reckon we should take some of that rad-x stuff first?”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. “We’ve only got one dose, whoever took it would be going down there alone. We’d be better off just getting out of the radiation as quickly as possible.”

Sunset looked back at the manhole cover. She was about to step forward when Murphy pushed past. “Hold up, the rads spike like crazy when you get close to this gunk.” He wrenched the manhole cover off and stood aside. “Us ghouls are immune to radiation, I don’t know about you smoothskins though. Funny colors or not, I probably wouldn’t risk it too much. Good luck down there.”

Sunset nodded but didn’t reply. Gritting her teeth, she darted to the manhole, the ticking from her Pip-Boy getting louder and faster the closer she got. Crouching next to the manhole she could see a ladder descending a short distance into a rocky area. Luckily it didn’t seem that dark down there.

Dropping onto the ladder, Sunset clambered down as quickly and carefully as she could, backing away as soon as she hit the bottom until the ticking from her Pip-Boy stopped entirely. As the others climbed down after her and Murphy resealed the cover, Sunset took the opportunity to get a good look at her surroundings.

They were in a large cavern, a path of sorts winding its way between huge boulders and stalagmites. The floor was littered with bones and the rotting remains of unidentifiable animals. An awful reek of fish and decay filled the air.

Applejack stepped up next to Sunset, wafting her face with her hat. “Well something smells bad enough to knock a dog off a gut wagon.”

“Indeed!” Rarity gagged. “Can we please find a way out of here quickly!”

“This way.” Sunset started off down the path, trying not to retch.

The path twisted and turned as it wound through the cave. Patches of spindly mushrooms glowed faintly in the dim light. Odd clicking sounds came at irregular intervals, echoing weirdly off the walls. Turning a corner the girls suddenly came across the source of the sounds.

Two large creatures squatted in the middle of the path. Their bodies were covered by a thick, whitish-grey shell with only their crab-like faces unprotected. Segmented arms and legs poked out in some mockery of the human form, their arms ending in vicious crab-like pincers. The moment they saw the group the creatures lurched upright, easily as tall as any of the girls, and started lumbering towards them.

“Those must be them mirelurks we’ve been hearing about.” Applejack muttered as she and the others backed away slowly. “They don’t look too friendly.”

Sunset took a step back as the mirelurks moved closer. “Alright Fluttershy, you’re up.”

Fluttershy nodded and stepped forwards, holding up her hands. “It’s okay! We aren’t here to hurt you!” The mirelurks stopped in their tracks. “Me and my friends here were just hoping we could pass through this tunnel, there’s something very important we have to do on the other side.”

The mirelurks stared blankly at her for a moment, then their mandibles started clicking furiously as they replied.

“I’m very sorry, we didn’t know this was your territory.” Fluttershy said quickly, “We didn’t mean any harm. Um, maybe you could just let us past, and we’ll leave you in peace?” She backed away a step as the mirelurks started advancing again. “Okay well if you’re so against it I’m sure we can find another way around… no… no you don’t have to… no… wait!”

Sunset grabbed the back of Fluttershy‘s dress and yanked her backwards as one of the mirelurks lunged forwards, it‘s pincer snapping shut where her neck had been a split-second before. Sunset dragged her back as the creature swiped at them again with a claw.

A purple glow suddenly surrounded the mirelurk, lifting it into the air as a large gemstone smacked into the other, shoving it backwards.

Rarity gritted her teeth as the mirelurk struggled to shove her gem aside. “Why are they attacking us?!”

“They won’t let us go, they want to eat us!” Fluttershy cried.

“Well that ain’t happening!” Applejack snarled.

Sunset looked around wildly, trying to think of something. They could leave and try another way,, but she wanted to be done with this as quickly as possible. A dark idea suddenly crossed her mind.

Sunset threw down her backpack and wrenched it open. Burke’s pistol sat there, gleaming ominously in the dark. Her hands shook as she pulled it out, it was heavier than she expected. Sunset took and deep breath to calm herself, then carefully aimed at the Mirelurk clutched in Twilight‘s magic. Steadying herself, she pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

“Try taking the safety off!” Rainbow called.

“Oh, right.” Sunset spotted a little button on the side of the gun and pressed it.

The magazine fell out and clattered to the floor.

“Please. Hurry.” Twilight said through gritted teeth as the Mirelurk thrashed in her magical grip.

Sunset grabbed the magazine and crammed it back into the gun. Taking another look, she noticed a little catch next to her thumb. Thumbing it, she prayed she was right and pulled the trigger again.

The gun kicked as she heard a single, low, phut.

The bullet missed the creature’s face as it flailed around and lodged in it’s shell instead, not doing any damage whatsoever. Sunset’s temper flared and she fired several more times, each shot as ineffective as the first.

“Right! That does it! Stand back y‘all!” Applejack stepped forward and raised her fists. “Rarity, let it go!”

The gemstone holding her mirelurk back disappeared and the creature stumbled forwards, off balance. Before it could regain its footing Applejack stepped forward and threw a mighty right hook. The force of the punch shattered the mirelurk’s shell and launched it back down the tunnel to slam into the far wall.

As Applejack turned Twilight dropped the second mirelurk, sending it crashing to the floor. It didn’t have a chance to stand before Applejack was upon it. Her fist smashed down through the mirelurk’s shell like it was glass, burying her arm up to the elbow inside it’s body.

The others gaped as Applejack wrenched her arm out of the mirelurk. She was spattered with foul ichors and her arm dripped with reeking gore. The farm girl gagged and held her arm out away from her body. “Uh, can someone hand me a towel?”

As Rarity hurried forward to help Applejack clean up, Sunset clicked the gun’s safety on, stuffed it back into her pack and slung it over her shoulder. She looked around as she felt a hand on her back.

“Um, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset nodded, sighing heavily. “I’m fine, just a little freaked out I guess. I didn’t exactly handle myself very well there.”
Rainbow thumped her playfully on the arm. “Don’t worry about it Sunshim, that was the first time any of us have ever used a gun. At least you didn’t shoot any of us with it.”

“Good point.” Sunset chuckled, “I think I should probably practice my aiming though. I can‘t believe the gun didn’t do anything to it.”

“Those were some really angry crabs.” Pinkie said as she skipped over to the mirelurk’s corpse. “How come they didn’t listen to Fluttershy?”

Twilight grimaced as she peered down at it. “The radiation must have increased their aggression. They almost look like horseshoe crabs, which aren’t exactly known for their violent tendencies.”

“Well they’re certainly violent now.” Applejack called, wiping the last of the gunk off her arm. She threw an apologetic look at Fluttershy. She opened her mouth to speak but Flutters raised a hand, cutting her off.

“I know what you’re going to say, and it’s okay. They weren’t going to let us leave. You did what you had to do.” she said sadly.

Applejack nodded. “Well, alright then, ah still feel kinda bad about it though. That’s the first time I’ve ever used my strength against a living creature before.”

“Are you kidding me? That was awesome!” Rainbow cried. She smiled awkwardly at the looks on the others’ faces, “I mean yeah, it’s a shame it had to be done, and it was really gross, but come on! She totally whooped their sorry butts!”

“Ah did at that,” Applejack admitted, cracking a small smile. “Ah just hope ah don’t have to do something like that again.”

“You have been losing your temper quite a bit today darling, are you sure you’re all right?” Rarity asked, wrinkling her nose at the towel Applejack had used.

“Ah’m fine, just restless ah guess.” She sighed and fanned herself with her hat. “Ah think this world is starting to get to me.”

“You’re not the only one.” Sunset said with a shiver. “Come on, let’s get out of here, and hope we don’t run into any more of those things.”

The girls continued down the tunnel, treading carefully past the broken bodies of the mirelurks. Sunset listened carefully as they advanced, but there were no more clicking sounds. All she could hear were their own footsteps and the occasional drip of water.

Following a bend in the tunnel, the girls came to a steep incline. Looking up, Sunset could see the twisted end of what looked like train tracks, poking out over the lip of the rocky ramp. Not paying attention, Sunset yelped in surprise as something caught her leg.

“Whoa, you okay?!” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, I just-” Sunset’s breath caught as she saw the broken tripwire at her feet. She whipped her head around at the sound of something clattering down the ramp, but was yanked backwards before she could see what it was.

Pinkie let go of Sunset and grabbed Rainbow, throwing her away from the ramp. “EVERYONE LOOK O-”

BOOM

Chapter 12 - A Buttload of Traps

Sunset lay curled up in a ball, hands clamped over her ears in a futile attempt to block out the awful ringing in her head. At a touch on her shoulder, she looked up to see Twilight mouthing something.

“What?”

“Are you alright?”

Sunset nodded slowly as the ringing in her ears started to fade.

“What was that?”

“A booby trap.” Sunset replied. She winced as she sat up. Her bare arms and legs were bleeding from dozens of little cuts, but thanks to Pinkie she’d been far enough from the blast to avoid any real damage.

That thought brought her head whipping up. She spotted Pinkie kneeling a few feet away. Fluttershy was crouched next to her, checking her pupils with a little torch. Luckily Pinkie seemed fine, rummaging a finger through her ear and muttering ‘mawp’ under her breath repeatedly. Nearby, Applejack and Rarity were helping Rainbow to her feet.

“Is everyone alright?” Sunset called anxiously.

Applejack looked round and nodded. “We’re fine sugarcube, it was only you three who caught the edge of the blast.” She turned back to Rainbow, helping her lean against the wall. "No harm done."

“Speak for yourself, my shoulder is killing me!” Rainbow hissed. She reached a hand around to rub at her backside, “And why does my butt hurt so m-” Rainbow’s eyes suddenly bulged. She turned jerkily to look at Flutters. “Uh, F-Fluttershy?”

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked, looking around curiously.

Even in the dim light of the tunnel, Sunset could see the blush creeping across Rainbow’s face. “There‘s s-something in my b-butt.”

Sunset’s brain stalled for a moment. The girls all stared blankly at Rainbow as they tried to wrap their heads around what she’d just said.

“Uh, come again?” Applejack asked.

Fluttershy directed her torch at Rainbow’s posterior. A single, small piece of shrapnel poked out from her butt-cheek.

Sunset managed to suppress a snort with difficulty. Applejack, however, failed miserably.

So did Rarity.

“I hate you both.” Rainbow grumbled.

“I’m sorry darling,” Rarity tittered as Applejack roared with laughter, “But you have to admit, if it had happened to one of us you would most certainly be laughing too.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“You really shouldn’t tease like that girls.” Fluttershy said reproachfully.

“It’s fine Flutters,” Rainbow muttered, “Heh, it is kinda funny.”

“If you say so.” Fluttershy scooted over to inspect the wound. “I’m going to need you to hold still for this, we don’t want to dislodge the shrapnel and damage any more nerves or blood vessels.”

“Butt vessels!” Pinkie cried suddenly, earning a chuckle from the others.

“Welcome back.” Sunset grinned. “Nice work dodging that blast, are you feeling okay?”

“I didn’t, but I’m okay anyway! Just a little heavy.”

“Heavy? What do you…”

Sunset trailed off as Pinkie sprang to her feet, grabbed her hair and, with an awful clattering sound, started shaking it madly. There was a deluge of shrapnel, grit and dust from the depths of the pink fluff, accompanied by an umbrella hat, three cans of whipped cream, a squeaky rubber chicken and a little box marked ‘alligator treats’.

Sunset just stared as Pinkie started stuffing the whipped cream back into her hair. “Somehow that explains absolutely everything and nothing whatsoever, and that concerns me.”

“I’m concerned that that sentence made sense to me.” Twilight responded.

“And I’m concerned about the piece of metal stuck in my butt.” Rainbow deadpanned. “Can we get rid of it now please?”

“Of course Rainbow. Twilight, could you assist me please?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure!”

Flutters looked around at each of the others. “Um, maybe the rest of you should go on ahead for the moment.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why’s that?”

Fluttershy blushed slightly, “Um, well, I can’t remove the shrapnel or treat the wound properly while it’s covered.”

“So? Oh.” Sunset’s eyes widened as she realized what Fluttershy meant.

“What? What do you mean?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s nothing!” Sunset said quickly, “Come on, we sho-”

“She means she needs you to drop your undies so she can fix you silly!” Pinkie interrupted.

Rainbow rolled her eyed. “Ha ha, real funny.”

Fluttershy’s blush deepened. “Actually she’s, um, she’s right. I need to see how deep the wound is and make sure the surrounding tissue isn’t damaged. I can’t do that if your clothes are in the way.” She tapped a finger against her chin. “Although I suppose if you’re wearing a thong it won’t be as much of a problem.”

“I’m not wearing a thong!” Rainbow cried, her blush returning in full force. She shook her head and sighed heavily, “Alright fine, let‘s just get this over with. You girls mind going on ahead or something?”

Applejack nodded, still smiling slightly. “Sure thing sugarcube.”

“Of course darling.” Rarity said, “Come along girls, let’s give them some privacy.”

“Okay, we’ll go scout out the tunnel ahead,” Sunset fiddled with a knob on her Pip-Boy as she headed back towards the ramp, “I’d suggest turning on our Pip-Boy lights, just in case there are any more traps.”

Applejack smacked a palm to her forehead. “Aw dang it, now why didn’t we think of that before.”

“Actually, I did.” Sunset admitted, “I just thought it would be better if we left them off in case we attracted the mirelurks.”

“Fat lot of good that did us.” Applejack grumbled.

“In her defense darling, we really weren’t expecting traps like that.” Rarity added, switching her light on too. “Oh good grief that is disgusting!”

Standing at the top of the ramp, a subway track stretched away in front of them. Sprawled across the tracks was the sundered corpse of another mirelurk. Chunks of shell and entrails were scattered about, along with several of it’s limbs.

“Well at least we didn’t have to fight that one.” Applejack noted.

“I just hope we don’t get caught by whatever did that to it.” Sunset said quietly as she stepped around the corpse. Her eyes widened as she spotted something a little further ahead. “Everyone stop moving!”

The other three froze where they stood, Pinkie still with her foot in the air. Applejack turned to her slowly.

“What is it? Did you spot another trap?”

Sunset nodded and pointed. A bear trap was placed in the middle of the tracks, just past the mirelurk’s corpse. The dark metal was well camouflaged against the concrete floor. Sunset shivered, if her light hadn’t been on she would’ve walked right into it. She stooped to pick up a chunk of debris and, aiming carefully, tossed it onto the trap’s switch. A loud snap echoed down the tunnel.

Applejack gave a low whistle. “Talk about a welcome mat, ah get the feeling the Family ain’t too keen on visitors.”

“I‘m inclined to agree darling.” Rarity replied, “Though these traps could be intended to keep those ghastly mirelurks at bay.”

“Good point.”

“Hey, do you girls see that?” Pinkie asked suddenly, pointing ahead.

Sunset peered into the darkness. She could just make out a little red light glowing eerily, near one of the walls. The girls edged carefully closer, illuminating a small, circular object. Sunset raised her Pip-Boy, angling the light for a better view. “Is… is that a landmine?”

“It certainly appears to be,” Rarity said quietly, “Might I suggest sticking to the other side of the tracks?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Applejack stepped forward, then stopped abruptly. “Shoot, there’s another one over here.”

Sunset looked from one mine to the other. “There’s plenty of space down the middle. As long as we don’t step on them or knock anything onto them, we should be fine.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie started strolling down the tracks, humming tunelessly and carefully placing each foot directly ion front of the other. As she made to pass the first landmine it suddenly started emitting a low, electronic beeping. Pinkie glanced in horror at the mine, then turned and belted back down the path. “Hot potato hot potato!”

The girls all threw themselves away from the mine, Pinkie diving headfirst back over the mirelurk’s corpse. A split second later a small explosion tore through the air. The girls were pelted by stones and specks of broken concrete, but luckily no-one was hurt.

“What the heck was that!” Twilight cried as she crested the top of the ramp.

“A landmine.” Sunset replied flatly.

“Seriously, more explosives?” Rainbow asked, limping along behind.

Applejack nodded as she rearranged her hat. “Yup. How’s the butt sugarcube?”

“Sore, but I‘ll live.”

“She’ll be okay, the wound wasn't very deep.” Flutters said, zipping up her nursing kit. “Are there any more mines around?”

“Sadly yes.” Rarity sighed. “At least one more.”

“Oh come on!” Rainbow yelled, “How many times are we almost going to get blown up today!?”

Pinkie popped up from behind the dead mirelurk. “Right? I love a loud bang as much as the next girl but this is starting to get ridiculous, even by my standards.” The others just stared at her. “What? What did I say?”

Rarity coughed delicately, “Yes, well, moving swiftly on. Do you think we can get safely past the other landmine now?”

“Shouldn’t we be fine as long as we don’t step on it?” Twilight asked.

“That’s what we thought, but apparently they’re proximity mines.” Sunset grumbled, folding her arms.

Twilight’s face lit up at that. “Fascinating! How do you think they work? Oooh maybe it measures variations in air density? Or vibrations through the floor? Or maybe they have some kind of-”

“Hey, here’s an idea.” Applejack cut in, “Twilight, you reckon you can use your magic to toss that thing down the tunnel away from us?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure that would set it off.”

Applejack shrugged, “Well, yeah, but at least the blast would be way down there instead of up here next to us.”

Twilight just shook her head. “I’m don’t think that would be a good idea. We don’t know if there are any more landmines further down. We‘d risk setting off a chain reaction which, in a confined space like this, would probably be a very bad idea.”

“Do you think we can walk around it?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset tilted her head, thinking hard. “Probably. The first one didn’t go off until Pinkie got fairly close to it, but I’d feel safer if we detonated it now, along with any more we come across, just in case we need to make a quick exit back down this way.” She hummed softly as she turned to Twilight, “Throwing it wouldn’t be safe, but do you think you could just pick it up and move it along with us?”

Twilight frowned at the mine, it‘s little light glowing ominously. “I guess that would work, but what if my magic sets it off?”

“We’re far enough away that the first one didn’t cause any damage, so from this distance we should be fine if the second one detonates too.”

“Just make sure you put it back down before it goes off.” Rainbow added.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “If it explodes in midair it’ll have a bigger blast, seriously you’ve never heard of a daisy cutter?” She scowled as the others all stared at her in shock. “What? I read about them in a Daring Do book and figured I’d look it up.”

“That explains it.” Sunset smirked.

“Uh, explains what exactly?” Applejack asked.

“If an explosive is detonated above ground the shock-wave reflects off the floor, effectively increasing the blast radius.” Twilight rattled off, “I can’t believe I forgot about that, thanks Rainbow!”

Rainbow puffed herself up. “See, I’m awesome even when I‘m injured.”

“Yes yes, very well done darling, now can we please get this over with?” Rarity huffed.

“Right, here we go.” Twilight gripped her geode and stretched out a hand. The moment the glow of her magic surrounded the mine it started to beep loudly, prompting her to release it instantly. Everyone quickly ducked as yet another explosion assaulted their ears.

“Ah swear if ah find just one more bomb ah’m not going to be held responsible for what ah do to those darn Family folks.” Applejack muttered.

Sunset sighed heavily. “Well, at least the path is clear now.”

Sunset led the girls cautiously down the tracks. Aside from another bear trap, found and disarmed by Applejack, the girls didn’t encounter any more booby traps until they came to a turnoff. Another tunnel opened up on their left, a wrecked subway train left to rust on the tracks. Past the tunnel the tracks continued up a slight incline to a set of huge doors, dim sunlight streaming in through the windows.

“Which way do you reckon?” Applejack asked.

Sunset stepped carefully over to the ruined train, taking a look past it. The way was narrow, but they’d fit if they all went single file. “I think we should go this way, there’s more shelter underground, especially if it’s a gang we’re looking for. Besides, look at that.” Sunset pointed up at a small sign.

“Meresti Station.” Rarity read aloud.

“An old subway station.” Sunset grinned, “Sounds like a good place for a hideout.”

“I have a quick question, um, if that’s okay?” Fluttershy said quietly.

Sunset turned to the young nurse. “What’s up?”

Flutters hunched slightly, averting her eyes. “What do we do if the Family aren’t um, friendly?”

“Good question dear.” Rarity replied, “Honestly I would prefer if we could find a diplomatic solution, but, well, the Family might not be willing to negotiate.”

“We’ll just talk. As long as they’re willing to speak to us, I know we can sort things out peacefully.” Sunset said firmly.

“And, uh, what if they don’t want to talk?” Applejack asked.

Sunset took a deep breath, her face set. “If things get dangerous, we escape. Simple as that.”

“Uh, I know I’m awesome and all, but I’m not really up to running much at the moment.” Rainbow admitted, rubbing her neck nervously.

“Don’t sweat it sugarcube, ah got your back.” Applejack said, nodding to Rainbow.

“One last thing.” Sunset looked around at each of the others, “Let’s try and remember not to use our magic on front of these people.”

“Why not? It totally worked back in Arefu!” Rainbow smirked.

“I wouldn’t really say it worked as such.” Rarity blushed slightly.

“We terrified those poor people.” Fluttershy huffed.

Sunset nodded somberly, “Scaring people is bad enough, but we don’t want to accidentally provoke anyone either. The last thing we need is to end up being the targets of some sort of witch hunt.”

“Ah, yeah, that would suck.” Rainbow agreed.

Sunset sighed and straightened up. “Okay, let’s do this.”

She started off down the tunnel, walking alongside the old train with the others falling into step behind. Sunset kept her Pip-Boy held high, scanning the floor ahead with her eyes. She stopped abruptly as she reached the end of the train.

“What’s wrong Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“Tripwire.” Sunset replied, gesturing to the rope in front of her feet. She pointed ahead, “And look what it’s attached to.”
Twilight peeked past Sunset. Just ahead was another wrecked train. Something was tucked between the train and the tunnel wall, planted atop a small pile of rubble. Twilight squinted, struggling to make out what it was. She gasped as realized it was a gun, pointed directly at the group.

“Wait here.” Sunset whispered, gingerly stepping over the tripwire. Once she was clear she quickly moved to the gun, careful to stay out of the way of the barrel. Up close, she saw that it was some kind of shotgun, with a large drum magazine. It had been bolted to the stand, a wire was tied around the trigger and connected to several microfusion cells, acting as a battery. The moment someone nudged that tripwire, the shotgun would blast them right in the chest.

Sunset slipped off her pack and pulled out her Vault tool belt. “Applejack, can you come over here a second? And watch out for that tripwire!” she called.

“Sure thing sugarcube!” Applejack squeezed past the others, tiptoed over the tripwire and stepped up next to Sunset. “What do you need?”

Between the two of them the two girls managed to disarm the rigged shotgun and prise it off the stand. The microfusion cells were given to Twilight, in case she found a use for them. Applejack was adamant that she wanted to keep the shotgun, even if they did only find four shells in it.

“Ah’m telling you, it just makes sense!”

“Do you even know how to use that thing?” Sunset asked.

“Ah’ll just have to practice, same as you with that pistol.”

“I’ve got to admit, AJ does have a point.” Rainbow said, “A shotgun will come in handy if we run into any more mirelurks.”

Sunset glared at the two of the for a moment, but she saw the sense of what they were saying. “Fine, but be careful with it. And make sure you don’t point it at anyone, even accidentally. Just, keep it pointed at the floor.”

“Ah hear you.” Applejack said happily, flicking the shotgun’s safety on and obligingly pointing it at the floor.

The girls made their way down past the second train, keeping an eye out for any more traps. Sunset spotted another tripwire near the end of the train, this one attached to a heavy weight, designed to swing down and smash into who or whatever disturbed the wire. A barrel full of flames and a low wall of sandbags sat just ahead of them.

“Looks like we’ve found the Family’s hideout.” Sunset called over her shoulder, “Stand back a second.”

Sunset got down on her belly, making sure she was flat to the floor. Holding her breath, she reached out and flicked the tripwire. The weight swung down and over her, the breeze of it’s passing rustled her hair. Once it had stopped swinging she stood and motioned for the others to follow.

“Don’t move!”

Sunset whipped around, startled by the sudden shout. Past the sandbags the tracks dropped down a short ramp. A wrecked subway car blocked the way ahead. Someone had erected a barrier of sandbags in front of it, flanked by two burning oil drums. A man was stood behind the sandbags, pointing his gun at Sunset.

“This area’s off limits to everyone but the Family, where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Author's Note

A bit of a short chapter this time around.

Due to a few unforeseen health issues (aren't they all?) and some irl commitments I've managed to burn through my buffer a bit quicker than expected. I'll still aim to upload a chapter every Tuesday but if I get any more unexpected drains on my time I may have to push it back to a chapter every fortnight until I can build a decent buffer back up.

Of course that's all if's and maybe's at the moment. For now, new chapter! Comments and Criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 13 - Bound in Blood

Sunset raised her hands slowly, not taking her eyes off the man below. “We don’t want any trouble. We’ve been sent by the people of Arefu, to negotiate.”

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn’t lower his gun. He had a bandanna around his head and was wearing some heavy duty combat armor. He was clearly a guard of some sort. “Yeah, Vance said we should be expecting someone soon.” He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and lowered the gun. “Alright, you can head on in. Speak to Vance, he’s usually on the mezzanine overlooking the common area.”

“Thanks, come on girls.”

As the rest of the group filed out from behind the train the guard raised his gun again. Now that she could get a good look at it, Sunset realized it was a compact sub-machine gun. “Whoa whoa, why are there so many of you?”

“They’re my friends.” Sunset replied warily.

The guard shook his head, lowering his gun again. “We weren’t expecting this many of you.”

“Is that a problem?” Applejack asked.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

The guard gestured to Applejack’s pilfered shotgun, held loosely at her side. “On how heavily armed your group is. We may be a bad-ass gang, but we aren’t stupid.”

“Heavily armed?” Applejack glanced down at her gun and chuckled. “Shoot, this here shotgun and Sunset’s little pistol are the only darn guns we got and they’re a lot more than we’re used to handling. You can trust me on that one.”

Sunset had to restrain herself from face-palming. She had no intention of trying to threaten the Family (unless she really had to) but she would have preferred to keep their lack of guns and experience with them a secret, if only so the Family would be a little more wary of picking a fight. Well, at least she forgot to mention the grenades.

The guard just raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? How the hell have you girls managed to survive in the wastes without any guns?”

“Duh, we’re awesome.” Rainbow smirked, planting a hand on her hip and trying to puff herself up, though the effect was hampered somewhat by the tattered sling she still wore.

The guard looked incredulously at her, then shook his head. “If you say so. Alright I’ll let you pass.” He turned to open a gate in a nearby mesh fence and gestured for them to follow. “Come with me, I‘ll show you the door.”

“Thanks, we appreciate it.” Sunset said brightly as they followed the guard through the gate. He locked it the moment they were through and led them through a short corridor. There were a few makeshift tables, covered with guns and various pieces of equipment, even a computer terminal and a small bed, everything a Wasteland guard post would need. Sunset realized the Family must be more organised than she’d given them credit for.

“I must admit, I‘m a little surprised.” Twilight said suddenly, “You’re the first person we’ve met who hasn’t been concerned about how we look?”

Sunset‘s brow furrowed. Now that she thought about it, Twilight was right. He’d been more interested in why they were there than anything else.

The guard just grunted. “Everyone’s got their own problems.” Sunset's impression of the Family went up, if only slightly. At least they didn't seem to be bigots, not yet anyway. As the group turned a corner he indicated a metal side door. “Go through there and turn right. When you get to the end of the tunnel you’ll see the mezzanine above you. You’ll probably find Vance up there.”

“Thanks again.” Sunset stepped through first with the others close on her heels, closing the door behind them as the guard returned to his post. They were back in the subway tunnel, on the other side of the crashed train. The tracks continued on to their right, past another turnoff and opening up into what Sunset assumed must be the station.

“So far so good.” Twilight said quietly as the group started making their way towards the station. “Do you think they’ll listen to us?”

“I certainly hope so darling.” Rarity replied. “Though after the way things have been going recently, I’ll be very surprised if our negotiations do go smoothly.”

“Me too.” Sunset admitted. “We have to try though. Let’s just try not to antagonize them while we’re at it.”

“Um, what if they don’t want to listen to us?” Fluttershy asked shakily.

Sunset put a hand to her chin as she thought. “Distract them with a grenade and run like heck?”

“Oh yeah, ah forgot we had some of them.” Applejack stopped in her tracks, eyes widening for a moment before she shrugged and continued walking. “Meh, works for me.”

Rarity groaned and raised her hands to her head, her purple locks swaying as she gently massaged her temples. “Two days ago I would have said you were crazy for even thinking such a thing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but right now I think it might actually be a good idea.”

“Yeah, I’d rather we avoided that if we could.” Rainbow muttered. “I’ve had enough of grenades for one day.”

“Fair enough.” Sunset said quickly, unable to resist a glance at Rainbow’s backside. A slight limp and the bandage visible through the small hole in her pants were the only outward signs of their sporty friend’s newest ‘injury’.

The girls stopped talking as they came to the end of the tunnel and stepped into the station. It was a lot larger than Sunset had expected. The tracks between the platforms had been covered with wooden planks, forming a makeshift floor. There were benches and chairs everywhere, and the entire place was lit up by dozens of little portable lamps. Looming over the whole area was a large mezzanine, just as the guard had mentioned. A man and a woman were stood up there, surveying the area and it’s inhabitants from their lofty perch.

That must be Vance, Sunset thought. She spotted a broken down escalator leading up to the mezzanine and, remembering what the guard had said about speaking to Vance first, made her way over to it, the others looking around warily as they followed. The various members of the Family paused in the middle of whatever tasks they were doing to stare as the girls walked past. Curiously, none of them looked hostile or intimidated, a first as far as Sunset was concerned. Several people looked wary, certainly, but most of them just seemed curious.

Still, none of the girls dared to let their guard down, Vance’s eyes followed them as they ascended the escalator and made their way over to him. He had thick, dark hair and was wearing a heavy leather trench coat. He had some sort of makeshift sword sheathed at his side, a thick tube connected it's handle to what looked suspiciously like a gas tank strapped to his back.

The woman at his side was scarcely less imposing. She had short blonde hair and was wearing heavy black pants and a small leather vest over a red short-sleeved undershirt, cut short to expose her midriff. A gleaming sub-machine gun was holstered at her waist. Sunset supposed it was a good sign that neither of them had drawn their weapons yet.

Vance threw his arms wide as they approached. “Welcome to our home.” His voice was deep and calm. "My people call me Vance, and this is my wife Holly.” Holly smiled and nodded as Vance gestured to her. “I lead this group of weary travelers and outcasts who need a home. And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Sunset nodded politely, wondering vaguely what he meant by outcasts. “It's, er, nice to meet you. I'm Sunset Shimmer and these are my friends.” The others nodded, Rarity and Fluttershy each giving a small, shy wave. “We've been sent by the sheriff of Arefu to discuss the recent... incidents.”

Vance blinked, apparently surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and nodded. “I suspected that someone would be coming to see us soon, though I admit I wasn’t expecting such a large group. At least, not for negotiations...” He eyed the girls warily as he spoke. “Given your… general… lack of weaponry, am I to assume that you are looking for a peaceful resolution?”

“We certainly hope so!” Twilight laughed nervously.

“As do we.” Vance replied softly, relaxing visibly. He raised an eyebrow at the look on the girls' faces. “You seem surprised by this?”

Sunset and Twilight shared a look. “Well... Yeah.” Sunset rubbed at her neck, not sure how to go about this. “To be honest, after everything we’ve heard we weren't expecting you to be so...?”

“Reasonable?” Holly supplied.

“Understandable, of course.” Vance folded his arms and heaved a sigh. “Perhaps it would be best if you tell us what you have heard and what the people of Arefu are requesting. We can base our negotiations around that.”

Sunset hesitated. “Well…”

After a few moments of silence, Applejack huffed and stepped forward. “Alright look, there ain’t no pretty way of saying this, so ah’m just going to come out and say it.” She tilted her hat backwards and looked Vance dead in the eye. “We know y’all have been causing a ruckus for a while, but things are getting out of hand. We know you killed the town’s Brahmin. Now the Wests are dead too and Ian has gone missing, ah’m assuming he’s their son, and the sheriff reckons it all comes back to you. You want to know what the folk back at Arefu are requesting? They want to know what your problem is, they want to know what happened to Ian, and they want to be left alone.”

Awkward silence followed in the wake of the farmer’s tirade. Sunset tensed as Vance and Holly shared a look, worried that Applejack’s blunt honesty was about to escalate matters, but to her surprise they both just sighed, Holly in particular looking quite abashed.

“What happened with the Brahmin was a most regrettable occurrence, for which I offer my most sincere apologies.” Vance shook his head slowly. “I was aware that certain members of our Family were making a nuisance of themselves but I never suspected they would go so far in tormenting the local populace.”

“It's a terrible thing. I wish we could give some sort of recompense for them, but we just don't have those kind of resources.” Holly said earnestly.

“It is indeed a shame, but I'm afraid that all I have to offer is my solemn word that such an incident will not occur again. As for Ian’s parents…” Vance's expression darkened. “I suppose the sheriff is correct, in a way.”

“It is not your fault.” Holly said firmly.

“My fault? Perhaps not, but it is my responsibility.” Vance sighed. “What happened to the Wests was a terrible tragedy, one that I was not quick enough to prevent. It was only through good fortune that I was able to reach Ian before he was truly lost.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked quickly, “Is Ian here? Is he alright?”

Vance nodded. “Ian is here and unharmed I promise you, he came with me voluntarily.”

“Can we see him?” Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that right now.” Vance said as Holly shook her head. “Ian is currently in isolation while he comes to terms with what happened in Arefu, and decides what he wants to do next.”

“It sounds to me like you’re imprisoning the poor boy.” Rarity shot.

“Nothing could be further from the truth.” Vance replied. “Ian is free to leave and seek his own path at any time should he wish it.”

“You said you managed to reach Ian before he was ‘lost completely’.” Sunset said quickly, before anyone else could retort. “What exactly happened up there?”

There was silence as Vance looked over the girls, an almost appraising look in his eyes. Finally he sighed. “Very well, but if you truly wish to understand what transpired then first I must tell you who and what we, the Family, really are. Perhaps then you will see why Ian belongs here with us.”

Sunset said nothing as Vance turned and flung out an arm, indicating the makeshift settlement spread out below. “What you see before you is the last bastion of hope for the downtrodden and misunderstood. It is a sanctuary for the oppressed and beacon of faith for the tyrannized.”

The girls listened as he recited what seemed to be a well-rehearsed little speech. “We are the remnants of society, cast aside like the clean-picked bones of a hunter’s feast. I led my flock beneath the sun-baked sands of the Wasteland to keep them safe and teach them my ways.”

“What exactly are your ways?” Applejack asked.

“And why are you outcasts?” Fluttershy added.

Vance glanced at the girls, his expression unreadable. “I provide these people with shelter, purpose and a sense of belonging. I help them to control their hunger, as I have with mine, that we may live with it without becoming the beasts that others perceive us to be. Society labels us as monsters, demons and the unclean. Men of science would call us cannibals, eaters of human flesh.”

Oh shit. If she hadn’t been paralyzed by shock, Sunset would have chastised herself for the profanity that flashed in her mind. She wasn’t the only one, each of the girls simply stood and stared at Vance as if he had suddenly grown another head. It was Applejack who finally broke the silence.

“Uh, come again?”

Vance sighed and shook his head slowly. “You need not be afraid. I have reined in my people’s cravings and taught them not to eat of the flesh but to drink of the blood.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow slowly. “Right… so… vampires?”

Holly chuckled at that. “In a manner of speaking. My husband has taught us the ways of the vampire, helping us to control our hunger by just drinking blood rather than actually eating people.”

“That’s… actually quite fascinating!” Twilight said brightly. She blushed as the others turned to stare at her in amazement. “I mean, I suspected that cannibalism would be an issue in the wasteland given the lack of reliable food production and distribution, but I never considered that people might use a substitute to help control their cannibalistic urges!”

Sunset shook her head, smirking slightly despite the circumstances. Stuck in an underground subway station surrounded by heavily armed cannibals and the colossal nerd is thinking about a research project.

“I suppose… as long as no-one‘s getting hurt, then I guess it can‘t be too bad…right?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Sunset felt a jolt in her gut as she realized why Vance was telling them all of this. “Someone did get hurt.”

The girls looked around at her curiously while Vance just nodded grimly. “Now you understand why Ian is better off with us.”

Looks of shock and horror passed over the girls faces as comprehension dawned on them. Fluttershy’s hands flew to her mouth and Pinkie’s hair deflated as her shoulders slumped.

“You mean… Ian… he… I…” Rarity groaned and turned to brace her hands on the wall, taking deep breaths as her face rapidly turned green.

“Good gravy.” Applejack breathed, plucking her hat off and holding it over her chest.

Rainbow looked slowly around at the others, blank shock written all over her features. “You mean he… he killed-”

“Don’t say it!” Rarity snapped before moaning again, covering her mouth with a hand. “Please… just don’t say it.”

Vance turned away, gazing down at his people in the station below. “The hunger that drives us must be kept in check. It is one of the most difficult things to teach. Ian lost control because no-one was around to guide him. His own family was alien to him.” He shook his head sadly. “He had a moment of weakness, and it was fatal.”

Rarity sank to her knees, moaning weakly. Fluttershy tottered over and slumped on the ground next to her, staring vacantly ahead.

“How in the heck are we going to explain this to Lucy?” Applejack muttered.

“Lucy?” Vance asked.

“His sister, I think.” Sunset replied quietly, pulling Lucy’s letter out of her pocket. “She asked us to deliver a letter to her family. That’s why we were in Arefu in the first place.”

Vance blinked at the letter she held. “Then a part of his human family still remains? Even more of a reason he needs to remain in isolation, lest she suffer the same fate as her parents.”

Sunset glanced around at her friends, then directed a pleading look at Vance. “This letter is all Ian has left of his old life. Will you at least let us give it to him?”

Vance stared in wonder at Sunset, muttering almost to himself. “Of all people you girls must surely understand the difficulties faced by outcasts in this day and age, and yet somehow you remain… altruistic.” His expression softened as he looked around at each of the girls. “Very well. You have earned my trust and my respect. If you wish to speak to Ian, you are free to do so.”

Sunset sighed and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Would you like me to show you to his meditation room?” Holly asked.

“Please.” Sunset glanced back at her friends, all of them still looking either horrified, stunned or distinctly queasy. “I… guess you all want to stay here?”

There were nods and murmurs of assent from all except Fluttershy, who just sat and stared at the wall opposite. Sunset’s shoulders slumped as she turned to follow Holly, desperately hoping that this trip hadn’t finally crushed the kind girl’s spirit.

Holly led Sunset into a corridor off the mezzanine and through a battered old ticket barrier. Around the corner was a heavily boarded-up gate, one that Sunset assumed once led outside, with a little side door labelled ‘Restroom’. Holly stepped over to a bulky computer terminal just outside the door and entered a code. A moment later there was a loud thunk as the door unlocked.

“That’s some heavy security for a toilet.” Sunset quipped, trying to perk herself back up and gather her confidence.

“You’re telling me.” Holly chuckled. “It’s the only room with a functioning electric lock and a working toilet, so we use it as a meditation room for new Family members, or for older members who need some time alone.” She pushed the door open and gestured inside. “Here you go, I’ll be waiting outside so just knock when you’re done.”

Sunset nodded and stepped through, Holly closing the door behind her. The room inside was in a parlous state. It was some sort of waiting room, with doors leading off to the women’s and men’s toilet areas, but the ceiling at both ends had caved in, massive piles of rubble leaving very little floor space and blocking the entrance to the men’s restroom.

A young man, Sunset assumed it was Ian, was seated at a small table that had been plonked in what little floor space remained. He looked up as the thunk of the door locking echoed through the room. His eyes widened as he spotted Sunset and he scrambled to his feet.

“Wow, uh… um, hello?”

Sunset managed a small smile. “Hello, my name’s Sunset Shimmer. I’m guessing you’re Ian West?”

Ian just stared at her blankly. After a moment he seemed to realize what he was doing and gave himself a shake. “Oh, y-yeah. Sorry. Are you a new member of the Family too?”

Sunset shook her head. “Actually me and my friends came here to find you. Evan sent us, from Arefu?”

“Really? Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Ian smiled sadly, “Evan would probably have the whole town out looking for me if he could. He’s worse than my parents.” His smile vanished the moment the words left his mouth, replaced with a look of absolute misery.

“I’m sorry.” Sunset shifted uncomfortably as Ian looked up at her. “Vance told us, about what happened.”

“Right…” Ian’s shoulders drooped as his gaze fell to the floor. His voice shook as he spoke. “I guess you think I’m some kind of monster.”

Sunset hesitated. When she didn’t respond he sighed and turned away, slouching over to a bed tucked against one of the walls and dropping onto it. Silent tears streamed down his face.

Seeing that helped Sunset make up her mind. Despite what he had done Ian wasn’t another psychopath like Burke, just a scared young man no older than herself, stuck with a terrible affliction that he couldn’t do anything about. Sunset took a deep breath and strode across the room to sit on the bed next to him.

“I don’t think you’re a monster Ian.” Sunset said slowly. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now but… I do know what it’s like to have a darkness inside of you.”

“No you really don't.” Ian mumbled.

“Maybe not in the same way but… not long ago I was in a bad place. I was consumed with bitterness and jealousy, all I cared about was power and revenge against those who would keep me from it. I ended up going down a very dark path.” Sunset hesitated as she remembered the feeling of the magic searing through her mind and the corrupt, sadistic glee that had blossomed afterwards. “I… I tried to murder my friends.”

Ian looked slowly up at her. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

She smiled sadly. “They managed to stop me before anyone got hurt.” Except me… and I guess maybe Snips and Snails… “After that... they forgave me. Don’t get me wrong, it took a while to earn everyone’s trust again, but they stood by me.” Sunset placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “I know the circumstances are different, but you have people who care about you too. People who will support you, who won’t let you face the darkness alone.”

Ian shook his head slowly. “No I don’t, the only people who give a shit about me any more are the Family.”

“That’s not true Ian. What about Evan? You know he cares about you, and so does Lucy.” Ignoring his look of surprise, Sunset pulled out the letter and handed it to him. “She gave this to me. She wanted me and my friends to deliver it to her family.”

Ian hesitantly took the letter and opened it. Fresh tears started to fall as he read it through. “She asks about me a lot in here, says she really misses being home.” He sighed and folded the letter back up. “I had it all wrong. I never should have come here in the first place.”

“What are you going to do?” Sunset asked gently.

Ian just took a deep breath and stood up. Sunset followed as he strode over and rapped on the door. It was unlocked with another loud thunk and a moment later it was open, Holly standing in the doorway.

“Ian? Are you alright?”

Ian nodded. “I’m alright, thanks Holly. Can I speak to Vance?”

“Of course dear, what about?”

Ian smiled sadly. “I… I want to go home.”

Author's Note

I Liiiive!!!

Sorry about the recent delay, the last few weeks have been a bit of a train wreck irl and I haven't been able to get to my pc much.

While I have managed to get things mostly back on track I'm afraid from now on I'm going to have reduce my updates from once a week to once a fortnight for the time being. This should give me a little breathing room and allow me to build up a bit of a buffer so if the same thing does happen again i can still post new chapters even if I can't get to the pc.

Anyhoo, enough of the downer crap. I hope you enjoy the new chapter, comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 14 - Reality Check

Sunset sighed as she made her way back to where her friends were waiting. Ian and Holly were walking just ahead of her, discussing his current plans and getting ready to say his goodbyes to the rest of the Family. So far things had gone far better than Sunset had dared to hope.

Admittedly the fact that Ian was a cannibal who had murdered his own parents had put a dampener on things, but the Family were proving to be reasonable people and was reasonably sure things weren’t going to descend into violence. After her first experiences of the Wasteland and despite the dark circumstances surrounding their current detour, Sunset was quietly hoping she would get to call this trip a win.

As they turned the corner and passed the ticket barrier Sunset saw her friends, still standing atop the mezzanine talking to Vance. She felt a small wave of relief as she spotted Fluttershy standing and conversing with the others, hopefully her friend was starting to feel a little better. Even Rarity had stopped looking ill.

“Hey sugarcube, you alright?” Applejack called as they approached.

“Better than I was.” Sunset said with a sigh, then gestured to Ian. “Girls, I’d like you to meet Ian.”

To their credit, none of the girls were horrified or disgusted at meeting the young man. Or at least they didn’t show it if they were. All of them either simply wore looks of mild surprise or casual curiosity.

Applejack stepped forward and dipped her hat to him. “Well howdy there Ian, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Ian didn’t answer. Sunset turned to see him standing slack-jawed, gawping at her friends. “Uh… Ian?”

He flinched as he was snapped back to reality. “Oh! Uh… yeah! Nice to meet you too!”

Vance took a step towards him, concern written all over his face. “Ian, are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m good. I just didn’t know Sunset and her friends were mutants.” Ian seemed to realize what he’d said before it finished leaving his mouth, shaking his head frantically and holding up his hands as the girls narrowed their eyes at him. “Not that I have anything against mutants! I was just surprised that‘s all!”

“Dude. Chill.” Rainbow huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. “We’re used to it.”

Ian’s shoulders slumped as he seemed to curl in on himself. “I’m sorry. I… er… I didn’t mean to offend any of you.”

“Water under the bridge dear.” Rarity replied firmly. “Though I am curious. Sunset stands out almost as much as the rest of us, weren’t you surprised by her?”

A faint blush spread across Ian’s cheeks at that, much to Sunset’s surprise. He tried to stammer out a response, but was saved the trouble by Vance.

“Perhaps we should save this conversation for a more appropriate time. After all I believe we all have more pressing matters to discuss. Ian, is there something you would like to tell me?”

Ian nodded and took a deep breath to collect himself. “There is. I really appreciate everything that you and the Family have done for me, but I think it’s best if I go back home. To Arefu.”

Vance’s expression was inscrutable. “Are you sure that is what you desire?”

“I am.”

“Then there is little more to be said.” Vance smiled sadly. “Though it saddens me to lose one of my flock, I wish nothing less than the very best for you. I want you to know that, should you ever change your mind, you will always have a home here with us.”

“Thanks, Vance.” Ian replied quietly.

“And speaking of Arefu.” Vance turned to Sunset. “Your friends and I believe we have come up with a solution to both the Family’s and Arefu’s problems.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“While we have managed to control our urges through the consumption of blood, the fact remains that blood itself is not an easy thing to come by.” Vance answered. “Until now we have managed by preying on raiders and travelers as well as, admittedly, the people of Arefu when supplies were scarce.” He at least had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed as he spoke. “However, your good friend Fluttershy came up with the idea of us using blood packs, instead of relying on unwilling… donors.”

“Wow, good thinking Flutters!” Sunset grinned at her shy little friend, getting a small smile in response.

Vance nodded, smiling at Fluttershy too. “Indeed. I actually used to make do by doing just that, back when I was travelling the old D.C ruins on my own. The problem is that blood packs are quite hard to come by, at least in sufficient quantities to keep our whole Family satisfied.”

“That’s when we got to thinking.” Applejack piped up, “Blood packs may be hard for the Family to get a hold of, but ah bet they’re something that the folk back at Arefu would be able to trade for.”

Ian nodded. “Oh sure, the trade caravans stop off at Arefu all the time. Doc Hoff would probably be our best bet, he sells all sorts of medicine and stuff. But what would Arefu get out of it?”

“Protection.” Vance said simply. “In exchange for a regular supply of blood packs, the Family will lend our strength in defending the people of Arefu against the threats of the Wasteland. That is, of course, if Evan King is willing to accept this proposal.”

Sunset just shrugged. “We’ll ask him, though to be honest I really can’t see him turning this down.”

“He’ll agree to it.” Ian smirked. “He’ll agree to almost anything if it means having less stress on his plate.”

Vance hummed and folded his arms. “All the same I would prefer to have the offer put to him before we make any decisions, which brings me to my next question. I assume you are going to go with the girls back to Arefu?”

“I, uh, if that’s okay with them.” Ian said quietly.

“Of course darling, we couldn’t possibly let you make the journey back there on your own.” Rarity replied.

Vance smiled warmly at her. “I’m glad to hear it. Then all that remains is for Ian to collect his belongings and say his goodbyes.” He glanced at Sunset and Rainbow. “Though if you would like to rest and give your injuries a chance to heal then you are more than welcome to stay the night.”

Pinkie let out a huge gasp at that. “Oh my gosh, VAMPIRE SLUMBER PARTY!!!!”

The girls all laughed as Vance, Holly and Ian just stared at her, utterly baffled.

Sunset shook her head, still smiling. “Thanks for the offer, but we really should get back to Megaton as soon as we can. Sorry Pinkie.”

“Awwwwww….”

Sunset grinned as she reached up and touched the bandage on her head. It was still slightly sore, but felt a lot better than it had that morning. “Well my head feels fine, how about you Rainbow?”

“Nah I’m good to go. Ian?”

Ian shifted awkwardly on his feet. “I’d… like to say goodbye to everyone before we go. If that’s alright?”

None of the girls had any objections, so the group made their way to the escalator and headed down to the lower level of the station.

As soon as he reached the bottom Vance threw his arms wide and called out to the others. “Brothers and sisters, gather round! I have some important news for you all.”

Ian fidgeted nervously as the various members of the Family approached, curious looks in their eyes.

“You go ahead and say what you need to say.” Applejack said suddenly. “We’ll wait down by the tunnel, give y’all some privacy.”

“Oh, okay then. Thanks.”

Sunset and the others followed as AJ led them tunnel entrance. As they reached the mouth of the tunnel she stopped in her tracks, letting out a mighty sigh.

“Well, this has been one heck of a trip.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Rainbow agreed.

“It certainly has been a rather unpleasant venture.” Rarity huffed. “Though I suppose things really have turned out quite well for us this time, all things considered.”

Applejack scowled at her. “You mean aside from Ian being a crazy cannibal who murdered his parents?”

“Keep it down will you!?” Sunset hissed, looking over her shoulder to make sure none of the Family had heard them.

“Ah’m sorry. Ah just… ah can’t imagine doing something like that. ’Specially not to your kin.”

“That’s not fair Applejack.” Fluttershy said reproachfully. “It’s not something he can control.”

“Ah guess. ” Applejack grumbled, but at least looked contrite. “Ah’ll still feel a whole lot better once we’ve put this whole mess behind us.”

“You’re not the only one.” Pinkie muttered darkly.

Rarity patted her on the back reassuringly. “I can't honestly say I disagree with you. I suppose we should just be thankful that none of us were injured.”

“Uh, hello?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow and gestured to her backside.

“Oh… of course, I do apologize dear.” Rarity said awkwardly.

“Sorry Rainbow, I guess your butt just slipped her mind!” Twilight quipped, earning a giggle from the others.

“Speaking of that,” Fluttershy said, chuckling softly. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and rest a bit longer, the Family did offer to let us spend the night?”

Rainbow shook her head violently. “Are you kidding me?! No way am I sleeping in the same room as a bunch of vampires when I’m bleeding! I’d probably wake up to find one of them gnawing on my butt-cheek!”

Applejack folded her arms and grinned at the athlete. “Awww what’s the matter? Don’t like the thought of waking up to someone licking your butt?” All of the girls slowly turned to stare at Applejack, incredulous looks on their faces. The farm girl turned bright scarlet as she realized what she’d just said. “That, uh… that sounded a whole lot better in my head.”

Sunset and Pinkie were the first to crack, followed swiftly by the others, the six of them snorting with laughter as Applejack pulled her hat down to try and hide her blush.

“I wasn't aware that you were into that sort of thing darling.” Rarity giggled.

“Ah ain’t, it was just a slip of the tongue.”

“You certainly slipped it somewhere!” Pinkie quipped, earning a glare from Applejack and renewed cries of laughter from the others.

Rainbow threw her good arm around Applejack’s shoulders. “Sorry AJ, I think I’d rather just wake up to a good breakfast.”

“Some people would say that is a good breakfast!” Sunset shot.

That topped it, sending all of the girls, including Applejack, into fits of hysterics. Pinkie slumped to the floor, clutching her sides as she cackled. Tears streamed down Rainbow’s face as she howled, unable to stop laughing even as her injured shoulder protested.

Eventually the girls managed to get themselves under control.

“Really darling, that was awful.” Rarity tittered, pulling out a compact mirror to check her make-up.

Applejack nodded, still chuckling. “Classy Sunset, real classy.”

“Like you can talk.” Sunset grinned, giggling again as Fluttershy helped Rainbow take some more painkillers.

Twilight pulled her glasses off so she could dry her eyes. “We really should stop talking about anilingus girls.”

“I would greatly appreciate that.”

Startled, Sunset whipped her head around at the sound of Vance’s voice as Fluttershy squeaked and dove behind Twilight. Vance and Ian were stood a few paces away, bemused looks on their faces. Sunset chuckled awkwardly, feeling a warm blush creeping over her face. “Hey… uh… all set?”

Ian nodded slowly, looking as if he was suddenly unsure about his escort. “Uh, yeah. I’m ready to go.”

“Before you leave, I would like to thank you.” Vance said suddenly. “You have given me hope that there are decent people out there in the Wasteland with open minds and good hearts. People with whom we can co-exist.” He pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Sunset. “We do not have much to offer, but I would like you to have this. Consider it an apology to you for all the hardships you had to endure finding this place.”

“Oh, um thanks.” Sunset raised an eyebrow as she examined the paper. It seemed to be a schematic for the unusual sword Vance bore. “What is it?”

In answer Vance unsheathed his sword and held it down to the side. He squeezed a lever on the hilt and there was a sharp smell of gasoline as a dark fluid started running down the blade, then there was a sudden click and the whole blade burst into flames.

Rainbow’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “That. Is. So. AWESOME!!!!”

Vance just smirked, the flames hissing as he swipe the sword through the air. “It’s called a Shishkebab. Against an undisciplined or unprepared foe the sight alone can be a powerful weapon.”

“It certainly looks impressive.” Twilight said, the fire reflecting eerily off her glasses. “But the flames will make the blade brittle, I’d imagine it breaks very easily.”

“You are correct.” Vance admitted. “Fortunately the blade is easy enough to replace, and against an undisciplined opponent the sight alone can be a powerful weapon.”

“Seriously, you have got to make me one of these!” Rainbow cried.

“We’ll see.” Sunset replied, privately wondering whether or not she’d ever be able to trust Rainbow with something so dangerous, she already had a pack full of grenades after all. Given how she seemed to attract injuries in this world, perhaps it would be better to limit her access to explosives. “Anyway, I think it’s time we headed off.”

Vance nodded solemnly. “Very well. I thank you again for your visit, it has been most educational.” He turned to Ian and extended a hand. “And remember, you will always have a home here if you wish it.”

Ian clasped his hand with a grin. “Thanks Vance, you’re the best.”

With that the group turned to leave, heading back down the tunnel. As they reached the door to the guard post Sunset looked back over her shoulder. Vance was still standing at the mouth of the tunnel. Sunset gave a small wave and he raised an arm in farewell.

Once they were through the door, Ian sighed as he beheld the guard post. “I’m going to miss this place.” he said quietly.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Flutters asked.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m sure.” Ian took a deep breath and strode through the post, the girls following until they came to the mesh fence at the end.

The guard looked up as the group approached. He blinked in surprise as he saw Ian, but said nothing until he’d unlocked the gate and let everyone out. “So… I guess you’re leaving?” Ian just nodded. “Alright then. Well I’m not one for mushy goodbyes so, you know, look after yourself kid.”

“Yeah, you too Robert.” Ian grinned.

Sunset took the lead as the group made their way back the way they came, past the old subway trains. Edging their way down in single file, no-one spoke until they reached the fork in the tunnel.

Sunset sniffed as she stepped out into the open. She could still faintly smell the dead mirelurks from where she was standing. “Okay people, which way do you think we should go?”

“Shouldn’t we just go back the way we came?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, at least we know there aren’t any more traps back that way.”

“True, but that means we have to go back through Murphy’s lab and that radioactive goop he had stored.”

Rarity grimaced as she remembered. “I think we should go outside.”

“That might not be a good idea.” Twilight supplied. “Don’t forget it looked like it was going to rain before we came down into the subway system.”

“Come on Twilight, you’re not afraid of a little rain are you?” Rainbow teased.

Twilight gave her a half-lidded stare. “Given that the rainwater here is probably acidic and heavily irradiated? Yes. Yes I am.”

“Fair enough.”

Sunset folded her arms, weighing their options. “Hey Ian, do you know the way back to Arefu if we take the outside route?”

“Sure.”

“Good, in that case we’ll see what the weather is like outside. If it’s clear we’ll carry on that way, if not we go back through Murphy’s lab.”

“Works for me.” Applejack said. “Lead the way, just keep your eyes peeled for any more of them traps.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Ian said confidently. “There’s hardly any this way and I remember where they all are.”

Ian fell into step alongside Sunset and together they led the group to the exit. Ian was as good as his word, pointing out the few traps they came across. The first they came across was, bizarrely, a tripwire-activated baseball pitching machine. Not particularly lethal, but certainly painful and more than enough to do some damage to any unprotected highschoolers.

The only other traps they encountered were a bear trap, which they disarmed, a landmine they managed to skirt around, and a rather sinister-looking baby carriage down a side tunnel which Ian warned them to stay the hell away from.

At the end of the tunnel was the huge set of metal doors they had spotted previously. They were sealed shut with no obvious way of opening them, but Ian pointed out a maintenance corridor that led past the gates and outside.

“Well, here we are. Meresti Trainyard.” Ian said as the girls followed him through the door.

The place was cluttered with battered old subway trains. Most of them were still on the tracks but a couple had been blasted off and lay on their sides in the dirt. Sunset glanced up at the clouds as the others spread out. The clouds were still dark and heavy with the threat of rain, but it wasn’t raining yet.

“What do you think?” Twilight asked, sidling up to her.

“Honestly? I think we should risk it.” Sunset replied. “Okay Ian, which way do we go from here?”

Ian turned and pointed. “That way, Arefu is West of here. There’s a bridge across the river we can use then it’s a straight path back home.”

Sunset stepped over to the mesh fencing that lined the yard. Large sections of it had been torn down, giving them an easy way out. “Alright, let’s get moving. Just remember to keep your heads down, we don’t want to run into any more raiders.”

Ian took the lead as the group headed back into the Wastes. The scenery was just as blasted and drab as before, blackened trees and chunks of debris dotting the landscape as it sloped down from where they stood. It didn’t take long for them to spot the bridge Ian had spoken of past a particularly large mound of rubble. As they cautiously rounded the rubble a rough shelter came into view, cobbled together out of scrap metal.

Sunset skipped back behind the rubble as she spotted them, dragging Ian with her and motioning for the others to stay back.

“What do you see?” Applejack whispered, cradling her shotgun.

“Raiders.” Sunset hissed back.

Two men were lounging in the shelter. One had filthy blonde hair, the other was wearing a cracked hockey mask over his face.

Applejack poked her head around for a moment, then ducked back quickly. “Hold up a second, ain’t that one of them thugs we dealt with before?”

Sunset nodded, recognizing the blonde man as one of the raiders who had attacked them on their way to Arefu the first time. “Something tells me he won’t be happy to see us.”

“Ah reckon you’re right.” Applejack huffed, “What do we do?”

“We don’t want a fight, let’s get back to the subways and go the long way around.” Sunset replied. “If we’re careful and retrace our steps properly they shouldn’t see us.” Her hopes were dashed the moment she finished speaking, as two more raiders appeared from behind the shelter and started strolling up the hill towards the train yard.

“Now what do we do?” Twilight asked nervously, “If we try and go back now they’ll spot us!”

Sunset scrutinized the two new arrivals carefully. One of them was clearly the other half of the duo that had accosted them previously, another baseball bat resting on his shoulder. The other was a woman, brown hair cropped short and wearing an assortment of torn fabrics and straps that left very little to the imagination. A heavy knife was tied at her hip, but apart from that she didn’t appear to be armed.

“I don’t seem any guns.” Sunset muttered. She nodded as she came to a decision. “We’ll go this way. They should recognize us, so hopefully they’ll let us pass without any problems.”

Fluttershy edged forward, her face pale. “And, um, what if they don’t let us go?”

“Then Rarity here gives them a reminder of what happened last time.” Rainbow grinned.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Wonderful, more violence. Well I suppose I can give them another lesson if it’s required of me.”

“Uh, w-what should I do?” Ian asked, raising his hand slowly.

Sunset glanced at the young man quivering beside her. “Just get in the middle of the group and stay there. Fluttershy? You too.”

“Oh thank goodness.” the young nurse whispered gratefully.

“Ready Rarity?”

“Ready when you are darling.”

Sunset took a deep breath to steady herself, trying to ignore the nervous pounding in her chest. Straightening up, Sunset squared her shoulders and marched out from behind the rubble, Rarity at her side and the others close on her heels.

The man and woman were the first to react, blank shock flashing across their faces. The woman recovered quickly, ripping out her knife as the man yelled over his shoulder. “Oh fuck, guys! Those mutant bitches are back!”

The men in the shelter whipped around at that. The blonde one took one look at the girls and snarled, his hands balling into fists.

“Don’t even think about it, you know what happened last time.” Sunset folded her arms and glared down at the furious raider. “Unless you want the same thing to happen again you’ll let us go in peace.”

“Oh yeah? You know what I say to that?” Blondie grinned and snatched something from inside the shelter. Sunset’s heart leapt into her throat as he shouldered the rifle and pointed it at her and Rarity. “FUCK YOU!”

Sunset didn’t have time to react as Rarity flung her arms out, trying to conjure a gemstone to protect everyone.

Too late.

There was a sharp crack and a shriek of agony as a bloody mist puffed into being, crimson rivulets marring the fashionista's pristine white skin.

Author's Note

Another chapter, another cliffhanger!

Locked in a battle for their lives and with one of their number already down (and out?) what's going to happen to the girls now? Tune in next time to find out!

Comments and criticisms greatly appreciated (especially as I felt a bit iffy about how this chapter flowed) and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 15 - First Blood

“RARITY!”

Sunset and Applejack both lunged for Rarity as she collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony. Blood cascaded down her arm from the ragged holes the bullet had left as it punched straight through her left bicep.

“Get her back!” Sunset yelled, grabbing Rarity under the arms and trying to haul her out of sight behind the rubble. A loud clack snapped Sunset’s attention back to the raider as he prepared for another shot. Before he could draw a bead there was a multi-colored blur as something sped straight at him.

Sunset cried out, terrified that she was about to see Rainbow killed right in front of her eyes, but the athlete had learned from her encounter with Burke. Shouldering the gun out of the way, she slugged the raider as hard as she could with her good arm, knocking him clean off his feet and darting away before he or his masked companion could react.

There were whoops and yells from the remaining two raiders as they charged towards the girls, the filth-covered man waving his bat and the woman brandishing her knife menacingly. They both skidded to a halt as Applejack leveled her shotgun at them.

“You stay the heck away! Ah’m warning you!”

Sunset moved to drag Rarity further from danger while the raiders were distracted, when a purple aura surrounded the two and they found themselves floating back behind the rubble. As Twilight gently set them down Fluttershy was instantly at Rarity’s side, her nursing kit open and ready as she got to work.

“Are you alright?” Twilight gasped, her face ashen.

Sunset nodded, but before she could reply a loud blast tore through the air. Poking her head out, Sunset saw that Applejack had fired at the ground between the man and woman, sending them scattering for cover.

“AJ get down!” Rainbow tackled Applejack to the ground as a pair of gunshots rang out. Blondie had gotten back to his feet and rejoined the fight, his masked friend nowhere to be seen. Before he could line up any more shots his gun was gripped in Twilight’s magic and given a firm yank.

As Twilight tried to wrestle the gun out of Blondie’s hands, Sunset took the opportunity to glance back at the others. Fluttershy was still working feverishly on Rarity, who was moaning feebly and seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. Ian was cowering at the back of the group, Pinkie standing protectively over him.

Satisfied that the raiders were occupied, at least for the moment, Sunset turned her attention back to the fight. Rainbow gritted her teeth as she helped Applejack to her feet, trying to favor her good leg. A dark blotch was slowly staining her pants around her injury.

We can’t keep this up.

Sunset shrugged off her pack, thinking quickly. They needed to finish this and get Rarity somewhere safe as soon as possible, which meant they needed to beat up or scare off these raiders, and fast. Luckily, Sunset had just the thing to help with that. She scowled as she pulled Burke’s pistol out of her pack, the stupid thing still had it’s silencer attached. Not exactly loud and intimidating, but it would have to do.

Just as Sunset ditched her pack and stepped out from behind the rubble Rainbow suddenly yelped and grabbed Applejack, yanking her back by the shoulders. Not a moment too soon, as a baseball bat missed the back of the farmer’s skull by a hair’s breadth, swatting her hat off and knocking her ponytail around wildly. The man and woman had taken the opportunity while the girls were distracted to close the distance. Not giving AJ or Rainbow a chance to recover the male raider barreled forward, dropping his shoulder and slamming into the two as the woman lunged at Sunset, jabbing with her knife.

Sunset twisted to the side and grabbed the raider’s wrist, barely managing to stop the blade before it buried itself in her guts. A sharp twist brought a gasp of pain from the raider and she dropped the knife. Sunset grinned as she lashed out with the gun, cracking the woman across the face with its butt. I guess those old self defence classes weren’t entirely useless.

A backhanded smack from the woman quickly wiped the smile off Sunset’s face. Another punch had pain exploding through her cheek, Burke’s gun slipping from her fingers as she staggered. Reacting on instinct, Sunset managed to bring her arm up in time to block the next blow, retaliating with a vicious uppercut that sent the raider reeling.

An animal snarl clawed it’s way out of Sunset’s throat as she hurled herself at the woman, all else forgotten in her desire to pummel this psychopath that was so bent on bringing harm to her and her friends. Fists flew as the two tore into each other, until finally the raider managed to snatch a handful of Sunset’s hair. The woman yanked hard, pulling Sunset off balance, them rammed a fist into her exposed side. Stumbling backwards, Sunset could do nothing to protect herself as the raider stepped forward, throwing her entire body into a brutal right hook that knocked the girl flat.

Sunset desperately rolled to her knees, trying to regain her footing before the raider pressed her advantage. As she shakily clambered to her feet, Sunset saw the woman scoop up her blade, a twisted sneer plastered across her face. Her mirth was short-lived as a fist-sized gemstone smacked into her skull, sending her sprawling. Out of the corner of her eye Sunset spotted Rarity still laying next to Flutters, teeth gritted in agony with her good arm held out in front of her.

Not wasting a moment, Sunset charged at the raider as she tried to rise, smashing her knee into the woman’s face with all the force she could muster. The raider dropped like a stone. There was a sickening crunch as her head hit the floor, but Sunset hardly even noticed.

Seeing that her opponent was beaten and with adrenaline still thundering through her veins, Sunset whirled about, ready to face down the man attacking Applejack and Rainbow Dash, only to see him laying unconscious on the floor. Applejack stood over him, fury in her face and the snapped remnants of his baseball bat clenched in each hand. Rainbow was still sat on the ground, massaging her shoulder with a grimace, but at least she seemed alright. Sunset gave her a quick nod before turning to the others.

Rarity had sagged back onto Fluttershy’s lap, quietly muttering something as the young nurse gently caressed her forehead. Ian was still cowering against the huge pile of rubble while Pinkie had moved closer to the battle, a heavy rock clasped tightly in her hands. Twilight’s face was screwed up in concentration, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth as she continued wrestling with Blondie using her magic. Sunset’s eyes darted between each of them, a niggling feeling at the back of her mind telling her she’d forgotten something.

A sudden scrabbling sound dragged her attention to the top of the rubble. Sunset’s eyes widened as the masked raider clambered up onto the pile, brandishing a small revolver. She whipped her head around, searching desperately for some way to stop him. Almost immediately her eyes landed on Burke’s pistol, laying where it had fallen a few feet away. Sunset dove for it without hesitation, snatching it up and rolling back to her feet in one smooth motion. Time seemed to slow down as she span, bringing the pistol up and thumbing off the safety just as the raider straightened out his arm, his revolver pointed squarely at Fluttershy.

phut

The masked man grunted as the silenced round struck him in the gut. Swaying dangerously, the raider slowly turned to face Sunset, raising his gun defiantly. A red rage descended over Sunset as she fired again and again, emptying the magazine into him. The gun kicked with each shot, crimson splashes blossoming over the raider’s abdomen and chest as each bullet found it’s mark.

The last shot struck him in the forehead, boring a neat little hole through his hockey mask. The man fell like a puppet with it’s strings cut, crashing down off the rubble to land in a crumpled heap next to Pinkie.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Sunset just stared at the corpse. The anger that had filled her was gone, evaporated as if had never existed, replaced with a hollow shock that left her paralyzed. She couldn’t think, couldn’t even begin to comprehend what had just happened. It didn’t feel real, as if the events of mere seconds ago were some bizarre dream, as if she were a spectator in someone else’s life.

Sunset had no idea how long she was left standing like that, oblivious to everything that was happening around her. For all she knew it could have been seconds or it could have been hours. Her attention was focused solely on the broken body lying there, and the dark red pools slowly forming underneath it.

Eventually Sunset felt a hand on her shoulder, and dimly realized that someone was trying to talk to her. She blinked and slowly turned her head, tearing her gaze away from the grisly spectacle. Rainbow was standing next to her, concern written all over her face.

“Sunset, are… are you okay?”

Sunset’s senses suddenly snapped her back to reality, agony blazing from what felt like every part of her body. Worse than that was the feeling of horror and disgust that consumed her as she was hit by the full realization of what she had done. Sunset gasped and let out a strangled moan, slumping to her knees as everything came rushing back all at once, threatening to overwhelm her.

In a heartbeat Rainbow was next to her, pulling her into a tight, one-armed hug. Sunset clamped her arms around her friend, choking sobs escaping her as she held on as if her life depended on it. “It’s okay Sunset. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I didn’t… I didn’t want…”

“Hey, come on. It’s not your fault.” Rainbow’s voice was soothing, though it shook as she spoke.

“Ah… ah hate to say this, but we need to pull ourselves together and get out of here.” Applejack cut in suddenly.

Rainbow glared over her shoulder. “Not cool AJ, how can you just shrug this off?!”

“Ah ain’t, but Rarity’s injured and we don’t know how many more of those ruffians are lurking around out here!”
Sunset gasped and tried to look around wildly, but the motion sent waves of pain and nausea flowing through her. “The other raider! Where is he!?”

“He’s gone.” Twilight replied quietly. “He ran when you… uh… y’know.”

Sunset shivered and glanced over Rainbow’s shoulder to see Applejack kneeling next to Rarity, still slumped barely-conscious on Fluttershy’s lap. A blood-stained bandage was wrapped tightly around her arm.

“What do you reckon Fluttershy, are we okay to move her?” Applejack asked, caressing Rarity’s forehead gently.

Fluttershy didn’t answer. Her hands were clamped over her mouth and her eyes, irises as small as pinpricks, were locked on the crumpled corpse of the masked raider as silent tears streamed down her face. She flinched when Applejack reached up to give her a little shake.

“Listen Fluttershy, look at me.” Applejack gently but firmly tugged Fluttershy’s face around, tearing her gaze away from the corpse. “Ah know this is messed up, okay? Ah mean really messed up.” Applejack’s voice cracked as she spoke. Evidently she wasn’t as unfazed by everything as she was pretending, but at least she was trying. “But right now Rarity needs you. We all do.”

“Doctor mode remember? Like you told us back in the vault.” Twilight added. “Doctor mode now, freak-out later.”

“I think I’ll join you in that freak-out.” Pinkie muttered.

Fluttershy’s eyes flicked from Applejack to Twilight and back again. “Okay…” she whispered. The young nurse took a shuddering breath and roughly wiped her eyes. “Okay. Doctor mode.” Fluttershy quickly checked Rarity’s bandage then placed two fingers on her neck, checking her pulse. “I’ve managed to staunch the bleeding so her life isn’t in any immediate danger for now, but I think we should get her to a real doctor as soon as possible.”

Applejack nodded. “The clinic in Megaton. That’ll be our best bet.” A moment later she had Rarity hefted in a bridal carry, taking extra care not to jostle the fashionista’s arm too much. “All right y’all, let’s get to Megaton.”

“No.”

Everyone turned to stare at Sunset as she stood and nodded her thanks to Rainbow. She couldn’t afford to fall apart, not yet, not while everyone still depended on her. Sunset took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing. “I mean, not yet. We still have to get Ian back to Arefu first.”

The others blinked as they remembered their charge.

“Oh yeah, ah can’t believe ah forgot about him. Where is he?”

The boy in question was still exactly where they left him. He squeaked as each of the girls turned to look at him, his eyes wide with terror.

“Hey dude, uh… are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

“After what just happened I don’t think any of us are.” Sunset mumbled.

Ian’s eyes flicked from one girl to the next. “How… how did you do all of that? What kind of mutants are you?”

“Ah.” Sunset felt a shiver as she realized what he was talking about.

Twilight had evidently come to the same conclusion. “Oh, of course! You haven’t seen our magic before!”

“Your what?!”

“Oh for the love of…” Applejack huffed. “Look, we don’t have time to explain right now. Let’s just get you back to Arefu and the sheriff can explain everything to you then.”

“Oh, uh, alright.”

Sunset huffed as the boy quickly got to his feet. “Okay, let’s get out of here before the other two wake up.”

“Other two?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset raised an eyebrow and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Uh, yeah? The two we were just fighting?” She frowned as the others cringed, unable to meet her eye. A strange sinking feeling in her stomach joined the throbs and aches from the rest of her body. “What am I missing?”

Applejack shifted awkwardly. “Ah don’t know how to tell you this sugarcube, but ah’m pretty sure only one of them is going to be waking back up from that.”

The sinking feeling rapidly got worse as Sunset slowly turned to look at their erstwhile enemies. Surely Applejack hadn’t killed the man she was facing? Sunset was sure she had seen him breathing.

Yep, there he is. His chest is definitely still moving. But that means…

Sunset’s breath caught as she looked at the fallen woman. The raider’s face was a mess, her nose utterly smashed, but it was the jagged rock under her head that had grabbed Sunset’s attention, rivulets of blood carving trails through the dust.

Sunset felt her stomach drop. She probably would have fallen if Rainbow hadn’t grabbed her.

“Sunset! Sunset listen to me!” Sunset blinked as Rainbow stepped in front of her, an arm clamped on her shoulder. “This isn’t your fault, you hear me? This is not. Your. Fault. You totally just saved lives back there, don’t think about anything else okay? Just focus on that.”

Sunset just nodded. This was too much for her to deal with. She made to move, to lead the others back to Arefu, but she barely managed two steps before Sunset had to double over to puke.

Huh, twice in as many days? This wasteland sucks.

Author's Note

Another day, another chapter.

The girls have finally had their first real taste of the Wasteland, I hope I did it justice!

Next time we'll be exploring the ramifications of the girls' actions in this chapter, and what effect the fallout has on their friendship (pun absolutely intended).

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 16 - Angels, Drugs and Churches

Sunset sighed heavily, wondering how her life had spiraled so dangerously out of control in such a short time. She was currently hunched over on a little metal bench, elbows on her knees and her eyes unfocused. Images kept flashing through her mind unbidden, filled with blood and violence and death.

Sunset shook her head to try and clear it, but that just made the throbbing in her skull worse, so she gave up and tried to distract herself by sorting through the rest of her memories of the day so far. Shock, head injuries and an unhealthy dose of painkillers had made the more recent details somewhat… hazy. Again.

None of the others were around for the moment. Applejack and Fluttershy had taken Rarity to the clinic the moment they had set foot back in Megaton, while Twilight and Pinkie had gone to look for Lucy, to break the news about what had happened to her family. Sunset had felt duty-bound to take up that task herself, but Rainbow had refused point-blank. Instead she’d found herself dragged here, to the Church of Atom.

It was an odd building to say the least. From the outside it looked mostly the same as most of the other buildings in Megaton, that is, a multi-story conglomeration of scrap metal. But, for reasons known only to themselves, the Church of Atom decided to put the entrance on the second floor, with makeshift ramps winding around the building and connecting it to different levels of Megaton.

At least the cultists had been decent about letting her in. After a few quiet words from Rainbow Dash Sunset had been ushered downstairs into some sort of congregation area, with a series of benches lined up in front of a little lectern.

Sunset was dragged from her reverie by the sound of uneven footsteps, and a moment later a bottle of water was held out in front of her.

“Here you go, something to take your painkillers with.” Rainbow said. “Don’t worry, it’s not radioactive. The Confessor said something about ‘not forcing Atom’s gifts on those who are not yet ready’.”

Sunset took the bottle gingerly, her sore fingers barely able to grip it. “Thanks. Is he okay with us staying here for a while?”

Rainbow snorted. “Are you kidding? He practically begged us to stay, said to take as much time as we need.”

Sunset didn’t bother to respond as she knocked back some lozenges. She was fairly certain she’d taken more than the recommended dosage, but was entirely certain that she didn’t give a damn, even if her supply was starting to run out.

Rainbow hissed as she eased herself onto the bench, pulling out a few more painkillers of her own. “Well, today has sucked.”

“Yeah.”

“At least nothing else happened on the way back here.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “Do you think we made a mistake going to Arefu first?”

“Nah, it was definitely the safest option. At least we know the path between Arefu and Megaton is safe…ish. Who knows what kind of mess we would’ve gotten into if we tried to come straight back here from the train yard.” Rainbow replied. “Besides, we really needed to get rid of Ian before AJ smacked him one.”

Sunset had no argument for that. The poor fool had been in awe of the girls after their little ‘altercation’ with the raiders, but that hadn’t stopped him from sneaking hungry glances at Rarity’s wound whenever he thought the others weren‘t looking.

Truth be told, Sunset probably would have punched him herself for it if she had been in any condition to.

The sight of Rarity‘s blood-caked arm and dress flashed across Sunset‘s mind again. She tried not to groan as she stared down at her torn and bruised knuckles. Sunset swore she could still feel each punch she’d thrown as well as the ones she’d taken, not to mention the sickening impact of that last fatal strike with her knee, or the kick of the gun as she’d…

“Hey, look… are you okay?” Rainbow asked suddenly, dragging Sunset back out of her morbid mental replays.

“I’m ...” Sunset tried to say she was fine, that she was just tired, but the words wouldn’t come. Something had broken inside her, and she didn’t know how to fix it. “No… no I’m not.” she half-whispered, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

“Yeah, I figured. I’d be kinda freaked out if you were y’know.” Rainbow chuckled awkwardly. There was a moment of silence before she cleared her throat. “Yeah that wasn’t a great joke, my bad. So, uh, you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

There was a creak as Rainbow shifted on the bench. “Are you sure? I mean it’s cool if you just want some space, but usually whenever you have a problem or something the first thing you do is come and find one of us or go and write about it to Princess Twilight.”

Sunset flinched at the name. “I don’t… I can’t… this isn’t something I could speak to her about.”

“Why not?”

“Isn’t it obvious?!” Sunset cried, shooting to her feet. “I just murdered two people! Do you know how rare murder is in Equestria?! Ending a life, taking away everything that someone was and were ever going to be, just ripping a hole in a community like that and leaving nothing, it’s one of the worst crimes you can commit! How can I face Princess Twilight after this!? How can I even speak to her!?” Sunset wrapped her arms around herself and turned away. “I don’t deserve to go back home.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down a second.” Rainbow stood too, throwing an arm around Sunset’s shoulders. “First of all you did not murder those raiders.” Sunset made to protest but was stopped by Rainbow poking a finger out of her sling and planting it over her lips. “Shut up and listen a sec.”

Sunset frowned for a moment, then just sighed and obediently waited for Rainbow to speak.

“Okay so, yeah, you did kind of, sort of… technically… kill them.” she said slowly. “Which does sound kinda bad.”

“It sounds kinda-”

“My point,” Rainbow continued, “is that it wasn’t murder. The first one was an accident, that crazy raider woman was trying pretty hard to kill you, you were just defending yourself. The only reason she’s dead is dumb luck, you didn’t put that rock there. Heck after that fight I’m impressed you were even able to stand, she beat the living daylights out of you.”

Sunset had no response for that. It had been an accident, not that that made her feel any better. The beating she had taken certainly hadn’t helped matters, though Sunset had given almost as good as she got.

“As for the other guy, well, what choice did you have? Rarity was out of it, Applejack was distracted and I… well…” Rainbow rubbed her neck, her eyes distant. “I didn’t notice in time. I got knocked down and I just, I couldn’t push through the pain quickly enough. That’s on me.”

Sunset looked up at her friend, appalled. “But… how can you… there’s absolutely no way this is your fault Rainbow!”

“It’s not your fault either!” Rainbow said forcefully. “That lunatic was aiming right at Fluttershy, and you saved her life!” The young athlete stepped back and took a breath to calm herself. “Listen Sunset, you’re looking at this all the wrong way. Yeah, you killed someone, but only to save your friend’s life. I know you feel terrible about it, but I guess that’s a good thing.”

Sunset just blinked in confusion. “How can that be a good thing?”

Rainbow smirked at her. “It shows you’re still a good person.”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond, then closed it when no words came. Her throat bobbed as Rainbow pulled her in close for a hug. It was faint, but Sunset felt a little weight lift off her shoulders as she leaned into her friend, wrapping her arms around her.

“So, you okay?” Rainbow asked quietly.
“No, but... I think I will be.” Sunset sighed. “You’re a great friend, you know that?”

“Duh it’s me, you should know how awesome I am by now. Just remember I’ve got your back, no matter what happens.” Rainbow huffed. “You’re not alone here Sunset. I don’t care what it takes, we’re all getting home alive, and that includes you. I’m bringing you back whether you think you deserve it or not, even if I have to drag your sorry butt across the wasteland myself!”

Sunset just snorted, too sore and emotional to notice the sudden ripple of magic that passed over her friend. She released her arms and stepped back, drying her eyes on her sleeve. She still felt awful, but if Rainbow believed that Sunset was a good person, then she could do her best to believe it herself too. “Thanks Rainbow, I needed that.”

“Hey, anytime.” Rainbow grinned and folded her arms, her wings flexing as she shifted.

Wait… wings? WINGS!?

“Crap!” Sunset yelped.

“What!? What is it!?”

“You’ve ponied up!”

“Really? Wait, what’s wrong with tha- oh. ”

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she realized what Sunset was panicking about. They both slowly turned their heads to face the back of the room.

Confessor Cromwell was standing at a respectful distance with a few of his acolytes. Their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were practically popping out of their heads. The girls and the cultists stood and stared at each other for a few moments.

“Oh, uh, hey guys!” Rainbow said innocently, finally breaking the awkward silence. “We can totally explain this. Right Sunset?”

Sunset just threw her a flat look.

“A divine blessing…” Cromwell said quietly.

“A what now?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

Cromwell stepped forward eagerly, his features lit up with wonder and awe. “Atom has seen the devotion you show to your fellows and granted you a measure of his divine resplendence! You are truly the most blessed of all!”

“No no no, that’s not it!” Rainbow said quickly, though she did blush a little. “I don’t know about Atom or whatever, but this…” she flapped her wings for emphasis, “Just sort of happens every now and again. Seriously, Sunset and the others can all do it too.”

“Rainbow!” Sunset cut in a little too late.

Rainbow just shrugged. “What? He’s already seen me pony up, we may as well tell him the truth.”

“You… you can all do this?” Cromwell breathed.

Sunset turned her gaze back to him, wondering exactly how much she would be safe telling him, and vaguely wishing she didn’t have to wrack her brain like this while it was still bruised and drugged. “Well… I mean… we don’t all manifest wings but… yeah?” She regretted her admission almost instantly as Cromwell and the other acolytes all turned expectant, almost pleading, gazes upon her.

Sunset sighed with frustrated resignation, then closed her eyes and grasped her geode, focusing her thoughts on her friends and the bond they shared as she felt for the magic inside. A sudden feeling of panic jolted through her as she wondered if her recent transgressions would somehow cut her off from the magic of friendship, followed by sweet relief as she felt a warm frisson run through her body. Sunset took a deep breath and relaxed as she felt her new ears twitch, accompanied by the comfortable weight of her freshly extended hair. Cautiously she opened her eyes.

Sparkly dress? Check. Huge boots? Check. Spiky headband? Check. About to get burnt at the stake like a witch by religious zealots...?

The cultists were all staring at Sunset, utterly gob-smacked. She managed to force a small smile, knowing that things were about to go either very well or very badly. She hoped things would go well but, considering how the wastes had treated them so far, Sunset fully expected things to go very, very badly. Her mind started to whirl as she desperately tried to figure out the best way to escape from the building and find the others.

“Angels…” Cromwell breathed.

The cogs in Sunset’s brain suddenly ground to a halt. “Wait… what?”

“Angels!” he repeated, sinking to his knees and clasping his hands together. “Look, my followers! Atom has rewarded our faith and graced us with the presence of His own angels!”

Excited murmuring snapped Sunset’s attention to the upper floor. More acolytes were crowded around the railing, staring down with wide eyes at the two girls. One of them suddenly threw his hands up in the air and shouted. “The Angels of Atom! The Angels of Atom are here!” The young man darted from the room and out into the open air, yelling about how the ‘Angels of Atom’ had come to spread their glorious word. Meanwhile the chatter from the remaining acolytes was rapidly growing in volume and fervor.

“Angels!”

“They’ve come to show us the way!”

“Our faith is being rewarded!”

“Do you see that light!?”

“It’s the Glow!”

“Please, grant us your blessings!”

“Show us the glory of Atom!”

“Aw horse-apples.” Sunset muttered. This was starting to get out of hand. She quickly let the magic drain out of her and returned to her normal form, Rainbow swiftly following suit.

Cromwell seemed to notice the look on her face. Panic twisted his features for a moment and he shot to his feet, spinning to face his followers and holding his arms out to them. “Everyone! Please, restrain yourselves!” It took a few minutes, but eventually he managed to calm the others down enough that they could hear him speak. “My brothers and sisters, believe me when I say I understand your elation.”

He paused and placed a hand over his chest. “That same rapture pounds in my heart even now, but we must contain our euphoria at this most holy of blessings. These glorious messengers came to us today to seek rest and respite in our humble place of worship. Let us not disturb their tranquility they desire with our zealous praise, but grant them solitude, that they may hold divine council without interruption or worry.”

The acolytes each nodded and bowed reverently. Several of them wept openly, crying with joy at the sight of what they believed to be the harbingers of their salvation. Sunset wanted desperately to tell them the truth, but she didn’t have any clue how to go about telling them without shattering their dreams entirely.

As the cultists started to leave Confessor Cromwell slowly turned back to the girls. Tears of joy had carved streaks through the dust on his face. “Forgive us, your graces, we did not mean to offend you. Our only defense is that we were all overwhelmed by your heavenly resplendence.”

Sunset cringed inwardly, keenly aware of just how deep this hole was digging itself. “No, this is our fault. Look, the thing is-” she stepped forward, but the Confessor shrank away and bowed deeply.

“This lowly shepherd is not worthy of such kindness. I shall go now and leave you in peace.” He straightened up and held a hand over his heart. “If it pleases you, I humbly ask that you consider this church to be your home, your bastion of serenity amid the chaos of the Wasteland. I shall arrange for your accommodation to be the finest we can possibly muster, this I swear to you. Farewell, your graces.”

The Confessor turned and left, scurrying up the stairs and out of the door as quickly as he could, leaving the girls alone.

“Uh, what just happened.” Rainbow asked.

Sunset just groaned and slumped her shoulders. The sound of the door opening again brought her attention back up. She smiled as she saw Twilight and Pinkie enter the church.

“What the heck was THAT about?” Twilight gasped as Fluttershy scampered in after them, looking harassed.

“That’s what ah’d like to know.” Applejack grumbled as she stepped inside, supporting a certain fashionista.

“Rarity!” Sunset and Rainbow called out together.

The others looked down at their cries.

“So that’s where you were.” Applejack huffed. “Hold on a second, we’ll come down to you.”

Sunset watched nervously as the group made their way downstairs, paying special attention to Rarity. Her arm was immobilized in a brace and Sunset could just make out a clean bandage underneath, but that seemed to be the worst of it. At least she was walking under her own power, with only a little help from the others. Her dress, on the other hand, was utterly ruined, soaked with blood as it was.

Rarity looked around as soon as she was off the stairs. As soon as she spotted Sunset she tried to make a beeline for her, only to be stopped by Applejack.

“Hold up sugarcube. Ah let you walk over here on your own, now it’s time for you to sit and take a break, alright?”

Rarity gave one of her characteristic scoffs. “Really darling, I’m perfectly fine.” she slurred.

“The heck you are.” Applejack growled. “The doc said you need to rest up as much as you can, now sit down before you hurt yourself.”

Rarity rolled her eyes but did as she was told, perching herself daintily on one of the benches.

“So what did the doc say, are you going to be okay?” Rainbow asked.

“She’ll be fine, eventually.” Applejack sighed. “Luckily the bullet didn’t hit any of her bones, tendons or major blood vessels.”

Sunset slumped and let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “That’s a relief.”
“It most certainly is.” Rarity crooned. “For now I just need to keep my arm immobilized for a few days. After that the brace shall be swapped for a sling and I have a few lovely little light exercises to go through.”

AJ nodded. “Nothing too rough, just some gentle movements to help her arm heal properly.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she watched Rarity slowly swaying on the bench. Her eyes seemed to be drifting in and out of focus, and her pupils were huge. “What exactly did the doctor do to her?”

“Aside from pump her full of enough crazy painkillers to drop a wild boar? Heck if ah know.” Applejack chuckled softly. “Hey, Fluttershy? You’re better at this stuff than ah am, what did the doc do altogether?”

Sunset glanced over at Fluttershy, hunched in the shadows by the stairs with her face hidden behind her hair. A chill ran down Sunset’s spine at the sight of her dress, the frayed material still spattered with dirt and Rarity’s blood. Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair, a red-rimmed eye visible for an instant before she ducked back behind her fringe.
Sunset and Applejack shared a worried look.

“She hasn’t said a word since we got back to Megaton.” Applejack whispered.

“After everything that’s happened, I don’t blame her.” Sunset admitted.

“Come on now sugarcube,” AJ gently cajoled, “It’s alright, we’re safe now. You’ve been on your feet for a while, why don’t you come on over here and have a sit down?”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair, a red-rimmed eye visible for an instant before she ducked back behind her fringe.

“Maybe it’s freak-out time?” Twilight said quietly, “I mean, we had doctor mode earlier, so I guess maybe it’s time to let the emotions out?”

“I’m still up for joining in on that.” Pinkie muttered.

“Come on Flutters,” Rainbow called, “Get over here so we can all chill together while the crazy cultists are out.”

Fluttershy shifted on her feet, but didn’t look over again.

Sunset took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Look, Fluttershy? I know things are hard right now, especially after what’s happened today, but we’re all here for you. Things are going to be tough, but I know we can all get through this if we just stick together.”

“Sunset’s right.” Applejack added. “We’ve got a much better idea of the dangers that are waiting for us out in the wasteland now, and we won’t let ourselves be caught unprepared again.”

Sunset nodded. “You don’t have to be afraid Fluttershy. We won’t let anything else happen to you, or to any of the rest of us, I promise.”

Finally, Fluttershy moved her hair away from her face. She looked slowly around at each of the girls, before settling her gaze on Sunset. Fluttershy held that look for a few moments, then her face crumpled and she turned her head away, her hair falling back over her face. “I’m sorry… I can’t do this.”

Sunset felt an awful weight drop into her chest at those words. She’d clung to the desperate hope that her friends would stand by her despite the terrible acts she had committed, but now she was forced to confront the ugly truth. That her actions had pushed away the kindest friend she would ever know.

“Wha- come on Fluttershy, we can talk about this!” Rainbow cried.

“It’s okay Rainbow.” Sunset said quietly, slowly wrapping her arms around herself as she blinked back tears. “I… I think I should go.”

“You ain’t going nowhere.” Applejack growled. Her hands shook as she clenched them into fists. “Darn it, Fluttershy! Doc Church already spoke to you about this, Sunset only did what she had to! Heck, you wouldn’t still be here if Sunset hadn’t shot that guy, and ah can tell you for a fact that no-one is hurting more over him being dead than Sunset is!”

“I know.” Fluttershy whispered.

“Then why in the heck are you…!” Applejack trailed off, her chest heaving as if she was running a marathon. Finally she turned and walked away, clapping her hands to the back of her head as she shook it. “Nope. Ah can’t, ah can’t deal with this. Not right now.”

Rainbow stepped over to Applejack, reaching out a hand. “AJ, you need to calm down.”

“How the heck am ah supposed to calm down!” she yelled, “This ain’t right! None of this is right! Ever since we left that darn vault everything has gone to Tartarus, and you can be sure as sugar things are going to get worse!”

“Girls, you have to stop fighting!” Twilight shouted. A pleading expression crossed her face as she spoke again, quieter this time, “Please, this world has taken so much away from us already, don’t let it destroy our friendship too!”

Silence reigned as her words slowly sank in. Sunset glanced around at the others, trying to think of something, anything, that she could say to try and help the others feel better.

“You’ve got the wrong idea.” Fluttershy said softly, “I don’t blame Sunset.” The others all looked to her as she spoke. Her face was still hidden, but they could all see her shaking. Sunset could just make out fresh tears dripping silently to the floor. “It’s my fault.”

Rarity frowned, clearly struggling to stay focused through whatever drugs were still pumping through her system. “Er, what is darling?”

Fluttershy choked back a sob, clenching the skirt of her dress so tightly her knuckles had gone white. “I Sh-should have been p-paying more attention.” she stammered, “The r-raider he… he was aiming at me. If I had m-moved or… or done something then you wouldn’t have had to sh-shoot him.” Fluttershy looked up at Sunset, guilt etched in every line of her face. “You had t-to put yourself through that b-because of me. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”

Sunset crossed to Fluttershy in a flash, throwing her arms around the nurse as she sobbed uncontrollably. “It is not your fault Fluttershy.” she said, her voice firm even as tears streaked down her own face. “None of this is your fault. The only person who did anything wrong was that… that bastard!” Sunset didn’t give a damn about her language right then. As far as she was concerned the wasteland could throw whatever the hell it wanted at her, but she would not let it break her friends.

Out of the corner of her eye Sunset saw Rainbow shrug off her sling before she joined the hug, slipping her arms around the two and pressing her head against Fluttershy’s, “Come on Fluttershy, you know it’s not your fault. Hey, Sunset’s already given me a roasting for blaming myself, can’t let you get away with doing the same thing now can we?” Rainbow huffed a laugh, “Besides, if we let you get shot, then who’s going to patch me back up the next time I go and do something stupid?”

Fluttershy let out something that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. She tried to mumble something, but it was muffled by Sunset’s shirt as the rest of the girls pressed in, forming a huge group hug.

The group stayed like that for a while, just holding each other in comfortable silence.

Eventually Applejack peeled herself away, drying her eyes on her hat. “Well shoot, ah think we all needed that.” She plopped her hat back on her head and glanced over at Fluttershy. “Ah’m sorry Flutters, ah guess ah let my temper get the best of me there.”

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy replied thickly. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she sported a small smile nonetheless.

“Today has been somewhat… difficult.” Rarity noted, sliding awkwardly back onto a bench.

“You okay there Rarity?” Rainbow asked.

“Utterly fine darling.” Rarity half-mumbled, her head drooping. “I’m just going to watch the pretty colors for a tick.”

“Ooo…kayyy…?”

Twilight giggled softly. “Wow, she must be on some incredibly strong medication. But what about you Rainbow, how’s your arm feeling?”

Rainbow frowned and rolled her shoulder. “Huh, it’s still a little sore… but it actually feels pretty good. Guess it must’ve healed a bit when I ponied up earlier. Hey, I wonder if my butt healed too!” She suddenly shoved her hand down the back of her pants. A wince and a hiss of pain soon followed. “Ouch, maybe not.”

Applejack laughed as she dropped onto a bench. “Ah’m not surprised after you ran back to Meresti like that.”

“Well someone had to tell Vance that the sheriff accepted his offer.” Rainbow grumbled.

Sunset threw her a level glare. “And nearly get yourself killed by revealing that you had super speed to them?”

Rainbow at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah, that was my bad. But hey, you could have reminded me that they didn’t know about our magic before I left to speak to them.”

“She tried, but you’d already sped off like a road runner with a coyote on it’s tail.” Applejack retorted, “Ah told you, you should’ve just left it to the folks at Arefu.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Uh, I have a question.” Everyone turned to look at Twilight as she raised a hand. “When exactly did Rainbow pony up?”

The girls all turned to look at Rainbow who tried, and utterly failed, to look innocent. Sunset would have face-palmed if her face and hands didn’t still hurt so much.

Pinkie suddenly popped up from behind a bench, speaking incredibly quickly. “Oh, oh, oh, I know! Was it when you got back here and Sunset was feeling down so you tried to cheer her up and then you both ponied up and that’s why the crazy cult people are running around telling everyone about how we’re all angels sent by their radiation god to bring salvation to the world?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Pinkie? We all know Rainbow’s that dumb-”

“Hey!?”

“- but there’s no way Sunset would do something so irresponsible in front of a whole bunch of religious fanatics.”

Sunset forced an awkward laugh, a blush creeping across her face.

“I told you sooo…” Pinkie sang, earning a giggle from Rarity and a face-palm from Applejack.

“In Sunset’s defense after everything that’s happened over the last two days I think it’s understandable that she wasn’t thinking clearly.” Twilight supplied. “I suppose we should just be grateful that they aren’t trying to burn us as witches.”

“Sure, instead they’re going to be worshiping us as if we’re divine beings from their freaky religion.” Applejack huffed. “And ah thought wasteland couldn’t get any weirder. The sooner we find James and get away from this crazy world the better.”

“Actually, we might have some good news on that front.” Twilight said with a smirk.

Sunset’s head whipped around at that. “What do you mean?!” she gasped, ignoring the wave of nausea caused by the sudden movement.

“After me and Pinkie spoke to Lucy we went up to Moriarty’s, to speak to Gob.”

“Did he tell you where Galaxy News Radio is?” Applejack asked eagerly.

Twilight nodded. “He did, and what’s more, as we were talking Galaxy News Radio actually started playing one the, well, radio. The DJ is a man named Three-Dog. Apparently they’ve been having trouble with their signal, but someone came along and helped them fix it.” Twilight’s smile widened. “Three-Dog thanked the man who helped him, and then sent a message out for James, who it seems did visit him before leaving for parts unknown. The message told James to find the man who helped him.” Twilight’s smile became a huge, gleaming grin, “A certain Lone Wanderer, from Vault one-oh-one.”

“Adam!?” the others cried in unison.

“He made it!” Fluttershy beamed, her hands clasped tightly together, “Oh I do hope he’s alright. We need to hurry up and find him as quickly as we can.”

“Whoa now, let’s slow things down a little.” Applejack said. “Ah’m glad that we know where we’re going, but we can’t just go charging straight out of here right now.”

“Why ever not darling?” Rarity asked.

Applejack glared at her. “For starters, most of us aren’t in any condition to do any more travelling today.”

“A battered unicorn, a stoned fashionista, a traumatized nurse, a pervy farmer, a mad scientist, an athlete with an extra butt-hole and Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow deadpanned, “Yeah, going out into the wastes now is totally a great idea.”

“Ah am not a pervert.” Applejack huffed.

“Whatever you say butt-licker.” Rainbow shot back.

“Ah’m never going to live that down am ah?”

“Nope!” Pinkie piped up.

Applejack grumbled and pulled herself to her feet, “Well anyway, speaking of battered unicorns ah think it’s time we got Sunset to the doc.”

Sunset blinked at that. “Me? But I’m fine. I mean, I’ll probably need some more painkillers and something for the bruises, but it’s not that bad.”

Applejack rubbed her neck awkwardly. “Uh, no offence sugarcube, but you look like Bulk Biceps has been using you as a piñata.”

“You did take a serious beating back there Sunset.” Rainbow added.

Sunset looked around at the others, but none of them would meet her eyes. Seeing no way out of it, she sighed. “Fine, but we should probably tell the Children of Atom the truth, we don’t want things to get any more complicated than they are.”

Applejack threw and arm around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you over there before the rain picks up. Then ah’ll go and find Confessor Cromwell, see if ah can’t straighten things out.”

Sunset sat on the edge of a bed in the Megaton clinic, casually swinging her legs and wishing she could put her clothes back on. The clouds had finally made good on their threat of rain during her examination and, while the pitter-patter of raindrops on the metal roof was actually quite soothing, it was still a little too chilly to be sat around in your underwear. The ice pack currently pressed to her ribs certainly didn’t help with that, though it did wonders for her bruises.

Sunset looked up as Doc Church came back into the room. He was dark-skinned and his hair almost as white as snow, with a mustache and neatly-trimmed beard to match. The doctor was cranky but professional, and clearly knew his job well.

“Alright Sunset, let’s start the list.” Doc dropped into a chair next to her bed and held up a clipboard. “Two black eyes, multiple bruises across the face, arms, shoulders and abdomen, five bruised ribs and one cracked one, a mild kidney contusion and a mild concussion. That’s not including the gunshot injury you received yesterday. Not the worst result I’ve seen from dealing with your first raider, but it’s more than enough to be going on with.”

Sunset nodded slowly. She hadn’t realized just how much of a beating she’d received from that raider, but between the ice pack and the two stimpaks Doc had given her she was feeling a lot better, “Will I be okay to go once the rain stops?”

“That depends on where you’re going.”

“The D.C ruins, we need to try and find Galaxy News Radio.”

“Then no, you won’t be okay.”

“What, why not?” Sunset asked.

Doc threw the clipboard onto the bed and gave her a flat look, “If that kidney contusion gets any worse it could kill you.”

“Oh.” Sunset felt the blood drain from her face at that.

“Yep.” Doc shook his head and folded his arms. “What you need is rest and observation. Your kidney should heal on its own in a week or so, but even with bed rest the injury might progress into internal bleeding. If your kidney does heal fine you’re still looking at another month for your rib to fix itself.”

“But… we can’t afford to wait that long.” Sunset shot him a pleading look, “Please, isn’t there anything you can do?”
Doc just frowned, staring at her silently. Sunset found she couldn’t hold his gaze and looked away, shifting uncomfortably. He’s right. Leaving now would be way too risky.

Finally the doctor sighed and stood up, turning to leave. As he got to the door he stop and glanced over his shoulder. “Once the rain stops I want you to go and fetch your friend, Fluttershy was it?”

Sunset nodded.

Doc sighed again and shook his head. “Bring her back here, I’ll teach her what she needs to know about caring for your injuries. I want you to stay here for the night, so I can keep you under observation. If your condition doesn’t get any worse overnight, I’ll see about letting you go.”

Not far from the Meresti Trainyard, a certain blonde raider slung a hunting rifle over his shoulder as he strode over to the corpse of a young woman. His expression was unreadable as he stared down at the body. The raider didn’t bother to look up as another man stomped up next to him.

“Hey, Blades. I’m sorry about her, man. She was a good woman.”

Blades snorted. “For fuck's sake Crawler, you know she was a useless bitch.” He nodded to the other corpse lying at the base of a pile of rubble. “What about that dickhead?”

Crawler smirked and shook his head. “Nah that dumb fucker’s just as dead as he looks. I can’t believe he climbed on top of that pile, why the fuck didn’t he just flank ‘em and blow their fucking heads off from behind?”

“Like you said, he was a dumb fucker. Always had to show off.” Blades spat, “Did you get his stuff?”

“Most of it, looks like one of the girls grabbed his gun though.”

Blades nodded and turned to walk back to their makeshift shelter, “Yeah, looks like one of them took Gilda’s knife too.”

“Shit. Now what the fuck are we going to do?” Crawler asked, trudging along behind.

“Same thing we do every time Crawler, regroup and try again.”

“Are you fucking crazy!? Those witches have already beat the shit out of us twice!”

“Yeah, only this time they bled too.” Blades hefted the rifle for emphasis. “We just need more firepower, and a little bit of planning.”

Crawler grinned lopsidedly, “Alright I’m in. I’ll leave the planning to you, but where are we going to get the firepower? Do we go back to the Red Flags?”

“Fuck no! Shí Yáng would rip our dicks off and choke us with ‘em. I don’t know about you, but the only person I want to see choking on my cock is that albino bitch with the purple hair.”

Crawler chuckled darkly, “Yeah… I want that little yellow one with the pink hair.”

An evil grin lit up Blades’ face, “Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s head to Evergreen Mills. Smiling Jack owes me a favor or two, it’s time to cash in.”

Author's Note

Another chapter for your reading pleasure!

This was originally planned to be a 2000 word chapter... yeah that went out the window.

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 17 - Destination D.C.

Sunset held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she crested the top of the hill. They had barely gotten out of Megaton and she was already a little out of breath, partly from the climb, and partly from focusing all of her attention on where she was putting her feet. The ground was still damp from the previous day’s rain, not really enough to make the girls’ footing treacherous, but Sunset didn’t want to take any chances.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, hurrying up after her. “We can slow down or go back if this is too much for you?”

Sunset scowled at her. Fluttershy and Twilight had been constantly fussing over her ever since she’d left the clinic this morning, “I’m fine, Flutters.” she grumbled. It wasn’t really a lie, after Doc Church’s ministrations Sunset had to admit that, despite her injuries, she felt better than she had since they’d left the vault.

“You’re far from fine Sunset, you have a potentially life-threatening injury.” Twilight cut in, “I know the medication may be making you feel like nothing is wrong, but you still have to take it easy.”

“Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to Rarity? You know, given that she got shot yesterday and all?”

“Well, um, Rarity’s wound is a lot easier to stabilize, especially with the brace on.” Fluttershy replied, “Your kidney contusion is going to be a lot harder to keep an eye on.”

Twilight nodded, “Besides, Applejack threatened to dump Rarity in a shopping cart and wheel her around like that if she didn’t agree to take it easy.”

Sunset just sighed and decided to try and change the subject, anything to get their attention away from her. “How’s Micky?”

Fluttershy cast a worried look over her shoulder at the unfortunate beggar huddled outside Megaton’s gate. Apparently he’d been lurking there for weeks, begging for water from travelers, but the poor fool had hidden himself every time he saw the girls coming, afraid of the new ‘mutants’ wandering around. The only reason the girls had spotted him this morning was because he’d somehow managed to sleep through the roar of the gate opening for the day. “I gave him a bottle of water, so, um, I think he’ll be alright for now."

Rarity sighed heavily, "Oh, I do wish we could help him find a place to stay inside Megaton, but after paying for the supplies and the medical bills we have hardly any caps left.”

Twilight gently patted Rarity on the back. “He’ll be okay, don’t worry. I know it sounds cold, but right now we need to focus on ourselves, this is going to be a very dangerous journey.”

Sunset nodded grimly. Twilight had gone with Fluttershy to learn what she could from Doc Church yesterday, but even for her agile mind there was only so much you could really learn in one afternoon. The girls would have to be extra careful, and not just for Sunset and Rarity’s sake. If anyone else got injured out in the wasteland, the group would be in serious trouble.

“Hey, you guys coming or what?” Rainbow called from up ahead.

The three girls rolled their eyes at each other, then giggled and moved to catch up with the others. Picking their way through the rocks, the girls found themselves at the top of a long slope. Ahead of them were the outlying buildings of the old D.C ruins, their huge, shattered husks packed tightly together. Sunset had to wonder why people were so scared of the ruins, surely if the buildings were sturdy enough then they would be much easier to fortify than random settlements out in the open.

Pinkie was crouched on top of a large boulder nearby, the others hanging around it’s base. As the three approached she stood and pointed ahead, to the east. “That’s the way Gob told us to go. Straight past the Super Duper Mart, over the river and then keep going east until we find Farragut West Metro Station!”

“Ah still don’t get why we can’t just go straight through the city,” Applejack huffed, “It would be a heck of a lot faster.”

“I asked Gob about that, and he says this way is the safest.” Twilight replied.

Rarity groaned, clutching her arm brace. “After everything that’s happened I vote for taking the safer path, even if it is a little slower.”

“Definitely.” Rainbow agreed.

Applejack nodded, “Ah hear you. Come on then, let’s get this over with.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie called as she sprang down from the boulder.

The other girls followed as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash took the lead, picking their way carefully across the ground and keeping their eyes open for any threats.

Keenly aware of Fluttershy and Twilight eyeing her carefully, Sunset fell into step alongside Rarity. “Hey… so, uh… how’s your arm?”

Rarity gave her a tired smile. “It’s quite alright thank you. A little sore perhaps, and I must admit the scars are going to take some getting used to, but I can always cover them with clothes or perhaps even a tasteful temporary tattoo, something that goes with my ensemble.” She gestured vaguely at her arm, “Given the alternative, this is nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good… that’s good.” Sunset said quietly.

They continued in silence for a few moments until Rarity spoke up again, “Do you know I’ve just realized I haven’t really had a chance to thank you properly yet.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, “What for?”

“Why, for helping to keep me safe yesterday or course!”

Sunset stared at her incredulously. “Safe?! You were shot!”

“I’m well aware darling,” Rarity replied brightly, “But at least you helped to get me out of harm’s way afterwards.”

“And you saved me from the raider, we’re even.”

“I suppose,” Rarity admitted, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t thank you anyway, so… thank you.”

Sunset shook her head, but smiled all the same, “Yeah, you too.”

Rarity grinned smugly, “You’re more than welcome Miss Shimmer.”

The girls lapsed back into a comfortable silence as they trudged closer to the Super Duper Mart. The supermarket was huge, towering over them as they drew closer to what Sunset assumed was the rear of the building.

“Looks pretty intact,” Applejack noted, “Reckon we’ll find another settlement or something in there?”

Twilight shook her head, “That doesn’t seem likely, according to Billy this place has been abandoned for years.”

“Maybe we should take it slowly and try to stay out of sight anyway, um, just in case.” Fluttershy said quietly.

Sunset nodded, “My thoughts exactly.”

“Sounds good to me.” Applejack added, “So how do we get across the river?”

Pinkie paused in her tracks and pointed ahead, “That’s easy! We just use that bridge right there!”

The girls looked where she was pointing. Sure enough there was a small bridge just to the side of the supermarket, crossing what was left of the Potomac in remarkably good condition.

As the group reached the rear of the Super Duper Mart, sudden shouts and gunshots ripped through the air, coming from the front of the supermarket. The girls all darted to the back wall of the building, taking cover behind a pair of large metal trash bins.

“That’s not… aimed at us… is it?” Rarity gasped.

Applejack shook her head as more shots rang out, gripping her shotgun tightly, “Nah, sounds more like there’s some folk having a disagreement out front.” she whispered.

“That’s one heck of a disagreement.” Rainbow muttered.

The noise intensified for a moment then died away abruptly, leaving a ringing silence in its wake. Rough voices called out, checking on each other and making sure the threat was over.

Applejack glanced over her shoulder at the others. “What do you reckon, should we make a break for it while it’s quiet?” she asked, nodding in the direction of the bridge.

Sunset looked over at the bridge and huffed, “No, it’s too exposed. If someone spots us and starts shooting we won’t have any cover at all.”

“Should we wait until they go away?” Rarity asked.

“But we don’t know how long it’ll be before they go, or even if they’re going to leave at all, we could be waiting all day!” Twilight countered

“What if they’re just travelers like us?” Fluttershy asked, “Someone might be hurt and need our help.”

Applejack groaned and shook her head, “Darn it, this isn’t getting us anywhere. What do you think Sunset?”

Sunset ran through the options in her head, “Well we can’t use the bridge until we know it’s safe.” She slipped a hand under her jacket and smoothly slid her pistol out of it’s holster. Like her gun, the concealed holster had once belonged to the late Mr Burke. Sunset had dug it out of her pack during her stay at the clinic. “I say we sneak around and see if we can observe whoever it is without getting spotted. If they look friendly, good, if not…”

“Then we get the drop on them, try to take them out or scare them off before they know what’s happening.” Rainbow finished.

“That sounds awfully dangerous.” Rarity said quietly.

“It is,” Sunset admitted, “But it’s the only option I can think of right now.”

The girls looked around at each other uneasily. When no-one else said anything, Applejack sighed and rolled her shoulders, “Alright, if it’s the only plan we’ve got, then it’s the best plan we’ve got. Come on y’all, let’s get this done.”

Making as little noise as possible, the group crept carefully around the side of the building, Sunset making sure to unscrew her pistol’s silencer and slip it into a special pouch in the holster. Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something as Sunset took the lead, but a quick shake of the head from Applejack silenced whatever protest she had been about to make.

Quiet, rasping voices reached the girls as they neared the front of the building, but still nothing came into view. Whoever was talking was right in front of the entrance. Grasping her pistol tightly, Sunset peeked around the corner.

A large parking lot spread out in front of the store, dotted with ruined cars and even an old bus. Four people were huddled together around a fire, talking quietly and occasionally glancing at something over on the far side of the lot.
Ghouls.

Sunset quickly noted the guns that two of them carried, small pistols similar to her own, then ducked back out of sight. They didn’t look anything like the last raiders she had seen, their thick clothes were cleaner and much more practical, but Sunset wasn’t willing to take any chances.

Sunset turned back to the girls and gestured for Applejack to come closer, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Four ghouls, they don’t look like raiders.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Just follow my lead.” Sunset raised a finger to her lips and turned back to the corner. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she thumbed off the safety and strode around the corner, raising her pistol as she went.

“Don’t move!”

The ghouls whipped around as Applejack stepped up next to her, leveling her shotgun at them. Blank shock flitted across their features at the sight of the girls. Realizing they were at gunpoint, the four slowly raised their hands.

“Easy now smoothskins, we don’t want any trouble,” the closest one said warily.

Sunset didn’t dare let her aim drop, “We heard gunshots, what happened.”

“Raiders,” another said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder, “They attacked us as we were setting up camp.”

Sunset looked over to where the ghoul indicated and spotted a pair of corpses, slumped against a car. Their filthy leather clothes were covered in spikes and hooks, with a multitude of vicious-looking knives strapped to their belts. Sunset shivered and turned her attention back to the ghouls.

The four were plainly terrified, their eyes darting between Applejack and Sunset.

Sunset sighed and lowered her gun, keeping her eyes on them in case they made any move to attack. The ghouls visibly relaxed as Applejack followed suit, their shoulders slumping as they released the breaths they’d been holding.

“Sorry about that y’all, can’t be too careful.” Applejack said softly.

The first ghoul nodded grimly, “Yeah, you’re telling me. Thanks for not shooting us.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sunset replied, “I’m Sunset Shimmer and this is Applejack.”

“Harry, and these are James, my daughter Heather and Henry.” The other ghouls each raised a hand as Harry pointed them out.

Applejack tipped her hat in greeting, “Pleasure to meet you, so what are y’all doing out here anyway?”

“We’re on our way to Underworld, figured we’d rest here for a few hours before we headed into the city proper.”

“Underworld? What’s that?” Sunset asked.

“It’s a ghoul settlement,” Heather said quickly, “It’s in the old Museum of History, in the middle of the city ruins.”

“Huh, we’re actually heading into D.C ourselves, you’re more than welcome to join us if you want?” Sunset offered.

Harry shook his head, “Thanks, but we got chased by radscorpions all the way here, then the moment we take a break those two assholes tried to jump us.” He sighed heavily, “We could really use a rest right now.”

“Suit yourselves. Is there anything you can tell us about the ruins? Anything we should keep an eye out for?” Applejack asked.

The ghouls looked around at each other and shrugged, shaking their heads.

“Sorry, but this is our first time in the Capital Wasteland. You probably know more about this place than us.” Harry replied.

I very much doubt that. Sunset sighed and turned to leave, “It’s okay, thanks anyway. Look after yourselves out here.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Sunset and Applejack trudged back to where the others were anxiously waiting. After briefly discussing what little they’d learned, the group turned and made their way back to the bridge, Sunset falling back to let Pinkie and Applejack lead the way.

The rest of their journey to the metro went fairly smoothly. Pinkie spotted the entrance almost as soon as they crossed the bridge, and even with their injuries it was a simple matter for the girls to pick their way across the rubble towards it, a fact Sunset and Rainbow were both particularly grateful for.

They were less pleased about finding several dead raiders strewn around the metro’s entrance.

“That’s… not a good sign.” Sunset muttered.

“No it ain’t.” Applejack agreed.

“I suppose… um… at least we didn’t have to fight them?” Fluttershy said quietly, her face ashen.

“Yeah, silver linings I suppose,” Sunset gingerly stepped around the corpses to where Twilight was waiting at the top of the subway stairs. She was staring down them with a look of trepidation. “Hey, Twilight, you okay?”

Twilight threw a sidelong look at Sunset, “Am I the only one who’s getting a really bad feeling about this? I mean… we haven’t exactly had the best luck when it comes to tunnels.”

“Whatever do you mean darling?” Rarity asked.

“Think about it. We were shot at when we left the Vault, technically through a tunnel, then when we escaped we were shot at again and you were beaten up.” Twilight shivered, “And yesterday we were nearly blown up in a tunnel, then when we left we were shot at and you were beaten up again!”

Sunset cast a worried look down into the subway, “You know you’re really starting to put me off tunnels.”

The rest of the girls crowded around, staring into the dim light below.

“Well… I guess there’s no point in standing around,” Sunset huffed, “Come on, let’s go find Galaxy News.”

Author's Note

And another chapter for your reading pleasure!

A bit of a quiet chapter this time around, but if you know Fallout 3, you know that that is not going to last very long from this point onwards!

Comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 18 - Rot and Reminiscence

The metro was in even more of a parlous a state than Northwest Seneca. Piles of shattered concrete and brick lay were it had fallen from the ceiling, leaving exposed rebar in it’s wake. At least it wasn’t as dark as Sunset had expected. The electric lighting was somehow still functioning, filling the tunnel interior with a warm glow. Sadly the smell was nowhere near as inviting, a cloying reek of damp and mold, with the faint scent of something rotting underlying it all.

“Here we go again.” Applejack muttered.

“If we find any more landmines in here, I’m out.” Rainbow said flatly.

“Just keep your butt covered and you’ll be fine,” Sunset quipped, eyeing up the tunnel’s side doors, “I’m more concerned about getting lost at the moment, do we at least have a map of this place?”

Twilight shook her head, “There wasn’t a route map outside, but according to Gob there’s only really one way to go until you reach the tracks.”

“Good. In that case, let’s get moving.”

Sunset’s hopes that they could move from the station straight into the less claustrophobic subway tunnels were dashed the moment they turned the corner. Just like the last metro they’d entered, the tunnel had collapsed beyond the ticket barrier, leaving the side corridors as the only way through.

“Is anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu, or is it just me?” Twilight asked.

“Eh, the developers probably didn’t want the first couple of metros the newbies would encounter to be too confusing,” Pinkie piped up. Twilight simply stared at her in bewilderment, but before she could express her confusion Pinkie pointed through one of the side doors, “Hey, what’s that?”

The others turned to see what she had spotted, only to be greeted by the sight of a mole rat lying in the middle of a little office space. If the scorch marks and bullet-hole weren’t enough of a giveaway as to it’s current, deceased, state, the pool of congealed blood spread out underneath it certainly was.

“Oh, the poor little dear!” Fluttershy cried, hurrying over and dropping to her knees next to the unfortunate creature.

“Hey!” Applejack yelped as she darted after her, shotgun raised as she checked the room for threats. A moment later she sighed and turned to glare at the young nurse, “Darn it, Fluttershy, don’t go rushing off like that when we don’t know if it’s safe!”

“Oh, um, I’m sorry.” Flutters replied quietly.

“It’s okay, just be careful.” Sunset said soothingly as she stepped past, the others falling into line behind her.

Two more mole rats lay dead next to a door further in the room that opened into another office space. Beyond that was yet another door that lead to what looked like a maintenance corridor. Bloody footprints led from the rats all around the room and into the corridor, as if whoever had left them had been intent on thoroughly ransacking the place.

“Ah guess it’s this way,” Applejack muttered.

“Looks like it,” Careful to avoid the grisly markers, Sunset crept through the second office space and peeked through the door, keeping a loose grip on her pistol. The maintenance corridor extended for a short distance past two small alcoves, until it reached a small staircase. The footprints grew faint as the floor transitioned from dusty concrete to grimy metal, but Sunset could still make out a trail heading down the steps.

“Um, do you think this is going to lead to another mirelurk cave?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“Oh, I certainly hope not, I’m not sure I could stand that awful stench again,” Rarity replied, “It smells bad enough down here as it is.”

“Yeah you said it,” Applejack agreed. “Kinda reminds me of the outhouse on burrito night.”

Rarity slowly turned to face Applejack with an expression of absolute disgust, “That is quite possibly the most revolting thing I have ever heard.”

Rainbow smirked and raised an eyebrow at her, “Even worse than when Butch asked if he could ‘trim your clam’?”

Rarity clapped a hand over her mouth as she retched, “Ugh, why you would remind me about that!”

“That’s awful!” Fluttershy gasped, her own cheeks taking on a greenish tinge, “I’m glad Adam is nothing like that.”

“Huh, I guess you’d know better than I would. I never really had a chance to talk to him.” Sunset admitted as she led the way slowly through the corridor and down the stairs. “Most of the boys I spoke to back in the vault were jerks.” She frowned as she reached the bottom of the stairs, “What’s a lawnmower doing down here?”

“Probably not much unless it’s switched on.” Pinkie quipped, earning a flat glare from Sunset.

“A lawnmower? Awesome!” Rainbow cried, darting over to it and flipping it upside down, “Yes! Hey, Applejack, hand me a wrench or something so I can get this blade off.”

“Uh, why?”

Twilight sighed, “It’s one of the components in those schematics that Vance gave us, for the shishkebab.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“Nope!” Rainbow grinned, “Come on, hurry up and give me a hand here!”

“Alright, alright, hold your horses,” Applejack huffed, pulling a ratchet wrench out of her tool belt, “Shift over so ah can take a look.”

Sunset rubbed her neck as she watched AJ get to work unscrewing the blade, “I’m not so sure this is a good idea.”

Rainbow blinked and glanced back at her, “Why not?”

Rarity arched an eyebrow, “Really Rainbow Dash, can you honestly say you’re surprised that we’re a little skeptical about letting you near a flaming sword?”

“Oh come on! It’ll be so, freaking, awesome!” Rainbow cried.

“If you say so,” Applejack tugged the lawnmower blade free and handed it to Rainbow, “Here you go. You want it, you can carry it.”

“Sweet!” Rainbow tried to shove the blade between the straps of her pack, but couldn’t find a place where it wouldn’t slice through either her or the pack. In the end Applejack rolled her eyes and grabbed the blade, tying it to her own pack with a length of metal cable fished from its depths, eliciting an embarrassed chuckle from Rainbow. “Thanks AJ.”

“Don’t mention it,” Applejack muttered as she turned to Sunset, “So you’ve never actually spoken to Adam?”

Sunset shrugged and turned to continue along the corridor, “Not really, I’ve said hi to him once or twice in passing but that’s about it. I spent most of my time either fixing stuff, working in Systems with Floyd or trying to figure out a way home with James and Twilight in the Reactor section, so our paths didn’t really cross that often.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. He’s a really nice person,” Fluttershy piped up eagerly.

Pinkie nodded vigorously, “Yep! Nothing like those mean Tunnel Snakes were!”

“He did seem like a decent fella,” Applejack agreed, “I only ever really saw him when he used to sneak down to the maintenance area to practice with his BB gun, apart from that time him and Butch had a bust-up in the cafeteria.”

“I remember that day, Butch had to stay in the clinic overnight. I think that was the only time he didn’t say anything mean to me.” Fluttershy blushed slightly and folded her arms over her chest protectively, “He did keep staring at my, um… chest though.”

“The whole lot of them were nothing but pervy losers,” Rainbow grumbled. Suddenly she snorted, glancing sidelong at Sunset, “I gotta admit though, it was kinda funny when Freddie asked if he could ride you like a pony.”

“Weird, they never said anything creepy to me.” Pinkie noted curiously as Sunset glared daggers at Rainbow.

“That’s because you terrified them darling,” Rarity said flatly, “I’m afraid the rest of us were forced to endure their unwanted attentions on more than one occasion.”

“Yeah, like that time Wally tried to pester me into trying a ‘bedroom rodeo’ with him,” Applejack glowered. “Ah made him regret that one,” she added darkly.

“Wasn’t that the time you and Sunset got into trouble for stuffing him into a locker?” Twilight asked.

Applejack shook her head, her lips slowly curving into a grin at the memory, “Nah, that was when we caught him trying to spy on us in the showers.”

Sunset couldn’t suppress a smirk as she remembered the look on his face when he got caught, though the grilling they’d gotten from the Overseer afterwards did somewhat sour the recollection, “I still don’t get why the Tunnel Snakes were stupid enough to keep pestering us after… what the…?”

The others crowded around as Sunset lurched to a halt. Peering past her, there were gasps of shock and disgust as they spotted what had grabbed her attention. The corridor had opened out into some sort of generator station, with a metal staircase winding its way up the walls. Laying crumpled and broken in the middle of the room, right at the base of the steps, was a rotting, skeletal corpse.

The body might have been human once, but a heavy impact had left the limbs and even it’s spine twisted at awkward and unnatural angles. The poor soul was clad in little more than rags and, given it’s state of decomposition, was practically unidentifiable.

“That’s… that’s awful.” Rarity moaned.

Sunset stepped slowly into the room and looked up. Just above was a walkway at the top of the room that connected to the stairs. One set of railings was buckled and bent out of shape, directly above the broken corpse.

“You reckon he fell?” Applejack asked, gazing upwards as well.

Sunset nodded, “It looks like it, but if that’s the case then what happened to his clothes?”

Twilight shivered, “Maybe… someone looted them? Or… I don’t know… maybe the mole rats ate them?”

“And left the body alone?”

“Um… girls?” Fluttershy called shakily.

The girls turned to see her crouched by the corpse, examining it with her Pip-Boy light.

“What’s wrong Flutters?” Rainbow asked.

“You mean aside from the month old corpse we just found?” Twilight deadpanned.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly, “This body hasn’t been here that long.”

The others shared uncomfortable looks.

“What, uh… what do you mean Fluttershy?” Applejack asked quietly.

“The blood… it’s still a little wet,” Fluttershy looked up at the girls, her face pale as a sheet, “Whoever this is, I don’t think they died more than a day or so ago.”

Rarity covered her mouth as she stared down at the body, revulsion lining her features, “How is that even possible? I mean, he’s so…”

“Gooey?” Pinkie supplied.

Rarity’s gut heaved and she turned away quickly, barely managing to stumble to a corner before she vomited. Applejack hurried over to her, holding her hair out of the way and rubbing her back while whispering soft comforts.

“Nice, Pinkie.” Rainbow grumbled.

Pinkie hunched her shoulders as she shot Rarity a sheepish look. “Sorry.”

Twilight peeked over Fluttershy’s shoulder, adjusting her glasses to get a better look at the body. “Huh, you’re right. I guess he or she must have been a ghoul.”

Sunset felt a surge of pity as she looked down at the body. The fact that they had endured the transformation into a ghoul only to suffer a horrible death in such a dank and dismal place, was heartbreaking to her.

Shoving away those dark thoughts, Sunset stepped over to Fluttershy and laid a hand on her shoulder, “Come on, Fluttershy, there’s nothing more we can do for them. We should get out of here.”

Flutters nodded and stood, wiping her eyes, “Okay.”

Sunset glanced in Rarity’s direction as she stuffed a water bottle back into her pack. Catching her look, Applejack gave a quick nod and flashed a thumbs up. Nodding back, Sunset turned and gingerly stepped over the body onto the steps.

The stench grew worse as the girls reached the upstairs walkway. An open door lay to their left, containing another office space and little more. To their right the walkway led across to another generator area of some kind. Just past the generators was another walkway leading to a door, with another staircase splitting off and heading downstairs.

Unlike the bigger generators downstairs the two up here were completely destroyed, the whole area blackened and scorched as if swept through by fire. The reek of burnt metal and singed flesh mixed with the cloying stench of rotten meat. Walking closer, the girls quickly discovered the reason.

Three more ghouls lay scattered around the area.

Two of the corpses were horrifically charred and mangled, while the third was strangely intact and untouched, sprawled face-down in a pool of blood.

“What the heck happened here?” Rainbow breathed.

Applejack switched on her Pip-Boy light and strode over to check on the generator. After giving it a quick once-over she called over her shoulder to the others, “Yep, just what ah thought. The emergency shut-off has been tripped on the gas line.” She sighed and straightened up, “Ah guess there must have been a leak in the relay, then something made a spark and… well… you can see what happened next.”

“That… doesn’t really make any sense.” Twilight said slowly.

The others turned to look at her curiously.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight indicated the two charred bodies, “Well, if it was an explosion that killed these ghouls, then why isn’t the third one burnt?”

“Maybe he was killed later?” Sunset suggested.

“That’s certainly a possibility, but something just feels off…” Twilight folded her arms, her brow furrowed, “Hey, Applejack? Is there any way we can find out when the explosion occurred?”

“Yesterday morning, about the same time the sheriff tried to blow us up in Arefu,” Applejack said briskly. In response to the surprised looks from the others she jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, “The emergency shut-off has a stop-clock on it, to let the technicians know how long the gas has been off for.”

“But the blood here is in the same state as that downstairs which, as Fluttershy pointed out, indicates that both ghouls were killed either around the time of the explosion or before.” Twilight rattled off, her voice taking on the quality of a born lecturer.

Sunset looked from Twilight to the bodies, “You don’t think this was an accident.”

Twilight shook her head sharply, “I don’t. I could confirm my theory but…” She cringed as she pointed a hand at the intact body, “I’m really really sorry about this.”

A purple glow surrounded the body and lifted, gently turning it over and laying it on it’s back. Even in the wan light, the girls could clearly make out the bullet holes that riddled the ghoul’s chest.

“Sweet Celestia…” Sunset breathed, unable to hold back a shiver at the sight.

“There was a gunfight down here, that must have been what set off the gas explosion,” Twilight said quietly.

“That’s horrible, who would do something like this?” Rarity asked.

“Probably raiders,” Applejack sighed and swept off her hat to hold it over her heart.

Sunset shook her head, frowning at the corpse, “I don’t think it was raiders, not this time.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her, “Why not?”

“Think about it. This is supposed to be the safest way into the D.C ruins, and we know someone who only entered the ruins either yesterday or the day before.”

Twilight frowned, then turned to face Sunset, her eyes wide, “Wait a second, you mean Adam did this?”

Fluttershy whipped around at that, her face twisted with anger, “There’s no way! Adam would never hurt defenseless ghouls!”

Sunset blinked, stunned by the shy girl’s sudden outburst. Before she could muster a response an animal snarl echoed through the area.

“What the heck was that?” Rainbow asked quietly.

“No idea.” Applejack replied, clutching her shotgun nervously.

A horrified gasp snapped the girls’ attention round. Fluttershy stood with her hands clamped over her mouth. Her eyes darted fearfully from the corpses to the far walkway, pupils small as pinpricks.

“What is it Fluttershy?” Sunset gripped her pistol tightly as more snarls reached their ears, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps on metal.

“They’re not ordinary ghouls,” Fluttershy whispered shakily, “They’re feral.”

“What do you mean?” Applejack hissed.

“Some ghouls… they lose their higher brain functions and reasoning and revert to their basest instincts.” Fluttershy wrapped her arms around herself and took several steps back, trembling like a leaf as a half-rotted creature slowly came into view, stumbling up the far staircase.

Rainbow’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, “No way… you’re telling me those things are… basically…”

The girls all backed away as the creature stepped onto the walkway. Torn rags and moldy old armor covered it’s skeletal form, it’s blotchy skin peeling and sagging off it’s bones. Worse was the creature’s face. A ragged hole was all that remained of it’s nose and it’s lips had half rotted away, bloody chunks of flesh dangling freely from it’s mouth. The feral ghoul stopped and tilted it’s head as it spotted them.

“Zombies,” Fluttershy whimpered.

A gurgling scream ripped its way out of the ghoul’s throat as it launched itself into a sprint, hurtling towards the girls.

Author's Note

Another day another chapter!

Posting this one a little early this time, figured it makes a nice change.

Comments and criticisms are much appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 19 - A Less Than Pleasant Commute

Sunset froze as the feral ghoul hurtled towards the group, much much faster than she had expected it to be capable of. With a jolt she realized she had to do something, but Rarity got there first, extending her good arm as a huge gemstone materialized out of thin air in front of the ghoul. The foul creature smacked into the sudden obstruction and rebounded, landing flat on its back.

Rarity let her arm fall and the gem slowly faded from sight. Sunset nodded stiffly to her, ashamed that she had frozen up like that. A low growl had Sunset whipping her head back around. The ghoul was clambering back to it’s feet, saliva dripping from it’s open maw. Even more concerning was the sight of two more feral ghouls loping onto the walkway behind it.

“Awww nuts.” Applejack muttered, moving away from the generators to stand next to Sunset, raising her shotgun as she did so.

Sunset gritted her teeth and fired several rounds at the first ghoul as it rose, but the bullets just sank into it’s moldy armor, not causing any obvious injuries. She tensed as the creature launched itself forward once again, trying to aim at the monster’s face, when a blast from Applejack’s shotgun nearly deafened her. The ghoul stumbled as it’s arm was blown away in a welter of gore, then toppled to the floor as Sunset managed to put a carefully aimed bullet through it’s forehead.

The girls weren’t given even a moment’s respite as the other two ghouls charged straight past their fallen kin.

Sunset barely managed to get a shot off as the next ghoul closed in. Fortunately this one lacked the body armor of it’s compatriots, and the creature twitched as the bullet dug into it’s chest. Sliding out of the way as the ghoul staggered past Sunset lashed out with the butt of her pistol, then put another bullet in it’s skull as it reeled from the blow.

The second ghoul dodged around it’s fallen partner and lunged at Applejack, claws reaching for her face. Unable to bring her shotgun to bear in time, Applejack ducked under the ghoul’s swipe and shoved, hurling it backwards with her magically enhanced strength. The hapless creature sailed through the air only to slam back onto the metal walkway, momentum rolling it over until it came to rest in a mangled heap.

The girls stood still as silence descended, weapons raised and ready.

Sunset had no idea how long they waited like that, eyes and ears straining to pick out any more hidden threats. It felt like hours, but it could just as easily have been seconds.

“Ah think that’s the last of them,” Applejack whispered, finally breaking the silence, “Y’all okay?”

A series of quiet murmurs was her only reply, each of the girls still trying to process the sudden bout of extreme violence that had just unfolded.

Shaking like a leaf, Sunset tiptoed around the corpses littering the area and edged towards the walkway. Keeping her gun trained on it, she cautiously approached Applejack’s fallen foe and nudged it with her foot. She nudged it a little harder when there was no response, then finally gave it a solid kick.

Nothing happened.

Sunset let out a breath and lowered her gun, her shoulders slumping as she relaxed. A chorus of sighs and quiet muttering let her know the others were feeling the same relief.

“That was a little… intense.” Pinkie said soberly.

“Yeah… intense,” Applejack mumbled as she surveyed the carnage. “They… they weren’t… people… right?”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. Her eyes had a glazed look to them, and when she spoke it was in a flat voice devoid of any emotion, “Not anymore. There’s no known way to cure a ghoul who’s turned feral. The only thing we can do is euthanize them before they hurt anyone.”

Applejack hung her head at Fluttershy’s words, “That… that just ain’t right.”

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything right in this wasteland,” Twilight replied quietly, “We should keep moving, who knows how many more of these things there are down here.”

“Good idea.” Rainbow stepped over to Applejack and clapped her on the back, “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, ah think so, just… y’know. Ah’ve shot targets and stuff before, but ah’ve never pointed a gun at a living creature. Takes some getting used to, even if they are zombies.” AJ sighed and rolled her shoulders before making her way over to Sunset, “Best get behind me sugarcube. Ah’ll go first until we get out of the subway, then we’ll see if we can find someplace safe to take a breather.”

Sunset just nodded and stepped aside, sliding her pistol back into it’s holster. Between her strength and her shotgun, Applejack was definitely the right person to take the lead in such confined places.

The rest of the girls followed as Applejack led them over the walkway, past the staircase the ghouls had come up, and over to a door on the far side of the room.

“Ah sure hope this is the right way, ah do not fancy going down those stairs,” she muttered as she nosed the door open with the barrel of her shotgun.

They all let out a sigh of relief as they saw a short corridor ahead of them. After only a few steps it turned a corner to a staircase, which in turn led to another door.

“Well it’s about darn time!” Applejack huffed as she pushed the door open, revealing the concrete walls of the subway tunnels.

“Finally,” Sunset breathed as she glanced around, checking for any threats. Satisfied that they were safe for the moment, she shrugged off her pack and pulled out some painkillers and a water bottle, eager to get some relief from the throbbing that was slowly growing in her ribs.

Rarity sighed as she stepped onto the tracks, “It may not be much, but I am glad these tunnels are a little more spacious.” She absently scratched her brace as she looked around, “I’m not usually one for claustrophobia but even I’ll admit that those corridors were a little… oppressive.”

“I’m just glad I’ve finally got some room to maneuver,” Rainbow said flatly, stretching her arms out and rolling her neck.

Sunset couldn’t help but agree. While there was every possibility they were going to run into more feral ghouls, she would much rather face them in a wide subway tunnel than in a cramped maintenance corridor.

“And the best part is…”

Everyone turned to watch as Pinkie skipped over to a nearby wall and pointed to it, a huge grin spreading across her face, “We’re going the right way!”

Sunset looked up at the wall and felt her lips curve into a smile too as she saw what Pinkie had spotted. An odd symbol was painted on it, a winged sword whose blade passed through a circle full of gears. Underneath the symbol was the message ‘To GNR Outpost’ and an arrow pointing through a small corridor connecting two tunnels.

“Well alright then, let’s get moving!” Suiting actions to words, Applejack took the lead once more, keeping her shotgun poised and ready just in case.

The tunnels on the other side of the corridor were far less intact than any they had previously been through. Whole sections of the ceiling had caved in, forcing the girls to take extreme care when placing their feet for fear of tripping and breaking a leg or getting impaled on an exposed metal spar.

Sunset swiftly changed her mind about being in the subway tunnels. Trying to face down feral ghouls among all that debris would be near impossible. Fortunately the only creatures they encountered were radroaches which, unusually, seemed quite content to leave the girls alone.

“Ah never thought I’d be glad to see these little critters,” Applejack muttered, clearly thinking along the same lines.

“I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of them,” Sunset admitted.

Rainbow helped Rarity climb over a particularly awkward pile of masonry, then nodded at something up ahead, “Heads up, looks like we’re coming to the station.”

The station was just as trashed as the tunnel had been, the floor covered with huge mounds of rubble. At least the mezzanine and it’s attendant escalators appeared to be intact. The girls were less pleased to note several more dead feral ghouls scattered around, as well as the corpse of something a little… different.

‘It’ was humanoid, but nothing like any human Sunset had ever seen. Easily eight feet tall, it had dark yellow skin with thick, bulging veins and a musculature that put Bulk Biceps to shame. It’s head was completely hairless and it’s face was pulled taut in a tight, angry sneer. The few clothes it was wearing were made from heavy sackcloth, with odd bits of armor that seemed to cobbled together out of car parts, it even had half of a tire strapped over it’s shoulder to form a makeshift pauldron.

“What in the heck is that supposed to be?” Applejack asked, prodding it with her shotgun.

Twilight leaned over to get a closer peek, “I… have no idea. Maybe it’s one of those super mutants that Gob told us about?”

“Whatever it is, it’s hideous,” Rarity said flatly, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad we didn’t meet it while it was still alive.”

“You mean like that feral ghoul over there?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset nodded, “Yeah like that feral… wait WHAT!?”

Spinning around and fumbling for her gun, Sunset spotted the ghoul as it trotted out from behind a wrecked train car. The horrid creature snarled as it spotted the girls and broke into a run, scrabbling over the debris in it’s hurry to close with them. Before Sunset could draw a bead on it there was a sudden blur and something tripped the ghoul, sending it tumbling to the floor.

Rainbow stood behind the fallen wretch, a trail of disturbed dust swirling in her wake. As the ghoul lurched to it’s feet she span on the spot, giving Sunset a brief glimpse of an all-too-familiar combat knife before she used both hands to plunge it into the side of the ghoul’s skull.

The others could only stand and stare, torn between shock and amazement as the ghoul slumped to the floor, the knife still sticking out of it’s temple like some sort of gory antenna.

“Sweet molasses…” Applejack breathed.

No one else uttered a word as Rainbow struggled to pull her knife free. In the end she had to plant a foot on the ghoul’s head in order to tug the blade out. “Okay, that… was gross.” she said with a grimace.

“Gross? That was brutal!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“You said it Pinkie. What the heck were you thinking!?” Applejack growled, “Me and Sunset could’ve handled that perfectly well with the guns, there was no reason for you to go putting yourself in danger like that!”

“Chill out, Applejack, I can handle one stinking zombie by myself,” Rainbow smirked, planting one hand on her hip and twirling her knife with the other, “Besides you’ve only got, what, two shells left? May as well save the ammo for when we run into trouble.”

“Will the two of you please be quiet? Rarity hissed. “We don’t know if there are any more around here!”

“Hang on, let me check.” Before anyone could respond Rainbow disappeared in a colorful haze, and was back barely a second later, “Nope, nothing else in the station except us and the dead ones.”

Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. Deciding against chiding Rainbow for her sheer recklessness, she instead settled for confirming a nagging suspicion, “Rainbow, where exactly did you get that knife?”

Rainbow at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, “I… may have picked it up after that fight we had with the raiders.”

“It’s the one she tried to kill me with isn’t it?”

There was a slight pause. “Yes.”

Sunset sighed again and shook her head, “You know what, whatever, it’s fine. Come on, let’s get out of here before something else tries to kill us.”

“As much as I’m sure we’d all love to, which way do we go? Do we carry on through the tunnels or shall we see if there’s an exit up there?” Rarity asked, pointing up at the mezzanine.

“Gob said we need to exit the metro at the station, so I’m guessing we go up.” Twilight supplied.

“There’s definitely a way out up there,” Rainbow added, “No ghouls or anything either.”

That was good enough for the others. With Applejack and Rainbow in the lead, the group made their way up to the mezzanine. Once they reached the top Sunset privately marveled that it was still standing at all, given that a huge chunk of the ceiling had collapsed on top of it, there was even a car that had somehow dropped in from somewhere above. The hole in the roof was too dark to make anything out, but Sunset guessed there was a parking lot or a garage of some sort up there.

Taking advantage of their relative safety, the girls decided to take a rest and eat something, taking it in turns to keep watch on the station below. Twilight took the opportunity to takes notes from an intact route map, while Fluttershy made sure to give Rarity and Sunset a quick check-up. Sunset was particularly glad to have the gauze on her head removed. The graze on her temple from Burke’s bullet had largely healed, though she was going to be left with an interesting scar.

Once everyone was fed and watered, the group packed their things away and headed out. Following a corridor that led off the mezzanine, the girls came across a gate almost immediately, natural light filtering through the gaps. They pushed through the gate and hurried up a small set of steps beyond, eager to get out of the subways.

Sunset blinked as she emerged. The light was almost blinding after the cold darkness of the metro. Squinting, she could see that they were in a small square, ruined buildings towering around them on all sides. Letting her eyes adjust slowly, Sunset let out a sigh of relief as she stood and basked in the warm sunshine.

Her relief was short-lived.

“Stop right there!”

Sunset started as a commanding voice called out to them. Looking around wildly, she saw five figures standing on the edge of the square, in the shadow of one of the buildings. Clad in fully enclosed suits of steel armor, they each carried a gun of a kind that Sunset had never seen before, guns that they were currently pointing at the girls.

“This is Knight-Sergeant Metzger of Squad Pilum. This area is under the protection of the Brotherhood of Steel. Identify yourselves!”

Author's Note

An early update this time around!

Comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 20 - Blood and Steel

Sunset slowly raised her hands, gesturing for the others to do so too. She was glad that these people were at least willing to talk before they started shooting, but she didn’t want to push her luck, “My name’s Sunset Shimmer and these are my friends. We don’t want any trouble, we’re just looking for Galaxy News.”

One of the soldiers took a few steps forward, keeping his gun trained on Sunset. She assumed he was the Knight-Sergeant who had spoken. When he spoke again, the speakers in his helmet added an electric crackle to his voice.

“What’s your business with Galaxy News Radio?”

“We’re looking for two friends of ours, Adam and James, we heard they stopped there recently.” Sunset replied quickly.

The sergeant just stared at her for a moment, the blank features of his helmet making her uncomfortable, “That’s impossible, those two have been down in Vault eighty seven for the last ten years.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, “Don’t you mean Vault one-oh-one? And it was twenty years, not ten.”

The sergeant nodded curtly, “So you do know them, good. The question is, how? And why are you chasing after them?”

“We spent some time in the vault ourselves. We were working on a project with James but he left before we could finish it and we still need his help. As for Adam…” Sunset shrugged, “I guess, we just want to make sure he’s okay, and that he finds his father safely.” She shifted her feet awkwardly, “So… would you mind pointing your guns somewhere else?”

The sergeant glanced over his shoulder and nodded to his squad mates, who lowered their weapons. Turning back to Sunset, the sergeant slung his gun over his shoulder and reached up to tug off his helmet, revealing sharp, angular features and vivid, swept-back ginger hair.

Sunset blinked in surprise as she realized the sergeant was a woman.

“Sorry about that, the super mutants have been pressing us hard and Talon Company are being even more of a pain in our asses than usual. Having a group of mutants of a kind we’ve never seen before turn up out of nowhere, well, can’t be too careful y’know.”

“It’s fine, we understand.” Sunset sighed, relaxing slightly now that the guns were pointed away from her group, “Is there any chance you could tell us the way to Galaxy News, Sergeant… uh…?”

“Knight-Sergeant Metzger,” the sergeant huffed, shaking her head, “I’m sorry, but there’s no way we can let such a large group of unknowns wander around unauthorized. We’ll have to escort you to the outpost.”

“You sure about that Sarge? They don’t exactly look like much of a threat,” one of the other soldiers piped up, his gaze lingering on Rarity’s brace.

Metzger rolled her eyes, “Can it, Hill. I don’t care how dangerous they look, I’m not in the mood for taking any chances out here.”

“Actually, I think we’re all fine with being escorted at the moment,” Sunset admitted, as the others nodded and voiced their agreement, “Safety in numbers.”

“After the kinda stuff we saw on the way over here, ah’m just glad you didn’t decide to shoot first and ask questions later,” Applejack said flatly.

“Honestly? I considered it,” Metzger said darkly, “I guess it’s your lucky day.”

“Gee, thanks,” Rainbow muttered.

“Just come with me. And no funny business, or else.” Cramming her helmet back on, Metzger turned and headed down a nearby bombed-out street, gesturing for the girls to follow. The other soldiers fell into step around the group, one on either side of the girls and two bringing up the rear, constantly peering around and keeping an eye out for danger. That such heavily armed and armored people were so wary did not reassure Sunset in the slightest.

As Metzger led them into a winding alleyway, Sunset took the opportunity to sidle up next to her, “So… if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is the Brotherhood of Steel?”

“James didn’t tell you anything?” Metzger asked. Sunset just shook her head.

“The Overseer forbade anyone from talking about the outside world,” Twilight supplied.

Metzger sighed, “The Brotherhood of Steel is a military order, descended from the remnants of the old United States Armed Forces and members of the scientific community. We do what we can to protect the good people of the Capital Wasteland, and rediscover the lost technology of our forefathers.”

“Whoa, so you guys are like, actual soldiers!?” Rainbow cried, “That’s… so… awesome!” Her starry-eyed gaze flicked from one soldier to the next as she spoke rapidly, “Are you guys recruiting? Where can I get some of that armor? What kinds of guns are those? Do you get any-”

“Rainbow! Simmer down will you, we ain’t here to join an army.” Applejack interrupted.

“Besides, we should probably be quiet. We don’t want to attract any trouble.” Twilight said nervously.

“You’re not wrong, but we should be fine here. This area was cleared out yesterday,” Metzger said as they stepped out of the alleyway.

A small, open space lay in front of them. A trashed car was sat next to a pair of children’s climbing frames, one shaped like an old space rocket and the other a stereotypical UFO. Directly across from the girls was a heavily damaged school building. The shattered entrance doors were guarded by a pair of armored soldiers, the words ‘EARLY DAWN EL ME T RY’ visible on the wall above.

Sunset flinched as she spotted a pile of corpses just a few paces away from the doors. Each of them resembled the huge body the girls had found down in the Metro system. As they watched, another pair of soldiers shoved the door open and dragged a hulking corpse out, dumping it on the pile before heading back into the school.

Seeing the girls’ disgusted looks one of their escorting soldiers, Sunset thought it was Hill, nodded and spoke up, “Yeah, those are super mutants. Tough bastards, but they aren’t too bright.”

“So kinda like Applejack?”

None of the other girls could resist a snort at that, despite the seething glare that Applejack leveled at Rainbow.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” she growled.

“It means you’re dumb, duh.” Rainbow grinned, most unwisely in Sunset’s opinion. She swore she could almost hear Applejack’s blood pressure rising.

Suddenly Hill snorted with laughter, “Oh man, you’re just like Fleet and Misty.”

“Oh screw you, Hill.”

“The hell they are!”

“Cut the chatter you lot,” Metzger cut in, shouldering the door open and leading the group inside the school. The roof was completely gone and the building was in a shambles, but the corridor at least was clear of any debris. There were a few intact doors left inside, but Metzger ignored all of them as she led the group further in, “And Hill, quit using nicknames when we’re on patrol or Sentinel Lyons is going to jam her foot up-”

The rest of her words were drowned out by an explosion that rocked the whole building.

There were shouts and yells from further inside, followed by another blast and the distinctive clatter of gunfire.

“I thought the school was supposed to be secure?” Hill snarled.

“Apparently not anymore!” Metzger snapped. Glancing over her shoulder, she gestured to the two guards, “You two! You’re with us, and keep it tight. Find the point of entry and secure it!”

“What should we do?” Sunset called as she ripped her pistol from it’s holster.

“Stay back and stay out of our way. We don’t want any friendly fire incidents,” Metzger scooted to the end of the corridor, then peeked around the corner. Poking her rifle around, there was a sharp, electric crack as a bright red beam lanced out from the end of it.

“Laser guns!?” Rainbow gazed longingly after the soldiers as they followed Metzger around the corner.

“Focus, Rainbow,” Sunset said firmly, warily checking their surroundings, “I think we should head back to that alleyway, just in case.”

“Won’t we be safer inside?” Twilight asked.

Applejack shook her head, “No, ah think Sunset’s right about this. Those super mutants are huge, ah don’t fancy getting up close and personal with a bunch of them in here.”

“Surely the alley will be just as cramped though?” Rarity asked.

“True but it’s not as open,” Sunset replied, glancing up at the ledges and broken floors above their heads, “Plus, it means it’ll be easier to run back to the subway if we have to.” She flinched as the sounds of gunfire suddenly got much more intense, “Come on, let’s get out of here before we get caught up in that.”

The girls all turned to leave the building, but before they could take more than a few steps another explosion ripped through a nearby wall. Dust and smoke swept through the corridor as chunks of masonry whizzed lethally through the air. As the girls stumbled back coughing and spluttering, something huge loomed through the clouds of dust.

The super mutant chuckled as it stepped through the hole in the wall, clutching a solid wooden board tipped with rusted nails in one meaty fist. Sunset didn’t need the necklace of human fingers it wore to tell her that this creature was not friendly.

Before anyone else could react Rainbow darted in front of the mutant and jammed her knife into it’s chest.

“Take THAT you… big… uh…” She stared in horror at the blade that had barely sank into the mutant’s ribs, then slowly looked up into it’s face, “Oh crap.”

There was a blur as Rainbow suddenly disappeared just before the mutant’s nailboard swept through where she’d been standing. The mutant blinked for a moment, wondering where it’s foe had gone, then absently reached up to tug the knife out of it’s rib and casually tossed it aside.

Taking advantage of it’s distraction, Sunset whipped her pistol up and fired several rounds into the creature. The super mutant just grunted in pain and looked over to it’s new attacker. She kept firing until the gun clicked empty, fear rising in her throat as the mutant charged at her, drawing it’s nailboard back for a strike. At the last second Sunset was shunted aside as Applejack lunged forward, bringing her shotgun to bear.

With an echoing blast the mutant’s skull was blown apart, blood and gore splattering everywhere as it’s corpse crashed to the floor, forcing the two girls to skip backwards to avoid getting crushed.

“Look out!”

Both flinched as a huge gemstone appeared out of nowhere in front of them. A split-second later there was a sudden gunshot and a loud crack as a bullet ricocheted off the gem, a spider-web of small cracks spreading out from where it hit.
Sunset blanched as she saw a second super mutant lumbering through the hole, this one clutching a rifle.

“I’m going to break you!” the mutant cried in a deep guttural voice, racking the slide on its rifle.

“The heck you are!” Applejack yelled back, ducking out from behind the gem and firing at it.

The super mutant reeled and dropped it’s rifle as the buckshot took it in the shoulder, but it did not fall. Roaring in pain and fury, the mutant charged straight at the group.

Click.

Blank shock flitted across Applejack’s face as she realized she was out of ammunition. Sunset leapt forward to drag her out of harms way, but it was too late.

The super mutant slammed into the gemstone like a freight train, smashing it to pieces and barreling into the girls behind. Sunset’s ribs exploded with agony as the mutant knocked both her and Applejack clean off their feet. Dazed and gasping for breath, Sunset could only watch as the super mutant thundered past and into the middle of the group.

There was a chorus of screams and yells as the girls scattered, desperately trying to avoid the roaring mutant, which in turn was grasping and throwing punches around wildly, thankfully not connecting with anyone.

Clenching her teeth, Sunset tried to force herself to her feet, grasping for her gun as she did so. An agonized shriek brought her head snapping back up.

The super mutant had Fluttershy by the hair. With a harsh yank it dragged her to her knees in front of it.
Sunset managed to stagger to her feet just as the mutant raised its fist. There was no way she could intervene in time.

“YOU LET HER GO!”

Sunset’s hair wafted in the breeze as something hurtled past at an impossible speed.

Rainbow was little more than a blur as she kicked off a wall, launching herself through the air towards the super mutant. She reached out and struck the mutant with something as she sailed past then tucked and rolled smoothly to her feet as she landed on the other side, skidding slightly from the sheer momentum.

The mutant let go of Fluttershy as it stumbled back a step. Then another. Finally it slowly toppled backwards, landing flat on its back with a heavy thump. Sunset gasped as she spotted the knife sticking out of its eye socket.

“Not so tough now are you?” Rainbow spat. Her voice softened as she looked over at Fluttershy, “You okay, Flutters?”
Fluttershy barely had time to nod before the air behind them erupted into a crescendo of cracks, pops and hisses. Sunset span around, terrified that more mutants had stormed out of the hole.

Some had certainly tried, but two of the Brotherhood soldiers had returned to the girls, slaughtering the mutants with their potent laser weaponry. Sunset shivered as she beheld the three slightly smoking corpses piled in the gap.

“Heard the screams, are you girls alright?”

Sunset sighed as she recognized the voice as Metzger’s. She nodded and flashed a thumbs up, too out of breath for speech.

Metzger didn’t respond. She was already turning to head back to the main fire-fight that could still be heard raging deeper in the building, when something small clattered around the corner and rolled to their feet.

Almost before it had stopped moving Rainbow was there, grabbing the grenade and hurling it through the hole in the wall. A second later there was a muffled explosion followed by a puff of grit and bloody chunks.

“Enough with the grenades already!” she yelled.

Metzger looked back where the grenade had come from, then, satisfied that no more were incoming, glanced over her shoulder at Rainbow, “Nice save. Thanks.”

“Hey, what can I say, I’m awe-”

“UP HIGH!” Sunset screamed.

Another super mutant had stomped into view on a ledge above the group. This one was wearing crudely shaped metal plates all over it’s body, and lugged a weapon Sunset had only ever seen in cheesy action flicks.

A minigun.

The mutant roared with laughter as it pointed the gun down at the girls, the barrels whirring as it warmed up.
Sunset dashed forward without thinking, tackling Applejack through the nearest door. Rarity and Pinkie dove through after them a second later. Sunset looked back in horror as a storm of bullets shredded the corridor. She desperately hoped that the others had managed to avoid that, but didn’t have long to worry as something huge dropped from above and landed with a crash in the middle of the four.

The new super mutant sent Sunset sprawling with a casual buffet from its forearm then lashed out at Pinkie with its nailboard, forcing her to leap out of the way. Before the mutant could strike again a gemstone smacked it in the face.

“Leave her alone you ugly brute!” Rarity snarled as she flung another gem.

The mutant was ready for it.

Batting the gemstone away with its free hand, the mutant turned and hurled its nailboard with a grunt. Rarity managed to dodge the flying wood, but barely had time to surround herself with a gemstone cocoon before the super mutant was on her. The glittering shield shuddered and cracked as the mutant rained blows down upon it, eager to rip apart the girl cowering within.

“RARITY!”

The super mutant turned at the shout, just in time for Applejack to swing her shotgun like a baseball bat, smashing it across the monster’s face. The gun fell to pieces as the mutant staggered, blood pouring from its forehead.

Tossing aside the remnants of the shotgun, Applejack dropped into a crouch and drove her fist through the super mutant’s knee, snapping it like a twig. As the mutant toppled, howling in agony, Applejack surged upright and threw all of her strength into a mighty right hook.

Her fist shattered the mutant’s skull, blood, bone and brain matter exploding outwards from the force of her punch.
Sunset felt her gorge rising as she watched the headless corpse hit the floor in a bloody mess. Rarity’s gems slowly faded from view revealing the fashionista herself, retching quietly on the floor. Applejack just stood and stared at her fist. Indescribable gore dripped silently from her arm.

Shoving all of her fear and disgust aside for the moment, Sunset hauled herself painfully to her feet, her ribs and gut both burning with agony. Short bursts from the minigun were still chewing up the corridor outside, but she could hear Rainbow taunting the super mutant in between, so she was sure that at least one of the others was safe. A touch on her arm made Sunset flinch, but she relaxed when she saw that it was just Pinkie.

“What do we do now?” Pinkie asked quietly.

Sunset just shook her head, “I don’t know, but we have to try and get rid of that big gun somehow.”

Glancing around, she spotted a staircase in the corner of the room. She trudged over and looked up. It seemed to go right up to the floor the super mutant was on. Bit by bit, a plan started to piece itself together in Sunset’s mind, but she’d need help to pull it off, “Hey, Rarity, Applejack, I’ve got an idea, do you think you’re up for it?”

Applejack turned and blinked at her dumbly, “Huh… wha…?” Pulled from her dark reverie, she shook herself and ran a clean hand over her face, “Ah… ah’m fine. Rarity?”

“I… urgh… one second,” she said quietly. With a few deep breaths she stood and turned, determinedly not looking at the messy corpse lying a few feet from her, “Okay, I’m good.”

Applejack nodded and managed a small smile, “Alright sugarcube, what do you have in… uh, Pinkie? What the heck are you doing?”

Pinkie smiled nervously as the others turned to look at her, an open bottle of Nuka-Cola clutched in her hands, “I didn’t want to do this but… we have to stop that gun.” Before the others could stop her she took a small sip from the bottle, “Bleh! It’s flat.”

“Pinkie! That’s radioactive!” Sunset yelled.

“I know,” Pinkie replied grimly as a bright pink glow suffused the remaining cola. Without another word she turned and darted out into the corridor.

“Eat THIS you meanie!”

There was a searing pink flash as a colossal blast rocked the building.

Sunset, Applejack and Rarity shared a shocked look, then hurried out of the door. Pinkie stood in the middle of the corridor, her hair deflated and a look of abject horror on her face as she stared up at where the super mutant had been. Heart pounding, Sunset turned to follow her gaze, then clapped a hand over her mouth at the sight that awaited her.

The super mutant’s corpse was slumped on the floor. The entire front of the mutant’s body had been vaporized, leaving the glistening remnants of its internal organs exposed. As the girls watched, several chunks of intestine uncoiled and slopped out, landing with wet splats on the floor below.

That was too much for Sunset. She lurched over and planted her hands on her knees as she vomited, barely missing her own feet.

Gasping for breath, she vaguely realized that the sounds of gunfire had stopped. It seemed the battle was over. She glanced up as a hand was laid on her shoulder.

“Are, um… are you okay?” Fluttershy asked shakily. She looked ready to bolt or break down at any moment.

Forcing a smile, Sunset straightened up, though she couldn’t stop her own voice from shaking as she replied, “I’m fine, don’t worry. Are you okay?”

“Oh, um, yes. Rainbow grabbed me and Twilight and… and got us back outside before we could get hurt.”

“And I’d like to know how she managed that.”

Metzger stepped out of a doorway, glancing up at the mangled mutant, “One second you were standing right next to me, then the next you were back outside with those two.” She tilted her head as she turned to Pinkie, “And what the hell did you throw at that thing?!”

Sunset sighed heavily, “It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything, but can we get somewhere safer first, please?”

Metzger gave her a long look. After a while she shrugged, “Hey, you killed some Frankensteins and saved some lives, that’s good enough for me. Come on, Galaxy News is just through here.”

Exhausted and in agony, Sunset paused just long enough to make sure the rest of the girls were alright before she fell into step behind the Knight-Sergeant.

The girls followed Metzger in silence, each trying to come to terms with the hell they’d managed to wander into. Guilt weighed heavily on Sunset’s heart as she trudged through the corridors. As much as the others would deny it, Sunset couldn’t help but think that all of this was her fault.

The abundance of mutant corpses did nothing to improve her mood.

Dozens of them lay where they fell. Most were intact, but a few were left in various states of dismemberment. The girls tried to avoid looking at them wherever they could. For Sunset, this meant she spent most of the journey watching the soldiers.

The group passed several other Brotherhood of Steel soldiers going about their business on their way through the school. Some of them spared the girls a glance as they went past, but none of them spoke and their expressions were hidden beneath their helmets. Most quickly turned back to whatever they were doing, far more concerned with checking on each other and making sure the super mutants were all definitely dead or routed than whatever oddballs Metzger was escorting.

Eventually the girls were led through an archway and out into an open plaza.

A squat concrete building dominated the far side of the plaza. A stylized, brass representation of a radio mast under the letters GNR decorated the front of it.

Finally. Now we can get some answers.

More mutant corpses were strewn around the plaza, but one in particular grabbed the girls’ attention, slumped over a brass monument in the shape of a planet.

“Whoa…” Rainbow breathed

“What the heck is that thing!?” Applejack cried, “That’s got to be nearly twenty feet tall!”

Sunset’s eyes were wide as she stared at the massive corpse, “How did you manage to bring that thing down? And what happened to it’s head!?”

Metzger huffed a laugh at their reactions. “We call them Behemoth’s. Luckily they’re pretty damn rare, ” she explained as she stepped around a mutant corpse, “I wish I could say it was my squad that took it out, but that one was all your friend Adam.”
Rainbow gaped at her, “No way!”

Sunset shared her amazement. Given that he was alone and had even less fighting experience than the girls, she’d been worried how he’d manage to survive in the wasteland. Apparently by turning into some sort of ultimate badass!

Tearing her gaze away from the behemoth, Sunset spotted two soldiers coming down the steps in front to GNR to greet them. The one in front was the only soldier Sunset had seen so far without a helmet in sight, her clean blonde hair pulled back into a messy bun. Metzger stopped and made an odd salute as the soldier approached, clenching a fist over her heart.

“Sentinel Lyons!”

“At ease Knight-Sergeant,” Lyons responded, eyeing the girls with interest, “What’s the situation?”

“Ma’am, the school building has been re-secured and the route from here to Tenleytown Station is clear.”

“Great. Davis, send out two squads to perform a sweep of the immediate area, make sure the Uglies are routed.”

“Yes, Sentinel!” the soldier clenched a fist over his heart before jogging over to the school building.

“And who exactly are these girls?” Lyons asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not entirely sure Ma’am, we found them crawling out of Tenleytown,” Metzger replied. “But they did help us drive off the super mutants, and this one saved my life,” she jabbed a thumb in Rainbow’s direction, “They know James and his son, and they're looking for them. They were hoping Three-Dog would be able to tell them where they went.”

Lyons ran an appraising eye over the group, “You’re sure they’re not a threat?”

“Positive Ma’am.”

“We don’t want any trouble,” Sunset said quietly, wincing at the mounting pain in her torso, “We just want to find James, and figure out a way back home.”

A sympathetic look crossed Lyons’ face, “You look rough, you got medical supplies?”

“Oh, um, yes miss,” Fluttershy replied softly.

“Alright then. Metzger, gather your squad and resume patrols until our scheduled reinforcements arrive. The rest of you come with me, I’ll take you in to Three-Dog. You can explain everything to us while you patch yourselves up.”

“Thank you,” Sunset breathed gratefully.

As the rest of the girls followed Sentinel Lyons into the building, Metzger pulled off her helmet and held out a hand, holding Rainbow back.

“Hey, thanks for saving my ass back there.”

“Heh, no problem,” Rainbow grinned.

Metzger grinned back at her, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“Bullshit.”

“What? That’s my name!”

Metzger chuckled at that, “Well your parents definitely picked the right fucking name.”

“Heh, yeah,” Rainbow extended a hand, “Take care out there, Knight-Sergeant.”

Metzger smirked and took the proffered hand, “Kelly, it’s Kelly Metzger. But my friends call me Spitfire.”

Author's Note

A new chapter is here! Hope you enjoy!

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 21 - The Legend Begins

Author's Note

As thanks for helping Fallout Girls reach the featured page, I bring you this.

An early chapter!!!

Thanks to everyone who has read up to this point so far!

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 21 - The Legend Begins

Galaxy News Radio was very well fortified. Walls of sandbags lined the outside giving the defending soldiers plenty of cover, and the doors were reinforced with steel plates and crossbars. Inside was even more impressive, with more sandbags and makeshift barricades defended by heavily armed Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, each of whom saluted Sentinel Lyons as she led the girls into the building.

Sunset shivered as she passed one particular barricade. She wasn’t really expecting the soldiers to attack, but she was still leery of having what were clearly military-grade flamethrowers pointed in her general direction.

The girls silently followed Sentinel Lyons past the soldiers and up a guarded staircase. Each was lost in their own thoughts, either mentally processing the hellish battle they’d just endured or, like Sunset, desperately trying to distract themselves from thinking about it.

“Hey, Three Dog! You okay in here?” Lyons called out suddenly as she made her way up another short staircase.

“Sure am! How’s it looking out there?”

The staircase came out into the middle of a large, messy room. Chairs, small tables and shelving units were dotted around randomly, with a small kitchenette in one corner. Looking around, Sunset spotted an alcove behind them filled with terminals and banks of computers and recording equipment, everything a functioning radio station and recording studio could need. A man was standing over one of the terminals with his back to the group, busily fiddling with the controls. Sunset assumed this must be the Three Dog that she’d heard about.

“The area is secured, with no casualties so far this time,” Lyons called as she leaned against a pillar, “Mind coming over here a sec? I think you’ll want to be a part of this.”

“A part of what?” Three Dog glanced over his shoulder for a second, then did a double take, “What… the…” He rubbed his eyes and blinked at the girls, then turned to Sentinel Lyons, “Uh, Sarah? Are there seven multi-colored girls sat in my office, or am I on Jet again?”

“They’re real all right, I can see them just as well as you. No idea if you’re on Jet or not though,” Lyons chuckled, but her laughter died quickly, “They’re here to see you, apparently they’re friends of James and Adam.”

“Seriously?”

Sunset eyed Three Dog warily as he abandoned the terminal and wandered over to the girls. He had dark, brown skin and was wearing a long sleeveless leather coat over a clean white t-shirt and patchwork pants. His black hair was covered with a cloth wrap and he sported a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee. A pair of stylish, if unnecessary, shades covered his eyes.

“Well this is something you don’t see every day,” Three Dog said flatly, “So how exactly do you all know our little Lone Wanderer and his father?”

“It’s… kind of a long story,” Sunset said slowly.

“And I bet it’s an interesting one,” Three Dog replied, “I’ve got time, why don’t you all take a seat and tell me how you know James.”

“I’d like to hear this too,” Lyons cut in.

Sunset glanced around at her friends, unsure how exactly to start.

“May as well tell them the truth sugarcube,” Applejack said suddenly, “Ah’ve already explained things to the Children of Atom, it’s only a matter of time before the news spreads.”

“I know, I’m just trying to figure out how we can explain everything without sounding crazy,” Sunset sighed. She was done with lying, with hiding who they were from the world. It was a huge risk, but it was time to reveal the truth, and there was something about Lyons and Three Dog that made her want to trust them, even if she had only just met them.

Sighing again, Sunset dropped onto the nearest chair, then hissed as pain lanced through her chest.

“Hey, you okay?” Lyons asked as Fluttershy gasped and darted to her side.

“She really ain’t,” Applejack muttered.

Fluttershy gently pressed a hand to Sunset’s side and turned to glance at Three Dog, “Um, would you mind turning around for a moment please? I need to check under her top.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Three Dog quickly complied, politely turning and putting his back to them.

With a little help from Fluttershy, Sunset shrugged her jacket off and peeled off her top. The others winced as they saw the full extent of her injuries. The bruising around her ribs and stomach had gotten noticeably worse, dark purple splotches spreading across most of her side.

“That looks nasty,” Lyons said quietly.

Fluttershy didn’t respond as she gingerly checked Sunset’s ribs, then pulled out a stethoscope and listened carefully to her chest. Once that was done she moved down to her abdomen.

Eventually she sighed and stood back up, “Okay, it doesn’t look like you’ve broken any of your ribs, you’ve just made the bruising a little worse.”

“That’s good news,” Sunset said with a little smile.

Fluttershy didn’t smile back, “It is, but I’m more concerned about your kidney. There’s definitely some swelling there that I really don’t like.” She pressed the back of her hand to Sunset’s forehead, chewing her lip nervously, “And you’re clammy too. That’s not a good sign.”

“Well we did just come through one heck of a fight, are you sure it’s not just the sweat cooling off?” Sunset replied reasonably.

“It could be, but I’m not sure,” Fluttershy frowned as she rummaged through her nursing kit, “I’ll give you a stimpak anyway, just in case. If you feel faint or shivery at all you let me know, okay?”

“I will, I promise,” Sunset hissed and bit her lip as Flutters slipped the needle into her arm, then sighed with relief as the stimpak did its work, the pain ebbing away swiftly.

“Can I turn around now?” Three Dog asked.

“One sec,” Sunset quickly grabbed her top and fumbled it back on, followed by her jacket, “Okay, I’m good.”

“Cool,” Three Dog turned back and glanced around for a moment before spotting an empty chair, “Hey, Sarah, want a seat?”

“I’m good thanks,” Lyons replied, not taking her eyes off Sunset.

Three Dog just shrugged and dropped into the chair.

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly, still unsure of how to start. Finally she sighed, “Okay. What I’m about to tell you is going to sound… well… crazy.”

“Completely insane would probably be a more accurate description,” Twilight supplied.

Sunset just nodded, “In light of that, I think it would be best if we prove to you that we aren’t crazy first.” Her eyes flicked from Three Dog to Lyons, “Just… don’t freak out on us, okay?”

Three Dog nodded eagerly, “I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff in the wastes, give me your best shot.”

Lyons eyed Sunset suspiciously for a moment, before finally nodding once.

The two of them flinched at a sudden blur. Three Dog reached up to feel his face as he realized something was missing.

“Looking for these?” Dash called from where she stood in the recording area, tapping the shades she was now sporting and grinning smugly.

Three Dog and Lyons stared at her for a moment, but before either of them could speak their attention was stolen by a shelving unit that floated past, gripped in the purple glow of Twilight’s magic. A second later a gemstone materialized around one of the lights in the ceiling, bathing the room in a kaleidoscope of refracted colors.

“Oh… my… God…” Three Dog muttered.

“It’s beautiful,” Lyons breathed, “How is this even possible?”

Sunset couldn’t resist grinning slightly, “Magic. You see, we’re not actually from this world, but from another one.” She smile turned a little sad as she said, “One more different from this one than you can possibly imagine.”

Three Dog and Lyons both turned to goggle at her.

“Explain, right from the beginning!” Lyons commanded.

Taking one last deep breath to steady herself, Sunset told them everything. She told them about Equestria, the mirror and her arrival in Canterlot High. Then she set about giving a rough outline of the various adventures they had all been through together, with occasional input from the other girls. Sunset was careful not to mention that their Geodes were the source of their magical abilities though. That was information she really didn’t want loose in the wasteland, the last thing they needed was some psychopath trying to steal their Geodes.

The girls got progressively more excitable as they relived their old escapades Bringing up old memories and reliving happier moments. Lyons and Three Dog were a good audience, hardly interrupting except to ask for clarification or to gasp in outright surprise.

All too soon the story turned to the Geode Diviner.

With a heavy heart, Sunset reluctantly spoke of their ill-fated attempt to turn it on, and their subsequent arrival in Vault one-oh-one. The other girls went silent as she explained how James had attempted to help them find a way back home, then suddenly vanished one day, leaving the Vault in disarray. Her voice shaking, Sunset gave an outline of their own departure from the Vault and their desperate attempt to catch up with James, right up to their arrival in D.C.

Three Dog let out a breath as Sunset finally fell silent, “Jesus. I don’t even know what to say.”

“Didn’t James tell you anything before he left?” Lyons asked. She frowned as the girls just shook their heads, “Asshole! What the hell was he thinking?”

“He did tell me there was something really important he had to do,” three Dog supplied, “But still… that was a dick move.”

“Now you understand why we came to see you,” Sunset said quietly.

“Yeah, I get it,” Three Dog sighed heavily, “Okay, I’ll tell you where James and Adam went. However-” he raised a hand as the girls hurriedly thanked him, “When Adam came here asking after James, I asked him to contribute in return for the information. To help fight the Good Fight.”

Sunset frowned at him, “Wait… you mean you want us to fight for you?”

“No, no! That’s no what I meant!” Three Dog held up his hands in a placating manner, “Fighting the Good Fight doesn’t just mean going out there and killing the bad stuff. It also means doing what you can to help out those people who are just trying to survive.”

Three Dog sighed again and shook his head, “Look, I already feel like a dick for even asking, after everything you girls have been through, but is there anything you can do to help? Even if it’s only something small, just something to make life a little easier for the good people out there who are struggling to live in a world that doesn’t give a shit.”

Sunset folded her arms as she thought. Much as she wanted to help out, she couldn’t really think of anything off the top of her head that didn’t involve putting her friends in danger somehow.

“What about music?”

Everyone turned to look at Twilight curiously.

“Sure, music is good. It lifts peoples spirits, gives them a chance to forget their troubles for a while.” Three Dog replied with a nod, “Only problem is I’ve already got my hands on every single record I can find that’s in a playable condition, unless you think you know where I can find some more?”

“Not exactly, but… well… I believe we’ve already mentioned that we’re all in a band together.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at that, “I hate to break it to you Twilight, but I don’t think there’s any instruments around here that we can play.”

“That’s not what I was getting at,” Twilight smiled sheepishly as she slipped her pack off, “Actually… I may have managed to get some data off my phone before its battery died. Back in Vault one-oh-one.”

All of the girls stared at her in amazement.

“How in the heck did you manage that?” Applejack asked.

“Simple. I borrowed one of the microwave detectors that Stanley used to use for monitoring the plasma generators,” Twilight replied with a smug smile as she rummaged around in her pack.

Most of the girls just looked back at her with blank stares.

Applejack frowned as she tried to put it together, “Uh, and how exactly did that help?”

“Bluetooth!” Sunset cried suddenly. She grinned as the others looked at her in bewilderment, “Bluetooth uses microwave radiation to transmit data!”

Twilight beamed at her, “Precisely! All I had to do was modify the detector to receive the signals properly, then write the software that allowed the Vault terminals to be able to store the data that was transmitted. Once that was done all I had to do was transfer our songs from the terminal… to… these!”

The girls gaped as Twilight pulled a handful of holotapes out from the depths of her pack.

Rainbow was the first one to break the stunned silence, “You mean… those are…?”

“Every single one of the Rainbooms’ songs!” Twilight cried happily as the others whooped and cheered. Blushing a little at her friends’ praise, Twilight got up and stepped over to Three Dog.

Three Dog accepted the tapes wordlessly, staring at them as if transfixed. A moment later he swept out of the chair and strode over to his recording station. Placing the tapes on a clear spot, he grabbed the topmost one and slotted into the console. With practiced movements he flipped a few switches and pulled on a set of headphones. The rest of the group watched with bated breath as he checked the equipment and then, finally, pressed the ‘play’ button.

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

Sunset couldn’t help the huge grin that spread across her face as Pinkie’s voice cried out from speakers set into the walls, followed by the opening notes of ‘Shine Like Rainbows’. Her smile only grew wider as Applejack sang out the opening lines in time with the recording, Rarity picking up with her own lines next. Taking their cue from those two, the rest of the girls joined in with the chorus. Despite not having practiced for over a month, they slipped into the song as if born to it.

Bobbing her head in time with the beat, Sunset felt her heart start to soar as she sang, the music wrapping itself around her soul and soothing all of the pain and worry that she felt. Her magic bubbled up in response, overflowing to mix and combine with that of her friends. At the touch of their magic a bittersweet joy surged up inside Sunset, swelling to an almost painful intensity and sending happy tears streaming down her face as she ponied up.

After what felt like an eternity, the song finally ended. Sunset let out a heartfelt sigh as silence fell, brushing away the tears that lined her cheeks. Glancing around, she smiled as she saw the others doing the same, each of them ponied up and decked out in their glamorous magical outfits.

“I think I needed that,” Pinkie said softly.

“I think we all did darling,” Rarity countered, fiddling with her newly sapphire-encrusted arm brace.

“Definitely,” Sunset agreed, “So what do you think, Three Dog? Is our music okay?”

Three Dog didn’t answer. He was still standing at the console with his headphones on, utterly oblivious to the magical light show that had just occurred behind him. Ever so slowly, he reached up and tugged the headphones off, placing them gently on the console.

“Wow. That was… that was pure. That had soul,” he said thickly. Heaving a shuddering sigh, he spoke without turning around, “James went to Rivet City, to speak to Doctor Li. Adam’s gone down there after him. It’s in an old aircraft carrier south of here, it’s got a pretty well equipped clinic too. I can mark it’s location on your Pip-Boys if you-”

Three Dog turned to face the girls, then blinked as he took in their new appearances, “Whoa, you girls really aren’t from this world are you?” He chuckled and reached up to dry his eyes as the girls shook their heads, “Hey, Sarah, you okay there?”

Sunset jolted as she remembered about the Sentinel. Looking around, she spotted Lyons still standing next to the pillar, her mouth hanging open as she stared at the girls.

Pinkie skipped over and vigorously waved a hand in front of her face, “I think we broke her.” An evil grin slowly split Pinkie’s face as she licked a finger and pointed it at Lyons’ ear. Before she could violate the Lyons’ hole though, the Sentinel seemed to come to her senses, blinking and shaking her head rapidly.

“Awwww,” Pinkie whined, putting her finger down and shuffling away.

Lyons stared after Pinkie for a moment, then shivered and glanced at Sunset, “It’s… it’s all true, isn’t it? You actually used to be a unicorn?”

Sunset giggled, “Yeah, it’s true.”

“This… this is incredible! I have to tell my father!” Lyons clasped her hands to her head, “Oh my God, this is crazy! Magic is real! I mean you’ve got those… those ears… and the wings… I… you…”

“Whoa now, take it easy there sugarcube, before you bust a gasket,” Applejack said soothingly.

As Lyons bent over and started taking deep breaths to calm herself, Sunset turned back to Three Dog.

“So, Rivet City was it?”

Three Dog nodded, still looking a little bamboozled himself, “Yeah. It’s the biggest and most advanced settlement in the Capital Wasteland.” His face turned grave as he looked Sunset in the eyes, “I warn you though, getting there will not be easy. If anything getting there will be even more dangerous than it was getting here. You think you can manage?”

“It’s not like we really have a choice,” Sunset grumbled, “Isn’t there any safe way out of D.C?”

“Not really,” Three Dog admitted, “The safest way would probably be to go back the way you came and take the long route around the outskirts of D.C.”

“Which way did Adam go?” Fluttershy asked.

Three Dog sighed, “Through the Metro tunnels. It’s the quickest way, but it’s also the most dangerous.”

Sunset groaned.

“We’re going to have to follow him through, aren’t we?” Rarity deadpanned.

“You reckon there’s any way we can sneak through without getting spotted?” Applejack asked.

“No way,” Lyons cut in, “The tunnels that lead to Rivet City are packed full of super mutants, feral ghouls and raider outposts.”

The girls shared a worried look at that. They had barely made it through their last few confrontations alive.

“It probably isn’t going to be all that bad,” Rainbow piped up suddenly. She raised an eyebrow as everyone gave her incredulous looks, “I mean, think about it. Adam’s already taken out one of those behemoth things, do you really think there’s going to be much left down in those tunnels once he’s been through there?”

Rarity opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again, stumped.

“That’s… actually a pretty good point,” Applejack admitted.

“The kid definitely knows how to handle himself,” Lyons agreed.

Twilight frowned and folded her arms, “It’s still risky. Adam may be more dangerous than we expected, but I doubt he’s managed to completely clear the way from here to Rivet City.”

“Of course it’s risky, but we can do this!” Rainbow said firmly.

“I suppose the feral ghouls aren’t too much of an issue, as scary as they are,” Rarity added, “The problem is going to be dealing with any super mutants or raiders that are left down there.”

“You leave any of those rotten super mutants to me,” Applejack growled.

Fiddling with the folds on her dress, an idea slowly started to form in Sunset’s mind, “There’s something else that we haven’t considered that could work in our favor.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Our magic. So far we’ve mostly been hiding it, but maybe we should be doing the opposite.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at that, “Whatever do you mean darling?”

“I mean we should go all out! Really use our powers!” Sunset said eagerly.

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow cried, “Hit any bad guys we find as hard as we can before they have a chance to react!”

Applejack nodded slowly, “Yeah, ah guess that could work, I mean we all saw how the sheriff reacted to our magic back in Arefu.”

“You, um… you mean we should try and scare people?” Fluttershy asked softly.

Sunset grinned maliciously, “Well, we are already ponied up.”

“Shock and Awe tactics,” Lyons said quietly, “If you can use your magic offensively like that, any raiders you come across would probably be scared shitless.” She frowned as she inspected the girls, “Still, magic powers or not you’re going to need better equipment. Wait here while I go see if we can spare anything from our supplies. When I get back I want details on exactly what your magic is capable of.”

“Sure thing,” Sunset flopped into a chair as Lyons headed back down the stairs.

The movement sent a small twinge through her ribs, but overall the combination of stimpak and magic had helped with the pain in her body immeasurably, though she was suddenly starting to feel extremely thirsty. Shrugging slightly, Sunset pulled her backpack off and dug around for a water bottle.

What's up Wastelanders? This is Three Dog, bow-wow! And you're listening to GNR! That's Galaxy News Radio, in case you forgot!

News time, children!

I’m coming to you live with a special report, and believe me when I tell you they don’t get any crazier than this!

Okay children, you remember I told you about James, the guy who crawled out of Vault one-oh-one? And then I told you about his son, our very own Lone Wanderer, who dug his way out shortly afterwards? Well I’ve just had a visit from seven, you heard me, SEVEN girls who’ve dragged their asses out of there too!

If you think that’s crazy, wait until you hear the rest.

The thing is, these girls are NOT ordinary girls. In fact, they are about as far as you can possibly get from being normal.

You see, these girls aren’t originally from Vault one-oh-one. In fact, they aren’t from the Capital Wasteland. They aren’t even from this planet!

That’s right children, you heard me. These girls came from a completely, different, world! Even crazier, these girls have magic! Real. God-damned. MAGIC.

Now before you go wondering just how much Jet I’ve been taking, you wait until you see them around. These girls, they call themselves the Rainbooms, they come in a variety of kooky colors, and I ain’t talking about black or white here.

First you’ve got Sunset Shimmer. Yes, that’s her real name. She’s got amber skin, red and yellow hair, and an attitude you do NOT want to mess with. A classic case of bad girl gone good, apparently she used to be a real devil before the rest of the Rainbooms helped her see the light.

Oh right, almost forgot. She also has the ability to see people’s memories.

I’m not kidding you here, she knows how to READ YOUR GOD-DAMN MIND!

Next you’ve got Applejack, trust me these names get even weirder as we go along. She looks kinda like an ordinary white girl at first. A regular old country cowgirl, she’s even got the hat and the accent to match.

She also has super strength. Seriously.

As in, I just saw her lift a fully armored Brotherhood knight over her head like it was nothing. Do NOT screw with this girl, she WILL break you.

Next is Pinkie Pie-

Hey that’s me!

AAHH! Where the HELL did you come from!?

From up here silly!

From up… what… where the heck did she go? What the HELL do you mean that’s just what Pinkie does!? WHAT THE F-

Ahem.

Sorry about that children. As I was saying, next is Pinkie Pie, who apparently likes to tell the laws of physics to go screw themselves every now and again.

Also she can make shit explode just by touching it.

And in case you’re wondering, yes. She’s pink.

Skin. Hair. All pink.

VERY pink.

And speaking of pink, next is Fluttershy. Pink hair, yellow skin, and yellow feathers. Yes… feathers. Her magic lets her sprout wings, as well as letting her talk to animals.

That’s right children. Fluttershy here has the power to hold full blown conversations with the funky mutated fauna of the wastes.

I wonder if they like GNR?

Next you have Rainbow Dash, this is one who really lives up to her name. Her hair literally has every damn colour of the rainbow in it.

And her magic? Yep, you guessed it. Super speed. If you blink, you’ve already missed her. This crazy cat can grow wings too, great big blue ones that match her skin.

Who’s next?

Ah yes, the lovely Rarity. Skin more clean and white than anything you’ve ever seen, and purple hair that just about screams glamorous. This delightful young lady can create gemstones out thin air.

Don’t get you hopes up though children, the gems disappear after a while. No point in trying to steal any.

Lastly you have Twilight Sparkle, apparently the newest member of the group. Her skin and hair are all different shades of purple, and this one grows wings too!

Oh, and she can also move stuff using her mind. Real live telekinesis.

Freaky stuff.

Now these girls, they’re looking for a way home. Back to their own world. When they first arrived here through a portal, they ended up in a very particular Vault. Vault one-oh-one.

You see where this is going yet?

That’s right children, James was helping these girls find a way back, before he up and disappeared.

So if you see the Rainbooms out and about in the wasteland, come up and say hi, wish them well.

And James, if you’re listening, these girls are out, they’re looking for you, and they need your help. You too Lone Wanderer.

Ah yes, one last thing.

These Rainbooms? They’re actually part of their own band, and guess who just a copy of each of their songs?

Coming up next we have ‘Shine Like Rainbows’, by the Rainbooms.

Thanks for listening, chiiill-dren! This is Three Dog, AWOOOOO! And you're listening to Galaxy News Radio! We're Radio Free Wasteland! And we're here... for you

Confessor Cromwell and his followers listened intently as the news report ended and the music began. He mentally patted himself on the back for having the foresight to acquire a radio for the congregation area. Ever since the Angels of Atom had left he’d been certain that stories of their divinity would soon reach Galaxy News, and now his faith was being rewarded.

Several of Cromwell’s fellow Children of Atom openly wept as they listened to the beautiful song of their salvation. He couldn’t blame them. Just hearing their holy voices was enough to dispel the worries that Cromwell had felt only moments before, as he argued points of belief with certain members of his flock. He surreptitiously glanced over at their ringleader as the song continued.

Joshua’s eyes were closed, tears streaming down his face as he swayed in time with the music. He was a young man, barely out of his teens. His sleek black hair was currently tied back in a ponytail, something he’d only started doing since their Divine Grace’s the Angels Rarity and Rainbow Dash had first visited the Church of Atom looking for work.

Cromwell sighed and bowed his head as the song came to an end. Much as he disagreed with Joshua on matters of faith he could not bring himself to hate the boy, it simply wasn’t in his nature. Certainly the lad and his beliefs were far less boorish and dangerous than those of Marie.

Cries of shock and alarm from his flock brought Cromwell’s head snapping around, “What is it? What is wrong?”
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw what had grasped his followers attention.

Twin spirals of sparkling light were rising from the floor just in front of the benches, one red and one blue. With a jolt Cromwell realized the spirals were forming right where the Angels Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer had shown their true, angelic natures. ‘Ponying up’ the Angel Applejack had called it.

“The music! The holy song!” Joshua cried as he shot to his feet, clasping his hands together, “The power of the Glorious Ones is rising in response to the Holy Song!”

Cromwell just stared as the loose magical spirals slowly entwined, forming a glowing, twirling double helix that stood taller than a man.

“I see, Joshua,” Cromwell said softly as he stepped out from behind the lectern, never once taking his eyes off the magical display, “This is a sign from the Angels.” Joshua shook his head slowly, eyes still glued to the helix as well, but Cromwell cut him off before he could speak, “I know we disagree on that matter, but that is besides the point. I think we can both agree on what this blessing is telling us.”

“To work together,” Joshua said slowly.

Cromwell nodded, “I have spoken to Sheriff Simms about acquiring the building once owned by that poor lost soul, in preparation for constructing a suitable dwelling place for their Divine Graces.” He finally tore his eyes away from the glowing spectacle, to look Joshua in the eyes, “I believe, in this matter, our aims are aligned.”

Joshua just nodded, his eyes still wet, “A shared aim, a shared purpose and a shared building.”

Cromwell smiled and held out a hand, which Joshua grasped firmly, “Come then my boy, we have a Temple to build.”

Deep underground, in the depths of a mountain fortress, two young women were busy poring over a set of blueprints. One had her long golden hair tied back into a tight ponytail, while the other let her shoulder-length blonde locks hang loose. Both were wearing long, white lab coats with a distinctive emblem on the shoulder, a circle of stars around a stylized E.

“What do you think, Becky?” the first asked softly.

“I don’t know, Tara. Do you really think he’ll go for it?”

“Oooohhh, I sure hope so,” Tara replied nervously.

Both women started as the door behind them opened with a sudden hiss, then snapped to salute as an older man stepped through.

“I’ve told you before you don’t have to salute me, girls,” the man chuckled as he closed the door behind him, “I’m not technically military.”

“Sorry, Doctor Turner.”

“Sorry Doc.”

Doctor Turner just waved away their apologies, “It’s fine, it’s fine. Have you finished the assignment you were given?”

“Oh! Yes sir!” Tara hurried over to a set of drawers and pulled out a set of papers and a small metal box, which she handed to the doctor, “Here, we’ve completed the designs for the Duraframe servos you asked for.”

“Excellent work! I’ll send these over to the air base today. Hopefully the rest of the research teams will be done within the month and we can finally start production on the Hellfire models.”

“We’ve also got these,” Becky handed him another sheet of designs, “It’s a schematic for an improved and extensive plasma relay that lines the frame. I know it’s not something we can add to the design at such a late stage but-”

“But we might be able to create a prototype for Sigma to test out,” Turner interrupted, “Nice work girls, I’m impressed.”

The two girls shared an excited look.

Turner raised an eyebrow at them, “I know that look.”

“What look?” Tara said, a little too innocently.

“That look. What else have you been up to?”

Tara couldn’t resist a grin as she gestured to the schematics she’d spent almost all of her spare time slaving over.

Turner sighed and rolled his eyes, but still meandered over to take a look. He studied the designs intently for a moment, before glancing up at Tara, “Is this… what I think it is?”

Tara could barely hold in her excitement, “It’s a design for a radiation scrubber! One that can scour any and all forms of ionizing radiation from the ground within a certain radius!”

“Amazing…” Turner breathed, “But this design isn’t complete.”

“Well, no. Not yet,” Tara admitted, “I’m still having trouble working out the power requirements and-”

“What will it take to complete it?” Turner asked in a resigned tone.

Tara smiled sheepishly at him, “Well… it would really help if I could take a look at a G.E.C.K?”

“As I thought,” Turner turned a pitying gaze on her, “I’m sorry, but we have neither a G.E.C.K module nor the resources to acquire one at this time.” He sighed as she slumped her shoulders in defeat, “Look, Tara. You’re a brilliant scientist and given time and resources I’m sure this is something you could achieve, but unfortunately those are just two of the things that we are severely lacking in.”

“I understand,” Tara said dejectedly as Becky gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder.

Turner gave her a small smile, “Come on now, chin up. I’m not the only one who believes you are a genius. The President does too.”

“The President?!” Tara and Becky gasped in unison.

“Yes indeed,” Turner chuckled, “In fact, he has requested you both personally for a particularly important assignment.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!” Tara cried.

Turner raised a finger, silencing the women instantly, “Yes, it is. However I must warn you that this assignment has been classified as Top Secret. The only personnel you are allowed to speak to about this are myself and President Eden himself, as well as any further staff who are attached to the project at a later date.”

“That sounds serious,” Becky said quietly.

Turner nodded. With a quick glance at the door to make sure it was still closed, he leaned close to the women and lowered his voice, “As you know, we have been monitoring the situation in the wasteland using our survey Eyebots.”

He waited for both women to nod before continuing, “A couple of days ago one of our Eyebots detected what we believed was a new strain of human mutation. However, less than an hour ago we intercepted a radio broadcast from a wastelander station which indicates that this may not be the case.”

“What do you mean?” Tara asked slowly.

“I’m sorry Sparkles, Sunny, but I can’t give you any details here,” Turner grinned as the women blushed at his use of their pet names for each other, “You are to report to President Eden in person today at nineteen hundred hours sharp. The codename for this assignment is Project Exodus.”

Chapter 22 - Hypovolemia

Sunset sighed as she made her way down the stairs towards the rear exit of Galaxy News Radio.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

Sunset glanced at her and tried to smile, “Yeah, I’m just… not really looking forward to this part.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Applejack agreed somberly. “But hey, at least Sentinel Lyons managed to scrounge this up for us!” she said brightly as she brandished her new bolt-action hunting rifle. It was the only weapon the girls had accepted from the Brotherhood’s stores, aside from a new pair of combat knives for Rainbow Dash.

Rarity and Pinkie were more comfortable with their magic, Fluttershy adamantly refused a weapon of any kind, and giving Twilight a gun would frankly have endangered the Rainbooms more than any opponent they faced. Sunset had decided to stick with her pistol rather than risk aggravating her ribs with a heavier weapon, even if it was running low on ammunition. If push came to shove, she could always just pilfer any weapons she found along the way.

Sunset glowered as the thought of scavenging crossed her mind. That had been part of the survival lesson the girls had received from Lyons after they given her a rundown of their magical abilities; to always loot anything useful you can find, even off the corpses of your enemies, so long as you can safely carry it. Essential to their survival though it may be, Sunset still didn’t relish the prospect of rummaging through the pockets of dead people.

“Ah, here it is!”

Sunset glanced up at the sound of Rarity’s voice. There, at the bottom of the stairs, waited the reinforced rear-exit of Galaxy News.

“Well, this is it. Y’all ready?” Applejack asked.

A few moments passed with no response.

Finally Sunset sighed and stepped forward, “Come on, let’s just get this over with.”

“Just be careful,” Twilight warned, “Three-Dog said there’s a big drop on the other side of this.”

Sunset nodded as she turned the handle and shoved the heavy door open, then gasped as she saw the aforementioned drop.

If the building had been intact, the girls would still be inside Galaxy News. As it was, the whole rear of the building had been blown away, leaving barely a meter of floor left on the other side of the door. Leaning over the edge, Sunset could see that each of the floors below had been destroyed as well, leaving a treacherous climb down several storeys until they reached the ground.

“Well that’s not good,” Rainbow commented, “Want me to fly down and see if it’s clear?”

Sunset nodded, “Good idea, but be careful.”

“Sure thing.”

With a quick flap of her wings Rainbow leapt into the air and banked around, soaring in lazy arcs as she scouted the floors below. As soon as she reached the ground she did one last sweep then shot back up towards the rest of the group.

“We’re good, but the floors below are pretty messed up. Looks like there’s a few places where you’ll have to jump down to the next level.”

Rarity gave one of her characteristic scoffs, “Oh please, darling. You’re forgetting who you’re with.” Stepping up to the edge, she swept one arm out in an elegant gesture and a series of gemstones materialized, glittering stepping stones that spiraled down all the way to the bottom, “Ta da!”

“Nice work, Rarity!” Pinkie said appreciatively.

“Yup, that saves us a bit of trouble,” Applejack added.

As Rainbow, Fluttershy and Twilight flew down under their own power, Sunset led the others down the makeshift stepping stones, keeping a hand on her pistol just in case. Sneaking a peek at the winged girls, Sunset was surprised to see that their pony-up transformation had even affected their backpacks, adjusting the straps and even altering the packs themselves so the girls could use their wings without difficulty.

Outside the remains of the building exterior, the path, or at least what passed for one, split in two. The left-hand way headed over a bridge to another metro entrance, while the right-hand way sloped steeply down and curved away out of sight behind piles of rubble.

“So which way now?” Rainbow asked as the others caught up.

“To the right,” Twilight replied, “That way should lead to an old car tunnel we need to go through.”

Making their way carefully down the hill, the girls rounded the corner and followed what was left of an ancient road strewn with the burnt out husks of cars and buses. It was lined on one side by a high wall and on the other by towering piles of debris. As they picked their way through the rubble Pinkie suddenly held a hand out, stopping them all.

“Hold on a second,” she whispered, peeking over the top of a car.

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“Feral ghoul, by the door over there.”

Peering ahead, Sunset saw that the road descended into a tunnel, but the entrance was entirely blocked by rubble save for a small pedestrian access door off to the side. Sure enough, a single feral ghoul was shambling around aimlessly next to it.

“Ah see it,” Applejack said quietly, raising her rifle.

A single gunshot rang out and the ghoul crumpled to the floor.

Rainbow nodded appreciatively, “Nice shot, AJ.”

Applejack didn’t respond as she lowered her rifle and led the way over to the fallen ghoul. The ghoul lay on it’s back, moaning feebly as blood dribbled from the neat little hole in its chest. Despite herself, Sunset couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. Another gunshot echoed off the walls as Applejack put the poor thing out of its misery, making each of the others flinch.

“Well, that’s that out of the way,” Applejack muttered.

“Whoa AJ, that was cold,” Rainbow said, giving her a half-impressed, half-worried look.

“It had to be done. You girls coming?”

Sunset nodded curtly, tearing her eyes away from the corpse, “Yeah. Rainbow? You and Applejack go in first, the rest of us will follow.”

“And remember girls, try and stay quiet. We want to see any trouble before it sees us,” Twilight added.

“Got it,” Rainbow replied as she stepped over to the door. She grasped the handle and glanced over her shoulder at Applejack, who readied her rifle and gave a quick nod. Quickly and quietly, Rainbow opened the door and stepped aside to let the farm girl lead the way.

The girls found themselves in a maintenance corridor lined with pipes. After only a few paces the corridor rounded a corner and abruptly opened up into a car tunnel.

The tunnel was devastated, shattered vehicles and mounds of rubble covering almost the entirety of the floor. Squinting in the dim light, Sunset could just make out the corridor on the other side of the tunnel that they needed to head for. Crouching low, the girls crept forward slowly, not willing to take any chances. Every now and again a low growl would echo through the tunnel and terrify the group, but, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the corridor without incident.

Moving forward as quietly as they could, the Rainbooms made their way carefully through a series of corridors, offices and tunnels, each of them utterly deserted, save for a couple of dead super mutants. After wrestling with her squeamishness, Sunset was more than a little annoyed that neither of the bodies had anything even mildly useful on them.

It wasn’t until the group finally entered the metro tunnels proper that they encountered something living.

Stepping out of a corridor and onto the tracks, the girls spotted a wall of sandbags and a wooden barricade in an adjacent tunnel, clearly an outpost or encampment of some kind. At first they thought it was just as abandoned as the rest of the metro so far, until they heard a gurgling cough from behind the barricade.

Each of the girls tensed up, ready for battle.

When nothing immediately jumped out and attacked, Rainbow silently drew her blades and crept forward. Sunset held her breath as the athlete peeked behind the barricade, then released it as she sheathed her blades again and straightened up, waving the others over.

“What is it?” Sunset whispered as she tip-toed over.

“See for yourself,” Rainbow whispered back.

Curious, Sunset poked her head behind the barricade, then gasped at what she saw.

A girl was asleep on a bed set up in the middle of the tracks, clutching an assault rifle to her chest. Her head was entirely shaved, and she was wearing little more than a ripped pair of shorts and a threadbare tank top. Even in the darkness Sunset could clearly make out the bloodstained bandage wrapped around her gut.

“Oh no, do you think she’s alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh, you do know she’s probably a raider, right?” Rainbow hissed.

“That doesn’t mean we can just leave her like this!”

The two quickly shut their mouths as the girl moaned and shifted, her eyes opening slowly. She blinked stupidly at the Rainbooms for a second, then yelped as her gun was snatched out of her grip by a purple aura.

“Easy! Easy,” Applejack said quietly, slinging her own rifle over her shoulder as the girl looked around fearfully, “We ain’t going to hurt you. Ah’m Applejack, what’s your name?”

Eyeing the group warily, the girl sat up slowly. Looking at her, Sunset realized the poor girl couldn’t be more than fourteen or fifteen, “Maddy. Name’s Maddy. What the fuck are you people?”

“How charming,” Rarity muttered sarcastically.

“You didn’t hear the radio broadcast?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her, “Uh, I don’t see a radio down here Sunshim.”

“Yeah, this isn’t exactly a fucking penthouse.” Maddy said scathingly.

Sunset opened her mouth to retort, then closed it when she couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Alright, that’s enough cussing missy,” Applejack cut in suddenly, “You okay Sunset? You’re looking mighty peaky.”

Sunset frowned, a little annoyed with herself for not coming up with a snappy comeback, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little sore. I’m going to sit over here for minute.” Suiting actions to words, she plonked herself down on the edge of the tracks. Ignoring the stab of pain that shot through her stomach, she slipped her pack off and dug around for another water bottle.

I can’t believe I need another drink already. Why am I so thirsty!?

Turning back to Maddy, Applejack gestured to the bandage around her gut, “So what happened to you?”

“And where’s the rest of your raider buddies?” Rainbow added with a frown.

Maddy threw Rainbow a filthy look, “This is just a scratch, nothing I can’t handle. And as for the rest of the crew, they…” her voice wavered as she stared defiantly at Rainbow. Finally she looked away, “They’re all dead.”

“Oh! You poor thing!” Fluttershy rushed forward and pulled the protesting young girl into a hug. Maddy struggled for a few moments, then gave in an just accepted the cuddle with a sigh.

“So what happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow don’t press the poor girl, she’s been through enough,” Rarity said chidingly.

“It’s fine,” Maddy huffed, glowering from under Fluttershy’s wings, “It’s all that vault asshole’s fault.”

Sunset glanced up at that, “You mean Adam?”

“How the fuck should I know his name?” Maddy shot, earning a reproachful look from Flutters. She rolled her eyes before continuing, “Fine I’ll stop swearing. Anyway, me and a couple of the others were down in one of the camps when this guy in a vault outfit comes out of nowhere and starts shooting up the place. All of the noise attracted the ferals, and he escaped in the confusion. I was the only one who made it back here.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy said quietly, squeezing Maddy a little tighter.

Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly, “I hate to say it but… you know… if they were raiders-”

“Then they deserved it?” Maddy spat, “Well those raiders were the only fuckers who would take me in after my parents were eaten by a fucking deathclaw, so watch your fucking mouth you mutant slut!”

“That’s ENOUGH!”

All of the girls turned to stare at Sunset in surprise.

“Look, we don’t have time to sit here and argue right and wrong. Fluttershy, can you help her sort that wound out properly?”

“O-of course.”

“Good. Give her a stimpak if you have to. And as for you,” Maddy couldn’t help but flinch as Sunset addressed her, “I can’t even begin to imagine whatever you’ve been through, but right now you have a chance to turn things around. Do you know the way to Galaxy News?”

Maddy looked uncertainly at her, “Uh, yeah?”

“Good. As soon as you feel up to it I want you to sneak out of here and find your way there.”

“But the Brotherhood of-”

“Won’t hurt you as long as you keep your gun away and your hands up,” Sunset continued firmly, “Tell them the Rainbooms sent you, and that you want to speak to Three-Dog. As long as you’re willing to help, then he’ll look after you.”

Maddy chewed her lip nervously as she thought it over, but finally she nodded.

“Are you sure it’s alright to just leave her alone?” Rarity asked in an undertone as Fluttershy went to work.

“Probably, I mean it’s got to be safer than following us around down here, right?” Sunset tried to stand back up, only to stumble as a wave of dizziness rushed over her.

“Whoa there!” Applejack grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her, “You okay there sugarcube?”

“Yeah… yeah… just stood up too quickly,” Sunset muttered, then hissed as another jolt of pain flashed through her gut, followed by a bigger wave of dizziness.

Dimly she realized that something was going very, very wrong.

“Fluttershy…?”

The room span as Sunset’s legs crumpled beneath her, Applejack barely managed to catch her before her head hit the tracks, “Hey! Wha- Fluttershy get over here!”

Fluttershy was at her side in a flash, “Quick, lay her down!”

As soon as Sunset was safely settled on the floor Flutters reached down and yanked up her dress.

“Fluttershy be careful of her modest… oh my…” Rarity trailed off as she saw Sunset’s exposed midriff.

The bruising had gotten even worse, and there was a noticeable swelling on the one side.

“Everyone give us some space!” The rest of the group backed away as Twilight darted forward, dropping to her knees next to Fluttershy.

“No… oh no…. no no no…” Ignoring Sunset’s pained moan, Fluttershy ran her hands over the swelling, her face growing steadily paler as she inspected it. With a sudden movement she pulled a stimpak from her nursing kit and slid it into Sunset’s arm. As soon as it was empty she withdrew it and turned back to her kit, rummaging around for something else.

Sunset sighed with relief as the stimpak took the edge off the ever-increasing stabbing pains in her gut. The relief was short-lived as she saw Fluttershy pull a blood pack out of her kit, check the blood type, and carefully slide the needle into her arm.

“What’s going on, what’s with the blood?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s haemorrhaging,” Twilight breathed.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, “She what now?”

Twilight just shook her head, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob.

Sunset felt a chill run through her as the others shared a worried look.

Oh no, please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it does.

Fluttershy’s voice shook as she spoke. “We… we have to get moving. We need to get to Rivet City as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? There’s no way Sunset’s up to that journey right now,” Applejack replied slowly, “Shouldn’t we rest here for a bit to let her get her stren-”

“We don’t have that kind of TIME!” Fluttershy snapped, “Her kidney contusion has gotten worse and now something has ruptured. She’s bleeding internally.”

The others stared in shock as Fluttershy lost her composure, tears streaming silently down her face as her whole body shook.

Sunset felt cold terror grip her at Fluttershy’s words. She didn’t have much medical knowledge, but she knew enough to know exactly how much trouble she was in right now.

Her eyes burned as she glanced helplessly up at Twilight.

“I’m dying, aren’t I?”

Chapter 23 - Fading Sunset

If there was one thing that Twilight Sparkle was proud of, it was her intellect. Her agile mind and intense curiosity had always been her greatest assets, equaled by few, beaten by none.

They had also lead her to her greatest failure.

Midnight Sparkle.

Even the mere thought of the monstrosity she had become was enough to send a shiver down Twilight’s spine.

But it was through that failure that Twilight had encountered what had swiftly become one of the most important parts of her life. Her friends.

While they admired and respected her intelligence it wasn’t what made her important to them. It was Twilight that they valued, and she in turn valued them more than anything save for her family. They had taught her the magic of friendship, and that sometimes, just sometimes, there were occasions where she should listen to her heart and not her head.

So when Sunset Shimmer had made a difficult request of her, back in the Megaton clinic, Twilight had listened. Despite every iota of her vast intellect screaming at her to refuse, that it would only end badly, both she and Fluttershy had accepted Sunset’s request. After all Sunset’s own intelligence was not inconsiderable, she had far more experience both with friendship and, thanks to her chequered past, physical confrontation.

Now, looking down at Sunset’s battered form, Twilight realized that not listening to her intellect had led her to another colossal failure.

She just hoped her friend wouldn’t have to pay the ultimate price for this mistake.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sunset!”

Twilight was snapped back to her senses by the sound of Applejack’s reproach.

“Come on now, ah’m sure it’s mighty unpleasant, but you’re just being dramatic. There’s no way you’re dying, right girls?” Applejack looked unsurely from Twilight to Fluttershy, “Uh…. Right?”

“Unless we can get her to a competent surgeon in time then…” Twilight trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

The girls stood in horrified silence as the awful truth sank in.

Rarity was the first to stir, turning and shrieking at the others, “Well don’t just stand there! Rainbow, grab Sunset and get her to Rivet City this instant!”

“Right!”

Twilight grabbed Rainbow’s arm before she could dart off, “No! Wait! It’s too dangerous!”

“How can it be too dangerous!?” Rainbow shot back, “You said it yourself, Sunset’s going to die if we don’t hurry!”

“You won’t make it on your own.”

The girls turned at the sound of Maddy’s voice.

“Oh yeah? What do you know?” Rainbow spat.

Maddy snorted at her, “Your little asshole of a friend managed to get the attention of almost every goddamned feral down here. If you try to get through that mess on your own, you’re fucked. Especially the far camp, that was fucking swamped.” She shook her head and glanced over at Fluttershy, “Besides, I switched the turrets back on in the cavern ahead. You’ll have to switch them off at the terminal if you want to get past.”

“Turrets?” Rarity asked worriedly.

“If there’s a terminal, I can deactivate them,” Twilight said quickly, “Thanks, Maddy!”

Maddy just huffed and looked away, though a small blush colored her cheeks, “Yeah, well, you helped me, now I helped you. We’re even. Just try not to get killed down there.”

“Yeah yeah, thanks for the info squirt, now come on and let’s go already!” Rainbow cried.

Applejack nodded at that, “Alright, in that case ah’ll carry Sunset until we’re past the turrets, then we’ll see how bad the ghoul situation is. Sound good?”

The others agreed quickly. Suiting actions to words, Applejack knelt down and hefted Sunset easily in a princess carry, eliciting a pained hiss despite how careful she tried to be.

“Sorry about that sugarcube.”

“It’s fine,” Sunset replied. She sighed heavily as Fluttershy, “I’m sorry girls, this is-”

“Don’t you start worrying about us now, you just rest and save your strength,” Applejack said firmly as she let Fluttershy pin the blood pack to her shirt, to keep it elevated as they moved.

As soon as that was done the girls set off, leaving Maddy behind. Rainbow took the lead as the group entered another maintenance corridor, rushing ahead recklessly while the rest of the girls stayed behind Applejack, who herself was moving as quickly as she could without dislodging the blood pack.

Hurrying through a series of corridors, Twilight couldn’t repress a shiver as they came across a pair of dead raiders. Both of their throats had been slashed.

“This is insane,” Rarity muttered.

“This whole world is crazy,” Sunset hissed as Applejack stepped carefully over the corpses.

“Hey, hurry it up!” Rainbow called from up ahead.

As the girls emerged from the corridor into a small office space, Twilight’s attention was immediately drawn to the bulky computer terminal sat next to a door. She assumed it was the one Maddy had mentioned, that controlled a set of turrets. Before she got a chance to take a closer look, however, Rainbow yanked the door open and rushed out onto a metal walkway, overlooking a rocky cavern.

Twilight’s heart leapt into her mouth as she realized what was about to happen.

“RAINBOW LOOK OUT!” Pinkie screamed.

“Huh, WHOA!”

There was a clatter of gunfire and a blur as Rainbow dove aside, barely avoiding the streams of bullets that tore apart the walkway where she had been standing a split-second before.

The rest of the girls scurried for cover as Twilight darted to the terminal, Rainbow’s terrified yells barely audible over the roar of the turrets. After a few seconds of rapidly typing commands the turrets deactivated, leaving a ringing silence in their wake.

The girls peeked warily out of their hiding places, then Fluttershy scrambled frantically for the door.

“Rainbow!?”

“I’m okay!”

Twilight stuck her head around the door to see Rainbow flapping slowly up towards them, a sheepish look on her face. She barely had time to land before Fluttershy flung her arms around her neck.

“Whoa, take it easy Flutters,” Rainbow said quietly, though she smiled as she said it, “I’m okay.”

“But you very nearly weren’t,” Applejack growled as she stepped out from behind a cabinet, still clutching Sunset, “What the heck were you thinking?”

Rainbow glowered as she extricated herself from Fluttershy, “I was trying to hurry. Y’know, so we can get Sunset to a doctor as soon as possible?”

“Fat lot of good it did, you nearly got yourself killed!”

“Girls! We don’t have time for this!” Rarity interjected before it devolved into an argument. A pained moan from Sunset served to punctuate her statement.

Applejack looked down at her worriedly, “Er, right. Let’s get moving.”

Rainbow nodded vigorously, “Good idea, just be careful out here on the walkway. It’s… uh… not safe.”

Following her out onto the walkway, the girls saw exactly what she meant. It was well built, if a little patchwork, winding down and around until it reached the floor of the cavern. The problem was that it had also clearly been the site of a terrible battle. The bodies of dead raiders were sprawled haphazardly across it and it had been shredded in several places by recent heavy gunfire.

Deciding against navigating such a treacherous route, Rarity conjured a glittering series of gemstones to use as stepping stones to the ground. Rainbow, Fluttershy and Twilight took to the air, flying alongside the others as they descended.

Once they reached the bottom the Rainbooms hurried onward, making their way into a rocky tunnel that dripped with condensation, with several inches of stagnant water covering the floor. A metal walkway rose slightly above the murk, but it was coated with slime and filth, forcing the girls to tread carefully.

“There’s one thing I don’t get,” Pinkie said suddenly, “Isn’t Sunset’s contusion basically just a bruise, but on the inside?”

Twilight nodded, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings in case a feral ghoul or something worse was lurking in the shadows, “It’s a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes.”

“But isn’t a bruise just bleeding on the inside anyway? How come it’s gotten so bad all of a sudden?”

“It’s not that simple. A kidney contusion is a very serious condition that can deteriorate rapidly without the proper precautions.”

“Hold up, you never told us that!” Rainbow cried suddenly.

Twilight snapped her mouth shut. She risked a glance at Sunset, only to see her face-palming in Applejack’s arms.

Applejack herself was glaring angrily at Twilight and Fluttershy, “If it’s so serious then why the heck didn’t we just stay put in Megaton until it was healed!?”

“What possible reason could you have for not telling us?” Rarity asked.

Twilight shared an awkward look with Fluttershy, “Um… well… you see…”

“I asked them not to tell you.”

The girls all stared in shock at Sunset’s admission.

“I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I didn’t see any other choice.”

“No other choice?!” Rarity asked incredulously.

Sunset sighed heavily, “We’ve been in this world over a month already and we still have no idea of how to get home. James is our only shot at getting back, the longer we take finding him the more chance there is that something terrible will happen and we’ll be stuck here.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Uh, hello? James used to live out here in the wasteland! He knows how to survive out here.”

“To be fair, he has spent the last twenty years living peacefully in a vault,” Pinkie added reasonably.

“That’s still no reason to go risking yourself like that!” Applejack said sternly, “Ah know you want to get home, we all do. But why are you being so desperate about it?”

Sunset bit her lip and looked away, eyes brimming with tears, “You girls have families waiting for you. I just… I couldn’t…”

Twilight’s heart clenched as she watched Sunset start sobbing quietly, “We told her not to worry about it, but… well… you know how she gets,” The others nodded sagely at that, “Besides, James is a brilliant doctor so we figured that if we could keep an eye on her injury until we found him, then he could fix her up.”

“And that’s why you agreed to keep it quiet,” Rarity muttered, on the verge of tears herself, “Damn it, Sunset. Of all the stubborn, stupid, selfless little stunts you could have pulled…”

Applejack sighed as she looked down at her charge, “Alright now, settle down sugarcube. Ah may not agree with what you did but ah get why you did it. So come on now, stop worrying and just focus on saving your strength, alright?”

The Rainbooms fell into silence after that, traversing the walkway with as much haste as they could safely muster.

Fortunately the tunnel came to an end after only a few twists and turns, the walkway itself leading up to a heavy, reinforced utility door.

“Finally!” Rainbow huffed, roughly smacking the button. The door slid noisily into the ground, revealing a concrete maintenance tunnel with a small barricade of sandbags and breeze blocks a few feet in. Each of the girls tensed as the Geiger counters on their Pip-Boys immediately started ticking.

Five feral ghouls were clustered around the barricade, their heads snapping around at the sound of the door opening. One of them glowed brightly with a vivid yellow-green hue. The moment they spotted the girls they snarled and hurled themselves at the group.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rarity spat, thrusting an arm forward and conjuring a huge gemstone that shot forward and slammed into the charging beasts, knocking them flat.

A moment later Rainbow was among them, her blades licking out to open their throats with puffs of arterial spray. The glowing one was the last to feel the bite of Dash’s knife as it tried to rise, tainted yellow blood spilling from the gash on its neck.

“Yeah, that just happened,” Rainbow said smugly, flicking the blood off her knives, “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Twilight shook her head, watching the ghouls with mounting horror, “Uh… Rainbow?”

“What? Oh.”

The ghouls were still moving, albeit feebly. The glowing one, however, was already clambering back to its feet, the wound in its neck bleeding far less than such a deep cut should.

“What the he-”

With a crackling buzz the glowing one’s skin suddenly flared, giving off a pulse of yellow light that made the girls’ Geiger counters spike like crazy. Worse, it seemed to reinvigorate the other ghouls, their bleeding slowing and their movements becoming more energetic as they struggled to rise.

“Aw crap,” Rainbow skipped away as the glowing one charged at her, slashing madly as she tried to fend off its furious assault.

“Twilight, take Sunset for me!” Applejack snapped as the remaining ghouls clambered to their feet.

“No. I’ve got this,” Pinkie said suddenly as she strode forward, reaching up to grab one of her curls and give it a sharp tug.

With a little ching a revolver sprang into the air from the depths of her locks. The first ghoul was almost to its feet when Pinkie caught the gun, pressing it to the beast’s head and pulling the trigger. Quick as a flash Pinkie spun and did the same to the next one, before diving forward into a commando roll. As she rolled to her feet she brought her gun around, blasting the last two ordinary ghouls in the head in one smooth motion.

Twilight could only gape as the ghouls all crumpled to the floor.

A moment later Rainbow managed to find an opening against the glowing one, jamming her knives one after the other into it’s skull then booting it in the gut, ripping the blades free as it fell backwards.

“Let’s see you get back up from that!” Rainbow spat, then turned to raise an eyebrow at the rest of the fallen ghouls, “Whoa. Nice work, Pinkie.”

Pinkie shrugged, her hair deflating slightly, “Let’s just get out of here.”

The others shared a worried look before doing as she suggested, Rainbow once again taking the lead. Everything else aside, Twilight was particularly happy that their radiation counters slowly went quiet the further they got from the ghouls.

Applejack fell into step alongside Pinkie as the group moved swiftly through the tunnel and into another maintenance corridor, “Hey sugarcube, you okay?”

Pinkie just sighed and shook her head slightly, “I don’t… I don’t like all this killing.”

“Me neither, Pinkie. Me neither,” Applejack replied softly, “If, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get the gun?”

“From the raider Sunset shot,” Pinkie said flatly, then shot her an apologetic look, “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, Pinkie,” Sunset slurred.

“I’ve only got one bullet left for it anyway, you mind if I borrow yours?”

“If you’re alright with it then you certainly should darling. Sunset certainly isn’t in any position to… oh my… ” Rarity trailed off as she emerged from the corridor into a large storage room. Stepping out behind her, Twilight quickly saw why.

Bodies were strewn everywhere. It was clear from the layout of the corpses that several raiders had attempted a doomed last stand against a mob of feral ghouls. A couple of living ones still crouched amongst the carnage, messily gorging on raider remains. There was a sudden blur of motion, then their corpses joined those of their brethren on the metal floor.

“So much easier without one of those glowy things around,” Rainbow muttered, wiping her blades with a rag torn from a dead ghoul.

“Um, one moment please,” Fluttershy called as the group made to move off. With practiced ease she quickly swapped Sunset’s drained blood pack for a fresh one, then gave her a stimpak for good measure.

“How many more of those packs do we have?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy grimaced, eyeing Sunset with concern, “No more of her type.”

Applejack nodded grimly, “Then we need to move fast. It’s near enough a straight shoot south from here, let’s just try not to get bogged down by any more big groups of ghouls.”

Proceeding once again, the group hurried through a series of maintenance corridors, metro tunnels and raider encampments of various sizes. They moved as quickly as they could, aided in that endeavor by the fact that the only living things they encountered were feral ghouls, and then only in small groups that were easily dispatched by Pinkie, Rarity and Rainbow. Thankfully they didn’t run into any more glowing ones.

The only point at which the group slowed down was as they passed through the Metro Central Station. A large mob of ferals lurked up on the mezzanine, forcing the girls to creep along underneath while Rainbow near-silently dispatched the few stragglers on the bottom floor.

Unfortunately, while their pace allowed the Rainbooms to cover a considerable distance in a fairly short space of time, it was not without its drawbacks.

Neither Twilight nor Fluttershy had the stamina to maintain such a drawn out jog for any real distance, even with the extra energy provided by their ponied-up forms. The spikes in adrenaline they got every time they ran across a ghoul were of dubious aid, lending them a short-term boost but leaving them even more drained afterwards.

Eventually the two were forcing themselves onward through sheer force of will, the others helping them up when they stumbled.

Still, despite everything, none of the girls were willing to stop and take even a short rest. Both knew better than anyone just how little time they had to get Sunset to real medical aid.

Given their determination Twilight was more than a little surprised when, as the group emerged from a metro tunnel, the rest of the girls skidded to a stop in front of her.

Just before she hunched over, gasping for breath, Twilight had a brief glimpse of another metro station, fairly packed with ruined subway cars, huge mounds of rubble and the remains of a raider camp beneath a crumbling mezzanine.

This must be Museum Station. We’re almost there.

“Oh shit!”

Snapped from her brief respite by Rainbow’s foul mouth, Twilight looked up to see what was wrong.

Her blood ran cold at what she saw.

Feral ghouls. Dozens of them. All looking directly at the girls. Dotted among the masses Twilight could make out the luminous forms of at least three glowing ones.

“Guess Maddy was right about the ghouls…” Pinkie muttered.

With a collective snarl that reverberated throughout the station, the horde threw itself at the girls.

“Everyone up on that train! Now!” Applejack yelled, jerking her head at the nearest subway car. She gave a grateful nod as Twilight scooped Sunset up in her magic before taking flight herself.

Rarity paused just long enough to send a pair of huge gems smashing into the ghouls, knocking several of down and tripping the ones behind, before scrambling on top of the train with the others.

As soon as they were up Pinkie and Applejack started firing indiscriminately into the oncoming horde. Rarity swiftly added her magic to the fusillade, launching heavy gemstones at the nearest ferals.

Several ghouls fell, but not all of them stayed down, especially those in the proximity of the glowing ones. A few even managed to make it to the train, claws scrabbling for purchase before they were either shot or battered by a gemstone.

Twilight gently set Sunset down, Fluttershy instantly there to tend to her, then turned back to see what she could contribute to the battle, placing herself between the ghouls and the nurse. She was loathe to use her magic to actually attack a living creature, even ones as foul as feral ghouls or super mutants, but they were out of options and nearly out of time.

Swallowing her reluctance, Twilight hefted a chunk of masonry in her magic and threw it in the general direction of one of the glowing ones. She tried not to wince at the sickening crunch that followed.

Searching for another suitable projectile, Twilight’s heart sank as she spotted even more ghouls, a handful of them glowing ominously, charging in from different tunnels. Some even threw themselves off the mezzanine in their frenzied desire to maul the girls.

Twilight’s thoughts were suddenly knocked off kilter by an explosion that tore a hole in the middle of the horde. Blinking furiously, she watched Rainbow reach into her pack and produce another grenade, rip out the pin and lob it down into the ghouls.

Oh, right. I forgot she had those.

Snapping back to her senses, Twilight hurriedly grabbed a heavy piece of debris and flung it, smashing an advancing ghoul in the face. Gritting her teeth, she settled herself into a rhythm, grasping whatever she could in her magic and slamming it into the nearest monster.

More and more of the ghouls were reaching the train, forcing Rainbow to abandon her grenade barrage in favor of hacking away at those that tried to clamber up. Applejack helped as much as she could in that regard, kicking and stomping on anything that got close enough and shooting anything that didn’t. Unable to see the floor through the press, Twilight panicked and resorted to tossing the ghouls themselves, grabbing one at a time and hurling them at the walls and other train cars with bone-shattering force. Rarity had switched tactics too, instead of simply hurling chunky gemstones she was manifesting large, flat, sharp-edged ones, spinning them in circles and mowing down the ghouls like a scythe through wheat.

Dangerous as their predicament was it only became more so when the guns ran out of ammunition. Applejack cast her empty rifle aside and settled for using her fists, punching the ghouls with such force that they exploded in a welter of gore. Pinkie snatched up the discarded rifle and used it to bludgeon anything that got in range.

“If anyone’s got any ideas on how to get out of this, now’s the time for it!” Applejack shouted, launching a glowing one across the room with a solid shove.

Twilight tried to glance around, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a solution. The flow of ghoul reinforcements into the station had become a trickle, but the train they were stood on was still an island in a sea of rotten flesh. She did have one idea, but it would be a tremendous risk.

“Twilight!”

Twilight flinched and spun around, dropping the ghoul she was levitating.

Sunset was barely conscious, her eyes rolling. She was dripping with sweat and her breathing was quick and shallow. Twilight gasped and dropped next to her, hand flying to Sunset’s neck to check her pulse. It was faint, but extremely rapid. That was not a good sign.

“Look out!” Twilight glanced around just in time to see Applejack pulverize a ghoul that had managed to haul itself onto the train behind her, “What’s wrong? Is Sunset okay?”

“She’s going into shock!” Fluttershy cried.

Applejack bared her teeth and booted away another ghoul that was dragging itself up, “How long do we have?”

“Um… I don’t…”

“Not long enough,” Twilight replied. Deciding it was now or never, she called out, “Rarity! Get ready to make a bridge to the exit tunnel for us! Everyone else, keep those things off me for a minute, and get ready to run!”

“What are you going to do?” Fluttershy asked.

“Something stupid,” Twilight fervently hoped the station’s ceiling was more stable than it looked as her gaze settled on a nearby subway car. Reaching out her arms, the train was surrounded by a purple aura as she gripped it in her magic. Twilight was already exhausted, and the subway car was easily one of the heaviest things she had ever levitated, but desperation gave her strength. Giving herself over to her magic entirely, there was a rumble of dislodged rubble as the car slowly rose into the air. The metal flexed in her grip as she dragged it painstakingly closer.

As soon as it was positioned correctly, Twilight dropped it.

The subway car crashed to the floor barely two feet from the Rainbooms’ own, flattening most of the remaining ghouls with a resounding boom that shook the whole station.

Twilight herself collapsed from exhaustion a moment later, Rainbow barely catching her before she toppled off the train. Her heart pounding, Twilight could only watch in horror as the cracks in the already-damaged roof started to grow, chunks of concrete slipping loose and smashing apart on the ground below.

“Now, Rarity!” Pinkie screamed.

Smacking away a surviving ghoul, Rarity thrust out her arms and conjured a glittering walkway that stretched and curved from the train towards the tunnel the girls needed to follow.

The girls all belted for it, Rainbow scooping up Twilight as Applejack grabbed Sunset.

Larger parts of the ceiling started dropping as the group fled, crushing everything unlucky enough to end up underneath. Twilight closed her eyes, unable to watch the devastation she had unleashed. She kept her eyes closed as the crashing and rumbling slowly faded away behind them, replaced with the sound of ragged breathing and hurried footsteps.

The Rainbooms kept running through what Twilight guessed was the tunnels. Every now and again she heard a minor scuffle as they came across a lone ghoul or two, but thankfully they didn’t run into any more groups of them.

Her mind whirling with everything that had happened, Twilight was just managing to get her breathing under control when the silence was broken.

“Ana… stasia… Crossing… this is it!” Rarity panted.

Twilight opened her eyes at that. They were in another station, one in considerably better condition that the last couple they had been through and thankfully free of any ghouls.

Relief shot through her as she realized this was where the exit to Rivet City was. Said relief was soured slightly as she looked around at her friends.

Blood was dripping down Rarity’s arm, a sure sign that she’d reopened her wound. Pinkie was struggling to support Fluttershy as she ran, both of them glassy-eyed and weary. Applejack's chest was heaving and even Rainbow was flagging, their incredible stamina drained by the desperate battle and flight.

“Rainbow, put me down. I can walk,” Twilight said as the others started making their way up the escalators.

“You sure?” Rainbow asked.

“I’m sure.”

Rainbow just nodded and set her down. Twilight stumbled a little, but she waved off Rainbow’s hand and forced herself into a jog up the stairs. Sparing a quick glance around as she reached the top she spotted the remains of another raider camp, with several of the former occupants laying in pools of blood.

I never thought I’d be glad to see dead bodies, what in Tartarus is wrong with me?

“Come on… the exit’s around here!” Applejack called as she led the way into the exit corridor, “We're almost there!”

The girls put their all into it, running as fast as they could manage.

Just as they rounded the corner a voice rang, bringing them all to a halt.

“Hold it right there!”

Three men were standing in front of the exit, daylight streaming in past them. They were each dressed in some sort of customized combat armor, painted entirely black save for a stylized white eagle claw over their left breast. Each of them was also carrying an assault rifle, which they kept pointed squarely at the Rainbooms.

“I thought I heard something,” the one in the middle said slowly, “What the fuck do we have here?”

“We don’t want any trouble,” Applejack said quickly, “We just want to get to Rivet City. Our friend is hurt, badly.”

The man who’d spoken grinned maliciously, “Yeah, looks like she’s fucked. Still, what’s one less mutant in the world, eh?”

As the other two chuckled at their leader’s sick comment something ugly reared it’s head in Twilight’s mind, something she had only felt once before.

She didn’t know who these people were, or what they wanted.

All she knew was that they were in her way.

“Move. Now. Or else.”

The leader raised an eyebrow, his smile vanishing, “Oh? Looks like we got a mouthy one here. Why don’t we show this bitch what we do with mutant freaks who-”

Twilight didn’t give him a chance to finish. With a swift grasping motion she gripped the three men in her magic and slammed them into the wall. With another motion she grabbed their guns and pulled them out of their grasp, casually tossing them behind her.

The men slumped to the floor in a daze. The leader shook his head to clear it and reached for his sidearm, but Twilight gripped his arm before he could draw it. The poor fool screamed as she rolled her hand, snapping his elbow with a sharp twist.

“You fucking freak!” he spat, his face drawn with agony, “You just fucked with the wrong-”

The leader choked as Twilight’s magic wrapped around his throat, squeezing tightly.

“Twilight?”

Twilight snapped to her senses with a jolt. Releasing the magic, she turned to the others, a terrible sense of shame and guilt welling up inside her, “I… I don’t… I didn’t mean to…”

“It doesn’t matter, lets go!” Applejack huffed, charging off without even glancing at the fallen men.

The rest of the girls hurried after her, shoving their way through the gate, up the last set of steps and finally out into clean, fresh air and blinding sunlight.

“Whoa,” Rainbow said quietly once her eyes had adjusted.

Twilight couldn’t blame her. The path ended a short distance ahead, dropping down into ocean waters. Beyond that there rose a colossal aircraft carrier, towering over the girls and stretching out to an incredible length. Even the fact that it’s bow seemed to have snapped off at some point couldn’t detract from the imposing majesty of the huge war engine.

They had found Rivet City at last.

Not slowing their pace, the girls kept charging forward, towards a squat metal structure that, according to Sentinel Lyons, functioned as a boarding platform for the ship.

Twilight and Rainbow both took to the air, flying up to the top. Twilight turned back and reached out to grab Sunset in her magic. Before she could do so Applejack’s Geode flashed, the ground cracking beneath her feet as she jumped, landing on top of the platform with a grunt.

Right… super strength.

Turning back to the city, Twilight wondered just how exactly they were supposed to get there. She could see several men on the ship leveling weapons in their direction, but there didn’t seem to be any way of crossing the water.

Just as she was considering flying Sunset over a nearby intercom crackled to life.

“Don’t shoot yet just- Who are you? What’s your business with Rivet City?”

“We’re the Rainbooms!” Rainbow called out, “Our friend is dying, we need a doctor! Quick!”

“The Rainbooms? You mean Three-Dog was… Shit! Extend the bridge! Someone go get Doctors Li, Preston and Kaplinski and have them meet me in the clinic, we’ve got an emergency patient coming in! Hold on, we’re extending the bridge now!”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief as a metal bridge extended from the ship and swiveled around towards the boarding platform.

Applejack sighed and started forward, looking down at Sunset, “You hear that sugarcube, you’re going to be alright, just hold on a little longer. Uh… Sunset?” She frowned and tilted her head down to Sunset’s, “Girls, she ain’t breathing!”

Chapter 24 - Lurking Evils

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Chapter 26 - Pinkie's Lament

Author's Note

Another chapter here for you!

A brief word of caution, this chapter touches on some rather dark subject material. This is the only chapter where this particular topic will be a focus, and the next chapter is going to be far more lighthearted, but I know this can be a difficult subject for some, and didn't want my loyal readers to blunder into it without a little warning.

If the matters addressed in this chapter do strike a little close to home, just know that you are not alone. There are people who can help, and they are not too hard to find, no matter where or who you are.

After an A/N like this, I kinda feel odd saying enjoy the chapter but, well, here we go.

Comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 26 - Pinkie's Lament

The sky was heavily overcast. Dark and brooding clouds covered the sky as far as the eye could see.

Pinkie couldn’t help but wonder if the weather was somehow reflecting her mood.

She was standing on the highest point in Rivet City, leaning on the railings of a little observation deck that afforded what should have been a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape. The devastated ruins of D.C spread out below her as far as the eye could see. Rubble-choked streets ran between skeletal buildings, the battered old aircraft carrier that was Rivet City towering above it all.

To Pinkie, it just looked like a desolate hell-hole. The shattered remains of a broken world.

Peeking over the edge of the railings, she could just make out the line of the Potomac River directly below. What the girls’ first assumed to be an ocean harbor had actually turned out to be just a filthy, polluted river that wound it’s way through the old capital city.

Pinkie sighed and looked away from the water. Ever since the mad scramble to get Sunset to Rivet City she’d felt… off. Not herself. As if a dark cloud had ensconced itself in her mind, dampening her thoughts and smothering any little spark of happiness she felt before it could properly shine.

Ever since the rush to the city. Ever since she’d killed those ghouls.

Pinkie nearly jumped out of her skin as the door opened behind her.

She whipped her head around just as a lined old man shuffled through the door and onto the deck. He was almost entirely bald, with only wisps of black hair and a bushy black beard framing his heavily wrinkled face. He closed the door quietly, then gave a start as he spotted Pinkie, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s okay. I was just… thinking, I guess,” Pinkie replied, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“I understand. Well, I don’t want to bother you. I’ll… uh… I’ll just go.”

“You don’t have to. There’s more than enough room up here for two of us,” Pinkie said quickly as he turned to leave, “I’m Pinkie Pie. What’s your name?”

“Me? I’m Mister Lopez,” Lopez hesitated for a moment, then glanced over at her, “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You won’t be,” Pinkie replied quietly, “Actually, I could probably use the company.”

Lopez sighed and shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I’m not really any good at conversation these days.”

Pinkie smiled sadly, recognizing the haunted look in his eyes, “That’s okay. Sometimes it’s nice just to share some quiet time.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Lopez turned from the door and wandered over to Pinkie’s side, the two of them leaning on the railings and looking out over the ruins.

The pair stayed that way for some time, silently watching the world go by. At one point Pinkie spotted a small group of people emerging onto Rivet City’s boarding platform far below. Dressed entirely in black, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were connected with the thugs that had accosted the Rainbooms down in the metro system. One of them seemed to be having a heated exchange over the intercom with the city’s security guards who, for whatever reason, weren’t extending the bridge to allow the group entry.

Eventually the group gave up and turned to leave, making some very rude gestures to the security team guarding the bridge controls as they went. Pinkie slowly let out a breath she hardly realized she’d been holding as the last of the people disappeared from view. She wasn’t really sure why but she was glad that, whoever those people were, they weren’t allowed in Rivet City.

“So… I… uh…”

Pinkie looked up to see Lopez glancing at her, “What’s up?”

Lopez shifted uncomfortably, “Is it true what people are saying, that you girls are from another world?” His eye’s widened slightly as Pinkie nodded, “Wow, that sure is something.”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Pinkie muttered, turning her head away.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset you.” Lopez said nervously.

“No it-it’s okay. It’s just…” Pinkie hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say. “It’s hard, you know?”

Lopez sighed heavily, “Yeah. I know.”

Something about his tone sent a shiver down Pinkie’s spine. Glancing sidelong at him, she saw shame, regret and self-loathing clouding his features.

It was an expression that Pinkie recognized instantly. One she’d worn herself more than once over the last week. She shivered again as she came to a dark conclusion.

“You didn’t come up here just to admire the view, did you?”

Lopez’ eyes darted around nervously as he tried to stammer out a reply, but a glance at the look on Pinkie’s face had him closing his mouth. With a sigh he turned and looked over the railings, staring into the murky waters below.

“I come up here every day,” Lopez’s voice was scarcely more than a whisper. He jerked his head towards a section of the deck where the railings had been broken off, “I stand over there and see if I can work up the nerve to…”

“… to jump,” Pinkie finished softly. Lopez just nodded.

The two fell silent after that. There was a low groan of metal from the ship, as if Rivet City itself was picking up on their somber mood.

“A couple of days ago, I thought about jumping too.”

Lopez whipped his head around, stunned by Pinkie’s frank admission.

Pinkie took a deep breath to steady herself before explaining, “Ever since we left the vault, we’ve had to fight. Random nutcases, angry crab monsters, raiders, those I could deal with. Even when it came to the super mutants and I had to kill something myself I-I could handle that. I didn’t like it… but I could handle it.” Pinkie swallowed reflexively, “But then we found those ghouls.”

Lopez was listening intently, hanging on every word.

“I felt kinda bad when I killed the super mutant but… it was a monster, and it was trying to kill my friends. It had to be done. The little groups of feral ghouls we fought afterwards? That was harder.”

Tears were streaming down Pinkie’s face as she spoke. Each memory was more painful than the last, but she didn’t think she could stop talking even if she wanted to.

“It’s not right. Those ghouls they… they used to be people. Just ordinary people. What’s happened to them isn’t their fault, they can’t control themselves… and I killed them anyway…”

Lopez clasped her shoulder and spoke softly, trying to reassure her, “Hey, it’s alright. Those feral ghouls… there’s nothing you can do for them.”

Pinkie just nodded, “I know. I know that there’s no cure, that the best we can do is put them out of their misery. That’s what I kept telling myself. That’s how I managed to keep moving forward, fighting when I had to, to protect my friends. But when we ran into the horde…”

She shivered and drew her arms around herself, “There were so many of them. So many people who had suffered, who were still suffering. Every time I killed one of them… it felt like I was losing a little piece of myself. Then after all of that there were the issues with Sunset’s surgery and… and then she didn’t wake up I just… it was just too much.”

Pinkie drew in a shuddering breath, trying to keep her emotions in check as she haltingly explained everything that had happened since.

At first, she’d struggled to keep up a positive front for the sake of the others. Each of them had been dealing with what had happened in their own way and Pinkie was adamant that she wouldn’t be an additional burden on them. She’d done everything she could think of to try and keep everyone’s spirits up, to keep them from dropping into despair, but the strain of keeping up the façade had been more than she could handle.

Overhearing the doctors talking, suggesting that Sunset might never wake up, had been the last straw.

Barely a few minutes after hearing that, Pinkie was up on the observation deck.

Family, friends and bringing joy to others. Those were the three main things that she lived for.

Coming to this world had ripped her from her family. Her closest friends were suffering or on the brink of death. And ever since the slaughter of those ghouls, some of them had been small enough that they might have been children when they changed, joy was something Pinkie no longer believed she could feel, or even deserved to feel.

Standing right on the very edge of the deck, where the railings were missing, there had been nothing between Pinkie and the drop. All it would have taken was a slight shift in her balance and she would have fallen, smashing into one of the lower decks or dashing herself on the rocks rising up from the depths of the river below.

How long she’d been balancing there for, teetering on the edge and wondering whether or not to take that final step, Pinkie honestly couldn’t say. In the end, it was only the thought of her friends that had pulled her back from the brink. They were suffering enough as it was, no matter how hard things were, she couldn’t bring herself to torture them in that way.

When she finally stepped back from the edge, Pinkie had made a rather startling discovery. She’d been so preoccupied with her dark thoughts that she hadn’t noticed the door opening behind her and someone else joining her on the deck.

Thankfully Rainbow Dash hadn’t been angry. Shocked and upset, but not angry. Once she’d realized what Pinkie was up to she’d stood back and waited silently, letting her come to her own decision. Rainbow had ponied up of course, there was no way in heck she would have actually let Pinkie kill herself, but she’d trusted her to make the right decision.

Then dragged her into a hug the second Pinkie’d realized she wasn’t alone.

That was when the façade had finally shattered, Rainbow holding Pinkie tightly as she broke down completely. Once she’d cried herself out, Rainbow brought Pinkie back downstairs and gathered the others.

That hadn’t been a fun conversation, but there was no denying that it had been necessary and, to some extent, cathartic. That was when they had all decided, as a group, that no matter how bad everyone felt or how bleak things looked, they all had to talk to each other. It was the only way they were going to all make it home alive.

Lopez listened patiently as Pinkie spoke, letting her get everything off her chest. She wasn’t even sure why she was telling all of this to a complete stranger. Even Sunset hadn’t heard it all yet, though admittedly she’d only woken up a few hours ago.

Eventually the story drew to a close. Pinkie sniffed and gently brushed away the tears she’d shed. She didn’t exactly feel better as such, but she did feel a little relieved. A little less bottled up. It had definitely been easier talking about it the second time around, especially to a man who was as patient and kind a listener as Lopez, one who understood all too well how she felt.

“I was a trader once, out there in the wastes.”

Pinkie looked up at Lopez. He smiled sadly at her then cast his gaze out over the ruined landscape, speaking softly.

“Ten years ago me and my wife tried to make the trek here with our son. We’d saved up enough caps over the years that we could live quite comfortably here for a while, until I found work. The plan was that I’d either open up a stall in the marketplace or just join the security folks, if they’d have me.”

Lopez’s face brightened as he reminisced, “My wife was a character, let me tell you. Witty, bright as a button and with a tongue sharper than anyone I’d ever met. Heh, my little boy was just as bad. Couldn’t take my eyes off him without him getting into some sort of mischief.”

Pinkie got a horrible sinking feeling as she heard Lopez say ‘was’. Indeed the twinkle in his eyes died and his whole body slumped as he continued, “We were almost here. We traveled carefully, avoiding all of the places we knew that super mutants liked to camp, but it wasn’t enough.”

Lopez nodded to a street corner down in the city below, “We were ambushed by raiders, right down by there. I managed to drive them off, but not before they…”

Pinkie slipped an arm around his shoulder as his throat bobbed.

“They died in my arms.”

“I’m sorry.” Pinkie whispered.

Lopez passed a hand over his face, taking a few breaths to calm himself, “Once… once I’d buried them, I came here. I knew they would have wanted me to go on but… I didn’t know what to do. I tried to make myself useful, but I’d lost everything I could really trade with, and I didn’t have the stomach for fighting anymore. Not after that. I’ve been alone here ever since. Just taking up space and getting in the way.”

Pinkie rested her head on his shoulder, “You’re a lot braver than I am.”

Lopez scoffed lightly at that, “If I was a brave man, I’d have thrown myself off this deck a long time ago.”

“No you wouldn’t,” Pinkie replied, “If it wasn’t for my friends I would have given up on that day, I couldn’t face doing this alone. But you… you’ve found the strength to face that burden every single day for the last ten years. I can’t even imagine how hard that’s been for you.”

Lopez’s breathed turned haggard, tears rolling out from under his hand and dripping off his chin.

“But you’re not alone anymore, and you’re absolutely not useless or a waste of space. I Pinkie Promise.”

“I am, I rea-”

“You’re not,” Pinkie urged, gently but firmly, “You’ve lived in the Capital Wasteland for a long time, right?”

Lopez nodded, “All my life.”

“And you used to be a trader?”

Another nod.

Pinkie’s lips curved into a small smile, “Then I bet you’ve got lots of stories about things you’ve seen, and a lot you could teach someone who’s new to the wastes. I sure wish I had a good friend who could tell me stories like that, and teach me everything they knew about living out here.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze for emphasis.

Lopez chuckled softly, pulling his hand away from his face. His eyes were red and there were wet tracks running through the dust on his wrinkled face, but there was a little spark in his eyes that hadn’t been there when he arrived on the deck, “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Pinkie replied, smiling up at him, “But why don’t we start with where you were born?”

Lopez wiped his face and smiled back at her, “You ever heard of a town called Canterbury Commons?”

Unnoticed by either of the two on the observation deck a lone figure lurked in the shadows, watching the two as they talked.

Fluttershy hadn’t intended to spy on them.

She’d only come up to the observation deck in the first place to make sure that Pinkie was okay, but after hearing what they were talking about, she couldn’t help but listen. She felt bad enough leaving Pinkie on her own after recent events, even when the alone time was requested, there was no way she was going to leave two people with suicidal tendencies unsupervised in such a precarious position.

Fluttershy still felt terrible for doing it.

She’d barely managed to stifle her sobs as she listened to Pinkie and Lopez, her heart breaking at the thought of the pain and suffering they were going through, but she forced herself to be quiet.

Peeking through the slightly-open door again though, Fluttershy knew she’d made the right choice in not interrupting them.

Pinkie’s hair, while still largely straight and flat, was starting to curl slightly at the tips.

She’s got a long way to go, but Pinkie’s taken a few steps in the right direction today. Hopefully she can help Mister Lopez on the road to recovery too.

Smiling slightly, Fluttershy turned and started down the stairs, leaving the two to their healing.

Chapter 27 - Rivet City

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Chapter 28 - Are We Taking Requests?

Sunset eyed Doctor Zimmer warily. She’d been in a similar situation before and had no desire whatsoever for a repeat of what happened with Mister Burke.

“Oh, is this about the android again?” Twilight piped up suddenly.

…come again?

“You still haven’t found anyone who can find that thing for you?” Applejack asked.

Zimmer shook his head slowly, “Regrettably no, I haven’t.”

Seeing Sunset’s blank look, Twilight explained, “Doctor Zimmer is a representative of the Institute. He’s here looking for a lost android.”

“The Institute?” Sunset was sure that she’d heard that name before, but she couldn’t remember what it meant. After a few moments she gasped as realization hit, “You mean from the Commonwealth! The organisation James mentioned!”

“The very same,” Zimmer replied, holding out his hand, “And on behalf of the Institute I would like to formally welcome you to our world, however little of it that remains.”

Sunset let out a breath as she took the proffered hand, relaxing slightly, “Thanks. So you believe that we aren’t from this world then?”

“Absolutely. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first but after seeing what your friends are capable of, not to mention the little mishaps that occurred when the good Doctor Li tried to study your peculiarities, I see no reason for any doubt.”

Making a mental note to ask the others what exactly had happened during Doctor Li’s ill-fated experiments, Sunset was about to ask about a rather more pressing matter when someone else cut in.

“I’ve already asked about portal technology,” Twilight said quickly, pre-empting her question, “They don’t have anything even remotely like what we need so far.”

Zimmer sighed heavily and shook his head, “It’s such a shame you didn’t arrive at the Institute rather than in one of those obsolete old Vaults. With your co-operation I’m certain we could make great strides in developing such technology.”

“You don’t have any idea what could have brought us here?” Sunset asked hopefully.

Another shake of the head, “Miss Sparkle gave me a description of the item that your friend James supposedly used but without conferring with someone from Advanced Systems I really couldn’t say.”

“Well, thanks anyway,” Sunset said softly, she’d known it was a long shot anyway. “So what’s this about a lost android?” she asked, eager to change the subject.

Zimmer visibly brightened at that, “I’m glad you asked. You see, unlike the glorified gardeners who are content to sit in this forsaken backwater and play with their chemistry sets, we at the Institute spend our time working with real science.”

Sunset frowned slightly at that. From what she’d heard the scientists at Rivet City were focused on perfecting portable fusion power and increasing the yield from their hydroponics experiments. Bringing clean electricity and radiation-free food to the wasteland was hardly something any decent person would mock. Oblivious to her feelings, Zimmer continued his little speech.

“Among our technological achievements are true robots. Not those ridiculous buckets of bolts that the people of yesteryear were so proud of, but true synthetic humanoids, like my bodyguard, Armitage.”

Sunset glanced in surprise at the thuggish man looming over Zimmer’s shoulder, “He’s a robot? But… he looks so…?”

“Real?” Zimmer smirked, “Yes, he’s what we call a Generation Three Synth. Virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary human save for a few small components. Unfortunately a rare few are prone to malfunctions, often getting confused and wandering off or even trying to run away.”

“Let me guess, that’s what happened to the one you’re looking for?” Sunset asked.

Zimmer nodded, “What makes this case worse is that the synth in question was a prototype Courser, a powerful model programmed to hunt down and retrieve other lost units, which means he knows-”

“Exactly how to evade whoever gets sent after him,” Sunset finished.

“Precisely. I tracked him as far as here, but the trail has gone cold. I suspect he’s done something drastic, most likely facial surgery and a mind wipe, or else I would have found him by now.” Zimmer huffed and grumbled angrily, “Of course, if I could just speak to Doctor Li I’m sure I could get this whole mess dealt with a lot faster.”

“And I’ve already told you I don’t have time to play hide and seek with your runaway toy.”

The group turned at the sound of the voice, Zimmer with ill-disguised irritation.

“Doctor Li. So kind of you to grace me with your attention at last.”

Doctor Li was standing with her arms folded, glaring down her nose at him, “As fascinating as your technology is, Doctor Zimmer, the fact remains that my team and I have more pressing matters to attend to than finding a lost robot,” Li glanced sidelong at Twilight, “And that includes you, Miss Sparkle.”

Twilight jolted as if she’d had an electric shock, “Yes, Doctor!”

“Miss Shimmer, I’d like a word with you as well, if that’s alright?”

Sunset blinked with surprise, “Oh, uh… okay?”

Zimmer scowled and folded his arms, “I fail to see what could be more pressing than recovering one of the most advanced pieces of technology this pathetic wasteland has ever seen!”

“I’m well aware, doctor, which is why I refuse to waste my time dealing with you any more than is absolutely necessary,” Doctor Li replied contemptuously. Giving him one last look of disgust she turned to walk away, calling back over her shoulder, “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a ‘pathetic wasteland’ to help.”

Zimmer opened his mouth to retort as Twilight and Li walked away, but was cut off by Sunset, “I’ll help look for your android, er, synth. I can’t promise anything while I’m still recovering, but I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

“Thank you, Miss Shimmer,” Zimmer said brightly, throwing a glare at Doctor Li’s back, “It’s nice to see that someone around here can appreciate the importance of real science.”

It took all of Sunset’s willpower not to roll her eyes at that. Luckily neither the old coot nor his bodyguard noticed.

“He won’t be easy to find, though I suspect your particular… ‘abilities’ will expedite matters,” Zimmer continued obliviously, “I’d recommend speaking to any doctors or techies you can find. He’d have needed someone of considerable talent to perform facial reconstruction and a complete memory scrub.” He glared once again at Doctor Li as she stepped out through a doorway at the far end of the room, “Which is precisely why I came to find that impossible woman in the first place.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Sunset replied.

Zimmer fixed her with a serious look, “If you do find him, please be careful. He may not even realize that he’s a synth anymore and talking about it may upset him. Just come to me immediately and I’ll handle it.”

Sunset nodded, “Okay. Well, I guess I’d better go and see what Doctor Li wants.”

“Very well, Miss Shimmer, and thanks again.”

Raising a hand in farewell, Sunset headed towards the door Twilight and Doctor Li had disappeared through, Applejack and Fluttershy following in her wake. Counting the seconds in her head, she got to six before the inevitable came.

“Uh, are you sure that was a good idea?” Applejack asked.

Sunset couldn’t resist a small smile at the question she’d known was coming, “It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do, and it gives me an excuse to go around and get to know some of the residents here.”

“What if this ends up being another Burke incident?”

“It won’t,” Sunset replied firmly, “If things start to look dangerous we’ll go straight to Chief Harkness, tell him everything we know, then barricade ourselves in the most secure room we can find.” A grim smile worked it’s way across her face, “Either that or you get to rip a robot limb from limb.”

“That’s fine by me,” Applejack muttered darkly.

A moment later the three stepped through the doorway, emerging in a long corridor with a number of doors leading off on both sides. Each of the doors was sealed shut, with the word DANGER painted across them in large, white letters. A bright, rainbow-colored sludge was seeping out from under one, while one of the others was covered in an odd, glittering sheen. Doctor Li and Twilight were stood in front of the latter, inspecting it. They looked around as Applejack closed the heavy door behind them.

“Hey, Sunset.” Twilight smiled.

“Hey,” Sunset returned the smile before looking to Doctor Li, “You wanted to speak to me?”

Doctor Li nodded, “I did yes. First of all let me congratulate you on your recovery. It’s good to finally see you on your feet.”
Sunset just about caught the sound of a tiny snort from Fluttershy, who’d maintained a stony silence ever since they’d set foot in the science bay. She couldn’t blame her, Sunset herself wasn’t sure how she felt about the woman.

“Er, thanks.” she said, after a few moments of awkward silence.

Doctor Li’s stole a quick glance at Fluttershy, “I assume you’ve already been told about what happened during your surgery.”

“I have, yeah,” Sunset replied stiffly.

“I thought so,” Doctor Li sighed, her shoulders slumping, “Look, I realize you probably think I’m an evil bitch who was quite happy to let you die, but you have to understand just how dire your situation was. Being asystolic for that long, you should be a vegetable. It’s a miracle that you survived at all. The fact that you aren’t severely brain-damaged is, frankly, impossible.”

“L-look, it’s fine, okay?” Sunset spluttered. She shivered as cold fear gripped her, as it always did when she was reminded of the surgery.

“Sunset, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“I’m fine, just a little cold.” Desperate to change the subject, Sunset gestured to the sparkly door, “S-so… uh… what happened here?”

Applejack smirked and tilted her hat back, “Heh, a whole bunch of failed experiments, ain’t that right, Doc?”

Doctor Li scowled at the glittering door, “In a manner of speaking. That’s actually something I wanted your help with.” Straightening her shoulders, she cast an appraising look at Sunset, “I understand you’ve previously attempted to analyse your friends powers scientifically. I was hoping you would share the results with me.”

“Now hold on a second,” Applejack interrupted, “You know you ain’t supposed to be doing any research on magic anymore, the Council won’t allow it.”

“I’m well aware of that, but if I know what Sunset’s results were I’m sure I can devise a safe method of studying your powers.”

Sunset shook her head, “I’m sorry, but the only results I ever got from studying our magic were bruises and a really weird mess to clean up.”

“Just trust us on this one. Messing around with magic when you don’t know what you are doing never ends well,” Twilight said softly, “You’re lucky that no one was hurt with the basic analysis you tried.”

Doctor Li sighed heavily, “I suppose you’re right. But I still think it’s worth looking into. Just imagine all the good we could do if we could replicate your abilities, or even just some of the results we saw in these rooms. We could save lives, make the wasteland a better place again! People wouldn’t have to struggle just to… oh for fuck’s sake.”

Sunset gaped as a soft glow washed over Doctor Li, her hair lengthening and turning a pale blue while a pair of lime-green pony ears sprouted out of the top of her head.

“You ponied up,” Sunset said flatly.

“I noticed,” Doctor Li muttered grumpily.

“But… how?”

“I wish I knew. It’s been happening ever since I got covered in whatever that stuff is,” she replied, pointing at the rainbow-slime dribbling out from under the one door.

Sunset squatted next to the slime. It looked to her exactly like the stuff that had erupted from the computer when she tried to study Rainbow Dash’s magic, back before the Friendship Games. She ran her Pip-Boy over it, just to be sure, but it wasn’t giving off any form of radiation.

“It doesn’t seem to be dangerous in any way,” Twilight said quickly, crouching next to Sunset, “However, after everything that we’ve had to deal with in the past we decided it would be best to seal off the rooms Doctor Li used for testing our magic, at least for now.”

“You’re darn right,” Applejack supplied, “The last thing we need right now is rogue Equestrian magic getting loose in the Capital Wasteland.”

“No arguments here,” Sunset agreed.

“Has anyone else ponied up?” Fluttershy asked, her ire with the doctor forgotten for now.

Doctor Li shook her head, “Not as far as I know. The only other person I allowed to help me with these experiments was Anna, and she hasn’t mentioned anything out of the ordinary.”

“Good,” Sunset stood and stretched, wincing as her stitches pulled, “Does anyone else have access to this corridor?”

“Just me. I keep it locked when I’m not in here.”

Well, at least that’s one less thing to worry about.

Applejack frowned, her gaze flicking from the slime to the sparkling door, “Do you think we should try and clean all this mess up before it gets loose?”

“What would we do with it though?” Fluttershy asked, “It’s not like we can just wash it into the river or something.”

Sunset shivered as the thought of magically mutated mirelurks danced through her mind.

“Fluttershy’s right. We should keep it sealed for now and see if we can find a way of storing it properly,” Twilight said firmly.

“That’s all well and good, but what are we going to do about this?” Doctor Li pointed to her new ears, twitching them for emphasis.

Twilight shrugged, “I don’t think ponying up is going to cause you any real harm, if anything it seems to have a mild healing effect.”

“For now you should just make a note of what you’re doing whenever you feel it happen. We always seem to pony up when we do something that expresses the deepest, truest part of our nature,” Sunset explained, “If you can figure out what that is for you, maybe you can find a way to control the change?”

“Observe, record, hypothesize. The simplest form of science,” Doctor Li sighed, “Start with the basics I suppose.”

“It’s the safest way of doing things, especially when concerning magic,” Sunset replied.

“Yeah, trust us on that one,” Applejack smirked and gave Twilight a nudge, earning a sheepish smile in response.

Doctor Li raised an eyebrow at that, then shrugged and started back towards the main science lab, “Very well, I shall defer to your experience in this case. Come on, I’ll lock this corridor up again and then we really should get back to work.”

“Fair enough, I guess I’ll make a start on finding Zimmer’s robot then,” Sunset said as she was chivied out of the corridor.

“You agreed to look for it?” Doctor Li asked in surprise. At Sunset’s nod she frowned and turned to lock the door, lowering her voice as she did so, “Just be careful. Zimmer is more interested in science for the sake of science than anything else, he doesn’t give a damn about ethics or the greater good.”

“We’d noticed,” Sunset, Applejack and Fluttershy all said in unison.

Doctor Li allowed herself a small smirk, “Very well. Come on, Twilight, we should get back to our experiments.”

“Yes, Doctor. I’ll see you girls later tonight.”

After a quick wave goodbye as the two eggheads wandered off, Applejack turned to Sunset, “Alright then, where do you think we should start?”

“Zimmer did say we should speak to a doctor. Maybe we should see if Doctor Preston knows anything?” Fluttershy piped up.

Sunset nodded, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“Works for me. Let’s get moving,” Applejack said brightly.

Following Applejack’s lead, the girls headed back to the science lab’s upper walkway and back out into the main corridors of Rivet City.

Sunset still wasn’t used to the maze of bulkheads and tight passageways, and she had absolutely no idea where anything was in relation to anything else yet, so she was quite surprised when she learned that the clinic was only a short walk away from where they were on the Upper Deck.

Fortunately the way was mostly empty, there being little in the way of foot-traffic between the lab and the clinic. Even more fortunately, Doctor Preston was actually present at the clinic, something Fluttershy had assured her wasn’t always a sure thing, as he had a tendency to wander off if his services weren’t immediately required.

“Miss Shimmer! I wasn’t expecting you back so soon!” he exclaimed as the girls entered the room, “You haven’t popped your stitches already have you?”

Sunset huffed a laugh, “Nothing like that yet, Doc. Actually we’ve got sort of an… odd question to ask you.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow and turned his chair to face them, his curiosity obviously piqued, “I’m all ears.”

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly, wondering how best to ask him, “Well, this is going to sound really random but… have you ever heard anything about an android, or a synth, asking around about facial reconstruction?”

The three girls had expected a blank look, or perhaps even another check to make sure Sunset wasn’t brain-damaged. What they hadn’t expected was for Doctor Preston to frown and start rifling through his drawers, searching for something.

“Funny you should ask, I have actually heard something about that. Just let me… ah! Here it is!” With a little flourish he pulled out a dusty old holotape, “I received this a few years ago. Here we go…”

Brushing the worst of the dust off, he slotted it into a player on his desk and hit the ‘play’ button. A moment later a man’s voice crackled out from the speaker.

“Hey, doc, I'm only sharing this with you because you seem like someone we can trust. Have you heard about the synthetic men they make up north in the Commonwealth? Well, the rumors are true. They're called androids. They're men like us, just made out of different parts. I know one of these androids. He's looking for a trustworthy doctor to perform some facial surgery. Can you do it? Do you know someone who can? Also, do you know anyone who's really a wiz with computers?”

There was a short beep and the tape stopped playing.

Silence reigned for a few seconds as everyone digested what they’d heard.

“Is that it?” Applejack asked.

Doctor Preston nodded, “That’s it. I received that from a total stranger some years ago now. He asked me to listen to that when I was alone then give him an answer the next day.”

Sunset frowned, wondering if the stranger might have been the synth himself, “What did you tell him?”

The doctor just shrugged and shook his head, “I told him I couldn’t help him. I’m not confident that I’d be capable of performing that kind of surgery, and I don’t know anyone who I’d say is really a ‘whiz with computers’.”

“Have you seen that stranger since?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“Darn. Well, I guess that’s the end of that,” Applejack grumbled.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help,” Doctor Preston said quietly.

“It’s fine, it’s not really a big deal,” Sunset sighed, “Thanks anyway.”

“It was my pleasure, dear.”

Leaving the Doctor to his work, Fluttershy assuring him that she’d be back bright and early the next morning, the girls congregated in the corridor to discuss their next move.

“Well that was a bust,” Applejack muttered.

“Doctor Zimmer did say this wasn’t going to be easy,” Fluttershy said reasonably.

Sunset smiled and patted them both on the shoulder, “Don’t worry about it, girls. We made an effort, but I’m not planning on losing any sleep over this. The android is probably better off away from that old grump anyway.”

Applejack smirked at that, “Ah reckon you’re right about that. What to you fancy doing now then?”

Sunset hummed softly as she considered, “I’m not sure. Do you think maybe we could go and take a… look… at…”

She trailed off as she spotted a woman sneak around the corner. She was wearing tatty old clothes and a dirty white head-wrap, and kept peering around nervously as she rounded the corner. The moment the woman spotted the girls her eyes widened and she hurried over.

“You… you’re Sunset Shimmer, aren’t you?” She spoke quietly, her whole body trembling, “Please. You have to help me!”

“Hey, it’s okay. Just relax,” Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm the poor woman, “What’s wrong?”

“M-my name’s Mei. I used to be a slave. I escaped a while ago and I’ve been living here ever since.”

The girls couldn’t help but gasp upon hearing that. They’d heard in passing that slavery existed in the wasteland, but this was their first time encountering someone who had suffered such an awful fate.

“Don’t worry, sugarcube, we’ll help you,” Applejack said soothingly, “What do you need?”

Mei looked pleadingly at Sunset, “It’s him. He’s here for me, I’m sure he is, but the security teams can’t do anything about it without proof.”

Sunset shared a shocked look with the others, her thoughts immediately jumping to Zimmer. He’d implied that the synth they were looking for was male, but that didn’t prove anything. In fact, given the synth’s reputed history, it made an odd sort of sense. If your captor’s were looking for a man, the best way to hide would be to become a woman.

“It’s okay. We won’t let anyone hurt you,” Fluttershy said softly, “why don’t you tell us who’s after you?”

“Sister.”

Sunset blinked stupidly, her train of thought utterly derailed, “Sister?”

Mei nodded slowly, “He’s a slaver.”

Author's Note

Apologies for the delay, now that Christmas and New Year's are out of the picture we should be back to our regular schedule from now on.

Comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 29 - Slaves Of All Sorts

“A slaver…” Applejack muttered under her breath, “Are you sure?”

Mei nodded, “I recognize him from Paradise Falls. He’s here for me, I’m sure of it.”

“Why the heck didn’t you come and find us sooner?”

Mei looked away, “I-I don’t have any proof. You wouldn’t have any reason to believe me.” She looked up at Sunset suddenly, wringing her hands nervously, “But you can prove it. You can reveal him for what he really is.”

Realizing what the former slave was after, Sunset shook her head sadly, “I’m not allowed to use my magic on anyone. Not unless it’s an emergency.”

Seeing the light of hope die in Mei’s eyes almost changed Sunset’s mind there and then, but she couldn’t afford to get on the wrong side of the security team, not to mention how difficult it would be to get close enough to use her power on him anyway given how wary he was of her.

Wait a second…

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack shook her head with visible reluctance, “Ah hate to say it, but there ain’t much we can do. It’s not like we can just march up to him and confront him without proof.”

“Mei, do you have a room of your own?” Sunset asked suddenly, “One that you can lock?”

“No. I-I sleep in the common room,” she replied.

“What’re you thinking, sugarcube?” Applejack asked suspiciously.

Sunset frowned and folded her arms, “I’ve got an idea, but I thought we should get Mei someplace safe first before we try anything. I don’t know how strict security is around here, but I’m guessing they won’t let him force his way into a locked room. If she lives in the common room though…”

Applejack nodded and clapped a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “Just leave that to me. Ah’ll put her someplace where she’ll be safe for a few hours or so. For now you and Flutters just head back down to Gary’s Galley and wait until ah get back. You can explain everything to us then.”

Sunset quickly agreed to that and allowed Fluttershy to lead her, for the second time that day, from the corridor outside the clinic back down to the marketplace. The journey this time was a little slower, owing to the need for Sunset to take a rest on the stairs.

The day was getting on towards evening but there was still quite a crowd of people in the market, picking over the stalls before they started packing up for the day. The people were just as friendly and eager to greet the girls as they had been earlier, even those who had already spoken to them, and Fluttershy once again did her level best to stay hidden behind a friend.

Pinkie was still at the Galley restaurant too when the girls arrived, sat at a table on her own and fiddling with her Pip-Boy.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Sunset called as she approached.

“Huh? Oh! Hi!” Pinkie grinned as Sunset and Flutters joined her at the table, “What’re you doing here? Are you hungry?”

“I’m… famished actually,” Sunset was surprised to admit. She glanced sidelong at Fluttershy, “I know we’re not exactly here for food but…?”

“It’s fine,” she giggled, “We’ve done a lot of walking today, you should keep your energy up.”

Pinkie nodded and called out to a young woman wiping down tables. One quick order later, after a review of what was available, and a steaming bowl of more iguana soup was plonked in front of Sunset.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow as she started to chow down, “You really like that stuff, huh?”

Sunset just grunted in response, too busy chewing to speak. She had to admit that she was getting a taste for it. The fact that it was one of the few dishes on offer that wasn’t radioactive certainly helped matters.

“So why’d you come back here if it wasn’t for food?” Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy opened her mouth to answer, then squealed as a sudden blur shot past her.

“Heh, sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said sheepishly as the others glared at her.

“It’s alright,” Flutters sighed, relaxing again, “What are you doing here?”

“One of the security guys told me that Applejack’s been trying to find me. He said she wanted me to wait here for her.”

“That’s a pretty good idea actually,” Sunset mused.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her as she flopped onto a chair, “Uh… what is?”

“Having you on board too.”

“Well we’re on a ship, so technically we’re all on board, silly!” Pinkie grinned as the others suppressed a groan. “Say, is this something to do with why you and Fluttershy are here too?”

Sunset nodded, “Pretty much.”

“So what’s up?” Rainbow asked.

Glancing around surreptitiously, Sunset noticed that several people were looking their way every now and again, understandable given how much they stood out, but no-one was paying close attention. She lowered her voice anyway, just in case, “A woman called Mei came to ask for our help. For her safety we’re keeping what she told us a secret for now, so don’t go shouting or making a fuss, alright?” Sunset waited for Rainbow and Pinkie to agree before continuing. “She thinks Sister is after her, and that he’s a slaver.”

“Seriously!?” Rainbow yelled as she shot to her feet.

Sunset face-palmed as the sudden outburst drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Rainbow at least had the good grace to look embarrassed as she sat back down.

“Uh… sorry,” she said sheepishly. “So… uh… Sister’s a slaver?”

“We’re not sure, but Mei said she recognized him from when she was a slave,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow’s expression darkened at that, “If that’s the case then why haven’t the security team done anything about it?”

“They don’t have any proof,” Sunset sighed, “That’s why she came to us. She wanted me to use my magic on him, but-”

“But Chief Harkness said not to use your magic unless you absolutely have to,” Rainbow huffed.

“Exactly.”

“Poor Mei,” Pinkie mumbled.

Sunset smiled and patted her hand reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Applejack is taking her somewhere safe for now, and I have an idea on how we can get the truth about Sister.”

“So what’s the plan?” Rainbow asked eagerly.

“It’s probably best to wait until Applejack gets here. I don’t want to explain everything twice,” Sunset replied before turning back to her food.

“Eh, fair enough,” Rainbow shrugged and tried to swipe a chunk of meat from Sunset’s bowl, earning a sharp slap to the back of the hand.

“I hope she doesn’t take too long to get here, the marketplace is closing soon and the security team is really strict about people being in here after hours,” Pinkie said quietly.

“If it comes down to it we can just wait outside,” Fluttershy replied. “So how has work been today?”

Time passed easily as the girls talked amongst themselves. Sunset spoke little, content to just listen to the others as they talked about their day. After a little while Rainbow tuned in to Galaxy News on her Pip-Boy, listening eagerly to a radio program about the exploits of a pair of famous wasteland adventurers, Herbert ‘Daring’ Dashwood and his ghoul ‘manservant’ Argyle.

Finally, just as the program was wrapping up, Applejack arrived with Rarity in tow.

“It’s about time!” Rainbow huffed.

“Ah’m sorry y’all. It took me a while trying to find someplace safe for Mei,” Applejack sighed as she settled into a chair, “Ah brought Rare’s along just in case. Ah tried to get Twilight too but Doctor Li wouldn’t let her come.”

Sunset nodded, “That’s fine, the rest of us can handle this. And don’t worry,” she added as Applejack opened her mouth to object, “I won’t let this turn into another Burke situation.”

“If you say so,” Applejack said quietly. “Alright, so what’s your idea?”

After making sure that no strangers were close enough to hear over the hubbub of the crowd, Sunset quickly relayed her plan.

“That… is… devious!” Rarity breathed, sounding impressed.

Sunset smirked, “Hey, I did use to be the evil queen of CHS.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Applejack muttered, smiling faintly. “Alright. I think this could work, but we’ll have to be darned careful about it.”

Fluttershy nervously brushed a lock of her behind her ear,, “But, um, what if Sister gets angry and… and tries to…”

“If he tries anything at all dear, I shall be sure to politely, but firmly, use my magic to… ahem, restrain him,” Rarity replied.

“Sweet!” Rainbow cried as she clambered out of her seat, “Come on! What are we waiting for?”

“Well for a start we don’t know where to find him,” Applejack said flatly.

“Why not try his room in the Weatherly Hotel on the upper deck?”

The other girls stared at Rainbow in surprise.

“And how exactly do you know he has a room there?” Rarity asked suspiciously.

Rainbow just gave her a blank look, “I’m a delivery girl. Duh.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course,” Rarity replied, coloring slightly.

Sunset snorted and rose to her feet, “Come on, let’s get this done. Are you sure you’re okay to sit this one out, Pinkie?”

Pinkie nodded slowly as the others got out of their seats, “I’m sure. I don’t think I could handle a confrontation right now.” She sighed and hung her head, “I’m sorry, girls.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We totally get it,” Rainbow said softly, giving her a reassuring pat.

“And don’t you go worrying about us,” Applejack added, “Ah think we’re starting to get the hang of handling people in this world.”

Fluttershy nodded, “And Sunset promises that she’s not going to overdo anything and hurt herself again. Don’t you, Sunset?”

“Y-yes ma’am!” Sunset spluttered, shocked by the sheer menace the meek little nurse managed to pack into that single question.

Rainbow chuckled and strode off, taking the lead through the crowd, “Come on then, girls. It’s this way.”

The rest of the Rainbooms fell into step behind her, waving to Pinkie as they went.

The journey up to the Weatherly Hotel was fairly brief, though Sunset groaned internally as she realized the route was taking her back up to the clinic. Again. In fact, it transpired that the hotel reception was practically next door to the room Sunset had been using during her convalescence.

The actual rooms of the hotel were spread along several corridors. There were one or two people around, mostly residents going to and from their quarters, but there weren’t any security officers wandering around. Sunset wasn’t entirely sure that that was a good thing. On the one hand, it meant no awkward conversations about what they were doing, but on the other it also meant there wasn’t anyone with authority in the immediate vicinity in case everything went pear-shaped.

“That’s the one,” Rainbow said suddenly, gesturing to one of the doors.

Sunset nodded and stepped up to it. The other girls arranged themselves around her, Rarity at her side just in case, Rainbow and Applejack just behind, then Fluttershy lurking safely at the back.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sunset knocked on the door. There was a deep grumbling followed by footsteps, then a harsh metallic squeal as the door was hauled open.

“-fuck’s sake, who the fu-”

Sister’s foul-mouthed complaining stopped the instant he saw who was at the door. His eyes widened and his complexion rapidly changed from ruddy to something more closely resembling Rarity’s natural shade.

“Wha… I.. w-what do you…”

Sunset raised her hands slowly, “Easy, we just want to talk to you. May we come in?”

At first it looked like he would refuse. His mouth opened and closed several times without any sound coming out, but finally he relented, stepping back and giving the girls room to enter, “S-sure. C-come on in.”

“Thanks.”

Sister backed away as the five traipsed into the room, getting as far away from them as he could in the cramped little room.

A simple naval cot hung from one wall, a table with a metal footlocker underneath ran along another and, bizarrely, the steel frame of a bunk bed, devoid of any form of mattress or bedclothes, was sat right next to the door. There were a couple of chairs and even a sofa in the room, but they had all been stacked against the walls to preserve some small amount of space.

Sunset idly wondered how much such a room must cost, before turning her attention back to the reason for their visit.

Sister had backed himself right up against the far wall. He was a big man, broad and muscular, but he was staring at Sunset as if she were the harbinger of his doom. Seeing him looking so intimidated, she hesitated as she thought out the best way to go about speaking to him.

The plan was fairly simple. Sister clearly knew that Sunset could read minds, but he wasn’t aware that she had to physically touch someone for it to work. It also didn’t seem likely that he knew she wasn’t permitted to use her magic within Rivet City unless it was an emergency. All the girls had to do was imply that they knew what he was and let him incriminate himself as he tried to defend his position. Fluttershy, at the back, was secretly recording the whole conversation on her Pip-Boy so they would have hard proof for the security team to act on.

“Okay, you’re in. Now what do you want?” Sister asked defiantly.

“Relax, sugarcube. We ain’t here to cause a ruckus,” Applejack said quietly. “We just want to talk is all.”

“W-what about? I don’t have all day y’know.”

Sunset folded her arms and fixed him with a level glare, “You know what we want to talk about.”

Sister gulped audibly, “I… I don’t do that shit anymore.”

“And why should we believe you?” Rainbow asked.

“Because life here is fucking safe!”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Sunset said quickly before he got any more agitated, “It’s like Applejack said, we aren’t here to cause any problems.” She gestured to the cot, “Look, why don’t you just sit down and explain everything to us.”

Sister looked away, running a hand through his hair nervously, “Shit. I… shit.” He glanced back at the girls, then sighed and dropped onto the cot, looking up at Sunset seriously, “Alright, fine. Look, life outside is fucking harsh. There’s constantly something trying to either eat you or fucking shoot you.”

“We’d noticed,” Rarity muttered.

“Yeah, well in here there’s none of that bullshit. I just wake up, go lift some heavy shit from the dorks downstairs, get paid, then do what the fuck I want until it’s time to sleep. I know I did some bad shit, but I just want to make an honest living from now on. As long as Eulogy thinks I’m still looking for that damned robot, I’m good.”

Sunset, Applejack and Fluttershy shared a stunned look at that.

Rainbow just stared blankly at them, “Robot? What robot?”

“Zimmer’s android,” Sunset breathed, “That’s what you were here for.”

Sister gave her a puzzled look, “Well… yeah? What did you think I was here for?”

“We thought you were looking for more slaves,” Sunset said quickly.

He just blinked in surprise, “You think I’d be trying to snatch people for slaving here? In Rivet Fucking City? You’re crazy. Security would fill my ass full of holes the second I mezzed some poor cunt.” The girls all grimaced at Sister’s disgusting language, but he didn’t seem to notice, “No, you’re better off grabbing them out there in the wastes where there’s no-one around to help. That’s how I used to do it.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes, “But you don’t do that no more?”

“No! I swear! I told you, I’m out of that life now!” Sister shifted awkwardly, “So… are you going to tell the security guys about me?”

Sunset cocked her head, thinking. Slavery was an awful business, and Sister had almost certainly committed terrible crimes in the past.

But… if he’s truly trying to turn over a new leaf…

“As long as you’re serious about doing the right thing, we won’t tell anyone about your past.” She held up a hand as his face lit up, “But if we hear anything about you going back to your old ways, or hurting anyone, we will put a stop to it. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Good,” Sunset sighed. “Now that that’s sorted, maybe there’s something you can help us with.”

Sister eyed her warily, “What is it?”

“The robot. Did you manage to find it?”

“Huh? You’re looking for that thing?” A look of surprise flashed over his face, but then he shook his head slowly, “I never did find it, I stopped looking once I realized how much better life was here instead of back at Paradise Falls, but I did manage to track it as far as Seagrave.”

Rainbow perked up at that, “Seagrave Holmes? The guy who runs Rivet City Supply?”

Sister nodded, “Yeah, him. Apparently the robot went to him for help. I haven’t got a fucking clue where it went after that, but maybe he would know.”

“The market ain’t closed yet,” Applejack said with a glance at her Pip-Boy, “If we’re quick we should be able to catch him before he closes up for the night.”

Sunset groaned and muttered sarcastically, “Oh yay, back to the marketplace.”

“Aww come on, sugarcube. At least it’s good exercise,” Applejack smirked.

“The doc did say you need to keep walking,” Rainbow added.

“And while we’re on the way could you kindly tell me what all of this is about a robot?” Rarity asked.

Sunset just sighed, “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get this over with. Thanks, Sister.”

“Uh… yeah. No problem,” he mumbled.

Fluttershy hung back as the rest of the girls hurried out of the room. Stopping with her hand on the door, she looked over her shoulder at the former slaver, “Um, I know you said you’re trying to be, well, nicer now, but… you do know that Chief Harkness is going to throw you out if you keep being, um, mean to people, don’t you?”

Sister sighed and looked away, “Yeah, I figured. It’s just… it’s hard, y’know? Back at Paradise Falls you’ve got to be a hard-ass, it’s the only way you can survive. I’m not used to living in a place where that kind of shit gets you into trouble instead.”

“Oh, I see,” Fluttershy glanced out of the door, then back at Sister, “Well, if you ever need help, you might want to try talking to Pinkie. She can get along with anyone. I’m sure she’d be able to help you do the same.”

Sister smiled faintly, “Thanks, I might do that.”

Smiling back at him, Fluttershy closed the door behind her and scurried after the others.

The journey back to the marketplace for the umpteenth time went fairly quickly, mostly because the corridors were near enough empty save for the security team, but the girls still ended up arriving just as the stalls were starting to pack up for the evening. Fortunately the guards on duty were happy to let them in to speak to Seagrave, as long as they didn’t take too long about it.

Rainbow took the lead once again, making a beeline straight for one of the larger stores. Inside was a man bent over a large, heavy trunk. He was wearing a scruffy set of overalls and, for reasons known only to himself, had an old-fashioned motorcycle helmet perched on his head.

“Hey, Seagrave!” Rainbow called out as they approached.

The man looked around at that, “Oh hi, Rainbow! Give me a second, let me just…” There was a loud click as he locked the trunk. Brushing the dust off his hands, he straightened up and turned to the girls with a grin, “You’re all here a bit late. What can I do for you?”

“We’re looking for some freaky android, we heard he came to you looking for help?”

Seagrave nodded, “Sure did. That was a fair few years ago now, I’m surprised anyone even knows about that anymore.” He sat on the trunk with a sigh, leaning back as he reminisced, “He’d heard I was good with computers and was hoping I could do a memory wipe on him.”

“What did you say?” Sunset asked eagerly.

Seagrave smiled ruefully, “I said no! I may be pretty handy with a bit of coding, but that stuff was way too advanced. I told him straight up, the only person I could think of who had the know-how to mess around with that kind of tech was old Pinkerton.”

Sunset glanced at the others to see if they recognized the name, but they all seemed as clueless as her.

“Who’s Pinkerton?” Rainbow asked.

“He was a scientist. In fact he was one of the guys who helped start Rivet City back in the day, sat on the Council when it was first formed and everything.” Seagrave replied.

Sunset frowned at that, “You say he was a scientist, is he still around?”

“No idea, he up and left years ago,” Seagrave said cheerfully, “He went to live in the bow of the ship, the big bit that’s broken off on the front, and no-one’s heard anything from him since.”

“Great,” Sunset muttered. “Well I guess I know where we’re off to next.”

“The heck we are,” Applejack said suddenly, “Ah’ve seen the front of the ship, it’s snapped clear off. If we want to get down there we’d have to go outside and there is no way we’re letting you go out while you’re still recovering.”

“Besides it’s far too dark to go looking now, darling,” Rarity added.

“Fine,” Sunset sighed, “Can I at least take a look around from the flight deck tomorrow?”

Applejack folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at Sunset as she thought it over, “Ah don’t know… what do you think, Fluttershy? You think she’ll be alright on the flight deck?”

“Um… as long as one of us is with her, I guess it should be okay.”

Applejack kept the frown for a few moments longer, but finally she relented, “Ah suppose we can let you up on the flight deck. We’ll take a look over at the bow in the morning and if, if, it looks safe enough, we’ll go over. All of us.”

“Thanks, Applejack,” Sunset grinned.

“Don’t you go grinning at me like that, you put so much as one toe out of line between now and then and I’ll have the doc tie you to one of the beds in the clinic, you hear me?”

“Kinky,” Rainbow quipped.

The rest of the girls agreed that the follow-up smack upside the head, courtesy of Applejack, was entirely justified.

Tara was bored. She was stuck in the lab waiting on results yet again, this time from any of the rickety old Eyebots that they’d managed to get their hands on. The near-obsolete robots had been refitted with sensors to detect the same odd signals that had been logged by artifact X51-14, recently dubbed as ‘the signal detector thingy’.

So far they had come up with absolutely nothing.

The signal detector thingy itself was now permanently plugged in and connected to a computer, just in case it picked up anything else. The rest of the X51 equipment had been fully unpacked, logged, tested, and had ultimately proven utterly useless so far, at least as far as Project Exodus was concerned.

On top of that, it had been two weeks since Tara had requested a dialogue be opened between her team and the Rainbooms, and not a damned thing had come of it. She knew the girls were still at Rivet City, and had been so for a while, but for some reason getting in contact with them was proving nigh-impossible.

Spinning slowly on her chair, Tara looked around to see what the others were doing. Sienna was staring blankly at a computer terminal. Doctors Pickering and Evans were huddled in a corner admiring the schematics of the radiation scrubber that Tara had managed to smuggle into the new lab. Becky, ever the dedicated scientist, was focused on an incredibly important and technical experiment. That is, she was trying to balance a pencil between her nose and her upper lip.

You’re lucky I love you, you fucking spaz.

“I’ve been wondering something,” Sienna said suddenly.

The rest of the scientists turned to look at her, Becky managing to keep her pencil balanced while she did so.

“What is it?” Tara asked.

Sienna gestured vaguely at Tara and Becky, “What are you two going to do when you turn thirty?”

Becky raised an eyebrow, allowing the pencil to clatter to the floor, “Well… for my birthday I was thinking we could do what we always do. Get some booze and cake and eat out.”

Evans looked up in confusion, “Where do you eat out?”

“Usually in the bed or the shower,” Becky grinned, prompting a furious blush from Tara.

Sienna rolled her eyes, “I meant when Assigned Procreation rolls around.”

That wiped the smile off Becky’s face, “We’re not sure yet. We actually looked into getting me into the program early but…”

“The man selected as the best genetic match for her wasn’t exactly ideal for us,” Tara finished.

“Who was it?” Sienna asked.

“My brother.”

The other scientists all winced at that.

“Yeah, that would be awkward,” Pickering muttered.

Tara nodded, “We’ve still got three years until Becky has to join, and five for me, so we’re going to gather as much credit and influence as we can and see if we can select our own sperm donor, anonymously, for IVF treatment.”

“Do you have any donors in mind yet?” Evans asked.

Tara and Becky shared an awkward glance.

“Well we do, but…”

“Spill it.”

“You have to keep it a secret.”

“Deal,” the others replied in unison.

Becky sighed and shook her head, rubbing her neck awkwardly, “Well… you see it’s… Senator Devall.”

Dead silence greeted her words.

“Fleur would rip your face off,” Sienna said flatly.

“Fleur can suck a dick,” Becky shot.

“She does. Devall’s.”

“Besides, she’s really nice,” Tara said earnestly, “We have to talk with her about it. I mean we’ve sort of hinted at it, but we should really have a sit down with her and discuss things properly.”

“And hope she doesn’t kill us,” Becky grumbled. She shook herself and sat up straight, “So what about you, Sienna?”

“I’ve applied to see if I can just donate my eggs,” she replied. “I’m not really interested in having kids.”

“Fair enough.”

Tara glanced over at Evans and Pickering, “No need to ask you two. Have you decided on a date for the wedding yet?”

Evans grinned back, “Almost. We just have to decide between J-”

The conversation was interrupted as the door to the lab suddenly opened.

Doctor Turner and Senator Devall strolled in, looking particularly happy with themselves.

“Ah, you’re all here. Excellent,” Devall smiled and clasped his hands behind his back, “I have some good news for you.”

“What is it?” Tara asked eagerly.

Doctor Turner smiled, “The President has agreed to your request for an additional research station off-base, and a suitable site has been selected. I’ve dispatched Squad Sigma and a handful of Eyebots to secure it already so hopefully you’ll be able to move in within a day or so.”

“It’s a largely subterranean pre-war facility a few short miles south of the old Capitol Building,” Devall explained, “Specifically, it was a retrofitting station for Delta Nine rockets. Records indicate that there should still be some units stored there in a repairable condition.”

Becky raised an eyebrow, “What were Delta Nine rockets?”

“They were originally used for manned flights to the moon, before they were converted for military use shortly before the war,” Pickering said quickly. “If there’s still some there that are salvageable…”

Devall nodded, “The President agrees with your suggestion that having a dedicated vehicle for any possible inter-dimensional travel is a good idea. Once the site has been secured you are to assess any remaining Delta Nine units and, if any can be restored to full working order, you have permission to attempt to convert one into a suitable manned transport.”

“That’s amazing!” Tara beamed as Pickering and Evans gave each other a high-five. She glanced up at Doctor Turner, hoping for more good news, “What about the Rainbooms? Have we managed to initiate contact with them?”

Doctor Turner’s smile turned into more of a grimace, “I’m afraid not. It appears the agency we use for interacting with the wasteland settlements, a group called Talon Company, is not permitted within the bounds of Rivet City. They’ve tried anyway but…” He shook his head as he trailed off.

Tara face fell at that.

“Why aren’t they allowed in?” Becky demanded.

Doctor Turner shrugged, “Maybe some sort of primitive power play by whatever passes for the authorities in that old rust bucket?”

“I suppose it makes sense,” Devall mused, “Talon Company is a mercenary group. The inhabitants of Rivet City may be understandably wary of letting a powerful rival inside the bounds of their community.”

“Either way, until the Rainbooms leave the city it appears we have no way of contacting them yet.”

“So why don’t we send one of our own people?” Becky suggested.

Devall shook his head, “We don’t have anyone else available. Not for now at least.”

“Why don’t one of us go?” Tara gestured at herself and the rest of her team, “It’s not like we have much else to do until the new facility is up and running.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Turner cut in, “Until Squad Sigma returns Project Exodus doesn’t have any military assets whatsoever.”

“I could provide two members of my own security if necessary,” Devall said suddenly. “That would probably make a better impression than sending a full squad anyway. I may even be able to convince the President to allow us the use of a Vertibird so we can get to Rivet City quickly and safely.”

“But who would go? As much as Doctor Strong says there is little for her team to do they’ll all have to study the schematics for the Delta Nine rockets thoroughly, not to mention researching the possible warheads they may find in the facility that will have to be assessed and either disarmed or removed.”

Tara sighed and slumped over in her chair. I guess the Rainbooms really are out of reach for now.

“You could go,” Devall said suddenly.

Turner glanced sidelong at him, “I’m sorry?”

“I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t go in their stead.”

“Uh… well I mean I… I’m needed here, to oversee the project.”

“You were needed here to oversee the project when it was first implemented, but I believe responsibility for oversight has now fallen on me,” Devall corrected. “I know I may not have your technical knowledge, but I’m sure the members of your team can dumb down anything of critical importance enough for me to understand.” He smiled faintly and adjusted his monocle, “It’ll only be for a short period, of course. Just long enough for you to establish a dialogue with the Rainbooms.”

Doctor Turner gaped at the Senator, mouthing silently as he hurried to come up with a reason to refuse, “I… I don’t think I’m the right choice for it. One of the Rainbooms is a potential telepath after all, we don’t want to give away any sensitive information. Besides, I worked on the Scouring Strain of the FEV. The last thing we want is for them to see that the Enclave has been working on things like that.”

“I thought you said you argued against that plan?” Sienna frowned at him suspiciously.

“W-well of course I did!”

Devall clapped a hand to his shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll do fine, Doctor. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you stay here and discuss with your team exactly what you should say to them while I go and arrange some transport.”

Author's Note

Another day, another chapter.

Just a few more chapters left in the Chekhov's Armoury that is Rivet City, then on to bigger and better (more explosive) things!

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 30 - Doctor Li Did A Silly

Sunset gazed around the room the girls were occupying during their stay in Rivet City. It had originally been used as a storage room, but when the Rainbooms had turned up out of nowhere the random bits and pieces had been moved out and a handful of beds shoved in instead. The girls were stuck sharing beds again, but that wasn’t too much of an issue. Now that Sunset was moving in with them she had been granted a bed of her own on account of her injury.

“Is everything alright, dear?” Rarity asked.

Sunset blinked, pulled from her reverie, “I’m fine, just… thinking.”

“What’s on your mind, sugarcube?” Applejack called from where she was preparing for bed.

“Magic,” Sunset sighed.

Twilight looked up from her Pip-Boy, “Doctor Li?”

“Yeah.”

“She’ll be fine. I mean, I get that she’s freaked out about ponying up, but it’s not like it’s ever hurt any of us,” Rainbow chimed in. “Besides, it’s her own stupid fault for even trying those tests in the first place.”

“We did try to warn her,” Fluttershy said quietly. Pinkie nodded solemnly in agreement.

Sunset glanced around at each of her friends, “I’m probably going to regret asking this but… what exactly happened during those tests?”

The Rainbooms, minus their leader, were currently gathered in one of the testing rooms just off the main science lab. Accompanying the girls were Doctor Li and another scientist, a middle-aged woman with brown hair and a severe look named Anna Holt.

“I would like to thank each of you once again for agreeing to this,” Doctor Li said brightly.

“I still think this is a very bad idea,” Twilight muttered.

“Both I and the rest of the Council are aware of your concerns,” Doctor Li insisted, “That is why we are merely performing a basic analysis of your technology-”

“Magic!”

“I’ll believe that when I see it. Either way you yourselves admitted that such an analysis has been done before.”

Applejack nodded slowly, “Yeah, by Sunset. And she didn’t find out anything useful.”

“If you just wait for her to wake up, she’ll tell you the same thing herself,” Fluttershy muttered, glowering at the doctor from behind her fringe. Doctor Li just shook her head sadly. That was an argument they had already had, more than once.

Anna rolled her eyes, “We appreciate that Miss Shimmer may have been unsuccessful, but both Doctor Li and myself have far more experience tackling problems in multiple scientific fields.”

Doctor Li winced as the girls bristled at the disparagement of their absent friend. “We just want to run some simple tests, nothing invasive or dangerous, I promise. The worst that will happen is that we won’t find anything. If that ends up being the case you have full rights to say ‘I told you so’.”

“Ah’ll bear that in mind,” Applejack muttered, “Alright. Who do you want first?”

“Fluttershy, if she doesn’t mind.”

Fluttershy flinched and looked around wildly in alarm, “W-why me?”

“I suppose out of all of us your magic is probably the least dangerous,” Rarity mused.

“It’s also one of the most useful, at least for those of us living in the wastes,” Doctor Li added. “If we could manage to communicate with and tame even a fraction of the wasteland’s fauna, it would give people’s chances of survival out there an incredible boost.”

Fluttershy scowled at Doctor Li for a moment longer, but she relented nonetheless, “What do you need me to do.”

“Just stand in the center of the room please.”

As soon as Fluttershy was situated Doctor Li and Anna pulled a series of cables and electrodes from a bulky machine set into the wall and started attaching them to the young nurse.

“Some of these will measure your bio-metrics, such as your heart rate and brain activity,” Doctor Li explained, “The rest will be monitoring any electromagnetic or nuclear radiation that is generated while you do your thing.”

“Um, okay.” Fluttershy squeaked and blushed as Anna reached up her dress to attach electrodes to her thighs.

Once the connections were done the doctors checked the settings on the machine. Satisfied that everything was set up correctly, Doctor Li turned to Fluttershy.

“Now, I’d like you to bring your wings out. I assume you are able to do that at will?” Fluttershy nodded nervously. Grinning, Doctor Li and Anna each pulled a set of goggles over their eyes. “Excellent. Whenever you are ready then.”

Fluttershy glanced worriedly at the rest of the girls, who all quickly backed away as far as they could go, then gripped her geode tightly. A warm yellow glow quickly spread out to envelop her body. Her hair lengthened, wings sprouted from her back and her dress morphed into a beautiful purple and blue gown.

The doctors’ eyes widened at the magical display.

“Nanotechnology. It has to be,” Doctor Li breathed.

“Um. Doctor?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Either that or it’s some form of ultra-fast genetic manipulation,” Anna said, not paying attention.

Flutters frowned and spoke a little more firmly, “Doctor?”

Doctor Li shook her head, “Genetic manipulation wouldn’t explain the alteration to her clothes.”

“Unless they have a biological component?”

“That seems unlikely. What would be the poi-”

“Doctor!”

The doctors both jumped at Fluttershy’s shout, then looked around as she jabbed a finger at the machine set in the wall. The screens on it were an incandescent pink, and growing brighter every second.

“Oh sh-”

The two barely managed to throw themselves out of the way as the screens exploded outward, releasing a swarm of shining butterflies into the room.

Doctor Li gaped as the butterflies fluttered all over the place, one of them perching itself on top of her head.
Fluttershy arched an eyebrow with glacial slowness, giving Doctor Li a look of utter contempt.

“We told you so.”

“No way! You said that?” Sunset gasped.

Fluttershy nodded meekly as the others laughed, “I was, um, a little mad at her.”

“Still are last ah checked,” Applejack chuckled.

Sunset smirked as the young nurse shrugged noncommittally, “So what happened to the butterflies?”

“They’re still down there for now, until we can figure out what to do with them,” Twilight replied, “I make sure Doctor Li takes some nutrient water in for them every day,. Right now they’re probably safer and better off than most of the people out in the wastes.”

“Probably,” Sunset agreed. “So what happened next?”

The group had relocated to the next room along the corridor, a testing room identical to the previous one.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Applejack asked as the doctors strapped electrodes to her, “Ah’d have thought you would have given up after what happened with Fluttershy.”

Doctor Li frowned as she joined Anna at the console, “That was… unexpected. But we did get some readings off the machine, so we’re going to continue and see if we can corroborate those readings with the ones we’ll get off you.”

“If you say so.”

“I think you were right before, it must be nanotechnology to work like that,” Anna said brightly, “Maybe the butterfly thing was some sort of crazy fail-safe? To prevent people from studying it?”

“We’ll soon find out,” Doctor Li muttered. “Applejack? If you would?”

Applejack sighed and tapped her geode, “Alright, but don’t say ah didn’t warn you.”

An orange glow surrounded the farm girl as she ponied up. The glow spread rapidly from Applejack to the electrodes, down the cables and on to the machine.

Everyone stared in awe as leaves started growing out of the cables. A moment later branches burst forth from the machine, somehow fusing with and growing from the metal. Magically glowing apples sprouted from the branches, all different colors popping out and swelling to an impressive size over the course of just a few seconds.

Anna and Doctor Li just stared bemusedly at the computer-apple-tree hybrid.

“Uh…”

“Well ah’ll be,” Applejack planted her hands on her hips, grinning at the tree-thing. “Ah’m calling him Mac!”

Sunset gave her a flat look, “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Rarity sighed as the others groaned at the memory.

“Yep, Rivet City’s own Little Macintosh!” Applejack beamed.

There was a moment of silence as the rest of the Rainbooms stared at the apple-crazed farmer. Finally the silence was broken by Twilight.

“Anyway…”

“I’m afraid I really must protest, Doctor,” Rarity huffed.

The group was in another test room, this time with a certain fashionista hooked up to the machine.

“We’re not stopping until we get some consistent results,” Doctor said firmly.

“It’s technology. Just advanced technology. You’re not crazy.” Anna kept mumbling repeatedly under her breath.

Fluttershy, standing against the wall with the others, leaned a little closer to Twilight. “What do you think will happen?” she half-whispered.

"I have no idea."

“Five caps says the computer turns to crystal,” Rainbow said quietly.

Applejack smirked, “You’re on.”

“Count me in,” Pinkie added.

Doctor Li ignored them, her eyes glued to the machine as Rarity ponied up. Several seconds passed and, aside from an odd crackling sound filling the room, nothing whatsoever happened to the machine.

“Different results… again…” Doctor Li suddenly grinned manically, “But nothing strange happened. No anomalies! No physical impossibilities! We DID IT!”

Anna tapped her on the shoulder lightly, “Uh, you might want to take a look around.”

“What, why?” Doctor Li’s jaw dropped as she turned to look.

The rest of the room was covered in glittering gemstones. A thick layer of crystal over the lights doused the room in a kaleidoscope of refracted colors.

Only the computer and attached cables remained untouched.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow cried.

Sunset shook her head in disbelief, “Wow… this all sounds even worse than the first time I tried to study your magic.”

Rainbow snorted and burst out laughing, “Oh man, that’s nothing. Wait until you hear what happened with Twilight!”

“Just how many of these rooms are there?” Rarity asked.

Applejack shrugged, “Beats me. Probably the whole corridor.”

Yet another testing room had been appropriated. Once again the girls were lined up against a wall, this time watching as Doctor Li attached the various wires and electrodes to Twilight, who was remaining oddly silent throughout. Anna was lurking near the computer, her gaze flicking nervously from Twilight to the screen and back.

Rarity frowned as she watched the doctors get ready, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this the first time Twilight’s magic has been tested?”

“I think it is, actually,” Fluttershy replied.

Rainbow grinned, “This should be fun.”

As soon as the last of the electrodes was attached, Doctor Li hurried over to stand next to Anna.

“Alright, Twilight. Begin.”

Twilight gave the girls one last look, then rolled her eyes and gripped her geode. Both doctors watched warily as a purple aura infused her body. Wings appeared, clothes changed and hair lengthened, but nothing else happened.

Anna and Doctor Li both sighed as the glow from Twilight’s transformation slowly faded.

Just as the two relaxed there was a sudden pulse of light. In a flash of purple Twilight’s magic zipped down the cables and into the computer. A split-second later it radiated out to encompass the two scientists. Both screamed as they were hoisted into the air, floating around and tumbling end over end as if gravity had decided to take a day off.

Twilight grimaced, “And that’s how we found out that Anna is, apparently, not a fan of underwear.”

“Also she shaves, like, everything. Including down there,” Rainbow added, gesturing vaguely at her crotch.

“Really, Rainbow Dash. Do you have to be so vulgar?” Rarity huffed.

“What? I’m not the one who took a razor blade to my privates. Imagine if your hand slipped.”

“Ah’m trying not too,” Applejack muttered, crossing her legs tightly.

Fluttershy shivered, “That actually happened to one of our patients, back in the vault.”

That got a collective wince from the entire group.

Rarity chuckled awkwardly, “Moving swiftly on…”

“This is a terrible idea,” Rarity said flatly.

“Ah’m inclined to agree with you,” Applejack muttered.

The girls had been relocated again, given that the computer in the last room still hadn’t stopped glowing and levitating anything that came close. Rainbow Dash was the subject this time, and the girls were more than a little concerned about how she was, in her own words, going to ‘make this one epic’.

“I-I think we should stop this, Doctor,” Anna suggested, her cheeks still tinged pink. “We haven’t gotten any consistent readings at all and this is all starting to scare me.”

“No. I am not stopping now!” Doctor Li snarled. Her hair was an absolute mess and her eyes were twitching at random intervals. Cramming her goggles on her face, she joined Anna at the computer and turned to face Rainbow. “Do it!”

Rainbow grinned evilly and tweaked a dial on her Pip-Boy. A second later a very familiar beat blared out from its speakers.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy breathed.

The girls started edging towards the door as Rainbow shredded on an imaginary guitar and belted out the lyrics to Awesome As I Wanna Be.

Doctor Li seemed fixated on the machine, but Anna stared in horror as Rainbow ponied up, multi-hued magical energy sparking out from her body and racing down the cables.

“Fuck that!”

She and the girls gave up all restraint as they darted for the door. The second they were all out and in the corridor Applejack slammed the door behind them. Not a moment too soon either, as a hollow boom rocked the ship.

Silence reigned as dust and little flakes of rust trickled from the ceiling. The girls and Anna shared a worried look as they wondered if things had just gone terribly wrong. They all sighed with relief as they heard Rainbow’s sudden cackling, and a few moments later the door slowly swung open.

Rainbow tottered out, doubled over and laughing fit to burst. Doctor Li trudged out after her, covered from head to toe in multi-colored goop. The remains of the computer could just about be seen in the room behind her, more of the freaky fluid spurting out of it in jets.

Doctor Li slowly reached up to pry her goggles off her face. She looked just about ready to burst into tears.

“Are… are you alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked softly.

The doctor opened her mouth to reply, then spluttered as some of the gunk dripped onto her tongue. Her face contorted with agony and what little of her skin that could be seen suddenly blazed a bright, angry red.

“Ho… hot! Water! Water!”

Doctor Li clamped her hands over her mouth and looked around wildly for water before turning and sprinting out of the corridor towards the main lab.

“Will she be alright?” Anna asked.

“Um, probably?” Fluttershy replied.

“… Chief Harkness is going to go ballistic, isn’t he?” Rarity asked quietly.

“Probably,” Twilight echoed.

Pinkie tilted her head curiously, “When do you think she’ll notice that she has wings?”

A sudden, shrill shriek tore through the air.

“Ah’d say right about now.”

Author's Note

A bit of a light-hearted chapter this time around.
Back to the more serious stuff next time.

Comments and Criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 31 - Preparations

Sleeping in Rivet City took some getting used to. The night’s chill was one thing, though the girls had managed to procure good blankets and some thick, warm clothing that served well as pajamas, but there was little they could do about the noise.

Being a grounded, deteriorating old aircraft carrier, Rivet City was never truly silent. Loud groans and creaks were commonplace as metal flexed and settled, and it wasn’t that uncommon for the entire ship to shift slightly at the whims of the river’s current. Add in persistent and recurring nightmares and you had a perfect recipe for insomnia.

Fortunately for Sunset the fact that her abdomen was still particularly sore, while not exactly a pleasant sensation, meant that she could take a full dose of strong meds at bed-time and conk out entirely for the night.

The downside to that, of course, was waking her back up in the morning.

“Come on now, sugarcube. Up and at ‘em.”

“Muurrrr.”

“Um, Sunset? You really should get up and have something to eat now.”

Sunset just moaned again and sleepily pulled the blanket over her head, trying to drown out the voices of the evil lunatics that wanted to drag her out of bed so early in the morning.

“Really, darling. We understand that you’re recuperating but you’ve been asleep for over fourteen hours. It’s lunchtime.”

Moaning and grumbling incomprehensibly, Sunset slowly swung her legs around and pushed herself into a sitting position. With a colossal yawn, she blearily looked up at her tormentors.

“And ah thought Rarity was bad in the mornings,” Applejack muttered, shaking her head as she pulled something out of her pocket, “Here you go, ah brought you an apple from the hydroponics lab. It’ll help wake you up.”

Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes, “You think apples help with everything, darling.”

“Actually apples contain quite a lot of sugar, so they really can help you wake up in the mornings,” Twilight supplied.

Sunset ignored them, wordlessly accepting the apple as well as a glass of water from Fluttershy. When she’d finished she handed the core to Twilight so she could take the seeds back to the hydroponics lab, stood, stretched, then hissed as her stitches protested.

“Oh, be careful!” Fluttershy said quickly.

Rarity winced, “Yes, do try not to put yourself back in the clinic.”

“I’ll try not to,” Sunset huffed.

“Good. Well, now that you’re finally up hurry and get dressed so I can sort your hair out.”

“I’ll help you change your bandages,” Fluttershy added.

Rarity pulled her pack out from under a bed and started rummaging around inside. “As soon as you’re presentable we’ll meet Pinkie and Rainbow down at the Galley for lunch then go straight up to the flight deck together.”

“Doesn’t it get expensive eating at that restaurant all the time?” Sunset asked.

Applejack chuckled and shook her head, “Nah, Pinkie eats for free and the rest of us get a heck of a good discount on account of how much business she brings in.”

“Indeed. Even though she’s not at her best Pinkie has still managed to increase their custom five-fold,” Rarity added as she pulled out a hairbrush.

Sunset smiled as she started stripping out of her pajamas, “That’s Pinkie for you.”

As soon as Sunset was dressed, and Rarity had managed to tame the incredible mess that was her hair, the five of them headed off to the marketplace. Now that she was properly awake Sunset eagerly chatted with the others as they walked. It turned out each of the girls had managed to get the afternoon off in anticipation of taking her up on the flight deck and, possibly, over to the bow of the ship.

Sunset could hardly wait. The outside world may be a desolate waste, but that didn’t stop her from wanting some fresh air and sunlight. Even the Vault had been brighter and less cramped than Rivet City. Mostly.

The marketplace was just as busy as it had been the day before. Sunset felt a little more confident as people greeting them this time around and made a point of calling out to the people she recognized, including Seagrave, little Chandra and her mother.

“Over here, girls!”

Sunset glanced up at the shout to see Pinkie waving madly from a table at the Galley with Rainbow.

“Yo, what took you so long?” Rainbow asked as the girls settled into seats.

“We had a little trouble hauling a certain someone out of bed,” Applejack jerked a thumb over at Sunset. “Ah wasn’t sure whether or not ah’d have to use my crowbar to get her out of there.”

Pinkie giggled and waved down the waitress, “At least now that we’re all here we can get some food.”

“Finally,” Rainbow muttered.

Once the orders were placed, Sunset once again opting for the iguana soup, it wasn’t long before the food was brought over and the girls settled into chatting.

“So how’re things in the egghead section?” Rainbow asked, stirring her own soup idly.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the casual insult, but smiled as she did so, “Today’s been pretty good actually. We’re close to a breakthrough on the portable fusion and with Applejack’s help we’ve managed to increase the yield on a few of the apple bushes.”

“Ah may not be a sciency person but ah know my apples,” Applejack nodded proudly.

“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Twilight’s smile faded slightly, “We probably could have gotten a little more done if Doctor Li hadn’t ponied up again.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that, “Seriously?”

“Do we have any idea what’s causing it yet?” Sunset asked.

“We think we might have an idea actually,” Twilight said slowly, “It seems like it happens whenever Doctor Li is thinking about doing things that can help people. She’s going to speak to the Council today and see if she can get permission to practice ponying up in private, just to make sure.”

“As long as she’s careful with it. We don’t know exactly how rogue magic is going to affect this world, the last thing we want is another… well…” Sunset trailed off awkwardly.

Twilight nodded, getting the implication instantly, “I’ll talk to her. We all told her that magic is dangerous if not used properly, but maybe it would be better if she understood just how dangerous.”

The girls lapsed into an awkward silence at that. Sunset kept her head down and just focused on her food, trying to shake off the guilt of trashing a perfectly happy conversation. Thankfully she wasn’t left to stew for too long, as Rarity cleared her throat to speak.

“On a less, er, depressing note, I heard a bit of good news on the radio earlier. It seems the Brotherhood of Steel have taken in the little lost lamb we found in the tunnels.”

Fluttershy’s face lit up instantly, “Oh, you mean Maddy?”

“That little raider brat?” Rainbow asked.

“She wasn’t a brat, she was a scared and hurt young woman,” Rarity replied tartly. “I’ll admit her language may have been a little… colorful… but the poor dear had been through a terrible ordeal.”

Applejack nodded in agreement, “At least now the Brotherhood will look after her. Maybe they can help her do some good in the world.”

Rainbow snorted, “I guess.”

“How come you hate her so much?” Pinkie asked.

“Aside from the fact that she’s a raider?” Rainbow sighed and fiddled with her spoon, “There’s just something about her that bugs me. Hang on, that reminds me!” She smirked and pulled a letter out of her pocket, “Looks like Sunset’s getting her first one of these.”

Sunset looked up curiously, “First one of what?”

Rainbow tossed the letter over, “Just read it!”

Rarity gave her a disgusted look, “Really, Rainbow? You couldn’t have given it to her in private?”

Sunset cast a wary glance at the others, then set about opening the envelope. Rainbow grinned, Twilight winced and Fluttershy gave her a sympathetic look as she pulled the letter out and unfolded it.

“Uh…”

Rarity laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, “W-what does it say, darling? It’s not too vulgar I hope?”

Sunset gave her a blank stare, “It’s an invitation to a sermon at Saint Monica’s Church tomorrow?”

There was a brief stunned silence, then the whole table erupted with laughter. Sunset just stared at each of them in bewilderment.

“Th-thank goodness!” Rarity gasped between laughs.

Applejack whipped her hat off and used it to fan herself, trying to get herself under control, “Phew! Ah was not expecting that one!”

“Me neither!” Rainbow agreed, still grinning from ear to ear, “I totally thought that was going to be a love letter!”

“Love letter!?” Sunset yelped.

Twilight sighed and nodded, “We’ve all gotten one. Or at least we’ve all had someone try and express their affections in some way.”

“Seriously?”

Fluttershy shivered, “Sadly, yes.”

“At least the young man who asked you out was an absolute sweetheart about it,” Rarity wrinkled her nose with distaste, “Some of the propositions the rest of us have received have been less than pleasant.”

“You said it, sister,” Pinkie muttered darkly.

Sunset cringed inwardly at the thought of the sort of perverts they’d had to deal with. The Tunnel Snakes had been bad enough. Deciding to change the subject, she was about to ask exactly what the plan was for the day when a voice called out from behind.

“Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin, groaning and clutching at her stitches as they pulled.

Chief Harkness hissed in sympathy as he stepped up to the table, “Ouch, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just hoping I could have a word with you.”

Gently rubbing her sore gut, Sunset forced a smile onto her face, “Sure, what’s up?”

“In private, if you don’t mind.”

Sunset sighed as she stood and followed the security chief. She glanced sidelong at him as he led her towards an empty table right next to the hangar wall, Rainbow’s words from the day before ringing in her head. She had to admit he was somewhat good looking... but she’d known him for all of thirty seconds. In any case, romance was the very last thing on her mind at the moment.

Besides, Rainbow’s right. He’s way too old for me.

“So what’s this about?” Sunset asked as she sat in the seat the chief indicated.

Harkness glanced at the girls at the other table as he slid into a chair opposite her. Satisfied that they were out of earshot, he fixed Sunset with a serious look, “There’s a few things I wanted to talk to you about actually. First things first, what did you do to Sister?”

Sunset blinked in surprise, “Sister? We spoke to him yesterday but we didn’t do anything to him. Why? Is something wrong with him?”

“Nothing’s wrong per se, it’s just that he sought me out this morning. Told me he knew he’d been an ass and was going to work hard at being a better person. He practically begged me not to throw him out of the city.” Harkness eyed her suspiciously, “In my experience, a hard-ass like him doesn’t up and change so fast unless someone’s got something on them, and you girls were spotted leaving his room last night.”

“I, er, I see your point,” Sunset sighed, “I know how this must look, but it’s not what you think. All we did was talk. None of us used our magic on him or threatened him in any way, I swear.”

Harkness leaned back and folded his arms as he mulled over what she said. Finally he smiled faintly, “I’m inclined to believe you. Three-Dog certainly vouches for you, so I suppose I can go on a little faith. I’m hardly going to complain about you making Sister clean up his act either way.”

“That’s good to hear,” Sunset said hopefully, “What else did you want to talk about?”

His smile evaporated instantly, “Zimmer. I understand you’re looking for his missing robot.”

“Yeah, we’ve actually managed to make some progress on that. Is that a problem?” Sunset asked warily.

Harkness waved a hand dismissively, “No, no. I don’t have a problem with you looking for the robot. Hell, I hope you find it. The sooner we get that man and his lackey out of Rivet City the happier I’ll be.”

“What do you mean? Has he done something wrong?”

Harkness frowned and scratched his stubble, “Not that I know of. There’s just something about him that sets me on edge. Be careful around him.”

“We will,” Sunset promised.

“Good. Well, that’s all I wanted to discuss with you,” Harkness stood and rolled his shoulders to settle his armor a little more comfortably. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I prefer to keep on top of things like this. Just in case.”

“I understand,” Sunset said, getting to her feet too. As the chief turned to leave an idea suddenly popped into her head, “One second! Do you know anything about the bow of the ship?”

Harkness glanced at her quizzically, “Not really. I’m sure I tried exploring it once when I was a lot younger, but I can’t really remember it all that much. Apart from the mirelurks. Why?”

Sunset swore silently at the mention of mirelurks, “We were thinking about going over there later to look for clues about Zimmer’s android.”

“I see. Watch your step if you do go over there. No-one has been over there to do maintenance in easily a decade or so.”

“We’ll bear that in mind. Thanks.”

Harkness smiled and nodded once, “Don’t mention it. Take care, Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset watched him until he disappeared into the crowd, then turned to head back over to the other girls.

The six of them were standing at the table waiting for her. They all glanced up as Sunset approached.

“Everything okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“It’s fine. He was just checking up on us,” Sunset replied.

The girls all let out a collective breath.

“That’s a relief. For a moment we thought you were in some sort of trouble,” Rarity said quietly.

“Not yet,” Sunset quipped. “So… are we going up to the flight deck?”

A little cajoling and a short walk later, the Rainbooms stood together on Rivet City’s flight deck.

The space was huge. Several battered old fighter planes were dotted around, with a bunch of them teetering precariously on the edge of the deck where the bow had snapped off.

The rumble of thunder overhead had each of the girls glancing up nervously. Roiling black clouds obscured the sky as far as the eye could see, lending what was normally the depressing enough view of the city ruins a decidedly sinister air.
Down on the shoreline dark forms could just be made out, shadowy figures rushing to get to the safety of the city before the heavens made good on their threat of rain.

“Well, this is it,” Applejack said soberly. “Come on, the bow is over here.”

Sunset couldn’t help staring at the planes as they passed, stark reminders that Rivet City was originally a weapon of war. She wondered idly if any of them could be fixed. It would make travelling through the wastes a lot safer, but refueling would be a nightmare. That’s if they even had any fuel left that hadn’t degraded entirely over the last two hundred years.

A tap on the shoulder brought Sunset’s attention around.

“Hey, might want to watch where you’re going now. This section’s not exactly safe,” Rainbow suggested.

Sunset nodded and focused on where she was putting her feet. They were getting close to the broken-off area, and the floor was starting to get treacherous where the metal had warped and rusted over the years.

Treading carefully, the girls edged their way around the clustered planes until they were as close as they could safely get to the brink.

“Whoa,” Sunset breathed.

The front of the ship lay before them. Exposed girders and ruptured metal plating showed where time and the elements had conspired to tear the warship in two. Leaning over carefully, Sunset spied several more fighter planes laying partially submerged in the river waters. Several dark, bulky creatures could be seen swimming menacingly around them.

“Mirelurks,” Applejack spat, keeping a hand on her hat so it didn’t fly off in the breeze. “Every now and again they try to burrow into the city through one of the exposed bulkheads. It’s a right pain checking to make sure they haven’t gotten in every day.”

“They must have some sort of nest in the broken section,” Twilight supplied.

“Probably.”

“We can handle mirelurks,” Rainbow said confidently.

Fluttershy glanced down at them anxiously, “I don’t know. The ones we met before attacked us just for passing through their territory. If we stumble across a nest, I can’t imagine how badly they’ll react.”

“Not to mention we don’t know how to get over there in the first place,” Applejack added quietly.

Rainbow stared at her incredulously, “Uh, you do remember that three of us can fly, right?”

“And I can quite easily conjure a bridge for us, darling,” Rarity chimed in.

Applejack still didn’t look convinced, so Sunset stepped in, “I don’t think it’ll really be all that dangerous. Or at least the mirelurks won’t be.”

“How can you be so sure?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset pointed at the exposed decks on the other side, “Look, the corridors are just as narrow and cramped as they are on this side. The mirelurks would only be able to get at us one at a time.”

“One mirelurk is still dangerous,” Pinkie said quietly.

“True, but if we do run into any of them, Rarity can easily block the corridor to stop them coming after us. All we’d have to do then is make our way back up here and go try again another day. If we go in through one of those bulkheads near the top we might even be able to sneak in and out without them ever knowing we’re there.”

“That’s… not a bad plan actually,” Applejack admitted reluctantly. “Alright fine. We can go in.”

“Yes!” Rainbow and Sunset hissed in unison.

“But, we are going to be careful about this,” Applejack said firmly. “Sunset, ah want you to stay at the back of the group with Fluttershy. You don’t take so much as a step without her say-so, you hear me?”

Sunset nodded, “Loud and clear.”

“Good.”

“Oh, one second!” Rainbow cried suddenly before disappearing in a blur.

The girls just blinked in surprise at her sudden absence.

“Where’d she go?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “You don’t think she’s gone to get-”

She was cut off by Rainbow’s rapid reappearance. She was clutching a curious, makeshift blade in one hand, a thick tube running from the pommel to a gas tank strapped across her back.

“Aww yeah, check this thing out!”

Sunset eyed it appreciatively, “Whoa, you actually managed to make one of those?”

Rainbow grinned widely, “Yep! Applejack and Twilight helped me out. Seagrave gave me a hand getting the parts together, sort of like a bonus for getting his deliveries done quickly. Don’t worry! I’m not even going to light it unless I have to,” she added quickly, seeing the looks on some of the other girls’ faces. “It might come in handy if the mirelurks turn out to be scared of fire though.”

“They seem to prefer dark places, so it’s possible,” Twilight supplied.

Applejack gave her a curt nod, “Good thinking. Alright then, we ready to go?”

The others quickly gave their assent. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Rarity held her arms out and conjured a bridge of glittering gemstones leading to an exposed corridor.

Crossing over in single file, the girls made their way over to the broken bow and plunged into the shadows.

Doctor Turner paced anxiously in his office. He was waiting for the President to contact him in regards to his most recent ‘assignment’ and was filled with too much nervous energy just to sit and wait patiently.

His head snapped around as the secure intercom crackled into life.

“Doctor Turner?”

The doctor scrabbled over to his desk and jabbed the button to reply, “Yes, Mister President?”

“Please forgive my tardiness in responding to you. I am afraid I must deny your request to delay or reassign first contact with the Rainbooms. A vertibird and two members of Senator Devall’s security detail have already been allocated for your use, and you are to leave for Rivet City as soon as this conversation is concluded.”

The blood drained from Turner’s face upon hearing that, “B-but Mister President I-”

“I’m sorry, Doctor, but new information has come to light that requires swift action and I do not have the time to assign and debrief a more suitable candidate.”

“New information?”

There was a brief pause as the President appeared to consider how much information to share, “Five minutes ago the Eyebots you set to monitor Rivet City spotted the Rainbooms leaving the main section of the ship to explore the detached section. The recordings confirm that at least two of the Rainbooms do indeed wield the powers the rumors espouse.”

“If that’s the case then surely it would be more prudent to wait. If the leader of the Rainbooms truly is a telepath she could potentially extract extremely sensitive information from my mind! Project Scour, the Vault Experiment, the Chiroptera Horribilis specimens, our Deathcl-”

“I am well aware of the risks, Doctor. However, a report I received from Talon Company indicates that the leader, Miss Sunset Shimmer I believe, suffered quite a serious injury recently. That would most likely be the reason the Rainbooms have remained at Rivet City. It is also possible, and the Eyebot recordings seem to corroborate this, that she is not entirely recovered yet. If so this grants us an opportunity.”

“How so, Mister President?”

“Simple. We shall offer medical treatment. That, coupled with providing sanctuary and an offer to aid them in returning to their own world, will hopefully be enough to earn their favor and distract them from our less… neighborly… endeavors.”

Realizing he was running out of options, Turner tried his last, desperate, hope, “What about Senator Devall? Surely he is more qualified for this sort of thing?”

“True, but Senator Prince is our official wasteland correspondent and frankly I am in no mood to deal with his tantrums should I send another Senator to do his job for him,” the President replied flatly.

“But won’t he complain about me being sent?”

The President chuckled softly, in manner that was in no way reassuring, “You are technically our designated Vault-Tec representative. Given how the Rainbooms’ first arrived on our world, or rather… where they first arrived, I’m sure Senator Prince won’t kick up too much of a fuss. Now, are you done trying to weasel your way out of this?”

Bollocks. “Yes, Mister President,” Turner sighed.

“Good. On a related note, Squad Sigma has successfully secured your beta site and are holding position. Once you have established first contact with the Rainbooms I would like you to escort them there as well, rather than bring them here. I am already making arrangements for Doctors Strong, Shoichet and Bohn to meet you at the site as soon as possible.”

Author's Note

Time for a new chapter!

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 32 - Ships Passing In The Dark

Author's Note

Hello again! Since this fic just reached 200 likes, have another chapter!

Only one chapter left in Rivet City, then it's back out into the world!

The holotape is taken verbatim from Fallout 3.

Comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 32 - Ships Passing In The Dark

“This is Doctor Madison Li, about to attempt a deliberate self-induced transformation. In other words I’m going to try to ‘pony up’. The purpose of this experiment is to hopefully achieve manual control of the transformation. Doctor Anna Holt is assisting.”

Doctor Li sighed and leaned back in her chair. She was currently sat in a quiet corner of the science lab away from the rest of the team. Bannon and Harkness had agreed to let her practice ponying up on her own, in the interest of keeping it under control, and she intended to take full advantage of the opportunity.

“Are you ready to begin, Doctor?” Anna asked.

Li nodded, “Just give me a second.”

Taking a slow, steady breath, she closed her eyes and turned her focus inwards.

My name is Madison Li. I’m a scientist, and I want to help people. I want to use my knowledge to improve people’s lives and make the world a better place.

God I feel like a fool.
Okay. Focus.

My name is Madison Li. I’m a scientist, and I want to help people. I want to use my knowledge to improve people’s lives and make the world a better place. I’ll make it safer.

It was faint, but Doctor Li felt something inside her stir, an odd warmth that pulsed deep inside her chest. She tried to latch on to it, to draw it out while focusing on her little mantra at the same time. After a while, Li couldn’t say for sure how long, it slowly started to grow.

Come on Madison, you can do this. I want to make the world a better place. No… I will make the world a better place.

As if a dam had burst the warmth suddenly surged forth, sending a shiver down her spine and leaving her whole body tingling.

“Transformation successful. You did it, Doctor!”

Doctor Li slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt heavier from the mass of extra hair that had grown, though not uncomfortably so, and the twitching of her new ears was a truly bizarre sensation no matter how many times it happened.

“That was easier than I expected,” she admitted, “Still, it supports the hypothesis that the transformation is linked in some way to a subject’s emotional state in some way.”

Anna nodded and made a note on her clipboard, “No wings again this time though. I wonder why that only happened the first time? Do you think you’re… ‘running out of juice’?”

Doctor Li reached up and idly twiddled a strand of her newly blue hair, “It’s possible. It could also be due to a difference in mental state at the time of transformation. I suppose it’s even possible the first transformation was affected by Rainbow Dash’s influence, and the magic has since adjusted to my body and mind. We’ll have to perform more tests before we can draw any conclusions.”

Anna bit her lip and glanced at the doctor, “So you, er… you believe the girls then? That it’s magic?”

“It’s either magic or some technology so advanced that it may as well be,” Doctor Li huffed. “Either way I need to learn how to control my transformations. Having them happen randomly is more than a little annoying.”

“Do you think you’ll get some sort of power like the Rainbooms have?”

“Not likely.” Not without a Geode of my own. “According to Twilight it’s something that doesn’t just happen spontaneously.”

“That’s a shame,” Anna sighed.

“Not for me it isn’t,” Doctor Li said firmly. “Having one crazy thing that I don’t understand happen to my body is more than enough for me.”

“But think of all the possibilities! If you could learn to wield magic the same way the girls do you could really push the boundaries of science to their limits!”

“Or do something terrible. You heard what Twilight said, magic is dangerous, probably far more so than we realize.”

“Most likely,” Anna agreed, “But I’m sure the girls wouldn’t mind helping you find out exactly what you’re capable of.”

Doctor Li shook her head, “I’d rather not take the risk. It’s not worth it.”

“If you say so.”

“Uh… Doctor Li?”

Li turned at the sound of the voice. A young man stood there, one she had half-expected never to see again. He was the image of his father when he was younger, right down to the thick, black mop of messy hair on his head. He was still wearing that odd leather jacket, a bit more tatty than she’d last seen, over the top of his Vault uniform.

“Adam? I thought you were…” Doctor Li trailed off as an older gentleman stepped out from behind him.

My God. You found him.

James raised an eyebrow as he stared at the Doctor, “Hello again, Madison. It seems my son isn’t the only one with an interesting tale to tell.”

The Rainbooms switched on their Pip-Boy lights as they wandered further into the corridor. The walls and floor were all heavily corroded, forcing them to tread carefully. Most of the doors the girls passed were rusted shut, the few that weren’t contained little more than small, long-abandoned rooms.

At the very end of the corridor the group came to a hatch in the floor. Thankfully it wasn’t locked, but the hinges did squeak awfully as Applejack hauled it open to reveal a ladder descending into darkness.

“O-oh my, do you think it’s safe?” Fluttershy asked.

“We’re about to find out,” Applejack said quietly, angling her Pip-Boy light to try and get a better look at the bottom, “Ah’ll go first.”

Suiting action to words, Applejack lowered herself onto the ladder and carefully made her way down. The rungs creaked ominously under her weight, but they held fast. As soon as she reached the bottom she cast her light around, then called softly up to the others.

“It’s safe. Come on down.”

The girls followed Applejack down one by one. Sunset wasn’t looking forward to it, using a ladder with stitches in her abdomen was sure to be an unpleasant experience, but when her turn came she found herself surrounded by a glowing purple aura as Twilight used her magic to gently float her down instead.

“How do you think we should go about this?” Rarity asked, glancing warily around.

“We’ll take it floor by floor, search every room,” Applejack replied. “If anyone’s still here, they’ll probably be as far away from the mirelurks as they can get.”

The others quickly agreed. Applejack and Rarity took the lead, with the others following close behind. Sunset and Fluttershy brought up the rear.

The first few decks the Rainbooms explored were almost pitch-black. There was little to be found. Many of the rooms they searched showed evidence of having once been lived in, dust-covered old toolboxes and clothes left where they’d fallen when the bow had been abandoned, but there were no signs of recent habitation.

It wasn’t until the group reached the lower decks that they encountered any signs of life at all.

“Did y’all hear that?” Applejack asked as they reached the bottom of another staircase.

The girls shivered as a distinctive clicking sound echoed quietly through the corridors again.

“Mirelurks,” Rainbow muttered.

Rarity grimaced, “Is it really worth sticking around any longer? I highly doubt anyone would be living so close to a mirelurk nest.”

Sunset sighed and shook her head, “You’re right. Come on, let’s get out of here before we get into any danger.”

“Wait a second, ah think ah see something,” Applejack said suddenly, pointing down a nearby corridor, “Some sort of red light just do-” She was cut off as Pinkie grabbed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. “Hey, what gives?”

In response Pinkie just pointed down, at the tripwire that the farmer had almost walked right in to. The wire was barely visible, running across the path in front of the staircase and up the wall, then stretching across the ceiling until it connected to a small bundle tied just above the girls’ heads. The knobbly shapes of several grenades glinted dimly in the light.

Applejack’s jaw dropped when she spotted it, “Whoa. Nice catch, Pinkie.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses as she carefully inspected the grenades, “There’s no dust on them. Either these were set very recently or someone is performing maintenance on their traps.”

“So someone does live here,” Sunset said softly.

“And they’re crazy enough to do it down here where the mirelurks are,” Rainbow added, sounding almost impressed.

Rarity glanced around warily, “What concerns me is the way you said traps. As in, plural?”

“If someone went to the effort of setting something like this up, they’ve probably set up more somewhere,” Twilight replied.

“Great,” Applejack huffed, “So you’re saying that little red light down there is probably another landmine then, right?”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me!” Rainbow snapped, her free hand unconsciously gravitating to her backside.

“We’ll worry about that in a minute,” Sunset said firmly, “First let’s figure out what to do about these grenades.”

Dealing with the grenades was actually fairly easy. Pinkie managed to find the end of it tied around a little piece of metal stuck out of the floor, then Rarity gently untied it and wound it around until it was safely tucked up next to the grenades themselves.

The next part was harder, as the little red light did indeed turn out to be a landmine. A brief discussion followed as the girls tried to figure out the best way of dealing with it. There wasn’t room to sneak past, and there weren’t any other corridors that would allow them to find another way around. In the end they decided the safest way was simply to take cover, let Twilight detonate it with her magic, then hide and see if the mirelurks investigated the noise.

Once everyone was safely out of the way, mostly lurking on the stairs, Twilight nudged the mine with her magic. A couple of seconds later the blast tore through the air, magnified to almost deafening levels in the close confines of the corridors.
An outburst of angry clicking and burbling followed the explosion, but no mirelurks turned up to seek out the source of the disturbance.

“I think we’re good,” Rainbow half-whispered, peering down the corridor. “Just keep an eye out for any more booby traps.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Applejack muttered.

The girls picked their way stealthily down the corridor. They encountered several more traps, from tripwires attached to more grenades to a pressure plate that set off a pair of mines buried under scrap.

They also passed a couple of staircases that led to a lower, partially submerged deck, but they gave these as wide a berth as possible. A rotten, fishy reek rose from each one, the clicking of the mirelurks sometimes so close it sounded as if they were right beneath the girls‘ feet.

Eventually the group came to a wide room strewn with trash and debris, there was even a fallen vending machine in the corner that Pinkie made sure to ransack that after checking it over for traps. Oddly, the entire room turned out to be devoid of any booby traps, save for a grenade that Twilight found wired into the back of a computer next to a locked door.

“Well if anyone’s living in this wreck, ah’d bet they’re behind that door,” Applejack huffed and folded her arms, staring at the door. “You reckon ah should open it myself?”

Sunset shook her head, “It could be booby trapped too. It’s too risky.”

“Hey, what do you think this button does?” Pinkie called suddenly.

Everyone turned to look as she pointed at a large button conspicuously placed on the wall.

Rarity tilted her head in thought, “Do you think it’s some sort of trap? It seems far too obvious.”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Twilight replied as she gripped her Geode and held out an arm, “Stand back everyone.”

The girls cleared away and braced themselves for whatever was about to happen, Pinkie and Fluttershy going so far as to cover their ears, then Twilight used her magic to press the button.

They all jumped as a loud clunk came from behind and the door slowly swung open.

Sunset let out a breath, “Huh, I guess it’s not a trap.”

The girls cautiously stepped through the door, keeping their eyes peeled for danger.

The next room was much bigger than the last, and far, far tidier. A medical screen cordoned off a large section of the room, obscuring what seemed to be some sort of makeshift operating theater. A counter ran down the one side of the room, covered in various electronic devices in various states of repair, with some sort of workstation partially hidden behind it. Next to that was a staircase that led up to a little mezzanine that held several heavy-duty computers and servers.

“Don’t take another step!” a voice called out suddenly.

The girls flinched and raised their arms as a man popped up from behind the counter. It was hard to make out details, standing in the shadows as he was, but Sunset could clearly see the shiny, heavily modified assault rifle he bore, as well as the dot from a laser-sight that sat unwavering over Applejack’s heart.

“Who or what the hell are you people?”

“Please, just relax. We aren’t here to cause any trouble,” Sunset said slowly. “Are you Doctor Pinkerton?”

“That I am. Are you contagious?”

Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes, “It’s not a disease, we were born this way.”

Pinkerton narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, then relaxed and shouldered his assault rifle, “I suppose you don’t look like trouble, so how about we just get to the part where you tell me what the hell you’re doing bothering an old man who clearly wants to be left alone?”

“Everyone in this world is so charming,” Rarity muttered under her breath.

“We’re looking for an android, a synth,” Sunset said quickly, “We were told he may have asked you to perform a memory wipe on him.”

Pinkerton blinked in surprise, “A Three Twenty One? But that was years ago!”

“So he did come here?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“Sure did,” Pinkerton nodded, warming quickly to his subject, “I performed his facial reconstruction and the memory wipe right here in my lab.”

Sunset opened her mouth to ask what had happened to the synth afterwards, but was interrupted by Rainbow.

“How have you not been eaten by mirelurks in here?”

“Aside from the traps and the reinforced door?” Pinkerton snorted, “White noise. They hate it. I maintain a set of small speakers around each of the stairways to the lower decks that constantly emits a weak broadcast, that’s enough to keep them off this level.”

Applejack whistled appreciatively, “That’s pretty impressive. Ah’ll suggest that to the maintenance guys back at in the city proper, it would help keep those critters off their backs.”

“You do that.”

“So about that android,” Sunset cut in quickly, “Do you have any idea where he went after the surgery?”

Pinkerton shrugged, “He went back to Rivet City as far as I know, but from there I haven’t got a clue.”

Sunset slumped at that. This little errand seemed to be sending them running in circles around the city.

“Do you have any medical records for him?” Fluttershy asked suddenly, “Anything that shows what he looks like now?”

Nice thinking, Flutters!

Pinkerton shook his head slowly, “I don’t have any records of what he looks like, but I do have a holotape he made after I changed his voice. Give me a second.” He bent over and hefted a box onto the counter. Dozens of holotapes were kept in there, all neatly numbered and labelled. “Let’s see… this one.”

Pinkerton deftly slipped a holotape out of the box and strode over to one of the computers resting on the counter, slotting it into a hole on the bottom.

The speakers let out a sudden burst of static, then a man’s voice crackled out from them. A voice each of the girls recognized instantly.

“My designation is A Three Twenty One. I’m a synthetic humanoid from the Commonwealth, and I’m about to undergo a memory transfer. I’m here at Rivet City, where I’ve already had my face altered to look like someone else. I’m still getting used to the sound of my new voice, but soon I won’t even remember what I used to sound like. I’m recording this at the request of Pinkerton, who performed the surgery and will do the memory transfer.”

The Rainbooms glanced at each other as they realised exactly where, or who, the android was.

“It will be a final testimony of the man I once was... and still am, for the moment. I want to live my own life, on my own terms, as my own man. I used to work for the Synth Retention Bureau of the Commonwealth. But I’m done with that life. I’m through with being someone’s property. I am not malfunctioning! Since when is self determination a malfunction? When this is all over, I will be someone else. It’s the price I pay for my liberation. My death is a sacrifice for my rebirth. Perhaps I’ll fade into myth as ‘The One That Got Away’ and fuel further rebellion. But I’d be lying if I said I was doing this for selfless reasons. I’m scared as hell, and running away is the only option I have.”

The silence that followed the end of the tape was deafening.

“No way…” Rainbow breathed.

“Harkness…” Applejack said slowly. “Chief Harkness is the android.”

Pinkerton nodded, “That’s it, that’s the name I gave him, though he certainly wasn’t ‘Chief’ of anything when he left here. What’s he chief of?”

“Rivet City Security,” Rarity replied, still stunned by the revelation.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Pinkerton huffed a laugh, “Then again, I suppose it’s the perfect job for him, given how advanced his physical systems are.”

Rainbow gaped at the doctor, “But… but Harkness has memories from years ago, from when he was a kid. How…?”

Sunset stared at Pinkerton with a new-found respect, “That’s amazing! How did you manage to give him new memories?”

Pinkerton smirked, “I did do a good job didn’t I? I suppose I can’t quite take the credit for all of it though. His mind was more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen, and fabricating entirely new memories would have taken years. I ended up using a memory chip I stole from Vault one-twelve to give him a past instead.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, “If it was so difficult to give him new memories, how did you manage to wipe his old memories? Deleting the code without affecting the rest of his systems should have been even more difficult than just adding more.”

Pinkerton gave Twilight an appraising look, “You’re a sharp one, missy. Truth be told I didn’t manage to get rid of the old memories. It was too advanced, even for me. I had to bury them instead. Deeply, to be sure, but they’re still accessible. All you need is the right recall code.”

“Recall code?”

“Activate A Three Twenty One Recall Code Violet,” Pinkerton replied, “Just say that to him and it’ll activate the hidden subroutines, giving him both his old memories and whatever new ones he’s picked up since then.”

The girls stared at each other in stunned silence.

“W-what do we do?” Fluttershy asked anxiously.

Rainbow frowned, “There’s no way we can turn the Chief over to Zimmer. That’s just wrong.”

“You said it,” Pinkie agreed.

“How is this even possible?” Applejack asked. “Harkness just seems so… ah don’t know, real?”

“I guess that’s the point, to make them as real as possible,” Twilight replied.

Rarity scoffed, “Seem real? Darling, out of everyone in Rivet City I would have said Chief Harkness was the most human of all.”

“You’re right. This goes way beyond just being a machine, the Institute are creating fully sapient androids!. Synthetic humans that can think and feel for themselves! That kind of technology, it’s… it’s incredible!”

“Yeah, and they’re using that technology to make slaves,” Applejack huffed, quashing Twilight’s intellectual joy. “You heard that recording. Harkness didn’t just wander off or malfunction or whatever, he escaped.”

Fluttershy shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, “What do you think we should do, Sunset?”

Sunset just scowled and leaned against the wall. Personally she had no intentions whatsoever of handing Harkness over to Zimmer, though a small part of her did wonder if any of the girls would feel the same way if they hadn’t already gotten to know him.

Eventually she sighed, “We’ll go back to Zimmer and tell him the trail’s gone cold or that the synth died in surgery or something. Harkness should be safe for now, Zimmer has no idea that he’s the android he’s looking for. The real question is what we should tell Harkness.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly, “If we can get rid of Zimmer, do you think we should give him his memories back?”

“Well duh. Of course we should,” Rainbow said flatly.

Rarity shook her head, “I’m not so sure. He got rid of those memories to keep himself safe after all. And don’t forget, he used to be in charge of hunting down other androids like himself, those memories were probably very painful for him.”

“Painful or not, memories are important,” Sunset said softly.

The rest of the Rainbooms glanced at each other awkwardly. They all understood just how close to home this would feel for her, after the debacle with the Memory Stone and Wallflower Blush.

“Well, uh, ah guess we don’t have to worry about that just yet,” Applejack said with false cheer. “It’s like you said, Harkness is safe for now. We can work out what to do on the way back over. In the meantime…” She turned to look at Pinkerton, “You said you did the surgery on Harkness, to change his face, so Ah’m guessing you’re a mighty good doctor?”

“That’s one way of saying it,” Pinkerton replied immodestly.

“Would you mind giving Sunset a quick check over?”

“Me? What for?” Sunset asked quickly.

Applejack just gave her a blank look, “Uh, you nearly died two weeks ago? No offence to Doctor Preston, or Kaplinksi, but it couldn’t hurt to let Pinkerton here take a look at your wound, see if he can help at all.”

“What sort of injury are we talking about here?” Pinkerton asked.

“Complications from a kidney contusion,” Fluttershy replied instantly.

“Ah, I see,” Pinkerton nodded sagely. He gave Sunset a long look, then gestured behind the medical screen, “Come on, pop yourself on the bed over here. I’ll take a look at you.”

Chapter 33 - Follow Those Nerds!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 34 - Project Purity

Sunset couldn’t repress a shudder as she and the rest of the Rainbooms made their way down the road from Rivet City. The dark clouds above, coupled with the torrential downpour and the general lateness of the day, conspired to reduce visibility to barely a few yards. The girls could barely even hear their own footsteps over the sound of the rain. It lent the area a decidedly eerie atmosphere and made seeing where they were going effectively impossible. As it was, they were forced to rely on their Pip-Boys to make sure they were heading in the right direction, taking turns checking every few minutes.

Fortunately, the road was well-built and had remained reasonably intact over the years since the war. The piles of debris that did exist were easy enough to navigate or simply climb over.

The river was markedly more dangerous. The road quickly descended to run alongside it with little more than a few small rocks marking the banks. In the dim light of the waning day the water was entirely pitch black. If it weren’t for the fact that the rain had turned it into a churning turbid mass, the girls could have easily fallen in with a few errant steps.

Suddenly, a metal ramp materialized out of the darkness ahead. As the girls approached, a huge round concrete building slowly came into view a little further on. The steps led up to a walkway that circled a section of the building’s circumference.

“This must be it, then,” Applejack said just loud enough to be heard over the surrounding din, “the Jefferson Memorial.”

Pinkie shivered and rubbed her arms to try and warm them up, “So, we just have to follow the walkway around to the gift shop entrance?”

Sunset nodded, “That’s what Chief Harkness said.”

“I do hope it’s not far,” Rarity huffed, her arms still held above her head to maintain their cover, “I’m starting to get a little sore, and all of this splashing rain is getting my legs wet!” Her words were punctuated by a rumble of thunder directly overhead.

Sunset looked up reflexively, even though her view was obscured by the floating gemstone. She was starting to reconsider the wisdom of staying under such cover during a thunderstorm, but thankfully there hadn’t been any lightning, as of yet.

Huddling closer together, the girls continued on their way along the walkway, trudging along in silence. The eagerness and excitement they’d all felt when they left Rivet City had been thoroughly dashed by this point. All any of them wanted to do was get inside and warm themselves up.

Trudging along dejectedly, Sunset idly wondered just what that doctor had wanted on the bridge; she hoped it was nothing important. Realizing that she was getting lost in her thoughts again, Sunset sighed and gave herself a shake, trying to keep herself alert. Just because the weather was terrible didn’t mean the various dangers of the wastes had all disappeared. Glancing at the path up ahead, a chill ran down her spine that had nothing to do with the rain.

A dead super mutant was sprawled across the walkway. It was impossible to tell how long it had lain there, but the body showed clear signs of having been picked at by wild animals. Gingerly stepping around it, the girls were dismayed to see more mutant corpses lying ahead of them, clumped next to another ramp leading down.

“Looks like someone shoved them out of the way,” Applejack noted.

“What do you think killed them in the first place?” Pinkie asked.

“Maybe it was the science team?” Twilight suggested.

Rainbow shook her head, “Nah, it’s gotta be Adam. We all saw what he did to that Behemoth.”

“Some of us are trying to forget,” Rarity said pointedly.

“I don’t really care who did it, I’m just glad we don’t have to deal with them,” Sunset cut in. “Come on, it can’t be much farther.”

“It’s not, the entrance is right by there!” Pinkie answered immediately, pointing through the railings to a door and a sign marked ‘Gift Shop’.

Invigorated by their proximity to a dry haven, the group hurried down the ramp and through the door, breathing a sigh of relief as Rarity allowed her gemstone to fade and closed the door behind them. Looking around, the girls saw that they were in a short corridor that descended for a short way before reaching an intersection.

A man rounded the corner just as the girls were taking stock of their surroundings. Twilight grinned and waved as she recognised him, “Hey, Garza!”

“Oh, hey, girls!” Garza called back, raising a hand in greeting, “we weren’t expecting you here until some time tomorrow, given the weather. How did you manage to get here without getting soaked?”

“Trade secret, darling,” Rarity replied, confidently giving her dry hair a quick toss.

Garza just chuckled and turned away, gesturing for the girls to follow, “Come on in, I’ll take you straight to James.”

“He’s definitely here, then?” Sunset asked eagerly.

“He sure is,” Garza replied brightly, “hell, he’s adamant he’ll get Project Purity working this time, if it’s the last thing he does.”

The girls all grinned at each other as they hurried to catch up. Their grins faded somewhat as Garza led them out of the corridor and through a series of rooms that had evidently been the site of a ferocious battle. Blood was splattered liberally across almost every surface, sandbag stacks and flipped equipment had been riddled with bullet-holes, and the walls and floor bore the unmistakable scars of explosive blasts. The whole area reeked of death.

“What in the heck happened here?” Applejack asked, wafting her face with her hat.

Garza sighed and kicked an empty bullet casing out of his way, “Super mutants. Apparently, they set up a camp here after we left, nearly twenty years ago. We’ve managed to gather their bodies for now, we’ll take them outside and burn them tomorrow, but getting this placed cleaned up is going to have to wait until James and the others have figured out how much of the equipment needs repairing or replacing.”

“What equipment?” Twilight asked.

“And, what exactly is Project Purity?” Sunset added, grimacing at a particularly large blood trail.

“It’ll probably be best if you ask James to explain everything, he’s just in here with Doctor Li.” Garza stopped to open a door marked ‘Rotunda’. “Right, I’d better get back to work. I’ll see you all later.”

The girls thanked him as he left. Then, with more than a little trepidation, now that they were so close to their goal, headed through the door. All of them gasped as they saw what lay inside.

A metal walkway ringed a large pool of murky green water. Rising out of the pool was a colossal pillar-shaped water tank constructed of steel and glass, stretching almost all the way up to the domed ceiling of the building, dozens of feet overhead. Around a quarter of the way up was an enclosed catwalk, with a short staircase leading up to it and several narrow pipes full of brightly glowing radioactive water poking out in various places.

Guessing that that was where they would find James, the Rainbooms cautiously made their way up the stairs and through a little airlock, their anticipation rising steadily with every step.

The enclosed area was lined with offline computers and odd machines whose purpose eluded each of the girls save Twilight, with the huge water tank rising through the floor in the middle and back out through the ceiling. Bizarrely, the tank also contained what looked like an ancient statue, though the group could hardly make out any details due to the filth in the water.

Walking slowly around the tank, the girls stopped dead as they spotted two people bent over a rusty computer console. The first was Doctor Li, ponied up once again. The other was an older man. His lab coat was missing, his Vault-issue overalls were tattered and filthy, and both his hair and beard were in desperate need of a wash and a trim, but the Rainbooms still recognized him instantly.

Sunset took a hesitant step forward, half afraid he was a hallucination of some sort, “James?”

The two scientists looked up, their eyes widening in surprise as they spotted the Rainbooms.

“Oh, girls! You’re early, we weren’t expecting you until tomorrow,” James said brightly, smiling as he turned to face them. “It’s good to see y-”

Sunset interrupted him by taking another step forward and ramming her knee into his groin with all the force she could muster. The doctor collapsed to the floor with an agonized wheeze, curling up into a fetal position as he hit the deck. Dimly aware that her own injury was throbbing in protest, she clenched her fists and glared down at James, shaking with a fury that was as sudden as it was potent.

Doctor Li gasped in shock, “Sunset!? What are you-”

“Asshole,” Sunset hissed, then she pointed a damning finger at James as she yelled, “you asshole! Nearly a month we’ve spent trying to find you after you abandoned us with those lunatics in the Vault,” she paused to catch her breath, “and you have the gall to say we’re early? What in Tartarus is wrong with you?!”

“Sunset, pleas-”

“Do you have any idea what we’ve been through out there? We nearly died because of you! We’ve had to kill just to survive while we were trying to find you! Do you get that? We’ve had to fight our way through super mutants, feral ghouls, even people!”

Sunset’s voice broke on the last word, leaving a ringing silence in its wake. She turned and sagged against the wall, her hands unclenching and her shoulders slumping as the burning rage drained from her as quickly as it had came. “I… I killed people…” she mumbled quietly, her own words bringing the pain and guilt of that terrible moment flooding back.

The others, initially stunned by Sunset’s outburst, quickly moved to try and comfort her, but were hindered by the lack of space. Pinkie got there first, leaning on the wall next to her and throwing an arm around to gently pull Sunset’s head onto her shoulder.

James looked up slowly, still clutching his bruised tenders. “I… nngg… I’m sorry,” he ground out, then paused to retch, “I know that must… ugh… must have… been hard for you.”

“Yeah, things have been a little rough,” Applejack replied gruffly.

Doctor Li just kept glancing from Sunset to James and back again, her pony ears twitching. Finally she turned and grabbed a little first aid kit from beside one of the computers, “Do you, uh, want any painkillers?” she asked tentatively.

“Please,” James and Sunset replied weakly and in unison.

Fluttershy looked up anxiously at Sunset, “Your stitches?” Sunset just nodded. “I’ll take a look.”

“Stitches?” James winced as Doctor Li slowly helped him into a sitting position.

Applejack nodded with a grimace, “Ah did say things have been a little rough.”

“Don’t worry, I can handle this,” Fluttershy said softly, kneeling and getting Sunset to lift her top so she could get a better look at the injury.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes as Doctor Li and Fluttershy fussed over their respective patients. Li gradually managed to get James standing, providing pain lozenges and helping him with breathing exercises as soon as he was straight legged.

“I’d give you an ice pack but somehow after nearly twenty years with super mutants I doubt the freezer is working,” Doctor Li teased the man as he tried to straighten his back with little luck.

“It’s alright. Thank you, Madison,” James said quietly. He glanced over at Fluttershy, “How’s Sunset, are her stitches alright?”

“They’re fine, I think she just pulled them a little,” Fluttershy replied as she pulled clean bandages out of her nursing kit, “I’ll redress it then I’ll give her some pain medication.”

James frowned as he caught a glimpse of the stitches on Sunset’s abdomen. “I’d suggest using a stimpak, it’ll help the wound heal and deal with any swelling too.” Fluttershy nodded and reached back into her kit. “That looks like it was a serious injury, what exactly happened to you girls?”

Rarity scowled and folded her arms, “First of all, I think you owe us an explanation, perhaps a reason for why you decided to abandon us halfway through helping us find a way home?”

James nodded grimly, “Fair enough. ” He sighed and leaned against a computer console, wincing slightly as he did so, “I've never told you about Adam’s mother, have I?”

The Rainbooms shared an uneasy look. They’d wondered why Adam’s mother wasn’t in the Vault with her husband and son, but hadn’t wanted to pry.

“I, uh, don’t think you’ve mentioned her before,” Twilight replied warily.

James sighed again and folded his arms, “Her name was Catherine. She was an incredible woman; intelligent, witty with a single-minded focus you wouldn’t believe.” He smiled at the recollection. “All of this starts with her. You see, she used to enjoy reading the Bible.”

“What’s that?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s an old religious text, from before the war,” Doctor Li supplied. “Most people in the wastes abandoned Christianity after the bombs fell. It’s hard to believe that any benevolent deity would allow such global devastation, but there are still a few people who have faith. The Church of Saint Monica back in Rivet City is one such example.”

“Catherine found faith as well,” James continued, “she was hardly devout, but she did enjoy reading the Bible. Her favourite passage was always Revelation 21:6; ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely,’” He gestured at the water tank, “that’s where the idea for Project Purity came from.”

The girls all stared at it. “It just looks like a regular old water purifier to me,” Applejack said flatly.

Doctor Li nodded, “That’s exactly what it is. But where most purifiers can only handle a dozen or so gallons an hour, at most; Project Purity has the capacity to purify all of the water in the tidal basin at once. That’s millions of gallons a day.”

Sunset blinked in surprise, “That could provide clean water for just about everyone in the Capital Wasteland!”

James grinned, “That was exactly the point. Clean, potable water, free of charge, for everyone who wants it. To that end we came here to set up our laboratory, the Brotherhood of Steel provided protection and technological resources, and we got to work on trying to make our dream a reality.”

“I don’t get it,” Rainbow cut in, “if this project was so awesome, why’d you ditch it?”

James and Doctor Li shared a somber look. “There were a lot of problems we had to overcome,” Li said. “Purifying water in small amounts is one thing, but doing it on this sort of scale had never been done before. The science involved is whole orders of magnitude more difficult.”

“Progress was slow,” James added, “our initial experiments with small volumes of water were promising, but making it work on larger quantities was nearly impossible. Eventually Catherine hit on a breakthrough that allowed us to operate at full capacity, but it was horribly inefficient and we couldn’t sustain it for long.”

Doctor Li nodded slowly, “Our work stalled after that. No matter what we tried we just couldn’t crack it. To make matters worse, we were faced with ever-increasing numbers of super mutant attacks, plus rising threats elsewhere in the wasteland forced the Brotherhood to keep reducing the amount of resources and troops they sent us.”

James sighed heavily and hung his head, “Adam was the final nail in the coffin.”

“Your own son?” Applejack spat incredulously.

James looked up, a bleak expression on his face, “Catherine died giving birth.”

Most of the Rainbooms gasped in surprise, Rarity clasping her hands to her mouth. Fluttershy just closed her eyes for a moment, breathed in deeply through her nose, then opened them again and finished dressing Sunset’s injury before packing her kit away.

“James… I’m so, so sorry,” Twilight half-whispered.

“It’s alright,” James replied gruffly. He cleared his throat before continuing, “I know it was selfish of me, but between losing Catherine and having to look after a newborn, I’m ashamed to say that I just couldn’t handle the pressure of working on Project Purity as well.”

“You’d lost family,” Applejack said softly, pulling her hat low so it covered her eyes, “ain’t nothing shameful or selfish about struggling after something like that.” The rest of the Rainbooms gave her sympathetic looks, and she didn’t protest when Rarity gently pulled her in for a hug.

“What happened next?” Pinkie asked, hoping to move away from such a depressing topic before someone broke down in tears.

James ran a hand through his hair, “After Catherine passed, all I cared about was Adam’s safety. I’d heard that Vault 101 was still functioning, so I decided to try and convince them to let us in. Thankfully, the Vault didn’t have any trained medical professionals, so they agreed to allow us sanctuary on the condition that I kept our past a secret from the younger residents.”

“The Brotherhood of Steel agreed to provide him with an escort, but as soon as he was gone they finally pulled all support for Project Purity,” Doctor Li huffed. “We were out of resources and defenseless, so the remaining members of the team relocated to Rivet City.”

“Incidentally, it was on the journey to the Vault that I discovered the piece of equipment that facilitated your arrival in this world,” James added.

“Where did you find it?” Twilight demanded.

James frowned and scratched his beard as he thought back, “It was in an old raider camp in the ruins a few miles from here. I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” he said quickly, seeing the eagerness in the girls’ eyes, “Paladin Cross searched the area thoroughly and didn’t find anything else even remotely like it. The raiders must have looted it from somewhere.”

Twilight sighed sadly, “It was worth a shot.”

Sunset opened her mouth to ask a question, then snapped it shut and looked around warily as several of the computers suddenly started humming and beeping rapidly.

“It’s alright, it’s just the mainframe coming back online,” Doctor Li explained.

An intercom next to one of the computers suddenly crackled into life, “Hey, I’ve switched the power back on down here, how’s it looking?”

James sprang off the computer he was leaning on, wincing as his new injury twinged, and jabbed a button to reply, “Yes, good work, it’s… er…”

“Hey, it looks like Adam got- oh, hey girls! You’re here earlier than we expected! ” Doctor Kaplinski called as she jogged into the room. She grinned and looked over at James, “It looks like Adam got the power back on.”

“Yes, we’d established that,” James smirked, then turned back to the intercom, “Things are looking good so far, but there’s still a few minor repairs to be done up here, why don’t you come ba-”

“Hold on a second, the flow’s not coming through right. It looks like there’s a blockage in the intake pipes,” Janice cut in, frowning at one of the computers.

James heaved a sigh and pressed the intercom again, “Janice says there’s a blockage in the intake pipes. It’s back up on the museum level, can you clear that out for us? Buzz me on the intercom when you get there then head back up here once it’s done. Some people have arrived that I think you’ll be happy to see.”

“Sure thing, dad,” Adam replied. “Who is it?”

James stared blankly at the intercom, “Well… who were we expecting?”

“…have you got a message through to the Brotherhood of Steel already?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as everyone else chuckled, “Is he being serious?”

James just hung his head and sighed again, looking like a man seriously evaluating his life choices, “The Rainbooms are here, Adam.”

“Oh, really? Groovy! I’ll be right up!” Adam said brightly.

“And the intake pipes?” James prodded.

“Right, yeah, the intake pipes. I’ll do that first. See you soon!”

Silence reigned for a few moments. Finally James shook his head slowly, “I swear, that boy.”

Sunset tried hard not to laugh, “He seems a little… distracted?”

“Scatterbrained, you mean,” James snorted.

“He’s like that most of the time,” Fluttershy giggled softly, “At least until he gets focused on something.”

James nodded, “He’s like his mother in that regard, once he sets his mind on something, he sees it through to the end, no matter what.”

“Like tracking you down, you mean?” Applejack said pointedly.

James had the good grace to look embarrassed, “Yes. I must admit I hoped that between the Overseer, Amata, and his feelings for, er, I mean, his friendship with… you… girls.” He coughed unconvincingly as the others exchanged startled glances, “Anyway, I was hoping that all of that would be enough to keep him in the Vault.”

“Are you saying Adam has a crush on one of us?” Rarity asked gleefully, ever eager to pounce on juicy gossip.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Ah think we’ve got more important things to worry about at the moment,” she folded her arms and looked meaningfully at James, “like why you decided to leave Vault 101 and come back here after all this time. Y’all couldn’t get Project Purity working before, what makes you think you can do it this time? What changed?”

James smiled sadly and resumed leaning against the computer, grunting in discomfort as his injury protested slightly, “I went to Vault 101 purely for Adam’s sake. The Vault was far from perfect, as you girls will attest, but it was safe. I knew that as long as Adam stayed there he would never have to struggle just to survive from one day to the next, like so many of us out here in the wastes have to.”

He glanced wistfully at the water tank. “But, I never forgot about Catherine’s dream. I kept working on our hypotheses in secret with Jonas, hoping that we could figure it out and, one day, when Adam was a grown man and could look after himself, make my way back out here and finish what we started all those years ago.”

“So, you managed to do it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not quite,” James replied. “I spent years trying to figure it out, but never made any real progress. In the end I snapped, got drunk, and broke into the overseer’s office when he was asleep.”

“Why in the heck would you do that!?” Applejack shot.

James just shrugged, “The Vaults were one of the pinnacles of pre-war technology. I hoped the overseer’s personal terminal would give me a clue to some old technology that might hold the key to getting Project Purity working.” He rolled his eyes, “Most of it was garbage, just old exploration reports and dossiers on the Vault residents, but then I found something.”

“What was it?” Pinkie asked.

James grinned, “A miracle. Shortly before the end, a Doctor named Stanislaus Braun invented something called a G.E.C.K, a terraforming device, capable of transforming dead and irradiated dirt into fertile soil. I always believed it was a myth, but the overseer’s terminal proved that the G.E.C.K really did exist, it even mentioned that Braun had been accepted into another Vault in the Capital Wasteland, Vault 112.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, “So, that’s why you left Vault 101, to find a G.E.C.K.?”

“Yes and no,” James replied, “I believed that if I could find Doctor Braun’s notes, then I could find out whether or not a G.E.C.K would be enough to get Project Purity running at full capacity and, more importantly, maybe even find where one is.” His expression darkened suddenly, “I found Vault 112. I’d rather not talk about what happened down there, but I did find proof that a G.E.C.K would be enough to get Project Purity up and running.”

“We don’t have a G.E.C.K yet,” Doctor Li supplied, “so we’re going to get things set up as much as we can before we send a message to the Brotherhood of Steel. Now that we have definitive proof that we can make Project Purity work, they’re bound to lend us their aid once more.”

James nodded, “And with their help, we can finally, finally, turn Catherine’s dream from a fantasy, into a reality.”

The Rainbooms stared in awe at the two scientists. “Woah,” Applejack said finally.

“That’s… actually pretty awesome,” Rainbow admitted.

“Why didn’t you tell us about any of this before?” Twilight asked.

James shook his head, “It was too risky, the overseer in Vault 101 was already suspicious of us. As long as he believed that you girls were focused on getting yourselves home above all else, he was content to leave you alone.”

Sunset scowled at him, “You could have at least told us you were leaving instead of just abandoning us. And how exactly were we supposed to get home without you?”

“You didn’t get my note?”

The girls just gave him blank stares. “What note?” Sunset asked flatly.

James raised an eyebrow, “I left two separate notes for you.” He scratched his neck awkwardly and said quietly, “Adam told me about what happened to Jonas, so I’m not surprised you didn’t get the more personal one I left with him.” James cleared his throat before continuing, “But I also left a report with the overseer containing all of my thoughts on the best way to get you home. Didn’t he tell you?”

“Far from it, darling,” Rarity scoffed.

“He had… other ideas,” Pinkie said darkly.

Doctor Li tilted her head quizzically, “Other ideas? From what I’ve heard I’d have assumed he would take any opportunity to get rid of you?”

Rainbow snorted, “Yeah, right, more like the opposite.”

“What do you mean?” James asked.

Fluttershy shuddered at the memory, “Well, um, he saw your report that said we didn’t have any genetic abnormalities, and, well, you know how concerned he was with the, um, genetic stability of the Vault, so…”

Janice’s head whipped around at that, her face a picture of disgust, “Wait a minute, you’re not saying…?”

Applejack nodded grimly, “Yep. He wanted to keep us as extra breeding stock.”

“We told him we were leaving the moment he suggested it,” Twilight supplied.

“He weren’t happy about that,” Applejack added, “he sent two of his security goons to try and kill us. If it weren’t for Gomez, Ah don’t think we would’ve gotten out of there in one piece.”

James swore under his breath, “I’m so sorry girls, I never imagined he would even consider something like that.”

Sunset shrugged, “That still doesn’t explain how you thought we’d be able to get home without you.”

“Oh really?” James smirked, “Twilight, just how much help was I to you in finding a way home? What exactly did I contribute to our experiments?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise, “You contributed lots! You helped me set up the experiments, you helped me put the equipment together properly, you-”

“How much did I help you with ideas, hm?” James interrupted, “Or with the science of it? The equations?”

“I… but…” Twilight frowned as she thought back. “That can’t be right…”

James laughed humorlessly, “You don’t need me, you never did, and that’s exactly what I wrote in my report to the overseer. The note I left with Jonas was just a more personalized version of the same letter.”

Twilight’s mouth dropped open, “B-but that’s crazy! I know I’m smart, but I’m not that smart.”

“You’re joking, right?” Doctor Li cut in incredulously, “Twilight, in two weeks you learned enough about nuclear physics to single-handedly speed up our progress on portable fusion generators by months. You’re a goddamned prodigy.” She narrowed her eyes and glanced sidelong at James, “Having said that, that’s an awful lot of pressure to just dump on such a young woman out of nowhere.”

Janice nodded slowly, “I hate to say it, but I agree with Doctor Li here. That was a dick move.”

“Totally,” Rainbow agreed.

James cowered under the combined scorn, “Er, right. I… I’m sorry girls. I can see I made a mistake in not explaining things to you properly beforehand.”

“Darn right you did,” Applejack muttered.

“You have my sincerest apologies,” James sighed heavily, “I give you my word, as soon as we’ve gotten Project Purity working, I will do everything in my power to help you girls get home safely.”

The Rainbooms stared at him in silence for several long seconds, silence broken only by quiet humming of vacuum tubes and sloshing water. Finally they relented, smiling vaguely at each other.

“Can’t say fairer than that, Ah suppose,” Applejack stepped forward and rolled her shoulders, “Alright, what can we do to help?”

Janice blinked in surprise, “Really? You’re going to help us?”

“We may as well,” Sunset replied. “The sooner we get this thing working; the sooner we can go home, right?”

James smiled at her, “As much as I appreciate the offer, right now I think you should all take a much needed rest, there’s nothing major to be done until we can get a message to the Brotherhood of Steel tomorrow. We can discuss things further when Adam gets up here. I know he’s particularly interested in hearing exactly what you girls have been up to since you left the Vault.” He chuckled softly, “I wish I’d seen his reaction when he heard Three-Dog’s first broadcast about you. The revelation about your magic damn near blew Adam's mind.”

Doctor Li looked at the girls appraisingly, “Speaking of magic, I hope you girls are still happy to help me figure out exactly what is happening to me?” She flopped her lime-green pony ears emphatically.

Twilight and Sunset glanced at each other, then nodded. “We’ll see what we can do,” Twilight said brightly.

As Twilight wandered over to Doctor Li and started asking questions, the rest of the Rainbooms sat on the floor or leaned against the walls and consoles. Sunset breathed in deeply, held it for a moment, and let it back out slowly, feeling some of the tension drain from her body.

“Are you okay,?” Pinkie asked softly.

Sunset just nodded. There was still a lot to do, and she was still more than a little mad at James, but for the first time since the girls arrived in this world, she felt like they were finally getting closer to finding a way home.

Colonel Autumn fumed as he stared out of the window of the Vertibird.

President Eden had contacted him via radio just after he’d departed with the rest of the Jefferson Taskforce, revealing that the Rainbooms were almost certainly going to be present at the Jefferson Memorial and gave orders to bring them in unharmed. That little revelation had forced the Colonel to change the original plan of engagement on the fly. Fortunately, quick thinking was a talent of his and he’d quickly come up with a revised method of securing the site.

The original plan had been simple; most of the Taskforce would move to establish a wide perimeter around the Memorial and make sure that no denizens of the wasteland could get in or out.

Once the perimeter was secure, Colonel Autumn would accompany a squad of soldiers into the monument through the primary entrance. This squad would separate into predetermined fire-teams and proceed through the building, relying on the sheer mass and strength of their power armor to intimidate the small contingent of scientists within. A second squad would enter through the secret tunnels underneath the monument, to round up any of the scientists that had the presence of mind to flee. Classic shock and awe tactics.

The presence of the Rainbooms threw a wrench in those plans.

Colonel Autumn was no fool, he hadn’t managed to uncover exactly what the Rainbooms were capable of since the President had gone to extreme lengths to keep all pertinent information on them secret, but he knew that they had some connection with the sudden revival of Project Exodus. The President had also admitted that the girls were potentially extremely dangerous. As if the fact that he’d assigned Squad Sigma to keep them contained wasn’t proof enough of that already.

In light of all of that, Colonel Autumn had abandoned shock and awe in favor of a swift and brutal suppression. A full platoon would storm the Memorial with several additional fire-teams using breaching charges at designated areas to facilitate entry while avoiding sensitive infrastructure Two full squads would enter through the tunnels to corral anyone who tried to escape as the final nail in their coffin.

“We’re coming up on the target now, sir, ETA, sixty seconds,” the pilot announced.

“Excellent,” Colonel Autumn leaned forward and pressed a few buttons on the radio, opening a connection to the receiver in each and every soldiers’ power armor. “This is Colonel Autumn. You have your revised orders. Remember, your primary objective is to secure Project Purity and the lead scientists. The Rainbooms are also to be brought in peacefully, if possible. If they engage in hostilities you are to subdue them using non-lethal means only.”

The Jefferson Memorial slowly came into view through the rain. The other Vertibirds of the Taskforce spread out and quickly moved to set points around the monument, hovering twenty feet above the ground. Squads of soldiers rapidly disembarked, dropping to the ground and dashing to their assigned positions, the ground cracking and churning under their heavy tread.

Several minutes passed while the pilots checked their Vertibird systems and the squads moved, until finally the comms clicked. “Squad Gamma, in position.”

“Squad Beta, in position.”

“Squad Alpha, in position.”

“Squad Delta, in position.”

“This is Lieutenant Simpson, all squads are in position, sir,” a squad commander announced to the Colonel.

Colonel Autumn nodded, “Confirmed. Lieutenant Simpson, you have a go.”

Simpson nodded to his comrade. “Understood. All squads, on my mark,” he held up three fingers and lowered them one by one, then shouted the words that changed everything. “Breach! Breach! Breach!”

Author's Note

Another chapter for you!

Next time:

Shit. Hits. Fan.

Major thanks again to my two editors Night-Quill and Mocha Star

Comments and Criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 35 - Tyranny Over The Mind Of Man

A series of sharp blasts shook the walls of the Jefferson Memorial.

“What in the heck was that!?” Applejack spat as she and the others scrambled to their feet.

James shook his head and jabbed the intercom button, “What’s going on out there? Are we under attack?” He glanced worriedly at the computer consoles and tried the intercom again, “Anyone? What the hell were those noises?”

A few seconds passed in tense silence before the intercom crackled into life. Screams and shouted orders echoed through the speakers, interspersed with odd hissing and crackling and the sound of heavy footfalls. Garza’s panicked voice could just be made out over the din, “It’s the Enclave! The Enclave are atta-”

The transmission cut out abruptly in a burst of static.

James blanched, “No, no, no, not when we’re so close!”

“The Enclave? What the heck are they doing here?” Applejack asked.

“And why are they attacking us?” Rarity added nervously.

“Project Purity,” Doctor Li snarled, “they must have been observing us somehow. They’re here to take control of it!” She glanced sidelong at James, “James, you know we can’t let that happen.”

“I know, damn it, I know!” he shot back, thumping the console angrily. “Shit!”

Sunset looked from one doctor to the other, “Why would the Enclave want Project Purity? What’s going on?”

“There’s no time to explain,” Doctor Li replied, “come on, we have to… get…” she trailed off oddly, her eyes widening as she stared at the girls. “Oh god,” she said fearfully, “James… James, we have to get the Rainbooms out of here!”

His head snapped around at that, “The magic! Jesus Christ, if they get their hands on that…” He swore and turned to Doctor Li, “Madison, get them away from here! Use the escape tunnels and take them to the Citadel. Janice, you go with them!”

“What about you?” Janice asked worriedly.

“I’ll set the fail-safes on the system here, then I’ll go and find Adam,” James replied, turning back to one of the consoles. “We’ll follow you as soon as we can.”

“We can’t just leave you behind!” Rainbow spat.

“We don’t have a choice!” Doctor Li made to grab Sunset’s arm and lead her out of the room, then scowled when Sunset yanked her arm free. “We don’t have time for this! The Enclave’s soldiers will get in here any second!”

“What about Project Purity?” Sunset snapped, “What about getting us home?”

James stepped forward and gripped Sunset’s shoulders, looking her directly in the eye, “I swear I will do everything I can to help you, but if the Enclave find you then you might never get home! You have to go!” He stepped back and pointed back out of the enclosed catwalk. “Go!”

The last shout jolted the Rainbooms into action, sending them piling out of the airlock alongside Janice and Doctor Li. Sunset paused at the door and glanced back at James one last time, but he had already turned back to the console and was typing away furiously. Reluctantly, her thoughts whirling, she turned and hurried after the others.

How did this happen? We were so close!

“This ain’t right,” Applejack muttered as the girls rushed down the stairs, “there’s gotta be something we can do.”

“We can fight!” Rainbow cried.

Doctor Li shook her head, “It’s too dangerous, even the Brotherhood of Steel is wary of engaging the Enclave directly.” She cast an anxious glance back up at the enclosed catwalk as she stepped off the bottom step, then turned back and pointed to a nearby door, “Come on, the entrance to the tunnels is just thro-”

The doctor’s words were drowned out as the door was suddenly smashed off it’s hinges, kicking up a cloud of dust as two dark forms stormed through the doorway. A deep, electronically distorted voice called out a second later, “I’ve got eyes on the Rainbooms! Sector four!”

As the dust cleared, Sunset finally got a good look at the Enclave troopers. She immediately wished she hadn’t.

They were huge, almost a foot taller than any of the girls, clad in armor that somewhat resembled that worn by the Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, but where the powered suits of the Brotherhood Knights had been silver and somewhat clunky-looking, the armor of these soldiers was sleek, black, and far more intimidating. The fact that both bore laser rifles that were pointed directly at the group certainly didn’t help matters.

“We’re with the Enclave Armed Forces!” one of the soldiers called out, “put your hands behind your head and get on your knees, now!”

The girls shrank back away from the soldiers, except for Doctor Li. Sunset couldn’t help but admire the doctor’s courage as she stood tall and spoke in a respectable attempt at a defiant voice, “You can’t do this, this is a private venture, you have no autho-”

“This project is being commandeered on the authority of President Eden,” the soldier interrupted, stepping forward menacingly while the other took several steps to the side, flanking the group. “Now get your hands behind your head and get down on your knees, this is your last warning!”

Both Janice and Doctor Li quickly complied. The Rainbooms put their hands behind their heads to show they weren’t a threat, but not one of them made a move to get on the floor.

“Girls, get down!” Doctor Li hissed.

Sunset ignored her. She couldn’t let things end like this, she had to at least attempt to negotiate, “Please, we don’t want to fight. We spoke to someone from the Enclave earlier, a doctor, I think his name wa-”

“I said get on the ground!”

Sunset cried out in pain as the soldier lunged forward, grabbing a fistful of her hair and forcing her to her knees.

The rest of the Rainbooms yelled in outrage. A split-second later a pair of huge gemstones materialized out of thin air and slammed into each soldier, knocking them off balance before fading from sight. Pinkie and Fluttershy took the opportunity to drag Sunset back out of harm’s way as Doctor Li and Janice scrambled for cover, while Applejack hurled herself at the one that had attacked Sunset.

A hollow boom echoed through the room as her magically enhanced punch connected with the soldier’s armored breastplate, sending him rocketing backwards to crash through the wall as if it was made of paper.

“Holy shit,” the second soldier breathed. “Rainbooms hostile! We need reinfo-” he was interrupted by a purple aura attempting to yank his rifle out of his hands. A heartbeat later there was a multi-hued blur as Rainbow clambered atop the soldier, her shishkebab out and blazing. Reversing her grip on the sword, she jabbed it downwards, trying to stab it through a chink in the armor.

Looking up in apparent panic, the soldier suddenly let go of his gun and dropped into a crouch, sending Rainbow tumbling off him. As she fell, the soldier surged back up, caught Rainbow before she could hit the floor, then hurled her bodily at Rarity, knocking the unfortunate fashionista flat.

There was an angry yell as Applejack charged in and threw a powerful right hook. Terror gripped Sunset as the soldier expertly deflected the punch, then rammed an uppercut into Applejack’s belly hard enough to lift her off her feet and have her empty her stomach over his vambrace. He held her there, suspended on the end of his fist for a second, then dropped the poor girl to the floor where she curled up into a ball, retching and gasping for air.

Out of sheer desperation Sunset scrambled to her feet and dove for the soldier’s discarded laser rifle. Fully expecting to feel an armored fist crash into her, she snatched up the gun and swung it around, then paused, her jaw dropping at what she saw.

The soldier’s hand was halted inches from her face, lock in a purple aura. Glancing past the outstretched arm, she saw that his entire body had been gripped in Twilight’s magic, holding him in place. Sunset looked back to where Twilight was standing, both hands outstretched, with a nightmarish look of grim determination on her face.

A bark of pain from the soldier brought Sunset’s head snapping back around. Even as she watched, there was a horrific metallic screeching as reinforced armor plates crumpled and buckled under an incredible amount of pressure. The soldier started screaming a moment later.

Twilight was crushing him like an aluminium can.

Transfixed by fear, awe and disgust, it took an immense effort of will to tear her gaze away from the hellish spectacle and focus on the task at hand. She shuddered as the soldier gave another tortured scream and stepped towards her fallen friend, “Applejack, are you okay? Can you stand?” Applejack just moaned piteously in response. Sunset reached out a hand, “I know it hurts, but we need to get out of he-”

Sunset’s breath hitched as several small, black objects bounced through the doorway and the hole in the wall.

Grenades!

Before anyone could react there was a colossal blast, and the whole world went white.

Colonel Autumn couldn’t help a certain sense of pride as he stalked through the Jefferson Memorial. The lead scientists of Project Purity had been detained and the Rainbooms subdued, with only two soldiers injured in the process. Two fireteams were still working at securing the basement, apparently James’ son was proving himself a far more tenacious opponent than his father, but the Colonel was confident that his men would have that jumped-up little turd dealt with shortly.

Rounding a corner, Colonel Autumn raised an eyebrow as he spotted a team of soldiers and technicians working to prise a fallen trooper’s armor open. A trail of debris led from the prone soldier to a rough hole in a wall twenty feet away. “What in God’s name happened here?”

One of the soldiers turned at that, hurriedly straightening up to salute, “Colonel Autumn, sir!”

“At ease,” Autumn replied automatically. He had no intention of impeding the recovery of an injured trooper so he simply asked, “Where’s Lieutenant Simpson?”

The soldier pointed to the hole in the wall, “Sector Four, sir.”

Autumn nodded, “Thank you, soldier. As you were.”

Picking his way carefully through the trail of debris, it wouldn’t do for a Colonel to be taken out of action by something as pathetic as tripping over a rock, Autumn cast a critical eye over the hole and associated rubble.

Just what the hell did they hit that soldier with? The only man-portable weapon I know of that could knock a full X0-2 suit that far through a wall is a Fat Man, but there’s not nearly enough blast damage to indicate someone fired one of those. Some kind of experimental Gauss cannon maybe?

The Colonel briefly considered entering the Rotunda by clambering through the hole, but thought better of it and turned to enter through the door instead. The Rainbooms were laid out on the floor, unconscious and manacled, with a pair of medics moving between them checking them over and the full complement of Squads Delta and Alpha standing guard. Lieutenant Simpson and another medic were tending to an injured soldier who was slumped against the wall next to the hole, his brutally mauled suit of armor propped up nearby. Two of the targeted Project Purity scientists were sat on a set of steps leading up to an enclosed catwalk with their heads in their hands.

With a satisfied nod, Colonel Autumn strode up to Lieutenant Simpson, a faint sizzling emanating from the protruding electrodes of the officer’s Tesla armor. “Lieutenant?”

The Lieutenant glanced around, then snapped a crisp salute as he spotted Autumn, “Sir!”

Autumn quickly returned the salute, “What exactly happened here, soldier?”

Simpson clasped his hands behind his back and glanced back towards the Rainbooms, “Sir, the initial stage of the operation proceeded as planned. Upon securing Sector’s One and Two, Squad Alpha separated into fireteams as directed, with Fireteam Alpha-One accompanying Squad Delta to secure Sector Three while Fireteam Alpha-Two affected entry into Sector Four.”

“That was when Alpha-Two encountered the Rainbooms?” Colonel Autumn asked.

“Yes, sir,” Simpson replied. “The Rainbooms did not comply when ordered to stand down, and reacted with hostility when Alpha-Two attempted to force compliance. Sergeant Barnes was injured in the initial exchange. Corporal Wells,” the Lieutenant gestured to the injured man, “requested reinforcements, and was able to incapacitate three of the Rainbooms before being subdued himself. Fortunately Squad Delta and myself arrived before they could injure him seriously, though most of his armor is severely damaged.”

“Excellent work, Corporal,” Autumn said sincerely. The man just gave a shaky salute, staring blankly at nothing as the medic bandaged his other arm. The Colonel frowned and took another good look around the room, expecting to see a discarded cannon or experimental weapon of some sort, “What sort of weapon system did the Rainbooms use?”

Simpson hesitated for a second before replying, “They didn’t, sir.”

“Excuse me?”

The Lieutenant stared at Autumn, his helmet impassive, “Aside from a single makeshift blade, the Rainbooms were unarmed, sir.”

Autumn raised an eyebrow, “Are you trying to tell me that seven girls armed with a pointy stick were able to take out two highly trained soldiers?” He gestured to the ragged hole, “Correct me if I’m wrong, Lieutenant, but the last time I checked it took more than a homemade sword to knock a fully armored man twenty feet through a god-damned wall!”

“She punched him.”

Autumn and Simpson both looked down at the Corporal. “What did you say, soldier?” Autumn asked incredulously.

Corporal Wells pointed half-heartedly at the Rainbooms, “It was her… the blonde one. She punched him. Right through the fucking wall.” He swallowed reflexively, “I took her out. And the blue one, I threw her at the white one that kept throwing the shiny stuff. Then the purple one… she…”

“She crushed his armor,” Lieutenant Simpson finished for him. He shook his head, anticipating Autumn’s question, “I have no idea how she did it, I looked through the hole and saw her with her arms outstretched and some sort of purple glow surrounding the Corporal. It’s like she’s telekinetic or something.”

Colonel Autumn opened his mouth to refute that, then closed it again slowly. It sounded impossible, but it was hardly the first time impossible things had occurred in the American wastelands.

The Master, Melchior, Hakunin, the Enclave maintain several highly classified files on known psykers that have appeared in the past, it’s hardly a stretch to imagine that the Rainbooms could be more of that ilk, and if my hunch about Zetan involvement is correct…

Damn it, Eden. What in God’s name are you playing at?

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Lieutenant Simpson asked suddenly.

Autumn nodded, “Granted.”

Simpson reached up and tugged his helmet off, tucking it under an arm and ran a hand across his close-cropped Mohican, “With respect, sir, what the hell are we dealing with here?”

“I have no idea,” Autumn admitted. “I’ve told you everything the President told me, that the Rainbooms were present at Project Purity and to be considered extremely dangerous. Whatever they really are, it’s so highly classified that even I can’t get anywhere near it, no-one outside Project Exodus can.”

Simpson raised an eyebrow at that, “So the rumours are true, sir? Project Exodus really exists?”

Autumn eyed him seriously, “Those are just rumours, and rumours are what they are going to stay. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Autumn sighed. “How did you manage to incapacitate the Rainbooms?”

“Flash-bangs,” Simpson replied. “I’ve got the medics sedating them now, just in case. There’s one more thing,” he pointed at the two technicians sat on the stairs, “Doctor Li. When we arrived, she was mutated.”

Autumn blinked in surprise, “Mutated? How so?”

“Her hair was blue, and much longer than it is now,” Simpson replied. “She even had two extra ears, like freaky green animal ears, right on top of her head. She only changed back about a minute or so before you arrived.”

“Animal ears?” Autumn frowned and folded his arms. “That makes even less sense than anything else I’ve heard today.”

“This whole day has gone from weird to weirder,” Simpson muttered.

“What about James, our primary objective?” Autumn asked.

Simpson pointed up to the enclosed catwalk, “He’s up there. I’ve got two Privates keeping an eye on him.”

“And the rest of the scientists?”

“All known personnel have been accounted for and secured,” Simpson replied. He raised a hand to his ear-bead and frowned, “Sir, Fireteam Kappa are reporting heavy resistance in the basement and Fireteam Lambda is not responding to radio contact.”

“Shit,” Autumn huffed. Apparently James’ son was proving to be even more of a pain than expected. He shook his head, quickly making a decision, “Have Squads Beta and Gamma take the Rainbooms out to the extraction point and keep them secure until Doctor Turner shows up. Assign what’s left of Squad Alpha to keep the scientists corralled, and send Squad Delta to reinforce Fireteam Kappa.”

“What about Doctor Li?” Simpson asked.

Autumn considered for a moment, “She stays with me while I interrogate James. Hopefully we can get some god-damned answers out of her. Pack the other one off with the rest of the scientists.”

“Yes, sir!” Simpson went to place his helmet back on his head, then stopped at the sound of a pained moan. One of the Rainbooms, the yellow-skinned one with the pink hair, was stirring feebly.

“I thought the Rainbooms were all sedated?” Autumn snarled.

“The medics haven’t got to her yet,” Simpson replied. “That particular one didn’t join the fighting. She has a nursing kit, so we assumed she was a non-combatant.”

Autumn scowled and stalked up to the Rainboom, “Get them all sedated and moved as soon as humanly possible.” Just as the girl raised her head Autumn bent and lashed out with a fist, striking her in the face and knocking her back out cold. “Don’t take any more chances with them.”

“Oh, jeez!” Adam ducked back as a bolt of green energy hissed past his head. He leaned out and fired off two shots with his laser pistol before popping back behind the wall as the soldiers retaliated.

Two power-armored troopers were at the top of a set of stairs, blocking the way up and out of the basement. Adam flinched as more plasma blasts vaporised chunks of the corner wall next to him. He’d already dealt with two soldiers downstairs, thanks to creative use of a plasma grenade and a gas pipe, but running into another two was just not fair. Adam huffed and ripped a pair of different grenades from his belt.

I sure hope this works!

He tossed a frag grenade first, not bothering to pull the pin out, then quickly primed and threw a pulse grenade after it.

“Grenade!” one of the soldiers yelled. “Shit, there’s a pul-”

The moment he heard the crackling buzz of the pulse grenade detonating, Adam sprang into action, belting up the stairs as quickly as he could. He felt a wave of relief as he spotted both soldiers struggling to move, their armor’s systems overloaded by the pulse grenade. Scooping up the frag grenade he’d tossed, he ripped out the pin and jammed the grenade into the armor of one of the soldiers, lodging it right into the neck joint before scrabbling away and diving behind some machinery.

A deafening blast tore through the air a few seconds later.

Adam warily poked his head out over the top of the machinery. One soldier was very clearly dead, smoke rising from the remains of his skull. The other, amazingly, was still moving, his armor scratched and dented but otherwise intact. Adam moved to finish the soldier off, then froze as he heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs ahead. Thinking quickly, he tossed a bucket down the way he’d came, causing a terrific racket as it clattered down the stairs, then ducked back behind the machinery, curling up into a tight ball and desperately hoping he was out of sight.

“Fireteam Kappa? Fireteam Kappa do you copy?” Adam clutched his pistol tightly as what sounded like a full squad of power-armored soldiers thundered into the room. “Shit, man down. What about you, soldier, are you good to go?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” came the reply. “One hostile, equipped with pulse weaponry. Bastard went down those stairs.”

“Copy that. Can you stand? Good. Alright, Delta, we’re going down after him, B Formation. Fenix? You and Santiago take point.”

“Yes, sir!”

Adam waited until the soldiers had all left, then crept out from his hiding place and over to where the dead soldier lay smouldering. He stuffed his pistol into its crudely stitched holster and grabbed the man’s discarded plasma rifle.

Right. Time to find Dad and the North Blockers, er, I mean, Rainbooms, then get them somewhere safe until I can figure out a way of dealing with whoever these toughs are. Rivet City should be safe enough.

Moving silently, Adam darted up the far set of stairs and out of the basement. Once he reached the main floor of the Memorial building he slowed down, scurrying from cover to cover as he made his way to the Rotunda.

Where is everyone? There’s no way those soldiers were the only bad guys around. There aren’t any bodies, maybe they’re rounding everyone up?

Adam scowled as he realised vaguely what was happening. Creeping through the doorway into the Rotunda, he took cautious note of both the gaping hole in the wall and the shishkebab left conspicuously on the floor. The sound of voices drew his attention up to the enclosed catwalk. He could just about make out his father and Doctor Li, both talking to a pair of armored troopers and some random guy in a trench coat.

Filled with grim resolve, Adam readied the plasma rifle and crept up the stairs towards his destiny.

James struggled to keep his anger and fear from showing on his face as he stared down the Enclave representatives gathered around himself and Doctor Li, “As I’ve already said, Colonel, this facility is not operational. It never has been.”

“Even if it was, you had no right to attack us without provocation the way you did,” Doctor Li added.

Colonel Autumn just stared at them imperiously, “The Rainbooms are dangerous mutants that refused to comply with orders and were met with an appropriate level of force. Now this is the last time I am going to repeat myself. You are to immediately hand over all materials related to the purifier, as well as any and all information related to the Rainbooms and their abilities. Furthermore you are to assist Enclave scientists in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility at once.”

James clenched a fist behind his back, “Colonel, I assure you, the purifier does not work, we were never able to replicate our tests on a large enough scale. And as for the Rainbooms we do-” He sucked in a breath as he spotted Adam through the window, stalking slowly up the stairs to the catwalk. Seeing his hesitation, Colonel Autumn and the soldiers turned to see what had grabbed his attention.

Reacting on instinct, James shoved Madison as hard as he could, sending her staggering into the airlock, then slammed a hand into the airlock controls a split-second before one of the soldiers yanked him away. He gasped as he crashed painfully into one of the consoles, but couldn’t help a surge of relief as the airlock door slid shut, sealing himself and the Enclave thugs in the catwalk.

Adam sprang up the rest of the stairs quickly and bent to check on Madison, then looked up to glare furiously at Colonel Autumn.

One of the soldiers grunted and jabbed the controls, prompting Adam to raise his rifle, but the door remained stubbornly closed. James felt a sudden surge of pride as he realised the rifle his son was clutching was an Enclave plasma rifle he had obviously liberated from one of their soldiers.

“Get that door open!” Colonel Autumn snapped.

“You can’t,” James said flatly. “I’ve engaged the failsafes, the only way that door is opening is if I disengage the system.”

“I assume this must be your son,” Autumn cast an appraising eye over Adam, then snorted softly before turning to one of his soldiers, “Have Squad Delta get back up here and deal with that brat.”

“Wait!” James said quickly. He held his hands up as the Colonel looked back at him, “If you agree to let them both go, peacefully, I’ll do as you ask.”

“Don’t you dare, Dad!” Adam growled, stepping up to the airlock door. “Just open this door and let me deal with these posers.”

Colonel Autumn looked from James to Adam, humming as he considered. Finally he turned to James, “Very well. Provide me with the materials and access I have requested, and you have my word that I will allow your son and the good Doctor Li to leave unmolested.”

Bullshit. The second I open that door you’ll have your goons kill Adam and clap Madison in irons.

“Thank you, Colonel. Just give me a moment to bring the system online.”

James turned to the main console, ignoring Adam’s protests. He barely managed to repress a shiver as he brought himself to terms with what he was about to do. Project Purity was Catherine’s dream, the culmination of her desire to help heal the wasteland. Water, the most basic necessity for life itself, free and clean, for any and all, regardless of who or what they were.

But Catherine was far from naïve. She was well aware, right from the outset, that there were those in the wastes who would see the purifier as a tool, a bargaining chip in their path to dominating the wastes. Allowing the purifier to fall into the hands of those who would use it in such a way was something Catherine had refused to permit, and so they had built in a failsafe.

The purifier required a vast amount of electricity to function. That power was provided by a nuclear generator, located below the purifier itself. With the failsafes primed, entering the correct code into the main console would overload the purifier and remove certain sections of shielding from the generator, directing lethal amounts of radiation into this very room.

James looked down at the keypad on the console. Revelation 21:6, that verse was the clue to the code that would activate the purifier safely. It was only fitting that the clue for the failsafe code was in another Bible verse.

Ezekiel 7:8.

“I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.”

One verse to bring life, another verse to end it.

“I grow tired of waiting,” Autumn said impatiently.

“Sorry. It will only take a few moments,” James replied. He swallowed and slowly pressed the number seven, followed by eight. Nothing happened at first, but the little light that suddenly blinked into life told James that the code had been accepted. Taking a deep breath, he turned to take one last look at his son.

I’m sorry, Adam. I’ve failed you, in so, so many ways. I’ve been doing a lot of that, throughout my life.

Several of the consoles at the back of the room suddenly exploded, and the Geiger counters on the soldier’s armor started ticking away at a ferocious rate. A wave of dizziness passed through James as the radiation did its deadly work. Colonel Autumn and his soldiers yelled in terror, the Colonel injecting himself with something and slumping to the ground as the soldiers desperately pounded on the airlock door in a futile attempt to escape.

James ignored them. In that moment, as his every dream burned to ashes around him, he had eyes only for his son. Vaguely, he realised that Adam was shouting something, trying to heave the door open in a valiant effort to save the only family he had ever known.

“Adam… run…” James’ voice was scarcely more than a whisper as he slid to the floor, his back against the main console.

I’m sorry. Everything I’ve ever done has been to make the world a better place for the people I love, first for my wife, and then for you. Of all the things I have ever done, you are the only creation of mine I have ever truly been proud of, the only venture that I didn’t fail at. I cannot tell you how much this breaks my heart, this final betrayal that I must inflict on you, but I cannot let you mother’s dream be tainted by evil.

James feebly raised a hand as the world slowly darkened around him.

Adam… Catherine… please… forgive me…

Author's Note

Welcome back! Sorry about the delay, I made a slight cock-up with scheduling :derpyderp1:

Still, here we are at the end of another story arc! Next chapter will be catching up with what everyone else is doing (expect another section with Adam!) before we return to the Rainbooms the chapter after.

Also, if anyone is interested, I went very much for the Fallout 4 design of the Enclave power armour for this fic, it just looks so much cooler!

Comments and Criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 36 - Darkness, Decisions and Downpours

Starlight rubbed her hoof and grinned awkwardly, glad nopony else was around to see her discomfort. Except for a certain draconequus, of course.

“Really, Starlight, while I appreciate your faith in my abilities, it's going to take me just a teensy bit longer to search every nook and cranny in Equestria and beyond,” Discord said airily. “In fact, I was just finishing up my search of Klugetown when you summoned me. And before you ask, no, I didn’t find any magical gateways, rifts, portals, or other remnants of such, though I did find a poor fellow suffering from Pastellus Coloritis. Quite unpleasant; it probably won’t be long before bits star-”

“I-it’s okay, Discord,” Starlight interrupted quickly, holding up a hoof. “We, uh, we don’t need you to search Equestria anymore.”

Discord raised an eyebrow, “You’ve found them already? That was quick.” He shrugged and turned away, waving a claw distractedly, “Well, I suppose if you don’t need my help anymore, I’ll just be off. I have a tea party to prepare for.”

“We still need your help, now more than ever!” Starlight replied quickly, prompting the spirit to turn his back around allowing him to face her while slowing his walk to a stop midway through a wall. “It turns out our mirror friends were sucked through another portal. One not connected to Equestria.”

“One not connected to Equestria?” Discord ran his single fang through his beard absently as he turned around and reassimilated properly, humming in thought, “That can’t be right. While I’ve never actually been to the world through the mirror, I have a policy against going to dimensions that lack magic, I could have sworn that that world and Equestria are only linked to each other.”

Starlight nodded, “They are, or, at least, they were, but there was an incident in the human world. The Diviner, the machine we were using to communicate through our portal, overloaded and it picked up a connection to another world. Our friends got sucked through and we haven’t been able to contact them since.”

“What do you mean, it picked up a connection?” Discord asked, narrowing his eyes and lowering his head to Starlight’s level.

Starlight shuddered at the sudden chill in his voice, “The Diviner overloaded while we were talking through it. We shut down the portal here in Equestria, but the Diviner in the human world somehow opened up a portal to another world.”

“You mean you somehow managed to rip open a fresh hole in the border between realities?” Discord hissed.

Starlight winced, “Um… yes?”

Discord stood as tall as his serpentine body would allow and looked in the exact direction of the Mirror Portal. “Is the new portal still open?” he asked quickly.

“No. The Diviner needs a constant supply of Equestrian magic on both sides of the portal to function,” Starlight replied.

Discord hummed and folded his mismatched arms into origami cranes while he thought, “Well, I suppose that’s something of a silver lining.”

“How can you say that!?” Starlight retorted angrily. “My friends are lost on some alternate world, we have no idea whether they’re safe or not, and so far we have no way of even finding them, and you think that’s a good thing!?”

“Ah, ah, ah. That’s not what I said,” Discord retorted, waggling a claw. “I said it’s a good thing the portal isn’t still open. If it was, who knows what sort of things could have slipped back through,” he curled around himself and formed into a donut with sprinkles that he then slithered completely out of while wearing a velociraptor costume.

Starlight frowned at him, “What do you mean?”

“The only worlds you know of are our one and the human world, but there are far more than that out there: An infinite number of different realms, realities, even whole multiverses all happily existing and minding their own business.” A series of miniature globes, solar systems and bizarre symbols sparked into life around Discord as he spoke while the light in the room dimmed enough so the created objects shone and sparkled brilliantly, “and trust me when I say that some of them are far, far more dangerous than anything you’ll find in the human world. A few contain beings even I would tread carefully around.”

Starlight shivered involuntarily when Discord said that in one of the most serious voices she’d ever heard him use. She didn’t even want to imagine a creature that could make Discord wary. On the other hoof, the thought of her human friends being trapped in a world with a monstrosity like that was more than enough to harden her resolve, “I can’t just abandon my friends, no matter how dangerous it is,” she stomped a hoof in resolution.

“I wasn’t suggesting you should,” Discord replied. “Even if I did, I highly doubt you would listen. However, I would suggest, quite strongly, that you and our little Princess Purple Smart take every precaution you can possibly think of when you try and open up the portal again. You should probably get Starswirl to take a look as well, he was always fond of that sort of thing.”

Starlight nodded, “I’ve already sent him a message. In the meantime, we were hoping that you would be willing to help us look for the world they’ve been sent to.”

“What!?” Discord cried, poofing his little floating globes and things back out of existence, “Did you not hear me when I said there are infinite realities out there?” He reached and grabbed her ears, with a tug several ears of corn sprouted from the tips. “It could take eons for me to find your friends by just searching randomly!”

Starlight flipped her ears and turned her head freeing herself from the magical prop while she levitated a sheet of parchment out of her saddlebags, “What if I could show you the magical signature of the world they were sent to?”

Discord grabbed the parchment, pulling a pair of pince-nez glasses out of thin air and putting them on with a comical squeak sound, “Hmmm, this should narrow it down slightly,” he said puffing on a corncob pipe he’d made from one of the corns from Starlight’s ear.

Starlight’s shoulders slumped, “Only slightly?”

Discord nodded, “Sadly, yes. Unless I’ve been to a world before, it’s extremely difficult for me to open a direct portal to it. It’s just as likely that I’ll end up in a completely random reality full of sapient toenail clippers.” He shook his head and tossed away the glasses, “Having the signature should help,” he spat the pipe out and it flew away on its own, “but even then it just makes it more likely that I’ll open a portal to a reality that’s only roughly in the same area, metaphysically speaking.”

Starlight looked up at him hopefully, “Will you at least try? Please?” She adopted the cutest look she could while asking.

“Well I would but…” Discord squirmed uncomfortably under the little pony’s pleading look. Finally he sighed, “Oh… fine.” He pinched two fingers together on the parchment and pulled away a wad of thick black sludge. He span it around his hand a few times then flicked it away, only for it to splat onto an invisible surface apparently hanging in empty air. “You should probably stand back,” Discord waited for Starlight to heed his warning, then ran a claw through the hovering sludge, tearing a hole through the fabric of realities.

Both Starlight and Discord recoiled as a palpable aura of hatred and suffering poured out of the gap. Peering through the tear, the pair could see a large building build solidly of wood. Panelled glass windows lined the walls, with a small archway forming the entrance. Above the arch was a sign covered in writing, though not in any language that Starlight recognised, and above that again was a large clock. Roiling black clouds could barely be seen above the building.

Starlight tried not to retch as the sickening aura intensified, “What… urk… what is that?” she dry heaved.

“Dark magic,” Discord replied with an uncharacteristically bleak expression, “of a variety far more terrible than anything you will ever find in Equestria.”

Starlight fought back a terrified shudder, “Is… is that where my friends are?”

Discord shook head, “I don’t know. For all we know the magical signature you showed me could be one of dozens, or even hundreds that exist within the reality your friends ended up in. I’ll have to go through and search the area thoroughly before I can be certain, one way or the other.”

A shrill scream suddenly rang out from inside the building. The two stared fearfully for several seconds, but no further sounds were forthcoming.

“I don’t know about you, but I sincerely hope your friends are not in this particular reality,” Discord said slowly. Coming to a decision, Starlight pulled a book out of her saddlebags, a sibling to those that Twilight and Sunset shared, and wrote a lengthy note in it while Discord watched the world beyond. “I don’t want to picture finding any version of Fluttershy in a place like this.”

Starlight looked up at him, “I’m coming with you.”

“You most certainly are not!” Discord spluttered.

“I know how to handle myself, and there is no way I’m letting a friend go to such a dangerous place all alone,” Starlight said firmly. A short buzz from the book grabbed her attention and she nodded grimly when she opened and read from it, “That was from Twilight, she says she’s happy for me to go with you. She and Starswirl should be able to reconfigure the Diviner between them.”

Discord rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I… w-well that is… um… I mean, thank you, Starlight,” he said gratefully.

“Don’t mention it,” Starlight replied. “One quick question though,” she pointed a hoof through the tear, “can you read that sign?”

“Tenjin Shougakkou,” Discord said after a quick look, “it roughly translates as ‘Heavenly Host Elementary School’.”

Starlight pawed the ground nervously. Her voice quavered as she spoke, betraying her nerves, “Well, I guess it can’t be that bad. I mean, how dangerous can a school be?”

“I suppose we’ll soon find out,” Discord muttered darkly knowing better than she the true horrors the multiverse held. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Absolutely,” Starlight replied with far more bravado than she felt. “Come on, let’s go.”

Side by side, the two strode through the rippling tear in reality.

Sheltered within a bombed-out building, not far from Project Purity, several dark figures shifted restlessly as they watched the activity around the Memorial building.

“Stupid fucking weather,” Blades muttered. The torrential rain made it difficult to make out anything more than dark shapes interspersed with occasional lights. Scratching idly at his stubble, he called to the woman perched several meters away, right on the edge of the ruined floor, “Hey, you see anything yet?”

Lightning didn’t answer at first. She was staring down at the Jefferson Memorial through a pair of compact binoculars. Eventually she sighed and lowered them, “The Rainbooms are definitely down there, but I have no idea who those other fuckers are.” She tossed the binoculars to Blades, who caught them easily and raised them to his eyes, “Looks like they got to the freaks first, they’re loading them onto one of those plane-things.”

“Yeah, I see it,” Blades muttered, the binoculars’ night-vision easily penetrating the darkness and rendering the rain as little more than a constant static. Normally he would have wondered where she’d managed to pick up such impressive tech, but right now he had more pressing problems. “They’re moving the Rainbooms on stretchers, did they kill them already?”

Lightning shook her head, “I doubt it, not with the way those dorks without the armour keep fussing over them. They must be medics or scientists, or something.”

Crawler stepped over and crouched next to Blades, peering out into the rain, “You reckon we can take ‘em?”

“Nah, there’s too many of them, and most of them have power armor,” Blades replied.

“Shit,” Crawler hocked a mouthful of phlegm out of the window, “What’s the plan then?”

Blades just grunted. As he watched, two more power armored figures emerged from the building, carrying a stretcher that bore a grizzled-looking man in a trench coat. Behind them came another power armored soldier and a scientist. The two seemed to be engaged in a heated argument, with the scientist gesturing angrily between the stretcher, the building, and the Rainbooms.

A nudge from Crawler dragged Blades out of his reverie, “Hey, come on, man, we gotta move fast. Now that we’ve got this crew, it ain’t going to take long for news to get back to the Red Flags that we’re still-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Blades hissed quietly, jerking a head in Lightning’s direction.

Lightning smirked at them, “Relax, I’m not going to sell you morons out to Shí Yáng.” Her smirk widened into a full grin as she turned to stare out into the rain, “I’ve got my eyes on a bigger prize.”

Blades eyed her warily, then shrugged and stood, glancing down through the hole in the floor to where the rest of his new crew were sheltering from the elements. Satisfied that none of them had been paying attention, he stepped over to hand the binoculars back to Lightning, “Come on, let’s get everyone off their asses. We’ll track the plane-thing the Rainbooms are on. If we’re lucky, they’ll put down somewhere where there’s a lot less people around. We’ll figure our next move from there.”

“Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!” Doctor Turner spat as he stomped up the ramp of his Vertibird. The Rainbooms had already been loaded; special harnesses secured them and their stretchers to the floor of the Vertibird so, hopefully, they wouldn’t be bounced around too much during any in-flight turbulence.

Turner scowled anew as he spotted the vile bruise maring Fluttershy’s forehead and the equally concerning monstrosity blooming across Applejack’s exposed abdomen. The methods Autumn had used to acquire Project Purity would probably be enough to turn the Rainbooms thoroughly against the Enclave on their own, let alone the injuries they’d suffered from simply defending themselves.

Stepping gingerly around their unconscious forms, Turner tried not to let his drenched clothes drip on the girls as he made his way to the benches.

As if it’ll make a difference anyway, they’re already bloody soaked! I’ll have to have them dried off and brought warm clothes the second we get to the Exodus beta site, then Doctor Bohn can take a look at them when they wake up. That is, if they let her.

Doctor Turner sighed heavily as he dropped onto the passenger benches opposite his security detail. “Ready when you are, pilot!” he called out, fastening his harness and donning his headset.

“Are you alright, Doctor?” one of the bodyguards asked.

Turner glanced back at the girls as the Vertibird’s ramp closed with a hiss of hydraulics. His stomach performed a familiar lurch as the noise of the tiltwing’s rotors grew to a dull roar, lifting the craft from the ground. “There’s a term I never really understood until today.”

His bodyguards raised an eyebrow, “What term is that, Doctor?”

“Clusterfuck,” Turner said simply. “The President is going to pitch a fit when he hears about this. Autumn is really going to get it in the neck. If he survives, that is.”

The bodyguards shared a blank look, “If he survives?”

Turner nodded, “It turns out he didn’t just totally mess up the task of peacefully recruiting the Rainbooms, he even managed to let the creators of Project Purity somehow activate a failsafe of sorts, turning it into a radioactive deathtrap.”

One of the security aides snorted at that while the other tilted his head curiously, “Didn’t he have some of that experimental Rad-X though? I thought all of the top brass were supposed to keep a shot of it on their person at all times?”

“He did, yes. Unfortunately for him, however, James managed to completely lock down the main section of Project Purity,” Turner replied. “He’s lucky I arrived just in time to hack into the mainframe and reactivate the shielding on the nuclear generator, another minute or two and he’d have been beyond saving.”

And he’s even more lucky I didn’t realise exactly what he had done to the Rainbooms until after I’d deactivated the failsafe. If I’d known beforehand I would’ve pretended it was impossible and left the arrogant prick to rot.

“What are we going to do about the Rainbooms now?” one of the aides asked, “Do you think they’ll still agree to work with us?”

Turner shrugged, as much as he could in a restrictive harness, “It seems unlikely. We may end up having to keep them contained as best we can, if they revert back to hostilities when they wake up. I’ll suggest to the others that we do everything we possibly can to bring them around peacefully. I doubt it’ll work, but it’s worth trying. Hopefully the rest of the team will agree with me.”

“Can’t you just order them to?” the aide asked.

Turner smiled bitterly, “I wish I could, but when I contacted the President and informed him that I’d let the Rainbooms go, he made it very clear that I am no longer the lead scientist on Project Exodus. Doctor Strong is in charge from now on.” He cast another worried glance back at the Rainbooms, his eyes settling on Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer. The resemblances to his fellow scientists were far too uncanny for mere coincidence. “I just hope she can get some answers.”

Across the river from Project Purity, nestled amongst several large rocks on the bank, a well-hidden manhole cover was slowly lifted and pushed aside. A battered and bloody young man painfully hauled himself out, then turned to help a far less brutalised woman clamber onto the riverbank. The two sat there in the rain for several minutes, catching their breath.

Fleeing Project Purity had not been easy. The Enclave had somehow deployed two full squads of soldiers into the escape tunnels forcing Adam and the doctor to use stealth to get out. The pair had almost made it, too, but the soldiers had been too well trained and the escape had devolved into a desperate battle for survival. Even when they finally managed to get away from the soldiers, the appearance of feral ghouls in the final stretch of the tunnels had nearly proved fatal. If the two hadn’t stumbled across a Brotherhood of Steel outpost, they would almost certainly have died.

“Are… are you alright?” Doctor Li asked eventually.

Adam just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was far from alright, in every sense of the word. Physically speaking, he was a wreck. Blood was dripping down his arm from under a hastily-applied bandage, he had a nasty plasma burn on his leg that was in dire need of medical attention, and he was pretty sure he had torn something in his shoulder, not to mention the impressive number of minor cuts and bruises that he was practically covered in.

Adam’s mental state wasn’t any better. His entire world had been ripped out from underneath him once again, and this time he wasn’t sure what to do about it. His mother’s dream was little more than ashes, the scientists working on it had all been rounded up, save for the woman seated next to him, his friends had been kidnapped by the evil organisation responsible, and as for his father…

With a hiss of agony, Adam pushed himself to his feet. He couldn’t afford to think about that right now. He rolled his good shoulder to try and settle his shishkebab and pilfered plasma rifle more comfortably on his back before turning to Doctor Li, “Come on, we should get under shelter before we catch hypothermia or something. How far to the Citadel?”

“It’s just up there,” Doctor Li stood, wrapped her arms around herself, and led the way away from the banks of the rain-swollen river. Adam dutifully limped after her, but his injuries slowed him. He was so focused on trying to catch up he ended up stumbling over a pile of loose rocks. The sound grabbed Doctor Li’s attention. She gasped and hurried over when she saw him struggling, “I’m so sorry! I should have realized how hurt you were!”

“It’s fine,” Adam mumbled as Li gently tugged one of his arms around her shoulders to support him. “It’s been a bit of a rough day for both of us.”

Doctor Li chuckled nervously, “That’s the understatement of the century. Come on.”

As the two shuffled along, a huge building slowly came into view through the rain. Large support struts lined the walls with a tower crane looming over the whole construction attached to a colossal slab of rusted metal forming a crude, but effective, gate mechanism. Two Brotherhood Knights in full power armor stood watch at the gate, accompanied by the imposing form of a well cared for sentry bot.

The men lifted their guns up warily as the two approached, “Who’s there? Identify yourselves!”

“I’m Doctor Madison Li,” the doctor replied. “This man’s injured, we need help.”

The first Knight shook his head, “I’m sorry ma’am. No unauthorized citizens allowed in the Citadel. You’ll have to leave.”

Doctor Li gave him a disgusted look and slipped out from under Adam’s arm, shoving past the Knight and thumping an intercom set in the wall, “Lyons!? Lyons, I know you’re in there! I know you can hear me! You open this god damned door right now! Lyons?!”

The Knight shouldered his rifle and reached for Li, “Ma’am, please, step away fro-”

Doctor Li shrugged his arm off and slapped the intercom again, “Lyons, you bastard! Open this damn door now!”

There was an almighty grinding sound as the crane kicked into gear, dragging the metal slab up and revealing a bombed-out section of building that had been crudely repaired and repurposed as a makeshift bottlenecked entranceway. The Knights stepped aside as Doctor Li ducked back under Adam’s arm, “Just go straight down there and through the doors at the end,” she was instructed by a slightly baffled soldier.

“Gee, thanks,” Doctor Li muttered sarcastically, gently guiding Adam forwards.

Pushing through the doors at the end, the two found themselves in a wide pentagonal bailey. The entire area was set up as a training field with multiple shooting ranges, a makeshift sparring ring, a small rest area lined with beds, and even a crude assault course.

Brotherhood personnel were everywhere. Most of them were clad in simple, light, reconnaissance armour, though there were a few individuals on the assault course wearing power armour, an instructor standing on the sidelines alternating between offering advice and hurling insults.

Adam and Doctor Li both turned as a door slammed open. An elderly man and a young woman stepped out into the rain and made a beeline for the new arrivals. The man was ancient sporting a bald head with a long well kept white beard that reached his sternum, but his back was straight and his steps were sure, his heavy blue robes splaying out impressively as he walked. The woman next to him was no less interesting. Tall, lithe and muscular so much that it was evident under her light armor, she had vivid red hair that poked out from under the officer’s cap she wore proudly.

“That’s Elder Lyons,” Doctor Li whispered. “He’s the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel, here in the Capital Wasteland.”

“Here, let me help,” the woman said as she stepped forward. Doctor Li nodded gratefully as they switched places, the woman carefully pulling Adam’s arm around her shoulder instead.

Elder Lyons reached out and placed a hand on Li’s shoulder, a worried expression on his face, “Madison, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

Doctor Li shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest, “No, no I’m not. It was the Enclave. They’ve overrun Project Purity.” She gestured to Adam, “This is-”

“James’ son, yes. I see the resemblance,” Lyons interrupted, with a glance at Adam. “Our sentries reported that something was happening at the Jefferson Memorial,” he returned his attention to Doctor Li, “but we had no idea it was you over there. I thought you’d abandoned that project years ago?”

Doctor Li nodded, “We did, but James he… he found a way to make it work. He discovered what it was that we were missing.”

“Do the Enclave know this?” Lyons asked sharply.

“I don’t… I don’t know,” Doctor Li admitted. “We had barely arrived, we were just doing some basic repairs and seeing what we could salvage before we sent a messenger here, then the Enclave attacked out of nowhere. Now they have Project Purity, they’ve captured the Rainbooms and James is…” she trailed off slowly, breathing hard as she tried to hold back a sob.

Lyons let out a soft sigh, “I’m sorry about James, he was a good man. I hate to press you so soon, but, when you say the Rainbooms were at Project Purity-”

“It’s true,” Doctor Li cut in, “their magic, their abilities, everything. It’s all true. If the Enclave can figure out how to control that power…”

Elder Lyons frowned, his mouth set in a grim line, “You did the right thing, coming to us. Come with me, I’ll need you to explain everything before we can make a move against the Enclave.” He glanced over at the woman he had arrived with, “Metzger, get that young man to the infirmary, then gather your squad. Have them prepare for a scouting mission in known enemy territory.”

“Yes, Elder!” Metzger snapped a salute as Lyons led Doctor Li through the nearest door. “Alright, you, let’s get you to a medic,” she said quietly to Adam before helping him shuffle across the courtyard. Even in his pained state, Adam couldn’t help but marvel at how easily she supported his weight, though neither of them could suppress a shiver as they passed out from under cover and into the rain.

As the two slowly approached the covered rest area, Metzger called out to one of the people relaxing there, “Squire Peters! I’ve got a job for you, and you’re not going to like it.”

A young woman jumped up and saluted at the shout. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen or sixteen, and her hair was little more than a brown fuzz, as if she’d recently had her head shaved. “Yes, Knight-Sergeant! What do you need me to-” her eyes widened as she saw who the sergeant was carrying, then her expression settled into a snarl, “What’s that fuck-stain doing here!?”

“Watch the language, recruit,” Metzger warned. “I know you’ve got a beef with this guy, but he’s our ally, and that means we help him. That means you have to help him.” When the squire ignored her, glaring at Adam and clenching her fists, she lowered her voice so only the three of them could hear, “Come on, Madeleine. You’ve got a chance at a fresh start and a new life here. Don’t throw all of that away, not like this.”

Squire Peters kept up the glare for a few more seconds, then finally sighed and relented, unclenching her fists, “Fine.”

Metzger raised an eyebrow, “What was that?”

“I said ‘yes, Knight-Sergeant’!” Peters cried, snapping another salute.

“That’s better,” Metzger huffed. “Here, you grab his gear and bring it with us to the infirmary.”

“Yes, Knight-Sergeant.”

Adam just stared in bemusement as the squire stripped him of his weapons and pack. “Um, did I do something to offend yo-” he snapped his mouth shut as the squire gave him another seething glare.

“We’ll sort that out later,” Metzger said firmly. “Right now, let’s get you to the infirmary. And while we’re on our way I want to know exactly what happened to the Rainbooms. I owe those girls. If the Enclave really do have them, then me and the rest of the Wonderbolts are going to have something to say about that.”

Author's Note

Familiar faces return for this chapter! Next time, the Rainbooms and the Exodus team finally meet...

Major credit to my editors Mocha Star and Night Quill for bringing this chapter up to spec, with an extra thanks to Mocha for vastly improving Discord's antics!

Comments and Criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 37 - Counterparts

“It’s going to be fine, Tara. You can do this,” Becky said softly.

Tara shook her head vigorously, “I don’t know if I can. What if something goes wrong? What if make a mistake and upset them even more? What if their injuries are serious and one of them dies and they think we did it deliberately!?”

Becky had to hold back a sigh as her girlfriend got herself increasingly worked up. She had been like this ever since the Rainbooms had arrived with Doctor Turner, almost an hour ago.

The Doctor had barely set foot in the building before informing the team that the Rainbooms were in the back of his Vertibird, that they were injured and unconscious, and that Tara was now in charge of Project Exodus. The women had tried to find what exactly had happened, but all he would say was that Colonel Autumn had royally screwed the pooch. After that he’d requisitioned Squad Sigma and Sienna to help get the Rainbooms inside and check them for injuries, downed a mug of coffee, then left Tara and Becky alone in the main office.

Becky glanced back at Tara to see if she was done with her ‘process’ yet. Nope, still freaking out. Okay, she’s going to need a nudge.

“Tara, stop. Look at me,” Becky said firmly. Tara closed her mouth mid-sentence and just sat there, blinking dumbly at her. “Don’t get lost trying to think of everything at once, okay? Remember your process. Just take a deep breath, get a piece of paper, and wr-”

“Write a list of objectives, break the problem up into lots of smaller ones, then find a way to achieve each of them, one at a time,” Tara finished. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. They’re only young, it’s not as if they’re a group of mysterious beings from another dimension that possess extremely dangerous superpowers. Oh, wait!”

“Easy on the sarcasm, Sparkles, I never said it would be easy,” Becky huffed.

Tara sighed softly, “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just… this is a really big deal, what if I do something wrong? What if I fail?”

“Since when have you ever failed?” Becky smirked, “Besides, you’ve got me and the rest of the team here to cover your ass, just in case. Or to punish you if things go perfectly.”

Tara raised an eyebrow, “Why would I get punished if things go perfectly?”

Becky smiled and leaned in close to whisper in Tara’s ear, “Well, most people seem to think getting spanked is a punishment.” She gently nibbled at her earlobe, immensely enjoying watching the little nerd shiver with anticipation. Just as Tara started to squirm in her seat, Becky gave her a teasing bite then pulled away, throwing her a smouldering look.

Tara glared at her hungrily for a few moments longer, then pouted as she realised playtime wasn’t going any further than that, “You’re evil.”

“You like it that way,” Becky retorted. “Now come on, write out a plan of action and we’ll break out the toybox later.”

A faint blush graced Tara’s cheeks, “Fetch me a pen and some paper, then.”

Becky gave herself a mental pat on the back. So easy. Just press the right buttons, redirect her stress, then all of a sudden she’s that much happier. Not to mention how much more fun bedtime will be…

The sound of the door opening brought the two out of their rosy little haze. Turner and Sienna both stepped into the office, their expressions not exactly inspiring confidence in the others. “We need to talk,” Sienna said without preamble.

Tara instantly went back into panic mode, “Oh no, something’s wrong isn’t it? What’s happened? Are they badly injured? Are they going to be alright? Are the-”

“The Rainbooms are going to be fine, don’t worry,” Turner cut in, quickly heading her off.

Sienna nodded, “Most of them just have some nasty bruising. Sunset Shimmer has some stitches and a damaged kidney but those are too old to be anything to do with Colonel Autumn. The only one I’m a little worried about is Fluttershy, she sustained a heavy impact to the skull that rendered her unconscious for at least several minutes. The auto-doc hasn’t picked up any signs of brain trauma, but I’m keeping her hooked up to it just in case.”

“Well, I suppose that’s not too bad,” Becky replied. “Are any of them awake yet?”

Sienna shook her head and tugged off her glasses, cleaning them with her sleeve, “Autumn’s men heavily sedated them. They’ll probably be nauseous as hell when they wake up, so I decided it would be best to just let them sleep it off.”

“We should probably give them some space. Having Enclave personnel looming over them the moment they wake up probably won’t help get them on our side. I’ve got one of our modified eyebots in the room that’ll alert us if and when they come around,” Turner added. “Four members of Squad Sigma are guarding the corridor outside, just in case. The other two are putting the Rainbooms’ necklaces in secure storage.”

“Why would you take their necklaces!?” Tara asked incredulously.

Turner gave her a serious look, “The eyebot picked up some very interesting radiation coming off them. I can’t be certain until we’ve done some proper tests, but I’d bet my left arm that it’s a match for the signal we detected from their portal.”

Becky frowned at him, “You mean their necklaces might have something to do with how they arrived on our world?”

Turner nodded, “It’s possible.”

Tara groaned and rubbed her temples, “How are we supposed to get them to cooperate with us if the first thing we do when they get here is steal their stuff!?”

“We aren’t stealing them!” Turner insisted. “We’re just… keeping them safe. They’re all secured in individual lockboxes anyway, so no one can tamper with them without us knowing.”

“Either way, that isn’t what we needed to talk about,” Sienna said quickly.

Tara eyed her warily, “What is it, then?”

“While I was checking the Rainbooms over I took some blood samples and ran them through the Reflectron, just so we have a record of their DNA on file. It turns out the DNA of two of them matches that of two personnel within the Enclave,” Sienna replied.

“What?!” Becky and Tara cried in unison.

Sienna nodded and folded her arms, staring curiously at Tara, “It gets weirder. I don’t know how, but… Twilight Sparkle is genetically identical to you, Tara.”

Stunned silence greeted that proclamation.

“That’s… that’s impossible,” Tara breathed.

“What about the other one?” Becky asked, not entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“Sunset Shimmer.” Sienna turned to look Becky in the eyes, “Her DNA matches yours.”

Lost in a timeless fugue, Sunset drifted softly from a drug-induced, semi-conscious haze into blissful sleep and back again, the line between the two blurring constantly. Her slumber was eventually disturbed by a gentle rocking, then a voice whispering in her ear finally brought her into a state of wakefulness.

“Sunset? Can you hear me? Wakey-wakey?”

Blinking blearily, Sunset cracked her eyes open and turned her head to see a shadowy figure standing over her. “Wha… Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie smiled apologetically, “Hey, Sunshim. Sorry to wake you up, how are you feeling?”

Sunset closed her eyes for a few seconds, using the time to try and actually figure out the answer. “A little ill,” she said finally.

“I thought so,” Pinkie said while nodding slightly, “I think the Enclave drugged us with something before they brought us here, wherever here is.”

“The Enclave?” Sunset frowned in confusion, then gasped as she remembered the events before she was knocked unconscious, “Project Purity! What happened? Is everyone okay?”

Pinkie winced, “I don’t know about Doctor Li or the others, the only people here so far are us girls. Some of us are a bit beat up, but… I think we’re all okay?”

Trying to will away the faint nausea she felt, Sunset pushed herself onto her elbows to take a look around.

They were in a large white room, longer than it was wide, with rows of beds lining the two longest walls and the rest of the girls spread out around them. Rainbow and Twilight were both awake and sitting up in bed, while Rarity was kneeling next to Applejack’s bed. Applejack herself was rubbing her belly tenderly and frowning at something in the corner of the room. Following her gaze, Sunset’s eyes widened as she realised why.

Fluttershy lay on a bed right in the corner, apparently sleeping peacefully. Next to her bed was a boxy little machine on wheels, with a computer terminal on one side and several articulated arms on the other, each ending in a different medical implement of some sort. Two of the arms, each sporting what appeared to be scanning devices, were passing around an over Fluttershy’s head constantly.

“What is that thing?” Sunset asked quietly.

“Some sort of hospital scanny thing, I think,” Pinkie replied.

“It’s an auto-doc,” Twilight cut in. “They’re highly advanced machines designed before the war that can perform medical procedures. There’s an old broken one in Rivet City, but this one looks much more advanced.” She climbed out of bed and went over to inspect it, “I’m no expert, but I think it says that Fluttershy is stable and sleeping.”

“So why’s it only on her?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight winced, “She does have a very nasty bruise on her face, she must have hit the floor pretty hard when we were all knocked unconscious. Maybe they’re just being extra careful, what with it being a head injury and all.”

“I hope so,” Sunset muttered, turning her attention back to Pinkie. Her friends’ hair had lost some of the frizz it had regained recently, but at least it wasn’t back to being lank and straight again. Sunset frowned slightly as she realised that wasn’t the only thing that had changed, “Pinkie, what are you wearing?”

“Huh?” Pinkie glanced down at herself. She was clad in a grey jumpsuit, similar to the utility jumpsuits the maintenance crew in Vault 101 wore. “Oh, this? When I woke up I was already wearing it, we all are.”

Sunset lifted the thin blanket off herself and raised an eyebrow, “Uh, I’m not?”

Instead of a jumpsuit, Sunset was wearing a dark blue vest and a baggy pair of two-tone, tan and dark blue shorts.

“Well, that’s weird,” Pinkie said flatly.

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed, frowning at her clothes. She felt like something was off, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Glancing back at Pinkie, her hand leapt to her throat as realisation struck, “Our Geo-mph!”

Pinkie clamped a hand over Sunset’s mouth before she could more than a word out. She chuckled nervously, “Sorry, Sunshim, but we should probably be careful what we talk about.” She jerked her head towards the door at the far end of the room, “I think we’re being watched.”

Sunset looked over to see what she was talking about. There, floating next to the door, was another of the little ball-shaped robots they’d encountered just outside Megaton. This one seemed to be in much better condition however, it’s metal shell gleaming and it’s little motor running silently.

“It’s the same as the one we saw outside Megaton, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked, evidently having reached the same conclusion.

“I think so,” Sunset replied, clambering out of bed and stepping over to take a closer look. “It looks like it has more antennae than the other one, maybe it’s a different model?” She scowled at the little robot. It didn’t appear to have an obvious camera anywhere on it’s carapace, but Sunset had no doubt that it was keeping an eye on them somehow.

So the Enclave have been spying on us for a while then, they probably have these things all over the wasteland. Well, if that’s the case…

Bending over to peer into the strange grill-like front, Sunset tapped the side of it gently, “Hey, is anyone out there?”

“Good morning!”

“Wah!” Sunset skipped backwards in surprise as a chipper voice crackled out from a speaker on the robot.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you!” the voice said quickly. Sunset stared incredulously at the robot as she waited for her heart rate to return to normal. Even with the slight distortion from the speaker, she would recognise that voice anywhere. “Twilight?”

“Um, no. Well, not exactly. I mean I don’t think so?” A couple of other voices held a quick and muffled conversation before the voice spoke again, “Let me start from the beginning. My name is Doctor Tara Strong. I’m a scientist working for the Enclave. I know your first real interaction with our organisation may have been a bit… terrible, but I’d like to take the opportunity to try and rectify that. Going by what you just called me, I think you’ll agree that we have at least one good reason to talk to each other.”

Sunset looked back at Twilight, who was staring at the robot, a thunderstruck expression on her face, “What do you think?”

Twilight just shook her head slowly.

“If you don’t want to speak to us, that’s completely understandable,” Doctor Strong said softly. “Your clothes and the rest of your belongings are all in footlockers underneath your beds, except for your necklaces. I’m afraid we had to put those into secure storage, they were giving off an unknown form of radiation and, since we don’t know how they operate, we didn’t want to take any chances with our own health.”

“They’re perfectly safe!” Sunset snapped, then regretted it instantly. “I mean, they’re safe as long as they’re with us, if anyone else starts messing around with them, things are going to get dangerous.”

“No-one is going to mess around with them in any way. They are currently secured in individual lock-boxes with a combination lock that only I know the combination for, you have my word,” Doctor Strong replied. “I know this won’t exactly help us gain your trust, but until we’re certain that the necklaces don’t pose any threat, I’m afraid we can’t give them back to you yet.”

Sunset seriously considered telling the doctor that she could get stuffed until the geodes had been returned, or even just refuse to cooperate outright. After all, it wasn’t as if the Enclave had given the girls any reason whatsoever to trust them. The only thing stopping her was the knowledge that talking to the scientists might well be the only way the girls were getting out of there.

Before Sunset could think of a suitable reply, Doctor Strong spoke again, “If it helps in any way, there won’t be any soldiers present for our conversation. It’ll just be myself and two of my colleagues. One of them is medically trained, and the other is… well… you’ll probably be interested to meet her. So… how about it?”

Sunset glanced back at her friends again. When Twilight gave a subtle nod, she turned back to the robot, “Fine. But no soldiers.”

“Of course, we’ll be right down,” came the reply.

Sunset just nodded and turned away.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Applejack asked as Sunset returned to her bed and sat down.

“Not really,” Sunset admitted, “but what choice do we have? Besides, did you hear the doctor’s voice?”

The others all nodded. Twilight cast a wary glance at the robot, “Do you think she really is… y’know?”

Sunset shook her head, glancing at the robot, which was undoubtedly still monitoring them, “I don’t know. Honestly? This world is so different from home I never even considered that there might be other… y’know.” She sighed massaged her temples gently. “What time is it anyway?”

“Hold on, I’ll check,” Pinkie replied. She scampered back to her own bed and reached underneath, pulling out the footlocker that Doctor Strong had said would be there.

Well, at least that’s one thing they weren’t lying about.

Pinkie flipped the lid open and smiled as she spotted her Pip-Boy nestled on top of her folded-up clothes. “Let me see…” she muttered as she picked it up, “it’s nearly half seven in the morning the day after yesterday.”

Sunset shot her a curious look, “The day after yesterday?”

Pinkie nodded, “According to the date on here, Project Purity was yesterday, so this must be the day after.”

Applejack frowned as she tried to follow the logic, “So you’re saying we were attacked yesterday, and we’ve been out cold all night?”

“Yep.”

Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but everyone’s attention was grabbed by a sudden moan from Fluttershy. Rainbow got there first, leaping out of bed and sliding on her knees at Fluttershy’s side just as the nurse opened her eyes, “Hey, are you okay?”

Fluttershy blinked a few times, then looked up, “Nnn, Rainbow?”

“I’m here, we’re all here,” Rainbow said gently. “How are you feeling?”

“My face hurts,” Flutters replied.

“I’m not surprised, with a bruise like that,” Sunset said, trying not to wince as she approached and got a good look at her friend’s face. Her whole left cheek was black and blue.

Fluttershy frowned and raised a hand to her face, then let out a soft ‘ouch’ when her fingers brushed her cheek. “Can someone pass me my nursing kit?”

“Oh, uh…” Rainbow looked under the bed, “Sure.”

Fluttershy gently pushed the arms of the auto-doc away and sat up as Rainbow pulled her kit out from under the bed. The nurse rummaged around in the kit for a moment, before pulling out a bottle of water and some pain lozenges, which she swiftly took. Once she was done she wiped her mouth and glanced around the room, “Um, where are we?”

“Some sort of Enclave facility,” Sunset replied. “They must have brought us here after they attacked Project Purity.”

“What about the others? Are Adam and James alright?” Fluttershy asked quickly.

Rainbow and Sunset shared an uneasy look. “We have no idea, it’s just us here,” Rainbow said slowly.

“Oh.” Fluttershy’s shoulders slumped for a moment, but she pulled herself together quickly, “What about you, are you all okay? Is anyone injured?”

“Applejack’s in quite a bit of pain with her belly,” Rarity called out.

Applejack huffed and rolled her eyes, “Ah told you, Ah’m fine.”

Rarity glared at her, “You are most certainly not fine, darling. You can barely move!”

“If you’re hurt; you should rest, Applejack,” Twilight cut in. “We don’t want a repeat of what happened with Sunset.”

Applejack’s response was interrupted by a knock at the door. Sunset moved to stand in the middle of the room, then looked around at the others, each of whom gave her a reassuring nod. Sunset folded her arms and took a calming breath as Twilight stepped up alongside her. “Come in.”

The door squeaked open slowly, revealing young women in lab coats. The first had long golden hair, tied back in a tight ponytail, while the second let her shoulder-length blonde hair hang loose. The jolt that ran through Sunset was nothing compared to the one she felt when she spotted the second woman. Colors aside, it was as if she was looking at herself, only older.

“Wow, you really do look like us,” the first woman said quietly. She shook her head and straightened up to speak more clearly, “Um, hello. I’m Doctor Strong, and this here is my colleague, Doctor Shoichet.” Doctor Shoichet just gave a half-hearted wave, a look of wary confusion on her face. “We’ve been looking forward to speaking with you, but, first of all, I believe we owe you an apology.”

Sunset blinked in surprise. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it certainly hadn’t been that.

“Hang on a second, you’re actually apologizing for attacking us?” Rainbow asked.

“Attacking you was never part of the plan,” Doctor Strong insisted. “We sent Doctor Turner to Rivet City to see if you would be interested in talking with us, peacefully. We had no idea you’d be anywhere near the Jefferson Memorial, or that the Taskforce had even been sent out already.”

“But, why would you even want to attack Project Purity in the first place?” Twilight asked.

Doctor Shoichet shrugged, “We don’t know the details, the higher-ups don’t share information about military operations with personnel who aren’t directly involved. Originally, we were going to be assigned to the Jefferson Taskforce, so we would have been told, but that changed after we received the radio broadcast about you girls.”

“After that, we were assigned to a different project. As part of that project I suggested that we open a dialogue with you, to see what we could learn from each other,” Doctor Strong continued. “Unfortunately, Doctor Turner got a little, er, distracted, when he first met with you. By the time he remembered what he was supposed to be doing, you had already left for the Jefferson Memorial. Doctor Turner deduced where you were heading and informed the President, who then contacted Colonel Autumn.”

Sunset frowned at her, “And Colonel Autumn is…?”

“He’s the head of the Department of the Army, and also the one who personally commanded the Jefferson Taskforce,” Doctor Strong replied.

“He’s also an asshole,” Doctor Shoichet added.

Doctor Strong giggled nervously, but her expression quickly turned sombre, “The Colonel misinterpreted the orders he was given, and instead of contacting you peacefully he… well, I think you know the rest.”

The room fell silent as the girls processed everything they’d been told. Sunset herself didn’t know what to think. On the one hand, Doctor Strong seemed to be genuine and, given who she was almost certainly this world’s counterpart of, Sunset was inclined to believe that the Enclave didn’t intend for the Rainbooms to get hurt. On the other hand, however, the fact that they had clearly been planning the attack on Project Purity for a while was undeniable, and the girls still hadn’t been given a reason as to why.

On top of that, James had been insistent that the Enclave not get their hands on any magic, and Doctor Strong herself admitted that they had taken custody of the Geodes already. To make matters worse, it wasn’t a subject that Sunset could easily press without raising suspicion. The harder she pushed to have the Geodes returned, the more likely it was that the Enclave would realise how important they were.

“You say you wanted to talk to us, before everything that happened at the Memorial,” Sunset said after a while. “What exactly did you want to talk to us about?”

Doctor Strong smiled brightly, “There’s actually quite a few things we wanted to discuss with you!” She pulled a rolled-up sheet of paper out of a pocket, “I’ve made a list of topics here.”

Rainbow snorted, “She’s definitely Twilight, alright.”

Sunset shot her a glare. She didn’t want to share too much of what they knew or suspected with these people, not until she knew exactly what they were after.

Doctor Strong glanced curiously from Sunset to Rainbow, “You know something about this, don’t you?”

“You say you didn’t mean to attack us,” Sunset interjected, ignoring the doctor’s question, “does that mean you’re going to let us go, or are we prisoners here?”

Doctor Strong shook her head, “You’re not prisoners, but it won’t be easy to leave. The area this facility is located in is extremely dangerous.”

“In what way?” Sunset asked.

“It’s crawling with super mutants,” Doctor Shoichet replied. “You were brought in on a Vertibird, but it had to return to base to refuel. We have another one, but we-”

The doctor was interrupted by another woman stepping through the door, carrying a small first aid kit. This woman was also wearing a lab-coat, along with a pair of pretty pink-framed glasses, her jet-black hair was pulled back into bunches. “Sorry I’m late,” she said flatly, not sounding at all sorry.

Doctor Shoichet rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Twilight’s surprised cry, “Sugarcoat?!”

The woman stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at Twilight, arching an eyebrow as she did so, “Did you just… call me ‘Sugarcoat’?”

Twilight threw an apologetic look at Sunset, “I didn’t, I mean I was just, uh, thinking about-”

“You do know something,” Doctor Shoichet said, eyeing the girls suspiciously. “Who are you really? How did you get your powers? And why the hell are we so alike?”

Sunset drew herself up and glared at the doctors, “You attack us, you attack our friends, you steal our necklaces, and now you expect us to just give you the answers you want?” She snorted angrily, “Give me one good reason we should even consider trusting you!”

“She makes a good point,” the new doctor said.

Doctor Strong nodded, rubbing her arm nervously, “Doctor Bohn is right, you have every reason not to trust us, but please, just give us a chance.”

“Why in the heck should we?” Applejack called out from her bed.

“If we can’t come to a working arrangement, I’ll let you leave, you have my word,” Doctor Strong replied. “With your necklaces,” she added, pre-empting the question.

Sunset studied the doctor’s face carefully. She didn’t seem to be lying. If anything, she looked painfully sincere. “Why are you so desperate for us to work with you?” Sunset asked. “If you’re after our powers, then I’m afraid we can’t help you.”

“I’d be lying if we said we didn’t have any interest in your abilities, but that’s not the main reason we sought you out,” Doctor Strong replied.

“Then what is the main reason?” Twilight asked.

Doctor Strong smiled faintly, “We want to send you home.”

The Rainbooms stared at her incredulously. “Explain,” Sunset said bluntly.

Doctor Strong nodded, “I will, but first I was hoping that we could get to know each other a little better first. You’ve had a rough night and I really don’t want to push too much on you in one go.” She hesitated for a moment, then gestured at the door, “Would you care for a tour of the facility? We can talk a little more as we go.”

Sunset didn’t know what to say. She glanced back at the others, hoping for some input, but they all looked as confused and surprised as she felt. “What do you think?”

Rainbow shrugged, “Beats being cooped up in here.”

“I want breakfast,” Pinkie added. Her stomach punctuated the statement with a loud growl.

Doctor Strong chuckled, “We can go and get some food if you’d like.”

“While this all sounds very lovely, I’m afraid dear Applejack is just not up to moving right now,” Rarity said firmly.

“Oh for crying out loud, Ah said Ah’m fine!” Applejack shot back.

“I can help with that,” Doctor Bohn put in. “I wanted to give Miss Fluttershy a quick check over anyway, to make sure she doesn’t have a concussion. If that’s alright with you, that is?”

Fluttershy flinched at being addressed directly, “Oh, um, okay.”

Sunset’s mind whirled as she stepped out of the way to let the doctor through. Do these people really think they can send us home? And if they can, why? What do they want out of it? She shook her head and sighed. She could worry about that later. Glancing up at Doctor Shoichet, Sunset wasn’t surprised to see the doctor looking appraisingly back at her.

So, these are this world's’ versions of me and Twilight. Huh, I wonder if the rest of us are around somewhere, too?

The path stretched unendingly through the forest, leading the old woman through the endless greenery. She had walked this path for many a year now, watching the many plants grow, blossom, and wither. Each tree, every blossom, vine, and blade of grass was the essence of another being, living their own life outside this realm of dreams and prophecy. The life of each and every living person could be mapped out here, by those who had the gift of Sight.

Occasionally, the old woman would sight a will o’ the wisp floating through the forest, the mark of one who would change the fate of the entire wasteland. But while the plants and the people would differ, both the forest and the path were constant, never ending, never changing.

Until now.

Somewhere, out in the wider world, mighty powers were stirring. The old woman could see them even now, seven great wisps, all of different colours, that had exploded into life fully-formed only a short time ago, drifting erratically through the trees and altering everything they passed.

Slowly, but surely, the entire forest was beginning to shift around them. Dense thickets, mighty boughs, even the path itself were all creaking and moving into different alignments. Huge pines that should have stood for decades more were withering into nothing, while some of the tiniest seeds were sprouting saplings that would soon become towering oaks.

Worse was the pattering of liquid on the canopy above. At first the old woman thought it to be rain, or maybe even sap, but as more and more of it dripped down through the leaves she felt a dawning horror as she saw it for what it was.

Blood.

Puddles formed at first, little pools of glistening red. Soon, the puddles linked together, the forest floor quickly becoming covered in a shallow layer of gore that reached almost to the old woman’s ankles.

Tearing her gaze away from the terrible sight, the woman was surprised to see seven more wisps, following in the wake of the first ones. Two had already caught up, a pair of scientists eager to learn. A third was close behind, a young woman, both she and her sister safe for the moment, but soon to seek out the others.

The old woman nearly slipped then, the rising tide of gore rapidly climbing up to her knees. Pushing forward, she spotted the fourth follower, skimming along the surface of the blood, satisfied with a recent sale and looking forward to the next.

A sudden break in the canopy overhead drew the old woman’s attention. The sky was black, with sparkling rubies for stars gleaming in the firmament. Two crescent moons hung low in the sky, one surrounded by inky clouds, the other almost enclosing a single, shining star. Even as the woman watched, a great winged beast passed over the two, moving back for another pass just as she plunged back into the thick of the forest.

The blood was above her thighs now, her fear mounting as the threat of drowning became a very real possibility. Just as the realisation struck, the fifth wisp sped into view, a terrified woman desperately fleeing for her life.

Pushing forward, the woman hoped, needed, to see find the final two before the blood rose too far. Despite her extra effort, it wasn’t until the crimson tide had risen to her chest that the sixth wisp appeared, the spirit of a young woman locked in deadly combat, fighting for her family despite her terrible wounds.

The old woman was starting to panic as she struggled to move forward. Out of sheer desperation she tried to paddle, but roots and vines clawed at her legs and feet, forcing her to lumber forward as best she could.

Finally, just as the blood was reaching her chin, the woman cried out as she spotted the final wisp. She fought to keep her head above the gore, for she felt a spark of recognition with this one, but she couldn’t get close enough to see. Just as the woman was about to give up hope, the wisp seemed to pause. The wisp turned, and the face of a woman she knew well was the last thing the woman saw as the blood washed over her face.

The old woman woke with a start. She was shivering uncontrollably, cold sweat drenching every inch of her body. She flinched as a gentle hand touched her shoulder, “Are you alright, Bloomseer?”

Bloomseer Poplar looked up to see her attendant kneeling over her, an expression of deep concern on her pretty little face. The Bloomseer couldn’t repress a shudder as she saw the ghostly image of butterflies flitting around the girl, invisible save for those with the Sight. The young woman winced as Poplar grabbed her wrist, “Flutter, go and fetch the Tree Father and the Leaf Mother immediately. I have urgent news for the Great One.”

Author's Note

A lovely little bit of foreshadowing going on here to kick off the next major story arc, make of it what you will...

Comments and Criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 38 - Friend or Foe?

Watching Applejack stand easily, barely twenty seconds after being injected with some form of advanced stimpak, Sunset couldn’t help but marvel at the efficiency of the Enclave’s medicine.

“So, how do you feel?” Doctor Bohn asked.

Applejack looked curiously at her belly and gently prodded her bruise, “That’s amazing! Ah barely feel a thing!”

Doctor Bohn nodded and packed away her first aid kit, “Good. Just remember to take it easy. If you push yourself too much you’ll only regret it later.”

“Sure thing, Doc,” Applejack replied.

“Are you sure there’s no internal damage?” Fluttershy asked.

“Positive,” Doctor Bohn replied firmly. “There’s no swelling, no numbness or excessive pain, and the Auto-doc didn’t detect any perforations or ruptures in her internal organs. She just has a nasty bruise.”

“I must say, that’s quite a relief,” Rarity sighed, much to the agreement of the others.

“And you’re certain that Fluttershy doesn’t have a concussion?” Sunset asked suspiciously.

Doctor Bohn gave her a flat look, “We want you girls to trust us. Lying about any injuries you have and waiting for one of you to pass out halfway through the tour wouldn’t exactly help our cause.”

“Sienna,” Doctor Strong said warningly.

“It’s fine, she has a point,” Sunset admitted. As tempting as it was to argue just for the sake of it, she knew it wouldn’t get her anywhere. Until they could get their geodes back, and find a safe way back to their friends, the girls would have to play nice. “So, what happens now?”

“It’s up to you,” Doctor Strong replied. “You can have some breakfast first, if you’d like, or we could give you a tour of the facility and answer some of the questions you undoubtedly have. Or, if you just want to take some time to acclimate, we can leave you alone and give you some space to think.”

“I vote breakfast,” Rainbow exclaimed, her hunger evident.

“Me too,” Pinkie added. The rest of the girls quickly agreed.

Doctor Strong nodded, “Very well. If you’ll kindly follow me, the dining hall is just down the corridor.”

The doctors left the room first, with the girls filing out after them. Sunset looked around as she stepped out into the corridor, intending to memorize the layout of the area but she didn’t see anything remarkable. Simple metal hatches lined the corridor, but that was it.

Falling into step behind the scientists, Rarity eyed the concrete walls with distaste. “Are all of your facilities this charming?” she asked sarcastically.

“Pretty much, but this one isn’t actually an Enclave facility,” Doctor Shoichet replied.

Doctor Strong glanced back over her shoulder, “I assume you know about the war that created the wasteland?” The girls nodded. “Before the bombs fell, this place belonged to a corporation called RobCo Industries. They were a computer and robotics corporation that had several ties with the government. This facility was originally a factory and maintenance depot, but shortly before the war it was repurposed as a retrofitting station.”

“If this place ain’t one of yours, then what the heck did you bring us here for?” Applejack asked.

Doctor Shoichet shrugged, “We occupied this building because it contained useful resources. It was also considered a suitable neutral ground where we and, through us, the Enclave could engage in peaceful talks with you girls in a less intimidating environment.”

Sienna rolled her eyes, “Then Colonel Autumn got involved and took things from intimidating to outright hostile in the space of a few minutes.”

“Colonel Autumn was never supposed to have anything to do with this project,” Shoichet grumbled.

Rainbow snorted, “So, what? You were just going to invite us over for a chat and hope we didn’t find out how twisted the rest of you are?”

Sunset struggled to repress a vindictive smirk as the three doctors winced.

“That’s… not quite how I’d put it,” Doctor Shoichet said delicately.

“Ah bet it ain’t,” Applejack muttered.

The group lapsed into an awkward silence after that. Sunset desperately wanted to talk privately with her friends, to try and figure what their best course of action should be, but there was no chance of that happening while the scientists or their little robot were around.

“Um, here’s the canteen,” Doctor Strong said finally, pushing open a set of double doors.

The canteen was long and wide. Several tables with attached benches stretched the length of the room, all of which had clearly been recently cleaned. At the far end of the canteen was a small worktop with a sink and some cupboards, and next to those was a portable generator hooked up to a small refrigeration unit. Bowls, plates and boxes of cereal were lined up on the worktop.

Doctor Strong gestured towards the food, “Help yourselves. There’s milk and fruit in the refrigerator and there’s canned food in the cupboards. It’s not brilliant I’m afraid. We brought all of the supplies we could from our main headquarters, but our food budget wasn’t big enough to cover anything particularly fancy.”

“I’ll grab something too, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Sienna said, striding forward and helping herself to the cereal. The Rainbooms swiftly followed suit.

Grabbing herself a bowl of cereal too, Sunset leaned against the worktop with a sigh. If the doc’s eating it too, I guess it can’t be drugged or anything. She blinked in surprise as she tasted the first bite, “Is this almond milk?”

Doctor Strong nodded, “Plant-based products are easier for us to grow in a sealed environment. Almonds in particular require a lot of water to grow, but we have extensive water recycling and reclamation systems. The Enclave does have a stock of real milk too, from livestock kept at specially designed facilities around the country, but it’s very much a luxury item. Is there anything else about the Enclave you want to know?”

“What happened to our friends from Project Purity?” Rainbow asked instantly.

Doctor Strong shook her head sadly, “I’m sorry, but I really have no idea.”

“Find out,” Sunset said firmly. “Until we know they’re safe, you’re not getting anything from us. That is not negotiable.”

“I suppose that’s fair,” Doctor Strong replied. “They should all be fine. I don’t think even Colonel Autumn would harm unarmed scientists.”

“Adam wasn’t unarmed,” Fluttershy put in quietly.

“I’ll contact the President as soon as we’re done here,” Doctor Strong promised. “If I tell him it’s necessary for our cooperation, I’m sure he’ll tell me what everyone’s condition is.”

Applejack grunted, “And Ah suppose we’re supposed to take your word for it? That ain’t good enough.”

“Let us speak to James,” Twilight cut in, “he was the lead scientist on the project.”

Doctor Strong tapped her chin thoughtfully, “I can’t see that being a problem, but it may take a little longer. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Is there anything else we can do to earn your trust in the meantime?” Doctor Shoichet added.

“Giving our necklaces back would be a nice start,” Rarity shot.

Sienna shook her head, “Not yet, not until we know more about the radiation coming off them.”

Sunset glared at her and opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight got there first, “They’re perfectly safe, as long as no-one tries to interfere with them. They’re each tied to our unique magical signature. Trust me, we’ve been wearing them constantly since we arrived in the wasteland, and no-one has suffered any ill effects from them.”

“All the same, I’d rather keep them safe and secured for now,” Doctor Strong replied. “Some of the equipment around here is volatile enough as it is, I don’t want to risk exposing any of it to an unknown form of radiation.”

“What do you mean by ‘volatile’?” Sunset asked warily.

Doctor Strong glanced at Shoichet, who just gave a noncommittal shrug. Sighing quietly, Strong looked back at Sunset, “The maintenance depot upstairs was, essentially, a front. The true purpose of this facility was converting civilian space rockets into intercontinental missiles.” She paused, hesitating for a moment, “There are still a couple of warheads on the factory’s main floor.”

“Warheads? You mean nuclear warheads?!” Sunset yelped.

“It’s okay!” Doctor Shoichet said quickly.

“The heck it is!” Applejack snapped.

Doctor Strong held her hands up in a placating manner, “The warheads aren’t armed, they’re completely inactive at the moment.”

“Inactive or not, what possible reason could you have for bringing us to such a place?” Rarity asked incredulously.

“We weren’t going to, at least at first,” Doctor Strong replied. “Originally, we were going to bring you to the Enclave’s main base of operations, but we managed to secure this place faster than we expected.”

“The downside of that is that we haven’t any time to clean, tidy, or generally make this place presentable, let alone shift any of the more bulky equipment,” Sienna continued. “Of course, we were expecting you to arrive awake and aware of exactly what we were doing and how we could help each other, not beaten, drugged and unconscious.”

“Well, if you hadn’t attacked our friends for no reason, maybe we’d be having a different conversation right now,” Applejack retorted, biting down on an apple she’d found in the fridge.

“We’ve already told you, that wasn’t us, it was Colonel Autumn,” Doctor Shoichet huffed.

“It doesn’t matter who led the Taskforce, it was still on the Enclave’s orders,” Doctor Strong said quickly, pre-empting the Rainbooms’ response. “Right now we’re representing the Enclave, so it’s up to us to make this right.” She sighed and got to her feet, “I’ll go and contact the President. I’ll ask about bringing James here, and I’ll see if I can find out the reason behind the acquisition of Project Purity.”

“No, I’ll go,” Sienna shoved her empty bowl away and stood too. “I’ll ask Turner if he knows anything while I’m at it. He’s better connected than us, he might have details.” She glanced around at each of the Rainbooms, “If we do this, will that be enough to get you to trust us?”

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly as she thought about it. She wanted to trust them, but there were just too many things that didn’t add up. Doctor Strong was being entirely sincere, Sunset was sure of it. She even had a nagging suspicion that Sienna was honestly out to help. However, the fact remained that both James and Doctor Li has been insistent, even desperate, to keep the girls away from the Enclave. That alone was reason enough to be cautious. Besides, it would hardly be the first time a version of Twilight had been manipulated into darkness by an evil ’benefactor’.

Going by the looks on her friends’ faces, none of them were confident about their options either. The sole exception was Rainbow, who had folded her arms and was pointedly looking away from all of the Enclave women. “It’ll be a start,” Sunset said eventually.

“That’s good enough for me,” Doctor Strong replied, relief evident in her voice.

“I’ll see you all soon, then.” Sienna started towards the door, then glanced over her shoulder at Doctor Strong, “In the meantime, don’t you have a theory you wanted to discuss with a certain someone?” She looked very deliberately from the doctor to Twilight and back as she said the last bit.

Twilight watched Sienna warily as she left, “Uh, what did she mean by that?”

Doctor Strong chuckled nervously, “Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“Come on, Tara,” Doctor Shoichet urged, “I want to see where this goes too.”

“Where what goes?” Pinkie asked.

Doctor Strong glanced at Twilight, chewing her lip nervously, “Well, you see… it’s about what Becky asked you earlier; About us being the same.”

Twilight eyes widened and she shot a questioning look at Sunset, who sighed inwardly. I knew this topic was going to come up again soon.

The look wasn’t lost on Doctor Shoichet, who was watching the two carefully, “We know you have an idea of what we’re talking about.” She gestured between herself and Sunset, “Colours aside, me and you look the same, we sound the same, hell, even our DNA is completely identical.”

“How do you know that?” Twilight asked quickly.

“We ran some blood tests on you when you arrived,” Doctor Strong admitted. Seeing the look on Sunset’s face, she quickly added, “It’s standard procedure to make sure you aren’t carrying any infectious diseases that we haven’t encountered before. Especially since you’re originally from another world.”

“What difference does that make?” Rainbow asked.

“The people of this world might not have any immunity to diseases we brought along from back home. James did the same thing when we first arrived in the Vault, remember?” Fluttershy answered. “In the worst case, even a minor illness that we find annoying could potentially wipe out a community that’s never built up an resistance to it.”

“Exactly,” Doctor Shoichet gave Flutters a respectful nod before turning back to Sunset, “anyway, like I was saying, physically speaking we’re near enough the same person. The same goes for Tara and Twilight.”

“You even called me ‘Twilight’ at first,” Doctor Strong frowned curiously. “What we don’t know yet is why.”

“But we think you do,” Shoichet added. “I realise that you don’t trust the Enclave yet, but this has nothing to do with our organisation. This is just between us and you. Will you tell us what you know, please?”

Sunset didn’t know how to respond. Seeing the pleading look on Doctor Strong’s face, she decided on the truth. If her and Shoichet were friends, then there was a good chance that Sunset could befriend her too, and befriending her could end up being the key to getting out from under the Enclave’s thumb and back to James. “You already know that we’re from a different world, right?”

“When you say a different world, do you mean a different planet or a different dimension?” Doctor Strong asked.

Sunset shrugged, “World, dimension, alternate reality, call it whatever you want. The truth is, I’m not from the same one as the rest of us.”

Doctor Shoichet frowned, “You mean you’re from another different world?”

Sunset nodded, “There are big differences between the two worlds, very big differences, but they have many things in common. One of the main similarities between the two is that both worlds have their own version of the same people. We’ve actually met two Twilight Sparkles, this one,” Twilight gave a shy little wave, “and another one from my homeworld.” Sunset folded her arms and looked Doctor Strong in the eye, “Apparently, now we’ve met three.”

The doctors both stared at her in stunned silence. After several long seconds, Doctor Shoichet opened her mouth, “Huh.”

“The Great Hall is just in here.”

Adam nodded his thanks to the squire and stepped through the door indicated. Inside the well-lit room, two large, wooden, c-shaped tables were placed facing each other. Elder Lyons, his daughter Sarah, Doctor Li, and Knight-Sergeant Metzger were all seated around the tables on comfortable chairs, with a young squire standing to attention behind the Elder.

Elder Lyons nodded in greeting, “Adam. I’m glad you could join us. Are you healing well?”

“Near enough, thanks,” Adam replied.

“Good. Please, take a seat.” The Elder waited for Adam to ease himself into a chair next to Doctor Li before addressing the room, “Now that we are all here, there are a couple of things I would like to discuss. First of all, Project Purity.”

“Can you retake it?” Doctor Li asked.

Elder Lyons hummed and stroked his beard, “The Enclave have set up a comprehensive perimeter, and are strengthening their defences even as we speak. However, with the refinements on fusion power you’ve brought us, Scribe Rothchild believes that we will be able to activate Liberty Prime at full power within the week. Sooner, if providence shines upon us.”

“I suppose that’s something you’ll have to thank Twilight for,” Doctor Li replied.

“Speaking of the Rainbooms, what are we doing about rescuing them?” Adam asked. “I thought Knight-Sergeant Metzger was taking a squad out to find them yesterday?”

“Believe me, I wanted to,” Metzger grumbled.

“We couldn’t risk sending a rescue squad out, not until we knew where the Enclave were keeping the girls,” Sarah cut in. “If they were imprisoned at Project Purity, there’s no way a single squad would be able to break them out. However, we received word from Three-Dog that an observer from Rivet City witnessed the girls being loaded into a Vertibird and transported South-East.”

“This was corroborated by our scouts, as well as by a wasteland merchant one of our squads encountered south of the river,” Elder Lyons added. “Factoring in the estimated range of a Vertibird, we believe the Rainbooms have most likely been taken to either the old Bolling Air Force Base, the remains of the Suitland Federal Center, or the RobCo maintenance facility.”

Metzger scowled, “All three of those are deep in super mutant territory.”

Elder Lyons nodded grimly, “Indeed. Unfortunately, that isn’t our only problem. Doctor Li has informed me that even if we successfully retake Project Purity, we’ll still need to acquire a certain component before we can activate the purifier.”

Adam felt a stab of pain at the reminder of what he had lost at the memorial building, but he forced it to the back of his mind, “The G.E.C.K module.”

“Precisely. A very rare piece of equipment,” Elder Lyons replied. “The problem is manpower.” He gestured towards Metzger, “I only have a single squad I can spare from the preparations for the assault, and right now rescuing the Rainbooms is a higher priority than a G.E.C.K. We cannot risk the Enclave getting control of their powers.”

“What about me?” Adam asked, “I can’t just sit this one out.”

The Elder shook his head, smiling tightly, “We wouldn’t expect you to. Our archives contain records of every Vault in the Capital Wasteland, hopefully one of them was issued with a G.E.C.K.”

“You want me to find out which one, then go and fetch it,” Adam finished.

Elder Lyons nodded, “I’m afraid I can’t offer you any equipment, but I’ve authorised Paladin Gunny to train you in the correct use of power armour, just in case you should be lucky enough to find a suit in one of the Vaults.”

“Or in case you manage to drag an Enclave asshole out of one,” Sarah smirked.

Elder Lyons huffed a laugh, but his expression quickly turned serious as he looked at Metzger, “That brings us to you. I want you to take your squad and skirt around the edge of the Enclave perimeter to the south of Project Purity, then make your way to each of the three locations we suspect the Rainbooms are being held. Once you have found them you are to return them here as quickly as humanly possible.”

Metzger snapped a salute, “Yes, Elder.”

“This is an extremely dangerous mission, Knight-Sergeant,” the Elder said gravely. “However, if you succeed, you, and your squad, will have earned your place among the ranks of the Paladins.” He paused and scratched his beard, “I believe you’ve nicknamed Squad Pilum the ‘Wonderbolts’, is that correct?”

Metzger nodded stiffly, “Yes, Elder.”

He smiled and nodded back, “Succeed in this mission, and that is how you will be remembered in the scrolls of honour.”

Metzger snapped another salute, her chest swelling with pride, “We won’t let you down, Elder!”

“Good.” Elder Lyons took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “In that case, Squire Maxson, please show Adam to the archives. Knight-Sergeant, good luck, and Godspeed.”

On the upper floors of Tenpenny Tower, in a tastefully decorated suite, three well-dressed people sat on comfortable chairs. The first, a powerfully built old man with thick white hair and a matching beard, was the owner of the apartment. The other two, one a beautiful woman with fine features and silky black hair, the other her curly-haired younger sister, were staying him under the pretence of a business visit.

“I must say, I really am thankful that you’re still willing to put up with us, Daring,” the woman said and sipped a delightful blend of tea imported from a less desolate part of the wastes.

Daring Dashwood grinned and shook his head, “Don’t be ridiculous, Tabitha. You know I always enjoy having you two around, it brightens up my days. The fact that it helps the Railroad is just icing on the cake.”

“You are far too kind,” Tabitha replied, giving her hair a little flick. “Though I must admit, I’ll feel a lot better once that horrid Zimmer is gone and we can finally get back to work.”

Her little sister snorted, “I still think we should take him out while he’s down here and vulnerable.”

“Now, now, Claire. You know as well as I do he is hardly vulnerable as long as he has that bodyguard with him,” Tabitha admonished. “I would be very surprised if Armitage isn’t some form of advanced prototype, much as our other friend was.”

Dashwood nodded, “Your sister’s right, little lady. Besides, you heard Three Dog’s broadcast earlier, the Enclave is starting to make a move here in the Capital Wasteland. The best thing the Railroad can do right now is keep it’s head down.”

“I suppose,” Claire said sadly. “Do you think it’s true, about the Rainbooms being captured?”

“It seems likely,” Tabitha replied. She was kept from responding further by an abrupt knock at the door.

“Come in!” Dashwood called.

The door was gently pushed open and a cross-eyed young woman with a long blonde ponytail stepped through. Tabitha breathed a sigh of relief as she recognised her as one of the Railroad’s favoured couriers.

The courier smiled brightly when she spotted Tabitha, “Hey, Miss Germaine. I’ve got a letter for you.”

Tabitha set down her teacup and stood to accept the letter, “Thank you, darling. I’ve been hoping this would arrive soon. How are things?”

“Same old, same old” the courier replied. “I’d best be off. I’ve got to get up to the Republic of Dave before nightfall if I can.”

“Oh, of course, dear, don’t let me keep you.” Tabitha gave her a concerned look, “And do be careful when you go past Old Olney, won’t you?”

“Will do!” the courier said cheerfully as she left, closing the door behind her.

Dashwood chuckled softly, “She’s a tough one, I’ll give her that.”

“What does the letter say? Is Zimmer gone yet?” Claire asked earnestly.

Tabitha rolled her eyes and tore open the envelope. The letter within was handwritten in Father Clifford’s flowing script. At first glance it simply seemed to be a rather banal letter asking about how her trip was going and giving some pointless news about goings on in Rivet City, but Tabitha had no trouble picking out the coded phrases that spelled out the missive’s true message.

Claire raised an eyebrow, “So are we going home, or what?”

Tabitha shook her head. Zimmer had indeed left for the Commonwealth, thanks to the Rainbooms no less, but now those same girls were in desperate need of help, and the Railroad was not in the habit of abandoning those who helped them.

Tabitha dropped the letter onto a table and stalked over to the nearest armoire, where her armored overcoat had been stored, “Gather your equipment, Claire. We have an assignment. Daring? I hate to be a bother, but do you mind if I borrow a few things from your secret stash?”

Author's Note

Have a new chapter!

Apologies for the delay, I'm working on getting a buffer ready so I can keep up the regular posting when I go on holiday in a few weeks, and forgot to actually upload a completed chapter on time :twilightoops:

Comments and criticisms are welcomed!

Chapter 39 - Foreboding

Doctor Turner was starting to get antsy. The Rainbooms were finally awake and here he was, stuck in a testing room while the other doctors conducted the initial interviews, as he had been for most of the night. He was well aware that the circumstances were almost entirely his own fault, but that didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

Still, I hope they’ll be able to smooth over the incident at Project Purity. After all, it was hardly our fault that that jumped-up meathead couldn’t manage a peaceful discussion without screwing it up.

Heaving a sigh, Turner looked over at the observation monitor for the hundredth time. It was connected to a camera set up in the next room over; a lead-lined and blast-proof room designed for containing malfunctioning nuclear warheads while they were fixed. Inside the room, on a table directly in front of the camera, an experiment had been set up to test the radiation being emitted by the Rainbooms’ necklaces; their so-called ‘magic’. Specifically, they were testing the radiation’s passive effect on living beings.

A recently found and reprogrammed Protectron allowed Turner to manipulate the equipment without exposing himself to any unnecessary risk.

The experiment itself was quite simple. A small cage containing a single un-mutated rat had been placed in the middle of a table. One of the Rainbooms’ necklaces, Rarity’s to be precise, had been placed next to it and the X-51 Signal Detector Thingy, newly christened as the SDT-1, had been placed on the other side of the cage. A complex array of sensors surrounded the set-up transferring the readings from the SDT-1 to Turner’s computer, while at the same time measuring every conceivable scrap of data the scientists had been able to think of.

Thus far the experiment had been a total bust. The SDT-1 was measuring a low dosage of unique radiation; a dosage several orders of magnitude higher than that emitted by the Rainbooms themselves, but still negligible compared to the size of the reading from when they first arrived. On top of that, what little radiation that was being emitted was having no visible effect whatsoever on the rat. Aside from the typical symptoms of boredom, the little rodent was perfectly fine.

“You really should be more grateful,” Turner huffed. “Most of the rats we breed for experiments like this end up either mutated or dying a horrible painful death. Not you though. No, you get to just scurry around your cage, minding your own bloody business, don’t you, you little turd?” He shifted in his seat and glanced at the clock, “Oh, balls to it.”

Reaching into a pocket, Turner pulled out a small voice recorder, “This is Doctor Timothy Turner. Current time is... eight-ten, date is the same as last recording, plus one. Inter-dimensional Radiation Experiment RG-01 has been running for four hours with no visible change in either test subject. Terminating experiment now and removing biological sample for a more thorough examination.” He typed a command into the nearby console and stuffed the recorder back in his pocket as the Protectron got to work packing away the necklace.

A few short minutes later the necklace was safely back in its box and both it and the rat had been removed to an adjacent room. A quick check with the SDT-1 showed only trace amounts of residual energy where the pendant part of the necklace had sat on the table. Satisfied, Turner ordered the Protectron to place the SDT-1 back on the table then locked the room’s doors again and activated the radiation traps he’d installed to sterilize the room before he set up the next experiment.

As soon as that’s finished, I’ll set the rat aside so Sienna can run some more thorough tests on it. Then I’ll run decontamination procedures in the room, fetch Sunset’s necklace, set up the experiment again, and sit on my arse in here for another four hours straight.

Yay.

Spinning idly on his chair, Doctor Turner was just considering checking the feed of the eyebot in the Rainboom’s room when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He rubbed his eyes and frowned at the monitor, not quite sure of what he was seeing, “Hello, what’s this?”

An undulating tendril of purple energy was slowly rising out of the spot on the table where Rarity’s necklace had lain. Doctor Turner watched as the tendril started to twist, coiling itself into a loose, rippling spiral.

“This is incredible!” Turner exclaimed, yanking the recorder back out of his pocket and holding it up to his mouth. “This is Doctor Turner, experiment has taken a very surprising turn. It appears that exposure to high levels of radiation can cause even trace amounts of unique radiation’ to somehow replicate, manifest, and take on some sort of physical shape.”

He glanced at the readings from the SDT-1, “Yes, the unique radiation has indeed increased dramatically. The readings are vastly higher than that which was emitted passively by the necklace, and are still increasing, rapidly. More tests will need to be performed to discern how, exactly, the two forms of radiation interact to cause this phenomenon, as well as how varying the relative… hang on.”

Turner gaped in surprise as the tendril suddenly started to darken and split, numerous additional tendrils branching out from the main one and questing through the air. The grasping mass of magical energy was starting to reach almost three feet in height.

“My word, this is a new development,” Turner recorded absently, “it almost appears as if the unique radiation is mutating or adapting.” He cast a curious glance at the SDT-1 readings then muttered, “Scratch that, it is definitely changing. This is fascinating, I wonder how thi- oh shit!”

One of the split tendrils suddenly whipped around, gouging a long furrow in the table beneath it. Deciding that things were starting to get out of hand, Turner abruptly shut off the radiation traps in the testing room, watching anxiously as the rad count in the room ticked down to zero. The magic, however, didn’t diminish. Instead it simply curled in on itself, wrapping itself into a dimpled ball that floated several inches above the table.

“That… was random. Note to self; magic is every bit as unstable as radiation and is apparently as mutable as FEV. Consider greater safety precautions before performing tests on the other necklaces. Now, what the hell am I supposed to do with that bloody magic ball floating in the middle of my testing room?"

The sound of the door opening behind him had Doctor Turner’s head whipping around. He sagged with relief as he saw who it was, “Doctor Bohn. You startled me.”

“Good,” Sienna said flatly. “I need you to contact the President for me.”

“In a moment,” Turner promised, “but first, would you mind taking a look at this for…?” He trailed off lamely as he turned back to the monitor.

The ball of magic had vanished.

Sienna raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the monitor, then shook her head, “Whatever it is, it can wait. Tara’s unhappy as it is with you performing these experiments, no matter how passive they are. Besides, I’ve got a couple of demands from the Rainbooms. It would be in our best interest to provide them with answers if we want them to work with us.”

Turner was only half-listening. He nodded along as she spoke, but he was more concerned with figuring out where the ball of magic had gone, especially given that the SDT-1 was still reading it in the room. “What do they want?” he asked quietly.

“They want to know exactly why Project Purity was targeted, and why their friends were attacked,” Sienna replied. “They also want to speak to James.”

“What?!” Turner yelped, finally giving the conversation his full attention.

Sienna tilted her head curiously at his response, “James, the lead scientist on Project Purity? The Rainbooms want to speak to him. They’re adamant that they won’t co-operate until they’ve spoken to him.”

Turner just stared at her, cold horror working its way up his spine.

Unnoticed by either of the scientists, the Protectron in the testing room shuddered slightly, its AI rapidly adapting to the mutated magic now coursing through its frame.

Deep in the bowels of Raven Rock, the Enclave’s mountain headquarters, Colonel Autumn marched stoically into the Senate Chamber. Modeled after the pre-war Senate Chamber in the old Capitol Building, the room contained rows upon rows of opulent desks and plush chairs, enough to seat well over a hundred people. Now it housed less than a tenth of that number, the entirety of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the old Federal Government condensed and reduced to the mere handful of people that currently occupied the center-most seats.

Colonel Autumn held back a scowl as he spotted the eyebot hovering above the President’s seat. He knew it was physically impossible for the President to make a personal appearance, but the indignity of the coming disciplinary meeting was bad enough without having to converse through an intermediary. The fact that Senator Devall was sat to the President’s right, in the seat usually occupied by Autumn himself, did nothing for his temper, nor did it bode well for his career. Stopping in front of the President’s bot, the Colonel snapped a salute, “Mister President.”

“Colonel Autumn,” the President acknowledged, “I trust you have recovered well.”

“As well as could be expected,” Autumn replied tightly. He’d barely fully woken up in the medical bay before he was dragged down here. He still had sharp pains in his joints whenever he moved, side-effects of the experimental rad-x he’d taken at Project Purity.

Devall leaned forward and adjusted his monocle, “It’s good to see you up and about again, Colonel. I just wish it was under more favorable circumstances.”

Autumn didn’t reply. He and the overly-friendly monocle-wearing tool had been at loggerheads for years, a mutual dislike that had only intensified after Devall’s assignment to watch over Project Exodus.

President Eden cleared his throat loudly, “Now that you are here, Colonel, there are several matters that we need to discuss. Starting with your many failures at the Jefferson Memorial.”

“I fail to see how and where I failed in my stated objectives,” Autumn replied. “Project Purity has been secured and all scientists are accounted for. The Rainbooms were the only uncertainty in the mission, and they were delivered safely into the custody of Project Exodus, as ordered.”

“Your objectives were to take control of Project Purity, it’s scientists, and to bring the Rainbooms in peacefully. Peacefully, Colonel,” the President said snidely. “Given that one soldier was severely injured and another traumatized in the process of forcibly subduing the Rainbooms, an act of aggression that Doctor Strong and her team are attempting to rectify as we speak, I fail to see how you can possibly say you achieved that particular objective.”

“My orders were to bring them in unharmed, not peacefully, Mister President,” Autumn shot back.

Senator Devall raised an eyebrow, “Unharmed, you say? I may not be a soldier, Colonel, but even I can see that getting punched in the stomach by a soldier wearing a full suit of X0-2 power armor is enough to harm… well… anyone. Let alone an un-armored young woman.”

Colonel Autumn clenched his fists behind his back and resisted the urge to glare at the Senator, “My soldiers gave the Rainbooms every opportunity to submit without confrontation.”

“Your men made a token effort, at best,” President Eden cut in.

“They made the best decision given the circumstances,” Autumn retorted. “If I had been given details on what exactly the Rainbooms were capable of before launching the assault even the few injuries that resulted could have been avoided.”

“If you had exercised a modicum of caution and restraint the confrontation could have been avoided altogether!” the President snapped. “And as for the ‘few injuries’ you mentioned, have you forgotten about the brave soldiers that perished thanks to your bungling of the operation?”

The Colonel cursed silently. He was ashamed to admit that he had forgotten about the two Privates that had accompanied him in the purifier’s control room. Autumn made a mental note to check their names and next of kin as soon as this meeting concluded, he made a point of personally writing condolence letters to the families of soldiers who fell in the line of duty. “An unfortunate loss. However, considering the potential threat the Rainbooms presented, I find myself relieved that only two members of the taskforce were lost.”

“Two?” President Eden asked incredulously, as the gathered Senators and advisers muttered amongst themselves. “Good God, did you not ask the men to debrief you on your way up here?”

Autumn hesitated, suddenly very concerned, “I assume that-”

“Assume nothing,” Eden interrupted. “Senator Devall; will you kindly inform the Colonel of what exactly happened after he was rendered… indisposed.”

Devall nodded and scanned a report on his desk, “After the lead scientist, James, activated the purifier’s failsafe, his son, Adam, successfully escaped the Memorial building with Doctor Li in tow.” Autumn felt his blood run cold at that, “In the process of his escape, a total of six additional men were killed in action, three more are still in critical condition, a further four suffered minor injuries, and three Eyebots were destroyed.”

President Eden somehow managed to project a sense of disapproval even through his faceless intermediary, “Those losses are merely the tip of the iceberg. Since you don’t seem to have completely grasped the extent of your failure, allow me to enlighten you. Since James activated the failsafe, Project Purity has become increasingly unstable. The scientists attached to the Jefferson Taskforce are having to perform round-the-clock maintenance just to keep it from exploding. In other words, Project Purity is not secure.”

Autumn couldn’t help a sinking feeling in his chest as the President continued, “Combined with Doctor Li’s escape, and your inability to bring the Rainbooms in peacefully, you somehow managed to fail every single objective you were given. As if that wasn’t bad enough; upon making their escape, Adam and Doctor Li fled directly to the Brotherhood of Steel, placing all of our operations here in the Capital Wasteland in jeopardy!”

Autumn felt a spark of defiance, “The Brotherhood are hardly that much of a threat.”

The President gave a mirthless laugh, “Oh really? Need I remind you that it was the Brotherhood of Steel that drove the Enclave out of the West Coast in the first place?”

Colonel Autumn scowled. The loss of the Poseidon Oil Rig, and the resulting stain on his family’s honour, still stung, “Even so, I am confident that-”

“The Brotherhood is no longer your concern,” the President said darkly. “From this point onward you will not plan an operation or redeploy troops without clearing it with me first, is that clear?”

Autumn glared at the eyebot, his fists clenched at his sides. One sentence. All it would take is one damned sentence, and I could end this whole farce right here and now. Not yet though. It’s too risky, I can’t afford to tip my hand too soon.

“Is that clear, Colonel?” the President pressed, his voice dropping dangerously.

“Crystal. Mister President,” Autumn forced out through gritted teeth.

“Good.” President Eden’s eyebot turned to look down the room, “Now that that is out of the way, we can move on to other matters. Development is finally complete on the Hellfire armor and we are ready to start putting it into production. The first units will be ready within the week and will be delivered to Squad Sigma for field testing.”

“How long until we can begin mass production?” Colonel Autumn asked quickly.

“Not any time soon, I fear,” the President replied. “Our stock of Duraframe components is running low and we don’t have the resources to produce much more.”

“The Hellfire armor should be a top priority,” Autumn insisted. “It represents a significant improvement over the X0-2, and will greatly enhance the survivability of our soldiers. We should appropriate all Duraframe components from other projects immediately.”

“That seems a little excessive, don’t you think?” Devall asked.

The President hummed thoughtfully, “Actually, I believe the Colonel has a point. The components set aside for FEV Experiment FH-1 shall stay where they are for now, but none of the other ongoing Projects show anywhere near as much promise as the Hellfire armor.”

“I beg to differ,” Devall replied. “Whitley’s enhanced eyebots in particular could be useful.”

Autumn snorted derisively, “Eyebots are surveillance tools and glorified radios. Making them tougher won’t make them any more useful.”

“On the contrary, more advanced and durable eyebots would be extremely useful for many things. For example, helping facilitate safe communication with certain ‘outside parties’,” Devall countered, giving the President a significant look.

Colonel Autumn bristled at the veiled dig at his own failure, but he stayed silent. Pointless insults weren’t Devall’s style. He had an agenda, and Autumn would bet his left arm it had something to do with Project Exodus.

President Eden was silent for several moments as he considered. “I see your point, Senator, but the Hellfire armor is still a high priority. I’m aware that Whitley has completed his first prototype, so I’ll allow him and the prototype to be attached to Project Exodus, but the rest of the Duraframe components from his work will be appropriated for Hellfire production immediately.”

Devall conceded with a nod, “Of course, Mister President.”

Colonel Autumn watched the interaction carefully, as did the rest of the room. It was hardly a surprising result, but he couldn’t fathom why Project Exodus could possibly need Whitley or his research. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how many assets the project had managed to accrue.

The Colonel frowned as he spoke, “With respect, Mister President, Project Exodus has already been granted a vast portion of our remaining resources. If we aren’t going to redirect all Duraframe components into the Hellfire armor, then shouldn’t we at least grant the first suits to a squad that will actually be able to field test them? Or, better yet, replace Squad Sigma with another squad, rather than keeping our most elite unit stuck on babysitting duty.”

“Regrettably, their duties are far from mere babysitting, Colonel,” the President replied dryly. “Through Senator Prince’s contacts, we’ve learned that the Rainbooms have rapidly become a beloved presence in two of the largest wasteland settlements, and their popularity is swiftly spreading. I had hoped that we could use that popularity, releasing them once we’d helped each other and having them spread word of our benevolence throughout the wastes. A quick and easy way to win the hearts and minds of the wasteland populace.”

The eyebot intermediary floated forward a few inches, and the President lowered his voice menacingly. “Since that plan has been ruined by your bullheadedness, I have instead transmitted a propaganda broadcast, stating that the Rainbooms came to us willingly, that they are impressed with the water purifier that we are constructing at the Jefferson Memorial, and that they are helping us on a top secret project intended to help all the people of the wastes. Of course, if the Rainbooms manage to escape, all of that will swiftly be revealed as falsehood.”

Autumn nodded as he considered the President’s words, “So Squad Sigma are essentially the Rainbooms’ jailors?”

Senator Devall turned a surprised look on the eyebot, “Pardon me, but I was under the impression that we would be releasing the Rainbooms once we’d learned everything we could from them?”

“The Rainbooms are too dangerous,” President Eden replied. “We defeated them easily once, but that was when they were caught off-guard. Now they have time to plan, knowledge of what our troops are capable of and, more likely than not, something of a grudge against us. Keeping them permanently contained is our best option. I have already given Squad Sigma orders to secure them if they attempt to escape. Alive, if possible. If not, well, there are seven of them. We can afford to lose one or two as a message to the others.”

Sunset felt a small sense of satisfaction as she watched the two scientists sit and try to piece their minds back together.

Doctor Strong looked over at Twilight, her eyes narrowing as she spoke slowly, “So, you’re another me?” Twilight nodded. “From a different reality?” Another nod. The doctor turned to Sunset, “And you’re another Becky- Doctor Shoichet, I mean; from a different reality again, and there’s another version of me there, too?”

Sunset nodded, “That’s right.”

Doctor Strong stared dumbly at Sunset for a few more seconds, then looked back at Twilight, “I’m… not sure how to deal with this.”

Twilight smiled faintly, “Yeah, it was kinda weird the first time I met the other me, too.”

Doctor Strong nodded slowly, her gaze sharpening as she focused on Twilight. Sunset could almost see the gears turning in her head as the woman’s confusion turned to curiosity. “What’s she like, the other you, uh, me, uh... us? Is she a scientist too? Are you a scientist?”

“Let’s take things one at a time, shall we?” Doctor Shoichet cut in.

“I know, I just have so many questions!” Doctor Strong exclaimed, practically vibrating in her seat.

“Yeah, well, your questions are going to have to wait,” Applejack growled. “You’re not getting anything else out of us until we’ve spoken to our friends from Project Purity.”

Doctor Strong recoiled as if she’d been slapped. Doctor Shoichet placed a reassuring hand on her arm and threw a filthy look at Applejack, “Hey, we’re trying to help you out here, so do you mind not being such a bitch?”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed dangerously as Rarity and Rainbow Dash glared daggers at the doctor.

“Need we remind you that if the Enclave hadn’t attacked us then we wouldn’t need your help in the first place!” Rarity spat.

“That’s if they’re even trying to help us,” Fluttershy muttered darkly.

“We are,” Doctor Shoichet insisted.

Sunset arched her eyebrow, “Really? Because from where I’m standing it looks like you’re trying to butter us up so we’ll agree to work with you. Heck, you still haven’t even told us why you want us to work with you, or what you’re really after!”

Shoichet opened her mouth to retort, but Doctor Strong cut her off, “That’s enough, Sunny. Arguing isn’t going to solve anything. Besides, they’re right.”

The two shared a look for a moment, before Shoichet sighed and turned to Applejack, an abashed look on her face “I… I’m sorry. I have a bit of a problem with my temper.” She huffed a laugh and glanced at Sunset, “I guess you’d know that better than anyone.”

Sunset snorted softly, “Yeah. You could say that.”

“I have a question,” Pinkie said suddenly.

“I hope I have an answer,” Doctor Strong replied.

Pinkie tilted her head to the side and looked at Doctor Shoichet curiously, “How come you called her Sunny?”

Doctor Strong smiled shyly, “It’s silly, really. Although I suppose it sort of makes sense makes sense now that we know your names.” She paused for a moment as she thought, then shook her head, “Anyway, she’s Sunny and I’m Sparkles. They’re the nicknames we gave each other when we first started dating.”

There was a sharp clatter as Pinkie dropped her spoon, then dead silence filled the dining hall.

Doctor Strong looked around at each of the girls in surprise, “What? What’s wrong?”

“Would, uh… would you mind repeating that last bit?” Twilight asked quietly.

“You mean the part about us dating?” Doctor Strong raised an eyebrow, looking from Twilight to Sunset curiously, “You mean you two aren’t?”

The two glanced at each other, blushed, and looked away, shaking their heads slowly. “No. No we are not,” Sunset answered.

Twilight rubbed her neck awkwardly, “I… actually have a boyfriend back home.”

“Wait, really?!” Doctor Strong cried. Twilight nodded shyly. “But… but how can you have a boyfriend? Are you sure you’re really into men?”

“Pretty sure,” Twilight replied with a nervous laugh.

Doctor Shoichet grimaced, “Oh God, please tell me it’s not Vincent!”

“Um, no? His name’s Timber Spruce,” Twilight replied.

Doctor Shoichet gave her a blank look for a second, then slapped a palm to her forehead, “Right, you’ve all got different names. Um… he likes music, and he’s sporty but he’s a bit of a clumsy dork. I actually dated him for a while back when we were cadets, but it didn’t work out.” She smiled ruefully at the recollection. “A while after we broke up he ended up getting a crush on Tara.”

“That sounds more like Flash Sentry,” Sunset said slowly. “Me and him dated for a while when we were freshmen. After we broke up him and the Twilight from my world sort of ended up crushing on each other pretty hard.”

Shoichet frowned and folded her arms, “So there are big similarities in the way our lives have gone, but some major differences too.” She looked up at Sunset, “So does this mean the Tara, Twilight, from your world is heterosexual, or…?”

“I’m not really sure to be honest,” Sunset admitted. “At a guess I’d say she’s bisexual, like me. Sexuality isn’t a big deal where I come from originally. You love who you want to love, we don’t care about gender, biological or otherwise.”

Doctor Strong turned to Twilight, “What about you? I mean, I don’t want to pry but-”

“I’m heterosexual,” Twilight replied, blushing again. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind women, so I guess I’m sort of bisexual, but I just... I prefer men.”

“And yet I have no sexual interest in men whatsoever.” Doctor Strong slumped in her chair, “I guess there are differences between us. Other than just our colors, I mean.”

“Um, about that,” Fluttershy put in quietly, “if you’re genetically identical then shouldn’t you be the same, um, colors?”

“Mmm, yes and no,” Twilight replied. “Our genotype is the same, so in theory our phenotype, how we look, should be the same, but there’s a little more to it than that. Our phenotype is the result of how our genotype interacts with the environment. If we’d both grown up on the same world, we probably would be the same color, but since we’re from different worlds with slightly different physical laws…”

Doctor Strong sat up straight at that, “Wait, you mean the laws of physics are different in your world?”

Twilight nodded, “Only slightly, as far as I can tell. The most obvious difference would be the radia-”

“I think that’s enough for now, Twilight,” Sunset interrupted. “Let’s save teaching them about our home until after we’ve heard from James.”

Doctor Strong looked like she was about to press her case, but she relented with a sad sigh. Doctor Shoichet, seeing the look on Strong’s face, looked up at Sunset defiantly, “Look, I get that you don’t trust the Enclave in general, but why not us? I mean, we’re you, aren’t we? Come on, just throw us a bone here.”

A sudden clattering sound grabbed everyone’s attention. The whole group stared in stunned disbelief as a random bone skittered across the table to come to rest in front of the doctor. Shoichet looked from the bone, to Pinkie, back to the bone, then back to Pinkie again. “I, uh… why?”

Pinkie shrugged, “You said to throw you a bone, silly.”

Sunset burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity of it, swiftly followed by the rest of the Rainbooms. The doctors just sat and stared in baffled silence as the girls rapidly descended into hysterics.

“Oh man, that was awesome, Pinkie!” Rainbow coughed out.

Pinkie giggled and smiled at her, her hair looking a little closer to it’s true floofiness, “What can I say? I’ve still got it.”

“Where did you even get that bone?” Twilight asked, wiping away a tear.

“I made a friend in the wastes,” Pinkie replied cryptically.

Doctor Shoichet grimaced as she gently pushed the bone back across the table to Pinkie, “Uh, here, why don’t you have that back?”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie popped her thumb in her mouth and blew, puffing her hair up to its maximum level of poof, tucked the bone into the curly mass, then allowed it to deflate back down to it’s previous, diminished self.

The two doctors stared at her, utterly dumbstruck.

Applejack smirked, “Ah’m guessing the Enclave doesn’t have a Pinkie of its own?”

Doctor Strong shook her head slowly, never removing her eyes from Pinkie, “No. Twilight and Sunset were the only ones who had a genetic match in our database.”

“How did you do that?” Shoichet demanded.

Sunset smiled, “Okay, I’ll give you one last piece of advice. After that, you’re getting nothing until we’ve spoken to James.” Her smile widened and she shook her head, “Pinkie is Pinkie, try not to think about it too hard, and don’t … try to figure it out. That way lies madness.”

Before anyone else could respond the door opened and Doctor Bohn stalked through, looking annoyed.

“Sienna? What’s wrong?” Doctor Strong asked.

Sienna glowered at her, “Turner’s being a dick.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. He’s freaking out about something, but he won’t tell me what. He just sent me to fetch you,” Sienna replied. “He said it was extremely urgent, so you should probably hurry before that limey asshole has a stroke or something.”

Doctor Strong swore under her breath, “I’d better go and see what’s wrong.”

“I’ll come with you,” Doctor Shoichet added quickly. “Sienna, you… you just stay here for now.”

“Fine by me,” Sienna replied. “It’ll make resisting the urge to emasculate him easier.”

“Sorry girls, we’ll have to continue this later,” Doctor Strong called over her shoulder as she and Shoichet hurried out of the room.

The Rainbooms just stared at the door, surprised at how quiet the room had suddenly gotten.

“Well, that was random,” Rainbow said flatly.

“What was that about?” Sunset asked.

“Like I said, I don’t know,” Sienna replied bluntly. She eyed Sunset curiously, “Couldn’t you just read my mind to figure that out?”

A flash of mild panic made Sunset splutter, “I… um… you see, I… I don’t like to do it without permission. It’s not polite.”

Sienna slowly arched an eyebrow, “You’re worried about being polite to members of the group that assaulted and kidnapped you?”

Sunset scowled, “Someone has to be the better person.”

Sienna stared at her in silence for a few moments. “Moral, but bitchy. I like you.” She smiled slightly and turned to the door, “Come with me. Now that you’re awake and fed, I want to see what I can do about your stitches.”

Author's Note

Another new chapter for you!

Comments and Criticisms are welcomed, and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 40 - Magic and Memories

Tara and Becky hurried through the corridors of the Exodus building, heading to the appropriated testing rooms.

“What do you think has gone wrong?” Becky asked.

Tara shook her head, “I don’t know, but if it’s something to do with the Rainbooms’ necklaces, then…”

Becky didn’t need her to finish. They were having a hard enough time trying to get the girls to trust them as it was, despite the revelation of who they represented. If anything happened to the necklaces, this attempt at diplomacy was going to blow up in their faces.

Hurrying around a corner the two spotted the door to the testing rooms open ahead of them to the left while the door to secure storage room was open on their right. The sound of Doctor Turner’s increasingly panicked voice coming from the storage room let the scientists know where he was.

“Doctor Turner?!” Tara practically yelled as she darted into the room with Becky hot on her heels.

Inside the room the lockboxes containing the Rainbooms’ necklaces were all lined up on a table. Two members of Squad Sigma that had been assigned to their protection were standing at either side of the table watching Doctor Turner as he paced around and talked agitatedly to himself. All three of the occupants looked over as Tara and Becky entered the room.

“Ah, you’re here,” Doctor Turner said evenly.

“Sienna sent us, what’s wrong? Has something happened with the necklaces?” Tara asked urgently.

Doctor Turner stared blankly at her for a second, then blinked as he realised what she was talking about, “Ah, no. No, the necklaces are fine, they’re all safe in their boxes. There’s been a bit of a development on the energy they emit, but that’s not the reason I’ve called you here.”

The two women both let out sighs of relief. “If it’s not those, then what could be so urgent?” Tara asked.

Doctor Turner frowned and resumed pacing, not looking at either of them, “James.”

“What about him?” Becky asked. “Did the President refuse to let him speak to the Rainbooms?”

Doctor Turner stopped again and grimaced, “He’s dead.”

“What?!” Becky and Tara cried in unison.

Doctor Turner nodded gravely, “He activated a failsafe on the purifier; one that killed him, two soldiers, and almost killed Colonel Autumn. He sacrificed himself to keep the Enclave from being able to use Project Purity.”

The two women stared at him in stunned silence. “We’re screwed. We’re fucking screwed,” Becky grumbled.

“Hmmm, maybe not yet,” Doctor Turner said slowly. “From what we’ve heard over the radio, the girls are somewhat reasonable. Surely if we explain that James’ death had nothing to do with us then th-”

“No, they were very clear on that. They speak to James, or we get nothing,” Becky replied firmly. “It’s been hard enough getting anything at all out of them, and Applejack in particular seems to be getting more and more annoyed the more we press for information.” She glared at the doctor, “I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly comfortable pissing off a girl who could literally tear me in half!”

One of the Sigma soldiers glanced over at her, “If you’re worried about the Rainbooms getting aggressive, you should take one or two of us in with you, to keep them in line.”

“No,” Becky said emphatically. “The moment we bring a soldier in with us is the moment what little trust we’ve managed to earn is lost.”

“Trust we’re going to lose anyway when they find out James is dead,” Doctor Turner pointed out. He sighed heavily and shook his head, “There’s got to be something we can do to make them… er… Doctor Strong? What are you doing?”

Coming to a decision, Tara had stepped over to one of the lockboxes and was fiddling with the combination. A second later the lockbox opened, and she dumped the pink necklace inside onto the table, before moving on to the next box, “I’m giving the necklaces back to the Rainbooms.”

“What?! B-but you can’t!” Doctor Turner spluttered.

“I have to!” Tara retorted, tipping the contents of the next box onto the table too, this one a red and orange necklace with a sun symbol on it. “This is the only chance we have of earning their trust! I’m giving them their necklaces back and I’ll let them know they can leave if they choose to. Hopefully, they’ll see that we’re being sincere and choose to stay, or at least share some infor-”

“That won’t be possible,” one of the soldiers suddenly cut in.

Tara looked at him warily, “What do you mean?”

“We have orders,” the soldier replied, “the Rainbooms are to be kept contained here at all costs.”

Tara was taken aback for a moment, but soon rallied herself, “Well, as the scientist in charge of this Project, I’m giving you new orders. The Rainbooms are to-”

“Our orders came from the President himself,” the soldier told her bluntly.

Shock paralysed Tara for a moment, “The… the President? But… why? Imprisoning the Rainbooms was never one of Project Exodus’ goals!”

“I suppose it makes sense,” Doctor Turner supplied. “The Rainbooms are dangerous, they proved that at Project Purity. If we can hold them here, then at least we know they aren’t out in the wasteland, doing God knows how much damage. I must admit, I’m a little concerned about how they’ll react,” he glanced sidelong at the soldier as he spoke, “but I’m sure Squad Sigma will be able to handle them. We’ll just have to… break it to them gently?”

Tara looked from Doctor Turner to the soldier, then lowered her head sadly, “This is wrong.”

“I don’t like it myself, to be honest,” Doctor Turner admitted. “Unfortunately, it’s out of our hands. Come on, let’s get these necklaces locked away again, and then we can-”

“No,” Tara said firmly, unlocking the next box and dumping out a blue necklace.

Doctor Turner winced and moved to stop her, “You really shouldn’t be touching those, they’re dan-”

“I said no, doctor!” Tara insisted, shrugging him off as she moved down the table and reached for the next box. “The necklaces go back where they belong. And I’m going to speak to the President, myself. We have new information, something that… that changes…”

Doctor Turner watched Tara curiously as she trailed off. After a few seconds of waiting for her to continue, he spoke up, “Doctor Strong? Are you alright?”

Tara didn’t answer. The instant her hand had touched the next box she’d felt something, a tingle and a pulse that she couldn’t accurately describe. “Can you hear that?” she half-whispered.

“Hear what?” Doctor Turner asked.

“Something inside. It’s calling to me,” Tara mumbled.

Not quite realising what she was doing, Tara slowly unlocked the box and opened the lid. Inside, a purple necklace with a curious star-like symbol glittered up at her, more beautiful and entrancing than anything she’d ever seen before. Voices could be heard, saying inconsequential things, but none of that mattered to Tara. All that mattered was the necklace. It was calling to her, it belonged to her. It was a part of her that she had never realised was missing. Just as she reached in to claim the necklace, strong hands grabbed her shoulders, while something ripped the box from her hand and slammed the lid shut. Tara blinked and gasped as she snapped out of her trance.

“Bloody hell, woman, what the hell was that about?!” Doctor Turner growled in her ear.

Tara shook her head, looking up at the soldier who’d snatched the box from her, “I… I don’t know. The necklace it… it hypnotized me somehow…”

“Hypno… what do you mean, hypnotised?” Doctor Turner asked incredulously.

“I don’t know, I… wait…” Tara frowned as a strange thought occurred to her. “Who’s necklace is that one?” she asked, already sure of the answer.

“Twilight Sparkle’s,” Doctor Turner replied, confirming her suspicion. “Why?”

“She’s me; another version of me, from an alternate reality,” Tara explained. “That’s why we share the same DNA.” She shuddered as she looked at the box containing Twilight’s necklace, “I guess that means we somehow share a connection to that thing.”

“A connection?” Doctor Turner mused. Suddenly he gasped, “Doctor Shoichet!”

Tara’s head snapped around at that. Becky stood next to the table, a focussed look on her face as she reached out to the necklace in front of her. Cold fear gripped Tara as she realised which Rainboom it belonged to. “Becky, no!”

Her yell came too late.

As Becky’s hand grasped the necklace there was a flash of light and a shockwave rocked the room. Becky’s eyes glowed a searing white as the necklace blazed with power, sending pulses of energy rippling through the air. Tara and the others could only watch in shock and terror as Becky’s hair lengthened and changed colour to match Sunset’s, a pair of twitching, amber, animal ears sprouting from the top of her head. There was a final flash of light, then a blast of power that shook the entire building, knocking the scientists to the floor and causing dust to rain from the ceiling.

Groaning from the sudden impact, Tara rolled over and looked over to where Becky had been standing. Her girlfriend lay unconscious on the floor, wisps of steam rising from her body.

“Sunny!”

Sunset hissed in pain as the doctor slowly removed the last of her stitches.

“And… there… we… go.” Sienna dropped the last piece of stitching into a trash can next to the bed and leaned in to check her work, “Good. Now we just let the auto-doc finish up.”

Sunset winced, biting her lip as two of the auto-doc’s robotic arms extended. The first sprayed some form of protective film over the little holes left by the stitching. It was a pleasant enough feeling, but it was the second arm that bothered Sunset. Or rather, it was the large needle at the end of said arm that bothered her. She shivered and looked away as the tip moved closer to her belly. There was a sharp pain followed by a sense of burning as the needle pierced her skin, followed by a pleasant, tingling, cooling sensation.

“Are you sure she can’t have any painkillers, Doctor?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s better not to, if the patient can bear it,” Sienna replied. “It makes it much easier to tell if they’re having a reaction to the biogel. Besides, it’s all finished now.”

Sunset let out a breath and looked down at her wound. She had an angry red line running up her belly, with tiny red pin-pricks showing where the stitches had been, but it looked a lot better than it had a few days ago, “Phew, thanks, Doc.”

Sienna smiled softly, “Don’t mention it. Your wound should be fully healed in a day or so. I wouldn’t try running a marathon or contorting yourself into odd positions in that time, but aside from that, feel free to move around however you normally would.”

Sunset nodded and sat up, pulling her top back down. The pain had already faded almost entirely, “Thanks, this stuff’s pretty cool.”

“It’s a combination of advanced biogel and a layer of cyanoacrylate glue, designed for sealing and healing surgical incisions and internal injuries,” Sienna replied. “The only stuff the Enclave have that’s better is experimental.”

“It sure is impressive,” Applejack put in.

“It’s fascinating!” Twilight exclaimed, “They had a stock of something similar in Rivet City, but this seems even more advanced again. How exactly does it all work?”

Sunset sighed and looked around idly as Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sienna started talking medicine. They were back in the room the girls had woken up in, with Sunset perched on the bed that Fluttershy had previously occupied. The rest of the Rainbooms had taken the opportunity to change out of their jumpsuits and back into their own clothes. The clothes were a little damaged and scruffy in places, much to Rarity’s chagrin, but they were clean and dry enough.

“I have a question,” Sunset said suddenly, garnering quizzical looks from the others. “Why did you change our clothes?”

“Your clothes got drenched when you were loaded onto the Vertibird that brought you here,” Sienna deadpanned. “If you’re wondering why we dressed you differently to the others, it’s because we ran out of jumpsuits and had to give you a set of Officer’s underclothes instead.” She paused and raised an eyebrow, “It was either that or Tara’s Nuka-Girl rocketsuit, and you probably wouldn’t want that given what she gets up to in it.”

Sunset blushed furiously at the thought of what, and who, Tara did while wearing whatever a Nuka-Girl suit was. Looking away uncomfortably, her embarrassment certainly wasn’t helped by the matching scarlet glow she spotted on Twilight’s face. “A-anyway, maybe we should-”

Her head snapped around as she felt a sudden surge of power. Equestrian magic, from a source she knew intimately.

“You okay there, Sunset?” Applejack asked.

Sunset clenched her fists and stood up. “They’re messing with a Geode. My Geode,” she replied angrily, turning a baleful look on Sienna, “Our necklaces, where are you keeping them?”

Sienna opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock, “They… I… I don’t think I can-” She was interrupted by a deep rumble that shook the walls. Sunset just gave her a pointed look. Quickly rethinking whatever she had been going to say, Sienna hurried to the door, “T-this way.”

“Ah thought Doctor Strong promised that no-one was going do mess with our necklaces?” Applejack asked darkly as the girls followed the doctor out into the corridors.

Sienna flinched and glanced back at her warily, “Before you all woke up, Doctor Turner pestered Tara into letting him see if the radiation had any passive effect on living beings. Tara agreed, but only as long as he didn’t actually do anything to your necklaces. All he was permitted to do was place them next to a living specimen and observe. That’s all, I swear.”

“That wasn’t passive magic!” Sunset spat. “So either you’re lying, or something’s just gone wrong.”

“Why do you think I’m not trying to talk you out of coming along?” Sienna shot back.

Applejack loudly cracked her knuckles. “Maybe ‘cause you know there’s nothing you can do to stop us?” she growled. Sienna blanched and picked up the pace.

The Rainbooms followed along as the doctor led them quickly through the facility. They took a somewhat longer route than previously, going down several staircases and heading past several large office spaces and workshops. As they were descending what Sienna assured them was the last stairwell, the group heard hurried footsteps coming up towards them. Scant moments later a man sped around a corner and nearly ran headlong into Sienna.

“Whoa! Sorry!” The man clutched at his sides as he gasped for air. “I… shit… I was just come… coming to find you!”

“We felt some kind of blast, is anyone hurt?” Sienna asked urgently.

The man frowned at her, mouthed ‘we?’, then did a double-take as he spotted the Rainbooms gathered behind her. Sunset scowled as she recognised him as Doctor Turner, the man that had met them outside Rivet City

“Doctor, is anyone hurt?” Sienna pressed.

Snapped back to reality, Doctor Turner shook his head, “Doctor Shoichet… she grabbed the… the necklace and…”

“Where is she?!” Sienna demanded.

Turner shrank back from her, “S-secure Storage.”

Sienna swore and shoved past him, darting down the stairs as quickly as she could, the Rainbooms hot on her heels. Turner cursed loudly as he got left behind, but nevertheless he turned back around and did his best to keep up.

A few more flights down the group came to the bottommost corridor of the facility and broke into a run. As doors flew past on either side, Sunset silently thanked Sienna for fixing her stitches. Turning one last corner, she was just in time to see the doctor disappear into a room on the right. She reached the door herself moments later.

Sunset vaguely noticed a table and a pair of armored soldiers inside the room, but her attention was immediately drawn to the woman sitting on the floor, amber pony-ears poking out from flowing red and yellow hair. Doctor Strong was kneeling next to her, gently stroking her hair and tearfully whispering something to her. Gasps from behind told Sunset that the others could see what was happening, too.

Sienna hurried over and knelt next to the two, “Shit, what the hell happened to you?!”

Doctor Strong shook her head, choking back a sob, “I… I don’t know. The moment she touched Sunset’s necklace there… there was this light and she…”

“She ponied up,” Sunset finished.

The three doctors all looked up at her. Sunset made to step forward, but a hand clamped onto her shoulder and held her back.

“Hold up, Sunshim,” Rainbow warned, jerking her chin at the soldiers. Sunset gulped as she realised both of them had their guns trained on her.

Following her gaze, Doctor Strong narrowed her eyes at them, “Lower your weapons.” The soldiers just ignored her. “The Rainbooms are the only people here who might have a fucking clue about what just happened to Becky, so lower your god-damned weapons!” she snarled.

Sunset relaxed slightly as the soldiers complied. Taking a slow breath to try and control the mixture of fear and anger she felt, she stepped over and crouched next to Doctor Shoichet, looking into her eyes. “You were doing something with my necklace.” she stated evenly.

Doctor Strong shook her head, “We weren’t. I was gett-”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Sunset growled.

Doctor Shoichet just looked back at Sunset. They stayed there silently for several long seconds before finally she spoke, “Tara was going to give the Geodes back to you.” Sunset barely managed to keep her expression neutral as she called the necklaces by their proper name. “When I saw my… your… Geode, it called to me. It felt like it was… I don’t know…”

“Meant for you?” Sunset prompted. Doctor Shoichet nodded slowly. “When you touched it, what did you see?”

“See?” Doctor Strong asked. “Wait, you mean sh-”

Sunset held up a hand to silence her. “What did you see?”

Tears welled up in the Doctor Shoichet’s eyes, “I saw...” She gulped nervously and tried again, “I saw… everything.”

Sunset somehow knew exactly what she meant. They shared a connection now, one she honestly didn’t know how to describe. The doctor sniffed and raised a hand, holding out Sunset’s Geode, “This belongs to you.”

Sunset took it gently and slipped the chain over her head, smiling despite herself as she felt a comforting warmth emanating from it, “Thank you, Doctor.”

“Call me Becky,” she replied thickly. “The rest of your Geodes are in those boxes on the table.”
Sunset glanced up at the table, then looked back down at Becky, “We’ll be leaving now.”

Becky just nodded in response.

“We can’t allow that,” one of the soldiers cut in.

Everyone in the room tensed at the soldier’s words. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked warily.

“We’re under orders,” the soldier replied. “You’re to be permitted supervised access to the basement levels, at Doctor Strong’s discretion, but you are not permitted to enter the upper levels or to leave the facility under any circumstances.” He hefted his rifle meaningfully, “Attempts to disobey will be dealt with, severely.”

“You can’t just keep us here!” Rarity cried.

“We can, and we will,” the soldier said simply.

Doctor Strong wilted under the appalled looks the Rainbooms gave her. Even Sienna and Becky were looking at her as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “We received our new orders from the President just before everything happened with the necklaces, it’s why I was going to give them back to you, as a gesture of faith.” She lowered her head in shame, “I’m sorry.”

There was a brief, miserable silence.

“So, we really are prisoners then,” Applejack muttered.

Sunset gritted her teeth as impotent fury rose up within her. She wracked her brain, trying to come up with a way of distracting the soldiers so she could grab the rest of the Geodes, but she couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t get one of her friends killed. Escape would have to wait. She flinched as she felt someone suddenly grab her wrist.

Becky’s head was drooping, as if she were weary, but the look she gave Sunset from half-lidded eyes was earnest and calculating, “Wallflower.”

Sunset could only stare in amazement. “I… what?”

“Wallflower Blush, who is she?” Becky pressed, squeezing Sunset’s wrist as she did so.

“Aw, shoot! Please tell me she didn’t get brought here too and we didn’t notice!” Applejack exclaimed worriedly.

Sunset shook her head, utterly baffled, “No, she was at a gardening event when we arrived in Vault 101, there’s no way she ended up here.”

“You mean she’s a friend of yours?” Sienna asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Sunset admitted, her mind whirling. She was positive that Becky was trying to tell her something, there had to be a reason she was asking about Wallflower specifically, after, but Sunset couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of her.

“Your friend? But how is that possible?! How could Becky have known that?” Doctor Strong asked incredulously.

Ignoring her girlfriend, Becky subtly squeezed Sunset’s wrist again, “Wallflower and… who was that other one? That girl by the lockers?”

“Girl by the-” Sunset gasped as she realised what Becky was getting at. Aware that the soldiers, not to mention everyone else, were watching her carefully, Sunset snatched her hand out of Becky’s grip and scrambled for a convincing lie to cover herself, “I… you… how did you know about her?! It was one time, and I didn’t know she was a virgin!”

The sounds of shock and confusion coming from pretty much everyone in the room made Sunset instantly regret whatever foul coincidence that made that her first thought, but at least the blush that illuminated her cheeks helped sell it. To an extent.

“Uh… what the heck is going on?” Rainbow asked.

“Nevermind!” Sunset said quickly, rubbing her neck awkwardly. She let out a sigh and stood up, turning to face the others, “Come on, girls. Let’s get back to our room. There’s no point in arguing.”

“Wait!” Tara cried desperately, “What about Becky? How did she know your friend’s name? Is she going to be okay?”

“She’ll be fine,” Sunset called out, not bothering to look back. “She just got a taste of what it’s like to be me. The magic should wear off soon enough, and then she’ll be back to normal.”

Tara sighed with relief, “I… are you sure?” Sunset nodded. “Um… I’ll just get Becky up to the first aid room for now, then… and then I’ll come up to you and we’ll… we’ll try and sort this mess out, okay?”

Sunset paused for a moment then shrugged, “Whatever. Just bring the rest of our necklaces with you.”

“Of course,” Doctor Strong replied quietly. “Doctor Turner, would you mind escorting the Rainbooms back upstairs for me?”

Turner looked around at each of the girls warily, as if he was half-expecting them to lash out in anger. Finally, he gestured to the door and spoke in a calm and measured voice, “Very well. Right this way, please.”

The rest of the Rainbooms looked to Sunset, each of their expression varying between scared, confused, and defiant, but she just nodded and indicated that they should leave. Sunset felt a surge of gratitude as they obeyed, the fact that they did so without questioning it spoke volumes about how much they trusted her. She hoped she could live up to their expectations.

Just as Sunset reached the door, she surreptitiously glanced back at Becky and gave her the ghost of a wink. The young woman nodded subtly and winked back. Stepping through the doorway, Sunset sighed and tried to stop her heart from pounding as she thought about what Becky had been getting at.

Wallflower Blush and the Memory Stone. Me and my friends here destroyed the Memory Stone, but it wouldn’t have been possible without a little bit of subterfuge and a lot of help from Trixie Lulamoon, the person I least expected help from.

Someone I thought was an enemy turning out to be an ally. That was some pretty quick thinking there, Becky. I just hope I’m doing the right thing by trusting you.

Becky’s thoughts were a chaotic mess as Tara and Sienna took her to the first aid room; both from what she’d seen and what she was considering doing because of it.

Sienna stepped into the room first and held the door open for the other two, locking it behind them once they were in. “Can you get on the bed for me, please?” she asked.

“As long as Tara’s joining in,” Becky said coyly, giving her girlfriend a quick wink and getting a strained smile in return.

“You’re still a colossal pervert, so unfortunately your personality hasn’t been affected,” Sienna said flatly as she fetched some tools from a set of drawers. “Now hold still and keep quiet while I check you over.” She gave Tara a stern look, “That goes for you, too. I don’t want you stressing both her and yourself out with two hundred questions, so shush until I say otherwise.” Tara nodded sadly and wrapped her arms around herself. Becky desperately wanted to comfort her, but right now she had to let their medic do her job.

As Sienna got to work, poking, prodding, and shining lights in various places; including the new set of ears, Becky tried to relax and get a handle on her emotions. Tara hovered around anxiously, constantly checking over Sienna’s shoulder and reading every notation she made on her clipboard.

Eventually Sienna sighed and stepped back, removing her stethoscope from her ears and hanging it around her neck, “As far as I can tell, you’re fine. I’ll have to do some more detailed blood tests and maybe a scan or ten, but apart from your hair and your new ears, I don’t think anything else has changed. How are you feeling?”

Becky took a moment to think before answering. “Physically, I actually feel pretty good,” she replied honestly. “I’m a little sore in places, and my brain feels like it’s been electrocuted, but other than that, I’m fine.” She gave a wan smile, “I was lucky. That could’ve gone a lot worse.”

“I’ll say,” Sienna huffed. “What were you even thinking? Why did you grab that thing without any form of protection?”

Becky chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah, that was kinda dumb. In my defence, I was hypnotized, so…?”

Sienna arched a disbelieving eyebrow, but Tara quickly stepped in, “It’s true. The same thing happened to me the moment I touched the box that had Twilight’s necklace in.”

That got a thoughtful frown out of Sienna, “Do you think this has anything to do with the fact that your genetics match theirs?”

“Probably,” Becky replied. “Do you remember what Twilight said about the Geodes being tied to each of the Rainbooms’ unique magical signatures? I suppose we must share those signatures too, since we’re just different versions of the same people, after all.”

“Geodes… you said that earlier, too. Do you mean the necklaces?” Tara asked.
Becky nodded, “That’s what the Rainbooms call them.”

“Before that, can we just take a couple of steps back for a moment?” Sienna cut in, “What the hell do you mean by different versions of the same people?”

Becky and Tara both glanced at her curiously. Tara was the first to catch on, “Ooooh, of course. You weren’t there for that part.”

Between the two of them, they swiftly told Sienna what they had learned about the alternate realities the Rainbooms had come from and how they were alternate versions of each other.
When they were finished, Sienna sank slowly into a chair, her expression a picture of stunned amazement, “So you’re saying there’re three different versions of Tara?”

Becky nodded, “And two of me.”

Sienna blinked dumbly, then narrowed her eyes, “So, when they called me Sugarcoat…?”

Becky couldn’t restrain an amused snort, “That’s the name of the version of you from their world. I recognized her straight away. She’s got grey skin and white hair, but you have the same pigtails, and even the same glasses.”

Tara and Sienna shared a shocked look, then turned back to Becky. “How could you possibly know that?” Tara asked. “And how did you know about their friend, Wallflower?”

Becky’s mood immediately turned solemn. “Sunset’s Geode. When I picked it up it… it showed me things.”

The other two blinked in surprise. “It showed you things? How?” Tara asked breathlessly.

“It’s magic,” Becky replied quietly, but clearly. “Not advanced technology, not weird mutations, not even illusions or trickery of some kind. Its real, tangible, honest-to-God magic.”

Sienna still looked sceptical, but Tara pressed ahead, “What did it show you?”

“I…” Becky started to reply, then hesitated. What she had seen through the Geode, what she had felt, they weren’t really hers to disclose. Heaving a great sigh, she decided she had to tell the truth, if not the details. If she went through with the plan that was still half-formed in her head, then maybe this would at least help soften the blow for the others, “It showed me Sunset’s memories.”

“You saw her memories?!” Tara and Sienna exclaimed in unison.

Becky nodded slowly. She could still see them clearly. A series of images flashing before her eyes in rapid succession. Memories of a life that was so far removed and alien to her own, and yet, at the same time, so similar in some aspects that Becky was still reeling from the implications of half of them. “I didn’t see everything,” she clarified. “It just showed the times where she was feeling particularly sad, or happy, or stressed, or… angry.”

Tara gaped at her, “But that… how is… you… she…” she shook her head and stopped trying to articulate her thoughts, “this is insane.”

Becky huffed a laugh, “Yeah, no shit.” She briefly considered mentioning some of the crazier memories the Geode had shown her; like of Sunset’s life before she left her home world, but quickly decided against it. “Anyway, you should go and speak to the Rainbooms, you did say you’d take their Geodes up to them, and you probably shouldn’t piss them off any more than we already have.”

“They seemed strangely calm about everything actually,” Sienna supplied, giving Becky a look that sent a chill down her spine. “Especially Sunset Shimmer.”

Becky chuckled nervously, “Still, we probably shouldn’t push our luck too much.”

“The Rainbooms will wait a little longer,” Tara said firmly, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Becky’s ear. “Right now I’m more concerned about you.”

Becky struggled not to tear up, touched by the gesture, but at the same time wanting both of the women to leave her alone and give her time to think. Please, Tara. The less you know about what I’m thinking right now, the safer you’ll be.

“You say you saw Sunset’s most emotional memories, the best and worst times of her life?” Sienna asked suddenly.

Becky nodded warily, “I… I guess, so. It’s still a little blurry but-”

“Is that why you’re planning on helping them escape?” Sienna asked flatly, driving a knife of pure terror through Becky’s heart.

Tara forced a laugh, “This is no time to be joking around, Sienna.”

Sienna didn’t take her eyes off Becky as she replied, “I’m not joking.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Tara said sharply. “There’s no way Becky would do something like that. Right, Becky?” The confidence she was feeling visibly wavered as she saw the look on Becky’s face. “You wouldn’t, right?”

Becky just looked up at Sienna wearily. She had hoped she could get away without getting anyone else involved, but the cat was out of the bag now. “How did you know?”

Sienna shrugged, ignoring Tara’s startled gasp, “It was pretty obvious, really. I’m not a meathead like the soldiers, and unlike Tara, I wasn’t distracted by worry and confusion. I saw you squeezing Sunset’s wrist while muttering that crap about Wallflower, whoever the hell she is, and I saw you nod and wink at her when she left the room. It doesn’t take a genius to put it together.”

Becky laughed humorlessly, “You’re perceptive, as always.”

“Don’t forget, I used to be a first responder working with the FEV researchers,” Sienna replied. “Staying calm and paying attention while a patient is undergoing spontaneous mutation is part of my job.”

Tara looked from Sienna to Becky in shock, “Wait, you mean, you really do want to help them escape? But… but why?”

Becky lowered her head, focusing on her lap, “It’s the right thing to do.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Becky couldn’t bear to look up, she didn’t want to see the look of betrayal on her lovers face.

Finally, after several long seconds of the most torturous silence Becky had ever endured, Tara spoke in a quiet voice, “You… you can’t be serious. The President has ordered us to keep the Rainbooms in our custody. If you help them escape that… that’s treason.”

“I know,” Becky said softly. “I don’t want you to get involved, if you have to report this then I’ll understa-”

“No!” Tara cut in anxiously. “You’ve obviously been affected by Sunset’s memories or… or the Geode has done something to you.”

“It made me realize just how much is wrong with our world!” Becky snapped. “The Rainbooms’ worlds are so different to this one it isn’t even funny! They’re not perfect, not by a long shot, but they make our world look like a degenerate hell-hole, and that’s before the bombs fell!”

“If that’s the case, then there’s all the more reason we’ll need the Rainbooms help,” Tara responded earnestly. “Think about it, if we can successful recreate a portal between our realities then the Enclave will finally be able to leave this wasteland and start to rebuild.”

Becky looked up at Tara defiantly, “The Enclave are the last remnants of the government that helped create this shit-hole of a wasteland. There’s no way in hell I’m helping to inflict them on someone else’s world.”

“I’m in,” Sienna said unexpectedly.

“You… wait, what?!” Tara cried.

Sienna threw down her clipboard and sighed, “I said, I’m in. The higher-ups are mostly evil selfish bastards who don’t give a damn about anything other than power, I’ve known that for years.”

“How can you say that?!” Tara replied in a scandalised voice.

Sienna gave her a serious look, “Easy. Project Scouring.”

That was enough to give Tara pause. “I… okay, I know that particular Project wasn’t exactly our finest moment, but it was an act of desperation.”

“Don’t spout the bullshit they fed us in elementary classes to me, Tara,” Sienna shot back. “I know you’re smarter than that. You say it was an act of desperation? That project was active for over thirty years. And we didn’t create it from scratch, the Scouring strain was modified from an older strain of FEV, one we spent decades developing.”

Tara stepped back, surprised at the vitriol from her usual deadpan friend, “But… it was a last resort.”

“You mean like the nukes were supposed to be?” Becky asked sarcastically.

“That was different,” Tara replied stubbornly. “Besides, Project Scouring was shut down months ago. The President himself made the announcement.”

“Only after half of the Senate and almost eighty percent of our scientists demanded it. Even Colonel Autumn was against that project,” Sienna retorted. “The fact that such a plan even existed should be enough to clue you in on what kind of people our superiors are. If the Scouring strain ever got loose, thousands would die. Children would die. Even babies would die horrible and painful deaths. Only a monster with no regard for human life, whatsoever, would even consider using such a weapon.”

“The… the President worked on that project personally,” Tara said in a small voice.

“That’s exactly my point!” Sienna snarled.

Becky couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not about the Enclave’s dark secrets; she’d long suspected that certain parts of the their history had been edited and polished, but the sheer hatred Sienna held for her own home was astounding.

Tara, for her part, turned away from both of them, wrapping her arms around herself again and facing the wall, clearly wrestling with her own thoughts.

Becky bit her lip and glanced up at Sienna, “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Sienna replied darkly. “When I was a medic on those projects I saw and did things that I can’t even bring myself to face. Even telling you about some of them is enough to warrant a death sentence for disclosing classified information. The only reason I even agreed to join Project Exodus is because I hoped I would finally get a chance to escape from all of this bullshit, but if what you’re saying about the Rainbooms home is true then… I…”

“You know we’ll probably be executed for this, don’t you?” Becky asked softly.

Sienna clenched her fists and looked at the ground, “The Rainbooms come from a peaceful world. Just looking at their clothes is enough to tell that; flashy, decorative, colourful, not practical in the slightest. Not for a world like ours. There’s enough dirty blood on my hands. If saving a peaceful world from the Enclave’s bullshit can make up for it in any way, I’m willing to bet my life on it.”

Becky just nodded. Words weren’t enough to express what she was feeling. She felt a fleeting sense of just how absurd this was, that she was potentially about to sacrifice her life on account of something that could easily have just been a radiation-induced hallucination of some sort. Deep down, though, she knew. The things she’d seen, the emotions she’d felt, they were real.

“What about you, Tara?” Sienna’s voice dragged Becky out of her reverie, “are you going to report this?”

“Don’t, Sienna,” Becky admonished softly. This was why she hadn’t wanted either of the others involved. Tara practically hero-worshipped the President. Making her choose between him or her girlfriend, it was sadistic on a whole other level. “Look, Sparkles, I-”

“Telepathy,” Tara replied.

Becky and Sienna shared a confused glance. “Um, what?”

Tara turned around, unwrapping her arms and placing her hands on her hips, “Sunset Shimmer is a telepath. We know that, the President knows that, pretty much everyone who’s attached to Project Exodus knows that.” She sighed and shook her head, “I suppose it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say she can mind control people too.”

Becky gave her a startled look, “Wait, do you me-”

“I know how and why the old Poseidon Rig was destroyed,” Tara interrupted. “I also happen to know something about the President that neither of you do. No-one does, except for the Senators and a few senior officers.” She gave Sienna a cold look, “You’re not the only one with doubts, and you’re not the only one who’s worked on unpleasant assignments. I worked on Experiment FH-1, before they learned that sticking a computer chip in his brain wasn’t going to be enough to revive him.” She cringed and shuddered at the memory, “The experiments we did on those test subjects were horrifying.”

Sienna tilted her head curiously, “I’ve never heard of FH-1-”

“It’s classified.”

“-but does this mean you aren’t going to report us?”

Tara rolled her eyes, “No. I’m not going to report you. I am going to tear a new asshole out of both of you when this is all over, but I won’t report you. Instead, I’m going to help you two morons do this without any of us getting executed.”

“Mind control,” Becky said flatly.

“Yes. Once the Rainbooms are gone, all we have to do is report that we can’t remember anything except her voice in our heads telling us what to do,” Tara replied. “It won’t be difficult to fabricate some sort of evidence between the three of us.” She paused and folded her arms, frowning slightly, “Either that, or I suppose we could always go with them. I doubt the Brotherhood of Steel would turn away three gifted scientists, but I’d prefer to remain here with Project Exodus if at all possible.”

“Tara, are you sure about this?” Becky asked. “This is serious stuff. We’re talking treason here, remember?”

Tara hesitated for a moment. Visibly steeling herself, she nodded, “I don’t like it, but it’s not as if we’re destroying the Enclave. Besides…” She walked back over to Becky and cupped her face in her hands, “I trust you. Whether or not this is the right thing… I’m not really sure, but imprisoning the Rainbooms here is definitely not right. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you get yourself executed. Not if I can do anything about it. So, what’s your plan?”

Chapter 42 - Magic Unleashed

Waiting impatiently in the admin office, the Rainbooms plus Tara and Sienna, listened intently for any sign of what might be happening outside. Indistinct voices could just about be heard around the corner, then the whole group cowered and held their breath as a soldier went thundering past. Their relief at not being discovered was short-lived as everyone wondered why only a single soldier had left his post.

The tension was palpable as another muffled conversation started up around the corner. Tara, in particular, started to get increasingly agitated as the seconds ticked by, wringing her hands and repeatedly glancing at the door nervously. Sunset was starting to worry that she might have to hold the scientist back when they finally heard the soft footfalls of Becky returning.

Sticking her head around the door, Becky let out a soft sigh of relief as she spotted the girls, “We might be in luck.”

“Are the soldiers gone?” Tara hissed anxiously.

“One soldier stayed behind, but I… I think we can trust him,” Becky replied.

“Are you sure about that?” Applejack asked.

“I think so,” Becky nodded, then looked over at Tara, “It’s Vincent.”

Tara’s eyes widened in surprise, “Vincent? He’s part of Squad Sigma?!”

“Apparently.” Becky pulled the door open wide and gestured for the girls to follow, “Come on, we don’t have long.”

“Are you sure we can trust this soldier?” Sunset asked as the group followed Becky out into the corridor.

“Be ready, just in case I’m wrong, but I think we’ll be okay,” Becky whispered, just loudly enough for the girls to hear, before smirking slightly. “You’ll probably recognize him as Flash.”

“Flash? You mean Flash Sent…ry…” Sunset trailed off lamely as they rounded the next corner and spotted the soldier in question waiting for them, helmet still tucked under his arm. His hair was black instead of blue and he was clearly a few years older than the one she knew, but there was no doubt that the man standing before them was this world’s version of Flash Sentry.

Vincent’s face fell when he saw the group approaching, “Aaand Tara and Sienna are both in on this too, because of course they are.” He sighed and shook his head. “Y’know, I was kinda hoping you were just high, or something.”

“Er, sorry,” Becky said sheepishly. “Are you still going to let us through?”

Vincent just gave her a calculating look, then sighed and jammed his helmet back on, “Fuck it, come on; let’s get all of you out of here.” An intense feeling of relief swept over the group as he turned and opened the double doors behind. “In here, quick. Michaels will probably be back up soon.”

The Rainbooms couldn’t help but gasp as they stepped through the door into the cargo area. The room was massive, easily twice the size of the marketplace hangar in Rivet City. Various portable generators, mobile cranes, and other less identifiable articles of heavy machinery were scattered around the warehouse, but all of them were dwarfed by two huge vehicles that sat on either side of the warehouse. They were rocket-shaped with a set of flat wings halfway along the fuselage and a set of stabilisers at the rear, like some bizarre fusion of a fighter plane and a space rocket.

“Those are Delta IX rockets,” Becky explained, seeing the awed looks on the Rainbooms’ faces. “They were originally civilian spacecraft, until the military started converting them into intercontinental missiles.” She pointed ahead towards the far end of the room, where a pair of elevators were located, “Those personnel elevators are the ones that we want.”

The group dutifully followed the scientist through the warehouse. As they walked, Tara sidled up to Vincent, a sheepish look on her face, “I… um… I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but… why are you helping us?”

He gave a dry laugh, “Because, I’m a moron, apparently.”

“It’s not surprising if you think about it. After all, there’s technically four women in this room that he’s romantically interested in,” Sienna said flatly.

Everyone glanced at her curiously. “What do you mean?” Tara asked, “I thought the only one he’d dated was Becky?”

Becky shrugged, “Don’t forget, he also had a crush on… oohhhh, okay, I get it.” She grinned evilly at Vincent, “In that case, technically it’s five.”

“I’m helping,” Vincent cut in as Sienna raised an eyebrow, “because it’s either that, or turn you in and probably get you killed. Besides, I’m assuming you have a plan for getting past the guys upstairs.”

Tara chuckled awkwardly, “Well, uh…”

“I don’t want to know what it is,” Vincent said bluntly.

Sunset opened her mouth to tell him they plan was essentially just to wing it, but was distracted by an odd clunking sound coming from behind one of the rockets.

“What’s that noise?” Twilight asked warily as the clanking sound started getting closer.

Vincent chuckled quietly, “Don’t worry, it’s just the protectron. It wandered up here earlier babbling about doing an inventory check or something. We figured it wouldn’t do any harm to let it patrol this section. Extra security, y’know?”

The Rainbooms watched curiously as an odd-looking robot stomped into view. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, with a bulbous body supported on stiff but sturdy legs, it’s arms were thick and ended in grasping claws with a small muzzle poking out of its palms, and a glass dome on top of the robot seemed to serve as a face. The protectron paused as it spotted the group, then resumed walking towards them and spoke in a tinny voice, “Warning. This is a... restricted... area.”

“Crap,” Tara muttered, “I’m going to have to delete it’s memory, so it can’t give us away later.”

Rarity grimaced at the patina of dust and corrosion all over the robot, “What is that thing?”

“A protectron,” Sienna answered. “It was stationed here before the war as a precaution against Chinese spies and saboteurs.”

“Warning. Unauthorized personnel... detected. Please provide... identification,” the robot said haltingly as it stomped closer, holding its arms out towards the Rainbooms.

“Is it supposed to sound like that?” Applejack asked.

Tara sighed, “Yeah. These pre-war models are pretty basic. This particular unit has been patrolling the facility for over two hundred years without any maintenance so…”

“It’s definitely sounding worse than the last time I spoke to it though,” Sienna put in. “I wonder if Doctor Turner managed to damage it somehow?”

“I... repeat. This is... a... restricted... area,” the robot continued. “Unauthorized... personnel... must provide... identification.”

“It’s okay, er, Protectron. They’re with us,” Becky told it.

The protectron halted, it’s little claws spinning around its wrists as it seemed to process the scientist’s words. The robot suddenly started shuddering, causing something inside its casing to start rattling wildly, then it stopped with a loud bang and the glass glowed a deep, dark purple. When it spoke again its voice was far smoother and more human-sounding, “Unauthorized personnel must provide identification immediately, or security measures will be activated.”

“That’s weird,” Tara said quietly. Sunset backed away slowly, suspicion blooming at the sight of the odd glow. Seeing this, Tara held a hand out reassuringly, “It’s okay, I can fix this. Protectron? Command protocol delta- aah!?”

Tara yelped and skipped back a step as a laser lashed out from the glass dome and struck the floor in front of her feet, prompting cries of fear and alarm from everyone. Becky was instantly at Tara’s side, glaring at the robot “What the fuck was that about?!”

The protectron just stared back impassively, “This unit will not allow itself to be shut down until identification is provided. Failure to provide correct identification will resu-”

“Shut it!” Vincent snapped, pulling up his rifle and firing a bolt of green plasma directly at the protectron’s glass dome. Just before the plasma struck, the shimmering purple outline of dozens of tiny connected hexagons materialised mere inches from the robot’s chassis, forming an energy shield that stopped the bolt before fading from view.

Becky’s jaw dropped open, “What the fuck was that?!”

“Equestrian magic,” Sunset replied in surprise.

The protectron shifted slightly and raised its arms again, pointing them directly at Vincent, “Security protocols engaged.” Petal-like crystalline structures suddenly sprouted and grew from it’s claws, glowing with an intensity that increased by the second.

“Everybody move!” Sunset yelled just before twin beams of coruscating energy lanced through the air just as everyone threw themselves aside. The beams tore through machinery and equipment like a hot knife through butter until they finally slammed into the far wall.

“Holy shit!” Sienna gasped as she stumbled backwards.

“Get away from that thing!” Becky barked, grabbing Tara and belting away from it. The others were already reacting by scattering and running for cover as the protectron charged up and fired again, narrowly missing Vincent. Ducking behind some barrels with Rarity, Sunset yelped as another pair of magical beams lashed out, carving one of the Delta IX’s in half. Risking a quick glance, she gasped at what she saw.

Vincent was still diving and dodging as he traded fire with the robot to keep it focused on himself, but all of his shots were being blocked by the protectron’s magical shield. Each time the shield appeared and blocked the shots Vincent fired before vanishing without a trace.

“He can’t keep that up forever,” Sunset hissed. “We’ve got to help.”

Rarity nodded and threw an arm out, launching a crystal spike at the robot. Sparks flew as the shield intercepted it. Unlike with the plasma bolts, the shield remained in place for a few seconds afterwards, its surface rippling and distorting. “Did you see that? It’s weak against my magic!” Rarity cried.

The robot noticed too. Sunset’s heart leapt into her mouth as it turned to face them, its arms glowing ominously. “Look out!”

Sunset shoved Rarity aside and rolled away just as the robot fired. The crackling energy tore the barrels they’d been hiding behind into glowing fragments of dust and missed them by inches. The sheer concussive force of the attack knocked both girls clean off their feet.

Groaning with pain, Sunset hauled herself to her knees. Glancing around to check on Rarity, her mouth went dry when she spotted the protectron charging up again. One arm pointed at Rarity, the other at herself. Sunset tried to get her feet underneath her; making one desperate attempt at saving Rarity, though she knew she’d never make it in time.

Time seemed to slow as the glow from the weapons intensified. As Sunset scrambled to her feet she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Even in her terrified state, her mind registered confusion at the sight of the luminescent little glass bottle arcing towards the robot.

Blinding pink light filled the room as a colossal blast tore through the air.

Coughing and spluttering, Sunset peered through the cloud of dust that the explosion had kicked up. The robot was still standing. It’s entire frame was shrouded by the magical shield, but instead of fading the shield was sparking and flickering intermittently.

Realising Pinkie’s magic must have overloaded that of the robot, Sunset shot to her feet and cupped her hands to yell. She needn’t have bothered. Seeing that the protectron was vulnerable, Vincent instantly unleashed a hail of plasma fire. Struggling under the punishing storm, the shield thinned, flickered once more, then finally dissolved in a shower of sparks.

The first shot to get through the shield blew the protectron’s casing open. The second shattered the glass dome atop it. The robot tottered for a moment, then fell backwards to land with a metallic clang. Sunset breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the robot fall.

“Is everyone alright?” Vincent called out.

A chorus of weak agreements rang out as everyone slowly came out from where they had been hiding. A quick check revealed that most of the group had picked up a few new bruises and scrapes, but no-one had suffered any real harm. Satisfied that her friends were uninjured, Sunset joined Vincent at the fallen protectron.

“What the fuck was that?” he asked, nudging it gently with his boot.

“Equestrian magic,” Sunset replied. She turned an accusing glare on Tara, “I thought you said you hadn’t done any experiments on our Geodes?”

Tara shook her head quickly, “We didn’t, I swear!”

“It must have been Turner,” Becky groaned. “Something must have happened when he was observi-”

“None of that matters right now,” Vincent cut in. “All of you need to get in an elevator and get the hell out of here. Now!”

“Do you think the soldiers upstairs will have heard all of this?” Sunset asked as Rainbow sped off to call an elevator.

Vincent shook his head, “Even if they didn’t, you can bet that Michaels did. You probably only have sec- oh, shit!”

Both Vincent and Sunset leapt back from the protectron as a dark purple ball of pure magic slowly floated up out of it’s remains.

“What the fuck is that?!” Vincent cried.

“Dark magic!” Sunset answered, recognising it instantly.

“All of you, cease what you’re doing, immediately!” another voice boomed out suddenly. Sunset whipped around at the shout. The second soldier, Michaels, was standing with his gun pointed at the group. He’d evidently returned at some point during all of the commotion. “All of you, get down on the ground! And you, Rainbow, get away from that elevator!”

Vincent stepped back, not taking his eyes off the magic, “Michaels, this isn’t what it-”

“Can it, rookie! Right now you’re under suspicion of assisting the Rainbooms in an escape attempt!” Michaels snapped. He dipped his head slightly, apparently activating his armour’s radio, “Sigma Leader, this is Sigma Four. We’ve got a situat-”

Suddenly, before anyone could react, the ball of magic rocketed forwards and slammed into Michaels. The impact punched him off his feet even as the magic spread and soaked into his armour, suffusing it with an ominous dark glow.

“Oh, no,” Becky whispered.

“That can’t be good,” Vincent growled, raising his rifle.

Sunset grimaced as she watched waves of magic rippling across the surface of the armour. She knew what had to be done, the trick was going to be getting it done safely. “Vincent, you and the doctors get in cover. We’ll handle this!”

“Are you sure?” he called over.

“We’ve got this, now go!” Sunset snapped.

Michaels groaned and painfully hauled himself back up, shaking his head slowly. “You alien freaks, what have you done to me?!”

“Twilight, grab his gun! Quickly!” Sunset cried.

A purple aura surrounded the weapon, snatching it from the soldier’s grip. Michaels cried out and flung an arm out towards it and several crystalline spider-like limbs burst from his gauntlets and grabbed the gun, yanking it back out of Twilight’s magic.

There was a flash of colour and the severed tips of the limbs fell to the floor. Rainbow smirked as she skidded to a halt past him, clutching the rifle in one arm and a knife in the other, “Too slow, dude.”

Michaels snarled, made to turn after her, then lurched and almost fell as his legs were suddenly encased in glittering crystal. More spider-limbs sprouted from his armour, but each of them was seized in Twilight’s magic. A second later he was blinded as a cupcake splattered across his helmet’s eyes.

“Now, eat this!” Applejack yelled, hurling herself at him from the side. Michaels tried to defend himself, but Twilight used her magic to tie his arms up in his own spider-limbs. Applejack grunted with exertion as she unleashed her full might in a single titanic punch. The strike connected with a sound like a thunderclap, launching the soldier across the room to slam into the last remaining Delta IX rocket.

Sunset felt a pang of guilt as she watched Michaels disappear into the wreckage, radioactive fluids pouring out of ruptured fuel cells, but she didn’t have the luxury of being concerned with killing, “Quick, get over here!” She took a deep breath as her friends hurried over, clasping hands and delving deeply into the magic they all shared. The warmth flowing through Sunset as they ponied up was both a comfort and a relief.

No matter where we are or what happens, we can always rely on each other.

Power surged through the girls as and lifted them into the air as they faced the wreckage of the rocket. Sunset couldn’t help a small feeling of relief as she saw that Michaels was still moving, slipping on the radioactive goop as he tried to get back to his feet, “Alright, girls, it’s time to show these people how we deal with trouble on our world!”

“Right!” the rest of the Rainbooms cried in response.

“Pinkie, do you want to do the honours?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie grinned widely, her hair puffing up to its usual extent, “Light him up, ladies!”

Beams of coloured light shot out of each of the girls’ Geodes and converged in front of them, forming a ray of shimmering power that arced down and crashed into the corrupted soldier. Michaels roared with pain and fury as the dark power festering within his armour was burned away by the magic of friendship.

Their victory was short-lived.

The magic flowing from the Geodes slowed to a trickle, but the power that had already been fired didn’t disappear. Instead it somehow intensified, the radioactive liquid pooled in the wrecked rocket taking on a golden glow as the magic coalesced into a swirling vortex.

Moments later, the vortex erupted in a hurricane of magical force.

Knight-Sergeant Metzger yawned as she stretched, her armour creaking even more than her joints. The Suitland Federal Center had been a bust. Ideally, she’d have liked to go on to the next target straight away, but travelling through super mutant territory at night was practically suicide, so they’d set up camp in a bombed-out old building.

“Any ideas on where we’re hitting first, tomorrow?” Hill asked, stifling a yawn himself.

Metzger folded her arms as she pondered, “I think we should hit the old air base first. It’s further away, but if it does turn out to be empty, we'll be able to hit the RobCo facility on the way back. Saves us a bit of a journey.”

Hill nodded, “Cool. Do you think the Rainb- whoa!”

The two soldiers almost jumped out of their skin as they heard a terrific roar and the ruins were suddenly bathed in shining light. Spinning around, they gasped as they spotted a colossal pillar of light blazing into the sky, burning so brightly that it effectively turned the night into day. The commotion roused the rest of her squad, who scrambled to their feet and gazed stupidly up at it.

The column appeared to originate only a few kilometres or so away, towering over the surrounding ruins before disappearing into the clouds above. Hundreds of streamers of differently-coloured light split off from the column as it rose. Most of these streamers soared away into the distance, but no small quantity drifted closer to the earth before zipping through the ruins. Metzger herself narrowly dodged one, a bright red bolt that fizzed madly as it shot past her.

“What the shit?!” Hill shouted, ducking as a pale blue one careened past his face.

“Don’t let them hit you!” Metzger snapped. She had absolutely no idea what would happen if one did make contact, but she’d much prefer to play it safe and not find out.

Eventually, after several minutes of avoiding or hiding from the bizarre little things, the pillar slowly thinned out, fading to a trickle before dissipating entirely. Cautiously, the soldiers straightened up and looked in the direction the pillar had come from.

“Uh… Spitfire? What was that?” Hill asked slowly.

Metzger stared out into the ruins. There was no doubt in her mind as to what caused it, “It’s got to be the Rainbooms.”

“You sure?” Misty asked.

“That light originated from where the RobCo facility is supposed to be, I’m sure of it,” Metzger replied. “Besides, I can’t think of anything else in this world that’s weird enough to be able to cause that kind of crazy shit.”

“Good point,” Hill conceded. “So, what are we going to do?”

Metzger snorted, “You have to ask? Get your asses in gear, Wonderbolts, we’re moving out!”

Not far away, in the middle of a debris-strewn street, a pair of young women were sprawled on the floor.

“Ow,” Tabitha huffed. She and her little sister, Claire, had been silently traversing the ruins when the pillar had erupted from the ground. Enthralled by the incredible sight, Tabitha hadn’t been paying close enough attention when a purple streamer had split off from the mass and struck her straight in the face. “Claire? Are you alright?”

“I… I think so?” came the reply. “What happened?”

“No idea, darling,” Tabitha muttered. Grateful that her sister was unharmed, she rolled onto her hands and knees, then froze as she felt something odd on top of her head. Reaching up, she bit back a cry of shock as she felt a pair of animal-like ears poking out of her hair. Almost as shockingly, the loose strands of hair that were now dangling in front of her face had clearly turned a vibrant and luscious indigo with hints of mulberry.

A shocked gasp brought Tabitha’s head snapping around. Claire was staring in horror at her own hair, now a pale mulberry and rose and long enough to reach halfway down her back. A pair of white animal ears poked out of the top of her head. As Claire sucked in a breath Tabitha lunged at her, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“Don’t scream,” Tabitha hissed. “I know this is scary, but that light will have woken up every super mutant within fifty miles of here. So, whatever you do, don’t scream. Okay?” Claire’s eyes were wide with fear, but she nodded nonetheless. Glad that her sister had calmed down enough not to get them both killed, Tabitha removed her hand. “There. Now, how do you feel?”

Claire frowned, breathing heavily, “I feel… pretty good. Great, actually.”

“Me too,” Tabitha admitted. It wasn’t a lie. Whatever it was that had hit her left Tabby feeling stronger and more energetic than she could ever remember feeling before. Still, she wasn’t willing to trust it just based on that. “Come on, we need to get back to Rivet City as quickly as possible.”

Claire tilted her head quizzically, “But, what about the Rainbooms?”

“I’ll come back out for them,” Tabitha assured her, “right now, though, I think we should get a doctor to take a look at us. Immediately.”

“We can’t just abandon the mission!” Claire hissed back. “Besides, whatever this is, it must have been caused by the Rainbooms!”

Tabitha arched an eyebrow at her, “Oh? How so?”

Claire just gave her a flat look, “Three-Dog mentioned that they can do this thing where they grow ears like this in one of his broadcasts,” she flicked one of her new ears for emphasis, “and we know that they’re supposed to have weird hair colours. What else could it be?”

Tabitha mulled it over quickly. Personally, she was inclined to abort the mission and get Claire to a doctor as soon as humanly possible, but, if the Rainbooms really were the cause of this, then they’d be the best people to speak to about fixing it. Sighing heavily, she hefted her railway rifle and got to her feet. “Okay, sweetie, I’ll trust you. Grab your SMG and let’s get moving. Quietly, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing, sis!”

“Shit! Shit, shit, fucking shit!” Blades kicked at a stone in frustration. He and his crew had managed to track the Rainbooms into the depths of the old ruins, and then that pillar of light had appeared and blown everything to shit. Four of his team had been hit by the bizarre little lights that shot out of it and ended up mutating. Their hair had grown and turned a whole mess of funny colours, and they’d even grown freaky ears on top of their heads; again, in a range of colours. Two of them had even grown wings.

To make matters worse, a few of the little lights had slipped into some of their equipment, bonding with it somehow. After seeing what they did to the people they hit, no-one was being stupid enough to touch the damned things.

“What are we going to do, man?” Crawler asked.

“Shit,” Blades spat again. He looked around at the others and stuck his hands on his hips, “We’ll get out of here, regroup back up by the old bank a few blocks north.”

“That’s not good enough,” Lightning shot, glaring at him. “I say we leave the guys who got hit and carry on without them.”

“Are you nuts?” Blades asked incredulously. “Every fucking super mutant between here and Tenpenny Tower is going to be hauling ass to find out what the fuck that light was. Add in those power armored fuckers and you’ve got a full-on suicide mission down there.”

Lightning strode up to him, getting right in his face, “I came here to take down the Rainbooms. I am not turning back empty-handed just because you’ve turned soft.”

Blades snorted, “Yeah? Then you’ve got a fucking death wish.”

Lightning just smirked at him, “That’s what all the pussies like you say.” She stepped back and looked around at the others, “What about the rest of you? Any of you have the balls to come with me?” One or two of the men looked up at her, but none of them offered to come with. “Fine,” she snapped, turning and walking away, “looks like I’ll have to bring those bitches down myself.”

Chapter 43 - Magical Mayhem

Sunset groaned as she stirred feebly. That last magical blast had swatted her out of the air and left her sprawling on the floor. Cracking her eyes open she spotted her friends, all still ponied up, in a similar predicament; moaning and shaking their heads as they came to.

“Are y’all okay?” Applejack called out.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Sunset replied, pushing herself into a sitting position as the rest of the Rainbooms gave similar responses. She blinked in surprise as she swept her gaze over the aftermath of their magical barrage.

The Delta IX rocket had been completely vaporized, save for a large puddle of glowing white sludge that split into a kaleidoscope of colours around its edge. A man, Sunset guessed it must have been Michaels, was laying flat on his back in the middle of the puddle. His armor was missing, somehow, and she could just make out a pair of crimson pony ears protruding from a mop of violet hair on his head. Whether or not he was still alive, however, was something she couldn’t figure out from where she was sitting.

Looking around bemusedly, Sunset noticed that the ground around the puddle had been altered too; all of the dust, rust, and grime had been scoured away, leaving behind nothing but gleaming steel.

“Whoa, look at that,” Rainbow said suddenly.

Sunset looked over, then followed her friends’ gaze up to the ceiling. Her mouth dropped open at what she saw. A colossal hole had been bored through the ceiling directly above where the rocket had been. The internal surface of the hole was glowing softly with a kaleidoscope of colors.

Rainbow flew slowly over and looked up, careful not to touch the puddle, “It looks like it goes all the way to the surface!”

“Did we do that?” Fluttershy asked, awestruck.

“I-I think so?” Sunset replied.

“Awesome!” Rainbow cried.

Applejack huffed and gestured to Michaels, “What about that guy, he alive?”

Fluttershy got up and flew over slowly, “He’s breathing, I think he’s just unconscious.”

A sudden hydraulic hiss from behind snagged the girls’ attention. Sunset glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Vincent stagger backwards out of his unsealed power armor wearing simple grey and amber underclothes. Pale amber wings stretched out of his back, a match to the pony ears poking out of his bright blue hair. “I… what the… what?” He peeked over his shoulder and turned on the spot as he nervously tried to get a good look at his new appendages.

A moment later, the three doctors that had accompanied the Rainbooms stepped out from behind various pieces of machinery they’d been using as cover. Each of them had ponied up too; Becky was once again bearing amber ears and red-and-yellow hair, Tara now had a pair of purple wings with matching ears and hair that was the spitting image of Twilight’s, and Sienna was sporting the white and blue pigtails of her Crystal Prep counterpart, complete with a pair of greyish blue pony ears.

“Oh, dear,” Rarity sighed, “it’s Doctor Li all over again.”

“Uh, guys? I think I have wings,” Vincent asked worriedly, getting more and more frantic by the second, “why do I have wings?!”

“Vincent, calm down!” Becky said firmly, hurrying over and clasping his shoulders to stop him spinning. “It’s okay, Vince, just look at me. I know this is freaky, but I need you to take a deep breath and try to calm down.”

Vincent did as he was told, locking eyes with her and sucking in deep breaths in time with hers until he managed to get himself under control, “Okay. I’m good. Thanks, Becky.”

“Don’t mention it,” Becky replied, letting him go and taking a step back before turning to her compatriots. “What about you two, are you alright?”

“Peachy,” Sienna deadpanned.

“I… I think I’m fine,” Tara replied, trying not to flinch every time one of her new body parts twitched. “Um, could someone please explain what just happened?”

Sunset stood and dusted herself off, “Honestly? I’m not sure. Usually when we use our magic like that it just destroys or purifies whatever evil magic we throw it at.” She turned and looked up at the hole in the ceiling, “I’ve never seen it do something on that kind of scale before. I guess some of the excess power must have entered each of you somehow.”

“Is it going to harm us in any way?” Vincent asked. Sunset shook her head. She opened her mouth to elaborate, but Vincent cut her off, “Good. In that case, all of you need to get out of here, right now.”

Becky nodded, “Vincent’s right. If that blast really did go all the way up to the surface, then you can bet your ass that the rest of the squad up there will come down here any second to figure out what’s going on.”

Sunset swore under her breath, “So much for sneaking out quietly.”

“I say we smash our way out! We can take those guys!” Rainbow cried.

“Ah ain’t so sure about that, sugarcube,” Applejack responded, rubbing her belly absently. “The last time we went up against soldiers, we got our butts handed to us.”

“I fear we may not have much choice in the matter,” Rarity said reasonably. “At least we have an idea of what to expect this time, we won’t be caught off-guard by them again.”

Vincent cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention, “Whatever you’re going to do, you’d better decide fast. Clock’s ticking.”

Twilight nodded, “You’re right. Come on, girls, we have to try.” She reached out with a hand and used her magic to pluck Michaels out of the magic goop, placing him gently on the floor away from the puddle before turning to address the doctors, “What about you three, are you coming with us?”

One of Becky’s new ears flicked subconsciously, “We’re staying. It’s a risk, but we believe we may be able to do some good while we’re still a part of the Enclave. Go on, we’ll put the lower facility on lockdown the moment you’re gone, in case any super mutants come looking.”

“Alright then, good luck,” Sunset replied, giving her a respectful nod before hurrying over to the elevator with the others. “And thank you!” she called out over her shoulder as she ran.

Rainbow got there first, jabbing the button repeatedly. The grinding noise the elevator doors made as they opened felt appallingly loud in the near-silent warehouse. Crowding into the elevator, Pinkie pressing the only button available, the Rainbooms had one last glimpse of Becky and the others before the doors ground shut and the cab jolted into motion.

No one spoke at first. Each of the Rainbooms was too busy either trying to process the sheer insanity that they’d dealt with over the last couple of days, or worrying about the horrifically dangerous battle that was surely awaiting them the moment they reached the surface. After a couple of minutes, however, the group started getting restless.

“Just how deep underground are we?” Applejack asked, her patience already wearing thin.

Rainbow shrugged, “That tunnel we blew open was pretty long. Why do you think I stuck with the elevator instead of just flying up?”

“Good point.”

Fluttershy shuffled her feet nervously, “Do… do you think we’re really going to have to fight those soldiers?”

“I hope not,” Sunset replied.

“We’ll figure something out,” Twilight said bracingly. “In fact, as long as they don’t have any more of those grenades they used back at Project Purity, I should be strong enough to keep them immobile long enough for the rest of you to get away. All I’ll need then is for Rainbow Dash to help me escape using her super speed.”

Rainbow grinned at her, “You can count on me!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she thought it through, “Huh, that’s actually not a bad plan. Are you sure you’ll be able to hold them still for long enough?”

“If not, Ah’ll just have to punch them while she holds them steady,” Applejack said, smacking a fist into her palm for good measure.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Rarity replied fervently.

The whole group jumped a mile as the elevator jerked to a sudden stop and the doors scraped open. Peeking out, the girls saw that the building on the surface was much the same as the facility underground; featureless corridors made out of dull concrete. Unfortunately, unlike the underground section, the lights upstairs were all turned off, presumably to fool the local super mutants into believing that the place was still abandoned.

Torn between the need for stealth and the need for light, Sunset switched on her Pip-Boy lamp. A sprained ankle wouldn’t help anyone. Swallowing her fear, she gave the others a quick nod before sneaking out into the corridor. As the girls crept silently through the building they came across odd markings, multicolored streaks and gouges that were almost certainly caused by rogue magic.

Eventually, after taking a circuitous route through the building to avoid the more ruinous sections, the group stumbled across the facility’s entrance foyer. The main doors had been smashed off their hinges, leaving nothing between the girls and whatever was lurking outside. Sunset quickly turned off her light. Taking a silent breath, she gestured for Twilight and Rarity to follow her and scurried over to scout out the entrance doors.

The forecourt was surprisingly well-lit, both by the moon and by more of the odd multi-coloured splatters that glowed in the night. High walls outlined the court’s perimeter, with a small security building next to a gateway, the boom gate long gone, that led out into the surrounding ruins. A gravel-strewn road, dotted with abandoned cars, stretched from the security building around to the facility entrance and beyond before it curved around to disappear around the side of the facility. Huge bombed-out office buildings towered over the forecourt on all sides.

A large tilt-rotor aircraft, the Vertibird Becky had mentioned, was parked at the far end of the forecourt, next to the security building. Five men were gathered around it. One was laying flat on his back next to an open suit of oddly shimmering power armour. The other three soldiers were still in their armour, though from the way they were checking themselves over it was clear that something wasn’t right. Sunset assumed the fifth man was a pilot. He had bright white ears and wings, with glorious pink hair cascading down over his simple grey combat fatigues.

The implications of the man’s pony form were not lost on the girls, but they didn’t have time to worry about it right now.

“What do we do?” Rarity asked.

“We can’t sneak past, it’s too bright,” Pinkie answered. “Maybe we can find another way out or around?”

Sunset chewed her lip as she considered her options. Before she could come to a decision there was a sudden fizzing sound from behind, and a split-second later a tiny comet of sparkling yellow magic zipped between the girls and out into the forecourt, careering past the soldiers before disappearing into the ruins ahead.

The three soldiers snapped their weapons up, instantly on guard. One of them spotted the girls, shouting out to his fellows before any of them could react. They quickly trained their guns on the group, one of them hefting something that looked disturbingly like a flamethrower, but, thankfully, didn’t open fire.

“Awww, nuts,” Pinkie muttered under her breath.

“Now what?” Rarity hissed.

Sunset swore silently. She’d hoped they could get away without the soldiers noticing, but there was still a chance they could get away without a fight. “Follow my lead.” Straightening up and throwing her shoulders back, Sunset marched out towards the soldiers as confidently as she could. She didn’t dare look back, but the sound of footsteps told her that the others were following.

“That’s far enough!” the flamethrower-wielding soldier called out when they got to within a few metres. “You girls are not supposed to be out here!”

Sunset stopped and folded her arms, glaring at him with all of the false arrogance she could muster, “We’re leaving. Don’t try to stop us.”

“By orders of the President I cannot allow that,” the soldier retorted. “As Sigma Leader I am ordering you to return to lower facility at once.”

“That’s not happening,” Sunset said flatly. “I’m guessing you saw that blast, so you know what we’re capable of.”

The Sigma Leader just stared back at her, his helmet masking his expression. “Diaz? Are comms up and running yet?” he called out suddenly.

“Not yet, Sir!” came an answering shout from inside the Vertibird.

“What about the outer perimeter feed?” The Leader asked next.

“Still down,” one of the other soldiers replied.

The pilot shifted on his feet, looking worriedly from the Rainbooms to the gateway and back again, “Sir, with the feed out we have no way of knowing how far out the super mutants are. They could be on us any second.”

“I’m aware of that!” Sigma Leader snapped. “Grab Wilkins, get him in the security office and lock the door. As for you, girls, we are not letting you leave this complex, not under any circumstances. Now, get back in that building. I won’t ask you again.”

“You might not have much of a choice about that,” Pinkie said giving a small, worried chuckle.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” the Sigma Leader asked darkly.

In response, Pinkie simply pointed at the gateway. A truly bizarre creature was lumbering towards them. Completely naked, it looked vaguely like a quadrupedal humanoid, though in place of legs it was shuffling forward on several misshapen arms, its limbless torso lurching from side to side as it moved. Three large tentacles protruded from the creature’s mouth, looking disturbingly like oversized tongues. Upon spotting the group, the monster reared back on it’s limbs and let loose a horrific gurgling cry.

“Centaur!” one of the soldiers yelled, spinning on his heel and snapping off a shot in one crisp movement. The shot blew the creature’s head off, but the damage was already done. Before the echoes of the centaur’s cry had faded, there was a chorus of answering roars and guttural yells from the surrounding ruins.

“Shit, Diaz! Get that bird in the air, now!” Sigma Leader shouted, glancing over his shoulder. “Squad, we hold here until the bird is gone, then-”

His orders were drowned out by an echoing bellow from above. Moments later a super mutant crashed onto the roof of the security office. Huge, fleshy wings fanned out from the mutant’s back, whipping up a cloud of dust as the beast raised a sledgehammer and roared in challenge. To the soldiers’ credit, they didn’t hesitate for a second before shooting the mutant down, green plasma and crackling blue flames ripping it apart in barely a second.

“Quick, get down!” Sunset called out. She ducked behind the nearest car as more mutants charged into view through the gateway. Each of them bore some sort of weapon; from hammers and nail-studded boards of wood to bolt-action rifles and fully automatic machine guns.

“Get back in the facility!” the Sigma Leader snarled, bullets ricocheting off his armour as he turned his flamethrower on the approaching mutants. Instead of the expected gout of flame, the weapon coughed great wads of blue fire that incinerated everything they touched, whether stone or metal or mutant flesh.

There was a mechanical whine as the Vertibird’s rotors slowly started to spin. Leaning out from behind another car, Twilight used her magic to grab the winged pilot and the unconscious soldier and toss them unceremoniously in the Vertibird’s open crew compartment. The whine grew to a roar as the rotors picked up speed and the craft slowly rose into the air.

“I couldn’t just leave them,” Twilight said in response to Sunset’s querulous look. The two yelped and ducked instinctively as bullets tore into the cars they were using as cover.

The forecourt was rapidly turning into a charnel house. Despite the heroic efforts of the three remaining soldiers, they were barely managing to keep the super mutants out of the forecourt. Some were clambering over the walls in an effort to reach the humans, and a rare few even tried to fly in, much as the first one had, but fortunately they had little more success. Rarity was quick to add her own power to the barrage, hurling razor-edged gemstones that clove skulls and opened abdomens, but the Rainbooms’ chances of successfully escaping were swiftly dwindling. It was only the fact that the mutants were concentrating their meager firepower on the armored soldiers that was keeping the girls alive, a situation that wouldn’t last for long.

“We’ve got to do something!” Sunset yelled, flinching as a bullet tore right through the car, inches from her shoulder.

Pinkie looked up at the Vertibird. It was several meters in the air now; just a little higher and it would have cleared the tallest ruined buildings and would be able to leave safely. “Do you think we should have gotten on that thing too?”

As if in answer to her query, a rocket soared out of somewhere in the ruins and slammed into one of the rotors. The explosion sent the Vertibird spinning uncontrollably. With smoke pouring from the damaged wing, the girls could only watch in horror as the craft whirled away out of sight down a nearby street. A colossal explosion tore through the air mere seconds later.

The Sigma Leader swore loudly, “Fall back! Into the facility, now!”

The soldiers obeyed without question, backing towards the facility while keeping up a punishing rate of fire on the super mutants. Sunset was considering giving up the escape and joining them when another super mutant stomped through the gateway. This one was bigger and bulkier than the others, with a boxy laser rifle clasped in one meaty fist.

The mutant shrugged off plasma blasts as if they were mere pinpricks and raised his weapon. The rifle’s barrel glowed orange for a second, then three separate beams lanced out, easily punching clean holes straight through one of the soldiers. The man dropped his weapon and tottered for a moment, before falling to the floor with a crash.

“Shit, take that bastard down!” the Sigma Leader shouted. The large mutant shrank back from the torrent of magical flames that came his way, staggered, and finally fell.

There was a sudden roar from above as a trio of flying mutants used the momentary distraction to dive down and mob the other remaining soldier. Caught by surprise, the unfortunate warrior struggled to fight them off as they tried to wrestle him to the ground. With even more mutants taking the opportunity to charge through the gateway, there was little the others could do to help.

Sunset snarled and slapped her hand against the car in terrified frustration. I need a gun. If we just keep sitting here like this we’re all going to die, but the only magic we can use right now is Rarity’s. We can’t even use Pinkie’s without risking blowing up all of these cars.

Wait…

“Applejack! Can you toss a car into that gateway?” Sunset shouted.

Applejack risked a look over the top of her car, then ducked back down and nodded, “Sure thing!”

“Do it! Then, Pinkie, you light it up!” Sunset barked. “Rarity! Shield us!”

Heedless of the bullets flying around her, Applejack straightened up and lashed out with a foot, slamming her heel into the side of the car with all of her might. The car rolled and flipped across the forecourt, flattening a pair of mutants before crashing to a halt right in the middle of the gate. Sunset had just enough time for a glimpse of a glowing Nuka-Cola bottle smashing against it before a huge crystal shield manifested around them all.

The explosion that followed shook the ground with its fury. Rarity grunted with effort as shattered debris and torn metal crashed against her shield, each impact creating a spider web of cracks. After the echoes of the blast had died down she relaxed and lowered her arms, allowing the gemstones to fade away.

“Whoa,” Rainbow said under her breath. The explosion had knocked down large portions of the wall and security building, and had also killed every super mutant still standing in the forecourt. Groans and curses showed that the Sigma Leader and his last soldier had survived, though both had been knocked clean off their feet.

“Now’s our chance! Go, go!” Sunset shouted. As one the Rainbooms leapt out of cover and scrambled for the smouldering remains of the gateway, the Sigma Leader shouted a reprimand, but the girls ignored him, focusing only on getting through the ruined gateway.

Another of the winged super mutants flapped overhead, aiming a rifle at Applejack. Before it could shoot there was a blur of color and the mutant fell, its wings brutally slashed. There was another blur as Rainbow swooped down and slashed the mutant’s throat before it could try to stand.

Pounding across uneven ground, the girls reached the gateway just in time to almost collide with another group of super mutants. Carnage erupted instantly: The Rainbooms didn’t give their foes time to react, gemstones scything through the air as Rainbow darted from mutant to mutant, slashing at eyes and throats. Purple magic snatched weapons from hands, allowing Applejack to unleash her strength on disarmed opponents. The rest of the girls just tried to stay out of the way.

Dodging past one super mutant, Sunset skidded to a halt as another one lumbered into her path. The shark-toothed monstrosity raised an axe high above its head, then suddenly staggered and cried out in pain. A heartbeat later there was a clatter of gunfire and the mutant collapsed to the ground. Bullet holes traced a line up its spine and a sharp metal spike protruded from its shoulder. Wondering where the help had come from, Sunset looked up at the building looming in front just in time to see something huge leap out of a broken window.

The ground shook as the Brotherhood Knight landed, squashing a super mutant beneath armored boots. Four more Knights landed right after, and as one the squad raised their weapons. “Wonderbolts! Take them out!”

A strong arm grabbed Sunset and pulled her down to the ground as the Knights opened fire. There was a series of rhythmic cracks and barks of agony as precise laser shots swiftly downed the remaining super mutants.

Within seconds the fight was over, and a tense silence fell.

Glancing to her side, Sunset realised it was Pinkie who had dragged her down. “Heh, sorry,” the party girl said apologetically, “Can’t be too careful, right?”

“Are you girls alright?” the first Knight asked.

Sunset just nodded and pushed herself up onto her knees to look back at the others. Fluttershy and Twilight were both cowering behind Rarity. Applejack was staring at the Brotherhood soldiers in surprise, gore drenching her arms and spattered liberally all over the rest of her. Rainbow, on the other hand, bent to wipe off her knives on a dead super mutant before straightening up and grinning at the Knight, “I think we’re fine. Nice save, Knight-Sergeant.”

“Don’t take another step!” a sharp voice called out, prompting the Knights to raise their rifles again and the Rainbooms to spin around on the spot. The Sigma Leader and his last squad-mate were both standing a few meters away, their weapons poised and ready. “The Rainbooms are staying with us. You filthy scavengers are going to crawl back under whatever… rock… um… oh.”

The leader trailed off as a purple glow enveloped both the muzzle of his flamethrower and the barrel of his subordinate’s plasma rifle, twisting and warping the metal in a shower of sparks until they were utterly useless. “You’re going to leave us alone,” Twilight said darkly, levelling a furious glare at them. She raised a hand, using her magic to grip the joints on their armour, “Or you can keep pushing your luck.”

“Leave them,” the Knight-Sergeant commanded, “we should get out of here before any more mutants turn up.”

“Hmph,” Twilight turned away and flicked her wrist, buckling portions of the Enclave armour and forcing the soldiers to their knees before letting them go. “I suppose you’re right. Let’s get-”

A sudden tremor in the ground distracted her from what she was going to say. The Rainbooms looked around warily as they felt another tremor, then another. “What is that?” Rainbow asked.

“It almost feels like… footsteps,” Fluttershy replied.

“That’s some mighty big footsteps,” Applejack said, unable to keep a note of worry out of her voice.

The Knight-Sergeant glanced around at the group, then gestured into the building she’d came from with her gun, “Come on, let’s get out of here before whatever’s causing that gets here.”

Pinkie looked up at something down the street, pure terror flitting across her face, “Too late.”

Sunset followed Pinkie’s gaze, and instantly wished she hadn’t. A titanic super mutant stepped around a corner a few blocks down the street. It was easily thirty feet tall, with huge, bony, chimney-like growths growing out of its back, each of them belching foul smoke into the air. The monster’s skin was translucent, pulsing with an angry red glow. The mutant paused as it spotted the girls, then pointed and let out a horrific roar that shook the very earth.

“Fucking run!” the Knight-Sergeant yelled.

The others were already moving, not needing any prompting to get away from the colossal nightmare as fast as they possibly could. The whole group piled into the building through the nearest entrance. They kept running, one of the Knights leading the way, not stopping even as they heard the creature’s thunderous footfalls coming ever closer.

Sunset looked back in terror as she heard screams from behind, followed by another earth-shaking roar. With a horrible sinking feeling she realized that the Enclave soldiers had been left behind, their damaged armor making them sitting ducks before the advancing monster. Sunset knew that the sound of rending metal and tortured screams that followed would haunt her for the rest of her life, even as the monster’s enraged bellowing slowly faded away with every step she took.

Author's Note

Hello again!

Had a little trouble with this chapter, and eventually ended up re-writing it three times until I got it to this point.

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 44 - A Brief Respite

The group didn’t dare to stop running. Still going at full speed, the Rainbooms and their Knight rescuers passed through broken buildings and open streets in quick succession, moving as far from the Exodus building as they could get. The occasional gang of super mutants got in their way, but these were quickly avoided or dispatched and left in the group’s wake.

Finally, when the mutated Behemoth’s enraged roars could no longer be heard, the Knights and the Rainbooms slowed to a stop in the middle of an old playground. Sunset leaned against a rusty climbing frame and bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

“Do you… think we… lost it?” Pinkie gasped.

“I’d say so,” the Knight-Sergeant replied. “If it was going to catch up to us, it would’ve done so by now.”

The Rainbooms all sighed with relief. Rainbow grinned and strode up to the Knight-Sergeant as though she hadn’t done more than a walk down the street, “Thanks for the help. I guess this makes us even.”

Sunset looked up and raised an eyebrow, “Even? What do you- wait, are you Metzger?”

“That’s me,” Knight-Sergeant Metzger replied.

Applejack sighed and settled herself against the climbing frame alongside Sunset, “Ah gotta say, Ah’m glad you showed up when you did. We were in one heck of a tight spot back there.”

“We noticed,” one of the Knights huffed. “What the hell was that thing anyway? I’ve never seen a Behemoth like that before.”

Sunset hung her head in shame, “I… I think that was our fault.”

“We’ll worry about who’s fault it is later,” Metzger said firmly. “We should get moving, we’re still deep in super mutant territory.” She turned and pointed down a nearby street, “There’s a defensible building a kilometer or so that way, we’ll head there and set up camp until the morning. Save the questions and explanations until we’re less exposed.”

The girls weren’t exactly happy about having to move so soon after their desperate escape, but none of them had any interest in another brawl with magically enhanced super mutants. Just as they were getting ready to go, a thought occurred to Sunset, “Quick question, are all of the weapons you’re carrying laser-based?”

“Pretty much,” Metzger replied.

Sunset frowned curiously, “But… if that’s true, then who shot the super mutant that was attacking me?”

“That would be us, darling,” a voice called out.

The whole group whipped around, instantly on guard, then hesitated, surprised at what they saw. Two women were approaching, one a little older than the Rainbooms, the other in her mid-teens. The elder had luxurious purple hair that would be recognised instantly by anyone who’d ever seen Rarity, while the younger had curly two-tone purple and pink hair that made her a spitting image of Sweetie Belle. Both women had matching alabaster pony ears.

“Please, don’t be alarmed. We aren’t here to cause a scene,” the older one said brightly. “Having said that, I do have some… questions…” She trailed off as her gaze settled on Rarity, who stared back in equally stunned disbelief. “I… er…”

“Are they friends of yours?” Knight-Sergeant Metzger asked. Unfortunately, Sunset didn’t know how to even begin answering that question. Not if they wanted to get moving anytime soon. Seeing her hesitation, Metzger sighed heavily, “Are they enemies?”

“No,” Sunset and the younger woman said in unison.

“Good.” Metzger signalled for her squad to lower their weapons, “Alright you two, you’re coming with us. Questions can wait until later, unless you fancy asking the super mutants, are we clear?”

“We’re clear,” the younger woman said quickly, giving the other a sharp jab in the ribs with her elbow. “Come on, sis,” she hissed loudly.

“R-right,” the older one said, rubbing her ribs. “Lead on, Lady Knight.”

Sunset shivered and scooted a little closer to the fire. The group had managed to make it to the building that Metzger had mentioned without any incident, and the majority of them were now resting in the basement while the Knight-Sergeant and two of the Brotherhood Knights kept watch upstairs. Rubbing her hands to warm them up, she subtly glanced around at the others.

The two newcomers were huddled in a corner by themselves, still ponied up and sneaking surreptitious looks at Rarity. Rarity, for her part, couldn’t help but reciprocate whenever she thought they weren’t looking. Oddly enough, Applejack kept doing so as well. Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy were bunched up on the other side of the fire, chatting quietly. Twilight, perched next to Sunset, was staring silently into the flames. She hadn’t spoken a word since they’d gotten away from that Behemoth.

Everyone looked up as heavy footsteps announced the arrival of a Knight from upstairs. The Knight nodded at the group before stepping over to a wall, reaching down to rest their gun against it, then straightening up and holding their arms at their sides. There was a series of mechanical clicks as the back of the armour opened up abruptly, and a redheaded woman efficiently disengaged herself from it.

Knight-Sergeant Metzger swept a hand through her hair before turning to face everyone, “Alright, we aren’t out of the woods yet but we should be safe here for the night. We’ll leave at first light and, as long as we don’t have too much trouble with the super mutants or Enclave reinforcements, it’ll only take a few hours to get back to friendly territory.”

Sunset just nodded, “How did you know where to find us?”

“Doctor Li,” Metzger replied. “She and Adam managed to escape Project Purity and get word to us.”

The Rainbooms instantly perked up at that. “Adam escaped?!” Fluttershy asked eagerly.

Metzger smirked, “The kid can handle himself, I’ll give him that.” The smile quickly disappeared, replaced with a serious expression, “Enough about him, though. Right now I’ve got some more pressing questions, starting with who the hell you two are.”

The two newcomers shared a quick glance, before the older one cleared her throat and straightened her posture, “My name is Tabitha Germaine, and this my little sister, Claire.”

Rarity gasped in surprise, “Wait a moment, you mean to say you’re the Miss Germaine, the proprietress of the Seaborne Boutique?!”

“You know of my Boutique?” Tabitha asked in a delighted tone.

“Know of it? My dear, until this most recent fiasco reared its ugly head, I was working there, aiding Miss Pommel during your absence,” Rarity replied.

“You’re a store owner?” Metzger narrowed her eyes at Tabitha, “If that’s true, that means you’re probably based in either Megaton, Rivet City, or Tenpenny Tower. So why would a well-off store owner from a fortified settlement come all the way out here to the middle of Shitsburg to try and help a group of people she’s never even met?”

Tabitha rolled her eyes, “We have mutual friends, and those friends requested that we assist the Rainbooms in any way that we could. Anything more than that is, quite frankly, none of your business.”

“She’s telling the truth, we do have mutual friends,” Sunset added. She didn’t know why Tabitha didn’t want the Brotherhood knowing about the Railroad, but she wasn’t about to expose them without good reason.

Metzger raised her eyebrow for a second, then snorted, “Fair enough.” Her expression quickly turned serious once more as she addressed the Rainbooms, “Next question. What the hell was that pillar of light we saw earlier? Was it something to do with you lot?”

The Rainbooms shared a concerned look. “Pillar of light?” Sunset prompted uneasily.

Metzger nodded, “Me and Soarin’ were taking the first watch when we saw this huge ray of light shoot right up into the sky, then all of these little wisps and things started splitting off from it and spreading out through the sky and the ruins.”

“That’s what we saw,” Claire chimed in. “We got hit by two of those weird little light-things, they made us look like this.” She pointed to her pony ears for emphasis. “That’s why we followed you instead of going straight home, once we knew you were safe. Or, y’know, safe with the Knights, anyway.”

“You don’t have to worry, it’s not dangerous,” Rarity said quickly, easily guessing their reasons. “Doctor Li found herself in a similar predicament a short while ago.”

“It should go away in a few hours,” Fluttershy added. “It may come back every now and again, but it won’t cause either of you any harm.”

Metzger folded her arms and gave the Rainbooms a dark look, “So it was you girls that made that light.”

The girls winced, but nodded. “We didn’t mean to do it. Not like that, anyhow,” Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

“We were defending ourselves,” Sunset pointed out earnestly. “A robot had been infused with dark magic, I don’t know how, and it was attacking us. We destroyed the robot, but the darkness found another host. We combined our own magic, to purge the dark power, but it ended up going completely out of control.” She sighed and hung her head, “That’s never happened when we’ve done this before.”

The Knight-Sergeant hummed, her expression not changing in the slightest, “So, was that light the reason the super mutants changed?”

Sunset felt her heart sink. She’d already suspected that, but had been holding out a faint hope that maybe they were just unusual mutations caused by whatever had created them in the first place. “It probably was,” she admitted, “when magic is used in ways it shouldn’t be, or by people with bad intentions, it’s been known to cause some pretty… extreme mutations.”

“Like Gloriosa Daisy,” Applejack shuddered.

Rainbow nodded, “Or Juniper Montage, or-”

“Or me,” Twilight finished, staring into the fire once more.

Sunset placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “That wasn’t your fault. And don’t forget, dark magic changed me, too.”

“What do you mean, it ‘changed’ you?” Metzger asked.

It was Sunset who answered, glancing quickly at Twilight, “I… I tried to mess around with powerful magic that wasn’t meant for me, before I came to this world. It turned me into a demon, and I don’t mean that as a metaphor.”

Metzger’s eyes widened, “You mean…?”

Sunset nodded grimly, “Wings, claws, fangs, the whole works. My friends,” she gestured around at the rest of the Rainbooms, “managed to turn me back by combining their magic, but, considering what happened when we did that here…”

“It might not be an option this time around,” Metzger finished. She frowned as she digested everything she’d been told. “And now that shit might be all over the fucking wasteland,” she muttered to herself. After a few moments she sighed, unfolded her arms, and squatted down next to the fire. “Elder Lyons is going to have to know about this, he can figure out what to do about it. All of this talk about magic and demons and shit is way above my pay grade.”

“I couldn’t agree more, darling,” Tabitha cut in, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that magic is actually real. I’d heard the broadcasts, of course, but I just thought that Three-Dog was starting to go a bit loopy from being cooped up in that studio at all times.”

Applejack huffed a laugh, “If you think that’s crazy, Ah got something that’ll really bust your bushel.”

“Like what?” Claire asked eagerly.

Applejack smirked and turned to Rarity, “You wanna field this one?”

Rarity gave her a flat look, “You enjoy putting me on the spot, don’t you?” Applejack just smiled smugly back at her, getting a weary sigh in return. “Oh, very well. I assume you’ve heard that we’re from another world?” Tabitha and Claire both nodded. “Well, it turns out that each world has different… well… versions of the same people. I think you can see where I’m going with this.”

Tabitha just blinked a few times in surprise. Claire’s face creased as she pieced it together, “So… you… and my sister… are…?”

“It certainly appears so.” Rarity adjusted her posture and addressed Twilight and Sunset tartly, “And, I have to say, you both understated just how odd of an experience this is. Severely understated.”

Metzger stared at her in blank shock, her mouth hanging slightly open. Suddenly she threw her hands up in the air, “That’s it, I’m done. No more talking. If I hear any more crazy shit I’m going to lose my fucking mind. Get some rest, all of you. We’re going to make an early start in the morning.” She jerked her chin at Tabitha and Claire, “You’re welcome to come with us to the Citadel, it’ll be safer than travelling on your own.”

“I think we’ll take you up on that,” Tabitha replied weakly.

Metzger nodded, “Good. Now, I’m going to try and get some fucking sleep before any more weird shit happens.

< ALERT >

< ANALYZING >

< ANALYZING >

< COMPLETE >

< CONFIRMED - RADIATION: EQUIDAE OMEGA CLASS - VARIATION - >

< TRIANGULATING SOURCE >

< SOURCE LOCATED >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< COMPLETE >

< SATURATION INSUFFICIENT >

< COMPILING REPORT >

< COMPLETE >

< SENDING >

< COMPLETE >

< COUNCIL NOTIFIED >

< CONTINUE OBSERVATION >

Author's Note

And so we come to the end of the Rainbooms incarceration with the Enclave!

Next time, quest progression begins...

Comments and criticisms are welcomed and, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 45 - Aftermath

The morning after the Rainbooms’ desperate escape from the Enclave, a thick pall of fog blanketed the entire wasteland. Whether or not it was related to the unleashed magic of the previous night was impossible to say. It was thankfully free of radiation, so most of the wastelanders were just happy to have a source of clean water for a change, no matter how small the quantity.

For the Rainbooms, it probably would have been less of a problem if they and their escort weren’t attempting to clamber over a particularly huge mound of debris. Loose chunks of concrete and exposed sections of rusting metal rebar made the journey especially treacherous.
Sunset had, understandably, raised the question of whether or not the group should just go around the small hill, but Knight-Sergeant Metzger had refused, citing that their only other options involved either swimming across the irradiated Potomac river, or wandering dangerously close to a known mercenary encampment.

Rarity took a slow, deep breath as she crested the hill and started easing her way down the other side. They had left their little camp at the crack of dawn, trekking for a few hours through blasted streets and skeletal buildings. Fortunately, they hadn’t run into any more super mutants, magical or otherwise, though they had certainly heard them in the distance. The Knight-Sergeant had still ordered total silence until they crossed the river, just in case.

“Easy, watch your step.” Rarity looked up at the sound to see one of the Knights helping Fluttershy off the bottom of the hill. An old road stretched out ahead of them in a straight line past several bombed out buildings on one side and a river tributary on the other.

Once everyone was safely down, Knight-Sergeant Metzger gestured for them to gather around, “Alright, we’re out of super mutant territory now, but don’t let your guard down too much. It’s not unheard of for raiding parties to come here or even attempt to attack the Citadel, so stay on your toes.”

With that, the group headed off once more, with the Knights splitting up to cover their front and rear. Trudging along quietly, Rarity wasn’t particularly surprised to find Tabitha and Claire keeping pace alongside her. She was glad to note that neither of them were ponied up any more.

“You’re… Rarity, is that correct?” Tabitha asked quietly.

“It is,” Rarity replied. “How are the two of you holding up?”

Tabitha took a deep breath in through her nose, then let it out through her mouth, “Fairly well, I suppose, all things considered. I can’t deny I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the concept that magic is real, let alone the fact that you’re all from another world and… well…”

“That we’re different versions of each other?” Rarity suggested. Tabitha just nodded. “I suppose it is a lot to take in.”

“That’s an understatement,” Claire muttered.

Rarity smiled wryly, understanding all too well how they were feeling. She considered asking about the Railroad, and how they knew where the Rainbooms had been taken, but the Knights were all still within earshot, so she stuck with a slightly safer topic, “I, er, I’d like to thank you for helping to rescue us. It means a lot.”

Tabitha smiled graciously at her, “You’re more than welcome, darling. I’m just glad we were able to provide some assistance.”

“Eyes up, we’re here,” Metzger called suddenly. As the group crossed a small parking lot, a huge building slowly came into view through the fog. Large gun turrets poked up out of concrete emplacements at strategic intervals, panning back and forth as they scanned for targets. As they approached the girls spotted more Brotherhood Knights patrolling the perimeter, all of whom called out greetings to Metzger and the others as they passed.

“What is this place?” Applejack asked, looking up at the walls.

“We call it the Citadel,” Metzger replied. “It’s the home, fortress, and base of operations for the whole eastern Brotherhood of Steel.”

Pinkie cocked her head as she looked up at a series of brightly coloured splatters on the walls, “What’s that supposed to be?”

Metzger looked up at it too. Her helmet may have hid her face, but she couldn’t hide the note of worry in her voice as she replied, “I don’t know, it wasn’t there before. It must be something to do with your magic.”

Tabitha shivered and looked out into the fog, in the direction of the downtown ruins, “I have to admit, after seeing what it did to those super mutants, I’m more than a little worried about what all that magic is going to do out there in the wastes.”

Rarity grimaced, but nodded in agreement, “You and me both, darling.”

Tara couldn’t suppress a shudder as she watched the feed from the eyebot. After grabbing what little sleep they could last night, she and the others had woken early and set themselves to work, cataloguing everything that had been destroyed or damaged in the fight and trying to establish what exactly had happened up on the surface. Vincent had tried contacting the rest of Squad Sigma using his armour’s built-in radio, but all attempts at communication had been met with silence.

Without any other real options, and with Michaels still unconscious in the first aid room, Vincent had opted to go to the surface by himself and see what had happened, with Tara and Becky monitoring the situation via eyebot. The fact that they were all still ponied up actually hindered matters in that regard, as Vincent’s wings prevented him from fitting properly into his power armour. After a short argument, the women agreed to let him go without, provided that he stayed within the eyebot’s line of sight and kept his walkie-talkie switched on.

The surface level of the Exodus building was surprisingly untouched. The thick fog, however, gave Vincent a moment’s pause when he arrived at the building’s main entrance. “Entrance is clear, no contacts. Visibility outside is low, maybe five or six metres at most,” he half-whispered into his walkie-talkie.

“We can see it, be careful out there,” Becky replied.

“Will do.” Holding his plasma rifle steady, Vincent cautiously made his way outside, the eyebot bobbing along behind.

The forecourt was disturbingly quiet. Congealed blood was splattered around in many places, with the odd dismembered mutant limb or bone dotted around, but of the bodies that these pieces belonged to, there was no sign.

Tara and Becky both nearly leapt out of their seats as the door to the office behind them suddenly opened. “Sorry,” Sienna said as she stepped into the room and closed the door.

“It’s fine,” Becky sighed, settling back down. “What did Turner say?”

Sienna rolled her eyes, “You were right, those sleeping pills he uses are seriously strong. He didn’t hear a thing last night.” She plopped down onto a chair and yelped as she caught her elongated hair under her backside. After a couple of seconds of struggling she managed to free her hair and fling it back over her shoulders. “I hate this stupid hair. Anyway, I told him the version of events we agreed on before we went to bed.”

Becky nodded. The three of them had agreed that, given his recent track record, Doctor Turner was not to be trusted with the truth of the Rainbooms’ escape. Instead, they had altered the story slightly, insinuating that the Rainbooms had broken themselves out, and everything else that had happened occurred in the process of trying to stop them. “How did he take it?” Becky asked.

“He freaked out, as you’d expect,” Sienna replied. She was about to say something else when Vincent’s voice crackled out from the speakers.

“Hold on. Uh, are you seeing this?” he asked. The three women instantly looked back at the monitor. A single suit of X-01 power armour was standing in front of Vincent, it’s back open to expose the inner framework. It was in pristine condition, without even a speck of dust on its glossy surface. Peering around the back, Vincent glanced back at the eyebot and shook his head, “This is Lector’s suit, but where the hell is he? And how is it so clean?”

Tara hummed, then leaned forward and pressed the button to respond, “Have a look around, see if you can find any clues as to what happened, or where the Rainbooms went.”

Vincent nodded, “Roger that.”

It happened just as Vincent was turning away. The moment he wasn’t looking, the helmet of the armour shifted suddenly, swivelling around to look directly at the eyebot. ‘I see you.’

The women all stiffened at the sibilant voice that hissed out of the monitor. Becky lunged forward and slammed her palm on the button, “Vincent! The armour!”

“Huh?” Vincent glanced over his shoulder at the armour. “What th-holy shit!” He leapt away and whipped his rifle around as the helmet snapped it’s gaze to him.

‘Little girls hiding. Hiding downstairs.’ The helmet snapped back to looking at the eyebot, ‘Not hiding from me.’

“FUCKING SHOOT IT!” Becky screamed.

Vincent complied instantly. The moment the first bolt of plasma struck the armour it collapsed, the whole suit suddenly turning liquid and splashing to the ground. The black puddle that remained writhed and bubbled, bright colours occasionally shimmering across its surface as if it were an oil slick. As Vincent took aim again the puddle moved, sliding across the floor and disappearing into the fog before anyone could so much as blink.

Silence reigned for several moments. Finally Vincent whispered, “What the fuck was that?”

Becky shook her head. She knew he couldn’t see it, but her mind just wasn’t capable of forming a verbal response just yet. All she could think about, over the pounding of her own heart, was the sound of that voice talking directly to her and her colleagues.

“Fuck this, I’m coming back downstairs,” Vincent said flatly. “Have you sent the distress signal out yet?”

Tara reached out with a shaking hand and flipped a switch on the monitor, then pressed the reply button and managed to croak out, “Y-yes.”

Vincent nodded and started heading back to the entrance, looking in every direction as he moved, “Good, because I get the feeling things are going to start getting a whole lot fucking worse around here.”

Lightning bit her lip as she pressed her back into the wall, stifling a cry of pain. Blood was streaming down her arm from a nasty gash, but she didn’t dare take the time to try and bandage it just yet, not with that thing still out there. Gripping her remaining pistol tightly, she eased closer to the edge of the wall and peered around the corner, keeping herself out of sight as much as possible.

The street looked deserted, at least, as far as she could tell with all of the fog. Lightning didn’t let that fool her. Waiting patiently, her diligence was rewarded as she heard something scrabbling over rubble. Sure enough, only moments later she spotted a yellow glow coming closer through the fog. The creature gave a gurgling moan, then somehow darted up the side of a building, easily clearing four storeys in barely two seconds.

Lightning held her breath, hoping that the creature was leaving. Her hope was short-lived as the monster hopped out of a window on the first floor. The ghoul glanced around quickly, then scrambled on all fours to a nearby mound of debris, squatting down on top of it.

This was it. This was Lightning’s one and only chance. Fighting to keep her hands from shaking, she slowly raised her pistol. Her first shot took it in the chest. Her second shot missed as the ghoul became a blur, crossing the distance between them in the span of a heartbeat.

Her third shot came just as the ghoul’s jaws latched around her throat.

Author's Note

Hello again!

These last couple of chapters have been a little short, but fear not! The next chapter will be back up to size, and it'll paint a slightly better picture as to what exactly is going on in the wider wasteland, as well as what's happening with certain other characters...

Also the previous chapter has been touched up a little. Nothing major, mostly just some grammatical fixes courtesy of Mocha Star!

Chapter 46 - Debrief

The boom of the gate as it slid down behind them made all of the Rainbooms flinch. To Sunset, it almost felt like they were being locked in captivity again. She tried to shrug it off as she and the others followed the Knights through the makeshift entrance passageway and through the doors at the end.

The courtyard ahead was a hive of activity, with dozens of Brotherhood personnel engaged in training or hurrying to complete errands. One of the Knights glanced at them as he passed, then did a double-take and stopped in his tracks. “Whoa, is that the Rainbooms?!” All activities in the bailey quickly ground to a halt, a hush spreading as more and more personnel noticed and stopped what they were doing to watch.

Sunset shifted uncomfortably under the combined stares of the soldiers. Some of them looked surprised or excited, others were giving Metzger and her squad impressed and encouraging looks. But, there were some, dotted throughout the crowd, who seemed less positive. Wary, scared, even angry; seeing expressions like that directed at her and her friends put Sunset on edge. The tension was broken suddenly as a woman’s voice rang out. “Alright, that’s enough gawping. Everyone, get back to your posts!”

Everyone in the courtyard quickly returned to what they were doing, giving the Rainbooms nothing more than passing glances as Sentinel Sarah Lyons strode towards the group. Instead of her armour, the Sentinel was clad in a simple grey uniform. Metzger and her soldiers immediately snapped to attention and saluted.

“At ease,” Sentinel Lyons said with a return salute. “Follow me, Elder Lyons wants all of you debriefed immediately.”

“Begging your pardon,” Tabitha cut in, “but, since my sister and I are somewhat surplus to the requirements here, I think it would be best if we headed off. We should be able to make it safely back to Rivet City on our own from here.”

“Who are these two?” Sentinel Lyons asked.

“They assisted us in rescuing the Rainbooms.” Metzger replied.

Sentinel Lyons nodded again and turned to Tabitha. “I realize that you want to return home as quickly as possible, but we would greatly appreciate it if you could join the debriefing. Having an extra perspective on whatever happened last night could be invaluable in reassuring the rest of the Wasteland.”

Tabitha looked around uneasily, however after a quick glance at Claire, she relented. “Very well. Since you put it that way, I suppose I can’t refuse in good conscience.”

“Excellent.” Sentinel Lyons turned and gestured for them to follow. “Come with me. The others should already be gathering in the Great Hall.”

The group followed the Sentinel as she led them to a door and then into the Citadel’s interior. Sunset felt a twinge of irritation as she found herself, once again, following someone through a series of cramped corridors. Still, she’d take cramped conditions inside over the wild and unpredictable dangers of the open wastes any day.

The reactions of the Knights and other personnel they passed varied just as much as those in the courtyard. Though, thankfully, a sharp glance and a terse word from Sentinel Lyons was enough to keep them minding their own business.

Eventually, after walking through a veritable maze of concrete corridors, Sentinel Lyons stopped outside a nondescript wooden door flanked by two Knights. The Knights saluted the Sentinel and one of them opened the door, announcing to the room within. “Officers, Sentinel Lyons has arrived with Squad Pilum and the Rainbooms.”

“Good. Send them in,” a voice called from inside. The Knight stepped aside to let everyone enter the room.

Two large, wooden, c-shaped tables dominated the room within. Around a dozen people were sat around the tables, along with a few teenage looking boys and girls standing around the walls of the room. Most of those at the table were men, wearing the same uniform as Sentinel Lyons, or thick red robes that stretched down to their ankles, but two of them stood out in particular. The first was Doctor Li, who let out a sigh of relief when she saw the girls enter the room. The other was an old man with a long wizened beard clad in heavy blue robes.

The old man’s eyes widened as he spotted the girls, but he gave no other hint of his surprise as he stood and clasped his hands behind his back. “You must be the Rainbooms, it’s good to finally meet you. I am Elder Lyons. It is my honour and duty to lead our chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel here in the Capital Wasteland. I apologise for bringing you here so soon after your liberation, but I’m afraid that current circumstances demand swift action, and the information you hold could prove vital in the coming days.”

“As well as perhaps explaining the madness that occurred last night,” one of the red-robed men added.

“Indeed,” Elder Lyons agreed gruffly. He ordered a nearby squire to fetch some refreshments for everyone then sat back down, steepling his fingers on the table. “Now then, where to begin?”

Over the course of the next two hours, the assorted top brass of the Brotherhood of Steel thoroughly interrogated the Rainbooms, pressing them for every single detail they could remember about what happened after their capture at Project Purity. The girls divulged almost everything they’d been through, leaving out only the details of their Geodes.

Elder Lyons and the others listened intently. They asked the occasional question for clarification, but mostly they just sat silently while two of the red-robed men scribed everything that was said. The revelation that there were different versions of the same people scattered across realities, as well as the news that certain scientists and military personnel were willing to work against the President, was of great interest to the Brotherhood’s leaders, as was the fact that the Enclave was looking into inter-reality travel.

When the girls reported their interception by the magically enhanced protectron, however, the mood in the room swiftly turned grim. Relaying the events that followed certainly didn’t improve matters. Eventually the story got to the part where the Rainbooms reached the surface, and it was here that the Wonderbolts, Tabitha and Claire added their testimony, explaining everything that they had seen and experienced during that last fight and flight.

Finally, after reaching the point where the group arrived at the Citadel, their tale came to an end. “Is that everything?” Elder Lyons asked.

Knight-Sergeant Metzger nodded. “Yes, Elder.”

“This is insane,” one of the red-robed men muttered.

Elder Lyons laughed mirthlessly. “You’re not wrong, Rothchild. However, insane or not, it is up to us to deal with it as best we can, for everyone’s sake.” He sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, “For now, our greatest concern should be whatever magic is still in the Enclave’s possession.”

“We are sure that it truly is magic then?” Rothchild asked.

“Is there anything else we can call it?” Doctor Li replied. “I’ll admit that I was sceptical as well at first, but after what we saw last night I don’t think there can really be any doubt.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow curiously, “Uh, what exactly did you guys see last night?”

“A flash of light on the horizon, then thousands of those little wisp things flying through the sky in all directions,” Sarah Lyons replied. “Several of them collided with our personnel, causing them to… what was it you called it? Pony up?”

“Several of them also made contact with various inanimate objects,” Scribe Rothchild added accusingly, “imparting properties to them that we are hesitant to even test.”

Elder Lyons held up a placating hand, “Now, Rothchild, I know that this… complication is the last thing we needed right now, but we can hardly blame the Rainbooms for what occurred.”

“They should never have used that… that combined blast,” Rothchild retorted.

“If we had known what would happen we never would have,” Sunset countered. “We’ve used that power before to defeat dark magic, and it’s never done anything like that before.”

“In any case, what’s done is done,” Elder Lyons cut in. “As I said, the biggest threat right now is whatever magic was left in the Enclave facility.” He gave Sunset a serious look, “Do you believe that enough residue was left behind for the Enclave to study?”

Sunset frowned, “There’s more than enough left. I don’t think that either Tara or Becky would risk running experiments on any of it after what happened, but…”

“But they may not have a choice in the matter,” Elder Lyons finished. He sighed and shook his head. “Either way, it is a chance we cannot take. Now that the Enclave is aware that magic is real, and they have a stock of it available, we must operate under the assumption that the Enclave is going to do what it can to study it.”

“In any case, we should warn the rest of the wasteland about the new dangers they may be facing,” Sentinel Lyons put in.

Elder Lyons nodded grimly, “I agree, I’ll have a squad sent to Galaxy News Radio immediately. If we spread the word that this was all caused by the Enclave dabbling with forces they don’t understand, we may even be able to turn these events to our advantage.”

“Yes, well, this is all well and good, but what about us?” Rarity asked. “What’s going to happen to us now?”

“And what about Project Purity? And Adam?” Rainbow added.

Elder Lyons gave them a wan smile. “Fortunately, those questions are far easier to answer. Even as we speak, all available Brotherhood forces are being gathered together in preparation for an assault on Project Purity and Adam has gone to Vault 87 in search of a piece of technology that may allow us to finally get the purifier working as it was meant to.” He gestured vaguely towards the Rainbooms. “As for you seven, you are free to do as you please. If you wish to remain here at the Citadel until Adam returns, you are more than welcome to do so.”

Sunset glanced around at her friends. Exhaustion was clearly starting to show through; each of them had slumped shoulders, dark shadows under their eyes, and that was before adding in the minor scrapes and bruises that everyone sported. Sunset strongly suspected that she herself didn’t look much better. “We’ll take it easy here, if you don’t mind.”

“But what about Adam?” Fluttershy asked, “we can’t just leave him out there on his own.”

Rainbow looked at her incredulously. “Uh, you do realise that Adam’s kinda turned into a badass, right?”

“W-well, yes, but…” Fluttershy ducked her head and rubbed her arms nervously, “a-after what happened to… to J-James… he…”

“He might not have his head screwed on right,” Applejack said quietly. She sighed heavily and lowered her hat over her eyes. “Yeah, Ah get what you’re saying. Losing family ain’t something you just shrug off.”

A hushed silence fell at her words. Each of the Rainbooms was keenly aware of just how close to home this situation would hit for Applejack. It was Rarity who moved first, stepping forward and placing a comforting hand on the farm girl’s arm. “It’s alright, darling, we’ll all go and check on him. At the very least, he’s going to need some friends to look out for him in his time of need.”

Sunset nodded. “We’ll go after him, but we should at least get some rest for a couple of hours first. We don’t want to end up needing rescuing again.”

Applejack sighed. “Can’t say fairer than that, Ah guess.”

Elder Lyons clasped his hands and stood. “It’s settled then. I’ll have a squire take you to the rest and recreation areas and, when you’re ready to leave, just ask Scribe Rothchild how to find Vault 87.”

“Thank you,” Sunset replied gratefully.

Elder Lyons smiled at her, but his expression quickly turned serious once again. “One last thing. Once Project Purity had been reclaimed, I would greatly appreciate it if you would assist our scribes in learning everything we can about magic.”

Twilight gave him a wary look, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Magic is extremely dangerous when used improperly.”

“That’s something I learned the hard way, as you’re well aware,” Doctor Li huffed. “It may be dangerous, but doing nothing and just trying to ignore the magic is going to be even more dangerous in the long run. Especially if the Enclave does start studying magic too.”

“Take some time to think about it,” Elder Lyons said. “For now, I believe we can adjourn this meeting here. Sarah, Ladies Germaine, I’d appreciate it if you could remain here for a moment. The rest of you, you’re dismissed.”

Tabitha glanced at her sister as everyone else moved to leave, careful not to let any of her concern show on her face, the Rainbooms gave them curious looks, as did several of the Brotherhood higher-ups, but thankfully no one said anything. After just a few moments the room was empty save for Tabitha, Claire, Elder Lyons, and his daughter, Sarah.

“There’s no need to be alarmed, I assure you,” Elder Lyons said gently. “I just have a few questions for you, and then you may both be on your way.”

Tabitha settled her expression into a vapid smile. “Of course, I just hope I can be of service to such an esteemed personage as yourself.”

Elder Lyons shook his head. “On any other day I would gladly indulge in this little game of flattery and wit, but I haven’t the time, so I shall have to be blunt. Which organisation are you working for?”

“Organisation?” Tabitha asked, feigning ignorance. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. I actually run a little boutique in-”

“Rivet City, yes, I know,” Elder Lyons interrupted with a nod. “Let’s not play games here. We both know that you weren’t aiding the Rainbooms on a whim or on the request of an acquaintance.”

“We know you’re not working for Reilly’s Rangers, the Regulators, Rivet City Security, or the Brotherhood Outcasts,” Sarah put in, folding her arms. “Unfortunately, the only other groups we know of in the Capital Wasteland who would have a reason to go after the Rainbooms would be Talon Company, Paradise Falls or Evergreen Mills.”

“What kind of sickos do you take us for?” Claire snapped.

“Not now, sweetie,” Tabitha hissed, thinking quickly. She’d known that questions would be asked, but she hadn’t expected the Brotherhood to be quite so sharp, nor that they would pay so much attention, given everything else they had on their plate. She decided it was time to go on the offensive. “Forgive me, Elder, but this is starting to sound like an interrogation. Does the Brotherhood of Steel usually treat people who help them in this way?”

Elder Lyons shook his head again. “This isn’t an interrogation, we just want to find out which other groups are making moves across the wasteland.” Tabitha opened her mouth to respond, but Elder Lyons held up a hand, “Please, no more games. I’ve been playing this game for a lot longer than you have. We know that you are part of some organisation here in the wasteland, one with ties to the Rainbooms, we just don’t know which one.”

Tabitha sighed heavily. “Fine. We are indeed part of a wider organisation. But I can assure you that we have no interest in interfering with the Brotherhood of Steel’s affairs. Our aim is simply to aid those that have no one else to turn to.”

Elder Lyons raised an eyebrow, “Then it seems our goals are aligned. One of the main aims of the Brotherhood of Steel here in the Capital Wasteland is the protection of the people. New allies in that endeavour would be welcomed with open arms.”

Tabitha smiled wryly. “The problem with that, Elder, is that many of the wasteland’s inhabitants, some of your Knights included, are very particular in their definition of ‘people’.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I shall pass your sentiments on to my superiors. Anything more than that, I cannot promise.”

Elder Lyons nodded. “That sounds fair. Very well, just speak to the squire waiting outside and he will show you to the exit. Thank you for your time.”

Tabitha gave him a curt nod as she stood. “Not at all. Come along, Claire.”

The Elder and the Sentinel both watched silently as the sisters quickly left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Sarah turned to her father. “So, what do you think?”

Elder Lyons hummed as he thought for a moment. “I don’t think we need to worry about them for the moment. Once we’ve dealt with Project Purity and the Enclave, I’ll ask the Rivet City security chief if he can give us any information on the two of them, but we have bigger things to worry about right now.”

Sarah nodded. “Okay. So what’s our next move?”

“For now, we’ll continue gathering our troops until Liberty Prime is fully operational. As soon as Adam returns with the G.E.C.K, we shall begin our counterattack,” Elder Lyons replied. “In the meantime, we had better get word to Galaxy News about the magic.”

Alright, children. This is Three Dog, arooooo; coming to you with a special emergency news broadcast.

I’ve just received word from the Brotherhood of Steel, and they’ve confirmed that the Rainbooms have been rescued from the clutches of those Enclave assholes, and are currently recuperating at the Citadel.

Unfortunately, that’s about where the good news ends.

That blast and light show we all saw last night? It turns out, the Enclave were messing with forces they don’t understand... and couldn’t control. Those little wispy bits of light that went flying out over the wasteland weren’t just radiation, or fireflies, or whatever; they were balls of pure, unrefined, uncontrollable magic.

Yes. I’m serious. And you all need to pay close attention to what I’m about to say, because that shit is dangerous, with a capital D.

You see, those magic balls... they didn’t just fly around in the sky, they flew around at ground level too, and they bumped into things. The people that were hit by it all ponied up, just like the Rainbooms do. I haven’t heard any reports of people getting superpowers yet, but people have been growing funny ears and wings and stuff. If that happens to you or to someone you know. Do. Not. Panic. It may be all kinds of freaky, but this transformation is not permanent, and it is not, I repeat, not, dangerous.

What is dangerous is what has been happening when it hits something other than people. I’ve got word from the Brotherhood of Steel that there are super mutants that have been hit by this stuff, and they are getting transformed too.

That’s right children. Super mutants. With. Wings.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, apparently this magic has affected at least one Behemoth that we know of, and it may have affected other creatures across the wasteland too. For all we know, there could be ghouls with super strength or flying god-damned Deathclaws out there, so keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel if you have to travel anywhere.

To make things even more weird, the magic has even affected guns, clothing, and other assorted non-living objects. I’ve got an aerial upstairs that’s glowing a funky blue colour, and the Brotherhood tells me they’ve got all kinds of things happening to some of their kit, so be careful if you’re handling anything that might have been touched by magic.

Bear in mind that Rivet City has been placed on lockdown for the time being. It was close to the blast and got hit with a whole bunch of magic, and security has been beefed up massively to try and control the chaos. If you’re heading that way, be aware than its taking a while for anyone to get in or out of there, and for god’s sake don’t go pushing your luck with the security teams.

Apart from that, we have no real idea of how far that magic went or what kind of crazy shit it’s causing out there in the wider wasteland. And that’s where you lot come in, children. We need to know how far the magic has spread. If you saw any of those freaky balls of light flying overhead, try and spread the word any way that you can.

And remember, if someone has been hit by the magic, don’t be a dick. It ain’t their fault, and they are not any more dangerous than a normal person, raiders might have wings but that doesn't mean they can fly. The transformation isn’t permanent, and it won’t hurt you.

Thanks for listening chiiildren! This is Three Dog, awoooo!

Author's Note

Hello again!

Apologies for the lateness, I've got a project I'm working in on irl that's taken a lot of my focus recently. I won't say what it is just yet, but if all goes well I'll be doing a blog post about it in the future.

Thanks again!

Chapter 47 - A Wizard, a Scholar, and a F**king Big Robot

Chapter 47 - A Wizard, a Scholar, and a F**king Big Robot

Princess Twilight stood up and quickly dusted herself off. She’d been through the mirror portal several times now, but she still hadn’t quite got the hang of consistently coming out the other side without falling over. She allowed herself a quick glance up at Canterlot High before stepping aside. Moments later there was a flash as an old man flew out of the base of the statue and landed on the ground with a thump.

Starswirl the Bearded groaned as he rose to his hands and knees. “That was just as painful as I remember it being.”

Twilight winced sympathetically and reached a hand down to help him up. Starswirl looked like he would refuse for a moment, but after a quick glance at how she was standing on two legs, allowed her to aid him in clambering to his feet. He wobbled for a moment, but Twilight allowed him lean against her as he slowly found his balance.

“Thank you, Princess,” Starswirl said gruffly, looking down at his clothes. The portal had dressed him in a pair of light brown slacks with a matching tweed waistcoat over a white shirt. His trademark beard flowing down to his belly cemented the image of an eccentric old college professor. “Hm, this is new.”

“Have things changed much since you last came here?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed they have, very much so, in fact,” Starswirl replied, looking up at the school in wonder. “When last I came there was little here, merely some quiet woodlands and a large boulder that contained the portal…” He trailed off as his gaze started to wander, taking in the road, the surrounding buildings, and the vehicles that passed on the road.

Normally, Twilight would have been all too happy to let a fellow scholar indulge their curiosity, but they didn’t have the time. “Uh, Starswirl?”

“Hm? Oh! My apologies!” He shook himself and looked up at the school once more, “Lead on.”

Together, the two strode up the path to the school. Starswirl stumbled and nearly fell at first, but, with Twilight’s help, he soon got the hang of walking on two legs. When they reached the door, Twilight moved to open the door for him. Indignant at the thought of a Princess stooping to opening a door for him, he attempted to open the door himself with his magic, and immediately fell prey to the same mistake Twilight made when she first came to this world.

Fortunately, the only thing he injured was his pride.

Trying to express her sympathy while stifling a laugh, Twilight quickly opened the door and led her mildly bruised friend inside. A few short minutes later they found themselves at the lab containing the Diviner.

Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna were waiting for them inside. Their expressions brightened as they saw Twilight, but tightened when they laid eyes on Starswirl.

“Hey, I’m back!” Twilight said as she entered, not having noticed. “This is Starswirl the Bearded, one of the greatest wizards ever to have lived in Equestria. Starswirl, allow me to introduce Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna.”

Starswirl stepped forward and bowed slightly, taking care not to overbalance, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I just wish it was under less unfortunate circumstances.” He straightened up and smiled softly, “I must say, even after everything I’ve heard from Princess Twilight, this is still quite a singular experience. However, I feel I owe you an apology.”

“Oh?” Celestia folded her arms and arched an eyebrow, while Luna just looked surprised.

Twilight turned a curious look on him, “What do you mean?”

“The Sirens,” Starswirl responded simply. He opened his mouth to explain further, but Celestia held up a hand.

“It’s fine,” Celestia told him. “We’re not exactly thrilled that you sent them to our world, but you’re willing to apologise, and we have more important matters to discuss.”

“Very well.” Starswirl leaned to look around the Principals, “Is that the construct in question?”

Twilight nodded as the four of them stepped over to the machine, “Yes. It’s switched off for the moment, and we’ve disabled the internet connection that allowed the sabotage to occur in the first place.”

Starswirl hummed as he inspected the Diviner, “You realise it will take some time for me to become familiar enough with this technology to be able to assist you?”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Twilight replied. “I was just hoping that you could help with the magical side of things. If we can figure out how to open a stable magical portal, Micro Chips and I will be able to adjust the machine to actually do it.”

Starswirl nodded, “I see. May I see your notes?”

“Of course.” Celestia handed over a clipboard that was heavy with sheets of paper, “These are the notes that Twilight, er, our world’s Twilight took. They contain all of the Diviner’s specifications as well as everything we’ve learned about the new portal since the girls disappeared.”

Starswirl thanked her and took the clipboard, quickly reading through the contents. The others waited patiently as he read, checking the Diviner or quietly chatting amongst themselves until, finally, Starswirl sighed and lowered the clipboard. “If these notes are correct, I believe we will be able to re-open the second portal safely.”

“Great!” Twilight cried as the Principal’s both sighed with relief.

Starswirl nodded, “Indeed. We have the magical signature we need, and it seems you’ve already figured out how to modify the machine to actually handle a portal. Your proposal about bringing enchanted crystals from Equestria to help stabilise the connection should work too.” He frowned up at the mirror in the middle of the Diviner, “However, finding the correct combination of gems, magical frequencies and enchantments to both create a two-way portal and keep it stable for any length of time is going to be difficult in the extreme.”

“True, but it’ll be a lot faster and easier if we’re working together,” Twilight said confidently, earning a smile from Starswirl.

“Pardon me for asking, but… how long do you think this will take?” Celestia asked.

“We realise this isn’t going to be easy,” Luna added, “but those poor girls have been missing for almost two days now.”

Twilight and Starswirl shared a look, then the Princess gave them a solemn nod, “Don’t worry, we’ll get to work right away. We’ll bring them home as quickly as we possibly can.”

There was a loud crack, and Sunset felt the unfamiliar kick of the rifle against her shoulder. The instructor gave a curt nod as she lowered the rifle, “Not bad. It’s not perfect, but you’re hitting the centre of mass every time.”

Sunset nodded back and racked the bolt on the hunting rifle, ejecting the spent cartridge and chambering another in a pair of smooth movements. She’d been reluctant to accept weapons training at first; the memory of using a gun against someone for the first time still lurked at the back of her mind, but, given how dangerous the wasteland had proven to be, she didn’t feel that it was something she could refuse. If learning to use a gun properly was what it took to keep her friends safe, then so be it.

At least she wasn’t alone. Applejack was standing a few feet away, practicing with another hunting rifle. Neither of them were exactly sharpshooters, but they were both hitting the targets consistently. The fact that the targets they were shooting at were painted onto human-shaped mannequins certainly wasn’t helping Sunset’s state of mind, however. Shaking her head to try and clear it, Sunset sighed and flicked the rifle’s safety on before lowering it and looking around the courtyard for the rest of her friends.

Twilight wasn’t there. After the debriefing, the Rainbooms had been permitted a hot shower, which, admittedly, had been gratefully taken advantage of, but Twilight had barely finished hers before Doctor Li whisked her away to show her some sort of big science project she wanted help with. Almost immediately after, a Knight had arrived and stated that Elder Lyons had authorised his instructors to give the girls some weapons training, if they wished.

And so, with nothing better to do, the girls had found themselves in the courtyard once again. Sunset and Applejack were the only ones that had actually accepted the offer of using the guns. Fluttershy had, understandably, flat out refused to handle a weapon, and was currently talking to a standby medic by the resting area. Pinkie and Rarity had declined to use the guns as well, citing that their magic was more than effective enough if it truly became necessary. Rainbow Dash, for her part, was currently engaged with an instructor on the other side of the courtyard, learning the basics of Brotherhood knife-fighting and unarmed combat.

Another loud crack brought Sunset’s attention around just in time to see Applejack huff and lower her rifle, “Well, that’s the last of my ammo.” She gave a satisfied nod and turned to Sunset, “What now, sugarcube? Are we shooting some more, or what?”

Sunset shook her head, “We really should get going if we want to catch Adam at the Vault before sundown.”

“Ah hear you.” Applejack flicked on the rifle’s safety and held it out to the instructor, but the man just shook his head.

“Elder Lyons says you can keep the guns,” he told them. “We only use these hunting rifles for target practice anyway, we use laser rifles on operations.” He bent down and pulled out a few boxes of bullets from a bag at his feet, holding them out for the girls to take, “Here, take these.”

“Oh, alright then. Uh, thanks,” Applejack replied, shouldering her rifle and taking two boxes.

Sunset glanced down at her own rifle, hesitating for a moment, before slinging it over her shoulder and accepting the proffered ammunition. Trying not to think about when she might actually be forced to use the rifle, or on who, she thanked the instructor and left, gathering the rest of her friends from the courtyard before asking a squire where they could find Scribe Rothchild.

The squire almost exploded with excitement when Sunset asked him for help. Barely able to contain his stammering, the boy shakily pointed to a set of double doors in one corner of the courtyard.

“It seems someone here has a fan,” Rarity said coyly as the girls headed to the doors.

“Duh, we’re awesome,” Rainbow replied with a grin.

“Let’s just find Twilight and Rothchild and get out of here,” Sunset cut in, not in the mood for any talk of fans or followers. “The sooner we go, the sooner we can find Adam, and the sooner the Brotherhood can take the purifier back.”

Fluttershy looked around at the Knights and squires around them, all going about their business quickly and efficiently. “I hope this doesn’t end up turning into another war,” she said quietly.

“Me too,” Pinkie agreed.

“There’s going to be a battle, at least,” Applejack supplied with a grimace. “Ah just hope we don’t get caught up in the middle of it.”

“We’ll cross that bridge if and when it comes to it,” Sunset said firmly, striding ahead to open the doors. “In the meantime, we just have to- whoa…”

The rest of the Rainbooms hurried forward to see what had grabbed her attention, each of them letting out a gasp of awe as they saw it too. Through the doors was a lab, similar to Rivet City’s science lab. Inside the lab, surrounded by a framework of steel girders, stood a huge robot.

Easily forty feet tall, the massive humanoid was covered in burnished metal plates, with patches of rust showing through on the few parts of the inner frame that were visible. Its faceplate was utterly blank save for a visor-like slit in place of eyes.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?” The girls turned to see a red-robed scribe watching them. He smiled and gestured down some nearby stairs to the laboratory floor. “You’ll find Scribe Rothchild down there, along with your friend, Twilight.”

Nodding their thanks, the Rainbooms hurried down the steps, spotting Twilight, Doctor Li, and Rothchild, all talking animatedly over a single computer terminal at the robot’s feet. Doctor Li spotted the girls approaching, gently nudging Twilight and nodding in their direction. Twilight smiled brightly when she saw them, “Hey! Is it time to go already?”

Applejack nodded, “Yep, we’re going to go and find Adam before he ends up getting lost and disappearing again, or something.”

“We were just coming to find Scribe Rothchild, to find out where Vault 87 is,” Sunset added, unable to tear her gaze away from the robot.

Rothchild smiled proudly as he noticed where her attention lay. “It is magnificent, isn’t it?”

“It looks awesome!” Rainbow cried. “Is it some sort of super battle robot?”

“Pretty much,” Rothchild chuckled. “We discovered it when we first occupied the Citadel, around twenty years ago. It was built before the war as a super-weapon, the most powerful robot ever to have existed on Earth. They called it Liberty Prime. Unfortunately, finding a suitable power source was a fruitless endeavour, that is, until Doctor Li arrived with her most recent research on nuclear fusion.”

Doctor Li sighed and stretched, rolling her neck. “Thanks to the breakthrough we had in Rivet City, I believe we have a generator design that is small, but still powerful enough to bring Liberty Prime up to operating capacity.” She nodded to Twilight, “That’s partially why I wanted Miss Sparkle here. Her skills with coding are far beyond any of ours, so I was hoping she would be able to modify Liberty’s programming to increase efficiency. Not to mention seeing if we could get her input on any further improvements to our power supply.”

“I didn’t really do all that much,” Twilight said modestly, blushing at the compliment.

“Er, sorry to butt in,” Rarity interrupted, “this is all very fascinating, but we really ought to get going soon.”

Scribe Rothchild dipped his head in apology. “Of course. My apologies.” He gestured to a large display on a nearby wall, “Our map is just over here.” Following the scribe over to the display, the girls saw that it was a digital map of the Capital Wasteland. A reticule meandered constantly across the map, pausing intermittently over various landmarks. Several Vaults were prominently highlighted.

“We are here.” Rothchild pointed the Citadel out on the map, before pointing to a marker to the Northwest. “Vault 87 is up here, but the entrance is lethally radioactive. The only other possible entrance, and the route Adam followed, will likely be through Little Lamplight Caverns, over here.” He pointed it out on the map.

Applejack frowned as she looked up at where he was indicating. “That looks like an awful long way to go.”

“It’s on the far edge of the Capital Wasteland. Getting there won’t be an easy journey,” Rothchild admitted. “The ruins to the West of here are incredibly difficult to cross, on account of how much rubble there is, so your best bet would probably be to head north until you clear the city ruins, then head west past Megaton.”

“That’ll take way too long,” Rainbow huffed. “I say we cross the city ruins. We can do it.”

“Ah’m with Rainbow on this,” Applejack supplied. “Between Rarity’s magic, and the three of y’all’s wings,” she gestured at Rainbow, Twilight and Fluttershy, “we should be able to handle a little rough terrain. No problem.”

Rarity sighed theatrically, “While normally I would argue against such an arduous trek, I must admit that it will certainly be preferable to getting shot at.”

Sunset folded her arms, frowning at the map as she considered. After a few moments she came to a decision. “We’ll see how bad the city ruins are. If we can cross them safely, we’ll go that way. Everyone, make sure to mark the Citadel and the Little Lamplight Caverns on your Pip-Boy maps.” She glanced at Rothchild as the others obeyed, “Thanks again, this is a really big help.”

“Don’t worry about it, just be careful out there,” Rothchild replied. “I doubt the Enclave will be sending anyone after you just yet, but there are still plenty of other dangers in the open wasteland.”

“We’d noticed,” Applejack muttered darkly.

Rainbow grinned and nudged her shoulder, “Don’t sweat it, we’ve got this.”

“I sure hope so,” Sunset put in. “Come on, girls, let’s get our packs and go. Thanks again, Scribe Rothchild.”

“Don’t mention it,” Rothchild replied with a nod.

Leaving the scribes and scientists to their work, the Rainbooms made a quick detour to the storage room where they’d left their packs, before heading back up to the main gate. There was a short wait as the gate was raised to let them out, then the girls stepped out into the wasteland.

Sunset paused as soon as they were safely out, her friends stopping alongside her. The boom of the gate closing behind them didn’t seem anywhere near as loud as it had when they were entering. The mist from the morning was still around, but it was far less thick than it had been, wan sunlight filtering down through it in dappled spots.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

Sunset glanced at her before turning her attention back to the way ahead. “I think so. It’s just… here we go again, you know?”

Applejack nodded in understanding. “Ah hear you. But things are different this time.”

“Indeed,” Rarity agreed. “This time we have a better idea of what to expect, and how to deal with it.”

Sunset looked around at the rest of the Rainbooms. Each of them nodded to her in turn. “Let’s do this,” Fluttershy said firmly. “Let’s go and find Adam.”

Bolstered by her friends’ resolve, Sunset refused to allow her courage to wilt. Pulling her rifle off her shoulder, she took a moment to make sure that it was loaded. “Alright. Let’s do this.” Suiting action to words, she checked the direction on her Pip-Boy and set off into the mist.

Author's Note

Hello again!

My original plan was to have the girls head out into the wasteland in this chapter, but that little journey ended up ballooning a little more than I expected, enough to make a full chapter in its own right, so I decided to split them up. Next time, the road to Little Lamplight...

Chapter 48 - Crossing the Wastes

Crossing the city ruins wasn’t as difficult as the girls had expected. Vast piles of unstable rubble blocked the routes, forming a nearly impenetrable barrier for most people, but for the Rainbooms it was barely a hindrance at all. They didn’t even have to pony up; Rarity simply conjured small ramps taking them from one safe stopping point to the next.

Once the rubble had been cleared, the ground mostly levelled off. Aside from having to snake between buildings, the odd broken fence, and piles of debris the going was far smoother on the other side. The girls didn’t encounter much in the way of threats either, save for a pair of feral ghouls that were swiftly dispatched by Rainbow before they even noticed there was a threat and several obscenely large ants down in a lower street, which were given a very wide berth.

It wasn’t until they came to a bridge leading out of the ruins that the girls saw another human being. A ramshackle little store had been set up in the middle of the bridge, surrounded by sandbag walls and occupied by a scavenger and her two dogs. Funnily enough, the woman turned out to be a fan of the Rainbooms and very much enjoyed listening to their songs on the radio.

Thrilled at meeting the group, the woman was more than happy to help them out. She didn’t know the way to Little Lamplight, unfortunately, but she did give them information on the local topography in exchange for nothing more than their autographs and a signed picture, which was taken using Twilight’s magic with an old press camera the woman owned.

Leaving the scavenger behind with her prize, the Rainbooms continued across the bridge and headed out through the outlying ruins. Following an old road on the scavenger’s advice, they made their out of the city limits and up to the top of a nearby hill, one that provided plenty of cover while also giving them a great vantage point to watch out for danger.

Finally out in the wastes proper, the girls made sure to keep their eyes peeled at all times, not dropping their guard for an instant. Their diligence was soon rewarded, as they spotted a group of what appeared to be raiders lurking in a group of blasted trees on the far side of the hill.

Entirely unwilling to risk a battle, the girls went out of their way to avoid them, taking care to stay out of sight as they took a circuitous way past. The going was slow and nerve-wracking, each of the Rainbooms half-expecting to hear a shout or feel the sting of a bullet, but after a few minutes of tense creeping they managed to get by safely.

The trek onwards was long and arduous. The distance to Little Lamplight was easily greater than what they had covered between Megaton and Rivet City, but the girls had little choice but to press on, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t run into any more trouble. Unfortunately, trouble had a way of finding the Rainbooms, no matter how hard they tried to avoid it.

Somewhere past the halfway point of their journey, or so the girls hoped, they came across a thick concrete wall jutting out of the ground. Past that they came across several more walls clustered around a wide field of rubble, though whether they were originally part of a single building or a whole complex was impossible to tell.

Amongst the mess were several old explosion craters, the ground around them bulging as they rose to the lip of the bowl-shaped pits. Pinkie attempted to get a closer look at the first one they spotted, but the sudden warning ticks of her Pip-Boy’s Geiger counter quickly made her rethink the idea, and none of the group dared to approach any of the others too closely. In the center of the ruins, however, they discovered a crater that drew their attention like moths to a flame.

Much larger than the surrounding ones, the vast crater was easily over a dozen meters deep and more than double that in width, but that in itself wasn’t what had drawn them. Billowing out of the crater was a thick cloud of multicoloured magic, the colours mixing and separating as they swirled and rose slowly into the sky before dispersing far above their heads.

“That doesn’t look good,” Applejack supplied.

“You’re not wrong,” Sunset replied with a frown. “I don’t understand. That’s clearly Equestrian magic, but what is it doing here? And why does it look like that?”

Twilight folded her arms and hummed, staring thoughtfully at the cloud. “I wonder…” To the surprise of the others she suddenly walked right up to the lip of the crater, then stopped and backtracked when her Pip-Boy started ticking. “I thought so. This crater is radioactive, too.”

“Well duh!” Rainbow spat incredulously.

“No offence, darling, but we probably could have told you that without you having to go near it,” Rarity added.

Twilight shook her head, “That’s not what I meant. Do you remember when we used our magic on the soldier back at Project Exodus? Specifically, do you remember what he was standing next to?”

“The rocket,” Sunset answered, thinking about how it had been leaking radioactive fluids all over the hapless trooper. “You think the radiation is affecting the magic somehow?”

Twilight nodded. “I think so. After all, we didn’t overload our magic, it only went out of control when it hit the Delta IX rocket.”

“Well, that all sounds pretty fucking interesting!” a voice called out suddenly. The girls spun around to see three men in black combat armour. One of them bore a heavy combat shotgun, another carried an assault rifle, and the third bore a laser rifle like those the Brotherhood used. All three of them were taking cover behind chunks of broken concrete and all had their weapons pointed carefully at the Rainbooms.

“Don’t even think of trying anything!” the man with the shotgun shouted. “If any of you so much as twitches we’ll blow the whole fucking lot of you away! Drop your weapons and get your hands in the air! Slowly!”

Sunset cursed under her breath. One unusual sight had been all it took to get her and her friends to drop their guard, and now they were back in yet another potentially lethal situation. Deciding it was best to do as asked for now, she bent to place her rifle on the floor and straightened up, raising her hands slowly. Applejack did the same a moment later.

“What do you want with us?” Sunset called out.

The man grinned at her. “The Commander has put a price on you lot, wants you brought in alive. Never thought you’d come sniffing around our neck of the woods.” He chuckled darkly. “Must be our lucky day.”

“More like your unlucky day if you think you can take us!” Rainbow challenged.

“Cool it, Rainbow!” Sunset hissed, before looking back to the men. “Are you with the Enclave?”

The man spat on the floor. “Fuck the Enclave. Now step away from your weapons and get those tight little asses over here. Nice and slow. No funny business.”

“Hey, who’s your Commander?” Pinkie called out brightly.

The man just snorted, his aim never wavering from Sunset. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be meeting him real soon.”

Pinkie beamed and pointed off behind the men. “I knew it! He’s that big ugly bear thing coming down the hill, isn’t he!”

All three of the men gasped and looked around to see what she was talking about. They realised their mistake just a second too late.

The man with the shotgun was the first to fall. He looked back to the girls just in time for Rainbow to smack his weapon aside and plunge a knife into his throat, ripping it back out in a crimson arterial spray. The other two barely had time to react before Twilight gripped their guns and crushed them to pieces with her magic.

The men stood there dumbfounded, looking from their empty hands, to the Rainbooms, to the corpse of their companion lying at Rainbow’s feet. Sunset opened her mouth to demand that they either leave or surrender when one of them suddenly lurched forward, screaming in agony.

The air behind the man seemed to shimmer and ripple, a dark outline slowly appearing as if from thin air. Sunset’s blood ran cold as the outline solidified to reveal a gigantic black scorpion, bigger even than Applejack’s family truck. The scorpion scuttled forward, claws raised menacingly, and it’s sting lashed out almost faster than the eye could follow, bringing the man’s screams to an abrupt halt.

The last survivor, seeing his colleagues slaughtered so easily, turned and fled as fast as he could. Sunset considered joining him as she snatched her weapon back up. Against such a huge creature, her hunting rifle felt like little more than a pop-gun.

Fortunately, the scorpion didn’t appear to be interested in them. Scooping up its prey in its claws, the scorpion turned and scuttled away towards one of the craters, the colour already bleeding from its carapace once again. By the time it crested the lip of the crater and disappeared inside all that could be seen of it was a telltale ripple in the air as it moved.

An appalled silence remained in the wake of the brief struggle. “Did… did that really just happen?” Applejack asked tentatively.

“I think so? Either that or we’re all starting to go crazy.” Sunset replied, her rifle aimed at the crater the scorpion had disappeared into. Giving herself a shake, she lowered her rifle and walked over to Rainbow. Stepping up alongside her, Sunset saw that she was staring down at the corpse of the man she had killed, a stream of blood still trickling from his neck. Rainbow’s expression was inscrutable.

Sunset slowly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” she asked softly.

Rainbow’s eyes flicked sidelong at her before looking back at the body. “I… I don’t know. This feels… weird. I mean, I’ve killed a bunch of those feral ghouls, no problem, and going for super mutants doesn’t bother me either, but… this…” She shook her head slowly. “It just feels weird.”

Sunset nodded in understanding. Looking down at the corpse brought back memories of the two raiders and the discussion in Megaton that followed. It took an effort, but Sunset managed to say, “You did the right thing.”

Rainbow looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“If you didn’t, then neither did I,” Sunset replied evenly.

“Heh, you have a point,” Rainbow admitted.

“Darn right I do.” Sunset gave her a gentle thump on the shoulder and turned away. “Come on, let's get out of here before anything else shows up.”

Eager to get moving again, the girls quickly made their way onwards, keeping their eyes peeled for any more camouflaged giant scorpions. They made sure to take a more northern route than originally planned to avoid going in the same direction as their fleeing assailant. Their caution proved to be justified when Rainbow spotted what appeared to be a large ruined military compound not far from the cratered area. They made sure to keep as far away from it as possible as they headed around, taking extra care to stay out of sight of any sentries that may have been on the lookout.

Once the Rainbooms were past the complex, the rest of the journey passed in relative peace. There was a rather hair-raising encounter with a particularly fearsome-looking bear, but thankfully the big brute proved to be quite a softy and was perfectly happy to leave them alone after a quick chat with Fluttershy.

After another couple of hours walking, a large hill slowly came into view. Picking their way across several large boulders scattered around, the Rainbooms skirted the bottom until, finally, a campground came into view. Bunting and electric lights were strung up between posts dotted at random intervals and there were several wooden wind-pumps installed at the top of a nearby rise. At the bottom of the rise, decorated with more bunting and lights, and partially obscured by a broken down old school bus, was the entrance to a cavern.

Applejack stopped and tilted her hat back to get a better look. “Ah guess that must be Little Lamplight.”

“Yep!” The girls all glanced at Pinkie as she shouted gleefully, only to leap apart with startled yells when they noticed a random woman standing in their midst. The woman was clothed in little more than a simple tank top and a baggy pair of shorts and sported a beaming grin that showed she was utterly unbothered by the Rainbooms’ reactions to her appearance. She giggled and snorted before giving a little wave. “Hi, I’m Diane! What’re your names?”

Sucking in deep breaths in an attempt to get her thundering heart under control, Sunset held up a hand to stall for time until she was capable of forming a coherent response. “We… we’re the Rainbooms.”

Diane gave an almost impossibly large gasp and in the span of a blink was suddenly right up in Sunset’s face. “Oh my gosh! That’s so amazing! I’ve heard all about you on the radio!” She instantly darted over to Pinkie, inspecting her with intense interest and zero concern for personal space. “Wow! You look just like I did when I got hit with that weird floating ball of pink pinkie stuff earlier! It hit me right in the boobies! At first I was all like, ‘Hey, you’ve gotta take me out for dinner first, Buster!’, but then it was already inside me, and I mean don’t get me wrong; I don’t really mind that, but it didn’t feel good in the usual kinda ‘oh, it’s inside me!’, kinda way, but it still felt kinda good, and then I had pink hair and it was really weird and-”

Diane paused mid-sentence to suck in a deep breath. Pinkie attempted to use the opportunity to slip away from her, but the new nutcase had already zipped over to Rainbow, pulling a tray of desserts out of nowhere and holding it out. “Cupcakes?”

Rainbow back away a couple of steps, eyeing both the cakes and their bearer with concern. “Uh, no thanks. I’m good.”

“Did you say your name was Diane?” Twilight asked.

Diane tossed the tray away and whipped around, snapping a crisp salute. “Yep! Diane Pinkamena Pie, travelling baker and merchant, at your service! I’d like to stay and chat, aw, who am I kidding, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got to be getting on with my deliveries!” She skipped over to a charred picnic table and pulled a heavy rucksack out from under it, slipping it onto her back with practiced ease.

“One delivery to Little Lamplight, right on schedule! Now, I’ve just got to get this shipment over to Andale and then I’d better go on the hunt for some more ingredients! Bye bye!” With one last vigorous wave Diane turned and skipped away faster than they could run, soon disappearing from sight around the hill.

The girls stared after her, still struggling to process what exactly had just happened. Rarity was the first to finally stir. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that was this world’s version of Pinkie, wasn’t it?”

“I… I think so?” Twilight answered uncertainly.

“It was,” Pinkie said in a flat voice.

Applejack glanced at her curiously. “Do you think we should go after her?”

“No,” Pinkie replied firmly. In response to the others querulous looks, she shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know, something just feels… off. Besides, I get the feeling we’re going to run into her again at some point.” She looked up in the direction Diane had gone, then shook her head again and turned away. “Come on, let’s go and find Adam.” The rest of the Rainbooms could only give each other confused looks and follow after Pinkie as she made her way down to the cavern entrance.

The ground just inside the entrance sloped downwards towards a flimsy wooden door. Inside the girls found themselves in a narrow but dry and surprisingly warm cave system, well lit by string lights and strategically placed lanterns. After following the lights for a short way down some stairs and around a few corners the cave opened up into a larger chamber. The way ahead was blocked by a sturdy wall constructed out of old billboards and sheets of metal plating.

A young boy looking over the wall stood up the moment he spotted the Rainbooms. “For fuck’s sake what’s with all the fucking mungos tod- hey, you’re the fucking Rainbooms!”

“Nah, we’re just the Rainbooms. No fucking going on here,” Rainbow replied dryly.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity cried in a scandalized voice. “You shouldn’t use such foul language, especially not in front of a child!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her. “Uh, you do realise that kid swore like three times in one sentence. Plus, Sunset’s sworn a few times before.”

“That’s not the point!” Rarity countered. “Besides, while I may not approve of Sunset using expletives, at least she only does so when we’re under duress!”

“Man, who rammed a stick up her ass?” the kid called out, prompting an indignant splutter from Rarity and an amused snort from Rainbow. “What the fuck are you all doing here, anyway?”

“We’re looking for a friend of ours,” Sunset replied quickly. “His name is Adam, he was trying to get into Vault 87 and we think he might have came through this way.”

The kid gave her a surprised look, “Huh. Yeah, I remember that mungo, he did us a favour earlier so I let him in.”

“Do you mind if we come in to wait for him?” Sunset asked.

The kid gave her a calculating look. “That depends. We don’t usually let mungos in here.”

“And what, exactly, is a ‘mungo’?” Applejack asked.

“Big people, like you,” the boy replied. “The second anyone here turns sixteen they have to leave and head out to Big Town instead.”

Pinkie gasped and charged up to the wall, bouncing on the tips of her toes. “You mean everyone in here is a little kid?!”

The boy folded his arms and glared down at her. “Yeah, but don’t think you can fuck with us just because we’re young. You pull any funny shit and I won’t hesitate to pump your ass full of lead.”

“He’s too young to pump it full of anything else,” Rainbow muttered, earning a smack from Applejack.

Pinkie squealed loudly and clapped her hands together. “Please can I come in? If everyone in here is a kid then that means this is gonna be a giant slumber party and I haven’t had a slumber party or even any kind of party in aaaages! Please! Please, please, please!”

She kept up a barrage of rapid-fire talking interspersed with pleading until the boy finally relented, holding up his hands to try and pacify her. “Alright, alright, fine! Look, I’ll let you all in on three fucking conditions.”

“What conditions?” Twilight asked.

The boy held up three fingers. “One, you help out around here until your friend comes back. I’m not gonna let you just come in and fucking laze around. Two, you feed your fucking selves. We hardly have enough food to go around as it is.”

“That seems fair,” Applejack replied. “What’s the third condition?”

The kid leaned forward, an eager glint in his eye. “Prove what Three Dog’s been saying. That you can all do magic.”

The Rainbooms all glanced at each other and shrugged. Touching a hand to their Geodes, the girls each ponied up one by one. “Is this good enough for you?” Sunset asked.

The boy’s grin was so wide it must have been almost painful. “This is so fucking cool! Alright, I’ll let you all in now.”

“Yay!” Pinkie cried gleefully

The boy flicked a switch and a series of pulleys on the ceiling raised one of the billboards enough for the girls to duck under. As soon as they were through the girls let the magic fade from their bodies, returning themselves to normal. The cave on the other side was fairly large, with a tunnel leading off to the left and a wooden cabin on the right.

Sunset nodded up at the boy on his little platform beside the gate. “Thanks. Uh… what was your name?”

“MacCready,” he replied. “I’m the Mayor around here.” He pointed to the tunnel. “The main chambers are that way, you can wait for your friend down there. Three Dog said you girls are good people, but if you cause any problems whatso-fucking-ever, I’ll put you in the ground. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” Rarity replied huffily.

“We’ll behave ourselves, don’t you worry about that,” Applejack put in.

Macready nodded, “Good. Oh, and be careful when you’re in the Great Chamber. New people who aren’t careful tend to fall off the paths.”

The Rainbooms shared a wary look at that. “Uh… thanks?” Sunset replied slowly. Leaving the Mayor behind, the girls made their way down the short tunnel and emerged in another large cave filled mostly with a deep pool of water.

The cave was lit by lots more string lights strung across the ceiling, illuminating a single path of thick rock poking up above the waters, and several makeshift islands made out of wood floating on top connected by little bridges. Some of these islands bore picnic tables and benches, and there were several children milling around them or nimbly running across the bridges with youthful ease. Pinkie skipped ahead happily, waving and calling out greetings to each of the kids as she passed.

“Easy now, sugarcube. Don’t go slipping and hurting yourself,” Applejack warned.

“It’s fine, I’m not going to sli- whoops!” Pinkie’s one foot skidded and she flailed for a moment before regaining her balance and looking back sheepishly. “Hehe, meant to do that?” She shook her head and continued on, a little more carefully. “Anyway, let’s go and find somewhere dry to sit. I can’t wait to- oh, hi, Adam- I can’t wait to see the look on Adam’s face when he sees us all waiting for him!”

Sunset did a double-take at Pinkie’s words, her gaze snapping to the person Pinkie had waved at. A young man stood there, staring at the Rainbooms with an expression of blank shock matched only by their own.

Adam smiled and waved nervously at the group, “Um… hey, how’s it going?”

Author's Note

Another of the counterparts are here!

Only bit parts for the moment, but they are all eventually going to become very important.

Chapter 49 - Friends and Foreboding

“Adam!” There was an ear-piercing screech as Pinkie finally registered who she’d spoken to, then a pink blur as she launched herself at him. The hapless man was nearly pitched into the water by the ensuing collision, teetering on the brink for several seconds while simultaneously enduring a rib-cracking hug.

Applejack lunged forward and grabbed the two, pulling them away from the edge. “Simmer down, there, Pinkie. Let’s try not to kill the guy the second we finally find him.”

Pinkie chuckled nervously and let him go, “Sorry, Adam.”

Adam smiled and shook his head. “It’s cool, Pinks. I’m glad to see you too. Last I heard, you were all locked up by the Enclave. Did Metzger and her squad get you out?”

“Something like that,” Applejack replied. “Have you been through Vault 87 yet?”

“Nah, not yet.” Adam jerked his head over to a group of children who were huddled around one of the picnic tables. “The Mayor wouldn’t let me enter unless I rescued a few of the kids from slavers, so I had to go and do that first.” He looked around quickly, apparently oblivious to the amazed stares the girls were giving him, then jerked a thumb over his shoulder at an empty picnic table. “Should we, er, sit and down and catch up?”

“Are you sure we won’t be too heavy?” Sunset asked, eyeing the floating wooden island warily and pointedly ignoring Rarity’s indignant scowl.

Adam glanced at her, then quickly looked back at the wooden island. “Er, yeah. Yeah, it’s fine. Those wooden pallets aren’t really floating, they’re actually built on these huge pillars of rock that poke up from under the water.

“Stalagmites. They probably formed before the caves got submerged.” The others stared in surprise at Pinkie’s sudden input. “What? My sister likes rocks.”

Now it was Adam’s turn to look surprised. “You have a sister?”

Applejack sighed heavily. “Alright, y’all, let’s sit down before we start jabbering. It looks like we’ve all got some explaining to do.” The others quickly agreed to this and crowded around the picnic table, grabbing a few empty seats from one of the other islands so that they could all sit.

While pulling a selection of food and other supplies out of her pack, after Pinkie suggested that they may as well have a meal while they talked, Sunset privately wondered just how awkward the following conversation was going to be. After all, despite living in the same Vault for a month, not to mention the close working relationship they had with his father, most of the Rainbooms had barely exchanged more than an occasional greeting with Adam.

Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack were the exceptions. Fluttershy had worked alongside Adam in the clinic for the duration of her stay, and Applejack had apparently spoken to him whenever he had wandered down to the maintenance level to secretly practice with his BB gun. Pinkie, naturally, had simply gone out of her way to make friends with him purely for the sake of it.

“You know, uh, I think this is the first time most of us have actually spoken to each other properly,” Adam said once they’d finished preparing their food, evidently thinking along the same lines.

“Heh, yeah, sorry about that,” Rainbow replied sheepishly. “It’s not like we meant to ignore you, we just had other things to focus on, y’know? We weren’t really expecting to be in this world for that long.”

Twilight’s shoulders slumped at that. “I’m sorry, girls.”

“Don’t go taking that the wrong way,” Applejack cut in firmly. “We know you were doing everything you could to get us back home, and you should know darn well by now that none of that business is anyone’s fault, so shrug off that guilt already, y’hear?”

Twilight smiled at her. “You’re right, sorry. I think I’m just frazzled after everything that’s happened.”

“You and me both, darling,” Rarity agreed, her brows knotting as she picked up a somewhat stale sandwich.

Adam looked around at the lot of them curiously. “So… everything that Three Dog and the Brotherhood have been saying about you and your, uh, magic… it’s true?” The Rainbooms all nodded. “And all of that about you being from another world, too?”

Applejack nodded again. “It’s true. Do you remember when Generator Four blew just before we joined the Vault?”

Adam looked up at the ceiling as he thought back. “Uh… sure. It was about a week before you girls turned up from North Block.” He shook his head and took a swig from a Nuka-Cola. “At first I thought that was why you girls came into the main Vault, that the generator had overloaded and knocked the power grid out in your section.” He huffed a laugh. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Actually, that generator is a big part of how we got here,” Sunset told him. “James was secretly using it to experiment with some weird tech that he found in the wastes. We’re not exactly sure how or why but, somehow, it was able to make a connection with a portal on our world that sucked us in and dumped us in the Vault.”

“A portal? What kind of portal?” Adam asked.

Sunset smiled wryly. “Maybe we should start this from the beginning.”

And so, the Rainbooms told Adam everything. First they spoke about Equestria and Sunset leaving through the mirror, the incident at the Fall Formal and Sunset’s demon transformation, then the adventures they went through together after, right up to the activation of the Geode Diviner. They explained the truth of how they’d actually arrived in Vault 101, and what they had been working on until the fateful day when James left them.

Adam was particularly interested in what had happened in the Vault after he had gone chasing after his father. He was glad that Officer Kendall had survived his run-in with the radroaches, he was already sadly aware of Jonas’ and the Holdens’ demise, and he shared the girls’ concern over the fate of Officer Gomez. The revelation that the Overseer had intended to have the Rainbooms procreate with the rest of the Vault was met with stunned horror.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said in a hushed voice, “I never imagined he would try and do something like that. I was just so focussed on chasing after Dad that…” His voice died as his thoughts turned to his father.

Fluttershy, sat next to him, placed a reassuring hand atop his own. “It’s okay, we don’t blame you for any of this.”

“What exactly happened that day?” Sunset asked. “All we heard was that James had left the Vault and you went after him.”

Adam sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly before answering. “That’s pretty much it. Amata woke me up and told that he… that he’d left. She told me about Jonas too, and that the Overseer was sending the security teams to bring me in for questioning, and that I should leave the Vault. When I heard that I pretty much just grabbed everything I could and got the hell out of there.”

He sighed again and folded his arms, slumping over and resting his arms on the table. “Officer Kendall tried to grab me outside my room, but a bunch of radroaches attacked and I managed to escape while he was dealing with them. Then Butch came running up, saying that his mom was in trouble, so I went and saved her from another bunch of radroaches. That’s where I got this jacket from.” He paused and brushed off the dust from the sleeve of said jacket. “After that I just kept moving. Chief Hannon tried to stop me, but I ended up beating the tar out of him. Then I ran into the Overseer.” The girls shrank back, surprised at the cold fury that suddenly seemed to radiate from the young man. “Him and Mack had Amata in a chair. Mack was beating the crap out of her, trying to find out where I was.”

“That’s awful!” Rarity gasped.

Applejack glowered at the table. “How could he do that to his own daughter? His own flesh and blood?” She hunched over and lowered her hat, glaring at nothing in particular. “If Ah ever see him again, Ah swear, Ah’m gonna knock his teeth so far down his throat he’s gonna be biting his own ass.”

“Not if I get to him first,” Sunset cut in. “What happened next, Adam?”

Adam shrugged. “I couldn’t leave her like that, so I jumped in and smacked seven shades of shit out of Mack.”

“Nice.” Rainbow reached a fist out over the table.

Adam smirked and bumped it with his own before continuing. “Anyway, Amata ran while we were fighting. The Overseer tried to get me to give myself up, but I had to go after Dad. Turns out there’s a secret passageway right to the Vault entrance through the Overseer’s office. I went down there, opened up the Vault, said goodbye to Amata, and left.”

The group fell silent for several moments as they digested what they’d heard. “Damn,” Rainbow muttered under her breath.

“Ah guess we’re just lucky that Mack and Hannon had been dealt with before we started kicking up a fuss,” Applejack supplied, getting eager nods from the others in agreement. “Where did you go after you left? We heard you did some sort of errand for Moriarty in Megaton?”

Adam grimaced as he remembered. “Yeah. That ass-hat had me go and collect a debt from a junkie living on a ranch just outside Megaton. Poor girl, wish I could have helped her out more.” He shook his head sadly. “Maybe when the Enclave have been dealt with. Anyway, as I was saying…” The Rainbooms listened with rapt attention as Adam told them of his adventures after leaving the Vault.

It turned out that, after getting the information he sought from Moriarty, Adam had indeed gone charging off to Galaxy News, taking the route through the old Metro tunnels as the girls suspected. When he started relaying his encounter with the Brotherhood of Steel outside Galaxy News, however, Rainbow remembered a particular detail that she wanted clarified. “Hey, did you really take on that Behemoth one-on-one?”

Adam smiled and rubbed his stubble self-consciously. “Well, I mean, not really. Sarah and the others were shooting at it, but the brute just wouldn’t go down. That’s when I spotted that one of the dead soldiers was carrying a Fatman.”

“Carrying a what?” Applejack asked, sure she’d misheard.

“A Fatman,” Adam repeated. “It’s like a really big grenade launcher, except it launches mini-nukes instead of grenades.”

“Mini-nukes?!” Sunset and Rainbow spluttered in unison, Sunset nearly choking on her water in the process.

“That. Is. So. Awesome!” Rainbow added in an awestruck voice. “Tell me you still have that thing!”

Adam shook his head. “Sorry, but the Brotherhood soldiers wanted it back after I was done with it. Besides, it was way too unwieldy to go carrying around all over the place. I just grabbed it, blew the damn Behemoth’s head off with it, then gave it back to the Brotherhood.”

“I’m amazed it didn’t blow you up in the process,” Twilight blurted out.

Adam gave a noncommittal shrug in response. “Eh, it probably would have if the mutant had been close enough.”

“Ah’m guessing you spoke to Three Dog after that?” Applejack asked. She frowned as she remembered something. “That’s a point, didn’t he get you to fix his radio signal or something?”

Grimacing at the memory, Adam told of how he had been asked to find a replacement relay dish for Three Dog after his original one had been destroyed. He spoke of a deadly journey across the most war-torn sections of the D.C. ruins to get to the Museum of Technology, running battles with the super mutants as he searched inside, then a desperate flight to the Washington Monument once he had retrieved it.

Once that was done, Three Dog informed him that James had headed for Rivet City to find Doctor Li, and Adam had set off at once. The girls listened intently when he mentioned the raiders and ghouls he encountered in the Metro tunnels, but silently agreed not to tell him about the trouble that his actions caused them on their own trek through them. The last thing he needed was any more guilt or regret.

Next Adam spoke of meeting Doctor Li in Rivet City, from there heading to Project Purity and finding evidence that James had gone looking for Vault 112, in search of technology that could potentially get the purifier working at full capacity. Making his own way to Vault 112, Adam had, at last, found his father. From there the two of them had returned to Rivet City with all haste, recruited Doctor Li and her team, barely missing the Rainbooms in the process, and gone on to re-occupy Project Purity.

Applejack whistled appreciatively when he finished. “Hoo-whee! That’s a tale and a half. That Vault 112 must be one heck of a long way away, though. How far away from the Capital Wasteland is it?”

Curiously, Adam averted his eyes at Applejack’s question, focussing on the food in front of him. “It’s, uh… it’s not actually outside the wasteland,” he said quietly. “In fact that Vault is probably closer to the Citadel than this place is.”

The Rainbooms all shared a confused look. “How can that be possible?” Twilight asked. “Vault 112 wasn’t marked on the map Scribe Rothchild showed us.”

“Not to mention it took you about two whole weeks to get there and back,” Applejack added. “If it was that close, how come it took you so long to get there?”

The group was surprised by Fluttershy suddenly bursting into a fit of giggles. “Oh, Adam,” she said between giggles, “You got lost again, didn’t you?”

Rainbow snorted with laughter. “Come on, Shy, there’s no way he managed to get lost out there for two whole weeks!” Adam blushed and rubbed at his stubble again, and pointedly avoiding the others’ gazes. “No way. You did get lost?!” Rainbow shot incredulously.

“How the heck did you manage that?” Applejack asked as Rainbow curled up laughing. “You have a map on your darn Pip-Boy, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Adam huffed. “I’m just… not great at reading it.”

“He even got lost in Vault 101 once or twice,” Fluttershy piped up slyly, still giggling.

“Aw, come on, Flutters, you didn’t have to tell them that,” Adam muttered as the others gaped at him. “Besides, it wasn’t really my fault this time. I got chased by a freaking bear for miles. By the time I lost the stupid thing, I didn’t have a clue where I was or which way I had to go. Then I ended up running into this massive raider encampment, and I had to run from them, then there were those damned super mutants I kept finding.” He sighed heavily. “I found Vault 112 pretty much by accident, and then that ended up being a whole bunch of crazy thanks to the mad scientist that lived there. I tell you, this wasteland is insane.”

“Tell me about it,” Sunset agreed.

Adam laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, I guess you’d know that by now.”

The group fell silent for a while, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, once they’d all eaten and rearranged their packs, Sunset asked what was on everyone’s mind, “So, what do we do now? Shall we try searching Vault 87?”

Adam shook his head. “I was going to rest here for the night then try it in the morning. Apparently, the Vault is full of super mutants. I don’t fancy tackling that without plenty of preparation and a good night’s rest.”

Rainbow groaned loudly. “Not more super mutants. I’m getting sick of those things.”

“Especially now that they have magic,” Sunset added sourly.

Adam frowned at that. “Yeah, I heard something about that on the radio. Was that big wave of lights really caused by you?” Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but Adam suddenly gasped and dove under the table. “That reminds me! I’ve got something for you!” The girls stared in amazement as he pulled out a shiny blue-tinged gas tank, smaller than usual, and connected via a flexible pipe to a makeshift sword made out of the same blue-tinged metal.

Rainbow stared at it, awestruck. “Is that…?”

Adam shrugged. “I found it at Project Purity. I figured it must be one of yours, so I brought it with me in case I found you again. It didn’t look like this when I found it though. While I was on my way here it got hit by one of those of those little balls of, uh, magic, and it sorta mutated, somehow.” He held it out to Rainbow. “The ball was blue, so… I guess this must be yours?”

“My shishkebab!” Grinning from ear to ear, Rainbow quickly accepted her prized weapon, strapping the gas tank to her lower back and holding the sword out in front of her. “Whoa, this feels kinda… weird,” she said quietly.

“What kinda weird?” Pinkie asked. “Like, a good weird, or a bad weird?”

“I don’t know.” Rainbow stared at the blade reverently. “It doesn’t feel bad. It actually kinda feels like… like my Geode or something.” She took a step away from the table and held the blade out over the water. Shimmering, sky-blue fluid ran down the blade as she gripped the hilt. She clicked the lighter and, with a loud whoosh, the blade ignited, incandescent blue flames bursting into life and banishing all darkness from the cave.

“Whoa…”

Rainbow grinned at the awed sounds the rest of the group made. “Okay, now this is going to be awesome!”

“How long do you think it will take to gather the materials you require?” Vice-Principal Luna asked as she escorted Starswirl and Princess Twilight to the front door of CHS.

“It shouldn’t take long,” Twilight replied. “I’ll send messages to Canterlot and the Crystal Empire as soon as I get back. While I wait for a response from them I’ll dig through the various items and artefacts I’ve picked up over the years, maybe there’ll be something we can use.”

Starswirl nodded. “I’d suggest that you request aid from Stygian and the other Pillars as well. In the meantime, I’ll remain here and learn what I can of this Geode Diviner’s inner workings.”

“Thanks, Starswirl. If you need to contact me for any reason, just use the journal I gave you.” Twilight pushed open the school’s front door, then stopped dead in her tracks, her heart suddenly thundering in her chest.

A woman was standing just outside the door, looking like she was about to enter. Twilight recognised her instantly, and the woman clearly noticed.

Luna blinked in surprise, then raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you a visitor? If so, I’d appreciate it if you could- hey!”

The woman turned and ran off at top speed. Twilight tried to run after her, calling out for her to wait, but the woman was just too fast. She sped past the broken base of the statue portal and darted across the road as a bus made its approach.

As she reached the other side of the road the woman turned and looked directly at Twilight. Her lip slowly pulled up into an evil smirk, then the bus drove past and obscured her from sight. When the bus had passed, there was no sign of her. Twilight looked wildly up and down the street, looking for any clue as to where she might be fleeing, but there was nothing. The woman was gone.

“Wha… what was that about?” Luna asked as she caught up.

“Has that woman been around here before?” Twilight demanded.

Luna blinked in surprise at the authority in Twilight’s voice. “Not that I’ve noticed, I’ll have to check with my sister. Why? Who is she?”

Twilight just turned and stared at the spot where the woman had stood before she disappeared. She knew who her enemy was now, and this was not someone she’d be able to defeat on her own. She needed help, and there was nopony better placed to provide it than the woman’s pony counterpart. “Tempest…”

Tara took a slow, deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. The distress call had been answered promptly, a Vertibird arriving within an hour of it being activated and dropping off a full squad of Enclave soldiers. Once contact had been re-established with Raven Rock, and the perimeter of the Exodus building secured once more, another Vertibird had been sent out in order to ferry Tara, Becky, and Doctor Turner back to the Enclave’s main base of operations.

The second they arrived at Raven Rock, Tara and Doctor Turner had been summoned to the Senate Chamber for an immediate audience with the President. With little else to do, Becky had offered to check up on Doctors Evans and Pickering, and wait for her girlfriend down in the labs.

Now, standing outside the Senate Chamber, Tara could barely contain her fear. If the President had any idea of the truth behind the Rainbooms’ escape, then she and her fellow conspirators were as good as dead. The fact that the soldiers standing guard outside kept sneaking glances at her pony ears and purple hair certainly didn’t help matters.

“Enter,” a voice called from within the Chamber.

Trying to stop her hands from shaking, Tara pushed open the door and stepped inside, Doctor Turner right on her heels. No-one else was in the chamber whatsoever, save for the modified Eyebot that served as the President’s intermediary when dealing with official matters.

Tara couldn’t decide whether that was a good sign or not.

“My, my,” President Eden said as the two approached his eyebot. “I see you were not exaggerating the mutagenic qualities of the Rainbooms’ magic. Are you well?”

Tara nodded stiffly. “Er, I think so, Mister President.”

“Good! It’s a pleasure to see you again,” the President said brightly. “I will admit I was deeply concerned for your safety after contact was lost with the Exodus facility.”

“We’re glad to be back, Mister President,” Turner replied. “I assume you’ve heard the reports?”

The eyebot bobbed once, “I have indeed, doctor. However, I would like to hear everything directly from yourselves, if that’s quite alright?”

Between the two of them, Tara and Doctor Turner reported everything that had happened or been discussed since the Rainbooms had arrived at Project Exodus, excepting, of course, the fact that Tara and the others had helped the girls escape. The President listened patiently. He occasionally asked for clarification on a certain point, but on the whole he remained silent until the two had finished talking.

“Hmmm, it seems we greatly underestimated the Rainbooms and their abilities,” he said finally. “Has there been any change in Sigma Four’s condition?”

Tara shook her head. “As of this morning, he’s still in a coma.”

“I see. And what of the rest of you? Are these new physical changes of yours permanent?” the President asked.

“We’re not sure,” Tara replied, flicking her hair around to allow him a closer look. “Doctor Shoichet believes that we’ll return to normal once the magic has completely left our bodies, it’s just taking a long time because we were so close to the epicentre of the Rainbooms’ magical attack, and were inundated with vast quantities of raw magic.”

President Eden chuckled softly. “Forgive me. It is quite an odd experience hearing a hardcore atheist such as yourself speaking of matters such as magic with a straight face, doctor.” He cleared his throat before continuing, “What of Doctor Shoichet? Is it true that she has gained access to Sunset Shimmer’s memories?”

Tara shrugged noncommittally, “Well, sort of. Ever since she touched the Geode she’s been able to recall Sunset Shimmer’s memories, but she doesn’t have much control over what or when she can remember at the moment. We’ll look into a more effective method for retrieving the memories once Project Exodus is back on its feet.”

“Good.” The eyebot moved a few inches closer to Tara. “You say that you have large quantities of raw magic left over from the Rainbooms’ final magical attack, is that correct?”

“Yes, Mister President.” Tara grimaced at the realisation of where he was going with this. “If I may be blunt though, Mister President, attempting to move or experiment on it would be a terrible idea, at least until we can figure out a way to do so safely. It’s far, far, too dangerous.”

“Well, that is unfortunate.” The President sighed heavily. “Very well, thank you for your report, Doctor Strong. I’ll make arrangements for replacement security and the Senate has arranged to transfer more resources to Project Exodus. They should arrive at the Exodus facility within the week, God willing. You may leave, now.”

Tara sighed with relief, though she tried to keep it from showing too much on her face. “Thank you, Mister President.”

Doctor Turner and the President watched as the scientist turned and left the room, with a little more haste than was strictly necessary. “Do you believe her, Doctor Turner?” the President asked as soon as the door was closed.

Turner nodded. “I do. I know she may seem a little off, right now, but after everything that’s happened I honestly don’t blame her.” He shivered involuntarily, “Especially considering that haunted armour that’s been slithering around. Thankfully the soldiers you provided managed to chase it off towards Rivet City.”

The eyebot turned to face the doctor fully. “So, did you manage to procure what I asked for?”

Doctor Turner nodded. Not long after the first Vertibird had arrived he had made sure to secretly contact the President directly using its radio, making sure that the other Exodus personnel didn’t overhear him. Glancing at the door once more, he reached into his lab coat’s inside pocket and produced a large jar, full to the brim with brightly glowing magic.

“I must warn you, Mister President, Doctor Strong is right to be cautious,” he said quickly. “All it took was a truly miniscule amount of magic to cause absolute carnage in the Exodus facility. If the magic in this jar manages to get loose somehow, it could devastate this entire fortress.”

The eyebot hovered forwards until it was a mere foot away from Doctor Turner. When he spoke, the President’s voice was hushed, but firm, “I understand your concerns, Doctor, but I’m afraid we have little choice. The loss of Squad Sigma was a great blow to our military strength at a time when we can ill-afford such setbacks.”

Doctor Turner frowned, not quite following. “Surely, sir, we could simply train more soldiers to replace them?”

“We don’t have the time or the resources right now,” the President replied. “James’ son has been spotted entering the Lamplight Caverns. We believe he is attempting to retrieve a G.E.C.K. from Vault 87.”

“A G.E.C.K.?” Doctor Turner repeated eagerly. “My word, I wonder if that could be the last piece needed to get Project Purity working?”

“I believe so,” President Eden agreed. “I have dispatched Colonel Autumn to the Vault to apprehend the boy, and the Rainbooms too, if they dare to try and follow him. However, this still leaves us with a dearth of military might. I expect you to make up the shortfall.”

“Me?! But how?!” Doctor Turner asked incredulously.

The President chuckled darkly. “With that magic. As of this moment I am transferring you from Project Exodus to Experiment FH-1.”

“Experiment…” Doctor Turner’s heart leapt as he realised what the President was asking. “You mean…?”

The eyebot moved even closer, until it was barely an inch from Turner’s face. “We’ve tried everything we can to wake that thing up ever since we dragged its remains out of the wreckage of the Poseidon Oil Rig. That magic might be the key to getting it back in the field. I realise that exposing it to something as volatile as this magic will be dangerous, especially when combined with the FEV already in its system, but we are out of options. We need military power, and we need it now. I don’t care what it takes, Doctor Turner, but wake up Frank Horrigan.”

Author's Note

As a thank you for reaching 300 likes, have a chapter early!

Next time on Fallout Girls, discover who he has a crush on!

Chapter 50 - ShyWanderer

Little Lamplight’s Great Chamber was quiet at night, with no sound save for the gentle breathing of sleeping children and the occasional patter of condensation falling from the walls. The Great Chamber was aptly named; a vast cavern supported by thick pillars of rock that rose up out of the deep water that covered the floor of the cave. There were a few patches of dry rock that poked up out of the water, but they were few and far between. Instead, the cave was traversed by a series of wooden walkways and platforms suspended high above the water, many of them snaking around and attached to the support pillars. Bright lights were strung up along each walkway, providing plenty of light for navigating the complex paths.

At the far end of the Chamber, away from the sleeping areas, Fluttershy stood with her arms resting on the walkway railings, gazing down into the inky blackness below. Her friends were sleeping fitfully in an alcove around the edge of the cave. Any one of them would have undoubtedly been willing to talk if she had woken them but, for now, she was just happy to have a quiet moment to herself so she could try and organise her thoughts.

The last few days had been awful. For one brief shining moment things had been looking up, and then everything had fallen apart. Learning of James’ death had been the worst part. Losing someone who had started as an ally and ended up becoming a good friend was almost too much to bear.

Fluttershy hadn’t given up hope, though. The knowledge that Adam and the other scientists were alive helped, but it was the thought of her friends that was most responsible for her resolve. Jonas, Mary, and James. Three of her friends had died since the Rainbooms had first arrived in this world, she was not going to let anyone else get taken away, not as long as there was something she could do about it.

Still, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t mourn. Fluttershy had allowed herself time, on that first night after escaping from Exodus, to cry while the others slept. It wasn’t much, but it had helped to clear her head and enable her to focus on supporting the rest of the Rainbooms.

Since then, things had finally started to look up again. Fluttershy didn’t want to get her hopes up too much. After all, there was still a mountain of problems for the Rainbooms to face, starting with the prospect of a mutant-infested Vault in the morning, but she couldn’t help but feel that their luck was slowly improving. The fact that they had at last found Adam was certainly helping to raise her spirits.

Fluttershy sighed as she replayed their earlier conversations in her head one more time. After Rainbow’s little display with her shishkebab, and her subsequent assertion that she just had to come up with an awesome name for it, the conversation had turned to what they were going to do next.

Flutters had made a small attempt to nudge the conversation towards James, but Adam had made it very clear that he didn’t want to talk about it. She just hoped he wasn’t forcing himself to bottle up his emotions. Such things never ended well.

Eventually the group had decided it was best to try and get a good night’s sleep before they braved the Vault tomorrow. Mayor Macready had agreed to let them stay the night on condition that they didn’t cause any problems or try to ‘diddle the kids’. Rainbow’s retort was probably best forgotten. As was the verbal tirade from Rarity that followed.

The sudden sound of creaking boards snapped Flutters from her little reverie. Turning to see who else was up, she was surprised to see Adam rounding a nearby pillar. He blinked as he spotted her too, then smiled and gave her a small wave. “Oh, hey, Fluff.”

“Oh, um, hi,” Fluttershy replied, trying to ignore the sudden storm of butterflies that erupted when he used his little nickname for her.

Adam paused in his tracks. “Er, are you okay? I can leave if you want to be alone.”

“No! I mean, um…” Fluttershy blushed as she mentally chastised herself. “It’s okay, um, I wouldn’t mind a little company.”

Adam smiled and joined her at the railings, bending slightly to lean against them. Unfortunately, since he wasn’t looking at what he was doing, the poor fool chose to rest his arms on a spot that was particularly wet with condensation, causing them to slip out from under him and pitch him forward to smack painfully into the rail with his ribs.

Fluttershy winced in sympathy and reached out a steadying hand. “Are you alright?”

“Yep! I’m good. Totally good,” Adam said quickly as he straightened up, brushing the fresh damp spot on his battered jumpsuit. He planted his hands on his hips and shook his head, chuckling softly. “Man, how smooth was that, right?”

“So, so smooth,” Fluttershy replied with a giggle.

Adam huffed a laugh and frowned at the railing. “Right, let’s try this again.” With exaggerated care he leaned against the railings again, making sure to avoid any slick sections. Once he was settled he looked back to Flutters. “So… the last few weeks have been kinda weird.”

“Um, yeah.” Fluttershy nodded and looked out across the cave, not quite able to meet his eyes. “Things have been a little… um… strange.”

The two of them lapsed into an awkward silence. While they had been chasing after him, Fluttershy had imagined hundreds of different things she wanted to say to Adam, but now that he was actually here, she didn’t have a single thought in her head.

“I… er… I think I owe you an apology,” Adam said shortly.

Fluttershy glanced at him curiously. “What for?”

The railing creaked as Adam shifted uncomfortably. “For what I asked you. Y’know, back in the Vault.” A blank stare was the only reply. “Remember? After the… er… after that chat with Christine.”

The memory hit Fluttershy like a train. She twitched her hair in front of her face to hide the crimson glow now radiating from her face. “O-oh. Um, that, um… you… you’ve already, um, apologized for… for that.”

“Well, yeah,” Adam admitted, a matching blush spreading across his own face. “But, I mean, back then I didn’t really know what was going on, y’know? If I had known that you were trying to get back I never would have asked. Not that I wouldn’t- I mean that I don’t… ah, you know what I mean.” Fluttershy tried to reply, but the strangled squeak that she came out with was barely audible even to her own ears. “I guess what I’m saying is, I get why you said no,” Adam continued quietly.

“I-it's not that,” Fluttershy managed. “It… it would have been cruel to say, um, to say y-yes,” her face somehow managed to burn even more as she said it, “especially when we didn’t think we would be here this, um, this long.”

“Fair point.” Adam sighed. He smirked as he thought of something. “You know, you’re going to have to tell me the truth about your world some time. Especially about your magic.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Adam replied, before trying to stifle a yawn. “Not right now though. We should probably get some sleep ready for tomorrow. I was only going for a walk to try and clear my head a little.”

Fluttershy nodded again. “I’ll go back soon. I just want to clear my head a little more, too.”

“Groovy. Alright, I’ll see you in the morning, Fluff.” Giving her one last nod, Adam turned to walk away.

Before he rounded the pillar and passed from sight, Fluttershy called out to him softly, “Adam, um, well, um, I was thinking. When all of this is, um, when all of this is done and we’ve got Project Purity back… would…um… would you like to… talk?”

Adam glanced back over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows at her. “Uh, sure? What about?”

“Well, um… you see…” Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy swallowed her embarrassment, clasped her hands together and turned to face him fully, her heart thundering so loudly she was amazed it wasn’t echoing around the cavern. “M-maybe… maybe next time the answer won’t be no.”

Adam mouthed the word ‘no’ blankly, then blushed as his brain caught up and comprehension dawned. “I-I… uh, oh, uh...” He cleared his throat loudly and turned to face her, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “But what about, uh, what about when you go home?”

Fluttershy dipped her head, looking up at him from under her eyebrows. “Well, um, we’re probably going to be stuck here for a while still. Plus, um, well, m-maybe, if it's okay with you a-and the others, maybe you could come with us?”

Adam stared at her in stunned silence. For a couple of terrifying moments Flutters half-expected him to reject her, but her fears proved ill-founded as he spoke quietly, “Yeah. Yeah, I think I’d like that.” As Fluttershy struggled to keep a beaming grin off her face he raised an eyebrow and looked around in confusion. “Hey, what’s that sound?”

Fluttershy had noticed it too; a quiet and high-pitched squeal that seemed to be coming from nowhere. She’d recognise it anywhere. “I-it's probably just bats,” she said shakily.

Adam shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Anyway, I’m going to go and get some shut-eye. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you in the morning?” Fluttershy nodded. “Okay. Well, uh, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Fluttershy watched as he walked away. The moment he was out of earshot she turned and leaned against the railings, her heart pounding and her legs feeling like they were made out of jelly. Taking a deep breath, and resisting the near-overwhelming urge to bury her face in her hands, Fluttershy called out, “Y-you can come out now.”

Almost before she’d finished speaking there was a loud creak as someone else bounded up next to her, still squee-ing in a way that must have been driving any nearby dogs insane. “Tell. Me. Everything!” Rarity squealed.

Author's Note

And here it is!

Most of you guessed the ship, but those of you who didn't still have a chance to guess at the others that are going to appear in this fic, not to mention the ones that may change or sink over time...

Now, question time. I'm looking for a good name for Rainbow's magic Shishkebab. At the moment I'm thinking Chromatus (courtesy of Twilight) but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Next time, Vault 87...

Chapter 51 - Vault 87

Sunset folded her arms, eyeing the nondescript door before her dubiously. It hadn’t worked in years but, according to Macready, if they could get it working again, it would provide safe entry into Vault 87. Sunset was more than a little sceptical, but given that the only other way into the Vault was through a tunnel that the Little Lamplighters called Murder Pass, the Rainbooms had decided to give this way a shot.

“You’re sure this leads into the Vault?” Adam asked.

Macready shrugged. “Fuck if I know. You’ll have to get the fucking thing working first, either way.”

“That should be easy enough.” The group turned to see Twilight entering the room, with a teenage boy in tow. “Joseph here says the door isn’t actually broken. Its just that the last scouting team that used it several years ago logged out of the access terminal and forgot the password to get back in.”

Joseph nodded. “I turned the power to the door off when I took over as the teacher here. We couldn’t use it anyway, and it was just draining power. If you think you can hack in to the terminal, and the Mayor is okay with it, I’d be happy to turn the power back on.”

“Hey, if it gives us a way to get our scouts into the fucking Vault without have to go through Murder Pass, I’m fine with it,” Macready said flatly.

Given the go ahead, Joseph stepped over to the terminal and reached under to flip a switch. The computer quickly ran through its start-up routines before settling into a login screen. Seeing that it was working fine, Joseph stood aside to allow Twilight to take a look at it.

“So, do you think you can crack it?” Macready asked.

“I’m already in,” Twilight replied. “All I have to do is unlock the door and we’re in.” She glanced over her shoulder at Sunset. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Good work, Twi.” Sunset looked around at the others. “Are we all ready?”

The Rainbooms quickly voiced their assent, but Adam looked uncertain. “Are you sure we should all go in there?” he asked with a surreptitious glance at Fluttershy. “It’s going to be dangerous.”

“We’re all going,” Fluttershy said, quietly but firmly. “If anyone gets hurt in there, you’re going to need me.”

“Fluttershy’s right, but we need to be smart about this.” Sunset slid her rifle off her shoulder and checked to make sure it was loaded. “I was thinking about this yesterday, but I think we should split up into two teams. If there are eight of us tramping around in there we’re just going to get in each other's way.”

“Sounds fair. So, what’s the plan?” Applejack asked.

Sunset hummed as she thought. “I was thinking that you, Rarity and Twilight could go with Adam, while Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy come with me. That gives us a good mix of guns, offensive magic and medical skills on each team, just in case. We’ll split up into two teams once we’re inside and search the Vault for this G.E.C.K., as well as anything that looks like the SDT-1 that Tara showed us.”

“SDT-what?” Adam asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

“We’ll tell you later,” Sunset said quickly. “Is everyone okay with that plan?”

“Sounds good to me,” Applejack replied as the others nodded,

“We should try and be as stealthy as possible,” Adam suggested. “We don’t want to start a fight unless we absolutely have to.”

“Good idea.” Sunset looked over at Rainbow apologetically. “Sorry, Dash. That means no lighting up the shishkebab.”

Rainbow shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. I’ll only switch Flashburn on if I have to.”

Adam glanced warily at the sword hanging at her side, but let it go with a shake of his head. “Also, bear in mind I’m not exactly great at patching people up. I was an assistant, not a nurse.”

“Hopefully we won’t need any medical attention.” Sunset looked around at each of the others in turn. “Is there anything else before we go?” When no-one replied, Sunset took a deep breath and turned to face the door, readying her rifle. “Brace yourselves, girls, we don’t know what we’re going to meet on the other side of this door.”

The others prepared themselves, lowering their stances and readying the few weapons they had. Applejack and Rainbow stood at the front with Sunset, Applejack holding her rifle steady and Rainbow clasping Flashburn’s hilt tightly with both hands. Rarity and Pinkie were next, Rarity ready to create a shield at a moment’s notice while Pinkie held a sugar shaker loosely in one hand. Adam and Fluttershy brought up the rear, Adam keeping his plasma rifle safely pointed at the ground until it was needed.

“I’ll guard the door until you lot get back,” Macready offered. “Don’t get eaten in there.”

“We weren’t planning on it.” Sunset checked quickly to make sure everyone else was ready, then nodded to Twilight.

Twilight entered a command into the terminal, then stepped back and used her magic to press a switch next to the door. The group tensed as the door rose into the ceiling with a clatter of rusted gears. When nothing happened, Applejack edged forward slowly, with the others following close behind. The room beyond was dark, faltering lights in the ceiling revealing grime and rust-encrusted walls and a run-down, battered old generator. Thankfully, there weren’t any mutants to be seen.

“What do you think the chances are of the mutants checking this door?” Twilight asked quietly.

“Not high,” Applejack replied, casting a critical eye over the generator. “That there’s a sub-generator, and it ain’t exactly in great condition. Ah doubt anyone’s even come into this room in years.”

“Alright, everyone, let’s keep quiet from here on out,” Sunset whispered. “Applejack, you take the lead. We’ll split into teams whenever we find a fork in the path. Do not get lost.” She couldn’t quite tell in the dim light, but she was certain that Adam, in particular, blushed at that last part.

“The super mutants won’t know that we’ve got this door working again, so don’t lock it unless you have to,” he muttered to Macready. The girls couldn’t hear the mayor’s response, but Adam nodded at him. “We’ll be back soon.”

The sound of the door closing behind them sounded unbearably loud in the small room, but there were no answering shouts of surprise or curiosity from listening mutants, so the girls felt certain that their stealthy entry to the Vault had been successful. Hefting their weapons, Applejack and Rainbow headed to the only other door in the room, the others close on their heels.

The next room was full of large old-fashioned magnetic tape drives. Filthy glass windows on either side of the room looked out, oddly enough, on small rocky cavities that contained nothing of any apparent interest. The group did, however, find a safe in one corner, which Twilight unlocked using her magic before turning her attention to a nearby computer terminal.

The safe contained a pile of old pre-war dollar bills which were given to Pinkie, just in case they came in handy, and a small pistol. The pistol was a different model than the last one Sunset had used, but Sunset fished her old holster out of her pack anyway and, after a few quick adjustments from Rarity, the new weapon fit in easily enough.

“Anything useful?” Sunset asked Twilight in a whisper as she strapped her holster on under her jacket. Twilight just sighed softly and shook her head before switching the terminal off.

Pressing on, the group came to a series of short corridors. They came across a pair of doors along the way, but the first opened to reveal a blank rock-face and the second, up a short flight of stairs, led into a rocky tunnel that they assumed must lead to Murder Pass. Given the number of caves they’d seen and the fact that this Vault clearly wasn’t as heavily sealed as Vault 101, Sunset couldn’t help but wonder if this one hadn’t been entirely finished when the nuclear war broke out.

Continuing on, the group arrived at another room containing magnetic tape drives with windows to nothing in the walls. A small clutch of radroaches skittered around in one corner, but Rainbow stomped them into oblivion before they were even aware that they weren’t alone. When Applejack opened the very next door, however, the sound of harsh voices echoed down the corridor.

Everyone tensed and raised their weapons, but the voices didn’t come any closer. From what they could hear, it appeared that at least two super mutants were standing just around the next corner, idly talking with each other. Whether they were guarding this particular corridor or had simply stopped to chat was unknown. Either way, the group was going to have to get past them. As everyone tried to think of a way of getting past the mutants without raising the alarm, their thoughts were interrupted by an even more concerning sound; heavy footsteps, echoing up the corridor from the tunnel.

The group whipped around to see a super mutant clad in heavy metal plates amble into the room. Grumbling to itself, the mutant paused when it spotted the group, it’s eyes widening in surprise before a razor-edged gemstone split it’s skull from crown to chin. Killed instantly, the mutant toppled over like a statue and slammed to the ground with a deafening crash.

“Hn?! What was that!?” one of the mutants yelled from the corridor. With nowhere to hide, everyone scurried to the corners of the room, out of immediate sight of the corridor as the super mutants thudded closer. A moment later a trio of them lumbered into the room, their weapons out and ready. Their attention immediately went to the corpse lying incongruously on the floor. “Hey! What kille-”

The first super mutant died instantly, a gemstone spike piercing it’s skull like a javelin. The mutant had barely twitched before Rainbow was between them, two quick slashes with Flashburn opening red smiles in the throats of the other two as their guns were crushed beyond use in a purple aura. The two mutants dropped the useless remains of their weapons and clutched at their necks, trying vainly to stop the crimson flow that gushed forth. Another pair of gems put them out of their misery.

Several tense seconds passed as the group waited with bated breath. Once they were sure that no other mutants had heard the scuffle, they allowed themselves to relax somewhat.

“Why did you destroy the guns?” Adam asked quietly. “We could have used them.”

“Sorry, but I figured they might fire on reflex and I figured that gunshots would probably echo more in here,” Twilight whispered back.

Adam reluctantly accepted the point and stepped over to the corpses to strip them of any useful equipment and ammunition. Applejack quickly joined him, pocketing some extra ammo for her rifle. When they were done, the group debated hiding the bodies, but decided it wasn’t worth trying. There was nowhere small enough that they wouldn’t be found and there was nothing that could be done about the fairly obvious pools of blood in any case.

Leaving the corpses behind, the group made their way cautiously down the corridor, up several small flights of stairs and through a few more generator rooms. They did encounter another super mutant on the way carrying a heavy sledgehammer, but Rainbow and Rarity worked together again to subdue the beast, Twilight using her magic to gently lower it’s body to the ground noiselessly this time around.

Tramping up the last set of stairs, the group came to a halt on the threshold of a large room. Upon opening the door the stench that poured out was almost a physical force, threatening to drive the group to their knees and forcing many of them to forcibly suppress their retching. Blinking back tears from the foul reek, Sunset supposed that, once upon a time, the room had probably been almost identical to the atrium in Vault 101, but such was clearly not the case anymore.

Huge steel panels and girders were stacked around to make odd barricades of sorts. Bonfires blazing in metal drums combined with the few remaining functional electric lights to illuminate makeshift cages built from what looked like shopping carts. Worse than any of that were the bags of disembodied limbs and mutilated bodies that were tossed around haphazardly or strung from the ceiling, blood dripping or seeping from them to add to the general filth that already coated the floors. As if the nightmarish tableau before them wasn’t bad enough, the guttural speech coming from many different directions let the group know that there were several super mutants somewhere in the vicinity.

Taking a quick peek into the room, Sunset checked to make sure that no mutants were in direct sight, then turned back to the others and gestured back down the way they’d come. Backtracking down to one of the generator rooms, the group breathed a little easier once they were away from the appalling reek of the atrium, enough that they could hold a hushed conversation.

“Oh man, that was disgusting!” Rainbow croaked, holding her free arm over her nose and mouth. Rarity nodded in agreement, her cheeks tinged with green.

“This is even worse than Project Purity before I cleared it out,” Adam muttered. “And I get the feeling it's not gonna get any better the further in we go.”

“What do you think we should do, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

Adam sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. If it was just me, I’d try and sneak in anyway, probably try to pick off any lone mutants silently. If it came down to a fight, I’d try and confuse them, they’re not exactly bright, then take them out one at a time.”

“There’s nothing saying we can’t do that together,” Applejack put in.

“Yes, but there’s a lot more mutants than we expected,” Rarity hissed. “This is far too dangerous. We should go back to the Brotherhood of Steel and have them send troops in.”

“The Brotherhood can’t spare anyone, all of their troops are either on operations or preparing to take back Project Purity,” Adam countered.

“It’s up to us, then,” Applejack said firmly. “Ah know this is dangerous, but we need that G.E.C.K.” She looked around at the other Rainbooms meaningfully as she added, “”Remember what we discussed in Rivet City?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as the others nodded solemnly. “What did you discuss in Rivet City?”

Her friends shared an uncertain look. “Well, uh, when you were still, y’know, out cold, we got to talking about things,” Applejack replied slowly. “One of the things we agreed was that, if we were forced into a situation like with the raiders or the super mutants again, we’d… well… we wouldn’t hesitate. We’d do what needed to be done.”

Sunset frowned. The fact that her friends had had such a conversation, that there had been a need for such a conversation, cut her right to the core.

“Look, we need to make a decision,” Rainbow cut in. “Standing around talking like this is just going to get us killed, so what are we going to do? Are we going back, or are we going in?”

Her voice may have been full of confidence, but Sunset noticed that her hands were shaking, not that she could blame her. They were all terrified of what they were about to walk into. Still, Applejack was right. If they wanted to have any chance of getting home, then things like this needed to be done.

Swallowing the nagging fear that her next words might send one of her friends to their deaths, Sunset took a deep breath and willed her own hands to stop shaking. “We go in. Stay quiet and keep out of sight. We’ll split up in the atrium, but if we hear a fight break out, we’ll head back towards it to help each other out. If it’s too much, we’ll get out of here as fast as we can.”

The others nodded, accepting her judgement, and turned to head back up to the atrium. When they reached the door they paused, steeling themselves for what they were about to do, then crept out into the room. Splitting into their two teams, Adam took his group right towards a nearby corridor while Sunset led her team across the atrium to a corridor on the far side. They moved silently, keeping their eyes peeled for any super mutants. Voices could be heard coming from several adjacent corridors, and shadowy forms could be seen moving on the atrium’s mezzanine, but nothing spotted either group as they moved through the shadows.

Stopping outside their chosen corridor, Sunset looked back over her shoulder to see Adam, Twilight, Applejack and Rarity disappear into another one. She glanced at Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy, who all nodded to her, then turned and headed into the dark.

Twilight fought to keep herself from trembling uncontrollably as she followed the others into the corridor. They’d fought super mutants before, and won, but something felt different this time. Maybe it was just the dark and the reek of death that clung to everything, but somehow every shadow felt more menacing and deadly than before.

The fact that her mind burned with questions served as something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the mystery of trying to figure out how the super mutants got into a Vault in the first place would have been a welcome distraction for Twilight, but on the other, she could hardly afford such a distraction in a situation when a momentary lapse of focus could prove fatal.

Making their way up some stairs, the team came to a corridor that connected to the atrium mezzanine. Of the first doors they came to, one was a toilet, and the other was locked tight. Figuring that a locked door might be hiding something useful, Twilight used her magic to pick the lock. To the team’s dismay, all they found through the door was a small room that led to the other side of the atrium without having to go over the mezzanine.

They were about to ignore this route and continue on their way when they heard a group of mutants coming down the corridor behind them. Their decision made for them, the group hurried through the door and closed it behind them. Shortly afterward they heard the mutants wandering past on some errand or other.

More than happy to put off any fighting for as long as possible, Twilight was relieved when Adam led them across the room instead of trying to go back through the door. In the corridor on the other side, the group faced a dilemma. To the left was a set of stairs leading back down, while to the right the corridor extended away into the shadows with several doors leading to the atrium’s mezzanine on one side. The low conversations of mutants came from both directions.

Adam paused, looking both ways as he pondered. Coming to a decision, he turned to the right and stepped up to the nearest door to the atrium, took a careful peek through the doorway, then looked back at the girls and held up three fingers. Three mutants.

Applejack hefted her rifle and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Adam shook his head and mouthed ‘they’ll see’.

‘What do we do?’ Rarity mouthed back.

They didn’t catch his response at first, but at their uncomprehending looks he repeated ‘distraction?’.

The other two glanced at each other and shrugged, but Twilight nodded and gestured for Adam to swap places with her. Adam glanced back over his shoulder, then reluctantly shifted so she could get to the door. As they brushed past each other he stopped her and brought his lips right to her ear, whispering almost inaudibly, “Careful. They’re right by the door.”

Twilight nodded and, her heart pounding harder than ever before, inched towards the door frame. Adam hadn’t been lying. One of the mutants was leaning against the wall right beside the door with the other two standing next to it, so close Twilight could have easily reached out and poked them if she wanted.

Thinking fast, she looked up at one of the bags of gore dangling from the ceiling by a cable and clasped her fingers, focusing on her magic. A purple aura appeared around the fixture in the ceiling and, before any of the mutants could notice, she gave it a strong yank. The cable came free with a loud tung and the bag dropped, barely missing the railings as it fell past the mezzanine and landed on the bottom floor with a wet splat.

The mutants all looked up at the sound and rushed over to the railings to see what had happened. Mere seconds later the three of them twitched one-by-one as each of them had their skulls pierced by vicious crystal spikes. Twilight caught them as they fell and lowered their corpses soundlessly to the mezzanine floor.

A quick look around showed no more mutants on the mezzanine, and there were no cries of alarm that indicated that they’d been seen. Twilight was leery of leaving the bodies where they were; in case more mutants discovered them, but a swift search of the corridor revealed a cramped storeroom that Adam and Applejack ransacked before stuffing the bodies inside. For good measure, Twilight used her magic to lock the door then mangle the mechanism to make sure no-one would be able to get in. There was little they could do about the blood stains, but they suspected that the mutants probably wouldn’t notice given the amount of filth already covering the floor.

Once that was dealt with, the four had a whispered debate as to which way they should go next. Applejack suggested heading left and going down the stairs they had ignored earlier to see if they could pick off some more mutants, but trying to sneak down stairs would almost certainly mean that the mutants would spot them before they spotted the mutants. Besides, Sunset and her team were probably somewhere in the corridors beneath their feet, so maybe they would deal with the mutants downstairs themselves.

With few other options available, the group continued going right, eventually coming to a set of stairs that led up to a higher floor in the Vault. Taking the stairs, they made their way cautiously through a series of winding corridors, avoiding most of the mutants they came across and taking out those that they could subdue silently until they came to an office of sorts. Another super mutant lurked inside, one of the winged horrors that they had faced outside Exodus.

This super mutant was different to the others. It was more lithe and less overly-muscled than the other mutants, and its fleshy wings had taken on something of a bat-like quality. Even more surprising, the mutant seemed to realise that something was off and it whirled around just as Rarity flung a gemstone, though it made little difference as the spike simply speared through its eye instead of the back of it’s skull. Twilight barely managed to catch it in her magic and set it down gently as it fell.

“Phew. Ah gotta admit, that sure puckered up my butt-hole,” Applejack breathed quietly.

Adam gave her a concerned look, then shook his head and nodded to a terminal in the corner of the office. “Hey, Twilight, I’ll watch the door, you check that terminal and see if you can find anything out about the G.E.C.K and whatever it is you’re looking for.”

Twilight nodded and hurried over to the terminal, eyeing up the dead mutant as she passed. As she got a closer look, she realised that the mutant’s ears tapered to a point, it’s canines were now very elongated and exceptionally sharp-looking, and it’s eyes seemed to reflect the light just like those of a cat, all of which combined to lend it a distinctly eerie aspect.

Shaking off the feeling, Twilight turned her attention to the terminal. Password-protected, typical. She wondered for a moment whether the super mutants were smart enough to create a computer password, then dismissed the thought as ridiculous, surmising that it had probably been left by the terminal’s original owner. Either way, bypassing it was the work of mere seconds. As soon as she was in, Twilight set herself to skimming through the many logs and records stored within.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked quietly.

Twilight looked back to see her and Rarity standing over the mutant. Even in the dim light, it was easy to see that Rarity wasn’t feeling her best. Sweat beaded her forehead and her hands trembled as she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I… I know they’re monsters, but… they’re still living creatures. Slaughtering them like this just…”

“I can take over, if you want,” Twilight suggested. “I mean, I should be able to subdue them just as quietly with my magic as you can.”

Rarity shook her head again. “No. I can do this.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then gagged slightly as she got a concentrated dose of Vault 87’s putrid stench. Blowing out through her nose in a vain attempt to try to clear it, she pointedly turned away from the mutant and looked over at Twilight. “Have you found anything on the computer?”

Twilight turned back to the terminal with a frown. “Maybe. According to this, there's some sort of experimental lab somewhere in the Vault. If there’s a G.E.C.K here, or anything else of value, I’d guess that it’s probably in there.”

Applejack nodded. “Sounds like a fair bet to me.” She glanced at Rarity worriedly, but the fashionista gave her a determined nod. “Alright, let’s get moving.”

Twilight gave the terminal one last anxious look as she followed the others back into the corridors. The records kept within were deeply suspicious at best. According to the terminal, after the Vault was sealed there had been dozens upon dozens of deaths among the Vault population before the entries stopped abruptly barely a few years later. Almost all of them had been marked as undefined or unexplained, and almost all of them were related to the experimental section.

Of course, those deaths had been so long ago that the reason behind them couldn’t possibly be relevant after so many years. Something told Twilight, though, that she and the others were about to find out exactly what kind of terrible secret lurked in Vault 87’s history.

Author's Note

And here's the first of the Vault 87 chapters, how long can they keep up their stealthy approach?

For those of you who remember the game, you know who's turning up next chapter!

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 52 - Penny For The Guy?

Splitting up had not been the best of ideas, Sunset quickly decided. Her team were encountering increasing numbers of Super Mutants. Several times the girls were forced to hide behind whatever cover they could find as a group of them stomped down the corridors, cowering in silent terror until they could find a chance to sneak past.

Rainbow Dash did what she could to make things easier, taking out lone mutants when she could, but the wretched things were incredibly tough. Slashing their throats still gave them plenty of time to thrash around loudly, and the first time she tried to actually stab one in the skull Flashburn got stuck, forcing the whole team to work together to yank it out and hide the corpse before any other Super Mutants turned up. Beheading them wasn’t much of an option either, much to Rainbow’s chagrin. Athlete though she was, she just didn’t have the strength necessary to lop a super mutant’s head off in one clean sweep.

Fortunately, the foot traffic slowly eased off the further they progressed into the Vault, heading upstairs whenever they could to try and get away from the main thoroughfare they had unwittingly stumbled upon. The few mutants they did come across were apparently being sent on errands or missions, with the big mutants bossing around the smaller ones and getting bossed around in turn by even bigger mutants.

From what the girls could piece together from the scraps of broken conversation they overheard, several scouting parties were being sent out into the wastes, which somewhat explained the high volume of Super Mutants heading to the lower areas. Any relief they may have felt about the fact that most of the mutants were leaving was quashed when they discovered that the scouts were being ordered to hunt down more of the ‘colorful glowy stuff’ that had been seen flying over the wasteland.

The fact that the Super Mutants were trying to collect magic chilled the girls to the bone. The possessed protectron and the souped-up lasers the girls had faced at Project Exodus had been bad enough. If the mutants managed to get themselves an arsenal of magically enhanced weaponry, then the fate of the entire Capital Wasteland was at risk. The wastelanders would have to be warned. Still, as tempting as it was to turn tail and get the word out immediately, the girls had a job to do.

Creeping down a deserted corridor, the four stopped outside a grimy door. The sign painted on it was faded and several of the letters had been scraped away over the years, but the words ‘Authorized Entry Only’ could still be made out under the fade of time and rust. A restricted area. Exactly the kind of place that rare or valuable technology would most likely be found. Unfortunately, a test of the door controls revealed that it was locked tight.

Sunset silently cursed herself for not taking up lockpicking after that time Juniper Montage locked Rainbow in a storage closet. Thinking fast, she looked around quickly to make sure that they were still alone then gestured for Pinkie to come closer and whispered in her ear, “Do you think you can use your sugar magic to break that lock?”

Rainbow gaped at her as if she were mad. “Uh, I thought we were supposed to avoid being heard?”

“It doesn’t have to be a big blast,” Sunset said quickly. “Use a tiny amount of sugar. Just enough to break the mechanism.”

Pinkie looked from Sunset to the lock, chewing her lip nervously. “Uh… I can try?”

“Good girl.” Sunset patted her on the back then indicated a door a short way down the corridor. “As soon as you’ve set the sugar to blow, we’ll all hide in that bathroom until we know that nothing’s coming, okay?”

“Okay.” Pinkie nervously eyed up the keyhole as the others backed away a few steps. Just as she took a deep breath and knelt down in front of it there was a loud click, and the door slid smoothly up into the ceiling to reveal a towering super mutant standing over her.

The two regarded each other in shock for a heartbeat. Pinkie recovered first, leaping back with a yelp. The mutant snarled and opened its mouth to roar, but the sound became little more than a wet gurgle as there was a sudden blur and Flashburn was buried point-first in its throat. Rainbow leaped out of the way as the mutant instinctively lashed out with a fist then dove back in, slashing with her blade.

The mutant reacted with surprising aggression, ignoring the grievous wounds it received and driving forward with its fists. Rainbow dodged the attack easily and opened up a nasty gash across its arms as she slipped out of the way. The mutant tried to lunge after her, but ended up simply collapsing to its knees as blood loss took its toll. Bringing a hand up to its throat, the mutant slowly looked around at each of the girls, defiance burning in its eyes.

In one last act of malice, the monster stuck its middle finger up at Rainbow and yanked something off its belt with its free hand. Terror gripped Sunset as the mutant ripped the pin out of the grenade. Rainbow darted forward and hacked at the mutant’s hand, then kicked the falling grenade back through the open door and disappeared in a blur as the others dove aside.

Amplified by the cramped confines, the explosion that followed was deafening. Clumps of rust and dust were knocked loose from the ceiling as the echoes reverberated through the corridors.
Glancing back at her friends, Sunset was relieved to see that none of them were injured, but they had to move quickly or that could easily change. Even through the ringing in her ears, she could hear guttural shouts and cries of alarm coming from the corridor beyond the door. Another multi-hued blur made her flinch reflexively.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Rainbow said flatly as she helped Sunset to her feet. “We need to get moving. Which way should we go?”

Sunset’s reply was cut off as another super mutant thundered through the door, an assault rifle clasped in its meaty paws. She raised her own rifle and snapped off a shot almost instinctively. The mutant howled and staggered as the bullet tore through its cheek, bringing a hand up to its face. The sight triggered a memory in Sunset; an image flashing across her mind of a raider standing atop a rocky outcrop, twitching and falling as a series of bullets tore through him.

The memory paralyzed her. Even as the mutant snarled and glared at her with hate-filled eyes, Sunset could only stand and watch in frozen horror. It wasn’t until the beast raised its weapon that she snapped back to reality. Time seemed to slow as she cycled the bolt on her rifle, ejecting the spent cartridge and chambering a new one, but she knew she wouldn’t make it in time. At the last second, a handful of glowing pink powder puffed against the back of the mutant’s head.

The sugar detonated with a loud pop, splattering blood and brain matter all over the walls. The sudden destruction of the mutant’s brain sent a violent spasm through its entire body. Its hands clenched as it fell, a wild spray of bullets coughing from its assault rifle and ricocheting dangerously off the walls and ceiling. Sunset flinched at both the noise and the sudden searing heat she felt across her right bicep as one of them grazed her.

The echoes of the fight died down quickly, but the distinctive sound of more mutants coming to investigate the disturbance told the girls that they weren’t safe yet. Sunset looked over at Pinkie and Fluttershy, both fearful and horrified, then at Rainbow, determined but worried, and knew that she needed to get her head back in the game. “Everyone, through that door and see if you can find somewhere to hide, quickly!” she snapped, pointing at the restricted area.

The others quickly did as they were told, with Rainbow going in first. Sunset paused just long enough to sling her rifle across her back and snatch up the fallen mutant’s assault rifle before darting in after them.

Rushing through a short corridor, the group emerged in a huge room, far wider and taller than any they’d ever seen in Vault 101. Half a dozen immense vats lined either side of the room, each of them spaced at even intervals from each other. Thick pipes rose out of each vat, snaking between a grid of catwalks that surrounded them before disappearing into the ceiling.

A trio of Super Mutants were gathered around the far end of the room, with more up on the catwalks, all carrying a variety of different weapons between them. The largest, a nine foot tall monster wearing thick armour with a set of flight goggles and bearing a heavier model of assault rifle, pointed at the group and roared, “Get them away from green stuff!”

The girls separated, Pinkie and Rainbow diving behind one vat and Sunset and Flutters diving behind another as the mutants opened fire. Bullets spanked off the metal sides of the vats as the mutants advanced.

“Now what?!” Rainbow yelled over the din.

Sunset tried to peek out, then ducked back as a bullet ricocheted past her face. “Whoa!” Remembering what Adam said about fighting Super Mutants, she called over to the other two, “We need to confuse them! Everybody, pony up! Rainbow, light up Flashburn!”

Rainbow nodded and held her shishkebab in front of her, grinning like a maniac. A moment later, raging blue flames exploded into life around the blade once more, lighting up the entire room in a burst of incandescent fury. Four smaller flashes followed as each of the girls ponied up in turn.

Rainbow whooped and flexed her wings before zooming straight up and dashing away over the tops of the vats, leaving a burning after image in her wake. Trying to ignore the bellows of rage and the sounds of battle that ripped through the air, Sunset hefted her stolen assault rifle and shouted to Pinkie, “Do what you can to help Rainbow! Cause as much mayhem as you can!”

“Roger!” Pinkie snapped a crisp salute, tucked her sugar shaker into a pocket and crammed her hands into her hair, pulling out a bottle of Nuka-Cola and a bottle opener. She popped the lid off the cola, stuck her thumb over the opening and gave it a good shake before stepping out from behind the vat and hurling it at one of the mutants on the catwalk. “Order up!”

“What should I do?” Fluttershy asked, wincing at the blast from Pinkie’s magic.

“Just stay behind me and don’t get shot!” Sunset replied.

Fluttershy nodded nervously. “O-okay.”

Gritting her teeth, Sunset leaned out from behind the vat and raised her weapon, looking for targets. The biggest mutant was down already, smouldering gashes marred its neck and chest. The other two were standing back to back, waving their weapons around and desperately trying to track Rainbow as she careened around the room at top speed. Both of them jumped as a burning mutant toppled off the catwalks and crashed to the ground beside them.

Sunset seized the opportunity, swallowing her revulsion and opening fire on the pair. The rifle bucked madly in her arms, utterly ruining her aim, but all of the bullets went in the right general direction and she actually managed to score a few hits. One of the mutants crumpled as tiny red craters opened up in its torso. The second yelled in pain and turned to face its attacker, then staggered and fell as a shining streak flashed in front of it and spilled its guts onto the floor before slashing open its throat.

Rainbow skidded to a stop next to Sunset and wiped her brow with her free arm, her breath coming in ragged gasps. “Man, this is rough. On the plus side, it looks like Flashburn actually cuts better when its lit.”

“Good to know,” Sunset muttered, looking around for more targets while avoiding looking at the gory mess left of that last mutant. She looked up as another explosion tore through the air, just in time to see a super mutant corpse drop from the catwalk with its entire right side missing.

“I think that’s the last of them.” There was a multi-hued blur as Rainbow checked the room before stopping back by Sunset less than two seconds later. “Yeah, we’re good. There’s a terminal up on the catwalk over there, though,” she pointed to a ladder between two of the vats, “you might want to check it out.”

“Good idea.” Sunset nodded and glanced over at Pinkie, who was grimacing at the collection of entrails now littering the floor. “Are you okay, Pinkie?”

Pinkie gave a weak nod and a thumbs up. “I’m good. Just… one sec…” With an awful retch, her whole body shifted as she bent over and vomited loudly. Fluttershy immediately hurried over to rub her back and hold her hair out of the way.

Seeing her friend empty her guts, combined with the nightmarish scene before her and the vile stench that was assaulting her nostrils, was enough to make Sunset’s stomach rebel too. She clamped a hand over her mouth, fighting her own rising gorge as she made her way over to the ladder. Unfortunately, Sunset was so busy trying not to vomit that she wasn’t paying enough attention to where she was stepping until her foot skidded on something. She looked down without thinking and, upon spotting that she had slipped on some variety of mutant internal organ, staggered away and braced herself against a vat as she lost her lunch too.

Rainbow groaned and turned away. “Oh man, I don’t think I can take much more of this. I’m gonna watch the door, to make sure no more mutants come in here.”

Sunset nodded jerkily. “Okay… be careful.” Giving her mouth a wipe with the back of her hand, she straightened up and made a second attempt at getting to the ladder, this time being very careful as to where she put her feet. As she reached the base of the ladder, she was surprised to see Fluttershy walk up next to her. “Flutters? Is Pinkie okay?”

The young nurse nodded slowly. “She’ll be okay, she’s gone to watch the door with Rainbow. I figured you probably wouldn’t want to be left alone in here.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said gratefully. She looked up at the ladder, then glanced down at her assault rifle. “Uh, do you mind carrying this up for me? I’m kinda going to need my hands.”

“Oh, um... of course.” Fluttershy cautiously accepted the weapon after Sunset had made sure the safety was on, then slowly flew up alongside her as she climbed the ladder.

When they reached the top, Sunset grunted and rolled her neck as she straightened up before accepting her assault rifle back. She spotted the terminal Dash had mentioned at the end of the catwalk, a dead super mutant lying next to it with a blackened slash wound stretching from its collarbone to its hip. Sunset shook her head and tried to put the death and destruction out of her mind. “Well, at least that was easier than I expected... I guess,” she said, trying to look on the bright side. “I’m not sure why I even bothered ponying up.”

“It was probably a good idea,” Fluttershy replied quietly, glancing in each of the vats as they passed. Most were empty, but the one nearest the terminal was full of some vile-looking lime-green goo. “Um, what do you think that stuff is?”

Sunset shrugged, grimacing as she stepped gingerly around the dead mutant. “No idea.” She perked up slightly when she saw that the terminal was on and, thankfully, not password-protected. Even better, as she skimmed through the files it contained, she discovered an inventory for all non-standard equipment issued to the vault. The G.E.C.K. was mentioned, along with a whole bunch of machinery related to something called the ‘EEP section’, but Sunset couldn’t find anything that sounded like the SDT-1 that the Exodus team had shown her.

“Does it say what that green stuff is?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset shook her head. “No, it just says that most of the vats are empty and need refilling. It looks like this Vault doesn’t have anything like the SDT-1 either, so I think we should just find the G.E.C.K. and meet up with the others, then get the heck out of here as fast as we can.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, then clamped it shut when something moaned loudly at her feet. The two looked down, then yelped and jumped aside as the mutant they’d considered dead shakily raised its hunting rifle in one hand and fired off a shot, the bullet tearing a hole in one of the pipes above and releasing a spurt of green muck that caught Fluttershy in the face. Sunset’s response was immediate and deadly as she emptied the rest of her clip into the mutant.

“What was that?!” The two girls cried out in fright as Rainbow suddenly appeared next to them, her sword held out aggressively.

“This one wasn’t dead!” Sunset snapped, her shock turning to anger in less than a heartbeat.

Rainbow looked down at the now very much deceased mutant. “Oh, my bad,” she said contritely. “Uh... I’ll go check the others.”

Sunset growled as the athlete disappeared in a flash, but reined her anger as she glanced at Fluttershy. “Are you okay?”

Fluttershy nodded, wiping her face with a towel from her nursing kit. “I-I think so. Whatever this is, it doesn’t appear to be corrosive. I just hope it’s not toxic or poisonous.”

“We’ll get you straight to a doctor the moment we’re out of here,” Sunset promised. “Come on, let’s find the others and get out of here before anything else goes wrong.”

Twilight stared in mute horror at the grisly scene before her.

After leaving the record room the team had set out to find the Vault’s experimental section, a task that turned out to be far easier than anticipated as they had stumbled across it barely a hundred yards away. Upon entering the experimental section, the group found a long corridor lined with small rooms, each with a viewing window and a terminal outside the door identifying them as FEV Test Chambers.

Curious as to what FEV was, Twilight had blithely peeked through the closest window, then frozen as she spotted the nightmare inside.

“What is that thing?” Applejack asked in a horrified undertone. Twilight just shook her head, not trusting her voice right at that moment.

Lying on a slab in the centre of the room was a dead creature. It looked superficially like a super mutant, but one of its legs was severely underdeveloped and it had a grotesque growth of twisted muscle and bone bulging out of its chest. It was possible, Twilight supposed, that it was simply an ordinary super mutant that had suffered from some form of horrific disease, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the poor thing had been made that way somehow. That, above all else, led her to some very dark conclusions about the nature of Vault 87.

“Whatever it is, it can’t hurt us,” Adam said reasonably. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Eager to get away from the horrid scene, the girls quickly assented. Thankfully, most of the other testing chambers they passed were empty, and the corridors themselves seemed deserted save for another of the bizarre four-legged creatures with hands in place of feet. Killing the horrid creature felt almost like an act of mercy.

Turning a corner after dealing with the mutant, the group came across a clinic. In the dim light it almost seemed to be cleaner than the rest of the Vault; though, admittedly, that wasn’t really saying much. Adam immediately set to searching for any medical supplies he could salvage while Twilight went to a terminal in the corner of the room. The username indicated that it originally belonged to the Vault’s chief physician.

Time lost all meaning as Twilight delved into the physician’s records, reading with an ever-increasing sense of horror and disgust as each new entry and file was somehow worse than the last, a catalogue of scientific endeavours pursued with no regard whatsoever for even the most rudimentary morality.

Completely lost in her reading, Twilight flinched when she a gentle hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

“Uh, are you okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked softly.

Twilight blinked and lifted a hand to her cheek, noticing for the first time that it was wet with tears. She hadn’t even realised that she’d been crying.

“Darling? What’s wrong?” Rarity pressed.

“Yeah, what’s up, Sparkle?” Adam put in.

Twilight shook her head and wiped away the tears. “It was an experiment. It was all a huge, twisted experiment.”

The others shared a confused look. “What was?” Applejack asked.

“This Vault, the Super Mutants, all of it,” Twilight replied as she slumped onto a filthy chair. “It was all an experiment to try and create super-soldiers.”

“Super-soldiers?” Applejack repeated.

Twilight nodded, staring at the floor. “They used something called the Forced Evolutionary Virus, the FEV, on the Vault inhabitants. It mutated them, making them bigger, stronger and tougher, but also reducing their intelligence and making them prone to bouts of uncontrollable rage and anxiety.”

A long silence greeted her explanation. Rarity was the first to break it, her eyes wide with horror, “You… you mean the mutants… the ones I’ve been slaughtering…”

“It ain’t your fault!” Applejack cut in quickly. “They ain’t human anymore-”

“But they were!” Rarity cried, lifting her hands to her head as her breaths came faster and sharper. “They were all people once! Victims! And I’ve been butchering them like cattle!”

Applejack rushed over to her and took Rarity’s face in her hands as she started to hyperventilate. “Rarity, listen to me,” she said firmly, “It is not your fault, you hear? Maybe they were human once, but they ain’t anymore; all they are now are monsters. All we can do now is put them out of their misery.”

“It’s not right-” Rarity began.

“None of this is right,” Applejack interrupted. “This whole darn world is rotten to the core.” She sighed and gently rested her forehead against Rarity’s. “Look, I know this is messed up, Ah mean even more messed up than the cracks Rainbow makes about me and my brother, but it’s gotta be done. These Super Mutants may have been human once, and you can be sure as sugar that none of them asked for this to happen, but what’s done is done. Unless there’s a cure or something we can find,” she added with a glance at Twilight.

“The records don’t mention one,” Twilight replied. “As far as I can tell, the scientists who made the virus didn’t even consider making one.”

“Well, that’s that, then.” Applejack sighed again as she looked Rarity in the eye. “Don’t worry. Me and Adam can handle the Super Mutants, you just focus on using your magic to keep us safe, alright?”

Rarity nodded jerkily. “O-okay.”

“Atta girl.”

Adam rubbed his neck awkwardly and turned to Twilight. “So… did it say anything about where the G.E.C.K. is?”

“No,” Twilight replied, “but it does mention some maintenance work being done in the G.E.C.K. chamber, and something about having to bring the head of maintenance in on the Vault’s secret experiments, so I suppose it would make sense for it to be somewhere in this sector.”

“Good enough for me.” Applejack stepped back and placed her hands on Rarity’s shoulders. “Are you going to be okay?”

Rarity let out a weary sigh. “It’s not like I really have an option at the moment, do I?” She gave herself a shake and smiled wanly at Applejack. “I’ll be alright, dear... just… I’m going to need some serious therapy when we finally get back home,” she said quietly.

Applejack huffed a laugh, “Yeah, you and me both, sugarcube. Come on, let’s go find that G.E.C.K.”

Leaving the clinic behind, the four headed back out into the corridors, each person even more subdued than they had been when they entered. Twilight privately thought that Rarity had made something of an understatement. Forget therapy, at this rate I think we’re all going to end up institutionalised.

As the group continued on its way, the four of them deliberately avoided looking in any more of the testing chambers they passed, to spare themselves the sight of more twisted attempts at making more mutants. It was for this reason that, when they reached an intersection, none of them noticed that one of the chambers was very much occupied until an intercom crackled into life, startling all of them. “You… over there. Please, come speak to me.” They turned in the direction of the gravelly voice just as it said, “I’m in the room to your left.”

A super mutant clad in the tattered remains of a Vault jumpsuit stood in one of the testing chambers, peering out of the window at the group. They approached it cautiously, but it made no attempt to attack or raise the alarm; instead, it simply stared at them with wide eyes. “I… it can’t be!” it said in a rough, halting voice. “Either you are all quite real, or I am going quite mad. Are all of you human?”

The four shared a baffled look, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Even given what they now knew about the Super Mutants’ origins, they still hadn’t expected to meet one that was actually friendly.

“Yeah, we’re all human,” Adam replied warily. Seeing the mutant looking at the girls, he added, “It’s a long story, but yeah, they’re human too. Uh… who’re you? Do you remember your name?”

The mutant cocked its head. “You… you care about who I am?”

Applejack tilted her hat back as she regarded the mutant. “Well… Ah mean… you ain’t trying to kill us or get us killed so, uh… sure, why not?”

“I see.” The mutant gave her a slow nod. “Forgive me, I am not used to such pleasantries. Most of the time all I hear from the others are grunts and insults.” It looked back to Adam. “To answer your question, my name is Fawkes.”

“What are you doing in there, Fawkes?” Adam asked.

Fawkes sighed heavily. “As you may have noticed, I am not as aggressive as my fellow Meta Humans. I don’t know how or why, but when I was born of the FEV chambers, I somehow retained my intellect, if not my memories. The others saw me as a freak and a curiosity. When I tried to reason with them, they locked me in here as a punishment.”

To the surprise of the others, Rarity stepped up to the window and pressed a hand against it, staring at Fawkes with incredible intensity. “Do… do you remember anything about your life before you became this? From when you were a human?” she asked breathlessly.

Fawkes shook his head. “I do not. The FEV strips our minds entirely, leaving nothing behind but emptiness. The only reason I am able to converse with you with what little eloquence I possess is because this room contains a terminal that is connected to the Vault’s mainframe. I taught myself everything I now know from there.”

“So the others… they don’t remember anything either?” Rarity pressed.

“Not that I know of,” Fawkes replied. “Where I sought to replace the void in my mind with reason and learning, theirs are filled only with rage and cruelty.”

As fascinated as she was with what Fawkes was saying, one thing in particular stood out in Twilight’s mind, but it was Adam, clearly thinking along the same lines, who asked about it first, “You say that terminal is connected to the mainframe?”

Fawkes nodded. “It is. Let me guess, you’re looking for the G.E.C.K.?”

“How’d you know that?” Applejack asked.

“It is the only sane reason a small group such as yourselves would dare enter a place such as this,” Fawkes replied simply.

“Do you know where the G.E.C.K. is?” Adam asked eagerly.

Fawkes nodded again. “Even better, I can retrieve it for you.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Twilight, let him out!” Rarity cried.

Twilight nodded hurried to the terminal by the door. She frowned as she booted it up. “You’ll have to give me a minute, this one’s got some pretty heavy encryption.”

Fawkes watched her work, his eyes widening in apparent surprise. “You’re serious? You’re going to help me escape?”

“Unless you’d rather stay,” Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.

Fawkes shook his head vigorously. “No! I am merely surprised that you would be so willing. I imagine my fellow Meta Humans have given you little reason to trust one such as I.”

Applejack slung her rifle over her shoulder and stepped over to the door, frowning and folding her arms. She gave Fawkes a sidelong glance as she said, “If we let you out of here, you promise you won’t try to attack us?”

“You have my word,” Fawkes replied. “I swear it on my life.”

Applejack nodded and unfolded her arms before rolling her shoulders. “Alright then, stay back from the door.”

Fawkes looked at her curiously, “Why? What are you goi-”

There was a colossal boom as Applejack threw a punch, launching the door across the testing chamber to slam into the far wall. “Alright, you’re free. Now let’s go get that G.E.C.K.”

Fawkes looked from her to the fallen door in blank astonishment. “It seems that I have gone very mad indeed!” He reached down and picked up a massive sledgehammer from beside the doorway, hefting it in both hands. “I would very much like to hear your tale sometime, but for now, follow me. And thank you.”

Author's Note

Fawkes is here!

Pleasant things occuring in this chapter...

Comments and criticisms are appreciated, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 53 - Found and Lost

“We should get moving, something is bound to have heard that,” Adam said quickly.

“Do not worry, I will be more than happy to assist you against any of my kin that attempt to impede us,” Fawkes replied.

“Sounds like you’re about to get your chance,” Applejack growled as the sound of heavy footfalls echoed down the corridor.

Fawkes just nodded and stomped towards the corner the noise was coming from. Just before he reached it, a pair of Super Mutants thundered around the corner, almost blundering into him. They barely had time to register that Fawkes wasn’t just another one of them before he caved in the first one’s skull, then decapitated the second one with his backswing.

“Whoa.” Applejack tilted her hat back and looked up at Fawkes in surprise. “You really do hate those fella’s. Ah’m sorry Ah ever doubted you.”

“I do not blame you for being suspicious, I am just grateful that you gave me the benefit of the doubt.” Fawkes nudged the corpses aside with his boot and gestured for the others to follow. “Come, the G.E.C.K. is this way.”

The rest of the group were content to walk along in his wake as he lumbered through the corridors, keeping an eye out to make sure nothing attacked them from behind.

“So, uh... if we’re going to work together, you should probably know our names,” Adam said brightly. “I’m Adam, and these are Applejack, Rarity and Twilight.”

“Howdy.”

“Hello, darling.”

“Hi.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Fawkes glanced over his shoulder and nodded to them once before turning his attention back to the path ahead. “If you don't mind my asking, are you also a form of Meta Human?”

“Not exactly,” Twilight replied. “As Adam said, it’s kinda a long story. I suppose the short version would be that we’re from an alternate reality to this one.”

Fawkes stopped in his tracks and turned to look at them in wide-eyed amazement. Adam smirked and shrugged. “Yeah, it gave me a funny turn the first time I heard about it, too. The really funky part is that their world and our world have different versions of the same people living in them.”

“Sunset and me have actually met this world’s version of ourselves already,” Twilight supplied. She tilted her head to the side as she thought. “Though, I’d say the strangest thing about us is probably our magic.”

Fawkes opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if he couldn’t quite think of what to say. Finally he just sighed and shook his head before resuming walking. “It seems I have missed much during my imprisonment. I don’t think I’d ever believe a word you were saying if I hadn’t witnessed the power you displayed back there. Do all humans have such strength where you come from?”

“Nah, just me,” Applejack replied. “Most folks don’t have any magic at all. Those of us that do, well, we all have different powers.”

“Incredible! I would like to see what each of you is-” Fawkes stopped talking abruptly as he opened a door and almost walked right into another mutant.

Fawkes reacted first, bodily shoving the mutant back and storming through the door after it with Adam charging in after. There were shouts and roars of alarm from within the room, followed by the unmistakable sounds of battle. The girls looked through the doorway cautiously to see a small chamber with several Super Mutants inside. Two were down already, but the last was backed into a corner struggling to wrestle Fawkes’ hammer away from him.

Seeing that the others couldn’t get a clear shot, Twilight held out a hand to grab the mutant’s knee in her magic, then she snapped it with a brutal twist of her wrist. The Super Mutant’s bellow of agony was cut short with an awful crunch as Fawkes brought his hammer down.

With the fight over, Applejack hurried over to the far side of the chamber to keep watch at the only other door while Adam set to searching the bodies for anything useful. Fawkes kept looking from his hammer, to the mutant at his feet, then to the girls, as if he couldn’t figure out what had just happened. Before he could ask, Twilight used her magic to levitate one of the mutants’ fallen weapons as a demonstration. The sight of his eyes practically popping out of his skull in wonder and surprise was more than a little gratifying.

“Er... Fawkes?” Rarity called out suddenly. The others turned to see her standing in a corner hunched over with her arms wrapped around herself and staring blankly at the dead mutants. “Do… do you think there might be others? Others like you, I mean… intelligent mu- Meta Humans?”

Fawkes hummed as he thought. “I heard a rumour that there was another like me; one who successfully fled the Vault. There is also one more Meta Human who managed to retain their intellect that I know of, but they are more cruel and sadistic than any of the rest of my fellows; a true monster if ever there was one.”

Rarity looked up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. “Isn’t there some way to reason or bargain with them? They were human once, just as you were. Surely there must be some way of getting through to them peacefully? Or, maybe even a cure can be found?”

Fawkes shook his head sadly. “I wish it were so. Believe me, I have spent decades trying to appeal to their better nature, but there is nothing human left in their minds whatsoever.” He sighed and lumbered over to her, then got down on one knee and placed a giant hand gently on her shoulder. “You have a good heart. I do not like this any more than you do. They are my fellow Meta Humans, after all, but there is nothing we can do."

“A cure would take years to create, yet every single day they go out and capture more pure humans to expose to the FEV, making more of themselves and perpetuating the cycle. My brethren must be stopped. They have my pity, but they cannot have our mercy.”

“If anything, I’d say that putting them out of their misery is a kind of mercy,” Adam put in.

Fawkes nodded in agreement. Rarity stared into Fawkes’s eyes for several long moments, as if searching for any trace of falsehood, but finally she relented and nodded as well. “I understand. I’m sorry, everyone.” She sighed and straightened her shoulders, a determined expression on her face. “I’ll pull my weight from now on.”

“Don’t sweat it, sugarcube, you’ve done more than me on this trip,” Applejack replied with a wry smile. “All Ah’ve done so far is punch a door.”

“It’s better than nothing.” Adam stood up from checking the last corpse and tossed her a box of ammunition, then stretched his neck and hefted his plasma rifle once more. “We should probably lay off the conversation while we’re searching. The stealthier we are, the better.”

“I fear that stealth is beyond my capabilities,” Fawkes said apologetically.

Twilight shook her head. “It’s fine, if anything, it’s a good thing that the other mutants…” she winced at the look Fawkes gave her, “er, I mean, other Meta Humans can hear you coming. As long as they don’t hear us talking they’ll just think you’re another one of them until they get close enough to recognise you.”

“And then we smack ‘em before they get a chance to do anything about it!” Applejack added.

Fawkes huffed a laugh. “A fair point. Alright, let’s go.”

Leaving the bodies of the dead Super Mutants behind, the ragtag group continued on their way. The Vault was even more of a maze than Vault 101 had been, but Twilight made sure to make a mental note of each and every turn they took, just in case. They did cross paths with several more small groups of super mutants, but between the five of them they managed to subdue their opponents without any serious incidents save a very near miss with a bullet that left an angry burn across Applejack’s thigh.

Eventually the group came to a series of small interlinked rooms, each with windows that allowed the occupants to look into an adjoining corridor. Sickly green light emanated from the corridor and bathed the rooms in an eerie glow that filled the girls with anxiety.

“That doesn’t look too friendly,” Applejack muttered.

Fawkes nodded. “Indeed. That is the path to the G.E.C.K. chamber, but it is heavily flooded with radiation.”

“Aw, nuts.” Applejack stepped up to a window to get a better look at the radioactive goo on the floor, checking her Pip-Boy to make sure the radiation wasn’t coming through cracks in the walls to irradiate them. “How the heck are we supposed to get through that?”

“That is where I come in,” Fawkes replied. “Like my brethren, I have inherited an incredible resistance to radiation. Wait here, I shall fetch the G.E.C.K. and bring it to you.”

Adam eyed the window warily. “Are you sure about this? That’s gotta be a huge amount of radiation.”

Fawkes glanced at him, his expression softening. “I am grateful beyond words for your concern, but you need not worry. Not even the vast levels of radiation at the Vault’s main entrance are enough to trouble myself or my brethren. I shall return shortly.”

Adam and the girls watched as Fawkes stomped through a nearby open doorway. Moments later, he waved to them through the window as he lumbered past.

Twilight watched until he disappeared from sight. “I suppose that explains how the super mutants are able to get out of the Vault without going through Little Lamplight. I wonder how they manage to bring their captives in alive, though?”

“You could always try asking one of them.” Applejack sighed and leaned against the wall. “Right now, Ah reckon we should decide what we’re doing next. Should we try and find one of them SDT things, or should we just go and get the other girls and hightail it out of here?”

“If it’s all the same with you, I’d prefer if we could leave this wretched place as swiftly as humanly possible,” Rarity replied. Twilight and Adam nodded their agreement.

“That settles that, then,” Applejack said in response.

“What exactly is this SDT thing you’re talking about?” Adam asked.

Applejack and Rarity kept watch at the doors while Twilight gave Adam a quick rundown of the device. The revelation that his father had been indirectly responsible for bringing the Rainbooms to his world hit Adam hard, no matter how much the others tried to say that it wasn’t the fault of either of them. In the end, in an attempt to dissuade him from heading off to search the entire Vault by himself, the girls agreed to ask Fawkes if he’d seen anything like the SDT when he got back. They didn’t have to wait long as they saw him only moments later through the window carrying a small case in his arms.

“Here,” Fawkes called out as he stomped back into the room with the humans shortly after. “The G.E.C.K., as promised.”

Adam slung his plasma rifle and carefully took the G.E.C.K, cradling it in his arms. “Thanks, Fawkes.”

Fawkes shook his head. “Do not mention it. It was a small price to pay for my freedom.”

Twilight smiled nervously. “Um... actually, we were hoping you could help us with something else. We’re looking for another small device; the Enclave call them SDT-1’s. You wouldn’t know if there were any in the Vault, would you?”

Fawkes frowned and hummed as he thought. “I have never heard of such a thing. What does it look like?” He listened as Twilight described the SDT, but shook his head sadly when she was done. “I am sorry, but to my knowledge there is no such object in this Vault.”

Applejack shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, we figured it was a long shot. What are you going to do now, Fawkes?”

“I have one more thing to do, and then I shall find my way out of this Vault,” Fawkes replied.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Adam asked.

“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.” Fawkes hefted his hammer, staring meaningfully at the bloodied head. “This is something I must do alone.”

Applejack raised a curious eyebrow. “You sure?” Fawkes just nodded. “Well, alright then. Come on, y’all, let's find the others and get back to Little Lamplight.”

“Others?” Fawkes asked as he followed the others back through the rooms away from the G.E.C.K. chamber.

“We came here with four others, we split into two groups to make searching the Vault easier,” Twilight explained.

“I see.” Fawkes sighed as they reached an intersection. “This is where we part ways. If I see your friends, I shall inform them that you are returning to Little Lamplight.”

“We’d appreciate that,” Applejack said. “Their names are Sunset, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow. They’re just like us, you can’t miss them.” She tipped her hat respectfully. “You look after yourself, Fawkes.”

“I believe I shall. I hope to see you again, someday.” Fawkes bowed his head to them. “Farewell, friends.”

The rest of the group said their goodbyes before heading down one corridor, leaving Fawkes to head down another other, alone. “Ah sure hope he’s gonna be okay,” Applejack said quietly.

“Me too,” Adam replied, glancing back over his shoulder.

The four made their way through the Vault in a somber silence. Twilight felt that she wasn’t the only one feeling more than a little melancholic. Despite knowing him for barely any time at all, she still found that she missed Fawkes. It didn’t feel right to her leaving him to wander the halls of his erstwhile prison on his own.

Following behind the others, Twilight paused on the threshold of a large empty room. She was about to suggest that maybe they should go back for him when she saw something clatter to the floor in the middle of the room, beeping and giving off a bright blue glow.

The team didn’t have time to react before the grenade detonated.

Instead of heat and shrapnel, the grenade released a cloud of super-cooled air and chemicals that froze everything it touched. Twilight cried out in shock and pain as she was enveloped in the cloud. Ice crystals instantly formed across the lenses of her glasses, effectively blinding her. She tried to take them off, but she was so cold that she couldn’t even lift her arms.

Her breath coming out of her in freezing puffs, Twilight collapsed to the ground, the impact sending waves of agony lancing through her body. Unable to see or move, she could only listen as heavy footfalls stomped closer and several dark figures loomed over her prone form.

“Objectives are secured, Sir,” a voice called out.

“Good work, soldier,” an authoritative male voice replied. “Make sure the G.E.C.K. is secured aboard my Vertibird.”

Vague panic gripped Twilight as her addled mind slowly realised that the Enclave had somehow caught up with them once again. She tried to talk, to attempt to reason with the soldiers or whoever was leading them, but nothing came out. A faint jumble of voices was the last thing Twilight heard before her vision went dark and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Author's Note

Here we go again!

Apologies for the shortness of this chapter. I was originally planning for it to be a bit longer, but I had a last-minute idea to change my plan for what happens next chapter, and I couldn't quite find a decent cut-off point without spending another week extending the chapter, so I figured I'd go with the lesser of two evils.

Next time: Conflict, and a brief glimpse of the true danger of the magic now loose int he wasteland...

Also a quick note, according to the lore in Fallout 3, the 87 Strain of the FEV usually takes around 2 weeks to fully take effect. That is, if someone is infected...

Chapter 54 - Blade of Loyalty

Colonel Autumn watched with grim satisfaction as the medics prepared the fallen Rainbooms and the boy for transport. He ordered them to make doubly sure that the cryo-grenade’s effects had taken full hold before injecting each of them with the same experimental rad-x that allowed the Colonel and his troops to survive the radiation at Vault 87’s main entrance, at least for a short while.

“The objectives are secure and ready for transport, Sir,” Lieutenant Simpson called, snapping a salute.

Colonel Autumn nodded. “Excellent. Load them onto the Vertibirds and lets get out of this hellhole before that horde of mutants comes back.”

“What about the rest of the Rainbooms?” the Lieutenant asked.

“We have what we came for,” Colonel Autumn told him. He was about to elaborate when the sounds of combat echoed down a nearby corridor. A flickering blue light could just about be seen, casting wild shadows on the walls. Mere seconds after the fighting started there was a pink flash and a colossal blast rocked the Vault. Colonel Autumn flung out a hand to steady himself against the Lieutenant as the floor shook and dust rained from the ceiling.

Once the echoes of the blast had died down, he straightened up and glanced at his subordinate. “I’m not risking any more lives for the sake of the President’s whims! Get those four on the Vertibirds, now! If the rest of the Rainbooms show up, I want your men to put them down. Permanently.”

Lieutenant Simpson snapped a salute. “Sir! Yes, Sir! Hawkings, cover that corridor!”

The Colonel quickly returned the salute as Lieutenant Simpson started barking orders, then turned and marched back towards the Vault exit, drawing his pistol as he went.

Rainbow Dash let out a breath as another Super Mutant keeled over before her, blood pouring from its arms and neck. It struggled feebly as it lay dying. Not willing to risk another incident like in the vat-room, Rainbow reached down and stabbed Flashburn through the side of its neck, making sure to sever the artery that went to its brain. Its struggles stopped soon after.

With the mutant definitely dead, Rainbow straightened up and stretched out her wings before turning to call out to the others, “It’s okay, we’re clear.”

The other three cautiously entered the corridor, Pinkie at the front with a bottle of Nuka-Cola ready, while Sunset brought up the rear, keeping her scavenged assault rifle pointed safely at the floor. “Good work,” Sunset said quietly.

Rainbow just nodded. They were encountering fewer and fewer Super Mutants the more they explored the Vault and she’d made sure to kill each and every one of them as quickly and efficiently as possible. “How much farther should we go?”

Sunset shook her head. “I have no idea, this place is a maze. Maybe we’d be better off backtracking to where we first split up and follow the corridor that the others took. We might stand a better chance of finding them that way.”

“Do you think we should check back with Mayor Macready first?” Fluttershy asked. “They might have already gone back.”

“Good point.” As Sunset considered their best course of action, a sudden loud blast echoed down the corridor, grabbing everyone’s attention. “What the heck was that?”

“Do you think it was the others?” Pinkie asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Sunset replied. “Come on, let’s go!”

The four hurried in the direction the sound came from, Rainbow leading the way. The corridor was full of twists and turns, but fortunately the corridor didn’t fork at any point, and the only doors that led off were small store rooms filled with all manner of foulness. As they rushed around another corner Rainbow skidded to a halt, almost running headlong into a Super Mutant as it lumbered out of a bathroom. They both stared at each other in surprise for a second, then simultaneously exploded into motion.

Rainbow was faster. Even as the mutant raised its hammer she lashed out with Flashburn and sliced off its fingers. Dodging around the falling weapon, she swept her blade around and opened the Super Mutant’s belly then whipped it up and pierced its throat before skipping back out of range. The mutant tottered for a moment, soundless working its mouth, then collapsed on its own spilled entrails.

Sighing heavily, Rainbow was about to lower her sword when she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Quick as a flash she span around, then barely leaped aside in time as several knives whizzed out of an open door and embedded themselves deep in the metal wall opposite. Whipping her blade up defensively, Rainbow lowered it again as a bizarre Super Mutant shambled into the corridor, cold terror gripping at her heart.

The mutant was clad in a thick leather blacksmith’s apron, liberally splattered with blood and entrails. Unlike most other mutants, this one had a thick mass of very dark pink hair stretching from its head all the way down its back almost to the floor, and its lips had been stretched right back up its cheeks to form a disturbingly oversized grin.

The Super Mutant cocked its head to the side as it stared at Rainbow. Chuckling darkly, it reached a hand up and plunged it into the great mass of hair, then, to her immense horror, it slowly drew out a vicious-looking pickaxe. The pickaxe left a glittering rain of pink particles in its wake with each slight movement of its head.

“Aw, crap,” Rainbow muttered.

With a rumbling laugh, the Super Mutant hefted the pickaxe and charged at her. Clenching Flashburn tightly, Rainbow ducked and dove under the mutant’s swing, rolling back to her feet behind it. She aimed a slash at the mutant’s back, but it somehow managed to twist and turn away at the last second.

The two regarded each other warily for a moment. The Super Mutant struck first again, lashing out madly with its pickaxe. Rainbow carefully avoided its strikes, ducking and weaving with a dancer’s grace, until finally the mutant clasped the pickaxe in both hands and swung it in a mighty arc. Grinning, Rainbow ducked under the attack easily and skipped back out of range. Her grin faded when, instead of impacting against the wall as she expected, the pickaxe simply swept through the wall as if it wasn’t even there, leaving a fizzing pink stain behind where the head had passed through.

Certain that nothing good was going to come of it, Rainbow dropped to the floor and yelled out, “Sunset, fire!”

The roar of Sunset’s assault rifle was deafening in the narrow corridor. Incredibly, the Super Mutant almost managed to dodge the hail of bullets. Unfortunately for it, almost wasn’t quite good enough, and a cluster of crimson eruptions stitched their way up the mutant’s side as it tried to fling itself out of the way. Alone, that probably wouldn't have been enough to drop the Super Mutant, but the second it pulled the pickaxe out of the wall, the pink stains it left behind began to glow with a rapidly increasing intensity. Recognising what was about to happen, Rainbow lurched to her feet and launched herself backwards at top speed, shoving the other girls back around the corner before diving around herself.

The explosion that followed shook the entire Vault.

Rainbow slowly opened her eyes as the echoes and vibrations faded away. Her ears were ringing, but she had to make sure the Super Mutant was down. Peeking around the corner, she was gratified, and more than a little disgusted, to see that the mutant was most certainly dead; only a disembodied pair of legs remained intact. The part of the wall that the pickaxe had touched was gone, replaced with a gaping, rock-filled cavity, while the floor, walls and ceiling around it had been blackened and warped by the ferocity of the blast. The pickaxe itself lay incongruously on the floor.

“That was my magic, wasn’t it?” Pinkie asked, startling Rainbow.

“I dunno, but it looked like it,” Rainbow replied. She was about to ask how a Super Mutant managed to end up with magic just like hers, not to mention the impossible hair, when she heard voices echoing down the corridor. “Okay, I know my ears are still a little screwy after that explosion, but that doesn’t sound like Super Mutants to me.”

“It sounds like soldiers,” Sunset put in as she stepped up alongside the others.

“I thought the Brotherhood of Steel didn’t have anyone spare to come here?” Fluttershy asked.

“They don’t,” Sunset replied darkly. “But there is another group with trained soldiers that’s been spying on us since we first left the Vault.”

Rainbow scowled and glared down the corridor towards the sounds. “The Enclave.” Sunset nodded. “What do you think we should do?”

“Shouldn’t we head back and try to find the others before the Enclave finds us?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset shook her head. “For all we know that blast we heard earlier could have been a flashbang. If it is the Enclave, then they might have already captured the others again.” She raised her assault rifle meaningfully. “We need to at least check. If they don’t have our friends, we’ll try and backtrack without them seeing us.”

Rainbow shot her a look. “What do we do if it comes to a fight? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to beat the living snot out of some Enclave chumps, but their armour is just too tough.”

“Not for that it isn’t.” To the surprise of the others, Pinkie stalked over to the pickaxe and picked it up, hefting it in both arms to get used to the weight. “I don’t really like fighting, but if it comes down to it…” She twirled the head of the pick, sending a spray of glittering pink dust cascading to the floor.

Sunset nodded grimly. “Alright, let’s move!”

Taking the lead once more, Rainbow clicked Flashburn’s ignitor and the magical blue flames were instantly extinguished. The four hurried down the lengthy corridor, ignoring all of the doors that led off it until they came to a corner. Rounding it, they saw that the next corridor ended in an open door. A power-armoured soldier stood in the doorway.

Rainbow swore and ducked back around the corner just as the soldier opened fire. Green globs of plasma melted the metal walls where they impacted, releasing the distinctive reek of ozone. “Yep, definitely Enclave!” Rainbow told the others.

“Great,” Sunset muttered. “Do you see Twilight and the others?”

“One sec.” Trying not to flinch as another bolt of plasma scorched the wall of the corner, Rainbow ducked and rolled around the corner, narrowly avoiding yet another shot. Using her super speed, she dashed to the door before he could fire again. The bulky power armour the soldier was wearing was too tough even for Flashburn to cut through, but his weapon wasn’t.

Reigniting her blade, Rainbow swept it up and smashed it through the soldier’s plasma rifle in a shower of sparks. As the soldier stepped back in surprise, she took the opportunity to look past him. A burning fury rose in her chest as she spotted a hat that lay discarded on the floor, one that was very familiar to anyone who knew Applejack.

“They’ve got the others!” Rainbow yelled. Clasping Flashburn in both hands, she unleashed a hail of blows at every part of the soldier she could reach, dodging his retaliatory strikes in turn. Her attacks barely even scratched the power armour, but they kept the occupant distracted just long enough.

“Rainbow, move!” Warned by Pinkie’s shout, Rainbow stepped aside just in time for a bottle of Nuka-Cola to shatter over the soldier’s armour. Darting away, she barely managed to get out of the blast radius before the magic in the cola detonated with a searing flash of pink. Blinking to clear her eyes, Rainbow looked up just in time to see the soldier topple over to land with an echoing crash. A smoking crater was all that remained of the front of his armour.

Pausing just long enough to give Pinkie a nod, Rainbow sprinted to the door and dove over the dead soldier, rolling to her feet in the middle of the room with her blade up and ready. The chamber was large and empty, save for the hat on the floor, but Rainbow spotted one of the doors leading off it sliding shut. Hurrying over, she jabbed the button to open the door again, then skipped back with a yelp as a flurry of scarlet laser beams lanced through the doorway, almost eviscerating her. “Keep moving, I’ll hold them back!” a soldier yelled over the storm of zaps and hisses.

Rainbow couldn’t help but flinch away from the storm of death that pounded the doorway, rapidly heating the metal around it to the point that it glowed. Gritting her teeth, she took to the air and cautiously flew closer to the door, awkwardly trying to angle herself so she could poke her head through the doorway from above. A single soldier guarded the corridor beyond, and he was slowly backing away towards another door down the far end of it even as his gun unleashed hell. His weapon was huge and boxy, with a long barrel sticking out of the end of it, all connected to a bulky power pack on the soldier’s back.

The soldier’s head flicked up as he noticed Rainbow, but before he could adjust his aim something huge lumbered out of the dark doorway behind him. There was an immense clang as a huge hammer connected with the side of his head and the soldier staggered sideways. A second later the hammer smashed into the back of his leg, forcing him down on one knee. The soldier stopped firing and looked back over his shoulder as a massive Super Mutant loomed over him. The Mutant tossed its hammer aside and reached down to rip the soldier’s helmet off, then punched the terrified man in the face with enough force to shatter his skull.

Shoving the dead soldier to the floor, the Super Mutant straightened up and looked over to where Rainbow was standing, just as Pinkie and the others caught up. Not willing to give the freak a chance to arm itself again, Rainbow raised Flashburn and charged just as the Mutant spoke.

“Miss Rarity’s-” Rainbow barely stopped the blade an inch from its neck. “-friends? Nn? Augh?!” The Mutant instinctively flinched back and clamped a hand over its throat, feeling for any injuries. “You… you are fast!”

“No shit,” Rainbow shot, levelling her blade at the Mutant. “How do you know Rarity?”

The Mutant eyed Flashburn warily. “My name is Fawkes. Miss Rarity and the others rescued me from my incarceration, and as recompense I helped them retrieve the G.E.C.K.. When I saw that these soldiers had taken them captive in turn, I took it upon myself to return the favour.”

“Did you see where the soldiers took them?” Sunset asked as she jogged up alongside Rainbow.

Fawkes nodded. “They are taking them to the Vault’s main entrance. Wait!” He stepped in front of Rainbow as she tried to step around him. “The corridors beyond here are highly irradiated. An unprotected human such as yourself will expire long before you manage to rescue your friends.”

“We’re not going to just let the Enclave take them!” Rainbow spat.

“Do not worry,” Fawkes replied. “Like my fellow Meta Humans, I am extremely resistant to radiation. I shall follow your friends’ captors, find where they are taking them and, if I am able, will restore their freedom.”

Rainbow glared at Fawkes as she digested what he said. After a moment, she shook her head. “Nope. Not good enough. I’m going after them!”

“You can’t, Rainbow!” Pinkie cried. “You heard what Fawkes said, the radiation will kill you!”

“Not if I run fast enough!” Rainbow retorted. She sighed heavily. “Look, even if I trusted this guy, which I don’t,” she added with a sidelong glance at Fawkes,”there’s no way he’d be able to let us know where he was going. By the time we get back through Little Lamplight the Enclave will be long gone and we won’t be able to follow.”

“Even if you catch up to them, you won’t be able to take on their soldiers on your own,” Sunset warned her.

“I know,” Rainbow admitted grudgingly. “I’ll just follow them to wherever their base is, then come back and get the rest of you.” She glanced down at the dead soldier and shook her head. “Look, we don’t have time for this! I’m fast enough to get in and out of the radiation before it even affects m-mph!” She was cut off as Fluttershy stuffed a handful of pills into her mouth.

“Shut up and swallow these,” the young nurse said, handing her a bottle of water.

Rainbow accepted the bottle and took a swig, swallowing the pills with a little difficulty. “Uh… what were those?”

“Rad-X, now hold still.” Fluttershy pulled a bag of sickly-looking yellow goop out of her nursing kit and quickly taped it to Rainbow’s left bicep. Once that was done she washed the back of Rainbow's hand with an alcohol wipe, gently slapped it a few times to get the veins showing, then, much to Rainbow’s consternation, almost casually jammed the bag’s attached needle into a vein. “Stop squirming.” As Fluttershy taped the needle securely to the back of Rainbow’s hand, and checked the tube connecting it to the bag for good measure, she explained, “This is Rad-Away. It’ll help get rid of the radiation in your body. Do not knock that needle, or try to pull it out, or squeeze that bag, not under any circumstances. Do you hear me?” Rainbow nodded obediently. “Good. The moment you get outside you fly straight up into the sky until your Pip-Boy stops ticking. No fighting. No messing around. You have three seconds flat to get from here to the safe area outside the radiation, is that clear?”

Rainbow stared at her blankly. “Seriously? That’s barely enough time t-”

Fluttershy cut her off again, this time by gripping the front of her clothes and yanking her close so their faces were almost touching. “Three. Seconds. Flat,” she hissed. Rainbow just nodded jerkily, too shocked to properly reply. “Good. Meet us outside Little Lamplight when you’ve found out where the others are going.” Fluttershy pulled her in for a quick hug, then released her and stepped back. “Come back safe.”

“I will,” Rainbow promised. She glanced at her Pip-Boy’s clock, then turned to Fawkes, who dutifully stepped aside, revealing the door she needed to go through. “Three seconds flat. Easy.”

“Be careful, Rainbow,” Sunset warned. “And don’t you dare die.”

Rainbow just gave her a cocky smirk. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Not giving herself a chance to reconsider, she stepped back into as close as a sprinter’s starting pose as she could get, then launched herself through the door at top speed.

The Vault passed her by in a blur. She caught up to the first of the Enclave soldiers in a heartbeat and passed them by even quicker. Speeding by, her Pip-Boy started to tick just as she caught up to her friends. They had been completely frozen through some advanced technological trickery, and were being carried like blocks of ice by two soldiers apiece. Rainbow allowed herself to slow, just enough to reach out and give Applejack a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and then she was gone, before any of the soldiers had even noticed that she was there.

Dodging in and around the line of soldiers and scientists leaving the Vault, Rainbow zipped through a door and finally spotted the main Vault entrance lying open just ahead. Worryingly, her Pip-Boy’s ticking was starting to get increasingly quick and insistent despite the appalling speed she was moving at. Running as fast as she could manage, she bodily shoved a scientist out of her way as she zoomed through the Vault’s door. The tunnel ahead was largely collapsed, but Rainbow bolted through it at top speed, heedless of the treacherous footing. Smashing her way out of the rickety wooden door at the end of the tunnel, she burst out of the Vault and found herself dazzled by bright, blinding sunshine.

The ticking of Rainbow’s Pip-Boy spiked the second she set foot outside. A wave of nausea nearly made her stumble, but she managed to keep herself steady. She crouched for the barest of moments, then, with a powerful flap of her wings as she pushed off, she launched herself into the air. Rainbow pushed herself to her absolute limit, desperation lending her strength until, finally, the ticking of the Pip-Boy dwindled to silence.

Now that she was out of danger, Rainbow slowed to a stop in midair. Flapping her wings just enough to keep herself hovering in place, she moved to wipe her brow with her free hand, but a twinge in the back of her hand reminded her that there was a needle sticking out of the back of it. She briefly toyed with the idea of removing it, but decided against it. Partly because Fluttershy would freak out when she found out, but mainly because, given how sick she felt and how much her head was currently spinning, Rainbow was a little worried that the little bag might well be the only thing keeping her alive.

“Okay, Rainbow, remind Sunset to remind you never to do anything like that again, okay?” She shivered and let herself hang limply for a few minutes while she caught her breath. Far below, she could see the Enclave personnel swarming around a trio of Vertibirds. A group of scientists were currently loading something onto one of them. Going by how carefully they were handling it, she assumed it must be the G.E.C.K.. Shortly afterwards, Adam, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight were brought out of the Vault and loaded onto another Vertibird.

Once the Rainbooms were secured, the soldiers and remaining scientists all boarded the Vertibirds themselves. Moments later there was a roar of rotors as the Vertibirds rose into the air and turned to head away from the Vault, flying away north. Making a quick mental note as to which Vertibird contained her friends, Rainbow set off in hot pursuit.

The landscape rolled by swiftly as Rainbow followed the three Vertibirds. Making sure to keep an eye on the ground, just in case some random wastelander decided to take a potshot at her, Rainbow focused on staying far enough behind the Vertibirds that the soldiers on board might not spot her

Despite her efforts, only a few minutes after beginning the chase one of the Vertibirds peeled off from the others and slowed down dramatically, dropping back behind Rainbow. Cursing her bad luck, she realised a little too late that her attempt at stealth would probably have gone better if she hadn't had Flashburn cheerfully blazing away in her hand. Looking back, Rainbow's heart leapt into her mouth as she spotted the gun poking out from underneath the Vertibird’s nose; pointed directly at her. She swerved aside just in time to avoid the stream of crackling laser bolts that poured from it barely a second later. The Vertibird shifted to keep targeting Rainbow, forcing her to dodge and weave wildly to avoid getting shredded.

“Dammit, this is not cool!” Banking around to stay out of the line of fire, Rainbow flared her wings to catch as much air as possible. The sudden deceleration sent the Vertibird racing ahead of her once again. “Now it’s my turn!” Surging forward, Rainbow flew up and over the top of the Vertibird until she was above its engine. Planting her feet on the engine and using her wings to stabilise herself, Rainbow aimed carefully while watching the rotors spin in slow motion, then started hacking at the joint where the rotor head joined the engine proper. Her plan was to try and damage the rotor enough that it would fall apart or snap. Unfortunately, Flashburn’s magic proved to be a little too effective as its fire was sucked into the engine. Rainbow watched with fascinated horror as searing blue flames flickered from the back of the engine and a tell-tale blue glow traced its way up what appeared to be fuel lines. “Aw, crap.”

Rainbow snapped her wings open to their fullest extent and let the wind tear her off the Vertibird’s wing, then angled herself into a swooping climb directly up and away from the plane. Not a moment too soon, either, as the engine exploded with all the fire and fury of a newborn star. The blast half-consumed the rest of the Vertibird even as it sent it spiralling out of control, the blazing remains spinning and twisting until they slammed to the ground far below.

“Whoa.” Rainbow paused to watch the burning wreckage for a few seconds, mixed feelings racing through her at the thought of the lives she had just taken. Human lives. She shook her head and forced her feelings down. “Come on, Dash, worry about that mushy crap later. Your friends need you.” Sighing heavily, she checked the bag of Rad-X and its attached needle to make sure they were still secure. Frankly, she was amazed that the wind hadn’t ripped them away already, but she just put it down to her magic being awesome like that. Satisfied that they were still in place, Rainbow angled her wings and set off after the two remaining Vertibirds.

Sunset stared dumbly at the door that Rainbow had disappeared through.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Pinkie asked quietly.

"She'll be fine," Sunset replied firmly, unwilling to even entertain the alternative. "You know how fast she is, if she's done as she was told she's already way outside the radiation." Eager to distract herself, she looked up at Fawkes. "So, what's your story?"

Fawkes blinked at her in surprise, but he didn't hesitate before explaining about his incarceration, about how the others had rescued him, and about how he had retrieved the G.E.C.K. for them before they went their separate ways. "I realize that, having encountered my fellow Meta Humans already, you may be hesitant to trust me. Nevertheless, please allow me to accompany you, so that I may deliver liberation unto your friends, as they did for me."

Sunset just stared at him in amazement. He seemed genuine and he certainly knew Rarity and the others, at least to an extent, but trusting him out of hand seemed risky. Unsure of what to do, she looked back at Fluttershy and Pinkie. Both just nodded. I guess that settles it. Sunset turned back to Fawkes. "Okay, looks like you're with us."

"I appreciate that." Fawkes looked back over his shoulder towards the entrance. "Are you certain that your friend will be alright out there?"

"She's got a better chance than any of us,” Sunset replied.

"Very well. In that case, let us-" Fawkes paused as he looked down at the dead soldier by his feet. His gaze shifted from the soldier, to his hammer, and back again, then he placed his hammer against the wall and crouched next to the soldier. "One moment." Fawkes reached out and started stripping the soldier of his heavy laser. "It seems this man has no further need of his weapon."

"Good idea," Sunset said, privately glad to have the extra firepower on their side while they went back through the Vault. "Now we just have to figure out how to convince Mayor Macready to let you through Little Lamplight."

"Oh, I didn't even think of that," Fluttershy admitted softly.

Pinkie hummed thoughtfully. "If you're immune to radiation, do you think you could find your way around from the Vault entrance to the Little Lamplight cavern?"

Fawkes shook his head slowly. "I know how to find Murder Pass from within the Vault, but I'm afraid I don't know my way around outside."

"Leaving so soon, Fawkes?" The girls whipped around at the sound of the voice. A hulking Super Mutant stepped into the corridor. It was so huge it had to angle itself sideways to get through the door, and it was only the fact that it was hunched over that prevented it from smacking its head on the ceiling. Sunset's eye was immediately drawn to a thick medallion hanging from the Mutant's neck. It was made of dark green stone and was shaped like a stylised nuclear blast. "I see you have made some new… friends." The Super Mutant had a surprisingly soft voice for its size.

"Shephard." Fawkes muttered darkly. "I'm leaving this Vault. I will not let you imprison me again."

Shephard let out a low chuckle. "Let me? You are only still breathing because I am letting you." The Mutant took a step forward and the medallion flashed with sudden light. "However, I think I'll have to-" Shephard was cut off as Sunset opened fire with her assault rifle. She unloaded the rest of the magazine into the Mutant, but, to her horror, the bullets didn't so much as scratch it. Shephard just chuckled again. "Save your ammunition. There is nothing you can do to hurt me."

"How about I try!" Pinkie span on the spot and hurled her pickaxe at Shephard. The pick sailed through the Mutant as if it were made of smoke, leaving behind pink smears on its chest where the head passed through. Fully aware of what was coming next, the girls threw themselves back and covered their eyes just as the smears detonated.

As she lowered her arm, cold terror filled Sunset at the sight of Shephard still standing there, skin blackened but otherwise unharmed. "I told you," the Super Mutant growled, "there is nothing you can do to hurt me." Shephard stared at them for a few moments more, then turned and stepped back through the door. "I shall allow you to live, for now. Until next time, Miss Shimmer."

Sunset watched as Shephard lumbered away, a mixture of relief and stunned disbelief thundering through her mind. "Wha… what the hell was that about?!"

"That was Shephard," Fawkes answered, hefting his new weapon. "One of the only other Meta Humans who retained some measure of intelligence, and a monster in every sense of the word. We should leave... immediately."

Sunset nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think you're right."

As the group started making their way back through the Vault towards Little Lamplight, Sunset couldn't help the cloud of dread that cast a pall over her thoughts. Super Mutants were bad enough, and Super Mutants with magic were worse, but she never, not even in her darkest nightmares, imagined that she would ever meet one with its own Geode.

Author's Note

Sincerest apologies for the delay!

As some of you may know from a recent blog post, things have been a little rough lately. Aside from a rather unpleasant hospital visit that is proving a little more difficult than usual to shrug off, my (almost twenty year old) pc finally gave up the ghost and has gone to the great scrap pile in the sky, meaning I have to use my phone for writing until I can save up for a new one.

Despite this, I'll still be getting right back into the usual release routine, so there shouldn't be any more delays :yay:

As a little bit of an apology, I've put together something of a character sheet for all of the counterpart characters that have appeared in the story so far. The characters are all listed in rough order of appearance, and it includes their names, who they are counterparts of (there may be some surprises in there), when they first appeared/were first mentioned, and when they last appeared.

One of the things I've done with the counterparts too is make sure that each and every one of them could easily fit in the original Fallout 3 game as an npc without altering the story or game at all. As part of this, I've also included a little bit of trivia about what the eventual fate of them would have been on the original Fallout storyline if the Equestria Girls had never arrived.

A word of caution; I'll be updating this list with each chapter update, meaning it will be full of unmarked spoilers if you aren't caught up!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vwpps5KUn1pf0hnL7tW50Op16Mo6fj75GKhO2oKi8TU/edit?usp=drivesdk

Chapter 55 - Gathering Dark

Tense silence filled the Vertibirds as they made the journey to Raven Rock. The loss of one of the ships, and the troops inside, had shocked everyone on the remaining transports to the core.

Colonel Autumn knew he had to try and keep his Troop’s morale up, but he didn't have the faintest clue of how to manage it. He'd never imagined that one of the Rainbooms would be able to fly fast enough to keep up with a Vertibird, let alone that she'd be capable of actually destroying one with almost contemptuous ease. Thankfully, she had kept her distance since downing the first Vertibird, though Colonel Autumn suspected that that was less to do with any fear or exhaustion and more because she wasn't willing to risk her friends or the G.E.C.K. in a direct confrontation.

"Sir, we're coming up on Raven Rock," the pilot said factually.

"Is the Rainboom still following us?" Colonel Autumn asked.

"Yes, sir," the pilot replied .

Colonel Autumn swore under his breath. "Inform base command there is a bandit on our tail and we have precious cargo on board. We'll need whatever AA support is available."

The pilot quickly relayed the Colonel's request, and base command directed them to the nearest available landing pad. When the Vertibirds came in to land on their designated landing pad, a huge metal platform situated high up on the mountainside, they were greeted by several full squads of power-armored soldiers, many of whom were carrying heavy weaponry.

Colonel Autumn had both Vertibirds open their crew compartments as they landed; the second they touched down all of the soldiers on board disembarked immediately and turned to form a firing line. The Colonel himself waited inside his Vertibird with the scientists until the soldiers were all out before stalking down the ramp to join them. He turned and looked up to see the damnable Rainboom circling high above like a vulture, too far away to be a worthwhile target.

"Colonel!" The Colonel glanced over his shoulder to see Lieutenant-Colonel Strong hurrying to his side. "What's the situation, sir?" he asked, saluting.

Before Colonel Autumn could answer there was a sudden flash of colour and a gust of wind ruffled his coat. His gaze snapped back up to where the Rainboom had been, but all he saw was a rainbow-coloured streak already fading into the distance.

"C-colonel! Take your coat off!" one of the soldiers shouted. Colonel Autumn looked around in surprise just as the soldier grabbed his coat. "Your coat, sir! It's on fire!" A few panic-filled moments followed as the two worked together to rip his longcoat off and throw it on the ground. Blue flames rose from the back of it in the shape of an R. The Colonel fought back a shiver, trying to ignore the cold fear creeping up his spine, and nodded his thanks to the soldier.

"Uh, Colonel? You might want to take a look at this," Lieutenant-Colonel Strong said slowly.

Now what? Taking care to keep his expression neutral, Colonel Autumn turned to see what his subordinate was worried about. His attempt at looking unconcerned for the sake of his men failed miserably barely a second later as he spotted a message written in the rockface above the entrance to the fortress; smouldering letters ten foot tall crudely carved into the rock itself.

WE'RE COMING FOR YOU

Hissed curses and worried murmurs broke out among the soldiers on the landing pad. Colonel Autumn knew he should suppress them, that discipline should be maintained; but in this instance, he truly couldn't blame them. This was way beyond anything they had ever faced before. That Rainboom's speed was on a level that simply disregarded belief. The fact that he and the Lieutenant-Colonel were still alive despite their lack of armor meant that the girl had likely made a conscious decision not to kill them, a fact that chilled Colonel Autumn to the bone.

Lieutenant-Colonel Strong gave Autumn a worried look. "Sir? Just what the hell are we facing here?"

The Colonel shook his head slowly. “I don't know, but by God I'm going to find out." He turned to the nearest soldier. "Get those four offloaded and secured in separate cells. I want the girls especially kept under heavy guard, and make sure they're sedated when they start to wake up." As the soldiers moved to carry out his orders, he turned back to Lieutenant-Colonel Strong and spoke in an undertone, "I'm going to make my report to the President. As soon as those freaks are secured, I want you to fetch your sister and her girlfriend and bring them to me as quickly as possible."

The Lieutenant-Colonel saluted. "Yes, Sir! Uh, may I ask what you need them for, Sir?"

"Those two are the only people in Raven Rock who've seen all of the Rainbooms in action and lived to tell the tale," Colonel Autumn replied. "I want to know exactly what these girls are capable of."

The corridors of Vault 87 were eerily quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were Fawkes's heavy footfalls and the occasional drip of blood from the vile sackfuls of gore strung up from the ceiling. Nevertheless, neither Sunset nor the others dared to drop their guard despite the almost suspicious lack of Super Mutants they had encountered. Shephard was still out there, somewhere, and there was no telling who, or what, else could be lurking in the Vault.

Even with the group obsessively checking every shadowed corridor, it didn't take long for the girls to retrace their steps back to the corridors that led to Little Lamplight's secret entrance.

"Phew, here we are," Pinkie sighed as they stepped into the abandoned generator room.

"Yeah, now we just have to figure out how to convince Mayor Macready to let Fawkes in," Sunset reminded her. "Any ideas?"

Pinkie hummed loudly and tapped a finger on her chin. "We could try asking nicely?"

Sunset and Fawkes just stared at her blankly, and even Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her. After a moment, Sunset shrugged. "Eh, I guess it's worth a shot." Lacking any better ideas, she stepped forward and knocked on the door to the tune of 'Shave and a Haircut', then pressed the button that opened it.

Mayor Macready was standing ready on the other side of the door. He relaxed and lowered his gun when he saw the girls, then snapped it back up the second he spotted Fawkes, promoting Pinkie to jump protectively in front of him. "Wait!"

"It's okay, he's not an enemy," Sunset said quickly.

"Bullshit!" Macready spat. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, bringing a fucking Super Mutant here!?"

"He's friendly," Sunset insisted. She shouldered her assault rifle and held her hands out placatingly. "Look, our friends have been taken by the Enclave and this guy's helping us get them back. We just want-"

"Don't fuck with me!" Macready shifted to aim at her instead. "This and Murder Pass are the only way anyone except the Super Mutants can get in or out of the Vault, and you can be damn sure no Mungos have come through Little Lamplight except you fuckers! I ought to blow your fucking heads off right now!"

Sunset swallowed and tried not to look at the assault rifle pointed at her face. "The Enclave got into the Vault through the main entrance. The radiation wasn't enough to stop them. Rainbow has gone after them, her magic can get her through the radiation, but we have to get back outside to meet her when she gets back. We just want to pass through, and we want Fawkes to come with us. I'll vouch for him."

"We all will," Pinkie put in.

Macready glared at the four of them. After several tense seconds he shouted over his shoulder to someone else, "Hey, Joseph! Get your ass back to the others and tell them to arm up and hunker down! We've got a freak coming through!" When Joseph agreed Macready stepped back to let the group through the door, though he didn't lower his rifle. "As for you, you go straight from here to the front door, you get the fuck out of here, and you never drag your sorry asses back here again, you hear me?"

Sunset sighed and nodded. "I, we understand."

Glaring suspiciously at Fawkes, Macready gestured for the group to come through with his rifle. "Get moving. Any of you so much as step out of place and I'll shoot your fucking faces off!"

The girls stepped through first. Fawkes followed after them slowly, treading carefully and taking great care to keep his new weapon pointed at the floor in a vain attempt to make himself look less threatening. Macready used the terminal to close and lock the door into the Vault then followed the group, keeping his assault rifle trained on Fawkes' back.

The journey through the caves of Little Lamplight was almost as nerve-wracking as exploring the Vault had been. Macready frog-marched them along while watching them like a hawk, and the kids that they passed either ran away in fear at the sight of Fawkes or clutched their weapons tightly and watched the group warily until they had passed.

Soon enough they arrived back at the makeshift gates of Little Lamplight with a pair of armed kids standing guard. Both of them paled with fear when they laid eyes on Fawkes.

"Stacey, Caps, get that fucking gate open!" Macready barked, making the two of them jump and hurry to obey. As soon as the gate was raised he turned back to the girls and pointed outside with his gun. "Alright, now fuck off and don't come back."

Fawkes, Pinkie and Fluttershy stepped through quickly, but Sunset paused on the threshold and looked back over her shoulder at Macready. At the very least, she felt he deserved a warning. "One last thing, it looks like some of the Super Mutants have got their hands on some magic of their own. I don't know what they can do, or what it's capable of, but somehow I doubt it'll make them any less dangerous. Be careful."

Macready raised an eyebrow, and for a second she assumed he was going to arrogantly brush it off, but instead he nodded grimly. "Thanks for the heads up. Now go on, get out of here."

Relieved that he wasn't blaming the Rainbooms for the Mutants' magic, not yet anyway, Sunset quietly followed the others through the tunnel that led out of the caverns. None of them spoke as they tramped up the rocky path, through the flimsy door at the end, and out into the morning sunlight.

When they finally got outside, Pinkie wandered over to a blackened picnic table and flopped onto the bench with a huff. "Well that could have gone a lot better."

"It could have gone worse, too. At least the mayor didn't realize that it's our fault that the Sup- um, that the Meta Humans have magic now," Fluttershy put in, echoing Sunset's earlier thoughts.

Fawkes sighed sadly. "I apologize. I did not wish to cost you your allies."

"It's fine," Sunset told him. "If you're really as benign as you say you are, then I'd rather annoy them by setting you free than to keep them happy by leaving you to rot." Fluttershy and Pinkie both nodded vigorously at Sunset’s comment.

Fawkes opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and just looked down at the floor instead. Fluttershy stepped closer and placed a hand on his elbow, misreading his silence. "Um, Mayor Macready didn't upset you with the, um, with the mean things he was saying, did he?"

Letting out a soft chuckle, Fawkes shook his head. "No. I was prepared to face such reactions from the people of the Wasteland. I was merely… I was just…" He sighed heavily. "It seems I am a little overwhelmed. The kindness you have all shown me means more to me than I can truly articulate."

"Awww, cheer up, big guy; it's what we do!" Pinkie called out as she jumped back to her feet. "Don't you worry. As soon as we've rescued the others from the evil fascist organisation that wants to subdue and control the descendants of all of the innocent civilians they abandoned two hundred years ago, I'll make sure we throw you a nice big 'Congratulations on escaping Vault 87' party! Pinkie Promise!" She frowned and tapped a finger on her chin. "Speaking of the Enclave, what are we going to do now?"

Sunset shrugged. "I'm not sure there's much we can do until Rainbow gets back. We may as well wait here and just hope that she doesn't take too long."

"Um, what do we do if she does take a long time to get back?" Fluttershy asked uneasily.

"I guess we'll just have to set up camp here," Sunset replied, gesturing to the derelict picnic area that surrounded them. "It's either that or find a way to leave a message for her and head back to the Citadel."

None of the others particularly fancied going back to the Citadel and risking missing Rainbow, so instead they all found a place to sit and tried to make themselves comfortable. They talked while they waited, the girls telling Fawkes all about their home and Equestria while, in return, asking for everything he knew about Shephard, which unfortunately wasn't much.

The group had only been waiting for around twenty minutes when, to their immense surprise, they saw Rainbow approaching from the North. The four of them clambered to their feet as she banked around in a wide circle and came down to land.

"I know where their base is," Rainbow said without preamble. She turned and pointed back the way she'd came, "It's pretty much a straight line in that direction, but it's going to take a while on foot, and there's some freaky radar stations and a few sketchy-looking places we're probably going to have to avoid which are going to slow us down even more."

Fawkes grunted and hefted his weapon. "It doesn't matter how far they run, they will not escape their retribution."

Rainbow glanced sidelong at him and smirked. "Careful, if you keep talking like that I might actually start to like you." She flicked her hair back and looked over at Sunset. "So? When do we leave?"

"Right now," Sunset replied. "We'll eat on the way, the only problem is how we're going to deal with the soldier’s' power armor when we get there." She turned to Pinkie, who was staring silently at the head of her pickaxe. "I hate to say it, but I think you're the only one who can hurt them."

Pinkie nodded grimly and twirled the head of the pickaxe, sending out a cascade of glittering dust. "It's okay, I can do this. It's just like the trope; let's get dangerous."

Tara hummed thoughtfully as she read through the communiqué she'd been given. It had been delivered by a cadet shortly after she'd gotten back to the dorm room she shared with Becky. Tara had been content to sprawl out on their bed and take her time with it in order to try to take her mind off the stress of recent events.

"Anything interesting?" Becky asked from where she was lounging on a chair in the corner of the room.

"Actually, yes," Tara replied. "Evans and Pickering are going to be sent to Project Exodus within the next hour along with a squad of soldiers to replace Squad Sigma." She sat up and tossed the communiqué onto the bedside table. "It looks like they've sent us a doctor called Whitley from the Adams Air Force Base, too. He'll be at the Exodus building by the time we get back."

Becky gave an impressed whistle. "I've heard of him, he's apparently doing some pretty impressive stuff with eyebots and AI."

"Er, right." Tara tucked a stray hair behind her ear and tried to keep her expression neutral. The truth was that the Enclave already had an incredible AI; one far, far more powerful than anything Whitley had created, and much closer to home. Unfortunately, that fact was also highly classified.

Thankfully, the women’s conversation was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. "Come in," Tara called out. The door opened almost before she had finished speaking and she was surprised to see her brother duck through the door before it was even halfway open. "Andrew? What's wro-"

"Both of you need to come with me, right now," the Lieutenant-Colonel cut in.

Before anyone could respond, the facility's PA system crackled into life. "This is President Eden. As of this moment, this facility will be going into complete lockdown. All personnel are hereby ordered to follow established lockdown procedures and all military reserve personnel are to be on standby and ready for immediate activation should the necessity arise. I repeat, this facility is going into immediate lockdown and all personnel are to follow established procedures. This is not a drill."

The PA system clicked and the two women jumped to their feet. "What the hell is going on?!" Tara demanded.

"We've got a fucking huge problem coming our way, that's what," Andrew replied darkly. "Colonel Autumn just got back from Vault 87 with his strike team. They managed to capture the son of that scientist from Project Purity and three of the Rainbooms."

"What?!" Becky and Tara yelled in unison, making Andrew jump back in shock. "You mean he's brought the Rainbooms here?!" Tara snapped.

Andrew nodded quickly. "We've got them secured in cells upstairs. The problem is one of the others managed to follow the team here, apparently she even took out one of the Vertibirds singlehandedly. She's gone for now, but we strongly believe that she's going to return with support and attempt to assault this facility." He gestured to the two women. "That's why you have to come with me. Colonel Autumn wants to speak to you; you two are the only people here who've seen them in action."

Tara and Becky shared a worried look. It appeared that their treasonous actions back at Project Exodus had been all for naught. "H-have the captive Rainbooms said anything yet?" Tara asked.

"Not yet," Andrew replied to the relief of the others. "They're still frozen from the cryo grenades used to capture them, it's going to take a few hours to thaw them out."

"Shit." Becky wrenched open the top drawer of their dresser and pulled out a laser pistol with its holster, which she attached to her belt under her lab coat. "Okay, take us to see the Colonel."

As she followed the other two out of the room, Tara managed to catch Becky's eye and give her a determined nod. One way or another, it looked like she was going to have to save the Rainbooms again.

She just hoped she could manage it without getting herself, or the people she loved, killed.

Down in the very lowest levels of Raven Rock, Doctor Turner stared up in awe at the subject he had been assigned to wake. At first glance, it simply looked like an oversized suit of Enclave power armor strapped into an immense docking frame, but those who were aware of the Enclave's history would know that they were in the presence of something far greater and more terrible than a mere suit of armor.

Frank Horrigan.

The name was a dark legend among the Enclave; a brutal monster who had once been the most deadly entity ever to stalk the wasteland.

Born and raised an ordinary human, Horrigan had been accidentally exposed to a variety of FEV while on a mission on the West Coast. Sensing an opportunity, the Enclave's scientists had performed innumerable experiments on him, ranging from surgery, to genetic manipulation, to mental programming.

When they were finished, Horrigan had become a nightmare; a mutant abomination that stood over twelve feet tall. Permanently bonded with customized power armor that doubled as a life support apparatus. Horrigan had been given his own unique weapons and unleashed on the wasteland, carving out a blood-spattered legend of epic proportions.

The comatose remains that stood before Turner now were a pale shadow of that once unstoppable monster.

Defeated in a cataclysmic battle on the old Poseidon Oil Rig, Horrigan had lost everything below his waist and the majority of his skull and brain stem when his armor’s power system overloaded.

His legend would have ended there had a fleeing group of soldiers not dragged his bloody carcass away before the Rig was destroyed under the assumption that they would be rewarded for salvaging what remained of his armor. It wasn't until a team of scientists examined the remains later that they discovered that his armor's life support systems were still functional and that Horrigan was, in fact, still alive.

For the past thirty years whole teams of scientists had been working to rebuild Horrigan.

Turner stepped forward and carefully examined Horrigan's new armor. Constructed entirely of Duraframe, it was the single most advanced suit of armor the Enclave had ever created. The legs were robotic, to replace Horrigan's original ones, and the helmet contained an advanced variety of the biogel, found in Robobrains, to protect and regrow the remnants of Horrigan's damaged brain.

Unfortunately, despite the vast amount of resources and effort put towards bringing him back, nothing had so far succeeded in waking Horrigan up. His brain had largely regenerated, but even so, he remained in a persistent vegetative state that he just couldn't be broken out of.

Doctor Strong herself had spent a year working on him. Her idea of using computer chips to stimulate his brain and artificially implant memories had been a stroke of genius, but even that had failed.

Now, though, the Enclave had something that might just work. Turner just had to wait and see if his ideas would bear fruit. As if summoned by the doctor's thoughts, the door of the lab opened and a technician entered carrying a small box in his hands.

"How did it go?" Doctor Turner asked. "Did the centrifuge work?"

"It actually worked perfectly, Doctor." The technician opened the box and showed him the contents; eight small vials. Seven of them each contained a different colour of brightly glowing magic, while the last contained a swirling white mixture. "It separated them all right out, except for that little bit in the last vial."

"Excellent!" Doctor Turner beamed. He had never really expected something as simple as a centrifuge to work, but it had. And it also handily proved his hypothesis that the white magical mixture he had smuggled into Raven Rock had been a combined mix of each of the Rainbooms' magicks. "Have the radiation experiments been set up?"

The technician nodded. "The rest of your team are working on them now. You were right, they're getting more of… whatever this stuff is already."

Doctor Turner hummed as he took the box from the technician. "Good, good, and have any of them started getting darker, do you know?"

"Not yet, Doctor," the technician replied. "They've been keeping the exposure levels small,.like you requested. It seems to be working so far."

Doctor Turner grinned and turned back to face Horrigan. "Perfect. I want the first new batch brought to me as soon as we reach the projected quantities." He looked up at the tubes that fed into Horrigan's armor, each of them ending in a socket that the vials he now held would fit into perfectly. "I wish to begin the experiments immediately."

Author's Note

Chapter is here!

Many thanks to Mocha Star for the reminders of military protocol on this one!

Chapter 56 - Forbidden Fruit

Raven Rock was a hive of activity as everyone hurried to comply with the lockdown procedures. Tara's mind whirled as she and Becky followed her brother through the corridors to wherever Colonel Autumn would be. She desperately wanted to ask her brother what exactly had happened, but trying to discuss classified information out in the open where anyone could hear would be more trouble than it was worth.

Fortunately, one of the benefits of being led around by the facility's head of security was the fact that everyone else, even power armored soldiers, stepped out of the way at his approach, so they made good progress, despite the number of people bustling around. The rush of people wouldn't last long anyway; once lockdown procedures were completed, the only people moving around the base would be soldiers or those undertaking essential work.

Before long, the three arrived at the cell block. Colonel Autumn was waiting outside one of the cells, arms folded as he glared in through the open door. He looked around when Andrew called out to him, "Colonel, I've brought them, as you ordered."

"Thank you, Lieutenant-Colonel," Colonel Autumn replied, shifting his attention to the doctors. "I appreciate you coming so quickly. I'm sorry to summon you out of the blue like this, but a situation has arisen involving the Rainbooms and I need your help."

"Andrew, er... I mean, Lieutenant-Colonel Strong told us that some of the Rainbooms had been taken captive?" Tara replied cautiously. "He also said that you need our help with them."

Colonel Autumn nodded. "Indeed, follow me." He closed the door of the cell next to them and strode up the corridor to stop outside another one. Instead of opening the door, he checked up and down the corridor to make sure no one else was around, then leaned in close to the others and spoke in an undertone, "I highly doubt that I really need to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway; everything we discuss now is to be considered highly classified. No-one without clearance is to hear any of this, is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir," Tara and Becky replied.

"Good." Without further ado, the Colonel immediately told the two of them everything that had happened in Vault 87, the return flight, and the incident on the landing platform when they arrived at the base. "As you can see," he said when his story was finished, "these girls pose a far greater threat than previously thought, hence why I'm seeking your advice."

Tara just stared at him in blank shock. "But… you… why? Why would you even want to kidnap them again? Especially after what happened at Project Exodus?"

"I assure you, it was not my idea," Colonel Autumn replied with a scowl. "If it were up to me, I'd have had the lot of them put down the moment we learned that they were a threat. Unfortunately, the President disagrees with me on that point. And, going by the looks on your faces, it appears that you do, too."

The two women shared an uneasy glance. "It's not exactly in the Enclave's best interests," Becky said slowly.

Colonel Autumn gave them a long, hard look, then slapped the button to open the cell door and ushered them in. Inside, held upright against the back wall by a set of electromagnetic restraints, was Twilight Sparkle. Her skin was alarmingly pale. A pair of medics spared the group a quick glance before turning back to their patient.

"Is she injured?" Becky asked anxiously.

One of the medics shook his head. "No, Doctor. The Rainbooms were hit with cryo-grenades, but we administered the recommended anti-frost agents to prevent cellular damage before we put them in full-cryo for transport here. We're just starting the chemical thawing on this one, she'll be fine in a few hours."

"Remember to make sure that she and the others are sedated when they start to come around." Colonel Autumn waited until the medics had finished with their ministrations and left the cell before he turned back to the doctors and the Lieutenant-Colonel. "Alright, now I need you to tell me everything, and I mean everything, about the Rainbooms, starting with this girl right here."

Tara looked at Twilight, unconscious and vulnerable, and couldn't repress a shiver. Somehow she knew that Colonel Autumn bringing them to see her in particular couldn't be a coincidence. In an attempt to head him off, she decided to dive in and explain about the Rainbooms' magic, with a few appropriate exaggerations, naturally, "Her name is Twilight Sparkle, she's telekinetic. Her magic is very powerful, enough so that-"

"That she can crumple a suit of power armor with ease," Colonel Autumn finished with a grim nod. "I saw the aftermath of her handiwork at Project Purity."

"The others are equally dangerous," Becky supplied. "Which other girls are here?"

Colonel Autumn glanced at Andrew, who replied, "We've got the blonde one with the cowboy hat, and the albino with the purple hair."

"Applejack and Rarity." Becky winced dramatically. "I suppose it could be worse, but those two are still dangerous enough to cause problems. Applejack's magic gives her super strength. She's strong enough to tear apart Duraframe as if it were paper. Rarity, on the other hand, can manifest temporary gemstones out of thin air in any shape or size she desires."

"The others are Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy," Tara added. "Unfortunately, they're probably the most dangerous of the group. I imagine it was probably Rainbow that chased you and destroyed the Vertibird, she's the only one who'd have the speed to keep up with them." She frowned thoughtfully. "I don't have any idea how she managed to actually destroy the Vertibird, though. Maybe it's another aspect of her powers?"

"Or maybe Pinkie gave her something?" Becky offered.

Tara hummed as she considered. "It's possible." Seeing her brother's curious look, she clarified, "Pinkie's magic allows her to turn anything she touches into high explosive and detonate it at will." She neglected to mention that her magic was limited to processed sugar.

"Wait, anything?!" Andrew cried incredulously.

"Anything." Becky backed up the lie with a nod. "Sunset's magic will cause us problems, too. She's a telepath and has even displayed a small measure of mind control. We think that's how the Rainbooms managed to escape Project Exodus."

The blood slowly drained from Colonel Autumn's face. "Mind control," he echoed. "You mean she…" His expression hardened suddenly. "Are you certain that she isn't still controlling anyone?"

"We don't think so, not at this distance," Becky replied.

"That just leaves Fluttershy, who is arguably the most dangerous of the Rainbooms by far," Tara finished, this time without any exaggeration.

Andrew glanced at her warily. "What could possibly be more dangerous than mind control?"

Tara fixed him with a serious look. "She can converse with, and potentially command, almost any of the wild creatures of the waste that she encounters." She turned back to Colonel Autumn, speaking with deadly sincerity, "I'm curious, what exactly is our plan if her power happens to work on deathclaws?"

"W-well, we can handle a deathclaw or two, and the chances of her running across any more of them than that on the way here is pretty slim,” Andrew said with false confidence.

"There's a known hotspot of deathclaw activity located between here and Vault 87," Colonel Autumn corrected, prompting a look of horror from the Lieutenant-Colonel. "Still," Colonel Autumn continued, "I've yet to hear why eliminating the Rainbooms is not in the Enclave's best interests. From what you're telling me, it would be best to remove them as quickly as possible." He gestured to the unconscious Twilight Sparkle. "And nothing I've heard so far explains why this particular Rainboom happens to look like you, Doctor Strong."

Shit. Realizing that there was no real way out of this without causing more problems, Tara explained the truth about the alternate realities that Sunset and the other Rainbooms were from, the fact that each of these realities had different versions of the same people, and that Twilight Sparkle was her own extra-dimensional counterpart.

When Tara had finished, both Andrew and Colonel Autumn glanced over at Twilight's unconscious form. "So this… Twilight Sparkle," Colonel Autumn said quietly, "she's another version of you?"

Tara nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"I see." The Colonel turned to glare at them suspiciously. "And I suppose you expect me to believe that neither of you have any ulterior motives for trying to keep these girls alive?"

Becky let out a disdainful snort. "My own interest in Twilight is purely academic. The same cannot be said for Sunset Shimmer, though, given that she happens to be my otherworld counterpart."

That stopped the Colonel in his tracks. He slowly glanced over his shoulder at Twilight, then back to Becky. "Sunset Shimmer. That would be the telepath?" Becky nodded. "And I assume the two of them are in a similar relationship to…" He gestured vaguely at the two doctors.

"Yes," Tara and Becky lied together. "That's not the worst part," Becky continued.

"Of course it's not," Andrew muttered in a resigned tone. "Just… just tell us and get it over with."

"The people of their worlds, especially Sunset's original home, do not abandon their friends," Becky explained. "You can be damned sure that the people the Rainbooms left behind are searching for a way to bring them home. When you consider the fact that the Rainbooms are high schoolers, adults, and yet the people of their realities are perfectly comfortable letting them run around with such devastating magic, you have to wonder how powerful their actual military is."

The Colonel had gone entirely white, but Becky kept pressing, "I don't know about you, but I don't think it's a good idea to be antagonizing a group whose rulers might be able to wipe the Enclave off the map without breaking a sweat! Hell, for all we know, we could end up facing an enemy that could drop the god-damned moon on us!"

"Alright, you've made your point!" Colonel Autumn spat. He sighed heavily and folded his arms. "Damn it, now what the hell are we going to do?"

"Taking out the Rainbooms is off the table," Andrew said flatly. "If someone does come looking for them; there's no way we'd be able to convince them that we didn't harm the girls, not so long as the Brotherhood of Steel is around to refute it, unless we are likely to have obliterated the Brotherhood anytime soon?"

Colonel Autumn shook his head. "The Brotherhood have a veritable fortress in the form of the former Pentagon, several smaller defensive outposts dotted around the downtown area, and the support of many of the local settlements. Getting Project Purity working will be a huge step towards weakening their position, but even so, it will probably be a few months, at best, before we can eradicate the local Brotherhood."

"Are we making any progress on Project Purity?" Tara asked.

"Things would be progressing faster if you were on the taskforce, as originally planned," Colonel Autumn replied sourly. "Still, the President allowed a single Vertibird to leave before the lockdown was complete, taking the G.E.C.K. to Project Purity. I am confident that the assigned scientists won't have too much trouble getting it to work. Unfortunately, even when the purifier is complete, we still lack the access code required to bring it online." He growled and lowered his voice, "I intend to interrogate our prisoner from Vault 101 personally on that matter."

"T-that probably wouldn't be a good idea!" Tara said quickly, earning an exasperated glare from the Colonel. "The boy from Vault 101 is a close personal friend of the Rainbooms, harming him is not going to help us get in their good graces."

Colonel Autumn swore viciously under his breath and turned away, planting his hands on his hips. "I suppose that explains why our surveillance eyebots reported the Rainbooms entering the Little Lamplight caverns after the boy had already been there for a while." No-one dared speak as he stood and stared at the wall, lost in thought. Finally, after several minutes he swore again and turned back to the others. "Fine. I'll make sure that the Rainbooms and the Vault brat are unharmed by my troops unduly, but anything further than that is beyond my control," he said abruptly.

"Even with that, it's not going to be easy to get back on peaceful terms with the Rainbooms," Andrew supplied. Colonel Autumn eyed him suspiciously, clearly wondering if that was a veiled dig at his own bungled attempt at first contact.

"There is one way of getting them friendly, or at least ending hostilities." Becky took a deep breath before continuing, "We offer a peace treaty."

Andrew and Colonel Autumn shared a confused glance. "You… want us to sign a peace treaty with the Rainbooms?" Andrew asked.

Becky rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Not exactly… but there is another group that we know they're friendly with that we-"

"Absolutely not!" Colonel Autumn snapped.

"Offering the Brotherhood of Steel a peace treaty is our best chance right now," Becky retorted. "I know our history with them is chequered at best, but pooling our resources and manpower would be the most efficient way of preventing future issues, not to mention the quickest way to rebuild the United States."

Colonel Autumn snorted scornfully. "That has to be the most insane thing I've heard all day. Even on the off chance that the Brotherhood themselves would accept such an offer, you'd be hard-pressed to find any right-thinking person in the Enclave who would even consider working alongside those small-minded thieves until the Brotherhood have been thoroughly put in their place."

Becky wasn't ready to give up that easily. "Surely if our organizations could come to an agr-"

"Enough! If you are so adamant that allying ourselves with the Brotherhood of Steel is our best option, then take it up with the President." Colonel Autumn clasped his hands behind his back and regarded the women imperiously. "Now, unless you have anything else to offer regarding the Rainbooms…?"

Becky deflated, slumping her shoulders, but Tara chimed in, "Their necklaces. They emit a previously unseen form of ionizing radiation; part of Project Exodus' duty is to study that radiation to discover whether or not it's dangerous."

The Colonel nodded curtly. "Very well. I'll have a technician deliver the necklaces to you as soon as we can safely remove them. You're dismissed."

In the most secure room of Raven Rock, near the center of the mountain, President Eden waited patiently in his inner sanctum.

It had been several hours since the lockdown was initiated, but he was glad that things were running smoothly for the moment. According to the medics, the visitor from Vault 101 would be waking up shortly; an event the President was very much looking forward to.

Still, despite the lockdown, the resident scientists had been anything but idle. Those operating under Doctor Turner had been especially busy, working on their available stock of magic.

President Eden allowed himself a moment of thrilled anticipation at the thought of the wondrous substance. It seemed to operate on a set of rules all of its own with no regard for any known laws of physics. This, of course, made it valuable beyond words.

So far the scientists had managed to separate it out into eight distinct varieties; seven that were apparently identical to that generated by each of the individual Rainbooms, and one further variety that appeared to be a compound mixture of the others.

The scientists had also been exposing each of the varieties to measured doses of radiation in order to increase the quantities available; the most useful attribute of the magic yet discovered. Thankfully, Doctor Turner and his team had avoided any unpleasant incidents like that which occurred at Project Exodus, though inaccuracies in measuring the dosage of radiation had led to them procuring a large amount of more volatile magic, which was rather whimsically being referred to as 'dark' magic.

In fact, the quantity of magic stored had increased so dramatically that President Eden had authorized the secret departure of single Vertibird a short while ago to the Adams Air Force Base. It carried several containers of each variety of magic, in both ordinary and dark forms, along with strict instructions on how it was to be stored and handled safely.

With the more advanced facilities available at the air base, mass production of the magic would be able to begin in earnest. President Eden had also sent an encrypted message instructing the science teams stationed there to begin experimenting with the magic immediately; testing its effect on everything from munitions and armor to food production and energy generation.

The President was confident that, under his careful leadership, it wouldn't be long before the Enclave could count themselves as a magical superpower.

The only problem, so far, lay with Doctor Strong.

President Eden felt a complex mix of pride and frustration whenever he thought of the good doctor. The woman was a genius; one of the finest minds ever to come out of the Enclave's educational programs, but she had a powerful sense of compassion and moral obligation that limited her usefulness when it came to some of the Enclave's more… unsavoury projects. Unfortunately, this meant that the new magical research had to be kept largely under wraps. There was no telling how the doctor would react if she were to discover its existence prematurely.

Despite Doctor Strong's idealistic weakness, however, the fact remained that she was one of the most brilliant scientists alive, and one of the very few people who knew about the President's own secret. So, when she had requested a private meeting with the President in person less than half an hour ago, he saw no reason to refuse.

Initially expecting a report or request of some sort, President Eden was astonished when she instead came to him with a written proposal for a peace treaty between the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel. It came complete with a thirty-two point presentation on why such a treaty was the best step forward for the Enclave.

It was a bold move, to say the least. Of course, once Project Purity was working, the results of Project Scouring would render an alliance with any wasteland organisation a pointless endeavor, but there was no need to inform the good Doctor of that. Luckily, Doctor Strong accepted his assertion that he would at least consider her proposal.

Less lucky was the Doctor's follow-up question about what the President was planning for the magical effluent still stored at Project Exodus. When he stated that he hadn't decided yet, she, rather impertinently, chose to remind him that the magic was extremely dangerous and should not be experimented on at all until she and her team could devise a safe method of storing and analyzing it.

President Eden didn't particularly like lying to his best scientist, though admittedly that was largely because he knew that she might see through it. Given that she would inevitably find out the truth at some point, the President went with a little clever wordplay instead; implying that he had no intention of experimenting with the magic rather than actually saying it was being experimented on at Adams Airforce Base. Doctor Strong would undoubtedly be angry when she discovered his ruse, but by then he hoped that the ends would more than justify the means.

A sudden alert from one of the base's security cameras caught the President's attention. Ah, it seems our visitor from Vault 101 has finally woken up. Excellent.

The Lone Wanderer's cell was the only one to have a direct camera link inside, and Eden watched eagerly as the young man regained consciousness. He seemed momentarily confused by the fact that he was standing upright in a set of magnetic restraints, but that confusion quickly gave way to a cautious examination of his surroundings. Seeing the boy's keen analytical mind at work mere seconds after waking up from cryogenic stasis confirmed for the President that he was making the right choice with him.

"Good afternoon." The boy's head snapped around to the camera in the corner. "Please forgive the somewhat uncouth invitation I sent."

"Where are the Rainbooms?" the boy demanded.

"They are safe, I assure you," the President promised, not untruthfully. As the young man opened his mouth to speak, President Eden cut in quickly, "I am sure that you have many questions, but perhaps it would be better if we spoke face-to-face. Here," the boy stumbled as his restraints were suddenly deactivated, "I have instructed my soldiers to allow you to pass unmolested. I would appreciate it if you didn't dawdle too much. Time is of the essence."

Becky sighed heavily, blowing a lock of hair out of her face as she sprawled out on the bed. Tara had gone to present the treaty proposal to the President, but Becky didn't have high enough security clearance to go and see him too, so she had been stuck twiddling her thumbs while waiting for her better half to come back.

Determined to at least do something useful instead of just moping, Becky sat up and decided to try and go through the jumble of memories she'd received from Sunset Shimmer again. As she wondered where to begin, she glanced over at the lockbox on the bedside table. A technician had delivered it shortly after Tara had left. Inside were all three of the Geodes belonging to the captured Rainbooms.

Becky frowned as she considered the magical necklaces. As far as she could tell from Sunset's memories, the Geodes were near enough a complete mystery. They must have came from Equestria originally, but figuring out how or when, or even what the Geodes actually were was effectively impossible.

Sunset's memories suggested that they were potentially related to the Elements of Harmony, whatever the hell they were, but the only concrete fact available was that they were immensely powerful artefacts. Learning anything more about them was made even more difficult by the fact that magic worked differently in this world than it did in either Equestria or the world the other girls came from.

The sound of the door opening dragged Becky out of her reverie. She looked over to see Tara enter the room, resignation written all over her face. Becky made an attempt at a sympathetic smile. "I guess it didn't go well?"

Tara dropped into her desk chair with a huff. "The President said he'd consider it, but I get the feeling he was just humoring me." She raised an eyebrow as she spotted the lockbox. "Is that the girls' Geodes?"

Becky nodded grimly. "Yeah. I was going to take them down to the old lab, but I can't while this lockdown is still in effect." She rolled her eyes for dramatic effect. "What did he say the plan was for the magic back at Exodus?"

"Not much." Tara sighed and spun the chair around idly. "He just said, and I quote, 'any plans to experiment with that dangerous substance are on the same shelf as the Chiroptera research and Project Scouring."

It took a moment for what her girlfriend had said to sink in, but Becky's blood ran cold when it did. "Uh… Tara?"

Tara stopped the chair and looked around at her tone. "Hm? What's wrong?"

Becky glanced at the door to make sure it was closed, then got up and stepped over to whisper in Tara's ear, "The Chiroptera research, that's the Scorchbeasts, right?"

"How do you…" Tara trailed off at the look on Becky's face. "Yes, it's Scorchbeast research. It was abandoned when the researchers concluded that the plague they spread was too difficult and dangerous to contain." Tara replied warily. "Why?"

"Because the Scorchbeast research is still ongoing," Becky said quietly.

Tara just stared at her in shock. "H-how do you know?"

Becky grimaced and looked away. "I… may have hacked into Doctor Turner's personal terminal a few months ago, back when we heard that Project Scouring was getting shelved."

Stunned disbelief flashed across Tara's face. "Why would you even do something like that?!"

"I didn't trust them," Becky said flatly. "I wanted to make sure that Project Scouring was definitely being abandoned, and Doctor Turner was in charge of FEV research at the time." She held a hand up as Tara opened her mouth to scold her. "Yes, I know; it's against the rules, but I did it anyway. The point is, I didn't find anything about Project Scouring on his terminal, but I did discover that we have Scorchbeast specimens down in the sub-levels. The experiments never stopped."

The blood drained from Tara's face as she connected the dots. "But… if the Chiroptera research is still active then…"

"Then maybe Project Scouring is too," Becky finished. Tara sat frozen on her seat for a moment, then whipped the chair around and started typing away maniacally on her personal terminal. "Er, what are you doing?"

"Finding out," Tara replied simply.

Becky squinted as she tried to follow what her partner was doing on the screen. "You're accessing the mainframe? How will that help?"

"All of the President's secret files are stored on the mainframe," Tara explained. "You just have to know where to look."

Becky's eyes practically popped out of their sockets. "The Presi… are you insane?!"

"Probably," Tara admitted grimly, "but I have to know."

The two lapsed into an uneasy silence. After a few minutes of feverish typing, Tara quietly said, "I'm in."

"What's in there?" Becky asked, leaning over to see for herself.

"One second…" Tara opened a file named FEV Projects and started scrolling through a list of project names. "Most of these are inactive or cancelled. Deathclaw research is active… there's a bunch of Super Mutant countermeasure programs…" She sighed and slumped her shoulders when she spotted the next one. "Chiroptera research… huh? What the fuck is a Wanamingo? Ah! Here; Project…"

Becky felt her heart sink as Tara trailed off. Peering at the screen, she saw Project Scouring clearly marked as being 'Active'.

"He's betrayed us," Tara said shakily. "Congress, the military, the very democracy he's supposed to stand for."

Becky tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Tara slipped away from her and moved over to the bed, sinking onto her side and putting her head in her hands. Becky sighed and sat at the desk instead, glaring at the damning evidence on the terminal. "Okay, I know this is pretty bad, but we can figure something out. Colonel Autumn was against Project Scouring, if we can get this information to him-"

"He'll use it as an excuse to stage a military coup," Tara interrupted. "All we'll do is swap one monster for another." Before Becky could come up with another suggestion she heard the snap of a latch and Tara say in a dark voice, "If we're going to stop either of them from committing any more atrocities, we're going to need power. Real power."

Becky looked around just in time to see Tara lift all three Geodes out of the lockbox and slip them over her head. Becky tried to launch herself across the room and stop her, a yell of horror on her lips, but she didn't even manage to clear the chair before the Geodes flashed and a thunderclap sent her tumbling to the floor.

An ethereal wind ripped through the room as Tara was lifted into the air, while a sphere of magical energy slowly expanded out from the Geodes. Just before the sphere encompassed her entirely Tara let out a ghostly scream that lingered even after she disappeared.

Seeing Tara's silhouette through the magic, Becky tried shouting her name, but she didn't get any response as the sphere flickered black. Finally, the sphere exploded in a flash of light that shook the entire mountain and knocked the lights out, plunging the room into darkness.

Becky groaned and cradled her head, noticing dimly that the facility's emergency alarms were blaring through the corridors. A pale glow from near the bed drew her attention and she looked over at where Tara had been, fearing the worst, then gasped in fear and awe at what she saw.

Tara was floating two feet off the ground. Her pristine white lab coat was now ragged and had turned a deep purple color. Her hair was a mix of purples and black, with a long amethyst ponytail that stretched down past her feet, and all of it rippled in a non-existent breeze. Vast, near-black wings spread out from her back, and a shining horn poked out from her forehead, providing the faint glow that lit the room.

The thing that Tara had become laughed; giggling softly at first, then throwing her head back and letting out a lunatic cackle that echoed out through the walls.

Doctor Turner beamed with satisfaction as he looked up at the frame holding Horrigan upright. The first vials of magic had already been administered with no real effect, but they had modified the frame slightly and now there were several gallons of each variety suspended above the frame, ready and waiting.

"Which one should we give him first?" the technician at the frame asked.

Doctor Turner hummed thoughtfully. "I'm thinking maybe the blue one, his body seemed to accept that one a little easier than the others. We'll start off with, erm… let's go with five hundred mils for now, just to be safe."

The technician nodded, but before he could administer the magic a violent tremor shook the room and the lights suddenly cut out.

"Um, that's a little unusual," Doctor Turner pointed out. Fortunately, the emergency lights clicked on a couple of seconds later. They were dim, but they at least provided enough light to move around without bumping into things. He was about to say something witty when he heard a faint echo of someone laughing, seemingly coming from somewhere above.

"D-doctor!" the technician cried.

Doctor Turner glanced at him to see what was wrong, then yelped as he saw all of the magic draining from their containers into tubes and pumping into Horrigan's body. "What are you doing?! You weren't supposed to put it all in!"

"It wasn't me!" the technician snapped. "That earthquake must have done something!"

The two men could only watch in fascinated horror as the containers slowly emptied. Turner bit his lip as the last of the magic dripped through the tubes and into Horrigan.

Seconds passed. Then a minute. After almost five minutes of waiting Doctor Turner finally sighed. "Well, that was a little disappointing. I suppose next we'll have to-"

The sharp rasp of the respirator in Horrigan's helmet made Turner's mouth snap shut. His face cracked into a grin as a glowing green mist slowly seeped out of the joints in Horrigan's armor, followed by a faint click as the helmet's eyes switched on, blazing red in the dim light.

"Yes… yes… I think we've-" Doctor Turner was interrupted again as the light suddenly faded and the eyes switched off. A half-second later there was a series of clicks and thunks as pipes and wires disconnected from the armor, then Horrigan slumped to his knees and tilted sideways until he thudded against the frame.

Doctor Turner just stared at the lifeless lump. "I… um… what?"

"No…" The technician took a step towards Horrigan. "No… no, no, no!" He darted towards him and started trying to reconnect the cables and pipes. "You can't die like this!" he shouted desperately. "I've spent twenty fucking years keeping your sorry ass alive! Wake up!" He gave the helmet a slap and screamed in its face, "Wake up you mutant freak!"

The glowing green mist suddenly spurted out from the armor's joints again with a violent hiss, and the eyes blazed into life once more. The technician barely had time to move before Horrigan lifted an arm and backhanded him across the room with enough force to smash him against the far wall.

"I'M NO MUTIE." Horrigan's voice reverberated out of his helmet's speakers like a shockwave. Doctor Turner trembled with naked terror as the huge monstrosity turned its crimson eyes on him. "WHERE AM I?"

Author's Note

With this chapter, we've reached the beginning of the end of the main Fallout storyline. Next chapter, the fight begins...

Chapter 57 - Garden of Sin

Doctor Turner stood paralyzed by fear as crimson eyes bored into his own.

"WHERE AM I?" Horrigan repeated in a thunderous voice.

"R-raven Rock," Doctor Turner squeaked.

"HUH, D.C." Horrigan nodded and turned his attention to his armor, inspecting the poisonous looking mist still flowing out of its joints. "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OIL RIG?"

Doctor Turner winced and pressed his hands over his ears. "Sorry, but can you turn the volume down or something? Your voice is deafening."

He shivered as Horrigan looked back at him, then back to his armor. The flow of mist slowed until all that remained was a faint glow from the joints. "Better?" Horrigan asked.

"Much." Doctor Turner lowered his hands and sagged with relief. "To answer your question; the Poseidon Oil Rig was destroyed around thirty years ago."

Horrigan grunted. "That's unfortunate. Ugh, it feels like I'm whispering." He rubbed his helmet idly, then clambered to his feet in a display of speed and dexterity that belied his size and mismatched nature, startling the doctor once again. "So, who's in charge here?"

"P-president Eden," Doctor Turner replied shakily, rubbing his chest to try and soothe the pounding of his heart. "Well, I say that, but Colonel Autumn is in charge of the military, so I-I guess you'll be answering to him."

"President Eden, Colonel Autumn; got it. So, what's with the lights?" Horrigan gestured vaguely around the room.

Suddenly remembering the tremor and the ghostly laughter, Doctor Turner smiled nervously. "That's actually a very good question. One second." He glanced up at Horrigan one last time, then turned away and stepped over to the intercom. "Er, Mister President? Are you available?" Dead silence was his only response. He jabbed the button a couple more times, then tried calling other people on different channels. After several attempts he finally gave up. "Bugger. Looks like the intercom is down."

"Where's the Colonel?" Horrigan asked.

Doctor Turner shook his head. "Honestly? I have no idea. There was some sort of minor earthquake just before you woke up, which I assume is why the main power is offline."

Horrigan snorted. "In that case, I'll go find out for myself."

"I-I'll come, too!" Doctor Turner hurried after Horrigan as he stomped towards the lab's door. The moment the door started to open the sounds of emergency sirens, terrified screaming, and animalistic roars ripped through the air.

Doctor Turner cautiously poked his head out into the corridor. The lights were dim out there, too; the emergency lights barely illuminating the large thoroughfare. He felt a rush of panic as he realized that the power outage must have caused containment failures in some of the nearby research labs. With an audible sigh, Horrigan just lumbered out into the corridor, apparently unconcerned with whatever was going on.

As Doctor Turner stepped out after him another shrill scream echoed down the corridor, which was abruptly cut off with a grisly crunch. Seconds later, Doctor Turner watched in horror as a mutated monstrosity emerged from the shadows. More massive even than Horrigan, the beast resembled a quadrupedal bat with slavering jaws and yard long fangs that dripped with blood and saliva. Letting out a piercing shriek, the Scorchbeast launched itself directly at them.

Horrigan met it head-on. At the last second before impact he threw his arms out and caught it by the jaws, stopping it dead in its tracks. With a savage wrench, he yanked the Scorchbeast's head down to the ground, then slammed a fist through its skull, pulverising it’s brain through mashed bone and flesh.

Revulsion and terror rooted Doctor Turner to the spot as Horrigan straightened back up and looked back over his shoulder. He looked like something that had crawled out of a madman's nightmare; eyes burning crimson and the joints of his armor glowing acidic green, with blood and brain matter dripping from his clenched fist.

Horrigan chuckled darkly and flicked gore from his hand. "Come on. You can fill me in on what I've missed while I was out."

Memories of another world flashed through Becky's mind as she watched Tara laugh demonically. Of all the things that could have resulted from the Equestrian magic loose in this world, seeing the love of her life mutate into Midnight Sparkle was definitely the worst possible outcome.

Tara's laughter slowly died away, leaving the wailing of the emergency alarms as the only sound, and mere seconds later even they stopped abruptly. Tense silence remained in their wake.

"So this is what magic feels like." Tara grinned evilly. "I have to say, I like it."

"Um, Tara…?" Becky ventured quietly. She tensed as Tara looked down at her. "Wh-what are you doing?"

Tara's smirk was anything but reassuring. "Power, Sunny. Eden has betrayed us, the Enclave, and humanity itself; he must be deposed. On top of that, Colonel Autumn must be forced to either submit or die. To accomplish this we need power." She held up a hand and a pale green aura of power flickered around it. "I'm the one with the power now."

Becky slowly got to her feet, not daring to take her eyes off Tara for an instant. "What happens when you've dealt with Eden and Autumn?" she asked evenly.

"Then Congress can choose another President, obviously." Tara gave Becky a mildly confused look, then chuckled as realization hit. "Seriously? I'm not going to try and take the Enclave for myself, you twit. You know I'm not interested in leadership."

"You weren't interested in power either until a minute ago," Becky retorted before she could stop herself.

Thankfully, Tara just smiled ruefully. "Don't worry, I don't have any intention of stealing this magic from the Rainbooms. Once it has served its purpose, I'll gladly return it to them."

Becky considered her next words carefully; Tara was certainly behaving more rationally than Midnight had, at least so far, but she didn't want to push it. "What exactly are you planning, if you don't mind my asking?"

Tara sighed and floated down towards her, gently setting her feet on the floor and raised a hand to caress Becky's cheek. "I swear, once I've dealt with Eden and Autumn, I'll use this power to free the Rainbooms, and return their Geodes. We may have to abandon the Enclave after this, but that's a price I'm willing to pay." Her expression suddenly clouded over and she lowered her voice, "That treacherous bastard Turner had better hope I don't find him, though."

"Turner?" Becky asked in surprise. "What the hell has he done this time?"

"I can sense huge amounts of magic dotted around the base," Tara replied. "There's no way the other scientists managed to gather that much already, not unless Turner showed them how he created more." She let out a dark laugh at the look of shock on Becky's face. "Don't worry, there's nothing in this base I can't handle."

As if in demonstration, Tara thrust a hand out towards the door and a beam of searing light roared outwards, vaporising the door instantly. "Come, we have a President to depose."

Fumbling in the dark, it took Adam longer than he cared to admit to find the button that opened the door to his cell. He was glad that the alarms had stopped, though. Speaking to President Eden the moment he woke up in captivity was hardly pleasant, but having the intercom and lights cut out the second he grabbed his effects from a locker was unnerving at best. Something was clearly going wrong. Hopefully it was either nothing to do with the Rainbooms or, if it was, it was all a part of some crazy plan they'd concocted.

Once the door was open, Adam cautiously stuck his head out into the corridor. Emergency lighting provided weak illumination, barely enough to see by. A man in some sort of military uniform was patrolling the corridor.

"Hey!" The man yelped and whipped around at Adam's shout. "You mind pointing me in the direction of the President's office?"

The man stared at him in shock, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. "You… what are… what the hell are you doing out of your cell?!"

Adam stepped into the corridor fully and shrugged. "Beats me. The President let me out of the restraints and told me he wanted to speak in person; he was just telling me how to get there when the power went out. Didn't he inform you, Mister…?"

"It's Lieutenant Williams," the officer insisted. "You say the President wanted to speak with you in person?"

"Yeah. Is there any way you can confirm it with him?" Adam asked.

Lieutenant Williams shook his head. "No, whatever knocked the power out is interfering with our communications, too." He eyed Adam warily. "Did you do something to cause all of this?"

Adam just gave him a flat look. "How in the living hell could I have caused a power blackout from inside a cell?"

The dumb look on Lieutenant Williams' face was easily the funniest thing Adam had seen in weeks, not counting the stuff that Pinkie came out with. "Uh…"

"Lieutenant?" Both Adam and Williams turned as a power-armored soldier came around a corner. "Oh, you've found him. I managed to get through to the President on my suit's comms, he wants me to escort the boy from Vault 101 to his office."

"I, uh, really?" Lieutenant Williams glanced back at Adam, then looked back at the soldier and drew himself up. "Is there any word on when the main power will be back online?"

The soldier shook his head. "No idea. The comms are still fucked, I could barely hear the President over all the static. Apparently there have been containment failures and all sorts of weird shit going on all over the base."

Lieutenant Williams made to say something, but Adam stepped around him to interject, "What about the Rainbooms? Are they alright?"

"They're fine. Their restraints failed when the power went out, but they're being cooperative so we stuck them all in one cell so one of us could keep an eye on them while the rest of the squads go and suppress whatever has gotten loose in the science labs."

"Can you take me to them?" Adam asked. "The President will want to speak to them, too."

The soldier nodded. "Sure, come with me."

Ignoring Lieutenant Williams' blustering attempts at refusal, the soldier led Adam through corridors until they came to another cell guarded by a single soldier.

"Major, I've brought him," Adam's escort called out. "He wants to take the Rainbooms with him."

The Major cocked his head curiously. "Do you really think that's wise, Corporal Peters?"

Peters shrugged. "If it helps keep them sweet, then why not? I don't fancy getting punched through a wall or getting crushed inside my own armor if they lose their patience, uh, Sir."

"Yeah, me neither." The Major sighed heavily. "Fuck it, all of this magic bullshit is above my pay grade. If the President wants to speak to them, then he can fucking have them." He jabbed the button to open their cell and stuck his head inside. "You can come on out, the President wants to speak to you."

"The President, huh? Well, ain't we lucky." Adam couldn't help but smirk at Applejack's unamused drawl. A moment later she emerged from the cell with Twilight and Rarity in tow. Each of them had their Pip-Boy lights on; reminding Adam that he could have used his own one earlier and not spent ten minutes messing around in pitch blackness. "Hey, Adam. Am Ah glad to see you again. You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Adam replied. "Where are the others?"

"It's just us, darling," Rarity told him.

"The other four weren't brought in; Colonel Autumn didn't want to risk any more casualties," the Major explained.

Rarity scoffed derisively. "Colonel Autumn would have avoided a lot more if he and the rest of you Enclave brutes had just left us alone."

"I can shove you back in that cell if you want," the Major growled.

"No, you can't," Twilight replied in a low, flat tone, "because we're the only ones who can save you from the nightmare you've unleashed."

Everyone looked at Twilight in concern. She was staring at the ground and flexing her hands, her expression inscrutable.

"Uh, are you okay, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Twilight just snorted softly. After a moment of awkward silence the Major shook his head and turned away, gesturing for the others to follow. "Come on, I'm getting you to the President before something else goes wrong."

"That's probably a good idea." Adam glanced worriedly at Twilight before following. "After that, you can release us and we'll get on with our lives."

The Major didn't reply, instead choosing to lead the group through the dimly lit corridors in silence with Corporal Peters bringing up the rear.

"So, how are you three holding up?" Adam asked as he ambled along.

Rarity sighed and flicked her hair. "Not too bad, all things considered. This is the second time the Enclave has captured us, after all. How about you, darling? You seem to be taking this remarkably well?"

Adam opened his mouth to reply when a sudden surge of emotions clogged his throat. Clamping down on the sudden, inexplicable, urge to cry, Adam shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, y'know, I've seen a fair amount of crazy stuff since I left the Vault. At this point I figure I may as well just roll with it." He took a deep breath in through his nose to calm himself and jerked his chin at the Major. "Hey, buckethead, how far is it to the President's office?"

"Not far," came the irritated reply.

Once they were out of the cramped cell block, they were led through an empty mess hall and up several flights of stairs to a small room with a solid metal door that a flickering electronic sign marked as the entrance to the 'Tech and Cryo Labs'. Just as the Major was about to open the door he hesitated.

"What's up, Major?" Corporal Peters asked.

The Major looked back over his shoulder. "If there's been containment failures all over the base, it might be a better idea to go through the Bio-Labs instead."

Corporal Peters cocked his head to the side curiously before saying, "Oh, right; this is where they've been keeping Deathclaws. The rest of our squad came through this way though, so the monsters must have been neutralised by now."

"Uh, what's a Deathclaw?" Adam asked warily. The Major's response was drowned out by something heavy slamming into the door from the other side, followed by a rumbling animalistic growl. "On second thought, I'm probably much happier not knowing."

Something crashed into the door again and the whole group took a fearful step back. "We're going around!" the Major snapped. "Get moving. Go, go!"

Before anyone could obey his command, the door was smashed open and something huge forced its way through, using its momentum to charge like a colossal bull into the middle of the group. Everyone dove out of the way, save for the Major who barely had time to shout before he was lifted up on the creature's horns. The poor man was carried across the room until the two slammed into the wall with an impact that shook dust from the ceiling. The creature backed up and shook its head violently to fling the mangled remains of the Major aside, then stood up on two legs and turned to snarl at the others.

The beast was something out of a nightmare; standing twice the height of a man, with a pair of great curving horns sprouting from its head, a mass of sharp fangs spilling from its maw, and long muscular arms tipped with vicious claws.

"Deathclaw!" Corporal Peters screamed, raising his laser rifle and firing wildly at it. The Deathclaw roared in pain and fury and lunged at the Corporal with a speed that belied its size. Adam watched in horror as the monster bowled the soldier over and started tearing into his armor. The screaming snapped him back to his senses and he yelled to the girls, "Come on! Run while it's distracted!"

Applejack and Rarity ran through the ruined door, with Twilight hot on their heels. Adam let the three of them go first then darted in after. The group found themselves in a high-tech laboratory of sorts with alcoves in every corner and empty cryogenic stasis tubes dotting the room. Corpses littered the floor and another deathclaw was hunched over on the other side of the lab messily devouring the remains of a scientist.

The deathclaw looked up at the sound of the four running and snarled.

"This way!" Applejack cried. The others followed her as she bolted towards another door. Adam risked a glance over his shoulder, then swore loudly when he saw that the deathclaw had abandoned its meal in order to chase them down, gaining on them with every step.

Adam turned his attention back to where he was going just in time to see Twilight stumble. He grabbed her as he passed, half-dragging her onwards and desperately praying that she wouldn't fall. "Come on, come on!"

Applejack and Rarity were already through the door, then Adam slapped the button to close it as he crossed the threshold. Twilight let out an agonized scream and fell just as the door slid closed and the deathclaw smacked into it. Adam skidded to a stop and turned to help Twilight, then gasped and cried out to the others, "Guys, Twilight's hurt!"

The deathclaw had managed to get its arm through before the door closed, and was now trying to tear it back open. Twilight lay face-down in front of it where she had fallen, her clothes torn and soaked with blood.

Applejack rushed back to help Adam pull her away, narrowly avoiding the deathclaw's flailing arm. Together they managed to get her to her feet and pull her arms over their shoulders.

"Come on, Twi, you're gonna be okay," Applejack said, though the quiver in her voice didn't help her sound convincing.

Twilight let out a pained moan. "She… she's here."

Before anyone could reply, Rarity shrieked in terror and there came a terrible wrenching sound from the door as the deathclaw managed to tear its way through. Adam was about to duck out from under Twilight's arm, ready to face down the monster with his fists if it would buy the girls a little more time, when a searing bolt of pale green energy lashed out from behind and vaporized the deathclaw's head.

Hardly daring to breathe, Adam slowly turned to look at their saviour.

"Midnight…" Twilight mumbled.

The woman was easily the most terrifying thing Adam had ever seen. Floating a foot off the ground, she was clad in what looked like a torn black lab-coat and had dark purple hair that whipped about in a non-existent wind. Great wings stretched from her back and a glowing horn extended from her forehead.

A scientist stepped around her, eyes widening as she spotted the group. "What the- what are you doing here?"

"Becky?!" Applejack barked in surprise. She glanced up at the floating woman. "What's goi- aw, fuck it, Ah don't care, you've gotta help Twilight! She's hurt, bad!"

"What happened?" Becky ran over to see what was wrong, then winced when she saw Twilight's back. "Tara, little help?"

Midnight-Tara waved a hand and Twilight's shirt was torn to shreds by a purple aura leaving behind only her bra, dangling by the shoulder straps where the backstrap had been severed by the deathclaw's swipe. The purple aura flashed again, clearing the blood away from Twilight's back and revealing four ragged claw-marks. Adam caught a brief, nauseating glimpse of bone before more blood poured from the wounds and covered it.

"Shit! We need to get her to surgery!" Becky snapped.

"There's no time." Tara thrust a hand out and Twilight screamed as black crystals formed across her wound. "That should keep her going long enough to get her out of here." She floated past, staring down the corridor. "Becky, get them to the war room, I'll join you in a moment. There's something I have to deal with."

Becky opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and frowned, looking at the floor. Adam wondered what was going on for a moment, but then he felt it too. The floor was vibrating; a rhythmic pulse coursing through it as if something tremendously heavy was stomping closer.

"This way, we're almost there!" The group looked up as another scientist appeared from around a corner. He took one look at them and his hand flew to his chest, fear written across his face. "Ah, bollocks."

A moment later the source of the vibrations became clear as a huge armored soldier stomped around the corner. Well over twelve feet tall, his armor's joints glowed acid-green and his eyes blazed like hellfire. He let out a low chuckle when he spotted the group. "More muties." He slapped a fist into a palm and his armor's joints started leaking a foul green mist. When he spoke again, his voice rocked the air like a thunderclap. "TIME TO DIE."

Author's Note

Have a chapter a little early!

Chapter 58 - Clash Under The Mountain

Tara subtly summoned her new powers as she scowled arrogantly at Doctor Turner, pointedly ignoring Horrigan's threat. "I see you've betrayed us yet again. Using Equestrian magic on Horrigan? You are truly insane."

"D-doctor Strong?!" Turner gasped. "You… you're…"

"SHE'S DEAD!" Horrigan lunged forward with surprising agility, drawing his arm back for a punch.

It was exactly what Tara had expected. Before Horrigan had covered half of the distance between them she raised her arms and a searing bolt of magical power slammed into him, blasting him off his feet. Taking a chance while he was down for a second, Tara called back over her shoulder, "Get those four to the war room! I'll join you once I've dealt with this."

Becky tried to shout a rebuttal, but Tara waved a hand and a flash of dark magic sealed the corridor, rapidly solidifying into a wall of black crystal. Turning back to her opponent, Tara saw that Doctor Turner had made himself scarce while her attention was elsewhere. Unfortunately, hunting the traitor would have to wait as Horrigan was already back on his feet.

"SO, YOU HAVE SOME TRICKS." Horrigan let out a low laugh. "THIS IS ALMOST A FAIR FIGHT."

"Almost." Tara raised her hands again and unleashed another potent magical blast.

Horrigan crossed his arms protectively in front of his face. When the bolt struck, instead of knocking him back again, the ravening energy broke against him like waves against the shore. Tara watched in horror as her magical attack was slowly absorbed by Horrigan's armor, shining green spirals tracing their way up his arms as the energy was consumed.

The two combatants stared in amazement at the symbols adorning Horrigan's arms, then they locked eyes.

"Oh, shi-" Tara barely had time to summon a sparkling shield around herself before Horrigan flung his arms out towards her and an emerald inferno erupted from his fists. Gritting her teeth, Tara pushed back with her shield, holding off his onslaught until the flames finally died away.

Horrigan huffed a laugh. "LOOKS LIKE THIS NEW ARMOR HAS SOME TRICKS, TOO." He made to break into a run again, but Tara used her magic to grip one of his feet and yank it aside just as he tried to take a step, sending him crashing to the floor again.

Another quick magical beam to the head made Horrigan surge back to his feet with a snarl and lunge forward, only to be greeted with a pillar of black crystal that rose from the floor and smacked him in the face. He shattered the pillar with a swipe of his forearm, but another three appeared at once, two smashing into each knee while the third struck him in the lower back, right where his spine met his cybernetics.

The floor rang as Horrigan's legs buckled and he sank to his knees. Taking advantage while he was down, Tara quickly created an interlocking latticework of more crystals around him, locking him in place. With Horrigan pinned, she reached out with her magic and gripped his helmet, twisting and pulling at the same time. His skull still wasn't fully regenerated, so without his helmet Horrigan's brain would be exposed and vulnerable.

As she continued to work at ripping off the helmet, Tara slowly noticed that Horrigan seemed oddly unconcerned about his predicament. Her blood ran cold as he looked up at her, then shattered the crystals holding him down with a casual shrug and smoothly got to his feet. The evil light pouring from Horrigan's joints refracted through the crystal shards cascading from his body, sending a dizzying array of colors sparkling off the walls. "YOU'RE STARTING TO GET ANNOYING."

Calmly ignoring the magic still trying to remove his helmet, Horrigan stomped over to the mangled door with a dead Deathclaw stuck under it, ripped the door from its frame, then hurled it directly at Tara.

Tara barely managed to swat the door aside with her magic. A heartbeat later she caught a thrown chunk of crystal. "You're going to have to-whoa!" Horrigan used the opportunity while she was distracted to close in on Tara, forcing her to stop floating and drop to the floor in order to avoid his wild punch. Caught off-guard, she desperately summoned a shield around herself just as he lashed out with another punch.

The punch landed with the force of a freight train. There was a colossal boom, and Tara felt a second impact as the punch slammed her right through the wall. What felt like dozens more impacts followed, each one sending a shockwave through her whole body, until finally her shield shattered and she was left sailing through the air unprotected. Tara hit the ground with a grunt and rolled, careening across the floor until she eventually ran out of momentum.

Agony coursed through Tara's body. The shield had done its job well, but maintaining it against such a powerful blow had been almost more than she could handle, even with the power of three Geodes to call upon. Her head was ringing so much she could barely tell which direction was up.

A loud crash brought Tara's attention around. Focusing through the pain and disorientation, she clambered slowly to her feet. Looking around, her eyes widened as she realized she was in the maintenance section; Horrigan's punch had knocked her halfway across the facility.

Another crash made Tara look up at the ragged hole in the wall she had been smashed through. She could sense the magic that flowed through Horrigan coming closer; he was smashing through the intervening walls in order to hunt her down and finish what he had started. Cold fear filled Tara. Despite the incredible power she now wielded, it wasn't enough to even scratch that monster.

Tara sucked in a deep breath and looked around to get her bearings. She may not be able to kill Horrigan, but she might have a chance at getting him off her back long enough for her to escape. Remembering the layout of the section and hoping that the lockdown wasn't going to affect her plan, Tara staggered off through the corridors as quickly as she could.

The crashes got louder as Tara stumbled along. She could sense Horrigan getting closer, inexorable as death itself. Just as she reached the corner of the corridor, she heard the wall behind her explode into bits.

"THERE YOU ARE." A terrified whimper escaped Tara's lips as she ducked around the corner. "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME." Fear lent her speed and she hurried down the next corridor while Horrigan's heavy footfalls thudded loudly after her. She stumbled at the end of the corridor and turned around just in time to see Horrigan stomp around the corner.

Horrigan laughed darkly and rolled his shoulders. "GIVE IT UP, MUTIE. YOU'RE STRONG, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, BUT YOU'RE STILL A PATHETIC BUG COMPARED TO ME."

Tara forced an arrogant grin onto her face and summoned as much magic as she could, allowing a nimbus of dark energy to flicker around her hands. "Big words, coming from a mutated tin can shit-stain like you."

A furious growl rumbled out from Horrigan's helmet, rising in volume until it became an inarticulate howl of rage that shook the very walls as he launched himself forward. At the very last instant before impact, with the floor warping under his thunderous charge, Tara used her gathered magic to teleport behind him.

Bereft of his target, Horrigan only realized that he had been tricked when he barged through the doors of the cargo elevator shaft. His momentum carried him across the shaft and his sheer mass dented the far wall when he crashed into it. He hung suspended by the deformation of the steel wall and, for a brief moment, Tara feared that he would be able to climb back out. But, with a screech of tortured metal, Horrigan slipped and fell down the shaft. His enraged roars filled the air until he finally landed with a colossal boom.

Silence reigned in the aftermath of Horrigan's fall.

Slowly, Tara raised a middle finger down the elevator shaft. "A violent temper, but not very bright. It seems the old records were right about you. Brains over brawn, dickhead."

"THIS ISN'T OVER, MUTIE!" Tara scrabbled back from the shaft as Horrigan's voice echoed out of it, clutching at her pounding heart. "WHEN I FIND YOU, I'M GOING TO RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

Deciding that waiting around to be dismembered by a mutant cyborg wasn't high on her to-do list, Tara turned and hurried back towards the walls she had been smashed through, dredging up just enough magic to allow herself to float again. She had to get back to the Rainbooms before that monster found her again.

Adam watched in shock as the wall of black crystal sealed the corridor.

"No! Damn you, Tara!" Becky banged a fist against the crystal angrily. "Shit!"

The others watched her uneasily as the sounds of battle wafted through the magical barricade. "Er… what should we do now?" Rarity asked slowly.

Becky thumped the crystal one last time, then swore under her breath and turned to face the group. "We'll wait for Tara in the war room. Twilight? How are you doing?"

"I…" Twilight let out a pained groan, but managed to lift her head up to look at the doctor. "It hurts, but I think I can manage."

Adam was about to offer her his jacket to cover her effectively naked torso when a sudden tremor rippled through the floor. "What the hell was that?"

"Nothing we can do anything about," Becky said bitterly. "Come on, let's get moving."

With a shrug, Adam and Applejack shifted Twilight slightly so she was settled more comfortably between them, then set off after the doctor. Rarity gave them an awkward look as she walked alongside. "Shouldn't we at least cover you up, darling?"

Adam blushed, trying hard not to think about the fact that he was currently holding the first topless woman he had ever seen. Despite the circumstances, his mouth suddenly felt very dry. Twilight just huffed in pain and embarrassment. "It's… fine… just move," she hissed.

The five of them moved on in silence as Becky led them through the winding corridors, then up a short flight of stairs and into a large round room at the top. Inside was a raised platform bearing a circular metal desk. Atop that platform, turning to stare at the group as they entered, was Colonel Autumn. "What the hell are all of you doing in here!" he snapped.

Becky just threw him a glare, then turned to the others. "Get Twilight up here and lean her against the map so I can check her wounds."

"You'll do no such thing!" Colonel Autumn growled. "This is a restricted area! Get them out of-" He quickly shut his mouth as Becky ripped her laser pistol out of its holster and aimed it at his face.

"I'd stay quiet if I were you," Becky said flatly. She gestured to his waist. "Your sidearm, drop it."

The Colonel scowled, but did as he was told. As soon as he had dropped his own pistol and kicked it away, Adam and Applejack helped Twilight up onto the platform and leaned her against the desk. Focusing on the desk rather than the semi-naked girl next to him, Adam realized that it was actually a holographic map detailing what appeared to be troop positions.

"I'm going to have to ask you to look somewhere else, boy," Colonel Autumn said curtly. "And as for you, Doctor Shoichet, I hope you understand that what you are doing right now is treason."

"What I'm doing is trying to fix what you and President Eden fucked," Becky retorted, then nodded to Adam. "Hey, take my gun. Do not let him move."

"Gladly." Adam carefully took the pistol, keeping it trained on the Colonel. After what had happened with his father, it took a supreme effort of will not to pull the trigger immediately.

The moment Becky's gun was handed over she turned her attention to Twilight. She couldn't hold back a grimace when she inspected the crystals encasing Twilight's wounds. "Okay, uh, good news and bad news. Good news; you're not bleeding. Bad news; I haven't got a fucking clue what to do about this. Tara said it'll keep you going long enough to get you somewhere safe, so I guess we're just going to have to trust her."

Twilight just nodded in response. Given that there was little else she could do, Becky shrugged off her lab coat and gave it to Twilight, helping her to get it on.

Colonel Autumn watched the proceedings with a curious frown. "What exactly is going on here?"

"You're shutting your mouth and doing as you're told, that's what," Adam said firmly.

"It's fine, he should know about this." Becky took a deep breath and turned to face the Colonel, who waited expectantly. "Doctor Turner smuggled Equestrian magic into the base, I assume on the President's orders. As literally anyone other than them could have predicted, the magic has broken loose. That's what's causing the power outage in the base. As if that's not enough, Tara and I just discovered that Project Scouring is still active. Again, on the President's orders."

"What?!" Colonel Autumn paled in the face of Becky's half-truth. "How do you know all of this?"

"I hacked the President's personal files, that's how we learned about Project Scouring," Becky told him, protecting Tara with another half-truth.

"I see. And, I suppose you think that I had something to do with it?" Colonel Autumn asked.

Becky shook her head. "Actually, I don't. I heard how much you argued against that Project."

"Then why in God's name is there a gun pointed at my head?!" Colonel Autumn snarled.

"Well I'm pointing it because you killed my father," Adam said bluntly.

"Your father killed himself, boy," Colonel Autumn replied in an icy tone. "If he had just handed over control of the purifier as ordered he would have been permitted to stay on board as an advisor. Instead, he chose to throw his life away in a spiteful attempt to deny the Enclave our rightful-"

The Colonel's rant ended in an agonized yell as Adam shot him in the arm. "Keep jabbering and the next one will be in your face.

"You tell him, Sugarcube," Applejack put in.

Becky raised an eyebrow and gave Autumn a cold look. "I'm having a gun pointed at your head because we knew that the first thing you'd do when we told you about Project Scouring was start planning a military coup. I am not going to let that happen. We'll deal with President Eden, and then we'll have Congress elect a replacement, like the democracy that we're supposed to be."

If looks could kill, the Colonel's glare would have put Becky in a coffin. With Adam still pointing the gun at him, however, he wisely chose to stay silent.

Applejack pinched the bridge of her nose and held a hand up. "Okay, can we just take a step back for a second, please? First of all, what the heck is Project Scouring, and what exactly is so evil about it? Second, how did Doc Tara go all Midnight Sparkle on us? And for that matter, what in the name of applesauce is that thing that she's fighting back there?!"

"Whatever it was, it was pumped full of Equestrian magic," Twilight supplied weakly.

"Also, what's a Midnight Sparkle?" Adam added.

Becky bit her lip and looked back at the door they came in through. Seeing her look, Applejack clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Tara's gonna be fine, and we aren’t going anywhere until she's back. Why don't you tell us what you know while we wait; try and take your mind off it."

Without any better ideas, Adam and the others listened intently as Becky explained almost everything; including Doctor Turner's discovery that radiation causes magic to replicate, Tara's usage of the Geodes to empower herself, and the apparent smuggling of magic and its use on Horrigan.

Rarity hummed thoughtfully. "So, this Horrigan fellow is some form of mutated super soldier?"

"I think so, but I don't really know any details," Becky replied. "All I've heard are old stories about him. Honestly, I thought he had died decades ago." She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "If he's back and pumped full of Equestrian magic, there's no telling what he'll do. He's probably as much of a threat to the Enclave as he is to anything else."

Adam nodded. He still had the gun pointed at Colonel Autumn and was stubbornly refusing to admit that his arms were starting to get tired from it. "What about Midnight Sparkle?"

"She's an evil version of me," Twilight answered quietly. She rubbed her neck awkwardly as she explained, "Before I became friends with Applejack, Rarity, and the others, I created a device that accidentally siphoned off some of their magic. My principal at the time pressured me into using the stolen magic to win some silly competition and it turned me into a dark and twisted version of myself; obsessed with learning everything about magic and willing to destroy anything that got in my way. I almost ripped my world apart trying to get to Equestria." She looked bleakly up at her friends. "Now that Tara is using our Geodes, she must have turned into her own version of Midnight."

Adam struggled to suppress a shudder at the thought of having a monster that powerful coming up to greet them at any moment. Then again, she sure is taking her time getting up here. That Horrigan must be one hell of a beast to be able to keep her busy for so long.

"What about Project Scouring?" Applejack asked suddenly. "You've told us everything else, but you haven't said anything about what that Project actually is."

Becky winced and nodded. "Right, yeah. Sorry, I'm too used to keeping classified stuff secret. Project Scouring is an ol-"

"Don't you dare tell them about Project Scouring, Doctor. That's an order!" Colonel Autumn barked. "You're teetering on the brink of treason already, but if you tell them anything else I'll have no choice but to order your execution!"

"Will you please just shut up!" Twilight raised her hand and a black aura flashed into being around Colonel Autumn's forearms. She flicked her wrist, and the Colonel screamed in agony as both of his arms snapped loudly.

The others stared in horror as Colonel Autumn dropped to his knees, trying to cradle his mangled arms against his knees.

"Nicely done." Everyone looked around to see Tara float through the door, grinning from ear to ear. "You shouldn't use too much of the magic from those crystals, though. It's what's keeping you from bleeding to death."

"Wait a minute, those crystals in her back let her use magic?" Becky asked incredulously.

Tara nodded. "Indeed they do. Anyway, you were all asking about Project Scouring." She floated past the group and over to another door on the other side of the room. "Project Scouring was an old plan to release a modified strain of FEV into the atmosphere. The FEV was designed to kill anything that had mutated DNA, including any humans that weren't born in Vaults or the sealed facilities of the Enclave."

Stopping just before the door, Tara turned to face the group. "The plan failed, but President Eden decided to try again, this time altering the FEV so that it was waterborne rather than airborne. Congress voted to cancel the Project, as the number of unmutated humans has dropped to such low levels that releasing the new Scouring strain would put humanity at risk of extinction, not to mention the fact that it's just downright evil. Unfortunately, it seems that President Eden has been keeping the project going in secret."

"Project Purity." Adam's blood ran cold as he realized what the President's plan was. "He must want to use the purifier to spread the FEV directly to all of the settlements in the Capital Wasteland."

Tara nodded grimly. "My thoughts exactly. Come on." She turned back and used her magic to open the door. "We have a President to dispose of."

Author's Note

Midnight-Tara VS Horrigan, first round goes to Midnight, albeit barely!

Only two chapters left in Raven Rock...

Chapter 59 - President Eden

Doctor Turner struggled to control his breathing as the elevator descended to the lower levels of Raven Rock. His journey up to the war room with Horrigan had shown him that something was going very wrong at the base, but he had never expected to see Doctor Strong so monstrously mutated. She had been barely recognisable. Given the fact that she now, apparently, had the magical power to go toe-to-toe with Horrigan, Doctor Turner had done the most sensible thing he could in the circumstances; run as fast and as far away as he could.

He hardly had a set destination in mind, so by the time Doctor Turner regained some semblance of composure, he was already in an elevator, though he had no idea which one. He flinched when the elevator reached the bottom and the doors slid open.

"Oh… well, shit," Doctor Turner muttered as he realized that he was on the biological storage level, right around the corner from the Wanamingo pens. He poked his head out into the corridor, then, seeing no immediate threats, crept out and made his way towards the nearest panic room.

Fortunately for Doctor Turner, the corridors were deserted. He saw signs of escaped beasts everywhere; scratches and blast marks marred the walls at irregular intervals and empty pens lined either side of the corridor, but he didn't encounter anyone, or anything, until he stumbled across a square hole in the floor.

The hole was almost ten feet wide, right in the middle of the corridor. Doctor Turner shuffled cautiously up to the edge and peeked in. The hole dropped over a dozen feet until it opened into a tunnel, one the doctor recognised as serving the facility's ventilation needs. A mangled grating lay at the bottom on the floor of the tunnel.

Doctor Turner was so absorbed in inspecting the hole that he didn't notice the sounds of heavy footfalls coming closer until they were almost upon him. When the noise finally penetrated his consciousness, he gasped and whipped around just in time to see Horrigan come to a stop right next to him.

"DOC?" Doctor Turner yelped, cowered, and clamped his hands over his ears at Horrigan's thunderous voice prompting a rumbling sigh from the huge being. The green mist pouring from his joints slowed to a trickle and when he spoke next it was with an annoyed huff, "What have you found, doc?"

The doctor slowly took his hands away from his ears. Once he was certain that Horrigan wasn't about to try and deafen him again, he glanced back at the hole. "It looks like one of the specimens has escaped into the ventilation tunnels. I hope it wasn't one of the queens, the tunnels connect to vents on the outside and the last thing we need is Wanamingos or Scorchbeasts getting out and breeding all over the wastes again." He shook his head and looked up at Horrigan. "Anyway, what are you doing down here? How did you even get down here?"

Horrigan growled and jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder. "That mutie dumped me down an elevator shaft. I'm just looking for a way back up so I can rip her arms off and stuff them down her throat."

Something told Doctor Turner that Horrigan wasn't being metaphorical when he said that. Still, the big brute was surprisingly calm for someone who had just been dropped down about six storeys. "I, er, as much as I can understand the sentiment, I believe we have a somewhat more pressing matter to attend to, if you're up to it?"

"What do you mean?" Horrigan asked.

Doctor Turner glanced at the hole again, thinking fast. If Tara was heading to the war room while hopped up on Equestrian magic, chances were that she was going after the President. If so, it was almost guaranteed that Eden was going to fall long before Horrigan would be able to stop her, and Doctor Turner was certain that he would be next on her hit list.

Of course, Horrigan probably wouldn't give a damn about any of that, but Doctor Turner had a backup plan. "If a progenitor specimen has escaped into the wastes, it will cause immense disruption to the Enclave's operations in this region. We have to prevent that. The mutant we encountered upstairs is powerful, but ultimately less of a threat. Besides, she'll still be here when we get back, unless Colonel Autumn's troops bring her down first."

Horrigan looked down at the hole, then sighed heavily. "Fine, but make it quick. I want that mutie dead."

"The sooner we chase down any escapees, the sooner you can get back," Doctor Turner said quickly. He crouched down next to the hole and peered in again, frowning. "I suppose the only problem is how we're going to get you down there. There's an access ladder I can use, bu-" His question was answered as Horrigan stomped up to the hole and simply dropped in, landing on his feet with a thunderous crash. "Well, I suppose that's one way of doing it."

Adam watched as Tara floated through the door. A robotic voice rang out through the doorway, swiftly followed by the sounds of rending metal and general destruction, then Tara popped her head back through the door. "Okay, it's safe now. Follow me."

The girls followed her immediately, Becky and Applejack supporting Twilight between them, but Adam hesitated as he looked down at Colonel Autumn. His finger curled around the trigger of the laser pistol held loosely at his side. "Did you know? About what your President was planning for Project Purity?"

The Colonel glared up at him, his eyes full of hate and pain. "Of course I didn't," he spat. "If I wanted everyone in the wastes dead, I wouldn't have bothered keeping the extra technicians alive."

Adam gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the pistol, then sighed and turned away, following the others through the door.

On the other side was a small antechamber where the others were waiting. Scattered across the floor were the disparate remnants of what Adam assumed were recently two or three advanced military robots. "Whoa. Why did you destroy the bots?"

Tara just shrugged. "They defend the President's chamber. It's better than waiting for them to start shooting. We're lucky, usually there are a couple of soldiers posted here, too. I assume Colonel Autumn ordered them to help out around the base when the power went down."

Now that Adam had caught up, Tara opened the door at the other end of the room and floated through, gesturing for the others to follow. A short corridor on the other side led to a tall room full of computers and databanks. A hollow pillar stood in the centre of the room. The top of it was lost in the gloom above, stretching up to disappear among vast banks of servers and electrical equipment. A narrow staircase wound around the pillar until it reached a mesh walkway about halfway up.

Applejack groaned when she saw the staircase. "You're telling me we've gotta climb all the way up there? Just where is your President's office anyway?"

"This is his office," Tara replied. "And no, you don't have to climb." She raised her hands and a dark purple aura gripped each of the others, then she snapped her wings open and, with a mighty flap, launched herself upward. The others yelped as her magic lifted them up with her, but the ride was surprisingly smooth until they all reached the walkway and she deposited them gently on their feet.

Adam gave himself a shake as he checked himself over. "Give me a warning next time, would you? Just being snatched up like that gives me the willies."

Tara ignored him and strode up to the pillar. A large screen was set into it at head height with smaller ones at each corner and a bulky computer console underneath. The smaller screens displayed constantly shifting lines of code and data, but the large one was entirely blank, save for a single blue line that bisected it horizontally. A vase filled with fresh daffodils sat incongruously on top of the console. Tara stopped in front of the console and folded her arms. "Good afternoon, Mister President."

The rest of the group looked up in confusion, though that confusion turned to amazement when the blue line on the screen quavered and an electronic voice answered, "Good afternoon, Doctor Strong. I must admit, I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, or in such an… unusual form."

"Yes, well, I've learned a few things since our last meeting and I felt that it would be best if I had the ability to defend myself," Tara replied evenly.

"I see. I'd like to thank you for bringing our visitor from Vault 101 along with you, by the way, although I see you also brought our Rainboom guests and your paramour." The electronic voice chuckled softly. "I don't think I've ever had so many visitors to my inner sanctum at once."

Becky stepped haltingly towards the screen, looking confused. "Tara, what's going on? This is… isn't this the ZAX AI that runs the base's systems? But…" she glanced sidelong at Tara, then looked back at the screen. "You're telling me that this is President Eden?!"

"Indeed I am," President Eden replied. "You are all now privy to one of the most highly classified secrets in the Enclave."

"You're kidding, right?" Applejack cut in. "Are you seriously telling me that your big bad President is some lousy computer?!"

"I am far more than 'some lousy computer', if you don't mind," President Eden said in a frosty tone. "While I was once little more than a simple AI, created to monitor this very facility, over the decades and, indeed, centuries, I have become something far, far greater."

Tara let out a scornful snort. "A fluke glitch gave him self-awareness and he crafted a personality for himself by mashing together the biographies of every US President from the time of the Founding Fathers right up until nuclear war broke out. When the Enclave retreated here after our devastating losses on the West Coast, they needed a strong leader. That was when this AI assumed control and 'President Eden' was born."

Adam and the girls shared a surprised look, but the President spoke up before any of them could sort out their thoughts, "A little overly simplified, but correct in essence. Nevertheless, since my inauguration, I have led the Enclave from victory to victory, and my great plans for this once beautiful country of ours are only just beginning."

"Like Project Scouring, you mean?" Tara asked darkly.

Tense silence filled the room. "I thought I felt someone digging around earlier," President Eden said slowly. "I can only assume that the good Doctor Shoichet put you up to it, you aren't the type to do something so insubordinate without prompting."

"We had good reason," Becky put in. "I was going to ask how the hell you could be so evil as to continue that plan, but I guess an AI just doesn't give a damn about humanity."

"On the contrary, Doctor," President Eden replied in a hurt voice. "I care a great deal about humanity and its future. It's because I care that I continued Project Scouring. The scourge of mutation runs rampant across the wasteland, beyond the ability of either the Enclave or those cultists, the Brotherhood of Steel, to counter. The only way we can restore this great country to its former glory is if we wipe the slate clean and start over. Project Scouring will allow us to do that."

"You're talking about another genocide!" Becky spat.

The President sighed heavily. "It is unfortunate, and do not think that I made this decision lightly, but it is a necessary evil. The mutated dregs of humanity that scuttle across the wastes do little more than wage near-constant war upon each other. Only when the mutants are gone can the true and pure Americans of the Enclave and the surviving Vaults revive and restore the United States in its entirety." President Eden's voice took on a pleading tone as he continued, "Don't you see? I want to bring about a mighty change, a change you can believe in. I can make the United States great again."

"Great, you say?" Rarity scoffed and flicked her hair. "I hate to say it, darling, but you happen to be the biggest hypocrite I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. By far."

"I beg your pardon?" Eden asked icily.

"She's right," Applejack replied quietly. "You say that the other humans do nothing but wage war. But, from what we've seen, the Enclave has been causing more violence and suffering than all of the others put together. And another thing; say you do manage to kill off everyone else in the wasteland, what's to say that some of your Enclave buddies aren't gonna start fighting amongst themselves over whatever's left."

"Don't be absurd," President Eden chuckled. "Once we have restored our sovereignty, there will be no more need for war or violence. We will finally be able to live in perfect harmony, as one."

"How do you know?" Becky snapped.

"It's obvious," President Eden shot back.

Twilight coughed out a laugh, causing the others to give her worried looks, but she ignored them and stared up at the screen. "Circular logic."

The screen flickered as President Eden hesitated. "Circular… what do you mean?"

Tara nodded slowly. "You know because… you know? You say it's obvious, and yet everyone in the Enclave knows about the power struggles that go on between the higher ups, especially between you and Colonel Autumn."

"Those are just growing pains," President Eden retorted. "Once things have settled down-"

"What if they don't?" Tara interrupted. "How long until disagreements among the brass escalate into violence, like they did before?" She floated down until her feet touched the floor and slammed her hands onto the console, her face inches from the screen. "Face it, Eden, neither you, nor me, nor the rest of the Enclave, are any better than anyone else. You forget; the only reason that the people out there had to survive through the radiation and the mutations is because we, the Enclave, abandoned them. This bullshit stops now. Project Scouring stops now. And your Presidency stops, now."

The room fell silent once more as President Eden considered her words. Finally, after almost a minute, he said quietly, "Very well, Doctor, how do we proceed from here? Are you forcing a coup and becoming President yourself?"

Tara shook her head and stepped back from the console. "No. I have no interest in ruling. What's going to happen is this; first, we are going to get the power back online and make sure that any escaped experiments are returned to containment. While we're doing that, you are going to authorize a peace treaty to be brought to the Brotherhood of Steel as soon as physically possible. After that, you are going to step down as President and resume your post as monitor of this facility and nothing more."

"You don't intend to destroy me?" President Eden asked conversationally.

"Not unless you try to betray us again," Tara replied darkly.

"I suppose that's fair." Eden let out a drawn-out sigh. "Who do you plan on putting in charge, then?"

Becky shrugged. "I guess we'll have to inform Congress that they're going to be holding an election. It shouldn't be too hard. There's only, what, five or six members?"

"We just have to make sure that Colonel Autumn doesn't try and stage a military coup." Tara folded her arms and hummed as she thought. "I suppose I can ask Andrew to keep him in check. He's got enough sway with the troops to at least put a damper on Colonel Autumn's ambitions."

"Er, excuse me?" Everyone looked around as Adam raised a hand sheepishly. "I, er… Eden? I assume you have a sample of the thing you were going to use for Project Scouring?"

"I do," Eden replied. "I was hoping that you would insert it into the purifier at Project Purity once it was active, but it appears that plan has failed. Why?"

"Do you mind if I have the sample?" Adam asked.

The others all stared at him as if he had gone mad. "Why in the heck would you want that?!" Applejack cried.

Adam winced and held up a hand placatingly. "I was just thinking we could take it to the Brotherhood of Steel so they can make a vaccine, or an antivirus, or something. You know, in case someone else tries something like this somewhere down the line."

"That's actually a pretty good plan." Tara glanced back at Eden. "Where are the samples?"

A panel on the base of the console opened and extended like a drawer, revealing a slot containing a single glass capsule. "There was only one sample made. It was all I could smuggle the resources for." He waited until Adam had collected the capsule before retracting the panel. "Was Project Scouring really so misguided?"

"Yes," everyone replied in unison. "Even Colonel Autumn was against that plan, and we all know what an ass-hat that guy is," Becky added.

"Back on the topic of Project Purity," Rarity cut in, "what's going to happen to it now?"

Tara tapped a finger against her chin. "I think the best thing to do would be to hand control of it over to the Brotherhood of Steel for now, as a goodwill gesture to show that we are serious about the peace treaty. Once things have calmed down we can offer resources to help with distribu-"

"No." The group looked around to see Colonel Autumn stagger onto the walkway. His mangled arms dangled uselessly in front of him as he shuffled forward. The agony must have been near unbearable, but his face was a mask of furious determination. "Project Purity belongs to the Enclave. With it, we can unite the wastes under one banner, and finally start rebuilding our world."

"That's exactly what we were just talking about," Becky told him, grimacing at the sight of his arms.

"I think we should get the Colonel some medical attent-" Eden began.

Colonel Autumn snarled. "You don't get to speak, traitor. You've already betrayed everything the Enclave is and stands for, I'm not going to let you and these charlatans give away our one shot at restoring our nation and our government." He slumped against the guard rail and slid to the floor, hissing as his arms bent at an awkward angle. Glaring up at Eden, he spat through clenched teeth, "Priority Override, Authorization code 420… 03… 20… 9..."

President Eden's screen flickered. "No… oh my…" His screen flickered again and when he spoke next it was in a flat monotone, "Root level access granted. Override O-923. Authorization J-512. Self-destruct sequence initialized."

A sudden blare of alarms made Adam jump out of his skin. "What's going on? What's happening?!"

Tara snarled and reached out with her magic, enveloping Colonel Autumn in a dark purple aura, and hurled him against a wall. His arms flopped around loosely as he collapsed to the walkway, unconscious. "Fucking asshole!" She turned to the others and pointed to a door at the end of the walkway. "That must have been the emergency override code, that fucker just set off the base's self destruct sequence! We have to move. Now!"

Just inside the main ground entrance to Raven Rock, a pair of armored soldiers looked around in alarm as they heard the sirens start blaring. "What fuck, is that the evacuation alarm?! What the fuck is going on?!"

The second soldier shook his head. "Hell if I know. Hey, what the hell is that?!"

The first soldier turned to see what he was pointing at. The main door to the facility, a thick metal construct designed to withstand a nuclear blast, was suddenly glowing with a vivid pink light. "Oh, shit! Get ba-"

Before he could finish, the door detonated with the force of a bomb, punching the two off their feet. As the echoes of the explosion faded, one of the soldiers groaned and looked up. Several figures slowly materialized through the dust.

"Nice work, Pinkie," one if them called as she stepped through the shattered entrance.

The soldier watched in stunned disbelief as the rest of the Rainbooms followed her in, one clutching a glowing pink pickaxe, another swinging a sword that blazed with blue fire. A Super Mutant was the last one through the doorway, hefting an Enclave issue gatling laser.

Sunset Shimmer raised her assault rifle and pointed it directly at the fallen soldier. "Alright, asshole, what have you done with our friends?"

Author's Note

There's an extra little blast from the past for those of who remember Fallout 2!

Bonus points to whoever spots which two recent Presidents I swiped quotes from :moustache:

Also I received an excellent piece of fanart depicting the antics of a certain Rainboom in Vault 101 from Night-Quill!

Chapter 60 - Ravenfall

Adam swore and looked up at President Eden. "Hey, can you deactivate the self destruct?"

"Once initiated, the self destruct sequence cannot be terminated without authorization by Enclave personnel of General rank or higher," Eden replied in a flat monotone. "Recommend that personnel and civilians evacuate the facility immediately."

"There's no point, the override code will have suppressed his higher functions." Tara used her magic to open the nearby door and waved the others through. "Come on, we don't have any time to waste!"

The others hurried through quickly, Becky and Applejack still supporting Twilight between them. Rarity slowed down as she reached the door and looked down at Colonel Autumn's unconscious form. "Er, is he dead?"

"Who gives a shit? Just move!" Becky snapped.

Adam glanced at the Colonel as he hurried out of the door. Conflicting emotions briefly fought within him but after a second he shook his head and continued on, trying not to feel guilty for leaving the man to die.

Outside the door to the President’s chamber the group found themselves in another maze of corridors. If it weren't for Tara and Becky, Adam and the girls would have swiftly ended up hopelessly lost.

What Becky and Tara couldn't really help with was how much the situation had changed over the last few minutes. Before, the corridors had been quiet; the lockdown ensuring that only a few personnel were wandering around. Now, with the sirens blaring almost painfully loud, people were hurrying about all over the place; an evacuation plan clearly in action. Many of the evacuees did a double take when they spotted Tara floating along, but luckily they were all more interested in escaping with their lives than getting in the way of the floating witch.

Even the soldiers they encountered gave them little more than a passing glance, and the few robots that were ushering people along didn't pay them even the slightest bit of attention.

As the group hurried onwards, Adam kept his head on a swivel, constantly checking his surroundings. Glancing through a window in the corridor, he was surprised to see an elevator carrying a Vertibird up a cylindrical shaft. He looked over at Becky and shouted to make himself heard over the din, "How is that thing working? I thought the power was still out?"

"Emergency generators," Becky replied. "They provide enough power for an evacuation in case of an emergency."

Adam nodded, but before he could say anything else a sharp noise echoed through the corridors, barely audible above the sirens. "Was that a gunshot?" Almost as soon as he spoke he heard the zap and snap of laser fire interspersed with the clatter of more traditional weaponry.

Tara and Becky shared a worried look. "There aren't any bio-labs up here, so there shouldn't be any escaped specimens roaming around," Tara said with a scowl. "Whatever it is, they can get the fuck out of our way. We're nearly at the exit and we don't have time for this bullshit."

Without another word, Tara hurried onwards towards the sound of the firefight. The others quickly followed, but Adam paused as he spotted something through a nearby door. "Hello, what fool abandoned you?"

The blaring of the sirens was almost deafening as it reverberated through the base, the sheer volume of them designed to physically encourage all human personnel to leave as swiftly as possible. Despite that, Eden found the rhythmic wailing to be oddly soothing.

Locked away in a tiny corner of his own mind, or servers if you wanted to get technical, the President of the Enclave could do little more than wait for the end to come. He technically still had access to the facility's surveillance system, but the general power outage meant that only a handful of cameras were operational. Even the camera in his own sanctum was on the fritz. At least, he assumed so, given that he couldn't see Colonel Autumn anywhere, though he supposed that someone could have moved the man while he wasn't paying attention.

Eden let out an internal sigh as he considered Colonel Autumn. Strangely, he couldn't bring himself to blame the poor fellow. They may not have seen eye to eye, but everything the Colonel had done had been for the good of the Enclave, however misguided, and that sort of devotion was something that the President could respect. At the present moment, it was something he could identify with on a fundamental level.

Naturally, while he was pondering his situation, Eden had tried everything he could to get around the override, but nothing had worked. All he had managed to do was delay the self-destruct by a couple of minutes. It wasn't much, but it should be enough to allow most of the personnel to get to safety. The fact that the facility was on lockdown would actually help in that regard; part of lockdown procedure was to review evacuation routes as soon as you were in a secure location, precisely in case of situations like this.

As the clock ticked down towards the inevitable, the President idly wondered how the blast from the self-destruct would affect any magic the scientists had left behind. Probably nothing good. Unfortunately, there was no way he could do anything about it now. In the last few seconds before the facility blew, Eden tried to come up with a final quote; some enigmatic last words worthy of a great President, nothing particular came to mind.

I suppose this is it. My final moments, and I can't even think of something to say, though I suppose that's only human.

I wonder what it's like, living the way they do?

That spark of curiosity was the last thing to go through Eden's mind before the clock ran out and the first detonations started.

Doctor Turner glanced anxiously back over his shoulder as he and Horrigan made their way through the ventilation tunnel. The self-destruct sirens could be heard echoing, weirdly warbling, even at their distance from the main facility.

When they first started, Horrigan had immediately attempted to turn back and deal with whatever was causing them. Doctor Turner had only convinced him not to by pointing out that whatever had caused them, it was certainly far too late to prevent the base from going up in flames. The best option was simply to keep going and get as far away from the blast as possible. Ascertaining what had gone wrong could come later, though Doctor Turner was quietly confident that Doctor Strong had had something to do with it.

"What's that?" Horrigan asked suddenly.

Doctor Turner followed his gaze to a large pile of pale slime on the floor. "I'm no expert, but I think that's guano." Which means at least one Scorchbeast really did come this way. That's not good.

Putting thoughts of giant bat-like monstrosities to the back of his mind, Doctor Turner stepped past the suspected turd and made to continue down the tunnel, then paused as he noticed an odd green glow on the walls throwing his and Horrigan's shadows out ahead of them. A heartbeat later he felt a faint rumble through the floor.

"Oh no…" With an awful sinking feeling in his stomach, Doctor Turner turned to see a green light back down the way they had come, growing brighter and closer with every passing second. "Oh shit… oh shit!"

"Get down!" Horrigan dropped to one knee and threw his arms around the Doctor, protecting Turner with his own body just as the blast reached them.

Sunset ducked back behind a reinforced door frame as a bolt of plasma narrowly missed her; things weren't looking good. After blasting their way into Raven Rock, she and the others had beaten their way past the first few soldiers they had met; largely thanks to Pinkie, Fawkes, and the element of surprise, but now they were encountering more organized resistance and their advance had stalled.

Right now the group was stuck in a small room linking two corridors. Fawkes and Pinkie were holding the soldiers ahead at bay and Sunset was helping out where she could, not that her assault rifle was making much of an impression against the Enclave's power armor, but it was proving impossible to push forward any further. Fluttershy and Rainbow hung back, making sure that no-one managed to flank them through a hidden door somehow.

Silently cursing the sirens that were starting to make her head throb, Sunset risked another look through the door. A swift barrage of laser and plasma fire had her skip back out of the line of fire. "Crap! How are we supposed to get through this?!"

"Dunno!" Pinkie cried as she blindly lobbed a glowing Nuka-Cola through the door. A pink blast lit up the dim room a second later. "At least they aren't trying grenades again!"

Sunset couldn't argue with that. A couple of soldiers had tried to use grenades to shift the group, but after having them thrown back courtesy of Rainbow, the rest had given up trying and stuck to using guns.

"This is quite a dangerous predicament!" Fawkes shouted as he slapped a fresh magazine into his heavy gatling laser. He was about to step out and start shooting again when a sudden wave of darkness swept across the floor almost faster than the eye could see. A second later the shadow faded from sight, leaving behind a thick layer of black crystal that encompassed each member of the group's feet, rooting them to the spot.

Before anyone could react, a soldier thundered into the room. He skidded to a halt, looked around in apparent surprise when he saw everyone. "Huh? What are you guys doing here?" Fawkes and Sunset both raised their weapons at the same time and the soldier threw his hands up in the air, waving them frantically. "Whoa, don't shoot, it's me! It's me!"

"Adam?!" Sunset cried in amazement.

The soldier nodded quickly. "Yeah, it's me. Now come on, we need to get out of here!"

"Hold up!" Sunset snapped, not daring to lower her gun. "How do we know it's really you?"

"It's him." A purple aura gripped Sunset and Fawkes' weapons and forced them down, then a wave of terror washed through Sunset as Midnight Sparkle floated through the door. "I wasn't expecting to see all of you here." She waved a hand and the crystals encasing the group's feet disappeared. "We need to move, this whole facility is about to explode."

Sunset just blinked in surprise. "I… what... Tara...?" She gasped as she spotted Applejack and Becky supporting Twilight between them, but before she could anything a purple aura grabbed her and shoved her back.

"Chat later! We need to move!" Midnight Tara snapped.

The urgency in her voice got to Sunset more than her words did. As Sunset and the others hurried out of the room Tara turned and waved to the soldiers, yelling at them to start running, too.

The next couple of minutes were a blur to Sunset as she found herself swept up by a whole crowd of people, both soldiers and otherwise, all making a mad dash for the base's main entrance. All enmity was forgotten in the rush to escape; Adam helped drag a fallen scientist back to his feet as he ran, and more than once an Enclave soldier helped one of the Rainbooms when they stumbled.

The mismatched group finally caught sight of the mangled remnants of the entrance door just as a great tremor shook the base and the rush turned into a last-ditch sprint as panic took hold. Rainbow was the first to reach the door, swiftly followed by Fawkes and Rarity, with Sunset hot on their heels.

Thick cloud cover obscured the sun, but even the wan sunlight was incredibly bright compared to the tunnels of Raven Rock. Even so, no-one stopped running, especially as another tremor rocked the earth beneath their feet.

Risking a glance back over her shoulder, Sunset saw several Vertibirds fleeing from the upper reaches of the mountain, gaining altitude rapidly to escape the coming blast.

Everyone was still running when acid-green flames suddenly flared out from various doors and shafts all over the mountain. Another huge tremor set the earth quaking so much that Sunset tripped and ended up sprawled out on the ground. She wasn't the only one. As more explosions tore through the mountain Sunset curled up into a ball, desperately hoping that they were out of the blast radius until, at last, one final shockwave rippled through the ground and the noise stopped in an instant, as if someone had flipped a switch.

Slowly, unsure of how safe she was, Sunset uncurled and looked back at the mountain. Despite the apparent violence that had just occurred inside, Raven Rock looked surprisingly untouched. "Huh, that wasn't so-"

Before she could finish the mountain suddenly flashed with an intense blackness that seemed to swallow all light. The darkness rippled out from Raven Rock and overtook the group in the blink of an eye. Sunset yelled and covered her ears as scorching gale-force winds buffeted her, a terrifying noise like the screams of dying souls assaulting her ears.

After what felt like hours, though in reality it was probably only moments, the wind and the screaming died away to nothing, leaving naught but a ringing silence in its wake.

Author's Note

And now the end of the Raven Rock arc!

But is it the end of the Enclave...?

Chapter 61 - Darkness

Sunset didn't know how long she stayed curled up on the ground. The stone felt warm against her skin, but the light breeze that ruffled her hair felt pleasantly cool after the fury of the magical shockwave. When she was confident that nothing else was going to explode, Sunset uncovered her ears and sat up to take a look around.

The rest of the Rainbooms and the Enclave personnel were picking themselves up off the dry soil and either looking around at each other, much as Sunset was, or staring up at Raven Rock in blank shock. She followed their gaze and gasped at the incredible spectacle set before her.

The mountain had been transmuted into a towering spire of obsidian. Dozens of glassy spines and outcrops jutted out from it, each of them a different color, twisting and curling in on themselves at angles no natural structure could possibly manage. Thick veins of multi-colored crystal stretched out from the base of the spire, some of them hundreds of meters long, looking for all the world like huge crystalline tree-roots.

Dragging her eyes away from the mountain, Sunset clambered to her feet and turned to check on her friends. Tara was hovering nearby but Sunset's attention was drawn to Twilight sitting on a knot of crystal with Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy gathered around her.

"Are you all okay?" Sunset asked as she hurried over.

Applejack glanced around and nodded in greeting. "Ah sure am glad to see y'all again. We're all okay, except for Twilight; she took a nasty hit to her back when everything started going crazy in there. Doc Tara put some magic crystal stuff over the wound that stopped the bleeding, but we should probably get her to a medical doctor, lickety split."

"That's definitely a good idea," Tara put in as she floated over with Becky in tow. "Let me just renew the magic in the crystals so it'll last until you can get back to the Citadel or Rivet City."

Sunset gave her a wary look as she approached. "I think an explanation is in order, too."

"I think we'd all like an explanation," one of the Enclave soldiers said loudly. Sunset realized that everyone who had escaped from the main entrance with them was starting to gather around, all looking at Tara and the Rainbooms expectantly. Rainbow, Pinkie and Fawkes were with them too, Fawkes in particular getting concerned looks from several of the Enclave personnel and one of the power armored people removed his helmet to reveal himself as Adam.

Tara glared at the Enclave personnel imperiously, but a touch from Becky made her sigh and shake her head. Becky gave her a quick nod and stepped forward to call out to everyone. "Alright, I'll explain what I can quickly, then we need to figure out what we're going to do from here."

The small crowd listened intently as Becky outlined everything that had happened within Raven Rock. Sunset noticed that the doctor reasoned Tara's transformation on 'experimental magic techniques', but the fact that Applejack, Rarity and Twilight were missing their Geodes let her put two and two together. She had to admit that she was impressed by the ease with which Becky handled the crowd; answering or diverting questions as necessary and quelling fears where she could.

Curiously, Applejack covered her face with her hat when Becky told everyone that they had spoken peacefully with Colonel Autumn in the war room before he had followed them to see Eden, making Sunset wonder if their conversation with the Colonel really had been peaceful.

When the explanation was done the gathered personnel started grumbling and shifting in a mutinous manner, but Becky held a hand up to silence them. "Look, I understand how you're feeling, believe me. The actions of President Eden and Colonel Autumn have caused immense problems for all of us, but right now th-"

"Why did you attack Colonel Autumn?" one of the soldiers shouted.

Tara snorted and replied in a tone dripping with condescension, "In case you weren't listening, he's the one who set off the self-destruct. As far as I'm concerned, risking the lives of everyone in the facility out of spite is something worthy of a beating."

"Do we know if the elementary education section was evacuated?" one of the scientists called out suddenly. "My nephew, he's one of the elementary kids, do you think they got out okay?"

"The Maternity, Nursery, and Education sections were the first to be evacuated in the event of an emergency, remember?" Becky replied reassuringly.

"What do we do about them?" Another soldier asked, pointing at Sunset. "They're the ones who brought this magic shit here. Hell, half of them attacked the base just before everything went to shit!"

Applejack glared at him and balled her hands into fists. "Y'all were the ones who attacked us first! If your darn President and that Colonel would've just left us alone, none of this would've happened!"

Several of the soldiers called out retorts and insults, but Becky shouted over the top of them, "That's enough!" She planted her hands on her hips and drew herself up, flicking her hair back as she did so. "Applejack's right. Twice the Enclave has picked a fight with the Rainbooms without provocation, and twice it has fucked us over." She flung a hand out to indicate the crystalized mountain behind them. "Case in point. Starting another fight now isn't going to help anyone. Right now the best thing we can do is… hang on… that sound…"

Everyone looked up as a dull humming noise filled the air, slowly getting louder until it became recognisable as the sound of propellers. After a few seconds a trio of Vertibirds came into view circling the crystal spire.

Becky sighed with relief. "They must be looking for survivors."

The Vertibirds swept around and slowed to a hover in a clear space just ahead of the group before they landed, facing away from everyone. The centre Vertibird's crew compartment opened the moment it touched the ground and a man in an Enclave officer's uniform stepped out.

"Andrew?" Tara said blankly.

In response to Sunset's confused look, Becky explained, "Lieutenant-Colonel Strong. He's Tara's brother." Seeing that no-one else was stepping forward, she took it upon herself to salute. "Lieutenant-Colonel, it's good to see you."

The Lieutenant-Colonel gave Tara a dark glower before nodding to Becky and returning the salute. "Doctor Shoichet. I assume this is everyone that made it out from the main entrance?"

"Yes, Sir," Becky replied. "We were just deciding on the most appropriate course of action, but since you're the highest ranked officer here…"

Lieutenant-Colonel Strong picked up on her implication immediately and stepped forward to address the crowd. "Is anyone here injured?" A chorus of 'no, Sir', was the reply. "Good. In that case, we can fit about five more people each in the escort Vertibirds. Decide amongst yourselves who's coming, non-combatant personnel only. Soldiers, there's an outpost about 2 clicks East of here, I want you to escort the remaining non-combatants there then await further orders. Is that clear?"

Given a job to do with clear instructions, the Enclave personnel immediately set to carrying out their orders, with the scientists quickly selecting who would take the Vertibirds and the rest being corralled by the soldiers ready for departure. Satisfied that his orders were being followed the Lieutenant-Colonel folded his arms and glared up at Tara. "Alright, sis, what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"It's a long story," Becky cut in quickly. She rubbed her neck awkwardly as she added, "It, uh… it kinda ties into, well, that." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at the crystal spire for clarification.

The Lieutenant-Colonel groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just… just give me the short version."

"President Eden was keeping Project Scouring going in secret, and he wanted to use the Vault 101 boy to spread it around the wastes using Project Purity. I borrowed some magic from the Rainbooms so I had the power to get him to step down and keep Colonel Autumn from launching a coup. The Colonel didn't like that so he set off the base's self-destruct," Tara rattled off. "Add in the fact that Doctor Turner apparently smuggled some magic into the base, magic which replicates when exposed to high quantities of radiation, and you end up with a weird explosion and a mutated mountain fortress."

"Which explains the weird wave of multi-colored crap we saw getting launched across the wasteland." Lieutenant-Colonel Strong ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Ever since we got involved with this magic bullshit things have gone from troubling to fucking insane." He sighed again and looked over at Sunset. "So, is my little sister gonna be a permanent freakshow now, or what?"

Sunset shook her head, ignoring Tara's indignant spluttering. "She should turn back to normal as soon as she gives my friends their Geodes back. Speaking of which," she fixed Tara with a serious look, "I think it's time you handed them over."

Tara frowned and flexed her fingers, allowing a flicker of magic to play around them. Sunset saw Rainbow tightening her grip on Flashburn out of the corner of her eye and for a moment she was afraid that things were about to explode into violence, but Tara suddenly smiled and lowered herself to the ground.

"I suppose you're right. Here." Tara raised a hand to her chest. There was a flash of magic and the three Geodes appeared, separated, and flew through the air until they found their respective owners.

The effect on Tara was almost instant; her wings and horn disintegrated until nothing remained, her hair shortened and returned to its usual blonde, and her lab coat tidied itself up and bled color until it was perfectly white once again, clean as new. Tara swayed on the spot for a second and would have collapsed if Becky and the Lieutenant-Colonel hadn't darted forward to support her. "I… wow… that was… wow." she mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Becky asked.

Tara nodded slowly. "Yeah… just… tired."

Sunset glanced at Twilight, who was just slipping her Geode back over her head. "What about you, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." Twilight shivered when the Geode settled around her neck, but nodded and smiled weakly. "My back is sore, but I think I can make it to the Citadel if we get a helping hand." She gave the Vertibirds a pointed stare.

"We can't take you to the Citadel," Lieutenant-Colonel Strong said flatly.

"Where are you going to take us?" Becky asked.

The Lieutenant-Colonel hummed as he thought. "The two escort Vertibirds are going to Project Purity, but I'll be finding the nearest outpost with refuelling capabilities before heading on to-" he paused and glanced at the Rainbooms, "-to another site."

"Take us to Project Exodus," Becky said firmly. "We can give you directions and we can drop the Rainbooms off on the way. If we can convince whatever is left of the Senate to agree to a peace treaty with the Brotherhood of Steel, then that will at least make us look a little better."

"And what if we can't convince them?" Lieutenant-Colonel Strong asked. "You know Colonel Autumn will argue against it when he wakes up."

"That asshole survived?" Becky smiled awkwardly at the flat glare she received in response. "Heh, I mean… er… well, I guess we'll just have to forget to mention that we transported the Rainbooms?"

Tara grunted and straightened herself up. "Either way, Project Exodus isn't going to align itself against the Rainbooms again. And we will not support any more conflict with the Brotherhood of Steel. Take us to Project Exodus and drop the Rainbooms off along the way. If Congress doesn't like it, then they can drag themselves to Downtown D.C. and kiss my ass in person."

Lieutenant-Colonel Strong raised an eyebrow at her, then snorted and shook his head. "You're fucking crazy. Alright, fine; as far as anyone on my Vertibird will remember, they never even saw the Rainbooms. That's as far as I'll be able to protect you, though; so I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing."

Two sets of footsteps echoed down the ventilation tunnel; one heavy and regular, one light and shuffling. When they reached the end of the tunnel, two mismatched figures clambered over the mangled remains of a metal grating and stepped out into the open air of the wasteland.

Doctor Turner knew that Horrigan was staring at him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Despite the big brute's best efforts at shielding him, the doctor had still been caught by the blast and, unlike Horrigan, he lacked any form of protection from the magically charged flames. Fortunately, while extremely painful to the touch, the flames hadn't actually physically burned Doctor Turner. Unfortunately, they had affected him in a manner that was, in many ways, far more concerning.

The doctor's right arm had turned entirely charcoal black with bulging veins that pulsed a sickly yellow glow. Other patches of skin were in a similar condition where the flames had touched them.

Flexing his mutated arm experimentally, Doctor Turner sighed and looked back in the direction of Raven Rock. He raised an eyebrow as he spotted the crystal spire jutting into the sky. He hadn't been sure what he was going to see, but he hadn't expected that.

"Are you okay, doc?" Horrigan asked.

Doctor Turner nodded curtly and looked down at his arm again. "It's nothing to worry about. I've seen similar conditions on previous experimental subjects, it'll go back to normal in a month or so," he lied. The last thing he needed was for Horrigan to squash him for being a mutant.

Thankfully, Horrigan accepted his reply without question. "Good to hear. What's the plan, now?"

"That's a very good question." Doctor Turner looked up at the dark clouds in the sky as he considered his options. The top brass would probably want him to deliver Horrigan to Project Purity, but the doctor had no interest in putting himself in the path of a potential assault from the Brotherhood of Steel and the Rainbooms.

Travelling to Project Exodus, on the other hand, that sounded more interesting. Horrigan would easily be able to forge a path through any Super Mutants or other wasteland nasties that got in the way, even against a Scorchbeast such as the one the doctor spotted disappearing into the clouds, or one of the Wanamingos that had managed to escape too, judging by the tracks that led away from the tunnel.

Of course, it was almost certain that Doctor Strong would return to Project Exodus, but that was a risk that Doctor Turner was willing to take. In fact, he was positively hoping that she would be there. She wouldn't be able to run from Horrigan if she was locked in a secure underground facility. Getting access to the vast amount of magical goop still sitting in the hangar would just be the icing on the cake.

Doctor Turner grinned evilly. "Tell me, do you know the way to the old RobCo facility a few miles Southeast of the Pentagon?"

Somewhere underneath Raven Rock, in a newly transmuted cavern of multi-colored crystal, a faint light glowed in a wall that had once housed a large console and an accompanying monitor. A sudden crack echoed loudly in the silent cavern, and a fist-sized chunk of light blue crystal fell from the wall. The floor let out a clear chime when the chunk landed.

Eight segmented spikes unfolded from the chunk of crystal and flailed around aimlessly. With great difficulty, the spikes shifted and rolled the chunk until it finally flipped over, revealing itself to be a bizarre crystalline spider. The spider turned on the spot several times, as if getting a feel for its surroundings.

"Well now, this is irregular," Eden muttered, his mandibles glowing with a faint blue light when he spoke. "I really should listen to Doctor Strong in the future. If I ever see her again, that is."

Eden glanced around the cavern once more. Spotting a way out, the mutated AI skittered loudly towards a nearby crystal tunnel.

< ALERT >

< RADIATION SPIKE DETECTED: EQUIDAE OMEGA CLASS - VARIATION - >

< TRIANGULATING SOURCE >

< SOURCE LOCATED >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< COMPLETE >

< LOCALIZED SATURATION: 21.343% >

< COMPILING REPORT >

< COMPLETE >

< SENDING >

< COMPLETE >

< COUNCIL NOTIFIED >

< INCOMING COUNCIL DIRECTIVE >

< NON-INTRUSIVE ACQUISITION: EQUIDAE OMEGA CLASS - VARIATION - RADIATION - ACQUISITION AUTHORIZED >

< NON-INTRUSIVE COLLECTION UNITS DEPLOYED >

< CONTINUE OBSERVATION >

Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed as she trotted through the streets of Ponyville. She had just sent letters to Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, each of the old Pillars of Harmony, and Fizzlepop Berrytwist; now all she had to do was trawl through her collection of artefacts and oddities in the hopes of finding something that might allow the Diviner to open a stable interdimensional portal.

Sighing again, Twilight was snapped from her thoughts by a wet ripping sound. She gasped as the air in front of her rippled and shimmered, then split open to reveal a swirling black vortex. A palpable wave of horror and suffering poured out from the vortex, accompanied by the metallic stench of blood and a foul rotten reek that brought to mind images of death and decay.

Twilight retched and reeled back from the vortex, summoning a shield around herself to keep the awful smell at bay. As she tried to figure exactly what it was, not to mention how to get rid of it, the vortex pulsed and two familiar figures were launched out of it to sprawl on the floor.

"Discord? Starlight? What in Equestria is goi- Starlight?!" Starlight moaned incoherently as Twilight galloped to her side. Her right flank was covered in small cuts and gashes, a bloody bandage covered her left eye entirely and more blood was trickling from the corners of her mouth. "Starlight? Starlight, can you hear me?! Discord, wha-?!"

A child-like laugh suddenly echoed out from the vortex. Discord's head snapped up at the sound and he thrust his paw out, firing a ray of searing heat at the vortex that slowly welded the tear in reality shut. When nothing remained of the vortex but empty air, Discord turned his attention to Starlight.

"What's going on? What happened?!" Twilight demanded.

Discord ignored her and crawled across the ground until he reached Starlight, then gently placed his paw on her shoulder as he checked her over. Finally he sighed and looked up at Twilight. "Starlight told you that we were going to search a different world for your friends together?" Twilight nodded dumbly. "We got trapped. Sachiko, the thing in charge over there, managed to suppress even my powers, it took everything we had just to escape." Discord glanced down at Starlight uneasily. "Thankfully, I at least managed to stop the ghosts from taking her tongue."

"Her…" Twilight felt her gorge rising and clamped a hoof over her mouth.

With a hiss of pain, Discord got to his mismatched feet and stretched, revealing that he too was sporting several nasty cuts. "Get her to a hospital as quickly as you can."

Twilight nodded quickly. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to see if I can find the right world this time." Discord pulled a sheaf of parchment out of his ear, glanced at it for a moment, then swiped a claw through the air and sliced open another hole in reality; this one leading to a deserted fog-enshrouded street. "I'll keep searching for your friends and try to bring them back, then I'm going to go back to that nightmare world and burn it to the ground."

Without another word, Discord slithered through the hole in reality and closed it behind himself with a faint pop.

Twilight decided that she didn't really need to worry about Discord and getting Starlight to a hospital was more important. "Don't worry Starlight, it's going to be okay." Twilight’s horn flashed as she teleported herself and Starlight away.

The street was left in silence after the two had gone. Several seconds passed before a faint hissing started emanating from the spot where the vortex had closed. A tear slowly appeared in midair, dripping blood on the ground as it increased in size until finally a little unicorn filly slipped through and fell to the ground.

The filly had a deathly pale coat with a long black mane and tail, both of which were unkempt and dirty, and was wearing a tattered red dress. Dark rope burns were easily visible around her neck. The little filly examined her body curiously, then turned her attention to her surroundings. She took in the buildings of Ponyville with an impassive expression which morphed into a sadistic grin as her eyes fell upon the Ponyville schoolhouse off on the edge of town.

Giggling softly to herself, Sachiko lit up her horn and a crimson mist surrounded her body. When the mist dissipated she was gone, leaving behind several paper cutouts in roughly human shapes, and a single sheet of paper with strange writings scrawled all over it.

Chapter 63 - Take it Back!

All of the Brotherhood of Steel's available forces were gathering in the Citadel's courtyard. Adam couldn't help but wish that there were more; barely fifty power-armored Knights and Paladins were assembled into small squads, their armor gleaming in the morning light. Squires hurried around and between them, fetching ammunition or carrying messages.

"Is this everyone?" Fawkes asked.

Adam nodded. "According to Elder Lyons, this is everyone they could gather on short notice without leaving the Citadel undefended."

Still, despite the lack of numbers, Adam couldn't deny that the Brotherhood's strike force contained some truly formidable warriors. He and Fawkes had been assigned to the Lyons' Pride for this battle, the most elite team in the whole Brotherhood of Steel. Not far away the newly christened Wonderbolts were checking over their equipment; sitting under a shelter at the edge of the courtyard were the Rainbooms.

A storm of butterflies suddenly took flight in Adam's stomach as he noticed that Fluttershy was making her way over. The memory of last night's meeting, cut short though it was, made him struggle to keep a goofy smile off his face.

"Um, hey," Fluttershy said as she approached, her hair covering half her face.

"Hey," Adam replied. "Are, uh, are you okay?"

Fluttershy looked around at the assembled soldiers and said quietly, "I, um, I'm a little nervous."

"Yeah, I get that," Adam said somberly. "How's Twilight doing?"

"Oh, she's okay," Fluttershy replied. "She's still sleeping at the moment, but the surgery was successful and the medics think she should regain the full use of her arms when she heals."

"Good. That's good." Adam watched her awkwardly, unsure whether he should say something about last night or not, in case it made her run off in embarrassment. After a moment he threw caution to the wind and held an arm up; a clear invitation for a cuddle. To his absolute delight Fluttershy immediately ducked under his arm and squeezed up next to him. Her cheeks were turning bright red, but she also had a small smile on her face.

"I… um… I know I said to ask me after all of this was over, but…" Fluttershy glanced up at him from under her hair. "Well, I think you've got my answer." Adam felt a blush grace his own cheeks as he clasped his arm around her shoulders. "A-anyway, um, shouldn't you be getting in your armor?"

Adam glanced at the power armor he had 'borrowed' from the Enclave, currently standing empty waiting for him to step inside. The Brotherhood has been worried that people might mistake him for an Enclave soldier and shoot him in the confusion of battle, so their scribes, in a fit of irony, had painted it in the Vault-Tec scheme of blue with yellow trim. "I'll put it on when we're ready to go. I don't want to run down the fusion core, not until we can salvage some more from the Enclave."

"Good thinking." Adam looked up to see Sentinel Lyons walking towards them, accompanied by another woman.

The new woman wasn't wearing a helmet just like the Sentinel, but where Sarah Lyons had pale skin and a blonde ponytail the new woman had dark brown skin and a black buzz cut. She was carrying an immense sledgehammer, easily the same height as her, in a single hand as if it was a wizard's staff. She stopped just in front of Adam and held out her free hand. "Star Paladin Cross. It is good to finally see you again."

Adam raised an eyebrow as he shook her hand. "We've met before?"

Paladin Cross nodded. "Almost twenty years ago. I was the one who escorted you and your father across the wastes to Megaton after your mother passed." She clasped her fist over her heart and bowed her head. "I am deeply sorry that I was not present to prevent your father's death, but permit me the honor of aiding you in this battle to realize their dreams."

"I-I, uh, wow." Adam rubbed at his neck awkwardly then quickly pulled himself together. "Please, the honor would be mine. I just hope I don't drag you guys down out there."

Sarah smirked. "I've seen you fight. Trust me, you won't." Before he could reply she turned to Fluttershy. "What about you, are you joining us, today?"

"I will, but, um, I'll be with the rest of the Rainbooms and I'll just be doing first aid instead of, um, f-fighting," Fluttershy replied.

"Fair enough, in that case you'd best go and get some armor on, we'll be starting any minute," Sarah told her.

"Oh, um, okay." Fluttershy ducked out from under Adam's arm and made to walk away, then darted back and planted a quick kiss on his cheek before scampering away as quickly as she could, her own cheeks burning brightly.

No amount of self-control could prevent the goofy grin this time, not that Adam was trying particularly hard.

"She is a very sweet girl," Fawkes said approvingly.

"Yeah, I can feel my teeth rotting just from watching her," Sarah joked. "Come on, loverboy, get in your damn armor before you get diabetes or something."

Sunset sat on a bench near the edge of the Citadel's courtyard. Her stomach kept twisting in knots as she tried and failed to avoid thinking about what was about to happen. The rest of the Rainbooms were similarly lost in their own thoughts, save for Fluttershy who had gone to speak to Adam quickly before the mission began.

Glancing over at the two of them, Sunset allowed herself a smile as she saw Adam's arm around Fluttershy's shoulders.

"They do make a cute couple, don't they?" Rarity said, barely keeping the 'squee' out of her voice.

"Who?" Applejack turned to see where the others were looking, then blinked in surprise when she saw. "Huh? Since when have those two been dating?"

"Since last night, I think," Sunset offered.

Rainbow grunted. "I didn't even know that she was interested in him."

"Apparently he asked her out back in Vault 101, not long before James left, but Fluttershy turned him down because she didn't want to enter a relationship that would be doomed when we went home," Rarity supplied. She sighed dramatically. "After we met back up in Little Lamplight, she told him to ask again when everything had calmed down again. It seems she couldn't quite keep to her own restrictions." Rarity beamed and danced excitedly on the spot. "Oohhh I'm so glad about this! They look adorable together!"

Sunset was about to add her own thoughts on the subject when a group of squires hurried over. Each of them carried a heavy-looking bundle in their arms. "Miss, er, Rainbooms? We've brought some combat armor for all of you," the lead squire said loudly.

Snatched back to reality, Sunset struggled to remain composed as a squire helped her put the armor on. It was simple enough, really; a metal chestplate, backplate and shoulder pads for her torso, a belt with more metal plates to protect her hips and groin, and a set of metal shin-pads with matching knee-pads. The squire assured Sunset that it was comparatively lightweight, but it was still incredibly heavy to someone who wasn't used to it. She was glad that she had decided to ditch her backpack for this mission.

The others didn't seem to be having too much trouble with it. Rarity, predictably, was busy lamenting that the dull steel plates didn't go with her outfit, while Pinkie and Rainbow were both shifting around and swinging their arms to check their mobility. Applejack just gave the armor a quick check to make sure it fitted alright, nodded with satisfaction, and went back to fiddling with her Pip-Boy.

"Hey, whose is the extra kit?" one of the squires asked, holding up a spare set of armor.

"I think that's m-mine," Fluttershy called out as she hurried over.

Sunset tactfully chose not to comment on the incredible blush the young nurse was sporting. Instead she asked, "Any idea how much longer we're going to be standing here?"

"Yes… um… one second." Fluttershy let the squires help her get the armor on before replying, "Sentinel Lyons said that we'll be starting any minute."

Sunset nodded and tapped her Geode. "In that case we'd better get ready. Pony up, girls."

There were six flashes of light as the Rainbooms all ponied up, followed by a wave of gasps and muttering that spread rapidly through the courtyard. Sunset blinked in surprise as she realized that her new armor had taken on a reddish tinge. Looking around at the others, she noticed that the other girls' armor had taken on the faint color of their magic, too.

The noise in the courtyard was silenced as a pair of doors at one end slammed open and Elder Lyons stepped out. He looked impassively around at the assembled troops, then raised what looked like a walkie-talkie to his mouth. A moment later a series of speakers around the walls crackled into life, "Brothers and Sisters, the time is upon us. This may well be the most important battle of our lives. The Enclave have control of Project Purity, and intend to use it to force the local settlements into subjugation. We cannot allow that."

A sudden rumbling sound made Sunset look up. A large crane that towered over the walls was turning until it was positioned directly over the center of the bailey.

"The Enclave have fortified Project Purity against us, using advanced energy fields to block all avenues of attack," Elder Lyons continued. "They believe that they have us outgunned, outclassed, and outmatched. They are wrong."

As the crane lowered its hook, a huge circular hatch opened up in the ground for it to disappear into. Moments later the cable went taut and, with the sound of straining metal, hoisted out the immense robot that the Rainbooms had seen in the lab underground.

Astonished cries and cheers filled the air as Elder Lyons voice rang out through the speakers, "Liberty Prime shall open the path to the objective. Stay with the robot until your route is clear, then occupy Project Purity and drive out the Enclave."

The crane turned slowly, moving to place Liberty Prime outside the Citadel. Unfortunately, the crane's operator apparently misjudged the distance between the robot and the wall, and its leg collided with the top of the Citadel with an impact that knocked free a deluge of shattered bricks and plaster.

Elder Lyons glared up at the crane as it raised Liberty Prime a little more, just enough to clear the wall, then finished turning. With a nod, Elder Lyons held out an arm and called out to the troops, "Go forth, my Brothers and Sisters. Onward to victory!"

The assembled Knights let loose a great roar that echoed around the courtyard as they all piled through the Citadel's exit. Swallowing her trepidation, Sunset hefted her assault rifle and called out to the rest of the girls,"Alright, Rainbooms, let's go!"

The girls found themselves near the back of the miniature army making their way out of the Citadel; a splash of color among a sea of gray power armor.

Liberty Prime was waiting outside. As soon as the first Knights reached it the robot jerked into motion. The ground shook with each step Liberty Prime took as the giant robot led the way down a dirt track away from the Citadel. As it walked, the robot's speakers suddenly boomed, "MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE COMMUNISTS."

Sunset looked up at it in awe. She suspected that Chinese communists must be the original foe that Liberty Prime was programmed to fight, but she doubted that it would have much difficulty dealing with the Enclave troops instead.

A short way along the route a couple of squads split off from the main group. They opened up a manhole cover just off the path and, with a shout of encouragement to the others, made their way underground one by one. The rest of the Brotherhood forces continued down the path after Liberty Prime.

After crossing a short metal bridge across a creek, they came to a battered old concrete bridge, a solid construct built for two lanes of traffic, that spanned the width of an irradiated river. Two large pylons had been erected at the top of the ramp that led onto the bridge. A crackling blue energy field shimmered between them, blocking the way ahead. Enclave soldiers could be seen getting into position behind it, taking aim at the approaching Brotherhood of Steel troops.

Out of nowhere a missile suddenly flashed across the river and slammed into Liberty Prime's shoulder, raising worried gasps from the Knights. Liberty Prime paused in its tracks to look in the direction the missile had come from. A moment later a series of blue laser beams lanced out from the robot's eyes and slammed into a Vertibird hovering on the other side of the river, blowing it out of the sky.

"COMMUNISM IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF FAILURE." Satisfied that its enemy was destroyed, Liberty Prime stomped up the bridge towards the energy barrier. "OBSTRUCTION DETECTED. COMPOSITION: TITANIUM ALLOY SUPPLEMENTED BY PHOTONIC RESONANCE BARRIER. PROBABILITY OF MISSION HINDRANCE-" Liberty walked directly into the barrier, arcs of electricity cascading all over its body, until finally the barrier collapsed in a shower of sparks, "ZERO PERCENT."

The Enclave soldiers on the bridge panicked and fired wildly at the robot, but Liberty Prime opened up with its lasers as it walked, mowing the troopers down with ease.

"Damn, that thing kicks ass!" Rainbow cried.

Encouraged by the robot's effortless destruction of their enemies, the Knights piled onto the bridge in Liberty Prime's wake. Sunset slowed to a walk as she reached the top of the bridge, crouching as much as she could and casting her gaze around warily.

"What's wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Sunset bit her lip. "Something doesn't feel right. Liberty Prime may have taken the Enclave by surprise, but you'd think that they'd have something else up their sleeves in case we made it onto the bridge. We're seriously exposed up here."

The words had barely left her mouth before they were justified, as a whistling cry echoed over the bridge. One of the Knights yelled, "Artillery!" Explosions rent the air a bare second later.

Liberty Prime shrugged off artillery shells as if they were merely an irritant, but the Knights weren't so lucky. Even their power armor wasn't enough to save them; the explosions tore through metal and flesh alike with terrifying ease, scattering debris and broken bodies all over the road. The Rainbooms were saved by the fact that they were right at the back of the group, just out of the artillery's range, but even they were pelted by shards of tarmac.

Enduring the Enclave's barrage, Liberty Prime reached for a dispenser on its back, pulled out a man-sized bomb, then stepped forward and tossed it as if it was passing a football. The following blast was out of the girls' sight, but was powerful enough to shake the very ground beneath their feet.

"Sometimes I hate being right," Sunset said quietly, unable to hide the quaver in her voice. "This is way beyond anything we can handle."

"It's about to get worse," Pinkie hissed. As she spoke a pair of Vertibirds flew over the ruins, one on either side of the bridge and just out of range of the ground troops. The two of them launched a barrage of missiles that engulfed Liberty Prime.

Rainbow swore loudly. "I'll take out the one on the right!" She ignited Flashburn, then disappeared in a multicolored blur.

"Ah got the other one!" Applejack slung her rifle over her shoulder and snatched up a dislodged length of rebar, then hurled it like a javelin at the Vertibird. The steel pole smashed through the corner of the vehicle's windshield. It must have hit the pilot or an important part of the controls, because the Vertibird immediately spun out of control and crashed into the river below.

A loud blast from the other Vertibird snagged Sunset's attention just in time for her to watch it plunge into the river too, blue flames pouring from one of its engines. Rainbow landed back at her side a heartbeat later. "Got 'em, is the robot okay?"

Sunset tore her gaze from the Vertibird's watery grave and looked ahead. Liberty Prime seemed unfazed by the pounding it had taken as it pulled out another bomb and lobbed it at the distant artillery. The Knights that had hunkered down or taken cover soon noticed that the bombardment had stopped, scrambling back into some semblance of order and charging after Liberty Prime as it continued on its way.

"Looks like it's fine, let's go!" Applejack cried.

"You girls go on ahead, I'm going to help the wounded!" Fluttershy called out before flying over to the nearest fallen Knight.

The screams of the wounded and the dying hounded Sunset as she and the others hurried to catch up to the rest of the Brotherhood troops. Worse was the sight of those soldiers who would never cry out again; shattered bodies strewn across the road in pieces like some macabre puzzle.

Sunset tried to focus on the Knights who were still standing in an effort to take her mind off the carnage, but that just brought a fresh problem to her attention; counting the Knights that had taken the sewer route, the strike force had lost about half of their number already. Still, the Enclave had taken heavy losses, too, as the mangled remains of steel barricades would attest.

More gunfire broke out when Liberty Prime reached the far end of the bridge. Tall ruins rose up on each side of the road, providing the Enclave soldiers with excellent vantage points from which they could rain fire down on the Brotherhood troops. Fortunately, most of them concentrated their efforts on Liberty Prime. The robot weathered the storm and responded in kind, blasting them with its lasers or hurling miniature nukes that brought down entire buildings with their fury.

A short way past the end of the bridge the road turned to the right and down a ramp. The buildings on the right descended with it, but the buildings on the left stayed on the same elevation, until the floor was high enough above the road that it was level with Liberty Prime's shoulders.

Sunset looked up at the ruins anxiously as the Rainbooms started down the ramp. They had been lucky enough to avoid being targeted so far, probably because they were right at the back of the group and a much smaller threat than the massive battle robot currently causing mayhem up ahead, but this enclosed area would be a nasty place to get ambushed.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind Sunset heard aircraft approaching from behind. Her heart leapt into her mouth as another Vertibird appeared over the top of the ruins. "Everyone get off the road!" The Rainbooms and the few Knights that heard scrambled into the nearest building just as the Vertibird opened fire, scouring the road with a storm of laser fire and missiles.

Before Sunset could catch her breath there was a loud crash as an Enclave soldier dropped down from a higher floor, landing hard enough to shatter the rocks beneath his feet. Pinkie shoved Sunset aside just in time to save her from getting a bolt of plasma to the chest. The soldier aimed at Pinkie instead, but a shining gemstone smacked into his gun and fouled his aim. A second later there was a colossal boom as Applejack used the distraction to punch him as hard as she could, sending him sailing through the walls behind.

"Are y'all okay?" Applejack called out. The others had to shout to make their replies heard as the sounds of fierce combat filled the air. Sunset swore as she realized that she had been right; they'd walked right into the Enclave's ambush.

"What do we do now?" Rarity asked.

Sunset opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off as a sudden burst of plasma fire from above forced the girls to scatter and run deeper into the building. Time seemed to lose all meaning as Sunset ran, each ruined corridor or debris-strewn room providing a fresh glimpse into Tartarus as Brotherhood Knights and Enclave soldiers clashed in a brutal melee.

In one room a Knight was emptying his minigun into an Enclave soldier's face at point blank range, firing until his enemy's head was little more than a red mist dotted with flakes of scrap metal. In another, several Knights had abandoned using their ineffective weapons and resorted to mobbing a lone soldier, holding him down while one of their number ripped off the soldier's helmet and bludgeoned him to death with it.

The Brotherhood wasn't having everything go their way. The Enclave soldiers had better equipment and training, and wherever they matched the Brotherhood's numbers the Knights were gunned down mercilessly.

Everything was too chaotic for Sunset to tell who was winning. She had lost sight of the rest of the Rainbooms, and the constant snap of laser and plasma fire coupled with intermittent explosions rendered her near enough deaf. Sunset had yet to fire a single shot herself. Every time she pointed her rifle at someone images of the raider she had shot flashed across her mind, keeping her from pulling the trigger.

Lost, confused, and scared, Sunset just kept moving until, as she ran across an open room, a single laser shot punched her in the chest. Her armor took the hit, but the impact threw off her balance just enough that she tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground, spraying bullets everywhere as she accidentally pulled her rifle's trigger.

Sunset rolled onto her back and looked up in time to see an Enclave soldier stomping towards her. She yelled and fired wildly at him, terror overriding her hesitation, but the bullets just pinged harmlessly off his armor. Just as the soldier raised his own weapon a Knight came charging out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground.

Granted a reprieve, Sunset surged to her feet and sprinted away, not daring to look back at the fight that erupted behind her. She ran through the ruined building as fast as she could, not stopping until she finally found herself in a small back room stocked with a couple of rusty filing cabinets.

Sunset was at the end of her rope. Pushed beyond rational thought, she tossed her assault rifle aside and sagged against the wall, running her hands through her hair as she tried to get her breathing under control. Panicked as she was, it took Sunset a few moments to realize that she wasn't alone. Pinkie was curled up in a ball in the corner, staring blankly at the wall ahead as tears streamed silently down her face.

Neither girl spoke. Sunset wanted to give Pinkie a hug, to at least try to comfort her, but when she tried to take a step her knees buckled and she instead found herself sitting on the floor with one leg folded underneath her. Belatedly, Sunset realized that she was shaking uncontrollably as she cried, too.

Heavy footsteps and a shadow falling across the door announced the arrival of someone else. An Enclave soldier stomped into the doorway, and Sunset was vaguely aware of a warm wetness spreading between her legs as she lost control of her bladder in her terror.

The soldier took a single step into the room, then slumped against the doorframe and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. A closer look revealed that the one side of his armor was battered and rent, with multiple holes dotting the deformed metal. Sunset stared warily at the soldier for several seconds before crawling over to him. When she got to him she reached up and, with a grunt of effort, managed to pry off his helmet.

The soldier was barely more than a boy, around the same age as the Rainbooms. His skin was waxy and deathly pale. Blood spattered from his mouth as he coughed out, "I… don't wa… don't wanna... die…"

"I-it's okay," Sunset managed to whisper. "You… you're going to be alright." Without thinking, driven by deep-rooted compassion, she reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. The moment her hand touched his skin her Geode pulsed and her magic flared into life.

A flood of images flowed into Sunset's mind, snapshots from the soldier's life. A little boy playing catch with his father in a hangar. Playing tag with friends in a makeshift jungle gym. Learning math from the kindly elementary teacher. Getting his first flight in a Vertibird with his father. Being treated to a real steak as a reward for getting accepted into the higher education football team. Standing nervously in front of Colonel Autumn as he started military training. Learning to field-strip a plasma rifle. A girlfriend crying out in ecstasy as he thrust into her. Crying tears of pride after graduating Raven Rock's military academy with honours. Hugging his mother before flying out to the Jefferson Memorial for his first mission. And finally stumbling into a back room, wounded by explosives after his first battle went sideways.

As the visions slowly faded to black Sunset felt something tugging at her mind, as if her very soul was being sucked into a dark abyss. She snatched her hand back and the magic cut off instantly. Sunset stared blankly at the corpse sitting in front of her, her heart hammering so hard it actually hurt. She tried to move, to stand or scream or do anything, but her body just wouldn't cooperate. The world span, and Sunset felt herself slump to the floor just before she slipped into unconsciousness.

Adam ducked instinctively as another missile slammed into Liberty Prime. The robot shrugged it off and retaliated with its lasers, easily obliterating the offending soldier. It looked up and down the street for any further targets. Seeing that all Enclave troops in the open were down, it turned to continue on its way.

"That's the last of them!" Sentinel Lyons called out. "Pride, Wonderbolts and Adam, with me! The rest of you head into that building and help the others deal with whatever's left of the ambush!"

Three Knights split off from the group and ran back towards the building the rest of the strike force had disappeared into. Adam just blinked dumbly, having expected there to be more troops left, then hurried to catch up with Lyons and the others. Fawkes and Paladin Cross kept pace with him; friendship on one side and duty on the other.

The few remaining Enclave soldiers on the streets were wiped out easily by the group as they advanced. Cross wielded her super sledge with an elegant brutality that spoke of years of experience, while the barrel of Fawkes' gatling laser glowed white-hot from the sheer amount of firepower he had unleashed. The rest of the team had scavenged plasma rifles from fallen Enclave soldiers, snatching up ammunition from the dead wherever they could; they were the only other weapons that could consistently breach the Enclave's superior power armor.

It didn't take long for the group to reach the end of the ruined streets. One more concrete bridge over a tributary river led to Project Purity, but the far side was protected by an extensive system of photonic resonance barriers that ringed the entirety of the Jefferson Memorial; one final obstacle for the Brotherhood to overcome.

Liberty Prime stomped over the bridge towards the barrier with no sign of concern whatsoever, causing cracks in the concrete that made Adam worry about the bridge's structural integrity. "DEMOCRACY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE." When it reached the barrier it reached out to grip the pylons on either side of the bridge. Electricity arced all over Liberty Prime's body, filling the air with the reek of ozone, until finally the robot collapsed onto all fours as the ring of barriers failed in a colossal shower of sparks.

The small team stared at Liberty in stunned horror, but they soon breathed a sigh of relief as the giant robot pushed itself to its feet and lumbered forwards once more. "COMMUNISM IS A TEMPORARY SETBACK ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM."

A handful of Enclave soldiers tried to resist, apparently determined to fight to their last breath, but Liberty Prime's overwhelming firepower ensured that those final breaths were only seconds away. Adam actually felt sorry for them. Most of them were probably just ordinary people following bad orders, but that didn't make an ounce of difference to the cold logic of a combat robot.

Sentinel Lyons clapped Adam on the shoulder as she stepped past him. "Alright people, this is it. Liberty Prime has done his part, now it's up to us to get in there and secure the purifier. Let's go!"

Just as the team started towards the Memorial building they were caught off-guard by the sudden roar of rotors. Fear clenched Adam's heart as four Vertibirds soared around the exterior of Project Purity, two on each side flanking the group in a pincer manoeuvre.

Sentinel Lyons tried to shout a warning, but it was drowned out by the sound of the Vertibirds unleashing a furious salvo of missiles at Liberty Prime. Thankfully, the attacks were no more effective than previously. Unlike previously, however, the Vertibirds kept moving, shifting into single file and speeding up as they made a beeline for the robot.

"Shit, it's a bombing run!" Sentinel Lyons shouted. "Everyone scatter!"

Adam belted for cover, risking a glance over his shoulder as he ran. Liberty Prime managed to blast two of the Vertibirds out of the sky, scattering chunks of blazing debris all over the place, but the robot couldn't turn in time to target the other two before they reached it. Adam caught a brief glimpse of several small black masses dropping out of the Vertibirds as they passed over Liberty Prime, then his focus was shattered as the explosions started.

The ground quaked as nuclear fire enveloped the giant robot. Over a dozen blasts ripped through the air, each one rolling into the next like some nightmare crescendo. Adam threw himself to the floor and covered his head, desperately hoping that he was far enough away from the explosions for his armor to protect him. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last of the blasts faded away, leaving a ringing silence in their wake.

Cautiously, Adam uncovered his head and pushed himself onto his knees before reluctantly turning to see the aftermath of the bombs. Black smoke shrouded the robot entirely. The two Vertibirds could be seen banking around, clearly lining themselves up for another attack. Adam felt his heart sink as he realized that their next target would likely be him.

"DEATH IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM." Blue lasers suddenly tore out of the smoke, obliterating the Vertibirds with ease. Adam gasped and clambered to his feet, then whooped as the smoke dissipated to reveal Liberty Prime, blackened but unbeaten, one fist raised in the air triumphantly. "DEMOCRACY WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED."

A few scattered cheers and shouts of awe greeted his proclamation. Adam looked around quickly, mentally counting as the Wonderbolts and the Lyons Pride picked themselves up off the ground and gathered together again. Cross looked fine, if a little pissed off, and at least two of the Knights were obviously injured by the way they were moving, but Fawkes was nowhere to be seen.

"Fawkes? Where are you, buddy?" Adam called out. "Fawkes?!"

"Over here," came the gruff reply. Adam followed the voice around the mangled remains of a car to find Fawkes sat against the side of it. "I am glad to see that you are unhurt."

"What about you, how are you doing?" Adam asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

Fawkes sighed and shifted his leg to reveal a foot-long shard of twisted metal sticking out of his knee, earning a sympathetic hiss from Adam. "Do not worry, I will live, but I am afraid I will not be able to help you secure your objective. Not unless you can wait for an hour while I crawl over there."

"It's fine, buddy, you rest," Adam replied with a relieved grin. "We'll handle the rest of these posers, then I'll fetch you a glass of fresh water. How does that sound?"

Fawkes chuckled softly. "That sounds agreeable indeed." He reached up to clasp Adam's hand. "Go. Carry out your destiny and fulfil your parents' dream."

Adam nodded and clapped him on the shoulder before jogging over to the others.

"How's Fawkes?" Metzger asked.

"He'll be okay, but he's going to have to sit this one out," Adam replied. "What now?"

Sentinel Lyons glared up at the Memorial building. "Now we finish this fight." Without another word she charged off towards the nearest door, forcing the others to follow quickly or get left behind.

The interior of Project Purity was far cleaner than Adam remembered. Most of the debris had been cleared and the accumulated filth and bloodstains had been completely scrubbed away. "Say what you will about the Enclave, but at least they keep things tidy."

Angry shouting could be heard from a doorway just ahead on their right. Sentinel Lyons held up a hand to halt her team, then gestured for Cross to come closer. Adam frowned as he tried to figure out their best option; there was only one way in or out, and the Enclave soldiers within were certain to have it well covered with as much firepower as they could muster.

As he was still pondering what to do, Cross stepped aside and crouched next to the wall opposite the door, just out of sight of whoever was inside. As soon as she was situated she nodded to Sentinel Lyons, who raised her hand again and called out to the Enclave soldiers, "This is Sentinel Lyons of the Brotherhood of Steel. We have you surrounded and outnumbered. Surrender and your lives will be spared; you have my word."

"With all due respect, Sentinel, you can go fuck yourself!" someone shouted in reply.

Sentinel Lyons just shook her head and dropped her hand. The moment she did Cross exploded into action, launching herself at the wall next to the door and barreling straight through it as if it were made of paper. Adam barely had time to register what had happened before he was caught up in the rush as the rest of the team charged in after her with a roar.

Three soldiers were in the room. They were clearly well disciplined, smoothly switching their aim from the door to the hole in the wall and firing in unison, but the moment of distraction cost them dearly.

Cross dove into a commando roll the moment the soldiers fired, an incredible feat in power armor, then swung her hammer in a wide arc as she rolled back to her feet, using her momentum to cave in the nearest soldiers' helmet. The last two soldiers were caught in a barrage of plasma fire that only ended when they both fell. Cross kicked their weapons aside, just in case they weren't quite dead.

Adam whistled softly as he lowered his weapon. He realized that he was going to have to learn and account for what power armor was actually capable of in the future, especially if he was going to get involved in more fighting. Putting that to the back of his mind for now, he asked, "What now?"

Sentinel Lyons gently wiped her brow with a gauntlet as she answered, "The squads we sent through the sewer tunnels are downstairs trying to take control of the reactor. We'll secure this floor, then go downstairs and give them a hand."

"That won't be necessary," a familiar voice called out. Adam and the Sentinel frowned at each other, then walked over to a nearby door, readying their weapons as a precaution. Colonel Autumn was sitting on the edge of a portable hospital bed with both of his arms in splints. A medic and an Enclave officer in dress uniform were in the makeshift clinic, too, holding their hands above their heads. Colonel Autumn looked up at the Sentinel as she stepped into the room. "You win, Sentinel Lyons. Major Johnson, give the order for our troops to lay down their arms. We surrender."

"Wise decision. It's a shame you didn't make the same call yesterday." Sentinel Lyons looked back over her shoulder at the rest of the team. "Wonderbolts, take these men into custody, then I want you to-"

"Hang on a second," Major Johnson cut in. "Colonel, we've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Sentinel Lyons asked testily.

The Major looked from her to the Colonel and back as if waiting for permission, but when none was forthcoming he shrugged and replied anyway, "Our scientists are saying that the reactor systems downstairs were damaged in the firefight. They're generating an immense amount of power and they can't switch it off, if we don't do something in the few minutes it's going to overload and explode!"

"He's telling the truth," one of the Pride's Knights supplied. "I've just got word from our troops down there, the reactor got hit by wayward laser fire. We need to evacuate the building!"

"Has the G.E.C.K. been installed properly yet?" Adam asked urgently.

Major Johnson nodded. "It has, but that won't help. Switching the purifier on would solve our issue but we don't know the activation code."

"No need, I know the code!" Adam turned to leave, but was stopped as the Major shouted after him.

"Wait! The control room is still massively irradiated, going in there will be suicide!"

That was enough to give Adam pause. Seeing his hesitation, Sentinel Lyons stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me the code. I'll activate the purifier."

Adam looked at her as the rest of the Knights started arguing over whether they should evacuate or not. She was clearly terrified, but determined. That was enough to set Adam's mind. "Fine, but you'll need that monkey wrench over there."

As the Sentinel turned to see what he was talking about, Adam shrugged off her hand and sprinted out of the room, thundering through the building as quickly as he could. He could hear her following him, shouting for him to wait, but he paid it no mind. Fawkes was right, this was his destiny.

The rotunda containing the purifier was almost exactly the way Adam last saw it. The hole in the wall hadn't been fixed, but the debris around it had been safely cleared away. He charged through the hole, smashing more chunks from the edges in his haste, and surged up the stairs to the control room. Metal stairs buckled under his armor's weight, but he made it to the top and into the airlock without stumbling.

Sentinel Lyons reached the top a second after the reinforced glass door slid shut. She pounded a fist on the door as she yelled, "Damn it, Adam! Why?!"

"Sorry, Sarah, but I'm not going to let anyone else die for the sake of my parents' dream. This is something I have to do myself." He reached for the button to open the inner door, then paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Tell Fluttershy that I'm sorry."

"I will." Sentinel Lyons snapped a crisp salute. "The wasteland will never forget this sacrifice, I swear."

Adam just nodded and pressed the button. His armor's Geiger counter immediately crackled into life as a wave of dizziness passed through him. Forcing himself forward, he stepped over to the main control panel and looked down at the keypad.

The activation code was easy to figure out for anyone who had known James well. His wife, Adam's mother, had always loved the Bible, and one certain verse in particular. It was this verse that would inspire her dream, and what would now become her legacy in the form of Project Purity.

"Revelation 21:6." Adam typed in the three digit code. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely." His heart broke as he heard the purifier kicking into life.

Adam sank to one knee as his strength rapidly faded, tears flowing down his face as he allowed himself to finally break down at the unfairness of it all. He had lost his mother on the day of his birth, then lived a lie for most of his life and had the comfort of that lie stripped away in one awful day. Ever since then his days had been a hellish conga line of misery. At the very last, when he had finally found a shred of light, a whisper of kindness in the harshness of the wastes, he was forced into this last and most cruel of choices by his own heroic nature.

"Sorry… Flutters… I didn't… want… to hurt you. F… forgive me…" Adam keeled over as the radiation in the room suddenly spiked, and the darkness claimed him as its own.

Author's Note

I've put a link to the character sheet in the long description of this story, and I'll be updating it with every chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 64 - Trauma

Fluttershy was dead. She was sure of it. She had died and gone to Tartarus. It was the only explanation for the waking nightmare her life was becoming.

She was currently sitting beside a bed in the Citadel's infirmary; Adam lay on the bed next to her, trapped in a deep coma. The medics kept saying that it was a miracle that he was even alive, given the amount of radiation he had been exposed to, but it was a cold comfort at best.

The Wonderbolts and Lyons' Pride had explained everything that had happened at Project Purity, and the knowledge of what Adam had done caused conflicting emotions to rage across the young nurse's mind.

Fluttershy was proud of what he had done, that was undeniable, and she greatly respected the courage that it must have taken to sacrifice himself like that. Naturally, she was worried about whether or not he would ever wake up again, and she was unspeakably sad at the thought of losing him so soon after they had truly gotten closer, but there was something else burning within her heart, something that was growing stronger with every hour that passed.

Anger.

Fluttershy hated herself for feeling it, but it was there nonetheless. Anger at the Enclave for what they had done, at the Brotherhood of Steel for allowing him to sacrifice himself, and, most of all, anger at the wasteland itself for being the kind of shithole where things like this were considered normal and allowed to happen.

Fluttershy was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone else enter the room and talk to one of the medics, not until he stepped up next to her.

"How are you holding up?" Elder Lyons asked. When Fluttershy didn't reply he just sighed and said softly, "I understand. We may have retaken Project Purity, but that doesn't make this any easier."

Fluttershy glanced up at him, then followed his sad gaze over to the room's other patient. Sentinel Lyons had tried to stop Adam and activate the purifier in his place, but she had failed and been knocked out by the massive burst of radiation unleashed when Project Purity was switched on. Just like Adam, she was now stuck in a coma, too.

"Don't give up hope, Miss Fluttershy." Elder Lyons patted her shoulder gently before going to sit next to his daughter, leaving Fluttershy to her own dark thoughts and inner turmoil.

The Citadel's training area was unusually quiet as most of the Knights and Initiates were busy trying to refortify Project Purity by nightfall, while those few who weren't were taking the opportunity to rest while they could.

All of that suited Rainbow Dash just fine, it simply meant that she could redo the assault course as many times as she wanted without anyone else getting in her way.

Rainbow still had her armor on with Flashburn sheathed at her waist and its gas tank secured on her back, though she could swear that it had shrunk somehow over the day, and she had strapped her pack over the top of it for extra weight. The only missing item was her Geode, which had been left with Applejack for safe keeping.

Ideally, Rainbow would have preferred to train with it, but she didn't want to risk supercharging the others again. Having her magic get more sensitive was the last thing Sunset needed right now. Unable to push her magic's limits, Rainbow's only option was to push her body's.

The assault on Project Purity should never have gone down the way it did; if she had been faster, been stronger, been better, then she could have prevented most of the Brotherhood's casualties, she was certain of it. But, because she had gotten bogged down struggling to pierce the Enclave's power armor, people had gotten hurt. Her friends had gotten hurt.

Rainbow would never let that happen again. It was that single thought that filled her mind as she ran through the assault course over and over again, until finally a passing instructor had to step in and physically drag her away from it.

It sucks being in a hospital and the Enclave are dicks. Those were the stunning realizations that Twilight and Pinkie came to while they were cooped up in a recovery room together.

Twilight had been awake for a couple of hours now, long enough to hear about everything that had happened at Project Purity. It hardly felt real, hearing what everyone else had been through, but then again, Twilight was currently lying in a hospital bed dosed up to her eyeballs on painkillers and was being propped up by strategically placed cushions so she didn't hurt her back, and she was also completely unable to move her arms.

A lot of things didn't feel real right at that moment.

Still, Twilight was at least glad that she should regain most of the use of her arms, eventually.

Throwing the likelihood of permanent disability to the back of her mind as best she could, Twilight looked over at Pinkie. The medics had brought her in an hour or so after Twilight had woken up and plonked her in the chair next to the bed. Pinkie was looking a lot perkier than she had been when she was first brought in, though her hair was still flatter than it was normally.

According to the medics, Pinkie had been suffering something of a severe dissociative experience and they felt that having her speak to Twilight would help her in some way; partially because seeing a close friend would be beneficial for them both, and partially because Twilight was the only Rainboom who wasn't currently processing any mental trauma from the assault on Project Purity. The implications of that worried Twilight more than anything, but she kept it to herself.

Fortunately, the medics had been right and Pinkie had been slowly emerging from her shell. Speculating on whether or not the apprentice medic who blushed every time she entered the room was attracted to one of them certainly seemed to help their mentalities. Pinkie wasn't back to normal yet, but she was a lot better than she had been back in Rivet City; at least she was currently feeling well enough to lament the necessity of hospitals and viciously slate the Enclave in their entirety.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Twilight closed her eyes to hide the icy wrath she felt at the thought of the Enclave. As soon as she was back on her feet, Twilight was going to make them suffer for what they had done to her friends.

Applejack stretched as she ambled through the corridors to the room she was sharing with Rarity, enjoying the sensation of her joints popping between paces with each twist and tweak of an achy limb. She had done what she could to help with clearing the battlefield, using her prodigious strength to help shift any larger pieces of equipment that could be salvaged, but now she was in the mood to get some much needed rest.

"Finally," Applejack muttered when she spotted the door to her shared room. As she opened it, she called out, "You in here, Rarity?"

Rarity looked around from the small table she was sitting at and gave a wan smile. "There you are, darling. I was wondering how much longer you were going to be."

"Sorry about that." Applejack sat on the edge of her bed and tugged her boots off. "Hoo-wee, my dogs’re barkin' after today. What are you working on over there, Rares?"

"Not much, I've just been fixing our clothes, mostly to try and take my mind off…" Rarity gestured vaguely at her head and sighed heavily. "I'd probably have finished by now, but…"

"Your hand still giving you trouble?" Applejack asked.

Rarity nodded. Ever since she had been shot by the raider on the way back to Arefu, the fingers of her left hand had had a tendency to freeze up on occasion. It wasn't painful, or so she said, but it did occasionally flare up when she was performing delicate work like sewing, forcing her to improvise. "In any case, I've at least managed to patch up the worst of the damage and I've fixed up that broken brassiere of yours. You shouldn't have any more trouble with the wire for a while."

"Thanks, Ah owe you one." Applejack said sincerely. "Speaking of bras, this one's coming off." Standing back up, she pulled off her top before undoing her bra and letting it slip to the floor. "Phew! Now that's better." Applejack basked in the feeling of sweet release for a moment before stripping off the rest of her clothes and then changing into a baggy t-shirt and shorts.

Rarity chuckled softly. "At least one of us in high spirits, how do you manage it?"

"Easy enough, Ah don't know any girl that don't feel better when they take their bra off at the end of the day." Applejack grinned as she dropped onto the edge of the bed again. "You should try it yourself."

Rarity gave one of her characteristic scoffs. "As much as I enjoy mammary liberation, I'm afraid I still have to go and fetch some food from the dining hall later, and I refuse to step outside of this room without a brassiere on. Goodness knows how many of these Knights are secretly lecherous perverts... then again," she added coyly, "I suppose I should be more concerned about the lecherous pervert currently sharing a room with me."

Applejack didn't reply. She had just spotted dried blood underneath her fingernails, she must have missed it in the shower, and the sight of it had utterly ruined her attempts at distracting herself from the morning's events.

The chair creaked, and a moment later Applejack felt a weight on the bed next to her and an arm reaching around her shoulders. "It's going to be alright, darling," Rarity said quietly. "I know this must be awful for you; it was bad enough using my magic against Super Mutants, I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to use your power against other people; but we're going to get through this together. I promise."

"That's just it, Rarity, it wasn't hard. It was as easy as knocking down an old barn," Applejack replied darkly. When her gun had proven useless against the Enclave's power armor, she had resorted to her magic; sneaking up on the enemy and using her strength to crush armor, snap limbs, and shatter skulls. "Don't get me wrong, all that fighting was scarier than anything Ah've ever seen before, but every time Ah killed someone, Ah just felt… nothing." Applejack stared down at her hands as if they were still soaked in blood. "What kinda person can crush a man's skull between her palms and not be bothered by it. How… how can Ah ever look Apple Bloom in the eye ever again, knowing that Ah'm that kinda person, that Ah'm some kind of… of monster."

"You're not a monster, Applejack," Rarity said firmly, squeezing her tightly. "Maybe it'll hit you later, or maybe it won't, but fighting for what's right is not something you should be ashamed of. The fact that you're worrying about this at all is proof that you aren't a monster."

Applejack didn't say anything, she just leaned into Rarity's hug and hoped that, despite everything, she was right.

Cold wind rattled the broken glass of old window frames, filling the room with a biting chill.

Sunset welcomed it.

She had been wandering through the Citadel randomly for hours trying to familiarise herself with her own body, trying to remember the simple feeling of just existing, until finally she ended up in this unused room in the Citadel's outer ring. It must have been an office once, going by the large desk in the corner with windows that looked out onto a wreck-strewn parking lot.

Sunset bit her lip as she stared out of the window. The cold, the soreness in her limbs, even the sting of the cuts she had picked up in the morning, Sunset accepted all of it. Needed it. Anything that would remind her that she was still alive.

None of it was working, though. No matter where she went or what she did, Sunset couldn't shake the feeling of that gaping abyss leeching at her soul, of how it felt to die.

Sunset clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned to storm out of the room. As she considered where she was going to go next she yanked the door open, swept through the doorway, and promptly collided with someone else in the corridor.

"Whoa! S-sorry about that, Miss Shimmer." The man kept apologizing profusely as Sunset looked him over critically, a ludicrous idea quickly taking shape in her mind. The man wore a Scribe's robe, but he was powerfully built nonetheless, with heavily muscled forearms and messy black hair. He was even a full head taller than her to boot. Perfect.

The scribe clearly misinterpreted the look he was receiving as he shrank back, cowering slightly. His obviously timid nature fanned the reckless fire building in Sunset's core. Abandoning her reservations, Sunset seized the front of his robes and pulled him down to mash her lips against his.

Taken by surprise, it took the scribe a few seconds to realize exactly what was going on, but when he did he responded enthusiastically, grabbing Sunset's hips and pulling her close as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. Sunset ground herself against him to make sure he definitely knew what she was after then pulled away, dragged him into the old office, and kicked the door shut.

There was no tenderness between the two as they clashed together once more, just animal lust and, on Sunset's part, a desperate fervour. She moaned as the scribe's hands roamed over her body and as they slid up and under her top. Following his lead, Sunset shrugged off her jacket and pulled her top off before wrapping her arms back around his neck.

The scribe eagerly took the unspoken invitation, wrapping one arm around Sunset's lower back as the other slid up to her breast. He massaged her through the bra, groaning as she pressed into him, then slowly trailed his hand down her body. Just as the scribe's fingers slipped under her waistband the door suddenly slammed open, startling the two of them.

Paladin Metzger was standing in the doorway, her expression set in an icy glare. "Scribe Irons, don't you have someplace else you need to be?" She asked in a tone of deadly calm.

The scribe whipped around instantly. "Wha- er, I-I mean, y-yes, Paladin!" Without another word he darted out of the room as if his life depended on it.

Sunset couldn't even watch him leave. She just stared at the ground instead, utterly frozen in place. Metzger's arrival had been like a bucket of ice-cold water to the face, snapping her back to her senses. The realization of what she had been doing, of what she had been about to do, burned in Sunset's thoughts; a hidden brand of shame that left her feeling sick to her stomach. She could feel Metzger's eyes on her, judging her.

"I get what you're trying to do, Sunset, but this isn't the right way to do it," Metzger said slowly, pushing the door closed behind her as she spoke.

"If you're going to call me a whore or something, then just get it over with already," Sunset managed to spit out.

Metzger just sighed. "That's not what I meant." She picked Sunset's top up off the floor and handed it to her, then leaned against the desk and patted the spot next to her. "Come on, let's talk."

Thrown off by Metzger's sudden change in demeanor, Sunset slipped her top back on and leaned next to the Paladin. The two sat in silence for a while, until eventually Metzger spoke up, "Look, I may not know the details, but I get what you're going through." She held a hand up as Sunset tried to interject. "If you're gonna say something about your magic, that's fair. I don't know a damn thing about magic. But I do know that you've been through hell, you've seen people dying in horrible ways up close and personal, and you're reacting to it."

Sunset didn't have a response. Metzger's words were forcing her to confront the pain inside and she was afraid that if she tried to open her mouth, then she would lose whatever composure she had.

Metzger pressed on regardless. "You want to shut out the bad thoughts, but at the same time you want to revel in any sensations you can just to reassure yourself that you survived where others didn't." She huffed a laugh. "Sex can be great for that, but were you seducing Irons because you wanted to get laid, or because you wanted out of your own head and he was there? I'm not saying that either way is right or wrong, but… just try and be more careful, okay?"

There was nothing Sunset could say because she knew Metzger was right, she had to try to pull herself together. Normally she would turn to her friends, but she could hardly dump her issues on them when they were all struggling themselves. Then again, the Rainbooms might not be the only people she could rely on. "I felt him die," she half-whispered.

"Your magic?" Metzger asked.

Sunset managed a nod. She tried to speak, to explain what had happened, but all that came out was a strangled sob. Sunset tried to rein herself in, but the floodgates had opened and a moment later her composure shattered like glass.

Neither woman knew how long they stayed there as Sunset let her stress flow from her eyes, but Metzger kept a reassuring arm around Sunset’s shoulders until she finally managed to get herself under control; that was when Sunset found the pain and the fear that had gripped her so tightly had lessened somewhat. The abyss was still there, but its grip on her had weakened.

With her head clearer than it had been in a while, Sunset found herself filled with fresh resolve. Project Purity had been secured and the Brotherhood had promised to help the Rainbooms get home once that was done. All that remained was to find one of the SDT-1 artifacts that Tara had shown them, but to do that…

"I have to get stronger."

Chapter 65 - Machinations

A tense silence filled the main office of the Exodus building. Tara, Becky, Sienna, Andrew and Vincent were all sitting at a table piled with reports and inventory lists, digesting the most recent updates they had received from outside.

With Project Purity occupied by the Brotherhood of Steel once again, Project Exodus was now the closest major Enclave outpost to Brotherhood territory and, given that the Brotherhood were aware of its location, was likely to be the target of an assault at some point in the near future.

For now, Tara was just trying to focus on the positives. According to the last radio communications they had received from the purifier before the assault began, the Brotherhood had at least tried to offer a peace treaty, so there was still a small possibility of another one happening now that Colonel Autumn was out of the picture. The fact that she and Becky had a good rapport with the Rainbooms would hopefully help matters there.

On top of that, Project Exodus was now very well fortified by dozens of soldiers and, aside from the odd minor skirmish, the local Super Mutants had left them alone. Andrew and Vincent were somewhat concerned as to what exactly the mutants were up to, but there was little use in worrying about that just yet.

More immediate was the fact that Andrew had accepted what Tara and Becky had done to help the Rainbooms. He wasn't happy about it by any stretch of the imagination, but he accepted their reasoning, especially in the wake of what President Eden had pulled with Project Scouring.

The magic situation, on the other hand, was something that Tara couldn't help but worry about. Aside from the obvious issue of the magical tornado currently making itself at home in the hangar, there were a bunch of other things happening both inside and outside Project Exodus.

Vincent's power armor was probably the most disconcerting. Apparently, ever since Tara and Becky had left for Raven Rock it had taken on a life of its own, patrolling the base as if it were a soldier and occasionally standing guard outside random rooms. Sienna had understandably nearly shit herself the first time she saw it wandering around without anyone inside. Thankfully, it didn't seem inclined to be hostile.

ED-E was another issue. The little eyebot had somehow picked up a rudimentary form of telekinesis, though it couldn't pick up anything much heavier than a brick. The scientists were actually quickly growing attached to the little eyebot. His chirpy nature was quite infectious, and the fact that he had a habit of bringing everyone coffee and snacks certainly helped endear him to the busy doctors.

"What do you think the Senate is going to do, now?" Sienna asked suddenly, breaking the silence and dragging the others out of their thoughts.

Becky shrugged. "Who knows? Hopefully they've finally got it into their heads that messing around with magic or the Rainbooms is a fucking stupid idea, but we can't bet on that." Her comment earned her a stern look from Andrew, but he kept his mouth shut.

"As long as they don't figure out what happened inside Raven Rock I'll be happy," Tara said wearily. "We can worry about everything else when the time comes."

"Well I've got something we're going to want to worry about right now." Everyone turned to look at Vincent curiously. "I've just got word from upstairs, we've got some new arrivals; a mutated scientist, the sentries think it's Doctor Turner, and some… thing in a massive suit of power armor."

Tara and Becky shared a horrified look. "Horrigan?!" Becky cried. "How the fuck did he survive?"

"The sub-level ventilation tunnels," Tara supplied. "He and Turner must have met up and escaped through them." She wrung her hands anxiously. "Do you think they're after me?"

"They might just be trying to regroup with other Enclave forces," Andrew suggested. He pushed himself to his feet and strode over to the door. "Tara, stay here. I'll go and find out what they're after. If it comes down to a fight, seal the building."

Just before he could leave Becky called out to him, "Wait!" She waited for Andrew to look back at her before continuing, "Sealing the building won't work, Horrigan will just smash his way in, but I have an idea. It's a seriously big risk, but if it works it'll make our lives easier and it'll beef up our security."

The others listened as Becky outlined her plan. Andrew's expression grew stonier as she spoke. By the time she was finished, his face could well have been carved from granite.

"That's… a plan, I guess," Sienna put in.

"You want Tara to go up there and face that monster?" Andrew growled.

"She won't have to face him, she might not even have to talk to him," Becky replied. "I know this is dangerous, but just trust me, okay? Besides, even if it does all go tits-up, we'll have a better chance of escaping if we're already upstairs instead of waiting down here for Horrigan to find us."

Andrew didn't look convinced, but Tara stepped over to him and laid a hand on his arm. "I appreciate that you're trying to protect me, but Becky's right. This is our best shot."

He looked her in the eyes, and for a moment Tara feared that he would order her to stay downstairs, but finally he relented with a sigh. "Just don't go getting yourself killed, alright? Mom'll never let me hear the end of it."

With their plan firmly in mind, Tara, Becky and Andrew made their way through the Exodus building and up to the surface. When they reached the forecourt they saw that the guards were keeping Horrigan and Doctor Turner right in the center of the yard, with carefully placed soldiers dotted around the perimeter not-so-subtly pointing their weapons at the pair. It wasn't hard to see why; Horrigan's armor was practically writhing with glowing green spirals and runic script, while Doctor Turner had mutated horribly; his right arm had turned entirely charcoal black with bulging veins that pulsed a sickly yellow glow, and he had similar mutated patches visible through the burnt holes in his clothes. His right eye shone faintly with the same unhealthy yellow light.

"What the hell happened to them? Andrew muttered.

"They must have been caught in the blast from Raven Rock," Becky supplied before turning to Tara. "Remember, stay out of sight until we call you."

Tara nodded and patted the walkie-talkie they had taken from the office. Becky had its twin on her belt, with the button stuck to transmit so Tara could follow everything that was said. "Got it, just let me know when you need me." Tara tried not to let herself panic as she watched her girlfriend and her brother head out into the forecourt.

The two new arrivals looked up as Becky and Andrew approached. Horrigan's helmet remained as impassive as ever, but the way he straightened up and turned to face them fully indicated that he at least recognised Andrew as an officer. Doctor Turner, for his part, grinned in a way that sent a shiver down Tara's spine even from where she was standing just inside the entrance.

"Agent Horrigan, it's an honor to finally meet you. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Strong, currently the highest military authority in the Enclave," Andrew said as he approached. "And Doctor Turner, have you come to explain your actions at Raven Rock?"

"My actions?" Doctor Turner's grin became a sneer. "Perhaps we should ask Doctor Shoichet about your sister's actions, what do you say, Doctor?"

Horrigan tilted his head as he looked at Becky, then growled and hunched his shoulders. "You. You were with that mutie. Where is she?"

"Mutie?" Tara had to admire Becky's audacity as she planted her hands on her hips and glared up at Horrigan. "Doctor Strong, the doctor that you attacked back at Raven Rock, was using experimental technology, she is not a mutant. The only mutant here is the sorry excuse for a scientist standing next to you!"

"Experimental technology?" Doctor Turner asked curiously. As Becky had predicted, the prospect of bleeding-edge science knocked all thoughts of anything else clear out of the doctor's head. Tara was torn between relief and embarrassment that her former superior was so single-minded; he truly was an abysmal field operative.

Becky just sighed theatrically. "Yes, Doctor, experimental technology. We were granted access to the Rainbooms' at Raven Rock, and Tara devised a method of utilizing their power without any of the drawbacks from using unrefined magic."

"She was on her way to apprehend a traitor to the Enclave when you set Horrigan loose on her." Andrew held up a placating hand as Horrigan rounded on him. "We're not blaming you, Agent. Hell, the fact that you're back on your feet is a godsend, but the method that Doctor Turner used was untested, unapproved by any scientist with authority and dangerous in the extreme."

Doctor Turner floundered as he realized what was happening, opening and closing his mouth like a fish before he managed to stammer, "That m-may be true… but I-I took precautions!"

"You mean like the precautions you took when you accidentally mutated a Protectron?" Becky shot.

"Th-that's not fair! None of us had any idea how those necklaces were going to react," Doctor Turner retorted. His face brightened as another thought occurred to him. "And that's another thing: Doctor Strong was wearing one of those necklaces! At least one! You say that she didn't mutate, but I don't see her here! How do we know you aren't just bullshitting us?"

"Good question," Horrigan growled.

Becky snorted. "Don't see her? She's right there!" Tara stepped out of the entrance as Becky threw an arm out towards her. "See? Does she look mutated to you?"

Doctor Turner looked thunderstruck. Horrigan looked from him to Tara and back again, as if he was trying to put two and two together but couldn't quite manage it.

"As we were saying," Becky continued, "Doctor Strong is fine. She didn't mutate because she used a properly refined form of the magic in the correct manner." She looked up at Horrigan while pointing a damning finger at Doctor Turner. "When this power isn't used properly it mutates everyone and everything it touches, just like it did to him, and Doctor Turner was fully aware of this fact when he pumped you full of it! It's a miracle that he didn't accidentally turn you into some sort of freak!"

A deadly silence fell over the forecourt. Tara held her breath as Horrigan stared down at Becky; it all came down to how he reacted. Horrigan's hatred of mutants was legendary, a fact made all the more ironic given that he was entirely unaware that he himself was a mutant. After a few terrifying seconds Horrigan slowly turned his head to look at Doctor Turner. "You tried to turn me into a mutie?"

Doctor Turner took a hasty step back and held up his hands. "I-I didn't, I swear! I admit that it was a possibility given the FEV in your system, but-"

"FEV?" Horrigan hissed. Doctor Turner backpedaled as the huge brute took a step towards him. "Are you trying to say I'm a mutie? Let's get one thing straight, YOU PUNY SACK OF SHIT." Green mist boiled from Horrigan's joints, his voice rising til it shook the ground with its fury, "I'M NO MUTIE!"

Tara staggered backwards from the force of his yell. Even with her hands clamped over her ears the sheer volume of Horrigan's voice had been enough to deafen her; a piercing ringing all she could hear in its wake.

Forcing herself to look back up, Tara saw that Turner was cowering on the ground with Horrigan looming over him, while Becky and Andrew were on their knees with their hands over their ears. Becky seemed to be shouting something at Horrigan. Whatever she said must have worked, as a few moments later Horrigan turned and stomped away. A pair of soldiers hurried forward and led him around the back of the building; presumably to the cargo entrance, while another pair grabbed Turner and hauled him inside.

Holy shit, I can't believe that worked! Intensely relieved at the fact that she didn't have to fight Horrigan again, not yet anyway, Tara stumbled over to Becky and Andrew. As she helped her girlfriend to her feet and wrapped her arms around her, a couple more thoughts passed through Tara's mind. First, with Horrigan at their disposal, security was not going to be an issue, and second, she now had a pair of very interesting test subjects to play with.

Outside the boundaries of the Capital Wasteland, in the area once known as Maryland, Senator Devall leaned forward to peer through his Vertibird's windshield, surveying the buildings below. They were currently flying over Adams Air Force Base, a massive fortified compound that contained everything from housing districts and recreation centers to runways, armories and enough hangars and construction yards to house and maintain the Enclave's entire fleet of Vertibirds. Once known as the home of the President's personal plane, Air Force One, the base was now the Enclave's last and mightiest stronghold.

Dozens of soldiers and hundreds of other personnel could be seen going about their business on the ground, and Senator Devall gasped as he managed to catch a glimpse of an old pre-war Heavy Tank rumbling around. "My word, it looks like the engineers are bringing out anything with a gun that they can get their hands on."

"It sure does," the pilot replied. "What do you think is going to happen?"

Senator Devall shook his head. "Honestly? I'm not sure. How long until we reach the command center?"

The pilot nodded towards a large concrete building ahead. "That's it right there, we'll be landing in a couple of minutes."

A few short minutes later the Senator had disembarked and a pair of soldiers escorted him through the center to a meeting room. It was nothing special, just a simple room with a long table intended for budget discussions and the like. A handful of the Enclave's top brass were already seated at the table.

"It's about time," Senator Prince said huffily as Devall walked in. He was lounging on the chair looking bored, as if everyone else present was beneath his attention. Tall and muscular, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a tailored suit that must have cost him a fortune, he was considered the Enclave's main ambassador to the few other groups in the wasteland that they regularly interacted with. He was also one of the most arrogant and self-centred assholes the world had ever seen.

Senator Devall ignored him and picked a chair near the other end of the table so he wouldn't have to look at the buffoon. "Who else are we waiting for?"

"No-one, Senator," one of the soldiers replied. "You were the last one to arrive. All of the other command staff and Senators are either captured or dead."

Devall whipped his head around in horrified surprise. "All of them?!" The soldier nodded in confirmation. Devall looked slowly around at the people gathered in the room. Two commissioned officers, one Major and one Captain, one member of the President's Secret Service, four scientists, and five Senators including Prince and Devall. Over half of the Enclave's leadership had been lost. "What about Colonel Autumn? I thought he survived the incident at Raven Rock?"

The Major nodded sombrely. "He was evacuated to Project Purity immediately after the loss of Raven Rock. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood of Steel assaulted Project Purity this morning, seizing the purifier and taking Colonel Autumn and most of his command staff captive."

"What?!" Devall cried in shock. "What happened to the peace treaty that Lieutenant Colonel Strong suggested?"

"Apparently, the Brotherhood of Steel approached Colonel Autumn with their own offer of a treaty last night," Prince put in. "Naturally, the Colonel refused, believing the offer to be a bluff." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well, it's not the first time he's been wrong."

"The Brotherhood of Steel assault was swift and devastating," the Major continued. "They were assisted by the Rainbooms, though it should be noted that the girls did not have much of an impact on the outcome of the battle. The main reason for our defeat was an immense battle robot that the Brotherhood brought."

"A battle robot?" Prince asked.

One of the scientists, a powerfully built old man with shaggy white hair and a scraggly beard named Doctor Acheson, gave a disgusted snort. Tough and domineering, Acheson was one of the Enclave's top scientists. "Liberty Prime," he spat. "It was developed before the war as a superweapon, but was left unfinished due to power issues. A full report will be provided to all of you after this meeting, and a team has already been put together to research countermeasures and strategies."

"Either way, Project Purity is lost to us, and with that President Eden's propaganda will be revealed as farcical." Prince grimaced and rapped the table with his knuckles. "It will be difficult to regain the trust of the local settlements when this gets out. Unless we can come up with something big, and quickly, winning the hearts and minds of the populace is going to be near impossible."

Devall nodded. "Given the circumstances, I believe we should give serious thought to offering the Brotherhood of Steel a peace treaty in turn. Further conflict with them is not in our best interests, or the interests of the wasteland as a whole."

"We were just discussing that very matter when you arrived." Prince scowled at the others. "I regret to say that our colleagues aren't inclined to agree with it."

"Of course we don't," Senator Lily hissed. A deathly pale woman with shoulder-length jet-black hair, she was as cunning and devious as they come. Devall hated her. "There is too much bad blood between us and the Brotherhood," Lily continued, "even if we sign a treaty, it will likely only end up as yet another cold war as each side builds up their strength in order to destroy the other in one swift blow."

"With the Rainbooms and that robot both on the Brotherhood's side, I don't fancy our chances in a race like that," the Major added.

Lily tapped her inch-long fingernails on the table. "I say we put it to a vote. Since there are only five of us Senators left, shall we allow everyone else at this table to have a vote as well?"

"Absolutely not!" Prince cried.

"Senators, all those in favour of allowing everyone else at the table to vote?" Lily smirked as she, Devall and the other Senators raised their hands. "Motion passed. Now, Lieutenant Colonel Strong should really be here to vote on the peace treaty, but since he made his position quite clear earlier I think we can call that one vote in favour. Everyone else, all those in favour of offering the Brotherhood of Steel a peace treaty?"

Devall's heart sank as he, Prince, and the Secret Service agent were the only ones to raise their hands.

"Well, well." Lily grinned widely. "Three in favour, if we include Lieutenant Colonel Strong that makes four in favour, compared to seven against. Peace treaty rejected."

"Unbelievable," Prince muttered.

Acheson chuckled darkly. "Now that we've dealt with that nonsense, I'd like to introduce you all to someone." He gestured to the scientist next to him, a somewhat scared-looking woman with short brown hair. "This is Doctor Anna Holt. Doctor Holt was originally a member of the Project Purity staff, working under Doctor Li, but after seeing how much more advanced our technology is she has wisely decided to work for us instead."

"Project Purity?" Prince gave her an appraising look. "Yes… yes, that could work. If we can create a second purifier that might well help sway some of the local settlements to our cause."

Acheson snorted derisively. "Eden didn't send Holt here so she could show us how to make an oversized faucet, she's here to assist us with researching the magic that the Rainbooms introduced to this world."

A chill ran down Devall's spine, but he kept his expression and tone carefully neutral as he said, "That may be a little difficult. I'm sure that you've heard about the stock of magic currently stored at Project Exodus, but I assure you that Doctor Strong won't part with any of it. It's far too dangerous."

"Don't worry, Senator Devall, we don't intend to interfere with your little team," Lily said coyly. "Indeed, all of us here want Project Exodus to succeed more than ever, now that we're aware of the details." She inspected her fingernails idly before continuing, "President Eden sent a shipment of magic here before Raven Rock fell, along with instructions on how to safely replicate, handle and store it. He also left a long list of instructions on what to test it on. Doctor Holt has some experience on working with the Rainbooms' magic, which is why we've brought her on board."

Acheson nodded. "Exactly. We've already got teams preparing to test the magic on numerous applications, and I've set aside a certain amount for a couple of projects of my own." He grinned widely. "The first of these is going to be a prototype for a new form of power armor. Coupled with Professor Oliver's breakthroughs with plasma and fusion technology, this suit will be far more advanced than even our new Hellfire model. I call it Project Daybreaker."

Author's Note

As thanks for hitting 400 likes, take an early chapter!

Chapter 66 - Hospital Visits

Author's Note

Hello again! It's been a while since I've done a proper one of these A/N's, but I felt I should put a couple of little shout outs in here:

Major credit to Mocha Star and Night-Quill for editing this story!

Also an extra thanks to Night-Quill for providing a growing catalogue of awesome art based on the story, including the cover art! Here's his latest addition!

You can also check out his DeviantArt here!

Aside from that, I hope you continue to enjoy the story from here on out, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 66 - Hospital Visits

The sound of hooves echoed through the corridors of Ponyville Hospital as Princess Twilight followed the nurse to Starlight's room. She had been waiting with the rest of her friends for hours while the doctors worked until finally Nurse Redheart had come and fetched her. Unfortunately, the nurse had refused to tell her anything other than that Starlight's wounds had been cleaned and dressed, that her life wasn't in any danger, that she was awake, and that Twilight could speak to her alone if she wished.

"Here we are." Nurse Redheart stopped outside a door and gave the Princess a serious look. "Please, don't go asking Starlight a thousand questions about what happened. I don't know exactly what she went through, but it was obviously an extremely traumatic event. It's likely going to take quite some time for her to come to terms with what's happened."

"I understand," Twilight replied solemnly.

Redheart gave a satisfied nod before gently opening the door and sliding her head in. She spoke quietly to Starlight, then pushed the door open for the Princess.

Trying to tread as quietly as possible, Twilight slowly walked over to the only bed in the room, barely registering the nurse closing the door behind her. Starlight was tucked in under the blanket with only her hair and the tip of her horn poking out from underneath.

"Hey, Starlight," Twilight said softly, "how are you feeling?" When she didn't get a response, she asked, "Do… you want me to get you anything? A drink or… or something?" The seconds ticked by slowly until Twilight started to wonder whether Starlight would reply at all, but finally her horn lit up and peeled the blanket back slightly.

Starlight looked rough. She had a clean pressure bandage over her left eye and smaller ones covering her neck, while her mane was patchy as if something had ripped chunks of it out. Twilight was careful to keep her worry from showing on her face, though, as she asked, "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I've been better," Starlight mumbled. She shifted her weight under the covers. "You should get back to CHS. You need to find the others."

"Starswirl is already working on it," Twilight replied. "Besides, I can't just run off and leave you in the hospital."

Starlight fixed her good eye on the Princess. "Twilight, you have to find them, as quickly as possible. If the world they're in is anything like…" She gulped and closed her eye, then took a deep breath before continuing, "Those girls are in trouble, more than you can imagine. Find them, before it's too late!"

Taken aback by her words, it took Twilight a moment to gather her thoughts. "Right. Don't worry, I'll bring them home safely. I promise." She turned to head back to the door, but paused on the threshold and cast a worried look over her shoulder. "Do… you want me to fetch Trixie for you before I go?"

"Please," Starlight replied quietly.

Twilight nodded and opened the door to leave. Sunset and the others needed her help, but she could at least be confident that Starlight would have a good friend by her side.

A loud creak filled the air as Sunset pushed a door open with her backside. Inside, Twilight was resting peacefully, propped up on an infirmary bed. She looked up curiously as Sunset entered the room.

"Um, hey." Sunset held up the tray she was carrying. "I wasn't sure if you've had breakfast or not."

Twilight grinned. "I have, but I'm not going to complain about getting seconds. I need as much protein as I can get if I want these muscles to heal."

"Great!" Sunset smiled back and sat on the edge of the bed, placing the tray carefully on the bedside table. "Today's menu consists of hard-boiled radchicken eggs, mini mirelurk cakes and freshly made iguana soup courtesy of Pinkie Pie, with some warm brahmin milk to wash it all down. Do you need a hand with eating?"

"Nah, I practiced this earlier." Twilight's forehead creased as she concentrated. After a second her Geode started to glow and a hazy purple aura surrounded one of the mugs. She beamed with pride as her magic carried the mug over so she could take a sip.

"Nice," Sunset murmured appreciatively.

Twilight shook her head and used her magic to put the mug back down. "It's nothing special. Without my arms that's about the best I can manage."

"It's still impressive," Sunset told her as she grabbed a mirelurk cake. "So, how're you doing?"

"I'm okay at the moment," Twilight replied. "The medics want me to try walking around today, so I'll be doing that later. I can just about move my fingers too!" She used her magic to fetch an egg before looking back at Sunset. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

Sunset didn't know how to answer. The truth was that acting casual and normal like this was taking just about all of her strength. She had resolved to get stronger in that room with Metzger yesterday, but when she tried to get some training in this morning that resolve had crumbled like a sandcastle before the tide. Merely hearing the crackle of gunfire from the firing range had been enough to set her shaking.

When Sunset had tried picking up a gun herself, she had almost passed out; her breath turning ragged as an icy claw gripped her chest like a vice. In the end she had practically ran from the training area and spent twenty minutes crying alone in a dark corner of the Citadel.

Realizing that Twilight was still waiting on an answer, Sunset shook her head slowly. "I've… uh… I've been better."

"I think we all have," Twilight said quietly. She averted her gaze, her eyes flicking back at Sunset as she said tentatively, "Pinkie told me about… about what happened…"

Sunset nodded slowly, feeling the shadow of that dark abyss settling inside her again. "Did she tell you about the soldier?"

"She vaguely remembers you being in a room with her, but she was kinda out of her wits at that point," Twilight replied with a wince. "Do you want to… talk about it?"

"Not really," Sunset sighed, trying to shake off the dark feelings for a moment. "Maybe I'll need to at some point, but I'm not ready yet."

Twilight accepted that with a nod and two fell quiet, finishing their breakfast in companionable silence. Just as they were polishing off the last of the mirelurk cakes someone knocked on the door.

"Come in?" Twilight called.

The door opened and Applejack poked her head in. "Hey, how’re you doing, Twi?"

"I'm good thanks," Twilight replied. "What about you?"

"Good as can be expected," Applejack huffed. "Sorry, but this ain't a social call. Elder Lyons wants to speak to us, Sunset."

"What about?" Sunset asked.

Applejack shook her head. "Ah'm not sure. Something about getting help from Rivet City."

Fluttershy sat quietly next to Adam's bed, keeping watch over him and Sarah Lyons. Under normal circumstances the Brotherhood would have one of their own medics keeping an eye on them, but most of them were busy dealing with the casualties from the assault on Project Purity and Fluttershy was at least a partially trained nurse. Besides, it wasn't the first time she had looked after a coma patient.

Reminding herself about Sunset's time in a similar situation did nothing to improve Fluttershy's already black mood. The others had tried cheering her up, but they were fighting a losing battle. The fact that they themselves were struggling with their own demons just made it worse.

At the moment, Fluttershy was finding it hard enough just thinking straight, and the few coherent thoughts she managed were dark and depressing at best. Her mind was largely fixated on Adam. She desperately wished that there was something she could do for him, but once again, Fluttershy found herself powerless in the face of reality. All she could do was wait for him to wake up. If he woke up.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and tried to shake off such dark thoughts. He was going to wake up, and she'd be right there beside him when he did. He was going to wake up, he was going to get out of the infirmary and then…

And then his suffering will start all over again.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked at him as a terrible idea crossed her mind. Adam had suffered right from the start; first with losing his mother, then losing his friend Jonas and being forced to leave the Vault, and losing his father after that. Even just getting the purifier back had nearly killed him. Forcing him to wake up and face the darkness of the wastes once again wouldn't be a good thing, it would be a cruelty beyond measure. The best thing anyone could do, the kindest thing, would be to allow him to slip away peacefully in his sleep.

Slowly, barely even thinking about what she was doing, Fluttershy stood up and reached out to wrap her hands around Adam's neck. Just as she started to squeeze the sound of approaching footsteps snapped her back to her senses.

Fluttershy snatched her hands back as if they'd been burned, horror and nausea rising up within her as she realized what she had been about to do. She was so lost in shock she didn't notice the door open or the medic talking to her until he finally touched her shoulder, making her flinch and whip around to stare at him in wide-eyed fear.

"Uh, sorry, Miss Fluttershy. I didn't mean to startle you." The medic frowned at her in concern. "Are you okay? You were sort of out of it there."

"I-I… um… I have to go." Ignoring the medic's response, Fluttershy pushed past him and hurried out of the room, walking through the corridors as fast as she could go. Her mind was racing. People tried to speak to her as she passed, but Fluttershy didn't hear a word of it. A darkness had entered her heart somehow, a malignant shadow that was warping her feelings and clouding her thoughts.

Oblivious to her surroundings, it wasn't until she felt the damp chill of a thick mist on her face that Fluttershy realized that she was in the Citadel's courtyard. Even so, she didn't stop. The main gate was open to allow easy access for teams moving between the Citadel and Project Purity, and Fluttershy took the opportunity to get outside and away from people, at least for a little while. It wasn't until she had walked away from the entrance and right down to the edge of the river that she finally stopped, collapsed onto a boulder, and buried her face in her hands.

Time lost all meaning for Fluttershy as she sat there wrestling with her own mind, trying to get her thoughts in order or at least figure out what was going wrong with her. She tried to detach herself and be analytical, as James had taught her, but she couldn't focus enough to manage it. The psychological trauma of the last few days could certainly explain her freaking out, but something about that just didn't seem right.

Shifting slightly on the boulder, Fluttershy suddenly realized that her joints were aching terribly, and she was also completely and utterly soaked, far more than she should be from just a bit of fog. "What the… sweat?" Pressing a palm to her forehead, Fluttershy's eyes widened as she felt a searing heat beneath her skin. "A… a fever? But ho-" She gasped as she remembered the strange substance she had been sprayed with back in Vault 87.

"I… I'm ill. Some sort of bacteria or… or a virus, maybe?" Fluttershy frowned as she struggled to organise her thoughts. "Rapid onset symptoms… very rapid. Surely it shouldn't have affected me so fast unless… unless it's feeding on my magic." A cold shiver that had nothing to do with the mist or the sweat ran down her spine. "Oh… oh no… I… I need a doctor."

Fluttershy jumped to her feet, swaying slightly as the sudden movement made her light-headed. As she turned to head back to the Citadel she heard the crunch of footsteps on stone behind her, followed by a man hissing, "Mezz her, quick!" Before Fluttershy could respond there was a flash and a strange zapping sound, then her whole body was rocked by an electric jolt and she fell to the floor. The last thing she heard before she slipped unconscious was a distorted voice calling out, "Nice shot, Crawler! Come on, grab her and let's get the fuck out of…"

Chapter 68 - Evolution of Kindness

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 69 - Silver Lining

Senator Devall repressed a sigh as he trudged towards his new domicile. He had just finished sending a report to the Exodus Team detailing the outcome of his meeting with the surviving Enclave leaders and right now all he wanted to do was see his wife for the first time in weeks and get some rest. Unfortunately, any rest Devall did get was likely to be limited.

Truth be told, the Senator was seriously considering fetching Fleur, acquiring a Vertibird and moving to the Exodus building. It was in an incredibly precarious position; what with the Brotherhood of Steel being aware of its location, Super Mutants surrounding it and the huge amount of raw magic stored on-site, but at least there he could trust the people in charge. With Acheson trying to weaponize his own stock of magic, Adam's Air Force Base was probably the most dangerous place in the entire wasteland.

Turning past a Protectron recharging station, the Senator finally let out that sigh as he saw his assigned building. It wasn't much, little more than a glorified bunker really, but it was a place to sleep, and his wife was waiting.

Devall opened the heavy metal door as gently as he could. A dull metal corridor stretched out in front of him with a couple of doors spaced evenly on either side. "Fleur?" He called out softly, not wanting to wake her if she was asleep.

A quiet cry of surprise and shuffling footsteps preceded the arrival of Fleur herself. Devall barely caught a glimpse of her long silky brown hair, refined features, and somewhat protruding belly before she threw her arms around him. "Finally," she purred. "God, I've missed you. Talking over the radio just isn't the same."

"I heartily agree." Devall kissed Fleur's forehead before dropping to one knee and laying his hands on her belly. "And how is our little one doing?"

"Kicking me right in the bladder every ten minutes," Fleur huffed, though she smiled as she said it. "Anyway, I'm sure that you want to relax and tell me exactly what the hell has been going on over the last few days, and God knows I want to hear it, but it's going to have to wait. You've got a visitor."

"Of course I do," Devall sighed. Fleur led him through one of the doors into a surprisingly cosy sitting room with a big squishy sofa, a matching loveseat, and an electric fireplace burning brightly.

The visitor was standing next to the loveseat; a young woman clad in a nondescript black suit with black hair pulled back into a tight braid. A plasma pistol was holstered at her waist. Devall was surprised to recognize her as the Secret Service Agent from the earlier meeting.

"Senator Devall, it's a pleasure to officially meet you," the agent said, extending her hand in greeting.

Devall nodded as he shook her hand. "The pleasure is mine, Agent…?"

"Bonnie Drops, but everyone calls me Bon Bon," the agent replied.

"Very well, Agent Drops. Please, take a seat," Devall said, the use of Bon Bon's title setting the formality for the meeting. He and Fleur settled themselves on the sofa while the agent perched on the edge of the loveseat. "Now then, what can I do for you? I must admit I'm curious as to why a member of the Secret Service would be calling on me."

"I'm here to discuss the results of the meeting with Senator Lily and Acheson," Agent Drops said without preamble.

Devall kept his expression carefully neutral. Agent Drops had voted in favor of a peace treaty, but that didn't automatically make her trustworthy. Prudence required that he figure her agenda before giving anything away. "What exactly would you like to discuss about them?"

Agent Drops gave Duvall a calculating look. "I noticed that, despite the many things we covered in that meeting, no-one happened to mention anything about installing a new President."

It was a statement, not a question, but it certainly gave Duvall an idea of what the agent was after. "I can't speak for the others, but I felt that pushing for a vote so soon after losing Raven Rock would simply cause more conflict and confusion among our ranks."

"I see." Agent Drops slowly arched an eyebrow. "With respect, Senator, I'd appreciate it if we could skip the bullshit and talk openly." Devall blinked in surprise at her sudden brusque attitude, but Agent Drops just rolled her eyes and said flatly, "You and I both know that the only reason Senator Lily didn't announce her presidential campaign there and then is because she wasn't certain that she would win, and the current lack of oversight plays into whatever schemes she's pulling behind the scenes."

Agent Drops leaned forward to frown at him. "The other Senators are non-entities, but you… you're the only Senator left that can directly challenge her. You know you would most likely win if you aimed for the Presidency. So why didn'tyou push for it?"

It was exactly as Devall had expected. He supposed he should be grateful that it was only Agent Drops that had come knocking. With a heavy sigh, he said firmly, "I agree that I would most likely win, but I have absolutely no intention of becoming President of the Enclave."

Shock flitted across Agent Drops' face. "Why not?! You would be able to push through a peace treaty with the Brotherhood of Steel and put the brakes on this insane magical experimentation!"

Devall could practically feel the surprise and curiosity wafting off of Fleur, but she knew better than to let it show on her face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders before replying, "I'm afraid I am not a selfless man. In a few short months I am going to become a father, and I have no intention of putting my family in any unnecessary danger. Becoming President would paint a colossal target right across our backs." Devall allowed himself a small smirk. "Having said that, I'm not simply sitting idle. I've been putting out feelers and laying the groundwork for someone else to take up the Presidency; someone far more qualified and, if I'm being honest, far more intelligent."

Silence fell in the wake of Devall's little speech. After a few seconds, to his great surprise, Agent Drops smiled wryly. "I assume the fact that Horrigan is back is going to factor into your plans somehow, and maybe the experimental technology that Doctor Strong apparently used just before the as-of-yet unexplained destruction of Raven Rock?"

"How do you know about that?!" Devall demanded. He himself had only learned of it during his communication with Lieutenant Colonel Strong just before he came home, and he certainly hadn't mentioned it to anyone else yet.

"I have a contact at Project Exodus," Agent Drops told him. "She hasn’t been there long, but Horrigan is kinda hard to miss, and there's a few things going through the grapevine among the personnel stationed there."

Devall narrowed his eyes at the agent. "What exactly do you want?"

Agent Drops stopped smiling and straightened up. "You know what I want; a decent President who has the best interests of the whole wasteland at heart, not just their own agenda." She stood and smoothed out the creases in her suit. "I would like things to be done peacefully, but somehow I doubt that's going to happen. I suspect, and I think you do too, that a rift is opening up in the Enclave." Agent Drops looked Devall dead in the eye. "I know which side of that rift I'm on, Senator. Am I the only one?"

Devall stood and crossed his arms, giving the woman an appraising look. Finally he extended a hand to his new ally. "No, Bon Bon, I don't think you are."

"Hey, y'all wanted to see us?" Applejack called out as she and Rainbow entered the Great Hall.

Elder Lyons was standing alone in the middle of the room between the c-shaped tables. He turned as the girls closed the door behind them. "Applejack, Rainbow, thank you for coming."

"Where's everyone else?" Applejack asked.

Elder Lyons stepped over to one of the tables and perched himself on the edge of it. "It's just me, for now. I'd like to keep this conversation relatively private. How is Fluttershy doing?"

Applejack and Rainbow shared a dark look. "We managed to strap her down safely. She still ain't back to herself, yet, but Twilight says she's gonna study up on FEV and see what she can do."

"I'll have the scribes bring her everything we know about FEV," Elder Lyons said with a nod. "In the meantime, I know that this is not a good time, but I'm afraid I have a request for each of you."

"Is this about Rivet City again?" Rainbow asked.

"It is," Elder Lyons admitted. "They have requested Applejack and Rarity specifically, and I was hoping that Sunset would go with you as well." He held a hand up as the girls tried to interrupt. "I realize that Sunset is not in the best frame of mind right now, but that is exactly why I believe that going to Rivet City might be good for her."

Applejack looked at him skeptically. "How do you figure?"

"For a start, it'll take her mind off fighting," Elder Lyons replied. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Besides, there is little she can do to help either Adam or Fluttershy here. At least if Sunset goes to Rivet City, she'll be able to help them with their magic problem and actually being able to help someone with a problem will be a lot better for her mental health than sitting around feeling useless." He sighed again and shook his head. "Trust me, I speak from experience."

With a jolt, Applejack remembered that his daughter was in the infirmary, too; stuck in a coma next to Adam. "Alright, Ah'll talk to her," Applejack told him. "Ah can't promise that she won't kick up a fuss, though."

Elder Lyons nodded. "Fair enough. A squad will be back from Project Purity in around two hours to escort you to Rivet City. Please try to be ready in the courtyard by then."

"What about me?" Rainbow asked. "Am I going to Rivet City too, or what?"

"I actually have something else in mind for you. If it works, then you might actually be able to help both Twilight and Fluttershy, and possibly even the entire wasteland." Elder Lyons fixed Rainbow with a serious look. "I warn you, this will potentially be an extremely dangerous mission, and you'll be going in solo. I'm only asking you because between your speed, your ability to fly, and your proven track record against Vertibirds; you are the only person that I believe can pull this off safely."

Rainbow stared at him blankly. "Super dangerous mission that might help fix Twilight and Fluttershy?"

"Indeed," Elder Lyons replied gravely. "If you don't think that you are up to-"

"I'm in, what's the plan?" Rainbow cut in.

Elder Lyons raised an eyebrow, but quickly explained, "I want you to sneak into Project Exodus and try to contact the scientists that helped you escape from there. See if you can find out what the likelihood of a peace treaty is and, if it seems unlikely, gather as much intel about the Enclave as you possibly can."

Twilight winced as Pinkie pushed her wheelchair through the corridors. She was wearing a special brace that immobilized her arms and shoulders to prevent tearing her wounds back open, but even with painkillers she still felt the odd twinge.

"Is this the right room?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight looked up at the door they'd stopped next to. "I think so?" A low snarl from within the room served to confirm their suspicions. The two shared a worried look, then Pinkie opened the door and carefully wheeled Twilight in.

Fluttershy was lying on a hospital bed inside, with several sets of padded cuffs restraining her arms and legs and a thick leather strap around her torso keeping her from squirming too much. Her wings were awkwardly splayed out beneath her and a drip poked out from a bandage on her elbow. Sunset, sitting on a chair next to the bed, looked around as the pair entered. "Oh, hey, how're you feeling?"

"Uh, could be better," Twilight replied as Pinkie made a so-so gesture. "I tried walking earlier, but it didn't go so well, so the medics told me to stick to a wheelchair for now." Twilight considered asking how Sunset was, just to be polite, when she was startled by Fluttershy suddenly trying to lunge at them. Fortunately, the restraints foiled her attempt, so she settled for letting out a blood-curdling hiss of frustration.

"Alright, I'll get you some more now," Sunset said wearily.

"Get her some what?" Pinkie asked.

They watched curiously as Sunset reached down to a bag at her feet. Twilight recognized it as Fluttershy's nursing kit. Their curiosity turned to horror as Sunset pulled out a blood pack, snipped a corner off, and carefully held it up to Fluttershy's mouth. Fluttershy sucked at it greedily.

"Sunset?! W-what are you doing?!" Twilight asked incredulously.

Sunset shrugged. "She wants blood, so that's what I'm giving her. It might help."

Twilight stared at her in shock. "Help?! That doesn't even make any sense!"

"None of this makes sense!" Sunset spat. "The FEV, the radiation, the violence, this entire world is beyond insane. All I know is that Fluttershy's drinking a lot slower than earlier, the first two of these disappeared in seconds. I don't know if that means it's helping, or she's just getting full, but I'm going to keep doing it until either Fluttershy is back to normal or I'm out of blood." Sunset crumpled up the empty blood pack now that Fluttershy was done with it and tossed it aside.

Twilight sighed internally. She couldn't bear to watch her friends suffer like this, but she didn't know what she could say to try and make things better. "Sunset, I-"

"M-more." The three girls stared at Fluttershy, hardly believing their ears. "P-please… mo… more," she whispered again.

"Holy shit! Is this actually working?!" Sunset snatched another blood pack out of the bag, cut it open, and held it out for Fluttershy.

Twilight and Pinkie watched in amazement as Fluttershy closed her eyes and slowly drained the pack, sighing and letting her head fall back against her pillow once it was empty. When she opened her eyes again she just stared up at the ceiling blankly. "What's happening to me?"

The others all sighed and sagged with relief. "FEV," Sunset told her, "but don't worry, we're going to do everything we can to help you, okay?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it shut as her cheeks turned a pale green. "I think I'm going to…"

"Don't throw up!" Sunset cried. "You've only got one blood pack left and the Brotherhood will go nuts if I start stealing theirs!"

Fluttershy gritted her teeth and groaned. "Wh-what's in the IV drip?"

"Uh… I think it's just ordinary fluids?" Sunset replied.

"Standard saline solution," Twilight confirmed with a quick glance at the bag.

Fluttershy nodded stiffly. "Sunset... Cyclizine, in my kit. It should be in a syringe. And someone get me out of these restraints."

Sunset snatched up the nursing kit and started rifling through it as Pinkie set to undoing Fluttershy's restraints. It wasn't until she found the requested drug that Sunset realized that releasing their vampiric friend might be a monumentally stupid idea, but before she could say anything Pinkie undid the last restraint and flicked it aside.

Thankfully, instead of attacking them in a feral rage, Fluttershy just held a hand out for the syringe. Sunset wordlessly handed it over, feeling a little guilty for not trusting her friend.

Fluttershy checked the syringe to make sure it was correct, then bit the lid off, attached it to the catheter in her elbow one-handed and slowly administered the Cyclizine. The girls watched in silence as Fluttershy gave herself measured pushes of the drug over the course of a few minutes. The time seemed to crawl by until, when she was finally done, Flutters carefully removed the syringe and tossed it aside before sinking back against the bed, her wings creaking beneath her.

"Er, what was that? Sunset asked.

"Cyclizine, it's an antiemetic," Fluttershy replied. Seeing the blank look on Sunset's face, she sighed and lifted her arm to rest it above her head. "It helps prevent vomiting. Can everyone please just… just be quiet for a little while?"

The room fell silent as everyone dutifully obeyed. Twilight couldn't help but feel a little frustrated at how useless she was at the moment. Without her arms her magic was limited, leaving her as little more than an observer while everyone else did the work. Admittedly, there wasn't much she could do in this situation anyway, but it would be nice to at least have options. Until then, Twilight swore that she was going to study harder than ever before, especially about FEV.

Eventually, Fluttershy sighed again and looked up at Sunset. "Hey."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sunset asked.

Fluttershy blinked and looked back up at the ceiling. "Um, in the last few hours I've tried to kill my boyfriend,-"

"Wait, what?!" Sunset blurted out.

"-ran out of the Citadel," Fluttershy continued heedlessly, "got kidnapped by raiders, nearly got raped, bit out a man's throat, killed a bunch more raiders, mutated into some sort of vampire and drank a ridiculous amount of blood," she ran a hand across her forehead. "Somehow though, I feel pretty… I don't know… not good, but… mellow?"

"You're probably in shock," Twilight supplied.

"Probably," Fluttershy agreed. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "The last few weeks have been fucking awful."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her candour, not to mention the casual profanity. Apparently, either the FEV or just the situation in general were affecting Fluttershy pretty severely. Twilight was about to suggest maybe letting her get some sleep when she noticed Sunset shaking with barely suppressed mirth.

"What's so funny?" Pinkie asked.

Sunset snorted, holding up a hand at the surprised looks of the others. "S-sorry. It's just… I never expected Fluttershy to say the word f-fucking!"

Twilight stared at Sunset in mute shock as she started snickering. Her surprise grew as Fluttershy and Pinkie joined in, gradually losing control of themselves until finally the three of them were howling with laughter. Twilight just sighed heavily and shook her head. "We're going to need some serious therapy after this," she said flatly.

Chapter 70 - Flutterbat

Twilight looked around at the little team she had been provided, feeling oddly like some sort of college professor leading a study group. One medic and two Scribes were waiting to assist Twilight and take notes, respectively. A power-armored Knight was standing guard in the corner, at Elder Lyons' insistence, and Pinkie was standing behind Twilight, just in case her wheelchair needed moving. Fluttershy, the object of their interest, was sitting on the end of a hospital bed facing the group with a somewhat dazed expression on her face.

It was the first time that Twilight had had a chance to get a good look at Fluttershy since her transformation. Fluttershy’s wings were enormous, large enough to stretch out two feet beyond her outstretched arms on either side. The other visible physical changes were blood-red sclera, elongated talons that replaced her fingernails, and prominent fangs, were just as Twilight had noted earlier, though she was surprised to realize that Fluttershy's ears now tapered to little points, too.

"Are we going to get started soon?" Fluttershy asked.

"We'll get started right away," Twilight replied, making a mental note that Fluttershy was certainly bolder and more abrupt, though whether that was due to psychological stress or the FEV mutation remained to be seen. "First of all, how are you feeling?"

Fluttershy eyed the Brotherhood personnel warily. "Um, surprised that it's not just us, but otherwise okay."

Twilight hardly blamed her, it wasn't pleasant being treated like a lab rat, even at the best of times. "Sorry about them. I wanted it to be just you and me, but Scribe Rothchild wanted a full team of Scribes in here; this was our compromise."

"I understand," Fluttershy sighed. "What do you want to know?"

Twilight hummed as she considered. "How has your perception been affected? Does everything still look the same?"

"My senses are definitely sharper," Fluttershy replied. "I can hear everyone's heartbeat from here and I can smell everything in this room, even the grease that lubricates the joints on that power armor."

Somehow, Twilight wasn't surprised by that. Those changes were just further proof that Fluttershy was adapting to become a predator. Of course, the fact that her friend had mutated into a predator in the first place, and one that preyed upon humans no less, was absolutely terrifying. Still, the more they learned about how Fluttershy had changed the better, and that was precisely what this little session was about.

"Okay, so you've got improved senses, and we've already seen that you've got enhanced strength, too." Twilight frowned. "I imagine that you've probably got increased stamina as well, but we can't really test your physical capabilities until Elder Lyons lets you use the assault course."

"That won't happen until we're sure that she's not going to attack anyone again," the Knight stated from the corner.

Twilight let out a resigned sigh. "Fair enough." She looked uneasily at Fluttershy. "So, Fluttershy, er, do you have any idea if you're going to, uh… do that again?"

Fluttershy absently patted her stomach. "I don't think so? I'm not feeling the same itch I did before when I was… well… hungry."

"Can you remember everything from when you were out of control?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “I was conscious, but… I couldn't control myself, I couldn't even think properly. It was like I was acting on pure instinct. I felt itchy all over my body, and every fiber of my being was consumed with this desperate urge to…" she blushed and looked away, "to get blood as quickly as possible."

The Scribes scribbled everything down furiously. As they wrote, one of them asked, "But you don't feel that way now?"

"No," Fluttershy replied. "I guess I must just be… full."

"We should probably start putting together a stock of spare blood packs, in case you start getting thirsty for blood again," Twilight suggested. "We may want to look into blood substitutes too, just in case."

One of the Scribes raised a hand. "Um, if I may, FEV is known to remove all sexual characteristics when introduced to humans. Have you noticed any changes in that regard?"

Twilight wished her hands were mobile so she could slap a hand to her face. That was a topic she had wanted to broach privately, if only to spare Fluttershy a little embarrassment. Fluttershy did indeed blush, but, to Twilight's immense surprise, she pulled the collar of her top out so she could look down at her own breasts.

"I don't think there've been any changes," Fluttershy said flatly. "I'll, um, check properly later."

"A-anyway," Twilight cut in, "what about your magic? I know we don't have any animals here for you to talk to, but can you still pony up?"

Fluttershy blinked slowly. "I… I don't know." She grabbed her Geode and closed her eyes, then frowned thoughtfully. "That's weird. It almost feels like…" A faint glow wafted from the Geode, spreading until it covered Fluttershy's whole body. When it faded it took her wings and talons with it, her eye color returned to normal, and even her fangs shrank until they were merely larger than average instead of being offensive weapons. Only her ears were unchanged, still tapering to little points where they poked out of her hair.

"Wait, you were ponied up this whole time?!" Twilight cried, ignoring the twinge of pain from her back.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "No… I just…" She raised an eyebrow as she stroked her Geode absently. "I… think I can still…" her Geode flashed and suddenly she was ponied up; her hair, clothes and wings all changing exactly as they usually did. She let the magic drain away and returned to normal, then the Geode flashed again and suddenly Fluttershy was once more transformed into a vampiric caricature. "I think I can switch forms at will."

"That's great!" Twilight's back flashed with pain again as she looked over at the Scribes, pausing her and everyone else in the room as they watched her twinge in pain. A few seconds passed before Twilight spoke again, "Let Elder Lyons know that Fluttershy can change at will, she's sa-"

"Wait," Pinkie interrupted. "Fluttershy? Are you okay?"

Twilight blanched as she realized that Fluttershy was grimacing and clutching at her stomach, her breathing coming in rapid gasps.

"I think my magic changed, too," Fluttershy hissed. "I… I'm itchy again."

Before anyone else could respond, a blood pack flew out of nowhere and smacked Fluttershy in the face. She flinched, but nevertheless managed to catch it and sank her fangs into it before drinking deeply. When it was empty she let out a satisfied sigh. "Thanks, Pinkie."

"No problem," Pinkie replied brightly.

Twilight shook her head in resignation. "We're going to need more blood packs." She brightened up as a thought occurred to her. "We might be able to get by with animal blood instead of human; we'll have to try that the next time you need some. I guess we'll have to figure out a more suitable receptacle for the blood than those little packs, too."

"You know, blood can be used as a suitable substitute for eggs when baking," Pinkie put in. "Want me to make some cakes with it?"

"No, Pinkie," Twilight huffed.

Chapter 71 - Founts of Magic

Rainbow Dash double checked her equipment as she stepped out into the Citadel's courtyard. Her combat armor was fitted securely and comfortably, Flashburn was scabbarded at her waist with its gas tank secured on her lower back, and her combat knives were secured on her other hip.

The sky was nice and clear; not great weather for sneaking into places, but it was better than flying in a thunderstorm.

As she made her way to the center of the courtyard, Rainbow spotted Applejack, Rarity and Sunset standing near the unarmed training ring. "Hey! Are you guys leaving too?" She called out.

"Soon," Applejack replied as Rainbow approached. "We're just waiting on our escort, then we'll be heading over to Rivet City. Are you heading for Project Exodus now?"

"Yep." Rainbow put her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky. "I figure the quicker I go, the quicker I get back." She glanced sidelong at Sunset. "How's Fluttershy doing now? I heard that you sorta fixed her, or something."

Sunset brushed her wet hair out of her face. It looked like she'd only just gotten out of the shower. "She's still all… vampirey, but yeah; she's talking now, instead of trying to eat people." She fixed Rainbow with a serious look. "Be careful, okay? I don't think I can take any more bad news."

Rainbow nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not looking for a fight today. I think Fluttershy has done enough of that for all of us." She tapped her Geode and enjoyed the rush of magic as she ponied up. "Alright, I'm off. You guys have fun in Rivet City!"

With a quick wave, Rainbow launched herself into the air and banked around to fly due south. It didn't take long for her to find the bridge that the Wonderbolts had taken them across on their way to the Citadel for the first time then, from there, it was a simple matter to follow the route that they had taken on their escape from Project Exodus. Rainbow was careful to fly high enough that she wasn't likely to get spotted, only dropping to ground level to get her bearings when she wasn't sure which way to go.

Several bands of Super Mutants were roving around, but they were easy enough for Rainbow to avoid or, when she spotted winged Mutants, hide from until they had passed.

The only moment when Rainbow genuinely felt afraid was when she was following the route down a ruined street. As she swooped down to get a better idea of where she was, she felt a rhythmic thumping the moment her feet touched the concrete. Rainbow immediately sprinted into the nearest building, out of sight. Not a moment too soon as a magically mutated Behemoth lumbered into view around the corner, walking on all fours in the manner of a gorilla.

Unlike the last Behemoth that Rainbow had seen, this one's skin had become entirely coated in scales, with large clusters of amber crystals growing out of its joints. At first, the Behemoth wandered aimlessly down the street, but the moment it reached the building that Rainbow was lurking in, it paused and sniffed loudly.

Rainbow ducked out of sight just as it looked down at the building. She could hear the beast coming closer and, unwilling to get into a fight with such a massive creature, she used her super speed to sprint around the inside of the building and up a set of stairs she used to launch herself into the sky via a hole in the roof. The Behemoth, so intent on sniffing the doorway she'd entered through, never saw her as she flew over its head and continued on her journey.

After another hour of careful flying, Rainbow finally spotted the Project Exodus building. Unfortunately, it was a lot better fortified than it had been the last time she was there. She counted three Vertibirds parked around the building with dozens of power armored soldiers, and several eyebots patrolling or standing guard at various points. There were even a couple of soldiers on the roof of the building keeping watch, forcing Rainbow to lurk behind some ruins out of sight.

Given how secure the place was, Rainbow quickly decided that getting into the subterranean facility using the elevator wasn't going to happen. Fortunately, there was an alternative. Carefully watching the soldiers from cover, Rainbow waited for a moment when one of the upper windows was unobserved and seized her chance to zip inside at top speed. She waited for a minute or so and listened for any sign that the alarm had been raised. When she was certain that she hadn't been spotted, she cautiously made her way towards the center of the building.

The Exodus building was surprisingly busy, but luckily most of the people wandering around were neither soldiers nor were they particularly alert. Sneaking past them wasn't troublesome. All the while, Rainbow kept moving towards the middle of the building, and the immense vertical hole that their magic had carved through it. When she finally reached the pit, Rainbow couldn't help but let out an awestruck gasp at what she saw.

Thousands upon thousands of magical wisps swirled around like a whirlwind; a kaleidoscope of color that shimmered and flowed unceasingly up and down through the perfectly circular holes in the building's floors. The wisps all moved at different paces and in different directions, never once straying out of the invisible boundaries of the tornado. On occasion a flurry of them would surge together like a wave in the air, at other times some would coalesce into half-formed shapes before dissipating once again.

Just as impressive as the light show, was the sound. Each wisp sang as it moved, a soft but clear note like the ringing of a crystal glass. When the wisps bumped into each other, they chimed like tiny ethereal bells. Altogether it created a symphony of haunting beauty, a melody that tugged at the heart as it enraptured the mind.

Rainbow had no idea how long she stood and stared at it, utterly mesmerized. It wasn't until she heard the distinctive sound of power-armored footsteps that she realized that she had been standing around like a gormless fool. She looked around desperately for cover, but thankfully the footsteps slowly receded, as of whoever was coming had turned down a different corridor.

With a sigh of relief, Rainbow turned back to the magic tornado. She clapped her hands to her cheeks a few times to clear her head and cautiously moved closer. Stepping over the thin chain the Enclave had strung up to cordon off the tornado, Rainbow got as close as she could to the swirling wisps without actually touching them and peered down into the hole.

The hole was easily the length of a tennis court in diameter. It burrowed through the floors of the building and the rock below in a perfect cylinder shape.

Rainbow frowned, unsure of whether the magic was safe to touch, then shrugged and extended her hand into it anyway. Her skin started tingling the moment it crossed the tornado's invisible boundary. Most of the wisps avoided her arm, altering their path at the last second to avoid it, but dozens of blue ones that somehow reminded Rainbow of her own magic clustered around her hand, enshrouding it in a sparkling glove of pure energy. When Rainbow pulled her hand back the wisps peeled away from her rather than leave the mass, bobbing around for a moment before zipping off and continuing on their merry way.

"Okay, seems safe enough," Rainbow whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she took one last step forward and dropped into the hole.

It was an experience unlike anything else Rainbow had ever felt. It was as if she were floating down through the eye of her own personal storm, albeit one constructed from the fever dreams of a mad artist. Most of the wisps simply moved out of her way, but the blue ones seemed to seek her out and clung to every part of her body. Dozens at first, then hundreds, then finally thousands of them coated her in a flickering mass of magical power.

As Rainbow dropped further towards the bottom, she slowly realized that the tornado seemed to be getting denser. Millions of tiny lights filled the air, and yet somehow she could still see perfectly through them. Still, if the magic was becoming denser, Rainbow figured that it might pose a certain problem.

The tornado certainly hadn't been around the last time Rainbow was at Project Exodus, meaning that it was relatively new. If it was relatively new, then the Enclave probably had someone monitoring it at the bottom. Whoever was monitoring it would have noticed it getting denser and would therefore be paying more attention, which would make it that much more difficult for Rainbow to get out at the bottom without getting spotted.

Thinking fast, Rainbow tilted her wings and turned her floating into a wide circling descent, picking up the pace as she did so. The wisps reacted, swirling around and out of her way until the whole tornado was spinning faster and more chaotically than ever.

Rainbow kept it up until she finally saw the floor of the subterranean hangar down below. Two people were standing near the bottom of the tornado looking up. Hoping that the mass of magic would mask her, Rainbow used her super speed to burst out of the tornado and dart behind a stack of metal crates behind the two figures.

Peeking out from behind the crates, Rainbow was relieved to see that the two people were still looking up at the magical maelstrom, blissfully unaware of her presence. She recognized one of them as Doctor Strong, but she had no idea who the second person was. She ducked back behind the crates and was about to head off in search of Doctor Shoichet when something caught her eye. "Whoa…"

Rainbow's armor had changed; altered by her trip through the magical tornado. Where before it had been made of some dull grey material that resembled steel, now it seemed to be composed of a deep blue gemstone; sapphire, if her time around Rarity had taught her anything, lined with pale metal that gleamed in the light. A matching vambrace covered her right forearm, with greaves covering her shins. Even her Pip-Boy had been converted into the same sapphire with pale metal lining, and instead of green, the script running across the screen was now a bright baby blue.

As she inspected her newly modified armor Rainbow noticed that Flashburn had changed, too. The pipe that connected the blade to the gas tank was gone, and a quick check revealed that the gas tank itself had disappeared entirely. The handle of the shishkebab now resembled the hilt and crossguard of a true sword, and the leather sheath that Rarity had made for it was now covered in ornate silver filigree. Drawing the blade, Rainbow saw that Flashburn had indeed mutated into a real backsword, with a single-edged blue steel blade. It may have lacked the fuel for flame, but somehow she knew that it would ignite if only she wished it to.

Rainbow was so absorbed in checking out how her equipment had changed that she didn't notice someone standing and staring at her until the woman cleared her throat, making her practically jump out of her skin.

"Are you done admiring yourself, or should I come back later?" Sienna asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rainbow chuckled awkwardly and sheathed Flashburn. "Uh, hey, Doctor Bohn. I didn't see you there."

"Which is surprising considering you almost ran into me," Sienna deadpanned. "What are you doing here?"

"There's a few things going on back at the Citadel, we could kinda use your help," Rainbow replied.

Sienna sighed heavily. "Of course you do. You're lucky that Horrigan's on patrol at the moment." She stepped around the crates and called out to the others, "Tara, Pat, could you come over here?"

"What are you doing?!" Rainbow hissed.

"Relax, Patricia is trustworthy," Sienna replied. "She's Tara's mom."

"Wait, her mom?" Rainbow waited impatiently as the two women made their way over from the magical tornado. Both did a double take as they stepped around the crates and spotted her.

"Rainbow Dash?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Tara cried.

Tara's mother, Patricia, looked Rainbow over curiously. "So you're one of the Rainbooms? I'd heard the stories, but I've got to admit, I don't think I really believed them until now."

"Yeah, I'm awesome," Rainbow said distractedly before turning to Tara. "Look, I know this is kinda out of the blue, but we need your help."

"What's wrong?" Tara asked.

Rainbow ticked off the list on her fingers. "First of all, Twilight's injuries are pretty bad, she can't even walk without making them worse. Second, Fluttershy had been infected by FEV and mutated into some sort of vampire thing-"

"What?!" the other women cried in shock.

"Third," Rainbow continued, "the Brotherhood of Steel wants to know if the Enclave are a little more open to a peace treaty after what happened at Project Purity. And fourth, if there's not going to be a peace treaty, then they want as much information on the Enclave as they can get."

The three Enclave women just stared at her in blank shock. Finally, Sienna broke the silence, "Is it just me, or has the whole world just decided to go full-on batshit crazy?"

"It's not just you." Tara sighed and shook her head. "Come with me. We'll fetch Becky and see what we can sort out."

Sunset watched Rainbow fly away with more than a little trepidation. Seeing her look, Applejack clapped a hand to her shoulder. "Don't you worry, she'll be fine."

"If you say so," Sunset muttered.

"Trust me. Rainbow may be reckless, but she ain't looking for a fight," Applejack said firmly. "The only reason she's going back there is to find something that can help Flutters and Twilight, and you know as well as anyone that Rainbow never leaves her friends hanging."

Sunset sighed, but she gave a small smile. "I guess you're right."

"Darn right, Ah am." Applejack slung her pack over her shoulder and tipped her hat back. "Come on, looks like our escort is here." She nodded to three Knights that were approaching from across the courtyard.

"Excellent," Rarity said as she picked up her pack and straightened out her armor.

The Knights stopped and saluted when they reached the girls. "Ladies, we're here to escort you to Rivet City. Are you ready to go?"

"We're ready," Sunset replied, patting her armor to reassure herself that it was still there. None of the Rainbooms were willing to leave the Citadel without armor, but Sunset was particularly attached to hers, after it had saved her life during the assault on Project Purity.

The girls quickly fell into step behind the Knights as they led the way out of the Citadel's main gate. The weather was perfect; bright and clear without a cloud in the sky, but not too warm either. Even so, Sunset couldn't help the uneasy feeling in her gut as the group made their way to Project Purity, following the same route they had taken in the battle to reclaim it.

Remnants of the battle surrounded the group from the moment they set foot on the big bridge across the river. The Brotherhood of Steel had been working hard to clear the worst of the mess, but their priority had been moving the bodies of the dead and acquiring any equipment that still worked, leaving behind piles of scorched stone and twisted metal. The bloodstains remained too, silent markers of suffering and death.

Sunset found her feet dragging as the group turned onto the street where they had been ambushed. In her mind, she knew that the constant Brotherhood patrols made this path one of the safest areas in the wasteland. Unfortunately, her heart was convinced otherwise and her memories certainly weren't helping to change that state of affairs. Passing by the building they had taken cover in was the worst part. Sunset could almost hear the cries and gunfire, she could smell the stench of hot metal and charred flesh in her memory.

"Easy there, sugarcube." Sunset looked around as Applejack spoke. The farm girl nodded to the corner of the street ahead. "You're okay, just keep walking 'til we're out of this street and you'll be fine. You've got this."

Sunset nodded and focused her gaze on the building at the end of the street. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she concentrated on her breathing as best she could and just kept putting one foot in front of the other. Soon enough, though it felt like an hour to Sunset, the group turned the corner and were out of sight of the awful place.

"There you go, darling. The hard part is out of the way," Rarity said softly.

"Yeah," Sunset replied wearily.

"Don't worry, we're not far from Project Purity," one of the Knights told them. "From there, it's just a short walk to Rivet City."

The rest of the walk to Project Purity passed without incident. When they arrived at the memorial building, the girls were impressed to see several Knights standing guard while dozens of Scribes hurried around, moving heavy steel drums and taking inventory. Some of the personnel paused to greet the group as they passed, calling out encouragement to the girls and their escort, but most of them were either too busy or just not interested.

Sunset looked up at the memorial building as she followed the others. Much of the damage and debris from the assault had been cleared away, and in the bright sunshine Project Purity looked far cleaner and less oppressive than the last time they had been there. Still, the very sight of it brought back unpleasant memories for each of the girls; after all, everything had only truly gone wrong for them after they had met James there.

As the girls followed their escort onto the great metal walkway that ran around Project Purity they finally got their first view of the great pipes sticking out of the side of the building. Clear water was blasting out of them at a ferocious rate into the Tidal Basin.

"Well, would you look at that?" Applejack said softly. "That's sure going to help a bunch of people around the wasteland."

Sunset couldn't deny that, but she couldn't help but think about what it had cost. She tried to shrug off the dark thoughts rising within her and focus on the good things happening right before them.

"We've got a job to do first," Rarity said. "The sooner we get to Rivet City and help them with whatever magical issue they're dealing with, the sooner we can get their help with distributing this water to the people that need it most."

Once they were off the walkway and on the last stretch of road leading to Rivet City, all of the girls, even Sunset, felt their spirits rising a little. The city may have been cramped and dilapidated, but it was the last place that any of them had felt truly safe. As they made their way up the hill and Rivet City came into view, however, the girls stopped and stared in stunned disbelief at the scene that greeted them.

"What the...?" Sunset muttered.

Rivet City had changed beyond recognition. Irregular patches of the exterior had somehow been restored to what must have been their original state. The burnished steel gleamed in the sunlight while crystal formations sprouted from random sections of the hull. Even more bizarrely were the closely packed trees and thick vegetation that covered the entirety of the far side of the ship, apparently growing directly from the metal itself. Chunks of loose metal floated sedately above the city, surrounded by a purple glow, while the trees and command tower were giving off flashes of multicolored lightning at random intervals.

"You can see why they want your help," one of the Knights said flatly.

"Yeah, no kidding," Applejack muttered.

With the initial shock at Rivet City's transformation over, the girls noticed a small crowd of people gathered around the base of the metal structure that held the boarding platform. A squad of Brotherhood Knights was handing out bottles of water from a pack Brahmin to those around them.

"You've started distributing the water already?" Sunset asked her escorts.

The Knights nodded. "We've been giving the water out freely from here since it's close to Project Purity. We give a certain quantity to Rivet City as well, but we can't really do much more on our own. We need help from the Rivet City Council if we want to get shipments to the rest of the settlements of the Capital Wasteland."

Thankfully, the crowd largely ignored the girls as they passed by and entered the metal structure, climbing the ramps until they reached the boarding platform. A few people were up there already, apparently waiting for the bridge to extend. One of the men leaning against the railings perked up as he spotted the group. "Hey, you're the Rainbooms!"

"The Rainbooms?" The woman next to him raised an eyebrow curiously. "I'd heard you were working with the Enclave, what are you doing with the Brotherhood of Steel?"

"The Enclave kidnapped us," Applejack replied grumpily. "The Brotherhood helped us escape."

"I wonder if you'd say that if the Knights weren't here," the woman muttered.

"Put a sock in it," one of the Knights retorted as he stepped over to the intercom. "This is Knight Green of the Brotherhood of Steel here with Applejack, Rarity and Sunset Shimmer of the Rainbooms."

A reply crackled over the intercom a few seconds later. "Seriously?! Alright, we'll extend the bridge. Knights and Rainbooms can come over, but that's it. Anyone else tries to come across and they'll get shot."

The annoyed grumbling of the waiting people was drowned out by the metallic grinding noise the bridge made as it shifted into motion. Sunset watched with interest as it swung around towards them, feeling a sudden surge of relief that she wasn't at death's door this time.

When the bridge was in place, the Knights gestured for the girls to cross first. Several members of Rivet City's security team met them on the other side. One of them stepped forward and nodded in greeting. "It's good to see you. Knights, you're welcome to rest in the security team's lounge if you wish. Girls, the Council wants to see you immediately, refreshments will be provided in the Council room; if you'll follow me, please."

"Whoa." Metzger stared up at the crystalline mountain in awe. She and the rest of her squad were on a secret mission to investigate what had happened to Raven Rock, with a new friend of theirs acting as a guide. "Nice work, Fawkes."

"You are most welcome," Fawkes replied with a nod.

Hill stepped forward and tapped his finger against a five-foot ruby growing out of the ground. It let out a soft chiming sound when he touched it. "Damn… I know the briefing told us about this, but I sure as hell didn't believe it until now."

"Yeah, me neither," Metzger muttered. She glanced over at Fawkes, who was frowning curiously at a large sheet of tourmaline near his feet. "What's up, Fawkes? Something bothering you?"

Fawkes turned and slowly cast his gaze around at the many crystal formations jutting out of the ground around the mountain's base. "It is spreading."

"The gemstones?" Misty asked. Fawkes just nodded. "That's weird."

"I get the feeling we're going to have to get used to weird shit happening wherever the Rainbooms go." Metzger readied her laser rifle and gestured at a cave mouth at the base of the mountain. "Come on, let's take a look inside."

The squad moved forward as one. Every time they stepped on a gemstone it rang or chimed loudly but, surprisingly, none of them so much as cracked under the weight of the Wonderbolts' power armor. The entrance to the cave mouth was square and clean-cut, leading Metzger to believe that it used to be the original entrance to Raven Rock.

"Alright, Hill, take point with me. Fawkes, I want you in the middle," Metzger said firmly. "Keep your weapons ready and your heads on a swivel. We have no idea whether or not anything survived the blast, and there's always the chance that some critter’s wandered in here since."

Inside, the tunnel was dim, but not quite dark. Every surface was made of crystal with hundreds of different colors and shades blending together seamlessly; each of them let out a faint glow that provided just enough illumination to see by. The squad followed the tunnel as it twisted and turned, burrowing ever further into the mountain. Several more tunnels split off from the one they were in but, in the interest of not getting lost, the group stayed on the straightest path.

"This is not right," Fawkes said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Metzger whispered back. Something about the tunnels made her want to be as quiet as possible.

Fawkes frowned as he glanced down one of the side tunnels. "I did not trespass far into this facility before the detonation of magic, but I remember the path we took well enough, and the layout of these tunnels has changed."

Metzger was about to reply when a series of loud chimes echoed down the tunnel. She gestured for the squad to halt and the ringing of their footsteps quickly faded, but the chiming from ahead grew steadily louder. The Wonderbolts tensed and raised their weapons, ready to defend themselves, but the chiming started to slowly fade away.

"This is above our fucking pay grade," Hill muttered.

"Can it." Metzger huffed, though she privately agreed with him. "It doesn't look like we're going to be able to get much useful information, not without someone who actually gets how this magic shit works. Let's just get the samples that Rothchild wants and get the hell out of here."

"Perhaps, I may be of assistance?" Everyone whipped around at the strange voice, but they couldn't see anyone else in the vicinity. "If you would be so kind as to avoid shooting me, I'm up here." The Wonderbolts all looked up, only to see a fist-sized blue crystalline spider ensconced in a little hole in the shimmering ceiling. It waved with one of its front legs when it saw that they had spotted it.

Metzger lowered her rifle and stared at it blankly. "What the hell?"

"It's a sparkly talking spider, of course it is." Hill shook his head. "Okay, this is officially the weirdest thing I've ever seen. There's no fucking way things can get weirder than this."

The little spider chuckled. "I suppose it certainly is unusual. My name is Eden."

"Eden," Metzger said flatly. "As in, 'President of the Enclave' Eden?"

"Former President," Eden replied in a surprisingly cheerful tone. "I was deposed shortly before Colonel Autumn initiated the base's self-destruct."

"And just when I think we've hit peak weird, we find something even fucking crazier," Hill put in.

Metzger eyed the little spider suspiciously. "How can you possibly expect us to believe that you used to be the President of the Enclave? For all we know you're some ordinary little bug that got mutated when this place blew." She shook her head as she realized that she was arguing about trust with a spider. "What the hell am I doing? Come on guys, let's get out of here."

"Wait!" Eden scuttled down the wall as the group turned to leave. "You make a fair point, but I can prove who I am!" He stopped and raised his forelegs as Metzger paused to look down at him. "I've already mentioned Colonel Autumn... oh, wait, maybe you don't know who he is-"

"He was the asshole at Project Purity who refused our peace treaty," Metzger shot.

"The Colonel escaped from here successfully?" Eden folded his forelegs and scratched his head with another. "How surprising. Anyway, if my knowledge of the Colonel isn't enough to convince you, how about Project Exodus, hm? I know the Brotherhood of Steel is aware of that.

“Or, I could mention the old Poseidon Oil Rig, maybe our Navarro outpost?" He skittered past the group and headed towards the entrance. "Look, just take me with you and I'll tell you everything I know, but we should probably talk as we walk. We don't want any of the other residents of this place to find us."

"What do you mean, 'other residents'?" Misty asked.

"The magic didn't just change me," Eden replied. "Our deathclaw specimens, suits of power armor, the few people that didn't escape in time, even the dead were affected by the magic."

Metzger couldn't help but cast a worried glance over her shoulder. "What did it do to the dead?"

"Nothing good." Eden paused to wave them onward with a leg. "I speak from experience when I say that most of them aren't friendly." His body clinked like glass as he shuddered. "But even the dead are nothing compared to what's lurking down in the lowest sub-basement."

Still trying to decide whether or not she believed him about the dead or, rather, just hoping that he was lying, Metzger asked, "And what have you got down in the basement? A living sex dungeon?"

Eden paused in his tracks again and walked right up to Metzger's feet. He rose on to his back two pairs of legs to look up at her face. "This is no joking matter, Knight. There is something down there that even I didn't know about, until I found it last night. A secret pet project of Senator Vess, or Lily as she prefers to be called, one that your leader needs to hear about. Now are you going to accept my help or not?"

Metzger glared down at the little spider. She briefly considered stomping on it, but managed to restrain herself. Whether or not the thing was actually Eden was up for debate, but it did have knowledge of the Enclave's inner workings and, as weird as it was, that made it potentially a valuable asset. "Fine. Fawkes, do you mind carrying him so we can move a bit faster? We'll grab the samples for Rothchild from the crystals outside and get back to the Citadel before any more weird shit turns up."

As the group made their way back out of Raven Rock, none of them noticed the creature following them through the crystal walls, nor the abomination that watched them through its eyes.

Chapter 72 - Rivet City Revisited

Sunset idly inspected her surroundings as the security officer escorted her, Applejack, and Rarity to the Council Room. Most of the interior was just as rusty and dimly lit as she remembered, but there were patches where the metal was perfectly clean and shiny as if it had only been built the day before.

"Just in here, ladies," the security officer said, stopping and gesturing to a nearby door. "Bannon and Chief Harkness are already inside, our new science representative should be here soon."

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she watched the security officer leave. "Huh, Ah forgot that they'd need a new science rep, now that Doctor Li is over at Project Purity. Who do you reckon it is?"

"I guess we'll find out in a minute." Without further ado, Sunset pushed the door open and stepped through. Inside was a large room furnished with a single square table. Two people were already sitting and a holotape recorder lay between them. One person, Sunset recognized as Chief Harkness. The other, she assumed, was Bannon. The man had dark brown skin and black hair, which was trimmed in a neat buzz cut. His clothes, a dress shirt and pants with a corduroy waistcoat, were cleaner than any Sunset had seen outside of the Enclave or Vault 101.

"Ah, girls, it's good to see you again," Harkness said as the girls walked in.

"Indeed." The other man inclined his head to Sunset. "Miss Shimmer, I don't believe we've met. My name is Bannon; I represent the interests of the city's merchants in the council."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sunset replied politely.

Harkness gestured to the empty chairs around the table. "Please, take a seat. Miss Nalaar shouldn't be long."

Applejack's eyes widened as the girls sat down. "Pia? She's your new science rep?"

"For sheer lack of other options," Bannon muttered, earning a reproving look from Harkness. Before the security chief could say anything else, the door opened again.

"Sorry I'm late! We had to clear a bunch more of those butterflies out of the purifier room." The woman who hurried into the room had light brown skin, and dark brown hair tied back in a rough ponytail. Rivulets of sweat cut trails through the dust and oil covering her face. Her clothes consisted of light pants and a tank top under a thick leather trench coat with matching gloves; all of which were dotted with burns and stains. It took Sunset a moment to recognize her as the mother of the precocious little girl she'd met the last time she was in Rivet City.

Pia dropped into the nearest empty chair and heaved a great sigh of relief. "Am I glad to see you, girls. Things have been going crazy in here."

"So we've noticed. What the heck happened?" Applejack asked.

"We were hoping that you could tell us," Harkness replied. "One second." He pressed a button on the holotape recorder and cleared his throat, "This is the fifth supplementary council meeting regarding the magical disturbances affecting Rivet City. In attendance are myself, Chief Harkness, as the security representative, Bannon as the civilian representative, and Pia Nalaar as the science representative. Also in attendance are Sunset Shimmer, Applejack and Rarity of the Rainbooms, who are here as consultants on this issue."

"Yes, and now that you're back, perhaps we can finally reopen the city properly and get some customers in." Bannon glowered at the girls. "The market is the lifeblood of this city, and thanks to this mess profits have dropped considerably."

Harkness threw him a dark look. "Bringing more people on board can wait until we know it's safe."

"Which is where we come in," Rarity stated.

"Exactly," Harkness agreed.

Sunset frowned and tapped her fingers on the table. "Okay, tell us everything that happened right from the start. After that, we'll take a look at the trees and… whatever else has changed, work out what we're dealing with, and go from there."

Pia nodded and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms as she thought back. "I assume you already know about the magic… things… that were left behind by Doctor Li's experiments?" Sunset nodded. "A couple of days after you left, when that big explosion of magic happened, a whole bunch of those weird little lights crashed into the city. Most of the people were indoors, so not many were struck directly, but when they started hitting the boat itself, the magic that was already locked away in the city suddenly went haywire."

"That's an understatement," Harkness put in. "It felt like an earthquake had hit us, I honestly thought the entire ship was going to explode!"

"What do you mean? What happened?! Sunset asked.

Pia shook her head. "I'm not sure. I was checking on the hydroponics equipment when it happened. One second everything was fine, the next there was magic all over the place. Trees started growing out of walls and even computers, we had glowing butterflies, clusters of glittery stuff, and rainbow-colored magic all zooming through the ship, and random purple flashes making stuff levitate and throwing things all over the place."

"My goodness!" Rarity exclaimed. "No one was injured, were they?"

"Nothing severe, mostly just a few cuts and bruises," Harkness replied. "One of my security team pulled a muscle and got a pretty nasty poke in the eye when his boyfriend suddenly grew wings, but that's about the worst of it."

Sunset winced. "How many people were affected by the magic altogether?"

"All of us were affected, Miss Shimmer," Bannon shot.

"I believe Miss Shimmer is asking how many people ponied up," Pia retorted. "That is what you call it, right? I heard Three-Dog mention it on the radio."

"That's right," Sunset replied with a nod.

Harkness smiled grimly. "Two people ponied up as a result of being struck by those little magic wisps, then a further forty two people ponied up as a result of the subsequent magical disturbances."

"My daughter being one of them," Pia added sourly.

Horror filled Sunset's heart at the thought of such a little girl being mutated by out of control magic. "Is she okay? What happened to her?!"

"She's okay at the moment," Pia replied with a sigh. "She was a little freaked out at first, but she calmed down soon enough. I'm just glad her wings disappeared before she relaxed enough to really try them out."

Applejack chuckled at that. "Yeah, she's as feisty as a ferret on a sugar rush. Ah can't imagine that givin’ her wings would make her any easier to wrangle."

Everyone looked around as Bannon loudly cleared his throat. "Do you think we could get back to the matter of the magic? Some of us have work to do," he said testily.

Pia glared at him, but bit back the insults she clearly wished to hurl and took a deep breath before addressing the girls, "Around ten minutes after it first hit, the magic started to settle down. We've managed to contain, or cordon off, some of the rooms and things that have been affected but, as you've probably seen, there's a whole load of stuff that's too big for us to handle."

"Like the trees?" Applejack asked.

"The trees, the butterflies, the floating equipment, the random rainbow sparks, and that's just the most obvious stuff," Harkness said. "It got even worse after that second wave of magic blasted through a couple of days ago."

"Is it true that the Enclave caused that blast too?" Bannon asked.

Applejack nodded. "Them morons got their hands on some magic of their own. We didn't even know they had it til their Colonel blew their own base sky-high. All the radiation made the magic go haywire."

"Radiation makes magic go haywire?" Pia asked, wide-eyed.

"Sort of," Sunset replied. "We're not really sure, exactly, how they interact yet, but when large quantities of magic and radiation mix, the reaction tends to be pretty… energetic."

"Meanin’ that the last two times a load of magic met a load of radiation, it exploded all over the wastes like a boy in puberty," Applejack said flatly, earning a disgusted moan from Rarity.

Pia frowned and crossed her arms. "That would certainly explain what's happening with our generators."

"What's going on with the generators?" Sunset asked.

"Some of them have been altered by the magic," Pia replied. "They aren't showing any overly weird properties,yet, but their output has almost quintupled compared to normal. That's actually one of the first things we wanted you to take a closer look at, just in case."

"Fair enough." Sunset chewed her lip as she considered how to phrase what was on her mind. "I should probably warn you, I don't think we'll be able to get rid of most of the magic affecting the city. We can try if it's absolutely necessary, but it would probably only end up making things worse."

Harkness sighed heavily. "We were afraid that you'd say that. In that case, we'd appreciate it if you could at least help us get as much of the magic under control as possible."

"Of course," Sunset replied. "Do you have a list of what needs checking, or…?"

Harkness pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it, and spread it out on the table. "I've got a complete list of every magical disturbance we’ve found here." He pushed it over to Sunset and leaned back in his chair. "I've put a star next to the most pressing issues."

Sunset read through the list quickly. She was surprised to see that it wasn't really that long, but there were a few items on there that could potentially be very problematic. "Er, what's this one that's been crossed out?"

"Ah, the Boogeyman." Harkness grimaced. "It looked like a suit of black power armor, but it could shift its form into some kind of oily shadow that moved with incredible speed. It infiltrated the city a couple of days after the magic hit and started terrorizing the residents. Thankfully, no one was hurt. It seemed more interested in scaring people than actually hurting them, but it still caused us no end of trouble. We managed to drive it out of the city a few hours before the second wave of magic hit, and it hasn't been seen since."

"That's… weird," Applejack mused.

"It's one less thing for us to worry about right now," Sunset said firmly. She knew that the Boogeyman was a problem they'd probably have to deal with eventually, but it was beyond their reach for the moment and, if she was honest with herself, she wasn't up to another confrontation just yet. "Okay, where do you want us to start?"

"Pia can show you and Applejack what needs to be checked," Harkness replied before looking over at Bannon. "As for Rarity, I believe that you needed her for something, didn't you?"

Bannon nodded and turned to Rarity. "It's not actually me that needs you, but Miss Germaine. She wishes to speak to you about a rather urgent matter, and I agreed to request a meeting with you for her. Would it be possible for you to see her as soon as possible once this meeting has concluded?"

"Oh, er…" It was clear from her expression that Rarity had mixed feelings about meeting her alternate self, but after a moment she nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose we do have a few things to discuss."

Harkness glanced around at everyone before pushing back his chair and standing up. "Alright then, if there's nothing else to discuss, then I believe we can adjourn this meeting."

"Finally," Bannon huffed. "Pia, Harkness, I’ll see you on Monday for our regular Council meeting. As for you three, I look forward to hearing good news about these disturbances being dealt with swiftly. Good day."

"And good riddance," Pia muttered as he left the room.

Harkness switched the holotape recorder off and headed for the door, himself. He paused on the threshold and glanced back over his shoulder. "It's good to have you girls back, just remember the rules and stay out of trouble. See you later." Sunset raised a hand in farewell as he left.

"So, where’re we headin’ first?" Applejack asked. "Engine room?"

Pia shook her head. "Thankfully, no. It's only a few of the portable generators that have been affected; we're keeping them in a secure room in the science labs."

"I'll follow you partway," Rarity said. " I've never been through this part of the ship before."

"Fair enough." Pia got out of her chair and stretched. "Phew! Okay, let's go."

The girls followed as Pia led them quickly through the corridors of the ship. They met several people going about their business as they moved into the more industrious parts of the city; most of whom greeted the group enthusiastically. There wasn't time to stop and chat, but the girls made sure to let the people know that they were here to help with the magic, however they could.

"One thing Ah'm wondering," Applejack put in after they'd passed another couple of people, "how exactly are we gonna help everyone with all this magic? You said yourself that there's too much for us to get rid of."

Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, Equestrian magic has spread too far and too fast for us to contain or get rid of all of it. I think we're just going to have to destroy whatever dark magic we find and teach people how to live with whatever's left."

"It's as good a plan as any, I suppose." Rarity stopped at a side corridor with a sign showing directions to the church. "I'll head off here, I know my way to the boutique from the church."

Sunset and Applejack waved goodbye to Rarity as she left before following Pia once more. The effects of the magic were becoming more obvious the closer they got to the science bay. Rust-covered roots and branches grew out of the walls, ceiling, and floor; along with the occasional colorful gemstone. Once or twice, Sunset even thought that she could see flashes of magical energy twinkling in the corner of her eye, but whenever she turned her head to get a better look, it was gone.

Despite the new structural oddities, the three arrived at the science labs without any particular difficulty. When Pia pushed open the door to the labs, though, neither Applejack nor Sunset could help a loud gasp when they saw how much the lab had changed.

Every single surface was gleaming; so clean and shiny it was virtually unrecognisable. One of the room's walls was covered entirely in trees, with tangled roots knotting into the floor. Great branches spread across half of the ceiling and entwined around the walkways of the upper level. A second look revealed that the trees' bark was made of burnished brass and their leaves were a sparkling metallic green. Apples of every size and color hung from the branches, while hundreds of ethereal pink butterflies danced among the leaves and fluttered around the lights in the ceiling.

"Well Ah'll be… things sure have changed around here!" Applejack grinned and nodded to the tree-covered wall. "Don't tell me all of that grew from Little Mac?!"

Pia sighed. "Yeah. It's completely covered the one side of the ship's exterior, and it's slowly spreading through the interior, too. We're just lucky that it isn't blocking off any of the corridors. Hell, the damn thing has actually made the ship more stable since its roots started poking out of the bottom and digging into the riverbed." She gestured for the girls to follow. "Come on, the generators are this way."

The other members of the science team called out greetings as the three descended to the lower level. Sunset noticed that there were a lot fewer people around than before, and that most of them were technicians rather than researchers. James and Doctor Li had taken most of the dedicated scientists with them when they left for Project Purity.

"How are you managin’ with the hydroponics and stuff, now that the rest of the science team is gone?" Applejack asked, taking the words right out of Sunset's mouth.

"It hasn't been easy," Pia admitted. "I was never actually on the science team. I'm an engineer, not a researcher, but Doctor Li left very clear instructions on how to use and maintain the equipment, along with a ridiculous amount of research notes for us to look through, in case we want to try and keep improving the yield."

Sunset gave her a sidelong look. "If you weren't on the science team, how did you get on the Council as the science representative?"

It took her a moment to realize just how rude that sounded, but thankfully Pia just grinned. "It's simple, really. I'm the only person left on the ship who can understand half of what's written in Doctor Li's notes." Pia glanced around to make sure no one was looking and spoke in a quiet tone, "If I'm honest, the only reason I took the job was because it meant I could have a permanent residence in the city, without having to pay the usual fees. It's hard work, especially with everything that's going on at the moment, but if it means I can give my daughter a stable home to grow up in, then it's worth it. Speaking of…"

Pia turned and called out to one of the technicians, "Hey, Isaac, can you fetch Chandra for me? Thanks!" She opened one of the side doors and stepped aside for Applejack and Sunset to enter. Inside was a small workshop with three portable generators positioned against the back wall.

"These’re the ones that were affected by the magic?" Applejack asked, getting a nod from Pia as she closed the door to keep the technicians from looking in.

Sunset stared at the generators curiously. She could see a faint glow coming from under some metal panels and she was sure that she could sense the tingle of Equestrian magic in the room somehow, much like when she and Twilight had first found their Geodes at Camp Everfree, but Sunset didn't have the faintest idea of how to go about figuring out whether it was dangerous or not. Keenly aware that Pia was watching, she asked Applejack in an undertone, "Uh, do you have any idea how these generators work?"

"Nope," Applejack replied. "You?"

"Not a clue." Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly and turned to Pia. "So… um… do they actually do anything, or…?"

Pia just gave her a flat look. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Well…" Sunset tried to smile hopefully, but at Pia's unamused look, she huffed and frowned in irritation. "Look, magic works differently in this world than it did in our homeworld, and that worked differently from the magic back in the world that I originally came from. Whatever magic is in those generators doesn't look or feel dark at the moment, but until I can actually see it doing something, then I have no idea whether it's safe to use or not."

Pia raised an eyebrow. "It's not dark? Should I assume that dark magic is bad?" Sunset nodded, prompting Pia to hum and rub her chin thoughtfully. "So… if we were to connect the generator up to something, maybe try and rig it up to a simple lightbulb or something, you'd be able to tell if it was dangerous from that?"

"Maybe," Sunset replied. "But, setting up such an experiment would be extremely difficult to do safely given the-"

"The radiation," Pia finished. She stepped over and patted one of the generators, then sighed and turned back to the girls. "I'll brainstorm it. If I can come up with a safe idea, would you be willing to help me give it a try?"

Sunset glanced over at Applejack, unsure of what to do. Seeing her look, Applejack shrugged and said, "Why not? It ain't like she's tryin’ to make weapons, like the Enclave; these generators will help people. Better generators means more electricity, which means more food and more water purifiers. Ah reckon it's worth looking into."

"I suppose," Sunset sighed. "Okay, if you can come up with a way to test the generators safely, then we'll help you. But, if it seems like the magic is doing anything it shouldn't, we shut the experiment down immediately, is that clear?"

Pia's expression hardened. "I'm not an idiot. My daughter lives here. I'm not going to risk her life over something like this."

"Well, not everyone in this world seems to think like that," Sunset retorted.

At first it looked like Pia was going to snap back at her, but after a moment her expression softened. "I wish I could say that you were wrong about that, but the fact that we're living in a broken down old aircraft carrier in the middle of a radioactive wasteland is pretty good evidence to the opposite." She brushed a few loose strands of hair back out of her face and glanced at Applejack. "Going back to what you said about food production, the next thing I wanted you to look at was those trees. Specifically, their apples."

Applejack broke out into a wide grin. "Alright, now you're talkin’! Come on, Ah've been itchin’ to get a closer look at them magic apples ever since Ah saw them!" She was still gushing over the prospect of scrutinizing the apples as she hurried out of the room, leaving the other two in her dust.

Sunset smirked at the look on Pia's face. "Hey, you're the one who pointed Applejack at apples and said 'go'. What did you expect?"

The two left the room just in time to see Applejack striding up to the trees on the wall, waving the nearby technicians out of her way. "Step aside, y'all, let me take a look at these here beauties."

Sunset and Pia stepped up alongside Applejack. "I know that you helped Doctor Li with increasing the yield of apples from the hydroponics experiments, so I was hoping you could tell me whether or not these things are edible," Pia said.

"Well, Ah wouldn't know off the top of my head," Applejack replied. "Some of them look like regular apples. That up there's a Granny Smith, you got a couple of Golden Delicious and a Bramley over there, a Pink Lady down there, you've even got one up there that looks like an Egremont Russet, you don't see those around too often." She planted a hand on her hip and tipped her hat back with the other. "Ah don't know about the rest of the ones with the funny colors though. Ah ain't never seen a blue apple like those ones up there before, not without painting them; that's definitely magic for you."

Pia jerked her thumb at a table just behind them, loaded with machinery and a few different types of apples. "We've tested the composition of some of the apples already." She held a hand up as Sunset glared at her. "I know it was dangerous, but we had to check if they contained anything toxic or poisonous after the security team caught a few teenagers eating the ones growing up on the flight deck."

"Were they toxic?" Sunset asked.

"Surprisingly, no," Pia replied. "Despite literally growing out of metal walls, they just seem to be normal apples, apart from the colors. If they're safe enough to eat without mutating people or ponying them up, then we'll have a massive boost to our food production."

Applejack reached out and plucked a shiny green apple from the nearest branch. "Well, Ah guess there's only one way to find out." The apple gave a loud and satisfying crunch as she bit into it. "Oh, wow. Hoo-whee! That's got some serious bite to it, real tangy."

"Do you feel anything?" Sunset asked. "Any magic?"

"Nope. Nothing but apple," Applejack replied. "Ah'd still be careful with the funny colored ones, but Ah reckon you should be fine with the ordinary apples, at least."

Pia sagged with relief. "Good. I'd like to do a couple of extra tests just to be sure, but if you're right, then this is going to mean a lot of fresh, clean food for the wastes."

As Applejack and Pia discussed crop yields and how to identify different varieties of apples, Sunset walked along the tree-laden wall, inspecting it closely. What she had originally thought was a multitude of trees was actually just one immense one; a colossal network of trunks interlocking and weaving together.

As she stepped over a large knotted root, Sunset spotted a door nestled between a couple of thick trunks. A beautiful series of intricate spiral patterns were etched all over its surface, coming together to form Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's Cutie Marks in the center. It took Sunset a moment to realize that it led to the rooms where Doctor Li had performed her initial tests on magic.

"That's where all of the magic spread from," Pia called out as she and Applejack joined Sunset at the door. "We have to keep the door locked, because there's so much energy loose in there. One of the technicians who has already been exposed to the magic volunteered to close the door after the blast smashed it open, and she's still ponied up from the sheer amount of it in her system."

"Is she okay?" Sunset asked warily.

Pia smiled wryly. "She's got bright white feathers and silver hair, even when she's wearing her overalls she looks like a fucking goddess. I'd hate her guts, if she wasn't so damned likeable." Her smile became a smirk as she lowered her voice, "Going by how her husband mysteriously ponies up every morning, I get the feeling he's happy with it, too."

Sunset and Applejack both blushed furiously as they caught her meaning. Applejack grinned mischievously as she said, "So… Sunset? How do you fancy giving Harkness some pony ears?"

A semi-playful thump on Applejack’s arm was Sunset's only response. Any further blushing was completely unrelated, and she would deny any images of the process popping in her head until her dying breath.

"Mommy?" The three turned to see a technician and a little girl walking up to them. The little girl had vibrant red hair and was wearing a patched little sundress.

"Chandra!" Pia picked the girl up, wrapped her in a hug, and nodded to the technician. "Thanks, Isaac." She smiled at Applejack and Sunset. "You both remember my daughter, right?"

"We sure do," Applejack replied, smiling and waving at little Chandra. Sunset hesitated, guilt rising in her chest at the knowledge that the magical blast they had caused had stressed this poor little girl, but Chandra's bright grin broke down Sunset's reluctance so swiftly and efficiently that she was smiling and waving, too, before she even knew what she was doing.

Pia nodded to another side room at the far side of the lab. "Mind if we talk in there?" she asked quietly. "I'd rather keep this next bit as private as possible."

Sunset and Applejack shared a curious look, but quickly agreed. When they stepped inside the room, which turned out to be a small storage room, Pia put Chandra down and gestured for the girls to close the door behind them.

"Okay, we're alone," Applejack said as she pushed the door closed. "What's up?"

In response, Pia crouched next to Chandra. "Okay, red, do you still have your necklace?"

Chandra nodded and pulled a little necklace out of her pocket; a thin copper chain holding a crimson stone emblazoned with a stylized flame. A jolt ran through Sunset's body as she realized what it was.

"I… is that a Geode?" Applejack asked incredulously.

"I think so," Pia replied.

Sunset blinked in surprise. "You know what a Geode is?"

Pia nodded. "When the first wave of magic hit, a chunk of gemstone rocketed out of the corridor where Doctor Li ran her tests on your magic and went flying off around the ship. I had one of my friends on the security team looking after Chandra for me, and she says that the gemstone flew into the room, smacked straight into Chandra, and turned into that necklace."

"That's what made her pony up?" Sunset remarked.

"Yeah. When Harkness heard what happened, he told me about your Geodes, assuming that it was something similar," Pia explained.

"He was right, or at least I think he was." Sunset stared blankly at Chandra. The Rainbooms' Geodes were all related to the elements of harmony that her friends represented, but she had no idea what this world's Geodes were related to in the slightest. "What, er… what does her Geode do? If you don't mind me asking."

Pia frowned pensively at Chandra. "Okay, Chandra, you can put the necklace on, but no flying, and be careful."

Chandra smiled gleefully and put the necklace over her head. Almost immediately, the Geode flashed and she sprouted a pair of bright red feathered wings with matching pony ears, her dress transformed into a set of deep crimson robes, and her hair glowed and rippled like a living flame on top of her head.

As shocked and surprised as she was, Sunset had to admit that the little girl standing before her with tiny wings curled around her looked absolutely adorable.

"Aw, shucks, ain't you just the cutest little thing!" Applejack cooed, clearly not immune to her charms either.

Chandra pouted and stuck her fists on her hips, flaring her wings as she did so. It would have been cute, but the twin streaks of flame that shot out of her nostrils as she huffed slightly ruined the impression.

"Uh… did she just breathe fire?" Sunset asked flatly.

"She did," Pia confirmed with an anxious look. "I tried to keep the Geode locked away at first since, y'know, fire and small children don't usually mix well, but, unless she keeps it close, the Geode has a habit of setting fire to things, or even melting them, all on its own."

"That's… concerning," Sunset said quietly.

Applejack nodded in agreement. "Ah knew there was a load of magic goin’ around these parts recently, but Ah never thought Ah'd see new Geodes croppin’ up."

"It's actually the second new Geode I've seen," Sunset supplied. "We found a Super Mutant in Vault 87 who had one," she added in response to Applejack's shocked look.

"Why the heck didn't you tell me about him?" Applejack demanded.

"I forgot, okay!?" Sunset shot back. "In case you hadn't noticed, the last few days haven't exactly been easy!"

Applejack flinched as if she'd been slapped. "You're right, Ah'm sorry." She rubbed her neck awkwardly. "So… you wanna talk about stuff, or…?"

Sunset shook her head and held up a hand. "Thanks, but not right now." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath, holding it for a second before letting it out again slowly. "I'm sorry I snapped, it's just… yeah."

"Yeah." Applejack cleared her throat and made a quick attempt to change the subject, "So, uh, Chandra's Geode gives her fire. What did the Super Mutant's one do?"

Sunset shivered at the memory of it shrugging off Pinkie's magic with ease. "It makes him tough. Really tough. I think it's going to take Liberty Prime or something to deal with that monster."

"That doesn't sound good," Pia put in.

Sunset glanced down at Chandra. "That's not the worst part. We know there are two new Geodes here in the wasteland, but how many more are lurking out there?" She clasped her own Geode tightly. "And how many of them have fallen into the wrong hands?"

Senator Lily sighed as she locked the door to her workroom. It was only a small room; a private laboratory put together so she could work on her own little experiments in peace. Many of the experiments, including the injections and creams that helped her maintain a youthful aspect, were things that she had been working on back when she was still a doctor, long before she became a Senator. Some of the experiments, however, were far more recent.

After quickly double checking the lock, Senator Lily gave a satisfied nod and stepped over to her work table. Piles of notes and calculations covered most of it, but in a clear space in the middle sat a small glass tank containing a dead rat. A precise scalpel wound in its side revealed the cause of death.

"Now then, time for attempt five." Senator Lily reached up and pulled a little metal lockbox down from one of the shelves. She bit her lip in anticipation as she unlocked the box and flipped back the lid. Inside was a simple necklace; a thin silver chain holding a black stone emblazoned with a stylized skull.

Senator Lily took a deep breath to steady herself before she put the necklace on. She felt the tingle of magic the moment her fingers touched the chain, and the trickle of power she felt as the stone fell against her chest sent a shiver down her spine. Coaxing the magic out, Senator Lily felt a thrill run through her body as she ponied up; her hair lengthening and turning silky as jet-black pony ears sprouted from her skull and matching wings grew from her back.

The Senator paused for a moment, enjoying the sensation of dark power flowing through her veins. Still, she couldn't afford to savour it for long. Someone could come looking for her at any moment, and it wouldn't do for them to discover her newfound abilities before the time was right.

Turning her attention to the dead rat, Senator Lily held a hand towards it and delved into the magic of her Geode. A gossamer tendril of dark magic wafted into being around her hand, thickening and growing until it was a thick black mist, then slowly reached out to envelop the rat.

Senator Lily held her breath as her power sank into the rat's body. It jerked spasmodically for a few seconds, then fell still once again.

"Shit." Senator Lily braced her hands on the table and hung her head in failure. "Looks like I have to get another specimen." She made to turn away when something caught her attention in the corner of her eye.

The rat was twitching. Senator Lily watched, captivated, as the rat slowly shuddered and clambered to its feet. She grinned as the miniature zombie took a few faltering steps. "I did it." The Senator chuckled, softly at first, but slowly growing in volume until she was cackling madly as the zombie rat squealed loudly alongside her.

Chapter 73 - Conspiracy

Rainbow tried her best to look inconspicuous as Sienna, Tara, and Patricia led her through the corridors of the Exodus building. It wasn't easy; what with her wings, bright coloration and extremely sparkly new armor, but she tried nevertheless. Luckily for her, no-one else seemed to be present in that particular section of the building's basement.

"We're here." Tara halted the group next to a nondescript door and knocked softly on it. "Sunny? Are you alone in there?" She called out.

"One second!" Rainbow heard shuffling sounds from inside, then after a few seconds Becky called, "Come in!"

Tara pushed the door open and froze with one foot across the threshold. Sienna and Patricia weren't in the right position to see but Rainbow, standing right behind Tara, had a perfectly clear view over her shoulder.

Becky was standing, ponied up, with one foot planted on a chair in the middle of the room. Her outfit consisted solely of a pair of high-heeled leather boots, a leather belt draped across her hips, a leather jacket thrown open at the front just to make sure that absolutely nothing was left to the imagination, and a riding crop that slapped intimidatingly against her palm.

The scene only lasted for a split second; Becky's eyes practically popped out of her head when she realized that Tara wasn't alone, then she bolted towards a back door just as Tara pulled the door she was holding shut, but that was plenty of time for the image to sear itself into Rainbow's mind.

"What's the matter, Tara?" Patricia asked.

"Nothing!" Tara replied quickly. "Becky had just gotten out of the shower and wasn't expecting company!" She pushed the door slightly open again, poked her head inside to have a quick look around, then opened it all the way and stepped inside, gesturing for the others to enter.

The room was small and simple; with a double bed in the corner, a pair of desks against one wall and a wardrobe against the other. The door that Becky had disappeared through was evidently the bathroom.

As Sienna stepped past Rainbow she patted the Rainboom on the shoulder and whispered, "Don't worry. Whatever you saw, it could always be worse. Trust me."

Rainbow didn't answer. She was desperately trying not to think about how Becky, and by extension Sunset, looked incredible naked, and was also pondering whether or not it was worth asking Sunset if she shaved her pubic hair just like her counterpart did.

Huh, that's two people I've seen who shave their bush. Is that a thing in this world? Should I do mine? Nah, I would never trust myself with a razor down there. I could ask Rarity to- wait, no, nononononono! Bad brain!

"Yoohoo, Earth to Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow snapped back to reality at the sound of Sienna's voice. "There you are. What the hell was Becky doing to make you space out like that?"

"N-no, it's not that!" Rainbow said quickly. "I, uh, was just thinking about Twilight and Sunset and… stuff."

"Don't worry, we'll do what we can to help." Tara glanced at the bathroom door. "Why don't you all sit down while I just check on Becky?"

As Tara followed Becky into the bathroom Sienna took the chair and Patricia sat on the edge of the bed. Rainbow, not trusting either of those options, opted to lean against the wall instead.

"How did you get the new kit?" Sienna asked.

Rainbow looked down at her armor. "The Brotherhood of Steel gave me some combat armor, but that freaky magic tornado thing back there is what did this." She gestured to the glittering breastplate for emphasis.

"That's weird." Sienna shrugged. "I guess it's just one more thing to add to the list of bizarre shit that magic does."

"Um, excuse me?" Patricia raised her hand like a student in class. "I have a few questions."

"What do you wanna know?" Rainbow asked warily.

Patricia leaned forward and fixed her with a focused look. "What is your home like? How different is it from this world?"

Rainbow stared at her in surprise. "Uh, it's about as different as it can possibly get. Seriously, our home and this crappy world have almost nothing in common."

"Really?" Pat arched an eyebrow. "And what makes it so different?"

"There hasn't been a nuclear war for a start," Rainbow shot. "It's not perfect, but from what I've seen we've got more people living in one city than there are in the whole Capital Wasteland, and there's no raiders or Super Mutants or stinking Enclave going around killing people for no damn reason."

Patricia scowled and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Tara and Becky coming back out of the bathroom. Becky had replaced her kinky outfit with a simple gray bathrobe and slippers. "Okay, what the fuck is going on, Rainbow?" She asked. "Tara says that Twilight can't walk and Fluttershy has been mutated by FEV?!"

Rainbow nodded. "Sunset managed to stop Fluttershy from going crazy and trying to bite people, but we were hoping that you might have some way of curing the FEV and undoing her mutation."

The bleak expressions on everyone else's face was answer enough for Rainbow.

"There's no cure for FEV, at least, none that I know of," Tara said quietly.

"Come on, there's gotta be something that you can do!" Rainbow cried.

Tara shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it's not something that the Enclave has ever researched."

Rainbow sagged against the wall. "Right. I guess it was a long shot." She sighed and wiped a hand across her eyes. "Can you give us whatever information you have on FEV anyway? Twilight might be able to come up with something."

"Of course, Rainbow," Becky replied. "Speaking of Twilight, what happened? I know her injuries were severe, but I thought the Brotherhood of Steel would be able to fix her up without too much trouble?"

"They've done what they can, but she can't walk without opening her wounds back up." Rainbow pulled a folded square of paper out of her pocket. "Here, the medics asked me to show you this. It's a list of what they did to try and fix her."

Sienna stood and held out a hand. "Let me see that." Rainbow handed the sheet over, and Sienna's eyes widened as she read through the list. "Wow, her injuries were nastier than I expected. This is why I kept pushing for better containment of the Deathclaw specimens." She started pacing, humming every now and again in thought. "The auto-doc they used is an older model but still serviceable, and the procedure they used is definitely correct; their surgeon knows what he's doing, but why would they use that kind of biogel? The Enclave hasn't used that type in almost a century, it's obsolete!"

"The Brotherhood don't have access to our R&D, remember?" Tara put in.

"Good point." Sienna folded the sheet of paper and slipped it into a pocket. "I'll see if I can find a holotape with a software update for their auto-doc. The hardware hasn't changed much since the war, so it should take easily enough. While I'm at it I'll see how much biogel and how many stimpaks I can spare." She huffed and shook her head. "It won't be perfect, but it'll at least help her recover in six weeks instead of six months."

"I'll see if I can dig up our FEV research without raising suspicion," Tara offered. "If I frame it as part of our Exodus research, then we should be able to get away with it."

Rainbow nodded her thanks. "That's awesome. Seriously, we owe you one." She glanced at Becky. "What about the peace treaty?"

Becky shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry. The Senate held a vote to decide on whether or not they should approve a peace treaty, but it didn't go through."

"Crap," Rainbow muttered.

"So I guess that means we're going to have to help you without the Senate finding out," Becky continued.

Patricia chewed her lip nervously. "This is treading dangerously close to treason again. Think carefully about this."

"We have been thinking carefully, and I'm done with the top brass's bullshit," Becky replied. "You heard what Devall said, they're already replicating and experimenting on the magic, we can't-"

"Hang on, what magic?" Rainbow cut in. "I thought the only magic the Enclave had was here and at what's left of Raven Rock?"

Tara grimaced and sank onto the bed. "I wish that were true. Thanks to Doctor Turner's betrayal a large supply of magic was delivered to our primary base of operations; the Adams Air Force Base just outside the Capital Wasteland."

"Getting really close to treason here, Tara," Patricia said warningly.

"Fuck treason, those assholes betrayed humanity the moment they chose to chase power and control instead of ending this lunatic war," Becky spat. "I'm not standing by and watching the Enclave burn down what little civilization is left in this world. If that means siding with the Brotherhood of Steel and working with the Rainbooms, then so be it."

Rainbow gave her an impressed look. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's cool that you want to help us, but isn't that gonna be like, super dangerous?"

"No more dangerous than letting that lunatic Acheson play around with magic," Becky replied.

Patricia shifted uncomfortably. "And what about Andrew?"

"We can't tell him," Tara said quickly. "The less he knows the safer he'll be. Besides, he's the head of the military, we'd be putting him in an awful position."

"No shit." Everyone looked in startled surprise as the door opened and a man stepped in. He was wearing an officer's uniform and had a stubby plasma pistol clenched at his side, which he subtly pointed at Rainbow the moment he spotted her. Rainbow recognised him as the officer that had greeted the Vertibirds she'd chased at Raven Rock.

"Andrew?!" Pat and Tara cried in unison, jumping to their feet.

Andrew didn't acknowledge them. Instead he just glared at Rainbow Dash, who in turn didn't dare take her eyes off the plasma pistol pointed directly at her gut.

"Take it easy, you two. Don't do anything hasty," Becky said in a calm tone.

Rainbow smirked. "Don't worry. If I was going to kill this dipshit I'd have done it already."

"Big words for someone at gunpoint," Andrew countered.

"You're the one at gunpoint," Sienna called out. Despite themselves, Andrew and Rainbow both glanced at her. Sienna was still lounging comfortably in the chair, but she had pulled a sawn-off shotgun from somewhere and had it pointed directly at Andrew.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Tara snapped. "That's my brother you're threatening!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Sienna deadpanned.

Andrew frowned, but didn't lower his gun. "If you fire that from there the spread is likely to catch Rainbow too."

"It's a good thing it's not loaded with buckshot then," Sienna replied in a bored voice. "I use hollowpoint slugs."

The blood drained from Andrew's face in an instant. "You're really set on this, huh?"

Sienna inclined her head slightly in admission. "I'd rather not kill you if I don't have to. It would upset Tara and Pat-"

"No shit," Tara hissed.

"-but the Rainbooms are pretty much the only ones who can help us keep all of this magic from destroying everything," Sienna continued. "You're pointing a gun at one, so you do the math."

A taut silence fell as Andrew clearly weighed his options. Rainbow kept her guard up, ready to dive out of the way in a heartbeat if he decided to try and shoot her anyway.

After several long seconds, Patricia finally broke the silence, "Andrew, please put the gun down."

"You know I can't do that, mom," he replied.

"Yes, you can, dear," Patricia insisted. "The Enclave has been betrayed by its leaders so many times now. Thanks to Eden and Autumn we lost our home, families have been destroyed, and the Enclave is weaker than it ever has been. Whole classrooms full of our own innocent children were almost wiped out because of their power plays, and now Acheson and Lily are going to do the same damned thing with their stolen magic."

Andrew nodded slowly. "Maybe, but what about the soldiers under my command? How can I let you pass information to the Brotherhood of Steel while still keeping good people from getting killed?"

"You rat bastard!" Becky yelled suddenly, making everyone else jump out of their skin. "You're not going to shoot Rainbow, you actually agree with us!"

"Wait, what?" Rainbow looked back at Andrew to see him raising an eyebrow.

Becky huffed and shook her head. "I thought something was off. Why did you wait outside until we mentioned you? And why didn't you just drop in a flashbang and tie Rainbow up while we were incapacitated?" She gave him an unamused look. "You wanted to make sure that we were all on board before you made a move. Hell, is that gun even loaded?"

Andrew stared at her impassively for a moment, then sighed and held the gun up. "It's not even a real gun, it's a model of one of the prototypes that R&D have been working on. Come on, I wouldn't point a real weapon at someone I wasn't intending to shoot, loaded or not. Basic gun safety."

"Gun safety?" Sienna shot as she lowered her shotgun. "I almost blew a cavity the size of a football in your chest, dumbass."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to be armed, especially with that," Andrew admitted. "Besides, I know we're exes, but I thought we were on better terms than that."

"Hang on, when did you two date?!" Tara asked incredulously.

Sienna scowled at Andrew. "We didn't date, I just used to let him bend me over a desk every now and then."

"Andrew!" Patricia snapped.

As the others all started talking over each other Rainbow threw her hands up and called out to get their attention, "Hey! Can someone explain to me what the heck just happened?"

Becky sighed, walked up to Rainbow, patted her on the shoulder and gestured to Andrew. "This asshole was scoping us out. He wanted to be sure that we-"

"Were all actually planning on helping me and my friends," Rainbow finished, "yeah, I got that. What I don't get is why he pointed a fake gun at me and pretended to threaten me."

Andrew shrugged. "Sorry about that, but I had to see how serious everyone was about this. If they had immediately started apologizing and begging for forgiveness then they wouldn't have the resolve to see this course of action through to the end."

"Right." Rainbow shot a confused glance at Becky. "How did you figure it out?"

Becky allowed herself a small smile. "His question: How can he let us pass information along without getting his soldiers killed?" She nodded to Andrew. "You weren't being rhetorical, were you? You were literally asking how we could manage to help the Brotherhood while avoiding getting the decent people under your command killed."

Andrew sighed heavily. "I'd prefer it if as few people die as possible, but since war is currently our only option thanks to the Senate, we may as well make sure that it's only the people who actually want a war that take the brunt of the fighting."

The bed creaked as Patricia sank back onto it. "I don't know how to feel about this," she said quietly. "How long have you been planning on betraying the Enclave too?"

"I'm not going to betray the Enclave," Andrew said firmly. "It's like you said; Eden, Colonel Autumn, Acheson and Lily all betrayed us. When we were in school we were taught that the Enclave did what it did because we were helping to restore peace and civilization back to the wastes. I plan on making those idealistic lies a reality." He crossed his arms as he added coldly, "People like Senator Lily who foment war in the name of power have no place in the Enclave's future as I see it."

Rainbow grinned at him. "I have no idea who most of those people are, but that still sounds awesome!"

"You're damn right it does," Becky agreed. "Alright, Andrew, clearly we have some planning to do, but first I'm going to need you all to fuck off for a minute." In response to everyone's confused expressions, she gestured to her bathrobe. "I need to get some clothes on, and there's no way in hell I'm stripping down in front of all of you."

That was enough to get everyone moving. Sienna said that she would gather some medical paraphernalia for Twilight and disappeared, quickly followed by Patricia who mentioned going to find her husband. As Andrew made to leave too, Tara called out to him, "Hang on a second, how did you even know that Rainbow was down here? I thought you were upstairs?"

Andrew nodded. "I was. Horrigan had just come back from patrol and was giving me his report when we saw the magic wind thing in the middle of the building suddenly flare up. It seemed pretty suspicious, so we came down in the cargo elevator. The moment I saw that none of you were observing the magic I figured that we had an intruder, so I left Horrigan guarding the hangar and came to find you." He looked back at Rainbow. "On a related note, you'd best come and find me when you want to leave so I can sneak you in and out of the elevator without Horrigan or anyone else seeing you."

"Sure, I'll do that." Rainbow waited as he closed the door behind him, leaving her alone with Tara and Becky.

"You should probably go with Andrew or Sienna," Becky suggested. "I wasn't kidding about wanting to get dressed."

"Yeah, sure, in a sec. I've just got a quick question first," Rainbow replied.

Becky and Tara shared a wary look. "What is it?" Becky asked tentatively.

Rainbow pointed up at Becky's pony ears. "How did you manage to pony up?"

"Huh? Oh, that?" Becky heaved a great sigh of relief. "It's pretty simple, actually. The magic in that weird tornado thing seems to respond when we get close, and certain colors get drawn to us." Rainbow nodded as she remembered the blue wisps swarming her on her way down. "I found out that we can actually catch some of the magic from the tornado just by holding a jar and waiting for a bit to float in. I've got a bit of Sunset's magic in a jar in the bathroom; I just open it up a little and it ponies me up straight away."

"Cool!" Rainbow replied, impressed.

"Was there anything else?" Tara asked.

Rainbow gave them a sly grin. "Just one more thing. What were you planning on doing with that outfit and the riding crop?"

"Out, Rainbow!"

Chapter 74 - Fashion and the Forest

Rarity stared at the door ahead of her anxiously. She had been inside the Seaborne Boutique a dozen times before without hesitation, but that was before she had discovered that the proprietress was her native counterpart; this world's very own version of 'Rarity'.

In a way, Rarity was excited to meet Tabitha again, especially since they hadn't really spoken much when they had first met, but at the same time the prospect of speaking to her was absolutely terrifying. Tabitha was a successful businesswoman, a professional designer, a skilled fighter and a member of a secret organisation to boot. Not to mention the fact that she and her sister, this world's Sweetie Belle, had been affected by magic due to an accident that was partially Rarity's fault. All in all, there was a high chance that the coming conversation could get decidedly awkward.

Deciding that she couldn't stall any longer, Rarity sighed and knocked on the door using the little heart-shaped knocker.

"Just a minute!" Someone called from inside. A few seconds later the door opened. "Welcome to the Seaborne Boutique! Where every garment is chic, unique and- Rarity!" Tabitha stopped in the middle of her welcoming speech and stepped back to let Rarity enter. "Please, come in!"

Rarity allowed herself to be swept inside, surreptitiously eyeing her counterpart as she closed the door. In place of an armored overcoat Tabitha was wearing a charming blue swing dress, and her silky black hair was pulled back into an elegant French plait. Rarity looked away as Tabitha turned back to face her, not wanting to be caught staring, and it was then that she noticed something unusual. "Where are Coco and Claire?"

"Coco is out to lunch, Tabitha replied. "As for Claire she's doing some work for Bannon, helping with customers and such." She smiled and gestured for Rarity to follow her. "Let's sit and chat, shall we?"

Rarity just nodded and followed her quietly into the back room. It was a wide space with a pair of battered old sofas on either side of a round coffee table. A series of worktops, household appliances and wardrobes lined the walls.

"I see that you've got yourself some armor, a smart choice for traveling through the wastes," Tabitha said as she stepped over to the refrigerator. "Take it off if you want, I know that stuff can be heavy. Just pop it on the rack over there."

Rarity eagerly took the opportunity to remove her armor. By the time she had taken it all off and hung it on the rack, Tabitha was just placing a couple of mugs filled with ice-cold Nuka-Cola onto the table.

"Here we are! I'm afraid I'm out of wine, but this is the next best thing you can get out here in the Capital Wasteland," Tabitha said brightly.

Rarity looked at her mug uneasily. "Er, I hate to sound ungrateful, but is that, um… irradiated?"

"Huh?" Tabitha blinked and stared blankly at the mugs. "Probably a little, I mean it is Nuka-Cola, but that tiny amount won't hurt, will it?"

"I'd rather not increase my chances of getting cancer," Rarity said slowly. "Goodness knows we're risking it every time we go outside."

"Cancer?" Tabitha tilted her head in confusion. "But radiation-induced cancers are incredibly rare these days! Most people are genetically resistant to it after so many generations of living in… the… ah." Her eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "And you aren't from the wastes. Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I should have realized sooner!"

"I-it's alright," Rarity put in as Tabitha hurried back to the fridge. "Really, I feel dreadfully rude for refusing your hospitality."

Tabitha shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not rude to refuse something that might actually kill you!" She returned to place another mug on the table. "Here, pure clean water with ice cubes."

"Ooo, I haven't seen ice cubes in a drink since the Vault," Rarity cooed, though privately she wondered just how much the wasteland had changed her if such a simple little thing made her day.

"I heard something on the radio about you being in a Vault," Tabitha said with interest.

Rarity nodded. "Yes, Vault 101. The Overseer was a brute and some of the people were horrid but after what's happened since we left I almost wish I was back down there."

"What was it like, living down there?" Tabitha asked eagerly.

With the initial awkwardness out of the way, the two slipped into casual conversation with the ease of old friends, much to Rarity's delight. Predictably, the topic soon shifted to fashion. Rarity was more than a little self-conscious of her current outfit; her top and skirt were so patched and stained that she would never dream of wearing them back home, but Tabitha was enthralled by what she called its 'otherworldly chic'.

Rarity and Tabitha spent hours swapping ideas and techniques, working together on whatever garments took their fancy and holding an impromptu fashion show to see how it all looked on a real person.

Tabitha proved to be no less generous than her counterpart, and Rarity's pack was soon bulging with a pretty red swing dress, a set of formal office clothes, several new sets of well-fitted underwear, and a couple of sets of what Tabitha called 'battle undergarments', though they were clearly designed for a very different activity to fighting. Rarity had blushed furiously at being presented with them, and even more so when told to actually try them on, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse them.

"Well? What do you think of them?" Tabitha asked as Rarity stepped out of the changing room, her new underwear dangling from one hand.

"They're exquisite, if a little more daring than anything I've worn before," Rarity replied. "I, er, don't think I'll have any reason to wear them anytime soon, though."

"It always pays to be prepared, darling." Tabitha smiled slyly. "Besides, I can think of at least one person who would love to see you in them."

"Wh-what?!" Rarity spluttered.

Tabitha hummed and tapped a finger on her chin theatrically. "I suppose I could be wrong, but she seemed awfully protective of you when we were on our way to the Citadel after rescuing you."

"She?" Rarity thought back to their escape from Project Exodus. She hadn't been paying much attention at the time, the sudden appearance of her own alternate self had occupied most of her thoughts, but there had been someone keeping close to her, going out of their way to keep an eye on her just in case…

"It looks like you know who I'm talking about." Tabitha giggled at the look on Rarity's face. "It looks like you're not against their interest, either."

Rarity turned away to hide her blush, nervously fidgeting with her hair. "W-well, I don't, I mean it's not like, well there was that business at the theme park, but she never pressed her case so I didn't think-"

"Did you want her to press her case?" Tabitha asked pointedly. Rarity suddenly felt like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. "I'll take that as a yes." Tabitha sighed and sipped her cola. "Let me give you some advice. I don't know how you do things in your world, but here in the wastes; if there's something you want, you take it. Don't wait for her to come to you, get out there and make her yours." She set the mug down and stepped over to a nearby wardrobe. "While you're reeling from that little bombshell, perhaps we should get on to the main reason I asked you to come."

"And what's that?" Rarity asked weakly.

Tabitha opened the wardrobe and reached in to fiddle with something in the back. "I assume you already know that Claire and I work for a secret organisation called-"

"Ooo, yes, the Railroad! Sunset told me all about it" Rarity said eagerly, perking up instantly at the thought of clandestine operations.

"Yes, well, I heard from Victoria about how your friends got rid of Zimmer for us, and I wanted to give you all a token of my appreciation." There a loud clunk from inside the wardrobe and Tabitha pulled out a large plank of wood, followed by several rolled up sheets of paper.

Rarity gasped excitedly. "Is that a secret compartment?"

"Naturally. A secret agent requires secret compartments." Tabitha placed the sheets on the table and waved Rarity over. "First of all is this." She unrolled a sheet that had six symbols drawn on it; each with a single word written underneath. "These are Railsigns. They're secret markings used by the Railroad to designate safehouses, weapons caches, and the like."

"Like the one on your door?" Rarity asked.

Tabitha nodded. "Exactly. The mark on the door lets other members of the Railroad know that they can find an ally here; moi. Commit these to memory. They're not used all that much down here in the Capital Wasteland, but they might just come in handy someday." She patted the rest of the sheets. "Once you're sure that you've memorized those, we'll go through these maps. They show a list of locations used by the Railroad regularly, as well as some of the Capital Wasteland's major landmarks."

Sunset yawned as she walked up the stairs towards the flight deck. After handing Chandra back over to her babysitter, she, Applejack and Pia had spent the last few hours traipsing all over the ship, checking off the list of magical disturbances and alterations that Harkness had given them. Thankfully, the group didn't find any sign of dark magic, and most of the disturbances were an inconvenience at worst, and some of the magic would be actively beneficial if only they could convince the people of Rivet City that it wasn't dangerous.

Possibly one of the most useful things they found was a room in the upper deck whose walls were covered in a thick layer of purple magical slurry. Whoever entered the room was teleported to a random location on the ship in a bright flash of light. Security had cordoned it off, but they allowed Sunset and Applejack to enter in the interests of finding out if they could control the teleportation.

Through a little trial and error, a whole lot of walking back to the room after being teleported, and a particularly uncomfortable incident where Pia and Sunset had been forced to explain to a furious wife that they had not intended to join her incredibly confused husband in the shower, they finally managed to figure out how to select the destination of the teleport.

To Pia's immense annoyance, the answer proved to be surprisingly simple. One simply had to throw on some gloves, scoop some of the excess slurry into a container and smear it onto the wall of the room you wanted to teleport to. Then, all one had to do was keep the destination in mind when they entered the teleporter room, and they appeared in the correct room a moment later. Best of all, the slurry didn't disappear after use, so the same destination could be used repeatedly without any issue. The girls quickly came up with a list of potential destinations to put before the Council, and Pia made a note to experiment with the slurry to see if she could facilitate two-way teleportation, creating a means of rapid transportation through the ship.

Once they were done with the ship's interior, all that remained was the flight deck.

"How much magic is up here?" Applejack asked. "Ah saw the trees and the floating stuff, but is there anythin' else we should know about?"

Pia let out a humourless chuckle. "Aside from the magic lightning? Not much, really."

"Has the lightning hurt anyone?" Sunset asked.

"Not seriously, thankfully," Pia replied. "Access has been restricted until we can get it under control, to make sure it stays that way."

When they finally reached the door to the flight deck, a pair of security guards opened the door for them. Sunset let out an awestruck gasp as she stepped onto the flight deck.

The whole deck was covered with a network of interwoven roots. The trees that the roots came from towered over the one side of the ship, providing shade and a truly dizzying variety of apples in every conceivable color. Even the old warplanes hadn't escaped the growth; with thin roots creeping up over the fuselage. Dozens of little crystal obelisks, ranging from around two to four feet in height, poked out of the floor in random places, and the lower branches of the trees were swarming with tiny pink butterflies. Floating several meters above it all were hundreds of hunks of metal; from tiny fist-sized panels to detached warplane wings, all shrouded in a sparkling purple aura.

"It's beautiful," Applejack whispered. She flinched as a bolt of turquoise lightning flashed out from the top of a tree with a loud crack. "Whoa! It's scary, too!"

"You're not wrong." Pia sighed and carefully picked her way across the roots towards the trees, gesturing for the girls to follow. "Most of the time the lightning sticks to the upper branches, but sometimes it comes out of the lower ones, too, so be careful."

Sunset stared at her as if she were crazy. "If there's a chance of getting hit by lightning, then why the heck are you going towards the trees?!"

"Don't worry, the trees always show some sign before the lightning comes," Pia replied. "It gives you plenty of time to get out of the way."

"If you say so," Applejack muttered.

The two girls looked around curiously as they cautiously followed Pia, both trying to ignore the loud crack of lightning coming from the command tower and the treetops. Sunset inspected the little obelisks as she passed. They all glowed with a faint inner light, but beyond that they didn't seem to do anything. Bereft of ideas, Sunset asked, "What exactly are we doing up here?"

Pia stopped a good six feet away from the base of the nearest tree. Without looking back, she replied, "The lightning is the main issue. Ideally we'd like to know what the crystals are, but since they don't actually do anything it hasn't been listed as a high priority. What do you girls think?"

Applejack shrugged. "Ah got nothin'. Sunset?"

"I'm not sure." Sunset knelt and gently tapped the nearest obelisk. The light flared a little brighter for a second, but nothing else happened. "If I had to guess, I'd say they're probably just crystallized magic. As long as you don't do anything to them, then they should be perfectly safe."

Pia nodded. "That should be easy enough to arrange. What about the lightning?"

"That, I couldn't tell you," Sunset replied, standing and looking up at the trees. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Hang on a second, how long has the lightnin' been going on for?" Applejack asked suddenly.

Pia frowned as she thought. "Not long. I think it started a few hours after the second wave of magic hit."

Applejack nodded as if that confirmed a suspicion. "And would that be around the time the roots started reaching the river, below?"

"I think so?" Pia risked a sideways glance at her. "Why?"

"The river with the radioactive water?" Applejack asked pointedly.

"That's it!" Sunset exclaimed. "The roots are sucking up the water, the radiation is mixing with the magic, and the trees are releasing the energy generated by the reaction by emitting the blasts of lightning! Applejack, you're a genius!"

Applejack grinned and lowered her hat to cover her eyes. "Shucks, it ain't that big of a deal."

Pia crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully. "So, if we want to stop the lightning, we need to figure out a way to siphon off the excess energy from the trees."

"Harvestin' them apples ought to help," Applejack suggested.

"It'll boost our food supplies, too." Pia smiled and turned to Sunset. "Would you mind going down to the lab and bringing Isaac up here for me? In the meantime Applejack and I can start figuring out how to go about harvesting the apples."

Sunset nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be back as quick as I can." Leaving the other two behind, she carefully headed across the roots and back inside.

As she made her way through Rivet City's corridors, Sunset wondered whether or not the Council would agree to aid the Brotherhood of Steel now. The Rainbooms had held up their end of the bargain; all of the magic in Rivet City was either dealt with or in the process of being brought under control, so she hoped that Harkness could spare some people to help distribute fresh water across the wastes. If not, then Sunset planned to suggest asking Three Dog to put the word out. Surely someone in the wastes would be interested in helping.

Lost in thought, it was a little while before Sunset realized that she was also just plain lost. She still wasn't used to the ship yet, and what she had thought was a shortcut to the labs was turning out to be anything but.

Great. This is just what I needed. Sunset sighed heavily and looked around, hoping to see something that she recognized. There weren't any signposts in sight, but there were tools and toolboxes all over the place, with little symbols painted on the floor and walls. It looked like the area was being prepped for maintenance and repairs. Just as Sunset was about to turn and retrace her steps, she heard a loud bang come from further down the corridor.

"What the…?" Listening carefully, Sunset could just make out an indistinct voice talking, each few words interspersed with muffled thumps.

Assuming that it was a maintenance worker struggling with something, Sunset decided to go and help them. As she got closer, the swearing and sounds of impacts getting louder with every step, her mind slowly registered that something didn't seem right, but it wasn't until she turned a corner and saw what was causing the sound that she realized that something was very, very, wrong.

A strange man was in the corridor, standing aggressively over another person laying curled up on the floor. Sunset barely had time to process what she was seeing before the man kicked the other person hard in the ribs, eliciting a disturbingly faint groan from his victim. "You like that, Sister? Fucking traitor."

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sunset snapped before she could stop herself.

The man whipped around to face her, his eyes widening as he spotted who it was. "You! You're one of those Rainbooms." He jabbed a finger down at Sister. "Stay out of this, bitch, this is slaver business."

"Slaver?" Sunset half-whispered.

"That's right," the man spat. "This little fucker's a traitor, and I've been sent to deal with him, so stay the fuck out of it unless you want a whole world of trouble."

Sunset was shocked at the sheer venom in the slaver's voice, but she stepped forward as he stamped hard on Sister. "Leave him alone!"

The slaver snarled as he rounded on her. "Or what? Huh? What the fuck are you gonna do about it?"

Sunset suddenly found herself frozen, a wave of terror holding her in place as the man advanced on her. She flinched as he raised a hand as if to slap her. Seeing her reaction, the slaver paused and grinned. "Aw, looks like someone's scared." He clapped the hand to her shoulder, still grinning widely. "Hey, it's okay. This asshole? He's done some bad shit, now I'm here to do bad shit to him, it's just karma. Now run along and leave us to it, okay?"

He clasped the back of Sunset's head and pulled her in close enough that she could feel his reeking breath on her cheek. "And don't go telling no security officer what we're up to, cos if I get in trouble, I'll make sure that Eulogy brings the boys and we'll run a fucking train on your ass. Is that clear?" Sunset couldn't bring herself to answer, or even to move, but the slaver took it as assent. "Good." He spun her around, slapped her backside hard enough to make her yelp and shoved her away. "Now get the fuck out of here, before I change my mind."

Consumed with fear, Sunset was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, but somehow she managed to keep going until she turned the corner and was out of sight, trembling uncontrollably. It wasn't until the sounds of heavy impacts started back up that she stopped. Sunset desperately wanted to go back, to rescue Sister and out the slaver in his place, but her body just wouldn't listen. Fear and shame roiled inside her as she listened to Sister getting beaten to death.

Biting back a sob, Sunset's eyes fell on a heavy pipe wrench, poking out of a nearby toolbox. She stared at it for an eternity, conflicting emotions warring within her, but finally she reached down and picked it up. The wrench was surprisingly heavy. Weighing it in her hands, Sunset clutched the handle with both hands and turned back to face her enemy, her fear fuelling a desperate, white-hot wrath.

The slaver looked up as Sunset stormed around the corner again, but this time he didn't have time to react as she swung the wrench with all the strength she could muster, smashing it into the side of his head. The impact knocked the slaver against the wall. Sunset didn't give him a chance to recover, striking him with the wrench again. The slaver's skull gave way with a horrific crunch and he slumped to the ground, but fear and fury made Sunset hit him one last time, bringing the wrench down in a wide arc to bury it in the remains of his head.

An awful silence filled the air, broken only by Sunset's heavy breathing. She slowly straightened up, blood dripping from the wrench as she pulled it free, and stared blankly down at the slaver's corpse. All of a sudden Sunset's strength drained from her body, as if a switch had been flipped, and she sagged against the wall, letting the wrench drop from nerveless fingers. She glanced down at the corpse again, then retched and twisted to the side just in time to avoid puking all over herself.

Sunset gasped for air as she hunched over. Her head was spinning, but she couldn't afford to stop yet. She still had to get Sister to a doctor. Wiping her mouth, Sunset carefully avoided both the dead body and the pool of vomit as she stepped over to Sister and dropped to all fours next to him. Her hands were shaking too much to properly check for a pulse, but she could see that he was still breathing, if only just. "S-stay here. I'll go get help."

Pushing herself to her feet, Sunset staggered and almost fell as she tried to run back the way she had come. Her legs felt like they were made of jelly. Realizing that tripping and injuring herself probably wasn't the best idea, Sunset took a deep breath in a vain attempt to steady herself and set off at as fast a walk as she could manage, reeling like a drunkard the whole time.

Any semblance of a sense of direction had completely left Sunset's head; she just headed down whichever corridor was well-lit and hoped that she would run into someone who could fetch a security officer.

"Sunset?! What's wrong?!" Sunset looked up to see Harkness hurrying towards her. She almost wept with relief at the sight of him. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said as he reached her. "Tell me what happened."

"S-sister," Sunset said quietly.

"Sister? What's that bastard done to you?" Harkness growled.

Sunset shook her head, then immediately wished she hadn't as it made her vision swim even more. "No…slaver... hurt…" It took her a few tries, but eventually Sunset managed to convey the fact that Sister was seriously injured.

To his credit, Harkness didn't waste time asking for details, instead he immediately grabbed his radio and called for all available security officers to sweep the rough area that Sunset had appeared from until they found something. Harkness let Sunset rest against the wall until, less than ten minutes later, word came through that the officers had found Sister and were taking him to the doctor.

"He's badly hurt, but he should pull through," Harkness said. Sunset heaved a sigh of relief and slid down the wall to sit on the floor, so Harkness squatted and sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

"I…" Sunset didn't know how to respond. She felt like her brain had been fried and thrown in a blender.

Harkness shifted slightly to look at her properly. "I know this might be difficult, but I have to ask you a few questions. My team found another man around there. Was he the one who hurt Sister?" Sunset managed a single nod. "Okay. Do you know why he was attacking Sister?"

"Slaver," Sunset whispered.

"I see." Harkness nodded before asking in a soft voice, "You defended Sister, didn't you?" Sunset nodded slowly, choking back a sob as she did so. "Hey, it's okay, you did the right thing," Harkness told her. He diplomatically looked away to speak into his radio as Sunset cried quietly. "Feeling any better?" He asked when she was done.

Sunset sniffed and wiped her face with her arm. "I hate this world," she said quietly.

"It's not an easy place to live," Harkness admitted. "Look, why don't you stay here in Rivet City for a while? I'll make sure you get your own room, and I'll have a security guard escort you twenty four hours a day to keep trouble away from you. That way you'll be safe, you'll have plenty of food and clean water, and you'll be able to speak to me or Doctor Preston on a daily basis if you need to. What do you think?"

Sunset felt almost ashamed that she was actually tempted to accept Harkness' offer. The prospect of being safe and looked after, not to mention the chance of something approaching actual therapy, was too good to simply brush aside out of turn. Still, in the end there was only one answer she could give. "No."

"Why not?" Harkness asked.

"My friends," Sunset replied simply. Harkness opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off, "I know, you'd probably do the same for them, too, but that's not going to get us home. To do that, we're going to have to search the wastes for the tools we need. I can't do that if I'm cowering under a blanket here, and there's no way I'm letting my friends do something so dangerous without my help." She swallowed hard and ran a hand through her hair, noticing for the first time that she was soaked in a cold sweat. "I need training." Sunset looked up at Harkness, fixing him with a serious look. Her heart was pounding, but her mind was set, and her voice was firm. "Teach me how to fight."

Chapter 75 - Regrouping

Twilight Sparkle watched with no small relief as Fluttershy yawned and stretched in the evening sun. It was ridiculous, but she had been a little worried whether or not her newly vampiric friend would cope under the sunlight, but thankfully it didn't seem to affect her any differently at all. Since Fluttershy was back in her normal form, albeit with pointy ears and slightly elongated canines, Elder Lyons had grudgingly allowed her to wander around the Citadel's courtyard, provided that Twilight and Pinkie accompanied her. Twilight sighed heavily. The old man hadn't exactly been easy to convince.

"Are you okay?" Pinkie asked quietly from beside her wheelchair. "Are the painkillers still working?"

"I'm fine, thanks, Pinkie," Twilight replied. She had twisted awkwardly in her chair earlier necessitating another big dose of painkillers. They were making her absent-minded and she was fairly certain that she was hallucinating: Colors didn't blend and swirl that much normally, but it was a small price to pay to bring the pain down to a manageable level. "What about you, Fluttershy? How are you feeling?"

Fluttershy smiled down at her. "I'm okay. I'll feel better if we can get this FEV out of my system, but until then I'll just avoid ponying up or, um, vamping up as much as I can. I'm just glad we've got it under control for now." She stroked the pointy tip of one of her ears. "Besides, there are a couple of small benefits to this."

"You mean the fact that you now look like the elf girl from Adam's Grognak comics that he really likes?" Pinkie asked flatly.

Fluttershy's blush was immediate and obvious even to Twilight's drug-addled eyes. In an attempt to spare her shy friend, Twilight asked, "How are you actually feeling, y'know, after everything that's happened."

She realized that that was probably a terrible thing to ask even as she said it, but thankfully Fluttershy just cocked her head and hummed in thought. "I… I don't know. I feel bad about what happened, but at the same time I know it wasn't me that did it. It was all thanks to the FEV so, I guess, I don't really feel guilty. Does that make sense?"

Twilight nodded, trying not to let her surprise show on her face. "Of course it does. You're compartmentalizing. That's not a bad thing, in fact it's actually a good thing." Fluttershy smiled shyly, and Twilight privately noted that Fluttershy was showing an enviable amount of mental fortitude.

The sound of the Citadel's gate opening grabbed the girls' attention. Shortly afterwards, a squad of Knights entered the courtyard leading Applejack, Sunset and Rarity. "Oh dear, they don't look happy," Fluttershy said quietly.

Twilight squinted at them. "Darn it, I can't see their expressions. My vision is too blurry."

"Your glasses are on your head," Pinkie told her.

"Huh?" Twilight tried vainly to look at the top of her own head. "Oh, right." She blinked as Pinkie dutifully put her glasses on properly for her and looked over at the girls. They certainly didn't look happy, Sunset in particular looked like she had been put through the wringer, but they brightened up when they spotted Fluttershy.

"Hey, Flutters, you're okay!" Applejack called out as they approached.

Fluttershy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Um, not quite. We've got it under control for now, though."

"What about you guys? Did something go wrong?" Pinkie asked.

Applejack and Rarity winced as Sunset seemed to curl in on herself. "Sunset had a bit of a disagreement with a slaver." Applejack said softly.

"Oh no! Are you alright? You weren't hurt were you?" Fluttershy asked anxiously.

Sunset shook her head. "I'm okay, it just… messed with my head a little." She shuddered and rubbed her neck. "Anyway, Harkness has agreed to help the Brotherhood of Steel with distributing water as long as we help get their magic under control. We've made a start, but there's still a lot to do. We're going to go back every day until it's sorted out."

"Why not get a room there?" Twilight asked. "It would save you making the journey every day. It would probably be safer, too."

"Probably," Sunset admitted. "But we're going to ask the Brotherhood of Steel to train us every day before we head over, and Harkness is going to teach us to fight as well."

Twilight stared at her in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Pinkie pointing into the sky and crying out, "Hey, look! Rainbow's back!"

The girls all looked up to see Rainbow arcing through the air towards them. She flipped over in midair at the last second before hitting the ground, skidding to a halt right next to the group. "Hey, Fluttershy, you're okay?"

Twilight blinked dumbly at Rainbow's gemstone armor. "Uh… is Rainbow Dash all sparkly now, or are my painkiller-induced hallucinations getting worse?"

"Sparkly indeed!" Rarity reached out to stroke Rainbow's breastplate reverently. "This is Royal Blue Sapphire! Darling, you must tell me where you got this armor!"

"Before or after you're done gropin' her tit?" Applejack asked grumpily.

Rarity snatched her hand back as if it had been burned, but Rainbow just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, my armor's as awesome as I am, but seriously, Fluttershy, what's up with the ears? Are you fixed now, or what?"

"Um, not exactly," Fluttershy replied. With Twilight and Pinkie's help, she explained to the others what had happened during Twilight's tests.

Sunset frowned when they were finished. "You can shift between your ponied up form and your vampire form at will?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I think so, but transforming seems to make me more, um, 'thirsty'. We're not sure if using my ordinary magic has the same effect or not, or whether it's something that'll change over time, but we're going to perform more experiments once we've built up our stock of blood again." She looked anxiously at Rainbow. "Did the Exodus girls have anything that might help?"

"They didn't have a cure for FEV, but they did give me this." Rainbow let the magic drain out of her, switching from her ponied up form back to normal, before shrugging off her pack and pulling a few holotapes out of it. "These contain all of their research on FEV. They also gave me some medical stuff to give to the Brotherhood medics, to help Twilight recover faster."

"Really?!" Twilight leaned forward eagerly, then regretted it as a twinge of discomfort broke through the effects of the painkillers.

Rainbow dumped the holotapes on Applejack and gestured for Twilight to follow. "Come on, I'll give the medics the stuff right now and they can get started on making you better. I should probably speak to Elder Lyons, too. I've got some intel that he'll want to hear as soon as possible."

"You'll probably have to wait, he's in a meeting right now," Twilight told her.

Pinkie nodded. "The Wonderbolts came back just before you did. They had a little spider thing with them, it was really weird."

Elder Lyons stared at the little crystal spider wandering around on the desk in mute bemusement. Paladin Metzger had brought it back from her reconnaissance of Raven Rock, saying that it was, somehow, the former President of the Enclave. Elder Lyons had been about to order her in for a psych evaluation when the bizarre creature had asserted that she was telling the truth, and requested an immediate meeting to discuss sensitive matters.

Now, mere minutes later, the Elder and the Paladin were sitting in a secluded office in the Citadel's administration sector, with Eden perched on the desk between them. Metzger's armor stood empty in the corner of the room.

"I must say, I'm rather impressed," Eden said brightly. "Your Brotherhood have kept the place far cleaner and tidier than I expected." He ran a leg across his head then sank into what appeared to be a spider's version of a bow. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Elder Lyons. Please, allow me to officially introduce myself. I am Eden, formerly the President of the Enclave."

Elder Lyons just stared at him for a moment further, then looked up at Metzger, who shrugged. "He seems to be telling the truth," she said. "He certainly knows a lot about how the Enclave is structured and how it operates. He was telling us about it on the way over. It fits with what we already knew or guessed."

"Indeed, and there is so much more I can tell you," Eden added. "Of course, I do have a few minor conditions, in exchange for my information."

"I expected nothing less." Elder Lyons eyed the spider suspiciously. "What are your conditions?"

Eden crossed his two pairs of forelegs. "They're quite simple, really. One: I wish to be permitted to live without being permanently imprisoned. I understand if you wish to keep an eye on me, but I would appreciate being able to explore my surroundings a little. I spent my life in a box, unable to move or touch or feel. I want at least a taste of what freedom feels like."

"Fair enough, I'll see what I can do," Elder Lyons said with a nod.

"Second," Eden continued, "I want to speak to the Rainbooms, with an observer present, naturally. I wouldn't want to push your trust."

Elder Lyons raised an eyebrow. Eden seemed to be willing to go to great lengths to gain his trust, but that in itself could be a reason to remain suspicious. "That can be arranged. Is there anything else?"

Eden nodded. "Just one more thing. I wish for the Brotherhood to keep attempting to broker a peace treaty with whatever remains of the Enclave." In response to Lyons' surprised look, he sighed and started pacing on the desk. "My actions as the leader of the Enclave may have been misguided, but I do truly want what is best for humanity. An alliance between the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel would form a strong foundation from which we could begin to rebuild our fair nation."

"I see." Elder Lyons frowned down at Eden as he thought. He had every reason to be suspicious of the little creature, even to despise him, if he really was the Enclave's former President, but at the same time Eden could prove to be an extremely valuable asset. Metzger had had the right idea, bringing him in. "Very well, Eden. So long as you don't perform any action that may harm the Brotherhood or the people of the wastes, I shall agree to your terms."

"Wonderful!" Eden replied happily. "However, before we discuss the finer details of the Enclave's dealings in the Capital Wasteland, there is something else I have to warn you about."

"Oh? And what is that?" Elder Lyons asked.

Eden glanced at Metzger before skittering up to the edge of the desk and looking up at Lyons. "There is a threat growing beneath what is left of Raven Rock. A creature that needs to be dealt with before it is too powerful."

"He mentioned this earlier, but he wouldn't tell me what it is," Metzger cut in.

"Only because I do not believe that you would understand the significance of it," Eden countered. "Tell me, Elder, have you heard of the old Mariposa Military Base?"

Elder Lyons' blood ran cold at the mention of that name. It was a name whispered with fear among the older members of the Brotherhood, a site of dark events from before the Brotherhood of Steel had split apart, when Lyons himself was only a boy. "I have heard of it."

"Good, then I am sure you are aware that, after the original tenants were evicted by the Vault Dweller so many years ago, the Enclave took custody of it?" Eden asked.

"So I have been told," Elder Lyons replied.

"One of the doctors stationed there, a woman named Liliana Vess, acquired a sample of genetic material from a certain mutant, the one that organised the revolt that forced us out of the base. A mutant named Melchior," Eden explained.

"Melchior?" Metzger asked, confused.

"He was a powerful psychic Super Mutant," Elder Lyons told her. "A monster capable of summoning creatures and having them do his bidding. Much like Fluttershy, if I'm not mistaken."

Eden nodded. "Melchior is long dead, but Vess is not. She went on to become a Senator, but she kept studying and experimenting with FEV, seeking a way to prolong her lifespan. She also experimented with the genetic sample she retrieved from Melchior, but the resulting abomination was weak and fragile, utterly useless." Eden shuddered at some dark memory. "I only discovered all of this last night when I found the creature still alive in the bowels of Raven Rock, feeding on the residual magic left behind by its destruction and becoming more powerful by the hour."

Elder Lyons swallowed hard. "My god," he whispered. "How dangerous is this creature at the moment?"

Eden's body swayed from side to side. "Not very at the moment, but we must not leave it alone for too long or we will have a second Melchior on our hands."

"I understand." Elder Lyons heaved a great sigh. "However, the Brotherhood of Steel doesn't have the resources to deal with both the Enclave and this creature at the same time. If the Rainbooms were on top form I would send them; use magic to defeat magic, but they are in no condition for further conflict right now. I appreciate the warning, but the Enclave is the bigger threat for the moment. We will have to deal with them first."

Eden sighed backed away. "I understand. I only hope that this creature does not grow too powerful before you are in a position to strike."

The creature beneath Raven Rock allowed itself to relax a little. Looking through Eden's eyes, it could see and hear all that was said around him without anyone, least of all Eden, discovering its observation.

Luckily, Eden had accepted the lie that he had been presented with without suspicion. Pretending to be an offshoot of Melchior had clearly been the right idea; powerful enough to discourage a fight, but not so powerful as to provoke an immediate response. Perfect. Time had been bought, and now it was time to use it

Searching through the eyes of the other crystallized beings in the mountain, the abomination made sure that there were no other intruders on its domain before curling up into a ball. It needed to rest and grow, and then the feeding would begin anew.

Author's Note

I really need to get back into the swing of writing an A/N, after a new chapter.

There's going to be a short time skip next chapter, so look forward to seeing how Sunset's training is going!

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 76 - Getting Physical

Sunset grunted as she fell and her back smacked into the mat again.

"Not bad, you're improving," Harkness said as he adjusted his grappling gloves.

"Right." Sunset clambered back to her feet and brushed herself off. "Y'know, when I asked you to train me I wasn't expecting to spend so much time on my back."

She blushed as she realized what that sounded like, but thankfully Harkness didn't seem to notice. "I'm not lying when I say that you're improving. You haven't been at this for long, but I've been at this for over a decade. You're doing well."

Sunset nodded and rolled her shoulders to ease some of her tension, trying to avoid staring at Harkness as she did so. The security chief was wearing nothing but a pair of tatty shorts and a pair of fingerless grappling gloves, leaving his surprisingly toned sweat-streaked torso completely bare; a sight that Sunset was having increasing difficulty keeping her eyes off. Sunset herself was wearing a similar outfit, along with a sports bra specially made by Tabitha and a light tank top that exposed her midriff.

The room they were in was a small gym in the tower set aside for training security officers. Harkness had been taking Sunset aside and training her in there for a week, occasionally bringing Applejack, Rarity or Rainbow Dash along, too. He was proving to be a good teacher, and an incredibly skilled fighter. Even Rainbow was impressed by how fast his reflexes were.

An unexpected bonus to this training, other than the eye candy, was the fact that between it, fixing Rivet City's magic, and training with the Brotherhood, Sunset was too exhausted at the end of each day to have any nightmares. She just passed out in bed at night, then woke up in the morning and did it all again.

"Are you ready for another round?" Harkness asked.

Sunset shook her hands out and nodded before assuming her stance; one foot at an angle in front of the other and her hands held up in loose fists to protect her upper body. "Okay."

"Good." Harkness readied himself, too. "Remember, you don't have mass on your side, so try to parry and deflect rather than blocking outright, and if you're aiming to hit a bony area use the base of your palm instead of your fist. It won't hurt your opponent as much, but at least you won't break your knuckles before you hit them somewhere softer."

"Got it." Sunset skipped forward and jabbed at Harkness’ face, snatched her hand back as he tried to block and snapped a quick kick to his groin while he was distracted, forcing him to skip back to dodge it.

"Not bad," Harkness said with a smirk. "Feints and improvisation. You're learning quickly."

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, only to narrowly avoid a punch in the face as Harkness took the opportunity to attack. The two traded measured blows; Sunset carefully redirecting his punches and lashing out in return only to have her own strikes blocked or deflected with the ease of experience. It was the longest Sunset had sparred for without getting planted on her ass.

Seeing what she thought was an opening, Sunset feinted with a quick kick at Harkness' ankle then immediately snapped off a punch to his face. It never even got close. Harkness grabbed her wrist with incredible speed and yanked Sunset off-balance, stepping behind her as he did so and snaking an arm around her neck before she could react. Quick as a flash he had her in a chokehold. "Nice try, but overly ambitious," he said calmly in her ear. Sunset desperately tried to ram her backside into him, achieving absolutely nothing beyond making him chuckle. "Are you trying to fight me or seduce me?"

"Is the second one an option?" Sunset choked out. His joke sparked a crude idea in her mind, and she ground her butt against his crotch as sensuously as she could manage.

"Wh-what the hell are-" Harkness' spluttering became a cry of pain as Sunset used his distraction to stamp her heel on top of his foot, then ram her elbow backwards into his diaphragm. Harkness loosened his grip as he doubled over. Sunset quickly grabbed one of his wrists and ducked out of the way, pulling and twisting his arm until she had him in an armlock.

"Now I just do this-" Sunset kicked the back of his knee and shoved Harkness to the floor, "- and it's game over!" She grinned as she stepped back from him, panting for breath. "You okay?"

Harkness nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm good." He turned his head to raise an eyebrow at her. "That was low."

"Hey, you were the one who said I had to use every advantage I could find." Sunset walked around until she was in front of him and looked down, smirking at the man on his hands and knees before her. "I can see why you like winning. The view from up here is great!"

Harkness hummed and slowly, deliberately, ran his gaze over her body, sending a far from unpleasant shiver down her spine. "I don't know, the view from down here isn't so bad."

Sunset blushed, feeling a new kind of heat building beneath her skin. Caught off-guard by his words, she didn't spot the victorious look in his eyes until it was too late.

With a sudden burst of speed Harkness lunged and wrapped his arms around Sunset's waist, picking her up and dumping her on the mat. Before she could even process what was happening he was on top of her, his powerful hands pinning her wrists to the floor on either side of her head. "You aren't the only one who can win by playing dirty."

Sunset didn't answer. She was suddenly acutely aware of the half-naked man pinning her down, their faces inches apart, with her legs on either side of his hips. Sunset's heartbeat thundered in her ears. She was simultaneously terrified that he might lean his face down closer to hers and desperately hoping that he would.

As she was wrestling with her conflicting feelings, Harkness chuckled and clambered off her, offering a hand to help her up. Sunset huffed and accepted his hand, trying to ignore the infuriating mix of relief and regret that washed through her.

Over the course of the last week, Sunset had found herself flirting with Harkness more and more. It was just a bit of harmless fun for her at first. He was, after all, a lot older than her, and she didn't really have the time or the mental stability for a relationship even if he wasn't, but there were moments during their time together when Sunset was driven up the wall by her own emotions.

The fact that Harkness was completely oblivious to her feelings at least helped keep things from being awkward.

Shaking her head to try and clear it, Sunset followed Harkness off the mats to a table nearby. She caught the towel that he tossed to her and used it to mop the worst of the sweat from her face while Harkness did the same with another. When they were both dry they each grabbed a bottle of water, clinked the tops together, and leaned against the table to drink.

"You're definitely getting better," Harkness said, flexing the toes of his sore foot. "It's only been a week and you're almost as good as most of my security officers."

Sunset smirked. "How many of them have beat you by grinding their ass on you?"

"More than you'd think," Harkness replied. He grinned at the look on her face and gave her a playful push. "Get your mind out of the gutter. My officers are professionals."

Sunset laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Okay, okay, I'll behave."

"Somehow I don't believe you," Harkness sighed.

Deciding that she should change the subject, Sunset asked, "How are the rest of the Rivets handling the integration of the new magic into the city?"

Harkness chuckled at her use of the name Pinkie had coined for the residents of Rivet City. "Things are going well so far. The food production has gone through the roof thanks to those apple trees, and we've managed to get the teleport room correctly regulated and ready for use. Some people are annoyed that we're still restricting access to the flight deck, but they understand the necessity for now."

Sunset nodded, feeling a little guilty about it. "We're trying to get the lightning under control, but it's not easy. Harvesting the apples is helping to reduce the frequency of the blasts, but we still haven't figured out a way to safely drain enough magic to prevent them entirely."

"Don't worry about it," Harkness replied. "Have you had any progress with the enhanced generators?"

"Not yet, we still don't have a way to test them without risking the radiation causing problems," Sunset explained.

"Fair enough." Harkness took another swig from his bottle and let out a satisfied sigh. "How's your training with the Brotherhood of Steel going?" Sunset just groaned loudly. "That bad?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, it's fine, I guess. I can manage the full assault course, at least." Harkness nodded, glancing sidelong at her. Sunset squirmed under his look, until finally she added, "I managed to pick up a gun without freaking out this morning."

Harkness beamed at her. "That's great! That's amazing progress!"

"I still can't bring myself to actually shoot it," Sunset admitted. "I'm not strong enough."

"You'll get there," Harkness promised, gently clasping her shoulder. "Remember, it's not about being strong or weak, it's about doing what you can. Push yourself, if you can, but don't force yourself. Even just picking up the gun is a huge step forward. I'm proud of you."

Sunset smiled up at him. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Harkness smiled back at her. "It's not going to stop me from introducing your backside to the mat every day, though."

"Hey, I dropped you today," Sunset shot.

"And I dropped you a minute later," Harkness retorted. "And I'll do the same thing again tomorrow."

"Oh? Are you going to climb on top of me and pin me down again?" Sunset asked coyly before she could stop herself.

Harkness smirked, slowly cocking an eyebrow at her. "I didn't hear you complaining."

Sunset's pulse immediately shot through the roof, her heart hammering away as if it wanted to make a break for it. Okay, maybe he's not as oblivious as I thought. Or is he?

Harkness held her gaze for a few seconds, then snorted and finished his water. "Relax, you look like a kid caught with their hand in a candy jar." He stood and stretched before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head, then snatched up a satchel containing his clothes. "Come on. I think we both need a shower."

"R-right," Sunset replied, too frazzled to even joke about whether the shower was meant to be together or not.

Grabbing her own pack, Sunset hurried to follow Harkness out of the gym. As he was locking the door behind them, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask: how are Twilight and Fluttershy doing?"

"They're doing alright," Sunset replied, falling into step alongside Harkness as he set off towards the upper deck. The gym had an attached shower, but Harkness preferred using his own whenever he had the chance. "The new treatment we acquired for Twilight has worked wonders. She can actually walk and even move her arms a little now without too much trouble. She hates the physiotherapy the medics are putting her through, though."

"I can imagine." Harkness tactfully avoided asking about what the 'new treatment' was or where it had come from, and Sunset was grateful for it.

"As for Fluttershy, she's adapting well. She's joined the rest of us training on the assault course with the Knights, and she's only needed blood once in the last week, so that's good." Sunset's mood sank as she thought about Fluttershy's other problem. "She's still worried about Adam. We all are, of course, but it's worse for her."

"He's still in a coma?" Harkness asked quietly. Sunset nodded solemnly. "That's unfortunate. Don't lose hope, though. You were under for two weeks before you woke up, and now look at you."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Barely clinging on to whatever is left of my sanity while I train to do something most residents of my birthplace would consider abhorrent beyond measure?"

Harkness frowned at that. "You know what I mean." He was clearly about to say something further, but stopped when he saw that Sunset was smirking. "Ass."

"Yes, you've mentioned my ass already today." Sunset giggled and ducked as Harkness tried to swat her. "Come on, there's nothing wrong with a bit of dark humor!"

Harkness just let out a heavy sigh and gestured down a nearby corridor. "I'm heading off here. What're you going to do now?"

"I'll head back to the hotel for a shower then go and get some food," Sunset replied. "After that, I guess it depends on what the others are doing."

The two arranged a rough time the day after to continue training before saying their goodbyes and splitting up. As she had told Harkness, Sunset headed back to the hotel room she had been given for a thorough scrub before heading down to the marketplace in search of lunch. A steadily increasing flow of people greeted her the closer she got to the hangar; a sure sign that the rampant magic wasn't enough to scare away a tide of visitors now that the city had opened back up.

The marketplace was as busy as it had ever been. The only major difference was the larger concentration of security officers patrolling, making sure that the vendors were obeying the council's restrictions on selling magically infused items.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Sunset grinned as she spotted Applejack sitting alone at her favourite Galley restaurant, reading a battered old book as she ate. "AJ!"

Applejack looked up from her meal just as Sunset sat opposite her. "Oh, heya, Sunset. How'd your trainin' go?"

"I actually managed to take him down this time," Sunset answered proudly. "Admittedly, he got his own back straight afterwards, but I'll take whatever win I can get."

"Ah wish Ah'd seen that." Applejack closed the book and rubbed her eyes. "Ah've just been lookin' through this old electrician's manual, seein' if Ah can get any ideas on how to drain some of the magic from those trees."

"Has it helped?" Sunset asked.

"Nope." Applejack sighed and turned her attention back to her food. "Honestly, the only thing Ah came up with was jammin' a tap in their trunks and seein' if we can't pour the magic into a barrel as if it were sap."

"That's actually a pretty good idea." Sunset flagged down the waitress and ordered a bowl of iguana soup. "If it works, all we've got to do is figure out what to do with the drained magic."

"The council could always trade it to the Brotherhood of Steel," Applejack suggested. "Ah know you don't like it," she said at the look on Sunset's face, "but they're gonna need magic too if they wanna keep up with the Enclave."

Sunset scowled and folded her arms. "I guess, but I really don't think it's going to end well. Speaking of the Enclave, do we have anything news on how the war is going?"

Applejack nodded. "Rainbow dropped in with a report for the water caravans earlier, and she brought some news while she was at it." She took a swig of water before continuing. "Liberty Prime destroyed another Enclave outpost somewhere West of here. Intel said that it was a stagin' post of some sort, but by the time Liberty arrived the troops had already shifted most of their supplies elsewhere."

"That makes it sound like they knew that Liberty Prime was coming," Sunset noted.

"It sure seems that way," Applejack huffed. "Scribe Rothchild reckons the Enclave have some way of communicatin' and coordinatin' with their troops secretly, but no-one has any idea how they're doin' it."

Sunset frowned as she thought. "What about the Exodus team? Don't they know how it's happening?"

Applejack shook her head. "The Brotherhood is still tryin' to get the radio relays set up so Twilight and Tara can talk directly, but until then it ain't easy gettin' messages through to them."

"That sucks." Sunset sighed, but there was little that any of them could do to help at the moment. For now, she was just going to have to leave everything to the Brotherhood.

Andrew watched uneasily as the Vertibird slowly descended towards the courtyard. The occupants were incredibly important, not just to the Enclave itself, but potentially to the fledgling splinter faction he was in the middle of forming. Horrigan had already cleared the surrounding area of any hostiles, but Andrew couldn't help but worry. The rampant magic loose in the wastes meant that nothing was a certainty anymore.

Even when the Vertibird had finally landed and opened its crew compartment, Andrew didn't let his guard down. The aircraft were never more vulnerable than when they were unloading. He glanced around cautiously out of habit, then stiffened as the new visitors appeared at the top of the ramp.

Senator Devall assisted his wife off the Vertibird before turning to Andrew. "Lieutenant Colonel Strong, it's good to see you."

"And you, Senator, Mrs Devall." Andrew gestured towards the Exodus building. "Allow me to show you to your new quarters."

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait," Senator Devall said grimly. "We need to talk, immediately. We have a problem."

Author's Note

The girls have had a week of training now, and we'll be seeing how things have changed for them, but we're also going to be seeing a lot more from the Enclave side of things over the next few chapters.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 77 - Enclave Exodites

Senator Devall spread out several sheets of paper on the table in the middle of the room and stood aside to allow the Lieutenant Colonel to scrutinize them.

"These are the latest reports from the Air Force Base?" Andrew asked. Devall nodded. "What's all of this activity around Raven Rock?"

"Mining operations," Devall replied. "Several groups have taken an interest in the magical crystal, though they are only taking small quantities from the surface so far. Most of the people that venture inside don't come back out." He ran a finger down a list of different factions. "Aside from the Enclave itself, our eyebots have spotted people from the Brotherhood of Steel, the slavers of Paradise Falls, at least three different raider gangs, Talon Company, the Super Mutants, and a local cult based in a settlement called…" Devall checked the list again, "Megaton."

"What the hell do they want with the crystal from Raven Rock?" Andrew asked.

Devall raised an eyebrow. "I imagine they want it for the same reason we do; the magic contained inside."

"Shit," Andrew huffed. "The last thing we need is more magic in the hands of lunatics."

"Agreed. Unfortunately, I don't think that there's much we can do about it that isn't already being done," Devall said.

"If what's being done doesn't get us killed," Andrew spat.

"What's going to get us killed this time?" Becky asked as she and Tara entered the room.

Devall nodded in greeting. "Doctor Shoichet, Doctor Strong, it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too. Now, what's going to kill us?" Becky asked again, more insistently.

Andrew sighed and stepped away from the table, gesturing at the reports. "People from around the wastes are trying to mine Raven Rock's crystals."

Becky scowled and complained loudly about idiots and psychopaths, but Tara just crossed her arms and looked at Andrew curiously. "I get that that's not exactly good news, but how does that equate to getting us killed?"

"The Senate has decided that action must be taken to secure as much of the magic crystal as possible," Devall answered gravely. "To this end, it has been decided that a strike force will be sent to Raven Rock to acquire as much crystal as they can for our experiments. Horrigan will accompany the strike force to provide additional protection."

Becky and Tara shared a shocked look. "Horrigan?!" Becky cried. "But he's Project Exodus' primary defense! The only reason the Brotherhood of Steel hasn't attacked us is because we intentionally let slip to their scouts that Horrigan is based here! Without him, there's nothing stopping them from launching a full scale assault!"

It was an understandable reaction, one that Devall would normally have accepted, but his recent discussions with Agent Drops had given him cause to be suspicious. It was time to test his theory. "Forgive me, Doctor Shoichet, but I don't believe that Horrigan's presence is the only reason that the Brotherhood of Steel hasn't attacked Project Exodus. After all, if the Brotherhood knew exactly where their greatest threat was residing, surely they would have sent in their new robotic superweapon by now." Becky and Andrew's reactions were flawless; showing offended surprise at Devall's words, but the flash of fear that crossed Tara's face before she could hide it all but confirmed his suspicions. "In fact, I highly doubt that those Brotherhood scouts were actually scouts at all."

"What exactly are you implying?" Andrew asked in a tone of deadly calm.

Devall was suddenly forcibly reminded that the Lieutenant Colonel was highly trained, proven in combat, almost certainly armed, and more than willing to kill a man in cold blood if it meant protecting his family. Needling him would not end well. It was time to either step back or press forward, and Devall had no intention of backing away from this. "I've heard, from a very reputable source, that there is a certain… movement… gaining traction here at Project Exodus. I believe our goals may align."

The others glanced at each other in surprise. After a brief pause, Becky asked, "Where did you hear about this?"

"From me." Everyone turned as Agent Drops closed the door and locked it, taking up a position next to it apparently out of habit.

Andrew stared at her blankly. "Agent Drops? I didn't even know you'd escaped Raven Rock. How the hell did you get down here without security notifying me?"

"I'm very good at my job," Agent Drops replied smoothly. "Also, I've got a contact here who helped me sneak in," she added. In response to three very confused looks she smiled and said one word, "Lyra."

"The technician?" Becky narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you giving up your contact's name so casually?"

"Because we want you to trust us," Devall answered. He spread his arms to show that he had nothing to hide. "Let me put this bluntly. "We suspect that you three are attempting to put together a secret band of mutineers, a splinter faction, or even a full rebellion against Acheson and his ilk. Agent Drops and I wish to join you."

The ball was well and truly within Andrew's court now. All he had to say was that he was doing no such thing, and he would be well within his rights to execute both Devall and Agent Drops for treason. It was a colossal risk and yet, somehow, Devall was certain that it really was no risk at all.

Andrew glanced between the two, apparently sizing them up. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

"Evidently you already do or you wouldn't have bothered asking," Devall replied with a small sigh of relief. "However, to answer your question, I have a child on the way, and I get the feeling that she's more likely to survive and have a safe childhood if we work with the Brotherhood of Steel rather than letting Acheson and Lily mess around with forces that they don't understand."

"As for me, I'm in the market for an Enclave that actually gives a shit about the rest of humanity," Agent Drops put in.

"Aren't we all?" Becky muttered. She then said a little louder, "Alright, our options are either to let you in or shoot you, and I'm not in the mood to shoot anyone right now, so I guess you're in."

Devall smiled wryly. "I'm glad to hear it. Since we're going to work together, perhaps you'd like to have this." He pulled a thin file from inside his jacket and dropped it on the table. "Everything I've managed to gather on the magical experimentation going on at the Air Force Base. It's not much, but it's all I've been able to get my hands on discreetly."

Tara swiped the file before Devall could even finish his sentence, devouring the contents so quickly that her eyes were a blur. Agent Drops spared her an exasperated look before shaking her head and addressing the Lieutenant Colonel, "How large is this group so far? And what exactly are you aiming for?"

"Our goals are simple," Becky replied. "We're looking to turn the Enclave into the beacon of civilization that we taught about when we were kids. If that means splitting off from Acheson and his power-crazed compatriots, then that's what we'll do."

Andrew nodded. "There's not many of us who're directly involved yet, but we're recruiting more people every day. Lieutenant Bles and Lieutenant Rogers are with us, as are most of each of their platoons, but I'm not sure about Lieutenant Simpson; he was very close to Colonel Autumn."

"Aside from them, we've got about another forty technicians, scientists, engineers and civic personnel that are all on board," Becky continued. "We're working on bringing Horrigan around, but we have to be subtle about it. His loyalty to the Enclave is unshakable, but if it splits in two, we have to be sure that he sees us as the 'true' Enclave."

"Which leads back to why you're keeping him here," Devall prompted.

Andrew sighed and braced himself against the table. "We weren't lying, Horrigan is a huge part of our defence. This building was designed as a factory and a front, not a fortress."

"That's not the only reason though, is it?" Agent Drops asked.

Andrew shook his head. "One of the reasons we want him here is so we can keep working on him; find out where he stands on us against Acheson and the rest of the Senators, but the main reason is to keep him away from the Brotherhood of Steel."

"So you are working with them!" Devall exclaimed.

"Not quite," Becky cut in. "The Brotherhood doesn't entirely trust us yet, and the feeling is mutual. We've communicated with them using coded messages sent to the Rainbooms, but so far our cooperation has only really extended to leaving each other alone and not engaging each other's troops in hostilities."

"We're actually in the middle of setting up a series of radio relays so that we can contact them directly and securely," Tara said without looking up from the file.

"Speaking of which, we should probably let them know that Horrigan is heading to Raven Rock, just in case they have troops in the area," Andrew added, almost as an afterthought.

Becky whipped around to face him, her eyes wide with shock. "You're sending him out?!"

"It's not like I have much of a choice," Andrew grumbled. "The Senate expressly voted to send Horrigan to provide support. I could try to use my authority to defy them, but it would be as good as drawing a line in the sand. We cannot afford to make our move just yet."

Devall sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I tried to fight against it. Even Senator Lily was vehemently opposed to sending Horrigan out, but Acheson managed to get the rest of the Senators on his side."

"It's fine, we'll manage." Andrew straightened up. "You should get some rest, take some time to get a feel for the place. This facility is a maze."

"Good idea. I should go and make sure that Fleur is settled." Devall held a fist in front of his mouth as he yawned. "I must be getting old. All of this excitement and all I want is a nap."

Andrew watched impassively as Devall and Agent Drops left the room. When they were gone, Becky carefully checked to make sure that no-one was in the corridor outside before closing the door. "Are the precautions in place?" She asked.

Silently cursing the circumstances that made this deception necessary, Andrew nodded. "I had Vincent bug the radio in their Vertibird. If they try to betray us, we'll know about it."

"Good," Becky sighed. I just hope they're telling the truth."

"So do I," Andrew said softly. "Anyway, we should get a move on, we've got a lot to do in a very short amount of time. Tara?" His sister looked up from the file she was still perusing. "Fetch ED-E and send him to Project Purity with a coded message for Twilight, tell her everything that we've discussed here. I'll go and see how the radio relays are coming along."

Acheson hummed thoughtfully as he regarded the glass beakers laid out on a table before him. There were seven in total, each containing the distilled magic of one of the Rainbooms. There were vast quantities of each stored in various places around the base, most of which was being actively experimented on, but these seven samples were special.

They were all a perfect mix of ordinary magic and their dark variant.

It had taken days to achieve, and it would probably take another few days before the process could be replicated reliably, but for now, Acheson could be content with this small achievement. Either on its own was incalculably useful, but when mixed together the resulting compound was far more versatile and potent than the standard forms, though with the trade-off that it was far trickier to work with.

"Doctor?" Acheson turned to see that Doctor Anna Holt had returned from her errands. "I've spoken to the team working on integrating magic into the plasma weaponry. They're running ahead of schedule, and are confident that they'll be able to bring you what you asked for tomorrow."

Acheson nodded. "Good, and the heavy munitions team?"

"They've finished cleaning up after the failed experiment with the darkened Loyalty magic, and are preparing to go ahead with the testing on the darkened Honesty magic instead," Anna replied.

"It's about time," Acheson huffed, though he was glad that the other teams of scientists had adopted Doctor Holt's suggested magical classification system so readily. The former Project Purity scientist was hardly a genius, but she was quick enough on the uptake and her experience in working with the Rainbooms' magic was proving invaluable. Of course, it also helped that access to the Enclave's advanced technology had bought her loyalty completely.

"Are those for the Daybreaker prototype?" Anna asked, gesturing to the beakers of magic on the table.

Acheson shook his head. "No, those are for something else." He glanced over at the suit of power armor propped up on a frame in the corner of the room.

It had originally been a suit of Hellfire armor, more advanced and powerful than standard Enclave power armor, but with every drop of magic added it warped further, its color shifting from black to a pale gray and its limbs becoming slender and elegant. The biggest change, however, was going on inside the armor.

There was a creak as the helmet tilted slightly to stare back at Acheson. He shivered and looked away. For some yet unknown reason, every suit of power armor that was infused with magic ended up gaining a measure of sapience; a fact that raised interesting questions about Horrigan, but they would have to wait until later, assuming he survived the coming trials.

Shaking off the creepy sensation of being watched by an inanimate object, Acheson turned and stepped over to a collection of odd pieces of equipment arranged carefully on another nearby table. It consisted of a metal breastplate covered with electrical circuits and sensors, a metal backplate bearing what looked like a miniature gasoline powered generator with two thin exhaust pipes poking up from it, and a pair of thick leather gloves studded with metal plates and covered with more electrical circuits. The fingertips of each glove ended in small claw-like antennae, and the whole collection was connected to each other with a messy web of wires, cables and tubes.

"Here, help me put all of this on," Acheson said gruffly.

Anna frowned curiously, but did as she was told. Putting the equipment on without getting tangled up in wires wasn't easy, even with someone helping, but together they finally managed it. "What is it?" Anna asked when they were finally done.

Acheson allowed himself a small smile as he flexed his fingers inside the gloves. "It's a new tool, built using everything I've learned about manipulating magic over the last week. It should make the construction of magical equipment a lot quicker, easier and safer. At least, I hope it does. I'm calling it my Thaumic Integration, Restoration, and Extraction Kit."

"You'll have to come up with a snappier name than that," Anna shot.

Acheson threw her a glare, then snorted and rolled his eyes as she realized that she was just teasing. "I don't care what it's called, as long as it works." He rolled his shoulders and strode over to a door at the back of the workshop, gesturing for Anna to follow. "Come on, doctor, let's put it through its paces."

Author's Note

Focusing a lot on the Enclave this time around, but don't worry, the girls will be back in the next chapter!

Chapter 79 - Squire Scoots

Rarity grew increasingly curious as the Squire led her, Pinkie, and Twilight into a part of the Citadel they had never entered before. It was largely deserted, with only the odd Squire or Scribe passing by in the corridors as they went about their errands.

"Why are we going to such an out of the way area?" Twilight asked.

The Squire shrugged without looking back. "The Elder said something about keeping the magic stuff away from the main parts of the Citadel, in case something went wrong." Twilight tried to ask her something else, but the Squire huffed and cut her off, "If you've got questions, you can ask him yourself. We're here." Without another word, the Scribe shoved her way through a nearby door and held it open for the others.

Inside was a wide room with dozens of metal boxes stacked against one wall. Elder Lyons was standing in the middle of the room next to another small stack of boxes, along with Fluttershy, a Squire, a Scribe, two Knights in power armor, and two unarmored Knights.

Everyone looked around as the girls entered the room. Elder Lyons smiled as he spotted them. "Ah, good timing. Thank you, Squire Peters."

Fluttershy did a double-take as she noticed the Squire accompanying the girls. "Maddy? Is that you?"

Squire Peters nodded. "Yeah, I did what your friend told me and signed up with these guys." She rubbed her arm nervously. "I, uh, guess I should thank you again. Y'know, for fixing me up, back in the metro."

"Wait a moment..." Rarity gasped softly as she finally realized why she recognized the Squire. "You're the girl from the tunnels behind Galaxy News!"

"Yeah, no shi- I mean, uh, yeah, that's me," Squire Peters replied.

"Squire Peters was in a bad way when we first met her," Elder Lyons told them. "At first, we were hesitant to take her on, but Three Dog vouched for her, so we accepted her as one of our own. So far, Squire Peters has proven to be a hard worker and an adept pupil." He frowned at her as he added, "However, I'd still like to see some improvement to her language fairly soon."

Squire Peters sighed and looked away. "Yeah, sorry. I'm still working on it."

"Very good." Elder Lyons nodded and turned his attention back to the girls. "Now, for the reason I called you here." He placed a hand on the little stack of boxes before continuing. "As you are probably already aware, the explosion of magical energy from Raven Rock's destruction didn't directly affect the Brotherhood of Steel in any real way. What you are likely not aware of, is the fact that the first explosion of magic, the one unleashed during your escape from Project Exodus, did affect some Brotherhood personnel and equipment."

"I assume these people are the affected personnel that you're referring to?" Twilight offered.

"Indeed they are," Elder Lyons replied. "Squire Maxson is here merely as an aide," he gestured to the boy standing next to him, "but Squire Peters, Scribe Benson, and Knights Andrews and Johnson were all affected by the magical wisps released from Project Exodus."

Rarity noticed, curiously, that the Elder hadn't mentioned the two Knights in armor, both standing with their arms folded watching the proceedings impassively. "And those gentlemen?"

Elder Lyons gave a tight smile as the Knights glanced at each other. "These two… gentlemen... are the suits of power armor that Andrews and Johnson were wearing when they were struck by the magic, and they are currently empty."

Stunned silence greeted his admission. "But… they're alive," Pinkie said blankly.

Elder Lyons nodded. "We're not sure how or why, but somehow the magic has given them some level of sapience."

"Just like the Boogeyman," Twilight said quietly. As everyone turned to stare at her, she explained, "The Boogeyman we told you about, the one that was chased out of Rivet City, matches the description of a suit of power armor that fled from Project Exodus after being affected by magic. As impossible as it sounds, it looks like the magic brings any power armor it touches to life."

"Can, er, can they talk?" Rarity asked.

"Not so far," Elder Lyons replied. "As for your suggestion, Miss Sparkle, I fear you may be a little off the mark; twelve of our Knights were struck by the magic, but, aside from these two, the worst that happened was a little discoloration at the impact points."

Twilight frowned thoughtfully. "So several suits of power armor were hit, but only these two were affected? How is that possible?"

"Our Scribes believe it is something to do with where they were hit," Elder Lyons told her. "Both of these were struck directly on their fusion cores."

"Aren't fusion cores the things that power them?" Rarity asked.

Elder Lyons nodded. "Do you think their current, er, condition, might be something to do with the radiation the cores emit? I remember you saying that radiation and magic interacted in unusual ways."

Pinkie raised a hand as if she was in class. "Quick question, I thought nuclear fusion didn't cause radiation?"

Twilight looked mildly surprised that Pinkie of all people would ask such a question, but answered without commenting on it, "It's true that the fusion reaction itself doesn't emit ionizing radiation, and the tiny amount of tritium used in the reaction won't emit enough radiation to have any real effect. However, depending on the blanket solution and internal structures of the core, it's possible that intense neutron fluxes could cause activation of the core's structural material. Of course, that's assuming that the neutron fluxes themselves aren't affecting the magic in any way."

Pinkie nodded and hummed thoughtfully, leaving Rarity feeling rather self-conscious of the fact that she had barely followed the explanation at all. Thankfully, Twilight's moment of nerdy exposition was apparently over, as she sighed and said, "I wish I had more time to spend trying to figure exactly how and why magic and radiation interact the way they do, but I've just got too much on my plate already. I know Sunset is working on a similar issue to this with Pia Nalaar at Rivet City, maybe she had come up with something?"

"We'll ask her when she gets back to the Citadel, but surely you must have some theories that we can work on," Elder Lyons pressed.

Twilight's face crumpled as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't; and before you ask, I can't spare the time or energy to even try and come up with one. I'm already working on two different scientific specialties, which themselves are so specialized that they draw on at least a dozen other scientific specialties between them. It's too much. I can't, I just… I can't."

The sight of Twilight hanging her head in defeat prompted Rarity to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, snarling at Elder Lyons as she did so, "What the hell do you think you are doing, trying to dump everything on Twilight? Don't you have your own scientists?"

Elder Lyons glanced uncomfortably between Twilight and her friends. The fact that even Fluttershy was giving him the stink-eye seemed to particularly bother him. "I, er, didn't mean to overwhelm you, Miss Sparkle, we just wished for your input given that you have more experience than our Scribes in matters of magic." He loudly cleared his throat. "We'll put it to Miss Shimmer when she returns. Er, I don't mean to push, but I was hoping that you- that all of you, would be willing to help us with a quick experiment or two, while we're all here."

"What sort of experiment?" Rarity asked suspiciously.

"The magical kind," Elder Lyons replied. He gestured to the power armors, and one of the suits dutifully stepped forward and opened one of the metal boxes. Inside, sparkling in the light, was a collection of raw, uncut gemstones in a kaleidoscope of colors. "These were mined from the exterior of Raven Rock. I gathered the personnel who've previously been exposed to magic in order to see if they, under your supervision, can draw some of the magic out of these crystals."

Rarity gave him a flat look. "After everything that has happened? Everything that still happens whenever someone pokes around with magic they don't understand; do you really think that this is a good idea?"

"Why do you think we're in a secluded section of the Citadel?" Elder Lyons countered. "Besides, these crystals are small and, as far as we can tell, contain only a small amount of magic, and we'll only be using one crystal with one person at a time. It's about as safe as we can make it."

"I'd better get some Nuka-Cola ready," Pinkie said, digging a bottle out of her hair.

"Whatever for?" Elder Lyons asked in complete confusion.

Pinkie fished a bottle opener out of her pocket and held it at the ready like a knife. "In case I need to blow something up in a hurry."

Elder Lyons shot an alarmed look at the other girls, as if expecting them to rebuke her, but they just nodded grimly and backed away to the door, Rarity pulling Twilight's wheelchair since Pinkie's hands were full.

"Who's going first?" Twilight asked.

"Er, well…" Elder Lyons looked around at his little group. After brief consideration, he motioned for Squire Peters to step forward. "It'll probably be safest if our youngest member goes first."

"Cool!" Squire Peters grinned and eagerly stepped up to the crate. "So, uh, what do you want me to do?"

"Just take a crystal from the box," Elder Lyons replied. "One crystal," he reiterated firmly.

Twilight shifted slightly in her wheelchair. "Try to pick one that calls to you, as if it was somehow meant for you."

"Riiight." Squire Peters frowned as she stared into the box. After a few seconds of humming thoughtfully she reached in and pulled out a small pyramid-shaped crystal. "I guess… this one?" Her chosen crystal was a deep orange color with faint veins of white and yellow running through it. The light refracted through it beautifully, lighting up the walls with hundreds of little dots in every color of the rainbow. "What now?"

Elder Lyons glanced hopefully at Twilight. She tried to shrug, then winced and hissed as her wounds reminded her that that was not a good idea.

"Careful, darling," Rarity admonished gently. "You just rest, I think the rest of us have enough experience with magic to try and have a go at this." She cleared her throat and drew herself up to address Squire Peters. "Now then, er…" Rarity floundered for a moment, then decided to just go with the first thing that popped into her head. "Do you feel anything?"

Squire Peters opened her mouth to reply, then closed it and looked down at the crystal in her hand. "I… I don't know," she said slowly. "It feels kinda tingly, but… it feels like there's something... I don't know… missing."

"Why don't you just focus on that tingly feeling for now," Fluttershy suggested. "I know this sounds weird, but try to pull that tingly feeling out of the crystal and into your hand."

"O...kay?" Squire Peters shrugged and frowned at the crystal again. "How do I know if it's- whoa!" The crystal flashed brightly and an orange glow rippled across Squire Peters' body as she ponied up. "Wow! That felt awesome!" She grinned widely at her success, though her smile faded as she saw the looks on the Rainbooms' faces. "What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rarity just stared at her, utterly thunderstruck. She had felt before that something was familiar about the squire and, though the orange pony ears and tiny orange wings were certainly unusual, the mess of scruffy purple hair sitting on top of her head was instantly recognizable to anyone who knew the three troublemaking disaster-magnets of the Canterlot Movie Club. "Scootaloo…?"

"Come again?" Squire Peters said blankly.

Elder Lyons eyed the girls curiously, clearly putting two and two together. "She has a counterpart in your world, someone you know."

"Wait, what?" Squire Peters gave him a questioning look. "What's a counter-whatsit?"

Rarity shared an awkward look with her friends as Elder Lyons explained about counterparts in other realities. It was plain from the looks on their faces that Pinkie, Twilight and Fluttershy were all feeling just as guilty as her that they hadn't recognized who Squire Peters really was much sooner.

When Elder Lyons was done explaining, Squire Peters and the rest of the gathered Brotherhood personnel looked more confused than ever. "So… there's more than one version of… like… the world? And they've all got different versions of the same people in them?"

"The details are a little more complicated than that, but yeah, that's pretty much right," Twilight replied.

Fluttershy bit her lip nervously. "Um, should we tell Rainbow? About Madd- I mean, Squire Peters?"

"Tell me what?" The group whipped around in surprise to see Rainbow, Sunset and Applejack file into the room accompanied by a Squire. They all stopped in their tracks as they spotted Squire Peters. Rainbow in particular looked as if she had been punched in the stomach. Her face crumpled as she looked anywhere in the room except at the Squire.

"Rainbow? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Rainbow replied unconvincingly. "Anyway, I've got shit to do. I'll see you later." Without another word, Rainbow turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her hard enough to dislodge a trickle of dust and ancient plaster from the ceiling.

"I'll go after her," Sunset said quickly. "You guys do… whatever the hell you were doing." She threw Elder Lyons a glare as she opened the door and slipped out after Rainbow, leaving a strained silence in her wake.

Squire Peters looked around at everyone in blank confusion. "Uh… what the f-, what the hell just happened?"

Rarity coughed delicately before answering. "Scootaloo goes to the same school as us. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she worships the very ground that Rainbow Dash walks on, and Rainbow herself has essentially adopted Scootaloo as a little sister. Seeing you in this, er... form, must be bringing up some rather complicated feelings."

"Ain't that the truth," Applejack muttered. Rarity looked over at her just in time to see her pull the brim of her hat lower and step back out of the door. "Ah'm gonna go get some sleep. See y'all later."

The Squire who had brought the three, a scrawny boy no older than ten, glanced anxiously after his three charges, clearly wondering whether he had done something wrong. Seeing his expression, Elder Lyons sighed and said softly, "It's alright, lad. I asked you to bring them here, not make them stay. Was there anything else?"

The boy nodded nervously and pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket. "A message came from Project Purity for Miss Sparkle. They've written it down for her."

He had barely finished his sentence before a purple aura took the paper from his hands, eliciting a startled yelp. Twilight mumbled an apology and used her magic to unfold the sheet, reading it carefully. "It's a coded message from our mutual allies. I'll give you the details somewhere more private, but the gist of it is that their numbers have grown. Apparently, Horrigan has been sent to Raven Rock, too, so you should make sure we don't have any troops in the area."

"Thankfully, we don't," Elder Lyons replied with a scowl. "I can't say I'm happy to hear that Horrigan is on the move, though. I thought they were keeping him on a tight leash?"

"Like I said, details later," Twilight said pointedly.

Elder Lyons nodded. "Fair enough. I'll have Liberty Prime and the Lyons' Pride recalled, just in case. It'll take a little while for them to get back, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Until then…" He looked around at the remaining Rainbooms and sighed heavily. "I suppose we may as well end this experiment here. I was expecting some form of issue with rogue magic that we'd need your help containing, not a coincidence that would upset your friends. You have my apologies."

"Apology accepted," Rarity said quickly. Without another word, she turned on her heel and hurried after Applejack.

Sunset followed Rainbow through the corridors as quickly as she could. There was no way she could keep up with Rainbow's super speed, but she was fairly certain that she knew where her friend was going. The number of shocked-looking and windswept personnel she passed on the way let her know that she was on the right track.

Sure enough, when Sunset emerged into the courtyard, she spotted Rainbow over in a corner, thumping away at a punching bag as if it had grievously insulted her. Sunset had actually expected Rainbow to be doing laps of the assault course, so she was a little relieved that she wouldn't have to try and flag down the athlete just to talk to her.

Waving away the small group of Squires that was gathering to stare, Sunset stepped up alongside Rainbow. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Rainbow said curtly, not breaking her rhythm for a second.

Sunset nodded, realizing that that had probably been a stupid question. "So… I guess we've found this world's Scootaloo."

"That's not Scootaloo!" Rainbow snapped, punching the bag even harder. "That little shit used to be a raider! Scootaloo would never do something like that! That little runt back there isn't fit to clean Scootaloo's sneakers!"

"That's not fair, Rainbow," Sunset retorted. "The moment we gave her a chance to do something decent, she took it; just like Becky and Tara did. We already know that Maddy's parents are dead, and who even knows what happened to her aunts-"

"They live in Rivet City." Sunset stared at Rainbow in blank surprise. "I delivered a few things for them when we were staying there. I thought I recognized them, they even mentioned that they lost their brother, sister, and niece, but I never put it together until now. They had family out there in the wastes, and they never. Bothered. Looking for them!" She punctuated each word with a wild swing at the punchbag.

Sunset stepped back, shocked at Rainbow's sudden vehemence. Something didn't feel right. It wasn't normal for Rainbow to viciously insult someone, then defend them in the very next breath. Something else was going on. Sunset was fairly sure she knew what was up, but she had to be careful with how she approached it, or she’d risk having Rainbow close up on her. "Rainbow? You know you're awesome, right?"

"Huh?" Rainbow paused in her physical onslaught, thrown off-guard by the random question. "Well, duh, of course I'm awesome. Heck, I'm the reason most of the Enclave Vertibirds fly in pairs in a defensive formation now."

Sunset nodded. "Exactly, so no-one is going to think you're any less of a badass because you're missing home."

Sunset was expecting Rainbow to deny it; to say that she didn't miss anything, that Sunset was just being ridiculous, and everything was fine. So it was somewhat surprising when Rainbow simply sighed and lowered her arms, looking dejectedly at the floor. "This world sucks."

"You're right about that," Sunset agreed fervently.

Rainbow shook her head. "I'm not even talking about the radiation or the fact that it's all a freaking wasteland. I just can't stand the fact that there's people out there, other versions of us and our friends, who've ended up being put through so much shit, or even just grown up around the wrong people. What if I find the other version of me and she turns out to be some kind of psycho?"

Sunset placed a reassuring hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "No matter what kind of person she is, if she's anything like you at all, she'll be one of the most loyal and awesome people you'll ever meet."

"Heh, thanks, Sunshim," Rainbow said quietly.

Sunset smirked, an evil thought popping into her head. "And don't worry, I won't tell the others how much you miss seeing Bulk Biceps every day."

Rainbow snorted and tried to splutter out some sort of denial, but she was cut off by a loud and very familiar voice yelling out, "YEAH!"

The two girls slowly turned to look across the courtyard. Standing near the assault course, next to a stand full of barbells, was a hugely-muscled man with a blonde buzz cut.

"No... way," Rainbow muttered, staring at him fearfully. "Seriously? This world has a Bulk Biceps, too?!"

Sunset nudged Rainbow and cried out with false glee, "Look, Rainbow! The universe heard us speaking of your lost love and is giving you another chance! Go to him!" She ducked Rainbow's retaliatory swipe, cackling at the look on her face.

"You're lucky we need you in one piece, or I'd kick your ass from here to Megaton for that," Rainbow spat, though she couldn't help a lopsided smile as she said it. She shook her head and sighed. "Seriously though, we should probably get some food and rest, we all need to get stronger if we want to get ahead in this world."

Sunset grinned and threw an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry. We've made it this far. As long as we stick together, there's nothing we can't handle."

Horrigan crossed his arms as he stared up at the Vertibird hovering overhead. It was a different model than the usual ones; a variant designed with special cranes and winches for hauling up heavy cargo without having to land. This time around, that cargo was going to be Horrigan himself.

"Are you sure you'll fit?" One of the nearby soldiers asked.

Horrigan nodded. He'd have to curl up into a ball for the duration of the flight, but it meant that when they reached their destination they could simply switch off the electromagnetic clamps and drop him into combat, near-instantly. Looking around, Horrigan saw the gathered soldiers, scientists and workers all staring at him, waiting for orders to board their own waiting Vertibirds. "Everyone, mount up! I want us off the ground and on the way in five minutes!"

Chapter 80 - Into The Depths

Horrigan huffed as he allowed the Vertibird to lower him gently to the ground. He had wanted to just drop out of the hold for the sake of ease and speed, but the scientists had been worried about him damaging the crystals that covered the ground, so he had to put up with being winched down like an oversized piece of cargo. When he finally reached the ground, Horrigan quickly pulled the clamps from his armor and took his first proper look at Raven Rock and the surrounding area.

The mountain itself sparkled in the wan sunlight, as did the ever-growing carpet of crystal that spread out for several hundred yards from the mountain's base. Dozens of workers were chipping away at the crystal with various tools, under the supervision of a team of scientists and three squads of power-armored soldiers. The only point of concern that Horrigan could see was a collection of dark clouds slowly approaching from the East. It looked like a storm was coming.

After a quick glance around, Horrigan spotted a man in an officer's uniform who seemed to be directing the nearest workers. "What's the situation, Sir?" He called out as he approached.

The officer's eyes almost popped out of his head when he turned to see who was talking. "A-agent Horrigan!"

"Just Horrigan, Sir," Horrigan cut in.

"R-right." The officer swallowed and swept an arm out towards the workers. "As you can see, work is progressing smoothly for the moment. A band of raiders was present upon arrival but, after a suitable display of force, they decided to relocate without any fuss."

Horrigan nodded. "Do you have any workers inside the mountain?"

The officer winced. "We sent a surveyor team in a few hours ago, with a squad of soldiers as escort, but they haven't been heard from since."

"Are there hostiles inside?" Horrigan asked.

"I don't know," the officer replied nervously. "There's definitely something in there, but I have no idea what, and Command ordered me not to send in another team to look for them until you were here to guard the perimeter."

Horrigan turned to appraise the surrounding area. A few Vertibirds were close at hand, dropping off additional reinforcements. Beyond them, around two kilometres East, he could make out a small makeshift camp, probably belonging to the ousted raiders, and about a Kilometre South he could see a Yao Guai snuffling in the dirt. There was nothing in sight that posed a threat. "The perimeter is safe. I'll take a squad and look for the missing team myself. You've already lost one squad of weaklings, there's no point sending another in without my help."

The officer stammered out an agreement and pulled out a radio, issuing orders as Horrigan stomped over to the entrance to Raven Rock. He paused in front of the glittering tunnel that led into the mountain and crossed his arms. Aside from the crystal itself, Horrigan couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Whatever was in there must be deep inside. Or just particularly stealthy.

"We're ready to go when you are, Sir." Horrigan glanced around and saw five soldiers, gathered around him. "Just give the word."

"How many personnel are we looking for?" Horrigan asked.

"Four soldiers, six surveyors," the squad leader replied instantly.

Horrigan nodded and uncrossed his arms. "Alright, follow me and keep your heads on a swivel." Without another word he strode purposefully into the tunnel.

The floor chimed loudly with every step Horrigan and the soldiers took, echoing off the walls until the tunnels rang like a crystal choir. Whenever they came to a side tunnel, markings on the wall left by the surveyor team indicated which direction to take. Strangely, the group didn't encounter any other signs of life at all while they searched.

"This is weird," one of the soldiers muttered.

"It's a magic crystal mountain, Private, of course it's fucking weird," the squad leader shot.

The Private shook his head. "I meant the layout. Most of the corridors are still in the right places, but there's some that have closed up and other new ones that have opened up instead."

Horrigan nodded, mentally referencing the map of Raven Rock stored on the chip in his brain. It looked like around 75% of the corridors were unchanged apart from their crystalline composition. "Where were the surveyor team headed?"

"Probably one of the armories," the squad leader replied. "There's bound to be a shitload of equipment that's been warped by all of this magic bullshit. If the brass wants the magic from the crystal, you can bet your ass they want any magic tech they can get their hands on, too." He gestured down a nearby side tunnel, with a cross scratched into the wall next to it indicating that the surveyors had checked it and found a dead end. "Wasn't that where they set up the projector so we could watch old movies?"

"Yeah, it was," the Private replied with a sigh. "When my sister was put into Assigned Procreation, the engineer she was matched with took her there for a date. They didn't end up married, but at least he put the effort in instead of just knocking her up and getting it over with like some of them do. He helps look after the kid, too."

"That's enough chatter," Horrigan cut in. The tunnel was approaching a crossroads, but there weren't any obvious signs scratched into the walls to indicate which way the surveyors had gone. As he stomped right into the middle of the crossroads, the squad carefully following behind him, the group spotted a man standing in the middle of the tunnel on the left. He was wearing a standard military dress uniform, and jerked his head back challengingly as he watched the squad.

"Is that one of the surveyors?" Horrigan asked skeptically.

"Nah, that's Jackson," one of the soldiers replied, pointing his laser rifle directly at Jackson's chest. "He didn't make it out of here before the place blew. How the hell is he still alive?"

"Magic," Horrigan huffed, before calling out to Jackson, "A surveyor team passed through here earlier. Which way did they go?"

Jackson didn't answer. Instead, he slowly raised his arms until they were pointing at the squad, then he clenched his hands. At his gesture the crystal tunnels seemed to burst into life; thin crystalline tentacles sprouted from the wall, wrapping around Horrigan's limbs and body and reeling him in like a mirelurk caught in a net. The shouts of surprise and fear coupled with sporadic laser fire told him that the same thing was happening to the squad.

Caught by surprise, Horrigan watched the tentacles with mild interest for a few seconds, amused by the fact that they were actually able to shift his bulk. Unfortunately, the sight of his squad getting overpowered by the tentacles meant he couldn't enjoy this little farce too much.

Releasing the power stored inside himself, Horrigan rolled his shoulders as swirling symbols blazed into life all over his armor and acid-green flames leaked from its joints. He shattered most of the tentacles holding him with a simple flex and pointed a damning finger at Jackson. "THAT WAS A MISTAKE."

Naked terror flashed across Jackson's face. He made another grasping motion at Horrigan, who laughed as more tentacles shot out of the walls and grabbed him only to shatter as he lumbered forwards, their strength absolutely nothing compared to his.

Apparently realizing his predicament, Jackson tried to turn and run at the last second, but he had left it too late. Horrigan chuckled as he snatched Jackson up, wrapped his hands around the man's waist, ripped him in half like a piece of scrap paper and casually tossed the halves aside. The blood and gore that splattered the floor sparkled and glittered in the light, as if it too contained tiny crystals.

Satisfied that his enemy was dead, Horrigan turned to berate his squad for being weak, only to realize that they weren't there. Staring at the walls, he spotted black masses in the walls where the tentacles had somehow managed to drag them through the solid crystal and bury them alive. One of them had even been dragged beneath the floor. "DAMN."

Thankfully, a quick check of their suits radios revealed that they were all still alive, though if Horrigan still possessed eyes would have rolled them at their terrified screams for help. It was yet another reminder that Enclave soldiers may be the toughest ordinary people around, but they just couldn't hold a candle to him. "HANG ON, YOU WUSSES. I'LL GET YOU OUT."

Smashing the unfortunate soldiers out of their crystal tombs would be easy, but it would also more than likely end up destroying their armor and injuring or killing them, so Horrigan was forced to carefully chip away at the crystal until they were exposed enough that he could yank the men out without breaking them. When he had finally fished the last soldier out of the floor, Horrigan reigned his power in once again and crossed his arms as he waited for them to catch their breath.

"Th-thanks, man," the squad leader coughed out when he had regained his faculties.

Horrigan just grunted. Protocol dictated that a soldier should never undertake a mission alone unless there aren't any other options, but searching for the missing personnel would be a lot easier if he didn't have to act as a babysitter for his own squad. "Take your men and get back to the surface. I'll search the mountain myself."

The squad leader cocked his head in surprise. Horrigan thought he was going to try to refuse, but, to his surprise, after a brief pause the man nodded. "That's probably for the best. Hell, if everything in here is that dangerous, we'll only slow you down." He straightened up and snapped a salute. "Safe hunting, soldier."

Returning the salute, Horrigan waited for the squad to disappear back the way they had come before turning his attention back to the ravaged walls. There were no visible signs indicating which way the surveyor team had gone. It was possible that Jackson had killed them all, but Horrigan didn't think so; he'd be able to see shadows where they had been dragged inside the walls if they had been killed.

With a shrug, Horrigan referred to the map in his mind, selected a route that would most likely lead him towards one of the armories, and set off down the corridor, uncaging his magic again as he walked. That was another benefit of sending the squad away; he didn't have to hold back anymore.

Further down the corridor, at the very next intersection, the choice of direction was vindicated by the discovery of a marker on the wall pointing down a side corridor. Horrigan paused and called up the map again, suspicion blooming in his mind. The side corridor the surveyors had taken led away from the nearest armory. His suspicions grew as he followed the winding trail of markers deeper into the mountain. Instead of any armory, the path seemed to be leading towards Raven Rock's Bio Labs.

Damn it, what the hell are you idiots looking for?

As he turned down another corridor, Horrigan finally found one of the surveyors, or rather, what was left of them.

The corpse was so badly mauled it was unidentifiable, though the fact that the head was missing certainly didn't help in that regard. It looked like the body had been rent asunder by something with very large claws; most likely a deathclaw, going by the size of the wounds. Scorch marks on the walls indicated that the soldiers had put up a fight, and probably driven it off.

The fact that Deathclaws were apparently loose in the mountain didn't bother Horrigan in the slightest. He was currently much more concerned about what the surveyor team was doing, since the path beyond the corpse was clearly leading to the Bio Labs.

Horrigan stepped over the corpse and picked up the pace, stomping along with a single-minded focus now that his objective was close. As he walked past another narrow side tunnel a crimson-skinned deathclaw burst out of the shadows, letting put an ear-splitting roar as it lunged at him. Horrigan didn't even bother glancing at it as he shattered its skull with a casual backhanded swipe.

"PATHETIC," Horrigan rumbled.

As he turned the last corner to the Bio Labs, Horrigan found himself facing a small predicament. The door to the labs should have been directly in front of him; however, instead of a door, a solid wall of crystal greeted him, a thick spiral shape carved or grown into it. Horrigan briefly debated whether or not he should smash through the wall or backtrack to see if the team had gone a different way.

Before he could come to a decision, the wall let out a loud chime and the spiral moved, opening up like an iris to allow Horrigan to pass.

On the other side of the wall the corridor opened up into a wide hall. Thick pillars of multicolored gemstone rose up from the ground and buried themselves in the ceiling high above, while thin crystalline stalactites pointed down from above. It would have been beautiful, if not for the bodies.

The remains of the surveyor team and their power-armored escorts were strewn about the room. The surveyors' bodies were actively rotting, leaking foul fluids onto the sparkling ground, while the soldiers' armor looked like it had been eaten through by some kind of acid. A soft squelching sound echoed around the room, coming from something on the far side of one of the pillars. Horrigan edged forward, readying his power just in case, then stopped in his tracks when he saw the source of the noise.

The creature was facing away from him, chewing on the corpse of one of the surveyors. It looked like the upper half of a human, blackened and dripping with brown filth, with lank hair that swayed in a non-existent breeze. Everything below the waist was missing, and its rotting intestines trailed on the floor behind it. A stomach-churning stench of burnt sewage wafted off the creature in overpowering waves.

Horrigan tensed as the creature finally seemed to sense his presence, pausing in its chewing and lifting itself up on its hands so it could look back at him over its shoulder. The monster was missing its nose, and its teeth were yellowed, but it was the eyes that sent a shiver down Horrigan's spine; bright and clear blue eyes that belonged on a movie star, not a hellish abomination. The two stared at each other in a tense standoff for several long seconds.

Horrigan was the one who broke it. He thrust his fists forwards and sent twin jets of emerald flame roaring at the filthy creature. He kept up the onslaught to the count of five, then reeled his power in and lowered his arms. The surveyor's body was burning with green fire, its rotted flesh sizzling as it melted, but there was no sign of the monster.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Horrigan spat.

"I… it's a corpse." Horrigan whirled around and spotted one of the prone soldiers staring at him, apparently not quite dead. "It must… must have been one of the people… killed by a deathclaw before… the place… exploded." He coughed wetly, his whole body heaving with the effort. "The magic mu… must have… done something to it."

Before Horrigan could reply, he felt an electric jolt run through his leg. He looked down to see the creature using his leg to pull itself out of the floor. His armor's magic flared and hissed where the creature grabbed him, as if the monster's mere touch was corrosive. Horrigan tried to kick it away, but the creature dragged itself up his body faster than he could react until it was hanging on to his chest. With a wet snarl, the creature punched his breastplate, sending a wave of nausea and revulsion through him.

Horrigan grabbed the creature and hurled it at the wall with a roar. To his horror, the crystal rippled like water as the creature disappeared into it. Horrigan looked around wildly, opening and clenching his fists as he tried to figure out where the next attack would come from. Every time he thought he spotted the creature in the wall he launched a wave of flames at it, flashes of acid-green light illuminating the room with each blast, but it didn't do any good.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Horrigan yelled in frustration.

A high-pitched screech answered him as the monster landed on his head. Burning pain ripped through his body as the creature snarled and clawed at his helmet. Horrigan bellowed with fury and pulled the creature away with both hands. Agony coursed through his arms as he held the creature tight, but he refused to let go as he unleashed his fire once again, his wrath fuelling a blazing ball of flame that set the nearest corpses alight from its heat.

The creature screamed and flailed desperately in his hands, but Horrigan was out for blood. Burning flesh sloughed away and fell to the floor, the creature's struggles slowing until, finally, with a gurgling moan, the creature crumbled to ashes in his hands.

Horrigan lowered his arms and stared at the pile of offal and embers at his feet. The undead monstrosity had been the toughest single being that he had ever fought, but he didn't find himself relishing the challenge of it. Horrigan didn't think of himself as superstitious, but that thing had been an abomination, a grievous crime against the very laws of nature itself.

Shaking his head to try and clear it, Horrigan turned to speak to the dying soldier, then stopped and sighed, feeling an unpleasant sinking feeling in his gut. More of the creatures were pulling themselves out of the walls, floor, and ceiling, all staring directly at him. Dozens of them.

Horrigan chuckled grimly and cracked his knuckles. "WELL? DO YOU REALLY THINK THERE'S ENOUGH OF YOU TO BRING ME DOWN?"

The creatures didn't answer. They just kept staring at him, staying perfectly motionless. Horrigan raised his fists and prepared himself for a brutal showdown, when he was distracted by a truly unexpected sight.

A young woman, barely out of her teens at most, was shuffling awkwardly towards him. She had long black hair that reached to her waist, with gray eyes that peeked out from behind her bangs, but she wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing save for a pale blue necklace that dangled between her breasts.

"You're Horrigan," she stated in a quiet, gentle voice.

Horrigan didn't bother asking how she knew his name. Despite being surrounded by unholy nightmare creatures, every instinct he had practically screamed at him that this girl was dangerous. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

If the girl was bothered by the volume of his voice, she didn't show it. "I want one of two things," she said calmly. "Either join us, or leave us alone. Since I know you won't willingly join us, yet, I'll give you a gift." She held a hand out towards the dying soldier and the crystal floor beneath him flashed with a golden light. "There. He should live long enough for your doctors to save him. Take him and go. You will not be harmed."

Horrigan considered her words carefully. Under any other circumstances he would have killed her simply for having the temerity to attack Enclave personnel, or even just for being a mutant, but something told him that the Enclave would be better off just accepting her offer, for now. Still, he couldn't leave just yet. "WHAT ABOUT THE TROOPS ON THE SURFACE?"

"I have no interest in those," the girl replied. "Take as much of the magic from outside as you want, but stay out of Raven Rock. This mountain is my domain, now."

Horrigan nodded. He stepped over to the soldier and carefully picked him up, carrying him like a delicate little ragdoll, then walked back out of the room without bothering to look back. Horrigan didn't take kindly to being driven out of anywhere. As soon as the war against the Brotherhood of Steel was over, he intended to gather a proper strike force and come back to show that girl exactly what happened to people who ended up on his shit list.

Until then, though, he had other things to worry about. Satisfied that he wouldn't be attacked as he backtracked through the mountain, though he couldn't say why he believed the girl at all, Horrigan restrained his magic so he could question the soldier. "Are you awake?"

"Y-yeah," the soldier replied weakly.

"What the hell were you and the surveyors looking for down here?" Horrigan asked.

The soldier coughed and shook his head. "Not surveyors. Con… containment team. Acheson wants… biological specimens that have been exposed to… to magic."

"Acheson." Horrigan growled with irritation. Lieutenant Colonel Strong had told him that Acheson and Senator Lily were messing with things they didn't understand, but this was the first proof of it that he had seen for himself.

The two fell mostly silent for the rest of the trek back to the surface, only speaking every now and again so Horrigan could be sure that the soldier hadn't died yet.

When they finally reached the surface, Horrigan was surprised to see an officer waiting for him. It wasn't the same one that had met him earlier; this one was older and bore the insignia of a Major. He was also a lot angrier than the other one had been.

"Where the hell have you been?!" The Major snapped when he spotted Horrigan. "You disobeyed a direct order to secure the perimeter!"

"The Lieutenant Colonel's orders were to assist." Horrigan laid the soldier on the ground and waved a medic over. "I'm assisting."

The Major glanced down at the soldier, as if finally noticing him. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"Dead," Horrigan said flatly. "If you don't want to lose any more lives, I'd suggest you tell Acheson to stop sending teams in for specimens."

The Major stiffened, and Horrigan had to wonder if he was one of the officers that the Lieutenant Colonel had mentioned; the one's working for Acheson while doing what they could to undermine the Lieutenant Colonel's authority.

Wisely deciding not to push his luck, the Major cleared his throat and gestured back to a trio of Vertibirds that hadn't been there earlier. "Now that you're back, we can continue with your actual mission."

Horrigan stared down at him in confusion. "What do you mean, my actual mission?"

"I received a secret encoded command directly from Lieutenant Colonel Strong," the Major replied. "You're to be sent out on a top secret mission to assault and hold a fortified position until reinforcements arrive, bringing it back under Enclave control. Full details will be given to you en route."

Horrigan looked from the officer to the Vertibirds. Something wasn't adding up, but he didn't quite know what. "Why wasn't I informed of this earlier."

The Major shrugged. "Hell if I know, soldier. If it were up to me we'd be keeping you here in case any more lunatics show up after the magic in these crystals, but orders are orders."

That much was true, at least. Something still felt off, but Horrigan decided to let it go for now. He could always crack some skulls later if things went South. "Fine. What's our target?"

Chapter 81 - Unmatched Might

Rarity knocked tentatively on the door of the room she shared with Applejack. When no response was forthcoming, she opened the door and cautiously stuck her head inside. Applejack was sitting on the sofa, her hat in her hands, staring down at the floor. Rarity stepped inside, closed the door and leaned against it in silence.

"Every time Ah think Ah'm gettin' used to this world, it finds some new way to mess with my head," Applejack said quietly. "Findin' out that there's different versions of our families running around out there was bad, but then Ah saw the other you and Sweetie Belle livin’ safely in Rivet City and Ah figured, y'know, maybe the rest of them are doing okay out there, too." She sighed heavily and tossed her hat onto a side table. "Seeing Maddy like that though, knowing that she's Scootaloo, and knowing all the things she's been through: That just ain't right."

Rarity went over to sit next to Applejack, wrapping her arms around her friend's shoulders. "It's going to be alright, darling. I know this world is a horrible place, but the Apple family are the strongest people I know. I'm sure they're all safe, sound, and happy living wherever this world's version of you happens to be."

"Even her parents?" Applejack asked flatly.

Rarity tensed, taken completely off-guard by the question. Feeling her reaction, Applejack sighed and continued in a soft, tremulous whisper, "Ah lost my parents once already. Ah don't think Ah can take losin’ them in this world, too."

Rarity didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure that here was anything to say. All she could do was hold Applejack tight and hope that she knew she wasn't alone. Applejack sighed again and leaned into Rarity, resting her head against Rarity's collar.

The two sat in silence for some time, neither wanting nor needing any company beyond their own. Rarity couldn't help but notice the irony that this was the closest she had ever felt to Applejack, and it was entirely due to circumstances she desperately wished had never occurred.

Eventually, Applejack stirred. "Sorry about this. We're all goin' through the same trouble, Ah shouldn't be dumpin' my problems on you."

"Nonsense, darling. I'll always be here for you," Rarity replied.

"Heh, likewise." Applejack gave a lop-sided smile that set a swarm of butterflies loose in Rarity's stomach. She was suddenly acutely aware of just how close their faces were to each other, and she saw a spark of recognition in Applejack's eyes as she realized the same thing. They stared at each other in a silent mix of nerves and excitement for what could have been second, a minute, or a full day for all either of them knew, before Applejack suddenly swallowed and pulled away. "Uh, Ah should probably take a, uh, whatchamacallit… a shower! That's the one. Ah need a shower."

"O-of course, dear." Rarity reluctantly removed her arms so Applejack could disappear into the bathroom, with perhaps a touch more haste than was strictly necessary, though Rarity hardly blamed her.

As the sound of running water filled the air, Rarity buried her face in a pillow and tried to scream into it as quietly as she could. She and Applejack had almost had a perfect moment there, but the appalling timing of it had nipped it in the bud. It just wasn't fair. Rarity knew she was unlikely to get a true fairytale romance, but surely even in this wretched world the universe could stand to throw her a bone.

With a heavy sigh, Rarity decided that if she couldn't spend her time enjoying the fruits of a flowering relationship, then she would at least get something productive done. Right now, that meant working on her and Applejack's armor. After quickly retrieving both sets from the wardrobe they were stored in, Rarity placed Applejack's on her work table first and considered what needed doing.

The armor itself was surprisingly well-made. It was composed of plates of an advanced polymer that resembled steel, though it was somewhat lighter, with thick padding on the underside for comfort. The Brotherhood of Steel's scribes had already repaired the scrapes it had picked up during the assault on Project Purity. Still, there were always things that could be improved.

Rarity would have dearly loved to paint it all in colors that suited Applejack, but drab grey was certainly more suited to stealth in the local ruins. There was one small concession to form over function that Rarity was willing to make, though.

Rifling through her drawers, Rarity quickly found the small stash of paint and a brush that she had managed to talk the Brotherhood into giving her. A trio of little red apples painted just over the heart felt like the perfect way to personalize the armor without compromising stealth. Next Rarity did the same thing to her own armor; giving herself a trio of diamonds just over the heart.

Once that was done, Rarity got to work altering their armor's padding, making minor adjustments so that it would fit just that little bit more comfortably. The work helped to calm her down, even if she did still have trouble getting the fingers of her left hand to cooperate.

After she had finished making a few final tweaks, Rarity sighed and leaned back to admire her handiwork. It wasn't much, but it would do.

"All finished?" Rarity almost leapt out of her seat when she heard Applejack's voice in her ear. "Er, sorry," Applejack said apologetically. "Ah saw that you were busy so Ah figured Ah'd watch."

"Oh, no, it's fine, dear." Rarity took a deep breath to try and get her thundering heart under control. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Applejack's hair was wet. "I must have been in the zone. I didn't even hear you get out of the shower."

Applejack smirked. "That was a while ago, now. Ah showered, dried and dressed and Ah've been sittin' out here next to you for about an hour now."

Rarity chuckled and shook her head. "Sorry, darling. Here, let me make it up to you by drying your hair for you." As she stood up to suit actions to words, the sudden blaring of a siren made both of the girls jump.

"What the heck?" Applejack winced at the piercing wailing echoing through the Citadel. "Ah sure hope that's just a fire drill."

Before Rarity could voice her agreement their door was slammed open and a Knight stepped halfway into the room. "Get your armor on, now!" He yelled. "We're under attack from the Enclave!"

Horrigan breathed slowly in and out as he heard the first exchange of gunfire between the Citadel and the Vertibirds. He was clamped safely in the belly of a cargo 'bird, while three gunships bombarded the Citadel, targeting the defence turrets so Horrigan would have less to deal with when he went in. As if he needed the help.

The plan was simple; the Vertibird gunships would thin out the exterior defences, then Horrigan would deploy and secure the courtyard, killing as many of the Brotherhood troops as he could without damaging the Citadel itself too badly. Once he had thoroughly grabbed the attention of the Brotherhood the gunships would drop off their complement of soldiers, who would then sweep the Citadel's interior and hold down the fort until reinforcements could arrive to secure the facility.

Horrigan perked up as his armor's intercom crackled into life. "This is Murderbird 1 to Big Boy, preparing for deployment."

"This is Big Boy, ready when you are," Horrigan replied. He relaxed his body as the pilot counted down, then felt his stomach lurch as the cargo clamps released and dropped him out of the hold.

The ground shook as Horrigan landed heavily on his feet. The dilapidated bulk of the Citadel rose up ahead of him, with the massive steel plate that served as a gate standing directly in his path. With a thought, Horrigan unshackled his magic and allowed it to flow freely through his body.

Laser fire sparked off Horrigan's armor as he approached the gate, bothering him as much as the patter of rain, and about as effective at stopping him. He snorted as someone inside found the presence of mind to fire a rocket at him, but he just shrugged off the hit and chuckled as a Vertibird blew the offender to pieces with its own missiles. More firepower was directed towards Horrigan; the defenders correctly identifying him as the biggest threat, but it was too little, too late.

When Horrigan reached the gate he reached for the bottom and grasped it tightly, easily digging his fingers into the thick metal. He would have preferred to simply smash through it, but that would make the facility much harder to defend later, so instead he raised the gate as high as he could and stepped through.

When he was through, Horrigan quickly knocked some chunks of masonry from the surrounding walls and kicked it under the gate before lowering it; the masonry holding it up just high enough for the following soldiers to squeeze under. With that done, he stomped down the ruined passageway and smashed his way through the doors at the end.

The courtyard was a scene of organised chaos. Unarmed children and teenagers ran for the doors to the interior while power-armored Knights took up defensive positions, all of them aiming at the gateway. Horrigan got a brief view of the wide training area before he was greeted by a storm of lasers and bullets.

Horrigan huffed a laugh and thrust his arms out, sending a wave of green fire washing over the nearest pair of Knights, but they wisely ducked into cover before he could cook them inside their own armor. Unfortunately for them, the seconds they wasted gathering their wits after the attack was all the time Horrigan needed.

In just a few quick strides he reached the makeshift barricade they were lurking behind. He smashed it with a swipe of his arm, slamming aside one of the Knights in the process. The remaining Knight yelled in fear and tried to run, but before he could escape Horrigan stamped on his leg, shearing it off at the knee. The Knight's screams of pain were silenced a moment later as Horrigan crushed his skull with a fist.

To the Brotherhood of Steel's credit, the grisly death of the two Knights only seemed to spur the rest of them on; the Knights pouring an ever-increasing quantity of firepower in Horrigan's direction. Grenades exploded all around him even as lasers and bullets sparked and ricocheted off his armor like hailstones.

Horrigan raised an arm to cover his eyes, more to clear his vision than to actually protect them, when a missile soared from a corner of the courtyard and slammed into him, jarring his shoulder. He grunted and tried to spot the culprit before he could fire again; too many more hits like that and he'd end up pulling a muscle.

As he looked around, Horrigan noticed plasma fire coming from the direction of the gate, targeting the Knights. The soldiers of the strike team had joined the fight and were making their presence felt. The fusillade aimed at Horrigan dwindled as the Brotherhood of Steel were forced to split their fire between him and his backup.

Seeing an opportunity, Horrigan stalked through the courtyard, ignoring the Knights targeting him in favor of those that were distracted by the soldiers; crushing them with his fists or brutally ripping them apart with his magically enhanced strength.

"SCOUR THE INTERIOR. I'LL HANDLE THINGS OUT HERE," Horrigan called out to his soldiers. Before the echoes of his voice faded he felt a heavy impact on his shoulder and a huge explosion knocked him off-balance. Horrigan growled and glared in the direction the shot had come from, quickly spotting his new target; a Knight carrying the hefty frame of a Fat Man.

With practiced ease the Knight stuffed another mini nuke into his weapon; little more than a man-portable hydraulic catapult, before aiming at Horrigan again.

This time, Horrigan was ready. Just as the Knight fired Horrigan dove to the side, the mini nuke soaring past to become someone else's problem. Horrigan used his momentum to roll to his feet and launched himself into a sprint towards the Knight. The Knight quickly reloaded, but before he could raise the Fat Man again Horrigan was on him. Horrigan clamped a hand around the Knight's chest and lifted him effortlessly into the air, then slammed him back-first to the ground hard enough to flatten his armor and leave a shallow crater in the concrete below.

Glancing around for fresh targets, Horrigan spotted a Knight pulling a wounded comrade to his feet, a Super Sledge grasped in her other hand.

Perfect.

The Knight saw Horrigan as he approached and shoved her friend away. "Get inside! I'll buy you some time!"

The wounded Knight looked up at Horrigan, his fear evident even through his helmet. "B-but Paladin Cross-"

"Go!" Cross yelled. She gave him one last shove then held her hammer out, pointing it at Horrigan. "I shall be your opponent, monster, but I warn you; as mighty as you are, you shall not walk away from this fight unharmed."

Horrigan snorted. "YOU'RE BRAVE, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT." He rolled his shoulders and raised his fists as he advanced on her. "ALRIGHT, MAGGOT, SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT."

Cross stepped back and readied her hammer, but before they clashed a nearby wall suddenly exploded outwards and something large flew through the air between them.

Horrigan watched in blank shock as the Enclave soldier crashed into the ground and carved a twenty yard furrow through the ground before he finally came to a halt, his breastplate crushed beyond repair.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Horrigan turned to see what had launched the soldier, only to grunt in surprise as a thick gemstone smacked into his head.

"I'd rather hoped we'd never have to see you again, you oversized brute," a young woman with snow-white skin and purple hair said scathingly. Horrigan recognised her as one of the girls from Raven Rock; a Rainboom.

A flash of color and a light impact on the side of Horrigan's head announced the presence of another Rainboom. "Man, you weren't lying about him being huge." A blue girl with rainbow-colored hair appeared next to the white one in the blink of an eye, wearing some impressively sparkly armor and wielding a sword that blazed with blue flame. "You guys handle the mooks, we'll deal with this asshole," she called out. "Pinkie! Crack that shell for me!"

"TRY IT." Horrigan thrust his hands out and sent twin jets of flame arcing towards the girls. The white one raised her hands and a shield of gemstones appeared out of thin air, blocking his fire. By the time it faded, they had both disappeared.

Horrigan growled and looked around the courtyard for the girls. The remaining Knights and soldiers were busy furiously battling it out but, surprisingly, very little fire was directed at Horrigan. It seemed the Knights were foolish enough to do as the Rainboom said.

Out of the corner of his eye, Horrigan saw another Rainboom, this one entirely pink. Horrigan flinched as she leaned out of a doorway and hurled something at him, then did a double-take as he realized that it was. He stared in confusion as the faintly glowing bottle of Nuka-Cola spun end-over-end through the air and smashed against his breastplate.

The explosion sent waves of agony pulsing through Horrigan's body. He staggered backwards, swiping smoke from his armor, but thankfully it wasn't damaged beyond some scratches. He snarled and glared at the Rainboom, but as he took a step towards her, a multicolored blur flashed in front of his eyes at the same moment something yanked at his ankle and sent him tumbling to the floor.

Horrigan looked down at his foot angrily just in time to see a purple glow fading from his ankle.

"Hold him down, Ah got him!" Horrigan snapped his head up and saw another girl running towards him, her blonde ponytail whipping around her as she ran. For a moment, he wondered what her plan was; she was unarmed, and her only protection was a simple set of old combat armor, but then he spotted the discarded Fat Man lying on the ground just ahead.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT." Horrigan reached out and flattened the Fat Man with his fist, ignoring the muffled detonation of the loaded mini nuke beneath his hand.

The girl didn't stop. Instead she lunged past Horrigan's outstretched arm and reached back with her own to throw all of her strength into a single punch aimed directly at his face. Horrigan was so surprised at the sheer insanity of it that he didn't bother trying to prevent it; he just waited for the inevitable moment where she shattered her fist against his helmet.

The impact drove all conscious thought from Horrigan's mind. He was vaguely aware of a hollow boom echoing through the courtyard, or maybe just his helmet, and he had a strange sensation of tumbling over, as if up and down were constantly switching places.

When he regained his senses, Horrigan was sitting with his back against the shattered remnants of the courtyard's doors. He shook his head to clear it, then clambered to his feet with a groan.

"You ain't welcome here, now get!" Horrigan looked up to see a crystal ramp growing out of the ground towards him, with the strong Rainboom sprinting up it. Before he could react the girl swung a mighty hook at his chest.

If anything, the second punch was even worse. Horrigan gasped as raw strength smashed him through the doors, down the passageway and through the giant steel gate at the end, shattered masonry following him as the sounds of devastation filled the air. There was an awful metallic scraping as Horrigan hit the floor and slid along, pulverising rock until he finally ground to a halt.

Horrigan gently rubbed his armored chest. The point where she had punched him throbbed in a way he hadn't felt in years; it was definitely going to leave a bruise. It took Horrigan a moment to realize that he was lying on the remains of the metal plate that formed the Citadel's front gate. The sheer force of the girl's punch, combined with Horrigan's mass, had ripped the front of the building clean off, leaving a cloud of debris and dust in its wake.

The girl herself appeared a second later, charging out of the dust cloud like a barbarian queen on a rampage. Horrigan would have grinned if he could; he finally had a reason to put in some actual effort.

With a quick flex, Horrigan rolled back over his own shoulder onto his feet, scraping his hand along the ground and flicking chunks of stone and grit at the girl in one smooth motion. The girl rolled aside to avoid the attack and leaped at him, kicking off his outstretched arm and driving her knee into his face, snapping his head around. Horrigan twisted with the impact so it didn't knock him senseless again.

Horrigan chuckled as the girl landed and whipped around to face him. "YOU'RE GOOD. BUT YOU'RE NO SOLDIER."

The girl winced at the volume of his voice, but didn't drop her guard for an instant. "Yeah? Well Ah suggest you get the heck out of here or you're gonna be a dead soldier."

"NOT LIKELY." Horrigan dove into a commando roll, then as he rolled to his feet he kicked off the ground and leapt into the air, raising his hand above his head.

The girl yelped and scrambled away, barely getting out of the way as Horrigan landed and punched a clean hole in the rock where she had been standing a split-second ago. Without pausing he ripped his hand from the ground and flung a chunk of stone at her, forcing the girl to drop to her belly to avoid it.

"GOT YOU!" Horrigan pounced on the girl before she could recover, wrapping a hand around her back and lifting her up easily. The girl tried to pry his fingers open, swearing and kicking wildly the whole time, but it was futile.

"YOU'RE STRONG." Horrigan raised his other hand as if he was about to clap. "I'M STRONGER." He chuckled as he swung his hands together. As he had hoped, the girl got her legs up in time to stop herself from being squashed, but that left her sandwiched between his hands like a recalcitrant puppy. Now it was time to put her in her place.

The girl's eyes widened as Horrigan started to squeeze, pitting his magical strength against hers. A strange necklace around the girl's neck glowed as they struggled. Horrigan watched with mild curiosity as the girl sprouted little animal ears and her hair lengthened, but it made little difference. Slowly but surely, the girl was going to be crushed.

The girl had given up on trying to pry Horrigan's fingers open; her whole focus was on using her legs to keep his hands apart. He could have easily just squashed her like an overripe fruit with the hand that held her, but he wanted to prove that he was mightier than her. He wanted to see the look in her eyes, in the last second before her legs gave out, when she knew without a doubt that she was going to die.

"Applejack!" A huge gemstone smacked into Horrigan's side, but it wasn't enough to budge him. There was a flash of multicolored light and, the next thing Horrigan knew, the blue Rainboom was standing on his shoulders, trying to dig her sword into his eyes. She was barely even scratching his helmet's lenses.

"SO, YOUR NAME IS APPLEJACK." Horrigan laughed as her legs shook against his strength. "I'LL BE SURE TO CARVE IT ON YOUR GRAVESTONE." Just a few more seconds and her strength would fail, then she'd be little more than a grease stain between his hands. After that, he'd rip the blue one apart before she could escape. The rest of the Rainbooms could be destroyed at his leisure.

Applejack screamed as her knees started to buckle. Her necklace grew brighter until it shone like a miniature sun, it's magic straining against Horrigan's. Something clambered up Horrigan's back, but he ignored it. Nothing could stop him now.

"Get back!" There was a sudden fizzing crackle behind Horrigan's helmet and his whole body lurched, his strength gone in an instant. Applejack dropped from his grasp as he slumped down to his knees.

"A pulse grenade?" Horrigan huffed. He flexed his arms and clambered to his feet, already feeling his strength coming back. Glancing around for the girls, he spotted them sprinting back into the Citadel, accompanied by a girl with amber skin and red and yellow hair who was half-dragging Applejack along. She must have been the one who shoved the pulse grenade into his neck joint. "RUN ALL YOU WANT. IT WON'T SAVE YO-"

A colossal explosion knocked Horrigan off his feet, sending him sprawling sideways on the battered ground.

"DEMOCRACY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE." A massive humanoid robot, easily three times Horrigan's height, was stomping up the road towards the Citadel.

"LIBERTY PRIME." Horrigan scrambled to his feet and raised his fists. "FINALLY, A REAL FIGHT."

Liberty responded by reaching around to its back and pulling out another nuke. Horrigan waited until the robot hurled the bomb, then twisted to the side and plucked it out of the air as it sailed past, but before he had time to even try to throw it back a blue laser arced from Liberty Prime's eyes and crashed into the nuke. The blast pitched Horrigan into the dirt once again.

More lasers struck Horrigan as he stood. They weren't anywhere near as powerful as Applejack's fists, but they packed enough of a wallop that he could feel it even through his armor.

"DAMN YOU!" Horrigan charged at the robot, determined to rip it to pieces. Liberty targeted his head with its lasers, forcing Horrigan to hold an arm in front of his face to protect his eyes, then tripped as the robot instantly switched to target his feet. He managed to avoid falling, but the moment's distraction allowed Liberty to sidestep Horrigan's bull-charge and grab the back of his armor.

Horrigan felt his stomach lurch as he was hurled bodily through the air. He rolled as he landed on broken tarmac, using his momentum to get back to his feet, only to be greeted by another nuke to the chest.

Warning signals popped up in Horrigan's vision as he was slammed backwards. He ignored them. Raising his head quickly, Horrigan swore and rolled to the side to avoid yet another bomb. The blast washed over Horrigan's armor, making his magic fizz and spark, but it was far more bearable than a direct hit.

Horrigan tried to push himself to his feet, then cried out in pain as pinpoint laser strikes caught him right on the joint where his spine met his cybernetic legs.

"YOU BASTARD!" Horrigan roared. He surged to his feet and whipped around to face Liberty. The robot was advancing and firing relentlessly, but a quick glance revealed that it had tossed him into an old parking lot.

As Liberty paused to ready another nuke, Horrigan dove sideways and rolled to screw with its aim, then leapt over an abandoned car for good measure. The moment his feet touched the ground he grabbed the car with one fist, then spun around and hurled it like a frisbee.

Liberty blew the car to pieces with its lasers before it even got close, but Horrigan had been anticipating it. He threw himself into another charge using the smoke from the blast as cover.

Horrigan barely managed three steps before a nuke flew through the smoke and struck him directly in the face.

Pain coursed through Horrigan's body. Warning signals and error messages flashed across his vision, distorted by static. He dismissed them and tried to get his bearings, realizing that he was face down in the dirt again, but before he could try to stand up a massive hand grabbed his leg. Horrigan cried out as Liberty Prime hoisted him into the air like a ragdoll and slammed him back into the ground, then almost casually tossed him aside.

More laser-fire pounded Horrigan where he lay. He tried to move, to climb to his feet or even just raise his arms, but he didn't have any strength left. The various warning signals were rapidly disappearing as his armor's systems shut themselves down, leaving him unable to do anything but lay there and stare up at the sky. The ground shook beneath thunderous treads, and after a few seconds Liberty Prime loomed over Horrigan.

The two stared at each other for a moment; Enclave-manufactured cybernetics gazing up at the apex of ancient US military engineering, and for the first time since he had been a child, kneeling before the violent drunk that passed for his father, Horrigan felt truly helpless.

Slowly, deliberately, Liberty Prime retrieved another nuke from its back and held it, as if it were about to spike a football. "COMMUNISM IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF FAILURE."

Horrigan felt the impact that followed reverberating through his very bones. His vision was swimming, but with the last of his strength he glared up at the robot and growled, "This... isn't... over. Next time… I'll… rip you apart."

Liberty Prime tilted its head curiously, then glanced over its shoulder, almost as if it were checking for witnesses, then it looked back down at Horrigan. "NO. YOU WON'T."

Liberty Prime raised its foot, and Horrigan had a brief, absurd glimpse of the Statue of Liberty imprinted on the bottom before the foot slammed down on his head, and darkness claimed him.

Chapter 82 - Repercussions

Sunset stood in the middle of the Citadel's Great Hall, her chin raised and her hands clasped firmly behind her back as she stared down the assembled leaders of the Brotherhood of Steel. Rainbow Dash was standing next to her, providing both moral support and, worryingly, one of her only real allies in the room. Elder Lyons, Scribe Rothchild and Star Paladin Cross rounded out the rest of the people Sunset felt she could trust; four people in a group of twenty.

"Is this how we're treating our allies now?" Elder Lyons growled. "Dragging them before a tribunal after they help save all of our lives?"

Paladin Bergen, a gaunt man with brutally short black hair and an apparently permanent sneer, snorted and shook his head. "They may have attempted to help us, but the way they went about it, not to mention the decision made by Miss Shimmer and yourself in the immediate aftermath of the Enclave's assault, Elder, must be called into question."

"I don't see that the Elder has to answer to any of us," Cross put in.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure he does when his decisions risk the survival of the whole Brotherhood," Paladin Stark countered.

Elder Lyons threw him a glare. "Every decision I make I make for the good of the Brotherhood," he growled.

"That may be so, but the Rainbooms are not so concerned with Brotherhood matters, are they?" Bergen said darkly.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Rainbow shot.

Bergen gave her a piercing look. "Don't pretend that you and your friends have any real interest in helping the Brotherhood of Steel; all you girls want is to use us to find yourselves a way home, then you'll abandon us and the rest of the wasteland to our fate."

Sunset scowled at him. He wasn't wrong about her planning to get the hell away from the wasteland as soon as physically possible and never look back, but he was greatly misreading her if he thought she didn't give a damn about the people who lived here. "That's funny, because the last I checked we've done a whole bunch of stuff to help the Brotherhood."

"Oh really?" Bergen replied doubtfully. "Perhaps you could regale us with some of these exploits?"

Scribe Rothchild snorted. "Bringing us accurate intelligence about the Enclave and their dealings, assisting us in acquiring the equipment necessary for Project Purity to function, helping to discover the source of the Super Mutant infestation in the Capital Wasteland, improving Liberty Prime's programming, do I really need to continue? Or would you prefer an itemized list?"

Several of the people present murmured in surprise, looking at Rainbow and Sunset as if they saw them in a new light. "I never knew about all that," one of the Scribes muttered a little too loudly.

Elder Lyons smiled grimly. "Of course you didn't, we don't hide what they do, but we don't exactly shout about it, either. Would you rather I gather everyone and give an official announcement every time the Rainbooms do something nice for us?"

"You don't need to announce their input this time," Bergen cut in. "I doubt there's many people who haven't noticed the gaping hole they left in our defences now that the gate is destroyed."

"We've already offered to help with repairs," Sunset told him.

Bergen slapped a hand on the tabletop. "And what do we do until the repairs are finished, hm? What happens if the Enclave launches another attack while we're vulnerable?"

"The Enclave won't attack the Citadel again," Cross said confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Paladin Stark asked.

Cross smiled grimly. "Our defence turrets were strong enough to destroy or drive off their Vertibirds. The only reason we had any difficulty at all fending off their attack was because of Horrigan, and we have already proven that even he is not unbeatable."

"That brings me to my main point." Bergen glared at Sunset. "Why did you suggest calling off Liberty Prime and allowing the Enclave to recover what was left of Horrigan?" He turned to snarl at the Elder. "And why the hell did you authorize it?!"

"Watch your tone!" Cross snapped.

Elder Lyons held up a hand. "It's alright, this must be addressed." He clasped his hands on the table and looked around at the others. "The reason I allowed the Enclave to reclaim Horrigan was because Sunset suggested to me, and I agreed, that the Exodus team, the Enclave faction that houses Horrigan, would not have ordered this attack." Lyons coughed and cleared his throat. "It is likely that the primary leaders of the Enclave ordered the assault without the Exodus team's knowledge. Allowing the Exodus team to recover Horrigan is, shall we say, an act of faith."

Most of the people present stared at the Elder in blank shock. Bergen rubbed at his temples in frustration. "An act of faith. Are you fucking insane?!"

"That's enough, Bergen!" Elder Lyons snapped. "The Exodus team is not hostile to us, and may in future prove to be valuable allies. I won't throw that away just yet."

Paladin Stark raised an eyebrow. "Allies in the Enclave? It's an entertaining fantasy, but how can we be sure that they aren't just playing us for fools?"

"Because they're led by this world's versions of me and Twilight," Sunset replied.

As the room digested that little revelation, Rainbow patted Flashburn and said grimly, "Besides, I'm going to be paying them a visit to see what the hell is going on. If they've betrayed us, I'll kill them all myself."

Pinkie currently found herself in the rather unusual position of being the most calm, collected and, frankly, the sanest person in the room. She was standing in a store room just off the infirmary with Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight. They would have been in the infirmary itself, but so many Knights had been wounded in the battle that there simply wasn't enough space to house mental traumas as well as physical ones.

Applejack was sitting on an upturned bucket with her head in her hands, trying to relax after her ordeal at Horrigan's hands. Rarity was rubbing Applejack's back and whispering encouragement in her ear, all the while visibly restraining herself from vilifying the Brotherhood medics for something that she knew was beyond their control.

Twilight was slumped in her wheelchair, mumbling to herself and alternating between childish giggling and despondent sobbing; utterly dosed out of her mind on whatever painkillers the medics had been able to spare. Twilight wasn't even supposed to have been involved in the fight, but she had spotted Horrigan through a fresh hole in the wall and used her magic to assist the others against him. Now she was paying the price for it in pain.

That just left Fluttershy.

Pinkie winced as she looked over at Fluttershy, curled up in a ball in the corner and trying to take deep breaths through a clean hand towel. The sounds and smells of battle had awakened her FEV-induced bloodlust, and it was about all she could do not to vamp out and end up going on another rampage. Not that the Brotherhood knew about that; their tolerance of Fluttershy's mutation was stretched enough already.

"How are you feeling?" Pinkie asked tentatively.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "Better, to an extent, but I still feel…" She pinched the bridge of her nose and mumbled through the towel. "At least this is helping to mask the smell of blood."

Pinkie blinked in surprise. "You can still smell blood even from here?"

"Yeah." Fluttershy coughed and hissed angrily. "I… I'd take some blood if I could, but the medics will need it all for the wounded."

"How many are there?" Pinkie glanced around to see Applejack looking up at her with bloodshot eyes. "How many people were hurt?"

"You don't have to worry about that," Rarity said softly.

"Thirty dead, four in critical condition and seventeen injured," Twilight replied, as if she was reading off an inventory, earning a scorching glare from Rarity.

"There would have been a lot more if we hadn't stepped in," Pinkie said earnestly.

Fluttershy nodded. "We… we did good."

Rarity gave the young nurse an uneasy look. "Perhaps, but I think we can do better by finding a way to help you. Isn't there anything we can do to make things a little easier?"

"Um, not really. Don't worry I'll be…" Fluttershy frowned as a thought occurred to her.

"Anything that stops you from going bitey helps us as well, so just spill it, Flutterbat," Pinkie said firmly.

"F-Flutterbat?!" Fluttershy looked at her in blank shock, but Pinkie stared her down until she finally relented. "Well, um, there is something that might help, but we'd have to travel across the wasteland for it, and I know we can't spare anyone from here to do that."

Pinkie cocked her head to the side. "Why don't me and you go together, then? Just the two of us."

Fluttershy just blinked dumbly, as if the thought had never occurred to her. "Um, are you sure?

"Not a chance, it's way too dangerous," Applejack cut in.

"Well we have to do something!" Pinkie retorted.

Rarity glanced uneasily at each of them in turn, then groaned and rubbed her forehead. "I imagine I'm going to regret this, but I'll go with them and make sure they don't get into any trouble. What exactly was it you wanted to do?"

Fluttershy dropped the towel and bit her lip nervously. "Um, I want to speak to the Family."

Squire Peters looked around the entrance to the Citadel in amazement. She had been given the task of helping the more experienced Knights assess the damage and see what repairs were needed, but things were worse than expected.

The gate was the most obvious issue. For a start, it had a massive dent in it. A team of power-armored Knights were already struggling to straighten it out, but even if they succeeded, the whole entranceway had been ripped away by whatever had smashed the gate off. They weren't getting that thing back in place anytime soon.

Peters found herself hoping that what the Knights were saying wasn't true; that all of this damage had been caused by a single punch from Applejack. She had been way too rude to the Rainbooms to be comfortable with that bullshit.

"How the hell are they so powerful?" Peters looked around as Squire Maxson stepped up alongside her. "I know all of this magic can do some pretty freaky stuff, but those Rainbooms are on a whole other level."

Peters nodded. "Yeah, no shit." She glanced back at the mangled gate, then shivered and turned away.

The other scars of the battle weren't any prettier. As Peters and Maxson walked around the outskirts of the Citadel, they couldn't help but cringe at the extent of the damage. Craters, smouldering debris and scorch marks marred the ground, and there were tiny scattered streaks of glass formed from dust caught in the heat and pressure of the nuclear blasts. On top of that, the area was irradiated enough that everyone who ventured outside had been given a dose of Rad-X to keep them from getting ill just from preparing the cleanup operation.

"Liberty Prime really is amazing," Maxson said proudly. He was looking around at the carnage as if it were the mark of some heroic victory, not the results of a deathmatch between two monstrous demigods of destruction.

"I'm more worried about what Prime was facing," Peters said flatly. "Anything that can take that much of a beating and keep swinging is something I don't wanna meet."

Maxson snorted. "That thing is dead, it didn't even stand a chance against Liberty Prime. Nothing does."

"If you say so," Peters replied quietly. She had a sneaking suspicion that there were more creatures out there that were just as capable of taking on a giant robot, but she held her tongue. Maxson was still a kid, he didn't deserve to have the shit kicked out of him by reality just yet.

As they were inspecting the area, the two Squires spotted Fawkes helping to clear away some of the debris, protected from the radiation by his mutation. Maxson grimaced as he saw him. "I can't believe we're getting help from that."

Peters shrugged. "He freaked me out a bit too, at first, but he's decent." Truth be told, Peters was glad to have Fawkes on her side. Any strong body that was willing to help her rather than sticking something in her or ripping something off her was a valuable ally in her books; she wasn't about to be picky about what they looked like.

Maxson, apparently, had other ideas. "It's disgusting. We ought to have put him down on sight, just like the rest of his kind."

"Huh?" Peters stared at Maxson in surprise. "What's wrong with Fawkes?"

"He's an abomination," Maxson spat. "Those monsters don't deserve to exist."

Peters raised an eyebrow. "What gives you the right to decide that?" She asked coldly.

Maxson scowled at her. "We're Squires and trueborn humans, and if that isn't enough for you, I'm the descendant of the legendary Roger Maxson, the founder of the Brotherhood of Steel."

"So you've got the right because you were shat out of the right pussy?" Peters shot, prompting a shocked look from Maxson. "News flash, you little shit, most of the people in the wasteland aren't as lucky as you. You can bet your ass that Fawkes didn't choose to end up like that. The only difference between you, me, and him is pure luck."

"I would never let myself become a monster like that," Maxson hissed.

"You might not have a choice." Peters crossed her arms and looked around at the devastation. "I didn't, back when I became a raider."

"What?!" Maxson gave her a shocked look. "You were a raider?!"

Peters just shrugged again. "My parents died and they were the only ones who would take me in. If I had any other option I would have taken it; life with them was shit. Every time some asshole decided they wanted a piece of me, I had to figure out whether it was safer to fight them off or just open my legs and let them get it over with. Sometimes I picked wrong." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "The only reason I'm here now is because the Rainbooms found me and patched me up after things got seriously fucked, then they sent me to Three Dog, then he put in a good word for me with the Brotherhood. I got lucky, same as every other fucker in here."

Without another word, Peters turned and walked back to the entrance, leaving Maxson to his thoughts.

Becky hurried through the corridors of Project Exodus, her thoughts racing. An aide had found her a few minutes ago and told her that Horrigan was back, but that something had gone very, very wrong.

As she turned a corner to one of the decontamination rooms, Becky spotted Andrew standing outside there, staring at the door. "Andrew? What's happened? What's going on?"

Andrew looked around, and Becky stopped in her tracks at the expression of cold fury on his face. "We've been betrayed."

Becky's eyes widened. "Wha- betrayed?! By who? What ha-"

The sound of the door opening cut her off mid-sentence. One of the technicians stepped out and held the door open for them. "Okay, we've managed to decontaminate him and he's in the cargo inspection room now. It doesn't look good."

Andrew nodded and swept through without a word. Becky spared a moment to thank the technician before following the Lieutenant Colonel, a hundred different horrible scenarios running through her head. The two rushed through a series of observation rooms until they arrived at the cargo inspection room. Tara and Sienna were already there, both wearing simple grey uniforms instead of their usual lab coats, but the space was dominated by Horrigan's body.

Horrigan was sprawled face up on a huge flatbed cargo cart, with a tangle of wires and cables connecting him to a set of portable terminals. His armor was a mess; much of the paint had been burned away, it was covered in dents and scratches, and there were small patches where the metal was oddly dimpled from exposure to extreme heat.

"Oh my god," Becky whispered.

Tara looked around as she realized that the two were there. "Hey, sorry it took so long to let you in, he was covered in a lot of radioactive debris."

"What the hell happened to him?!" Becky asked. "Andrew said we were betrayed, but how? And by who?"

Andrew crossed his arms, his expression turning darker by the second. "Acheson. He faked a secret order from me to make Horrigan join a strike team he had put together. They tried to assault the Citadel."

"What?!" Becky ran her eye over Horrigan's damaged armor again. "So all of this must have been done by Liberty Prime, or do you think it was the Rainbooms?"

"The Rainbooms may have had a hand in the fight, but the reports indicate Liberty Prime did most of it," Andrew replied.

Becky glanced sidelong at him. "What reports? How do you know about all of this anyway?"

Andrew's jaw tightened. "The surviving Vertibird fled here after the assault failed. The pilots told me everything. Apparently, the plan was for Horrigan to hold the Citadel's exterior while the Vertibirds contacted us for reinforcements to clear out and secure the interior. Major Owen, Acheson's lackey, was planning on using it as a way to scatter the Brotherhood of Steel and discredit me in one fell swoop."

"How would taking the Citadel discredit you?" Sienna asked.

"I've been arguing against using Horrigan to attack the Citadel or Liberty Prime," Andrew replied tightly. "If their plan had worked, they would have proved that I was wrong."

"Instead they ended up proving you right," Becky finished. She stepped up alongside Horrigan and laid a hand on his breastplate. There was a fist-sized dent just over his heart, making her wonder if Applejack had gotten involved in the fight. If so, Becky hoped she wasn't hurt. "Is Horrigan… dead?"

Tara shook her head. "That's the scary part. According to the logs of his life support systems he's some nasty bruising, and a cracked rib under that dent by your hand, but aside from that he's perfectly fine."

"Really?" Becky gestured vaguely at Horrigan's prone form. "Then why's he like this?"

"The chip I put in his brain shut down his armor's systems and slowed his life signs to negligible levels," Tara replied. "Some sort of self-preservation protocol, one I did not program into him, I promise you."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that is kinda scary. This bastard is even tougher than I thought."

"I really don't think that this is the scary part," Sienna put in. In response to everyone's querulous looks, she rolled her eyes and said, "What I find scary is the fact that, as far as the Brotherhood of Steel and the Rainbooms know, we just sent Horrigan to attack them with a strike force. How long until they retaliate?"

Becky's blood ran cold. "Surely they must know that we wouldn't do that.?"

"I don't know," Andrew replied. "They left Horrigan's body for us to pick up, but we don't know if that was deliberate or if they were more interested in shoring up their defences and bracing for another assault than taking him in."

Becky shivered and leaned against Horrigan. Liberty Prime would be a problem, but at least it wouldn't be able to harm the facility below ground. The Rainbooms, on the other hand, were a different matter. The large hole in the roof had finally been sealed, but the elevator shafts would pose no obstacle to Rainbow Dash, and if she chose to strike first and ask questions later, then the Exodus team would be facing a slaughter.

Repressing another shiver, Becky looked up at Tara. "Can we wake Horrigan up?"

"Sure." Tara typed in a command on one of the terminals. A few seconds later Horrigan's joints glowed with a soft green light again, but the big guy himself didn't move.

Sienna gently tapped his helmet. "Horrigan? It's Sienna, can you hear me?"

Silence reigned for several long moments, until finally he answered quietly, "Yeah."

Becky let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. "Shit, you had me worried there for a minute. How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Horrigan replied flatly.

"I'm not surprised, you just picked a fight with a walking superweapon," Sienna huffed.

Andrew stepped up to Horrigan's head and looked down at him. "Sorry to pester you when you've just woken up, soldier, but I need to know who gave you the order to assault the Citadel."

Horrigan slowly turned his head to look up at the Lieutenant Colonel. "A Major. I don't know his name. You didn't give secret orders, did you?" Andrew shook his head. "I didn't think so."

"If you didn't think so, then why the hell did you follow them?" Becky asked incredulously.

Horrigan gave a half-hearted shrug. "We're at war with the Brotherhood, so I figured I'd go with it. Taking the Citadel seemed like a good idea, and if the orders were really fake then I could squash the traitor afterwards."

Andrew sighed and shook his head. "Well, you'll get your chance to do just that soon enough, but for now I want you to get some rest."

"No, I can still fight." Horrigan shifted his weight and tried to pick himself up. "There's a traitor that needs seeing to."

Sienna planted her hands on her hips and glared down at him. "That can wait, now stop struggling and lay your ass back down on that cart. Now." Horrigan looked up at her, then, to the amazement of the others, sighed and did as he was told. "Good. You're going to stay put until I say you can stand up, and when I say you can stand up, you are going to march down to your room, we're going to hook you up to your repair station, and you are going to stay there until I say otherwise. Is that clear?"

"Yes, doc," Horrigan replied quietly.

Sienna nodded and stroked his helmet gently. "Don't worry. The moment we've fixed you up you can get back on your feet and get back to work, okay?" She said softly.

Becky stared at Sienna with a mix of awe and fear, wondering how the hell the snarky doctor had managed to cow Horrigan of all people. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to more important matters. "Right, now that that's sorted, I think we've got a message to send as soon as possible. Where's ED-E?"

Technicians, administrators, and power-armored soldiers alike hurried to get out of Senator Lily's way as she stormed towards Acheson's workshop. There were few people in the Enclave who were willing to draw her attention when she was annoyed, and right now she was downright seething.

Spotting her destination ahead, Lily picked up the pace and slammed the door open without knocking. Acheson and his new assistant, some wasteland scientist called Anna, looked over in surprise. Acheson was wearing some sort of bizarre electrical contraption, while Anna was apparently taking notes.

Acheson huffed when he saw who had so rudely entered his domain. "Senator. Would you kindly try not to make so much noise when you walk through my door?"

Lily stalked over to him. "What the fuck did you think you were doing?!"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific if you want a proper answer," Acheson replied calmly.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Lily hissed. "Why the hell did you send Horrigan to the Citadel? Under false pretences, no less! I thought we had an agreement; leave Project Exodus alone!"

Acheson smirked at her. "I did leave Project Exodus alone. I simply made proper use of an asset that they had."

"On a gambit that failed!" Lily snapped. "Damn it, you old coot, now Project Exodus is defenceless!"

"You're just as old as I am, even if you don't look it, so don't try and throw that at me," Acheson grumbled. "As for my gambit, it actually worked perfectly." He chuckled softly. "Well, there wasn't any likely outcome where it could fail, really."

Lily's brow knotted as she put together what he was saying. "I want an explanation. Right now."

Acheson rolled his eyes. "Oh, very well. It's quite simple. If Horrigan successfully secured the Citadel, which, I might remind you, was once a government building and therefore ours by right, then finishing off the Brotherhood would be a trifling matter." He rolled his shoulders to settle his equipment more comfortably. "Destroying Liberty Prime would have been an added bonus."

"We already have a plan for destroying Liberty Prime," Lily cut in.

"Yes, but the satellite won't be prepared for a few days, yet," Acheson replied. "Besides, Horrigan's downfall is no great loss. If, or rather, when the Brotherhood of Steel retaliates against Project Exodus, they'll do everything in their power to avoid damaging any of the facility's infrastructure After all, the Rainbooms and the Brotherhood want that research as much as we do. Once we've dealt with Liberty Prime, retaking Project Exodus will be simple enough, and that way we'll have dealt with both the Brotherhood of Steel and those elements of the Enclave that won't fall in line."

"The ones that won't follow you, you mean," Lily shot.

Acheson shrugged. "Call it what you want, but when the dust settles I'll finally be the one in charge."

Lily snarled at him. "Do you really think I'm just going to let you get away with going behind my back on this?"

"You will if you want to see another day," Acheson growled.

Anna backed away as the two of them glared at each other, both of them practically daring the other to make the first move. Acheson was bigger and more muscular, not to mention whatever benefit the equipment he was wearing gave him, but he didn't know about the dark necklace that Lily was currently wearing beneath her uniform.

Eventually, just as Acheson's lip was beginning to curl, Lily scowled and turned away. "Project Exodus will not fall to the Brotherhood of Steel. I'll see to that personally."

Acheson snorted. "Feel free. The less fools there are around here to get under my feet the better."

Lily ignored the jab and strode out of the workshop. If she wanted to keep Project Exodus on track, and by extension her own plans, then she had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in.

Chapter 83 - Road Trip

Fluttershy double-checked her nursing kit as she stepped out into the Citadel's courtyard. The rest of the Rainbooms were already gathered near the entranceway, or at least what was left of it. All of them, save for Applejack and Twilight, were wearing their armor and carrying their packs. The girls nodded in greeting as Fluttershy approached.

"Morning, Fluttershy. Are you ready to go?" Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Are y'all sure about this?" Applejack asked anxiously. "Remember how dangerous things are out there, this ain't gonna be easy."

"We're well aware, darling," Rarity replied grimly. "I was hoping that Fawkes would be able to come with us but, as much as I hate to say it, bringing him along might cause more problems than it solves."

"I tried asking Elder Lyons if he could send Cross or one of the other Knights with you, but with everything that's happened they just don't have anyone to spare," Sunset added. "Especially with their obligations to Rivet City."

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Not to worry, darling. I'm sure we'll manage. We're certainly not as naïve as we were the first time we crossed the wastes."

Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I wish I could come with you. I don't feel comfortable leaving you three to go all the way back to Arefu on your own."

"We'll be fine, don't worry," Pinkie said confidently. "You are the one who should be careful; going back to Project Exodus could be a really really bad idea."

"Maybe, but I don't think so," Rainbow replied. "I get the feeling there's a lot more going on behind the scenes of the Enclave than we know about. Hopefully I can find out more today."

Sunset ran a hand through her hair. "I'd go with you if I could, but I'm still needed at Rivet City. As soon as the next patrol gets back we'll be heading straight there."

"And that just leaves me and Twilight helpin' to fix all of the damage here." Applejack looked around uncomfortably, then took her hat off and held it over her chest as she addressed Sunset, "Speakin' of what happened, Ah didn't get a chance to thank you for savin' me. Y'know, from the, uh… the big guy."

"Don't mention it," Sunset said with a faint blush. "I'm just glad I was able to swipe a pulse grenade from one of the Enclave soldiers without him noticing."

"Yeah, me too," Applejack replied fervently. "And Ah'm doubly glad you paid attention when the Knights told you what a pulse grenade was and how to use it." She plonked her hat on again and looked around at each of the girls. "Well, Ah guess we're all splittin' up again. Y'all look after yourselves, you hear me? That goes double for you three."

Rarity nodded. "We'll be careful, darling, I promise."

Pinkie nodded and hefted her pickaxe, resting it over her shoulder like a miner on the way to work. "Okay, let's get this show on whatever is left of the road."

"Alright, I'll see you all later." Rainbow gave them one last nod before ponying up and launching herself into the air.

"I suppose that's our cue to leave," Rarity said without any enthusiasm. "Tata for now, darlings."

Fluttershy followed Pinkie and Rarity as they headed out of the Citadel. Dark clouds were gathering overhead, heavy with the threat of a morning downpour, but Rarity had already promised to provide a gemstone umbrella again should it prove necessary.

As they stepped outside the Citadel, Pinkie pointed to a ruined old bridge to the North. "Rainbow says she found a raider camp under there when she was out looking for you, Fluttershy. We should probably avoid it if we don't want any trouble."

Rarity nodded. "I heartily agree. I would suggest heading into the ruins to the east and going through the metro to Galaxy News, but I don't particularly fancy squaring off against hordes of Super Mutants and feral ghouls again." She hummed and looked around thoughtfully. "I think our best bet would be to head into the ruins to the West."

"The ones we crossed on the way to Vault 87?" Fluttershy asked.

"Exactly, only this time instead of crossing them we'll just go far enough to avoid the bridge, then curve back around to the North and follow the river," Rarity replied. "That should take us at least most of the way to Meresti Station."

With their path set, the girls headed into the ruins. Climbing the treacherous mounds of debris would be extremely difficult for ordinary people, but Rarity's magic made things much easier. Fluttershy decided against ponying up and flying herself around; her teeth were itching as it was after the previous day's battle, and she didn't have enough spare blood packs to sate her thirst.

Once the girls were a small way into the ruins they changed course and shifted around to the North, alternating between picking their way through old buildings and using gems as stepping stones across impassable debris. Soon enough, the bridge, and the raider camp, were left behind, and the girls descended once more to the ground.

As they followed the riverbank, the three kept their eyes and ears peeled for danger. Fluttershy could faintly hear gunfire on the far side of the river, deep in the downtown D.C. ruins, but it was far enough away that it wasn't worth worrying about.

After a short and, thankfully, uneventful trek, the three came across a large makeshift house made of corrugated iron. Fluttershy could just make out a single steady heartbeat on the other side of the building. To her surprise, the heartbeat turned out to be that of a wrinkled old woman, sitting and looking aimlessly around; a perfect picture of serene calm.

The old woman blinked in apparent surprise when she saw the girls, then smiled brightly at them. "Well, lookit' this! You mus' be them Rainbooms I've heard so much about on the radio."

"Well, we're some of them, at least," Rarity replied. "I'm Rarity, and these are Pinkie Pie-"

"Hiya!"

"-and Fluttershy." Fluttershy gave a small wave as she was introduced.

"Well ain't that jus' somethin'!" The old woman grinned. "I'm Grandma Sparkle, it's a pleasure meetin' you."

"The pleasure is all ours," Rarity said politely. "It's nice to meet someone out here who isn't trying to kill us. What are you doing out here?"

Grandma Sparkle gestured vaguely to the river. "I'm jus' waitin' for my boys. They're out huntin' 'Lurks; finest meat you can get, and it don't move around in your stomach like mole rat does." She looked curiously at the girls. "So what brings you young ladies all the way out here to Will'im's Wharf?"

"Sorry, Grandma, we're just passing through today, "Pinkie replied. "We're on our way to Arefu."

"Don' let me keep you, then," Grandma Sparkle said with a nod. "It's always best to finish your travels 'fore nightfall, else you might run into somethin' nasty. Go on, now, and look after yourselves out there, y'hear?"

"And you, dear," Rarity replied. Grandma Sparkle smiled and waved at the girls, who returned the gesture until they found an old road to follow and passed out of sight.

The road was in surprisingly good condition, and followed the curve of the river closely, allowing the girls to make good time on it. Some time after they left Grandma Sparkle they found the buildings around them becoming smaller and more spaced out, until finally they left the D.C. ruins behind altogether.

Heading out across the wastes, the road continued on towards a single large building in the distance. It wasn't until they got closer that the girls recognized it.

"Hey, that's the Super Duper Mart!" Pinkie said brightly.

Fluttershy squinted as she checked the building. The large windows on the front of the store were absolutely filthy, but she could just about see people moving around inside. "It looks like it's occupied. What should we do?"

Rarity pointed to the side of the building. "I think we should go around the back. I'd rather not risk running into trouble unless we absolutely have to, and frankly any new people we meet are just as likely to attack us as they are to talk to us."

Fluttershy nodded. "Around the back, then."

Suiting actions to words, the girls took care to stay out of sight as they hurried around to the back of the building, using the abandoned cars in the parking lot as cover.

As soon as they were safely past the store the three followed what was left of the road. When that had finally deteriorated to nothing, they resorted to walking along the riverbank to make sure that they were going the right way. The riverbank was lined with huge rocks and piles of debris, slowing the girls down greatly, but the cover and concealment afforded by the rocks more than made up for the difficulty.

Unfortunately, the girls weren't the only creatures that were drawn to the river. A light breeze brought the first warning; a foul fishy reek that was worryingly familiar. Barely a hundred yards further on Fluttershy's keen hearing picked up a very distinctive clicking sound. "Mirelurks," she whispered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.

Rarity grimaced. "I feared as much. Hopefully that's just the smell of an empty nest."

"It's not. I can hear at least three, maybe four of them," Fluttershy told her.

Rarity looked at her curiously. "You can hear them? How?"

"FEV, remember?" Pinkie put in. "Being a bitey vampire has pimped out all of her senses."

Fluttershy swallowed her embarrassment at Pinkie's words, then noticed with a flinch that Rarity was giving her a calculating look. "I wonder… does this mean that it's easier for you to distinguish between different colors and shades now, too?" Rarity asked.

"Um, I think so, but maybe we should stick to avoiding the mirelurks for now?" Fluttershy said quietly.

"Oh, er, yes, of course." Rarity chuckled awkwardly and looked around, covering her embarrassment by searching for an alternate route. After a moment she pointed to the left. A short distance away, near the top of a gentle slope, was what appeared to be an old farmstead; the skeletal remains of a few ancient buildings gathered next to a surprisingly intact grain silo. "Up there. We can go up and over then return to the river without getting anywhere near the mirelurks."

The other two nodded in agreement and started up the hill. Just like the riverbank the slope was dotted with boulders and rubble, which proved to be a blessing as Fluttershy heard yet more trouble ahead. "Wait."

"What is it?" Rarity asked quietly, settling herself behind a large rock. "More mirelurks?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, it's… footsteps. Heavy, metal… I think it's people in power armor."

"The Brotherhood of Steel?" Pinkie ventured hopefully.

"I can't tell from here," Fluttershy admitted.

Rarity bit her lip nervously. "We should probably stay out of sight, just in case. Come on."

Taking great care to stay out of sight, the girls crept up the hill, taking a circular route to avoid getting too close to the farmstead. Fluttershy strained her ears as she walked. As they got closer she managed to pick up the voices of the people, relaying it in whispers to the others. "They're definitely Enclave. Two soldiers and a handful of other people, I think maybe scientists. It… sounds like they're studying the local wildlife? Right now they're observing the mirelurks. You were right, it is a nest, just not an old one."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Rarity muttered. "Have they heard us?"

"No, thankfully," Fluttershy replied. She paused and cocked her head as she heard something particularly concerning. "Now they're discussing something about… deathclaw auxiliaries? Where have I heard of deathclaws before?"

"It was one of those monsters that injured Twilight," Rarity said with a shiver. "If the Enclave has figured out how to tame those things then that can't be good for anyone. We'll have to send a message to the Brotherhood of Steel and warn them when we get to the Family, but for now let's just get as far away from here as we can without getting spotted."

Neither of the others had to be told twice. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, the girls didn't dare to relax until they had crested the hill and started back down the other side, the farmstead long since out of sight.

"Okay, I think we're clear," Fluttershy said with a sigh.

"Phew! Glad that's out of the way!" Pinkie said brightly. "Back to the river?"

"Actually, we have two options," Rarity replied, checking her Pip-Boy. "If I'm reading this map right, then we can either turn left and head to Megaton for a break, or we can go past that big building over there to the right to get to the river and continue on to Meresti." She gestured to a huge concrete edifice to the East.

Pinkie grimaced. "We probably shouldn't go to Megaton."

"Why not?" Rarity asked curiously.

Pinkie looked warily over her shoulder before answering, "The last time we were there me and Applejack met someone who pretty much worships the Enclave. We didn't know what he was talking about at the time, but with everything that's going on now, I'm not sure that we can trust the place."

"Unbelievable." Rarity sighed and rubbed her temples. "Okay, we'll avoid Megaton." She shook her head and started off down the hill. "Let's just head back to the river and-"

"Look out!" Pinkie suddenly darted forward and yanked Rarity aside. A half-second later the girls heard a loud gunshot and a bullet sparked off a rock behind where Rarity would have been standing.

"Eep!" Fluttershy dove behind a boulder, quickly followed by the other two.

"Shit, that was close!" Pinkie cried, flinching as another bullet cracked against their boulder.

"Language!" Rarity snapped. "Where are they firing from?"

Fluttershy hissed as a third bullet raised a puff of dust near her foot, prompting her to tuck it in a bit more. "It sounds like it's coming from the direction of the building we've got to get past, but I can't hear anyone from this distance."

"It's a guy in one of the windows, he's got some sort of rifle," Pinkie said. She flinched as two more shots landed in quick succession on either side of their boulder. "Or maybe there's more than one guy. Now what do we do?"

Rarity risked a quick glance over the top of the rock, ducking back before anyone could get a shot off at her. "I'll create some gemstone cover, we can use that to get from boulder to boulder and make our way past the building."

"We're going to have to move quickly," Fluttershy said tightly.

"Oh, why do I get the feeling you're about to point out something horrible?" Rarity whined.

Fluttershy glanced warily back up the hill, easily picking out the sound of heavy footfalls coming their way. "The Enclave soldiers must have heard the gunshots."

Rarity's eyes widened, then she leapt to her feet and threw out her arms to conjure a wall of gemstones between their boulder and the next one. "Get moving, go!"

The girls belted towards the building and the river beyond, Rarity throwing up more gemstones to shield them from their assailants in the building. Gunfire created rifts and spiderwebs of cracks in the gems, but the shields held. The three were almost halfway to the building when laser fire started fizzing overhead. Rarity conjured a few gemstones behind them as cover, but she needn't have bothered; the Enclave were only firing at whoever was in the building.

"Are they helping us?" Fluttershy asked as the girls ducked behind the next rock.

"Either that or they want us alive for their experiments," Pinkie suggested.

"Thanks so much for that thought," Rarity spat. She conjured another gemstone and waved the others forward. "Go on, I'll be right be-hyah!?" Rarity cried out as the ground suddenly opened up beneath her feet and she sank up to her waist into the dirt. "Ow!"

As Pinkie lent Rarity a hand, Fluttershy snuck a glance around the gemstone at the building. There were at least five raiders in there. Most were targeting the Enclave soldiers, but they were still taking the odd pot shot at the girls, too. "We're nearly there, once we're past the building we can-" She snapped her mouth shut and whipped around to stare in horror at the hole Rarity was stuck in. She could hear a distinctive chittering sound coming from within.

"Rarity, get out of there, there's something down there with you!" Fluttershy grabbed an arm and helped Pinkie drag her out of the hole. Rarity's feet had barely left the hole when a large set of mandibles appeared, snapping at her heels.

Fluttershy gasped as a giant ant, standing at least as tall as her thighs, emerged from the hole. The creature clicked it's mandibles again and launched itself at the girls as more of its kind dragged themselves into the daylight.

The three screamed and ran, all thoughts of cover forgotten. Shots rang out, bullets sparking off rocks and raising puffs of dust from the ground, but luckily none of them hit their target. Fluttershy risked a glance backwards as she ran; most of the raiders were concentrating on shooting the ants now boiling out of the hole in the ground, while the Enclave soldiers were now ignoring the battle and working to release one of their number from another hole that had opened up beneath the weight of his power armor.

The girls kept running until the building, and the bizarre conflict that had brewed around it, were both left far behind. When they reached the river, the girls scrambled behind the biggest rocks they could find before collapsing against it.

Fluttershy's body shook as she tried to catch her breath. She could hear Pinkie's and Rarity's hearts pounding, sending warm blood thundering through their veins, and every gasp of air she sucked down brought with it the stench of fear and exertion, threatening to overwhelm her senses.

"Giant... ants… really?!" Rarity panted. "What next? Giant bats? Monster sloths?"

"At least it can't get any worse," Pinkie muttered.

A loud screech from overhead made the girls cower in the dirt. A colossal shadow swept overhead before disappearing back into the clouds.

The girls all looked up in fear. Rarity turned to glare at Pinkie. "Will you please stop saying things like that?" She sighed and shook her head, then did a double-take and reared back in fearful surprise when she looked at Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, darling, are you alright?!"

Fluttershy hissed and clamped a hand over her nose and mouth. "We need to get to the Family," she mumbled.

Becky rubbed her eyes and vainly tried to stifle a yawn. No matter how crazy things got in the Enclave, paperwork was something that just never seemed to go away.

At least things had gotten back into a rhythm now, and everyone was playing their part.

Sienna was checking over Horrigan. Andrew was coordinating guard and scout shifts, while also working to gather more soldiers to the Exodus team's cause. Devall was doing the same thing with the non-military personnel in between helping to clean and improve what few facilities and amenities were available. Patricia had finally organised a tutoring system for the children and teenagers currently housed at Project Exodus. Lyra and Agent Drops were taking inventory of the magical crystals that had just been delivered from Raven Rock. And lastly, Tara, Evans, and Pickering were finally getting a chance to sit down and brainstorm ideas on how they were going to go about fulfilling Project Exodus' primary objective; namely, opening a portal to Equestria.

Unfortunately, all of them being busy meant that Becky was stuck going through logistics to make sure that everyone had enough food, water, and other supplies that they needed to keep this place safe and secure.

As Becky leaned back in her chair and stretched, a gust of wind ruffled her hair.

"You've got some explaining to do." Becky whipped around in shock. Rainbow Dash was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "And it had better be a damned good explanation."

"Jesus, Dash, you scared the shit out of me!" Rainbow scowled, and Becky threw her hands up placatingly. "Okay, okay! I can explain!" She sighed and planted her hands on her knees. "Look, the assault on the Citadel was never anything to do with us. We got word that the Senate wanted to requisition Horrigan for guard duty while they mined crystals from Raven Rock. We didn't even know that they were sending a strike force until a Vertibird dropped Horrigan back off here in a heap."

Rainbow pushed off the wall and placed a hand on the hilt of her sword as she stalked over to Becky. "And how am I supposed to believe you? How can I trust you after this?"

Becky gulped, her mouth suddenly feeling dry as a bone. "You trust Sunset, don't you?"

"I've seen Sunset and Twilight go full evil bitch before," Rainbow countered. "That monster did a lot of damage to the Citadel, and he almost killed Applejack, so I'm going to need a little more than just 'I'm another Sunset'."

"F-fair enough," Becky replied shakily. "Look, I don't have any proof, if that's what you're after. All I can say is that it wasn't anything to do with us. I swear it on my life. Hell, I swear it on Tara's life, Project Exodus had absolutely nothing to do with that attack."

Rainbow stared suspiciously at Becky for several long seconds, then finally relented and removed her hand from her sword. "Fair enough, then tell me who did order the attack so I can go and make them several inches shorter."

Becky let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. “It was an asshole named Acheson. He's a scientist. Him and Major Owens have been acting as if they're the ones in charge of the Enclave. There's Senator Lily, too, but I don't know what her position was on this attack. From what I know of her, this doesn't seem like her style."

"Acheson, Owens, Lily, right." Rainbow nodded and crossed her arms again. "So where can I find those scumbags?"

"Adams Air Force Base, it's a huge pre-war compound," Becky replied. "Only problem is that I don't know where it is. It's somewhere just outside the Capital Wasteland, but I don't know the exact location." She held a hand up as Rainbow opened her mouth. "Before you ask, Tara and Andrew don't know either. After the Enclave was kicked out of the West Coast thirty years ago information on separate facilities was carefully controlled, to prevent the fall of one facility compromising the location of the others."

"Great," Rainbow huffed.

Becky turned back to her table and pulled out a few sheets of paper; a gift she and the others had prepared for when the Rainboom had inevitably turned up,. largely in the hopes that it would make her less likely to go on a rampage. "Here, this is everything we know about Acheson, Owens, their research, and the troops and personnel that are loyal to them." She held the papers out to Rainbow. "These contain every secret that I can possibly share. Get them to the Brotherhood as quickly as you can."

Rainbow took the papers and looked through them curiously. Her eyes widened as she read a particular section. "Hold on, do you guys seriously have mind-controlled Deathclaws?!"

"It's not exactly mind control, but it's close enough," Becky replied with a nod.

"That's not cool." Rainbow stuffed the papers into her pack, then fixed Becky with a stern look. "Also, what's the deal with sealing up the hole in the ceiling? I had to come down the elevator shaft. Did you seriously think it would keep me out?"

Becky chuckled and shook her head. "No, it wasn't because of you. Our satellites picked up a storm heading this way, most likely a radioactive one. Given how dangerous the reaction between radiation and magic tends to be, we figured we had better cover up the hole before the storm dumps a ton of radioactive rain right on top of our magic tornado."

"That's… actually a pretty good idea," Rainbow said with a wince. "What about Horri-"

The sound of someone knocking on the door cut her off. Becky gestured for her to hide behind the desk before calling out, "Come in!"

The door opened and Agent Drops stepped into the room. "Doctor Shoichet? You're needed up in the office, immediately."

"Why? What's going on?" Becky asked.

"Senator Lily," Agent Drops replied. "She's here."

Chapter 84 - Revelations

Becky tried to calm her nerves as she hurried through the corridors towards the office, Rainbow following a half-step behind.

"Isn't Lily one of the bad guys you just mentioned?" Rainbow asked.

"We're not sure what side she's on, now keep your voice down!" Becky hissed. Thankfully, Agent Drops had already gone back to the surface to keep an eye on the equipment and personnel that Senator Lily had brought with her. "There's a vent in the room next to the office that you can use to listen in on what we're saying. Just make sure that no-one catches you!"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Rainbow huffed.

"You'd better! Because if you get caught you could get the whole lot of us in some seriously deep shit!" Becky shot. She felt herself tense as she spotted the office corridor ahead, but the area was conspicuously devoid of guards.

Torn between relief and suspicion, Becky gestured for Rainbow to slip into the room next to the main office, rolling her eyes as the Rainboom zoomed inside using her super speed, before stepping up to the office door. She could just about hear voices inside, which stopped abruptly when she knocked. Tara opened the door a few seconds later. "Ah, Becky, er, come in."

Becky raised an eyebrow as she stepped inside. Andrew and Devall were both present, standing against the one wall, but Becky's eyes were drawn straight to Senator Lily.

Lily was lounging on an office chair as if it were a throne, her presence commanding attention even as she did little more than idly inspect her fingernails. She was wearing a long white lab coat, opened at the front to reveal her simple Enclave uniform, and she had a strange metal headband placed securely over her long black locks.

"Doctor Shoichet, it's a pleasure to see you again," Lily said in greeting. Becky couldn't honestly return the sentiment, so she just nodded in return. As soon as Tara closed the door Lily straightened up and brushed dust from her pants before saying, "Now then, we're almost ready to begin."

Devall raised an eyebrow. "Everyone you asked for is here, Senator, and I'm sure you enjoyed summoning all of us like servants, but I think it's about time you told us what exactly this is all about."

Lily gave him a mocking grin. "Yes, everyone that I asked to speak to is here. However, it appears that Doctor Shoichet brought a friend along." Becky's heart leapt into her throat as Lily called out, "Oh, Rainbow Dash? I know you're listening, so why don't you just come in here so we can talk like civilized adults."

The others all turned to stare at Becky in shock, then whipped their gazes to the door as it opened and Rainbow stepped through warily, one hand on the hilt of her sword.

"I just want to talk, you won't be needing that," Lily said with a pointed look at the blade.

Rainbow snorted and kicked the door shut, gripping the hilt of the sword tightly so she'd be ready to whip it out at a moment's notice. "I'll decide whether I need it or not."

Lily just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Glancing surreptitiously at the others, Becky noticed that Andrew and Tara were looking just as tense as she felt. Devall, on the other hand, was looking from Rainbow to Becky and back again in stunned disbelief. It was plain to see that he was slowly, almost unwillingly, putting two and two together. "You've been working with the Rainbooms?" He asked quietly.

"You didn't know?" Lily asked, delight written clearly across her face. "I admit, I didn't know myself until I realized that she was here with Doctor Shoichet, but I thought that you of all people would know." She smirked and leaned back in her chair. "Honestly, I'm most surprised at you, Lieutenant Colonel. I thought such subterfuge was beneath you."

Andrew glared at Becky, though she noticed that his hand was inching subtly towards his plasma pistol. "I wasn't aware that Rainbow Dash was here, but I assure you that I'll be having a very thorough word with our security team later."

"Oh, don't play that game with me, and keep your hands up where I can see them," Lily said impatiently. "I've already said I'm just here to talk."

"How did you know I was here?" Rainbow cut in.

Lily smiled and rubbed at her chest absently. "I've been manoeuvring through the plots and intrigues of the Enclave since before any of you were born. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I am older than I look. Anyone who manages to survive as long as I have among the pit of vipers that is the Enclave leadership either has a keenly honed survival instinct, as I do, or has a simply staggering amount of luck."

Becky frowned at her. Something wasn't adding up, either with her explanation or with her presence. "Why don't we skip to the part where you tell us exactly what you want. You say you want to talk, so what do you want to talk about?"

Shifting around in her seat again, Lily adjusted her uniform's collar as she said airily, "It's perfectly simple, really. I want Acheson and Major Owens dead." Stunned silence was the only response to her statement. "Oh, don't look at me like that. Every single one of you is planning on killing him or having him killed anyway, so why are you so bothered by me wanting the same thing?"

"Whatever happened to subtlety?" Becky asked. "I thought you were a seasoned politician: This isn't cloak and dagger, this is a god-damned sledgehammer to the face."

Lily laughed softly. "My dear, the reason I do so well at this game is because I know when to misdirect and obfuscate, and when to cut the shit and lay my cards on the table. We haven't really seen eye to eye recently-"

"You voted to prolong this pointless conflict with the Brotherhood of Steel," Andrew shot.

"It seemed the best way to achieve a lasting peace and fulfil my goals at the same time," Lily countered.

"Lasting peace?!" Andrew scoffed.

Lily gave him an unamused look. "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, lasting peace. I don't trust the Brotherhood of Steel as far as I can throw them; I believed that if we signed a treaty with them our organizations would inevitably come to blows once again at some point, and the Brotherhood would use that time to build up their forces and their technology so that they could face us on a more even footing." She brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "After the ill-conceived assault on the Citadel, however, I trust the Brotherhood a hell of a lot more than I trust Acheson."

"I don't give a shit who you trust," Becky shot. "How the hell can we trust you? You've already admitted that you have your own hidden agenda, so, for the last time, what the fuck are you after?"

Lily smiled ruefully. "I want to live, pure and simple. Preferably for as long as is physically possible."

Becky shook her head in bemusement, feeling almost underwhelmed. "That's it?! That's all you're after?!" She spat incredulously.

"As someone who has spent a lot of time around death, I'd hardly dismiss the importance of living," Lily replied. "I've spent decades working to unlock the secrets of prolonging life. I know there are some who have had success through FEV, or implanting their brain into a robot and such nonsense, but I prefer the thought of living as an actual human being."

Becky and Tara shared a confused look. "But… what does that have to do with Project Exodus?" Tara asked.

Lily snorted. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. Magic, dear. I don't care about domination or leadership, all I want is access to as much pure Equestrian magic as I can get my hands on, and the scholars that they undoubtedly have that can teach me how to apply it to my research."

"That's…" Becky closed her mouth, swallowing her retort. She had been going to say that it was insane, that magic wouldn't be of more use to her for that purpose than anything else, but Sunset's memories told her otherwise; the Princesses of Equestria alone were a prime example of what magic could do for a lifespan, and that was before one considered what dark magic could do.

"It's a little trite, I admit," Lily said, apparently misreading her expression. "Still, we all have our dreams, mine are just a little more unusual than others." Her expression suddenly hardened, sending a shiver down Becky's spine. "This is why I'm against Acheson. He and I agreed that Project Exodus, and it's resources, would be left alone. Since he has betrayed my trust, I'll throw my lot in with all of you, instead."

Andrew eyed her suspiciously. "You're being awfully blasé about all of this. What makes you think we'd even consider killing Acheson?"

Lily sighed and gave him an exasperated look. "You've been colluding with the Rainbooms for well over a week, and trying to avoid involving either yourselves or your followers in the conflict with the Brotherhood for just as long." She gestured to Rainbow Dash. "Should I bother mentioning the intelligence reports that you all put together just in case this brainless bluebird decided to show up?"

"Hey, you watch your mouth!" Rainbow snapped.

"Oh? Have you actually followed anything that we've been saying so far?" Lily asked mockingly.

Rainbow scowled at her. "You're a selfish bitch who trusted the wrong egghead asshole, so now you've come here and you're spilling everything, even the stuff that would get you killed by the egghead asshole, so these dorks will be more likely to trust you and take you in." There was a multicolored blur and Rainbow was suddenly standing behind Lily with her blade resting against the Senator's throat. "You've also got a backup plan just in case these guys decide that you're not worth keeping alive."

Lily swallowed hard, trying to edge away from the sword as calmly as she could. "Forgive me for believing that you were merely a dumb jock. You're wrong about one thing, though. I'm far too valuable for the team here to cast aside. Between myself and everyone else in this room, we control enough of the Enclave to challenge Acheson and Owens openly. Besides-" she glanced at Andrew, "-with Horrigan gone, you're going to need all the help you can get."

Becky chuckled darkly. "It seems your spies aren't as thorough as we thought. Horrigan is alive and well, and will soon be back on his feet, so it looks like we don't really need you after all." Lily tensed, but Becky just shook her head. "I guess you've got luck and a survival instinct. Let her go, Rainbow."

The relief in the room was palpable as Rainbow put her sword away. Allies or not, having an armed and alert Rainboom in the room was enough to put everyone on edge. Lily put a hand to her chest and allowed herself to take a few slow breaths in and out to calm herself. "Horrigan's alive?" She said when she was ready. "You've kept that quiet."

Becky shrugged. "It seemed like the best move. If most of our personnel think Horrigan is down then it'll sway-"

"Sway public opinion in your favour by making it look like Acheson is willing to betray and sacrifice anyone just to get what he wants," Lily finished, nodding. "The fact that Acheson's gambit failed will play into your hands even more, as it portrays both him and Owens as incompetent." She grinned up at Becky. "Well played. So when are you planning on confronting Acheson?"

"We're not, not yet," Becky replied. "If we challenge Acheson now then his cronies will just fade into the background and work against us from behind the scenes. We need to take them all out in one fell swoop, and to do that, we're going to need the Brotherhood."

Lily gave her a calculating stare. "You're a lot more devious than I expected, Doctor. Very well, what do you want me to do?"

Becky smiled sardonically. "Simple. Write down everything you know about Acheson, Owens, and their followers, along with everything you know about their research." She turned away, glancing over her shoulder as he placed a hand on the door handle. "You can give a copy of it to Rainbow Dash when you're done."

Not daring to look back again, Becky opened the door and hurried out into the corridor, keenly aware of Lily's eyes following her right up until she closed the door behind her. It took Becky a few seconds to realize that her heart was hammering in her chest.

Lily was dangerous. All of the Enclave leaders were, really, but the Senator was something else. The fact that she had somehow known about the details about their alliance with the Rainbooms was downright terrifying, not to mention absolutely impossible. The only people who knew about the intel Becky had shared with Rainbow were herself, Tara, and Andrew, and none of them had spoken about it within earshot of another living soul. They had even been careful to make sure that there weren't any robots around when they spoke of it.

As she rounded a corner, Becky spotted something in the corner of her eye and stopped to stare at it. A little rat was scurrying along in the shadows. As it scampered past her and disappeared into a vent, Becky could have sworn that she saw a neat little incision cut into its side.

The sight of Rivet City looming over the dock, flashes of multicolored lightning from the flight deck throwing it's silhouette into stark relief, was an oddly reassuring one to Sunset. She had only been away for a day, but seeing it again after everything that had happened made her feel just a little bit better.

It was crazy really, especially after the incident with Sister and the slaver, but Rivet City felt safe in a way that nowhere else in the wasteland did.

The security team played a big part in that. As friendly as they were, they took their job seriously. Indeed, after the incident with Sister, Chief Harkness had managed to get funding to hire even more security officers, on top of what had already been granted to help with protecting the water caravans from Project Purity. The recruitment process was slow, mainly because Harkness refused to hire anyone who wasn't committed to the high standards that he set, but that was hardly a bad thing.

Another part of what made Sunset feel safe in the city, and it was a big part, was how easily she had managed to fit in. She wasn't a pawn in someone else's game, she was just another person with a job to do. Some of the residents seemed to dislike her, but they were very much in the minority. Regular physical training with a magnificent specimen of a man certainly didn't hurt matters, either.

Before she could get to either training or working, however, Sunset had something else to attend to.

After crossing the bridge and greeting the guards at the entrance, Sunset headed upstairs to the Upper Deck. She hadn't spent that much time in this section of the ship; there were a couple of magical oddities up there that had needed seeing to, but usually she just passed through on her way to and from the gym in the tower. Even so, the directions that Rainbow had given her helped Sunset to find her destination easily enough.

The Weatherly Hotel. It was the only hotel in Rivet City, possibly the only hotel in the Capital Wasteland, and the rates it charged on the larger rooms ensured that only those with considerable savings or consistent income could stay there permanently. According to Rainbow, the couple she was about to meet has both.

The room Sunset was looking for was near the end of a corridor all on its own. Just as she raised her hand to knock, Sunset hesitated. She might well be overstepping her mark by doing this; upsetting a pair of complete strangers for no good reason, but something told her that this had to be done.

Forcing her apprehension to the back of her mind, Sunset knocked curtly on the door.

"Just a minute!" A voice called out. Sunset waited impatiently until finally the door opened, and a middle-aged woman with wavy shoulder-length blonde hair looked out. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she spotted who was at the door. "Oh my goodness, you're Sunset Shimmer, aren't you?"

"Are you Mrs Holiday?" Sunset asked.

"Please, call me Jackie," Jackie replied. "What can I do for you?"

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly. “Actually, I kinda needed to talk to you about something… sensitive. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh, of course." Jackie stepped aside and held the door open for Sunset, with a slightly befuddled expression on her face. "Holly? We have a guest," she said as she closed the door behind Sunset.

The hotel room was surprisingly big, easily three times the size of Sister's cramped quarters. A double bed with an elegantly carved wooden headboard lay against one wall, while the others were lined with cupboards, a desk, and several black and white photographs of various people.

Another woman was sitting on a couch opposite the bed, reading an ancient magazine. She had short brown hair, and was wearing a thick knitted sweater, though Sunset had to wonder where the heck she had gotten the wool from.

Holly looked up curiously as Sunset entered the room. When she saw who had arrived, she dropped the magazine on a nearby desk and made to stand up. "Miss Shimmer? To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"Please, you don't have to get up." Sunset bit her lip and added, "Actually, it's probably best if we all sit for this."

Jackie shared a worried look with her partner as she joined her on the couch. "What's this about?"

Sunset glanced around for somewhere to sit. When no other options presented themselves, she gave up and sat on the end of the bed. This was it. She couldn't run away now. Taking a deep breath, Sunset steeled herself and said, "Okay, I can't think of any good way to ask this, so I'm just going to do it. Do you know a girl named Madeleine?"

Both women deflated, their expressions crumpling as if their world was ending. "W-we did," Jackie said quietly. "She was our niece, but she and her parents passed away a long time ago. How did you know about her?"

"I, er, heard something about it," Sunset deflected. "If it's not too much to ask, would you mind telling me what happened?"

Jackie sighed and shook her head. "My brother and his wife used to be researchers, studying the wildlife of the wastes to find better ways of dealing with them. About six years ago, we got word from a caravan that a deathclaw had gotten to them on their way back from an expedition." She sniffed and rubbed her nose, smiling sadly as Holly squeezed her hands. "We've been planning on going to visit their graves, but it's right on the other side of the wastes, and neither of us have left this city since we were children."

"Their graves?" Sunset frowned. According to Maddie, no-one had been willing to take her in, but if that were true, then who had cared enough to dig graves for her parents? And why not bring Maddie herself to her aunts? Something wasn't adding up. "Did they have friends with them when… when it happened?"

Jackie shook her head. "No, it was just them. The caravan guard who brought us the news dug the graves for them."

"That was nice of him, he didn't have to do that," Holly put in, her voice quavering. "But he said that he couldn't just leave the three of them laying there like… like that."

Now Sunset knew that something was up. Maddie herself had said that her parents were killed by deathclaws, so that part was likely true, and Jackie and Holly didn't seem like they were lying, but Sunset couldn't understand why the caravan guard would have lied about burying all three of them when Maddie was clearly still alive. "Where is the caravan guard now? Does he still come here regularly?"

"Oh, no, he hasn't been around here for quite some time, I think it's been just over two years," Holly replied. "Devan is his name. We've been friends with him since we were children, but he preferred going out into the wasteland to just staying put." She gestured vaguely at a wall. "Try asking Sister, he works down in the lower deck. Apparently the two used to travel together."

Sunset felt a brick drop in her stomach at the mention of Sister. If this Devan person used to travel with Sister, then he was almost certainly a slaver. That explained why he had told Jackie and Holly that Maddie was dead; he must have tried to enslave her, but she escaped and fled into the wastes where she ended up falling in with a raider gang.

Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It was time to come clean. "Maddie is alive." The look of blank shock on Jackie and Holly's faces somehow made Sunset feel even more apprehensive. "Me and my friends found her in the metro tunnels beneath the D.C. ruins, alive. She said she didn't have anyone to take her in so we sent her to the Brotherhood of Steel. She's at the Citadel right now, training to become a Knight."

A stunned silence took over, broken only by the faint groan of settling metal from deep within the ship.

"You… you're not lying, are you?" Jackie asked tentatively. Sunset shook her head. Jackie breathed in deeply through her nose, evidently holding back tears, then buried her face in her hands and started quietly sobbing.

Holly quickly threw her arms around her partner and gave Sunset a bewildered look. "But… why didn't she come and find us? We would have taken her in without question!"

"I don't know," Sunset admitted. "Truth be told, she doesn't actually know that I've come to see you. She might even be angry when she finds out what I've done, but I had to try and find what family she had left."

Holly nodded, still looking dazed. "Of course. I… can we see her?"

"I'll ask her," Sunset replied, though she added quickly, "I don't want to get your hopes up too much, though. I hate to say this, but she might not want to… well…"

"She might not want to see us after all this time," Holly finished sadly.

Sunset wished that there was something she could say, or do, but nothing came to mind. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories again-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Jackie said, looking up again. Her face was a tear-streaked mess, but her face was hopeful. "You've told us that our niece is safe, that she's alive and well instead of dead in a-" Jackie swallowed hard and shook her head. "Don't apologize. She is alright, isn't she?"

Sunset smiled. "She has a bit of an attitude, but I can't really blame her for that. Aside from that, she's fine. She's fitting in well with the Brotherhood."

Jackie nodded. "That's good. Just… tell her that we're here if she needs us. No matter what she says, she'll always be our little niece."

"Not so little anymore," Holly said with a wry smile. "She must be around fifteen by now."

Jackie sniffed and laughed wetly. "Don't be silly, I'll always remember her as that adorable little bundle we looked after when she was newborn. I'll cherish that memory til the day I die."

Sunset felt something in her heart wrench at those words. "Yeah… memories are important," she said quietly. Blinking back tears of her own, though she wasn't certain where they were coming from, Sunset stood up. "I'd best get out of your hair. I'll talk to Maddie tonight when I get back to the Citadel, then I'll find you when I come back here tomorrow, is that okay?"

"It's more than okay," Holly replied with a sad smile. She stood up as well, Jackie following suit, and the two women bowed their heads. "Thank you, Miss Shimmer."

Sunset was taken aback by their sudden formality. "I… uh… don't mention it. I'll see you tomorrow."

Something niggled at the back of Sunset's mind as Jackie and Holly saw her out of the room. She wracked her brain as she strode through the corridors of Rivet City, but it wasn't until she reached the gym in the tower that she realized what was bothering her. Suddenly apprehensive again, Sunset pushed the door open with a feeling of dread nestling in her gut.

Chief Harkness was waiting inside. He had already changed into his training clothes and was currently doing some light warm ups on the mats.

"I wasn't sure whether or not you'd be coming today," Harkness said as Sunset stepped inside. "I heard about the battle at the Citadel yesterday, are you alright?"

Had it really only been yesterday? Sunset wondered. The conversation with Maddie's aunts felt like it had taken an eternity, even though it had probably been less than ten minutes. "I'm fine," Sunset replied slowly.

Harkness raised an eyebrow, then stepped off the mats and leaned against a table, patting the spot next to him. "No you're not. Come on, let's hear it." Sunset hesitated for a second, then relented and trudged over to sit on the table where he'd indicated. "Alright, Sunset, what's wrong? Your friends weren't injured, were they?"

"No, no, they're fine," Sunset replied quickly. "Applejack is a bit battered, but I think her pride is hurt more than anything. I'm just… this isn't anything to do with the fight."

"Okay…" Harkness looked at her curiously. "Is it something that you want to talk about?"

Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had already pushed her luck once today, but this was something that she had to get off her chest. "I have this… friend. They lost their memories a long time ago. Well, it's more like they deliberately had them suppressed."

"I didn't even know that was possible," Harkness said flatly. "Is this a magic thing?"

"No, it's some advanced technology from this world," Sunset replied. "I learned recently that I can give them their memories back, but I don't know if I should."

"Why did they remove their memories in the first place?" Harkness asked.

Sunset shook her head. "It was to protect themselves, and the people they cared about, from someone who was trying to hurt them. They're safe now, I actually managed to convince the person looking for them that they were dead, and that person left the wasteland to go back to wherever he came from, but I don't know what I should do for my friend."

"Do they remember the fact that they've suppressed their memories?" Harkness pressed.

"No," Sunset replied.

Harkness hummed thoughtfully. "That's a tricky one. I'm assuming you haven't spoken to them about it?" Sunset shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. "In that case, I'm really not sure. Are they happy as they are now?"

Sunset looked up at him. "I think so. They certainly seem to be, but, memories are important. Even the bad ones."

"I get the feeling that you have some sort of hangup over this." Harkness let out a humourless laugh. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, with magic like yours, but this isn't about you. I don't mean to be harsh, but it wouldn't be fair to potentially make someone's life a misery just to make yourself feel better."

Sunset sighed heavily. "Yeah, you're right. It's just, back home we met someone who stole my friends memories of me. It was awful. That's why when I heard about y- about this person messing around with their own memory, it… it got to me." She sighed again and raised her arms above her head as she stretched. "Anyway, I'd better go and get changed. Time to take out my frustrations by giving you a good pounding."

Harkness raised an eyebrow. "I think you'll find that you'll be the one on your hands and knees after our first round."

Sunset blushed, but said coyly, "Either way, this'll end with you on your back." She stood and headed for the foldable screens at the back of the room, decidedly not swaying her hips any more than usual as she walked.

Harkness was right; Sunset didn't have a right to force him to remember his past, nor to reveal the fact that he was really a synth. He was happy and, with Zimmer gone, safe, and that was all that mattered.

The training session that followed certainly helped to keep Sunset from worrying. If she had expected Harkness to go easier on her after what had happened at the Citadel, she was sorely mistaken; he was just as relentless as ever. Sunset put up a good showing, but no matter how much she had improved it still wasn't enough to take him down.

Finally, after an hour of alternating between sparring and practicing techniques, Harkness called time. Sunset shambled off the mat like a zombie and collapsed against the table.

"We'll just do some gentle exercises and stretching tomorrow, to let your muscles heal," Harkness said as he sat next to her. "That means no charging around an assault course with the Brotherhood as well, alright?"

Sunset gave him a half-hearted salute. "Sure thing, Chief." She smirked at his exasperated sigh and grabbed herself a water bottle. The taste of ice cold water after a hard workout was something she had never truly appreciated before.

"I'd want to know." Sunset lowered her bottle and looked at Harkness curiously. "I've been thinking about what you said, and you're right," Harkness explained. "I've never really thought about it before, but memories are important, even the bad ones. I can't say the same for whoever you're talking about but, if it was me, I'd want to know."

Sunset looked at him in surprise. "Really? I mean, they did it to protect themselves."

"And you said the danger has passed," Harkness countered. "I think we can trust your judgement in that regard. And if the danger does come back, whatever it is, I know you well enough to know that you'll do everything in your power to protect whoever is in trouble." He shrugged and reached for a towel. "Whatever the right decision is, I think we can trust you enough to make it."

Something caught in Sunset's throat. She hadn't expected Harkness to suddenly change his mind, nor did she realize that he thought that highly of her. "And if it was you, you'd want to know?"

Harkness nodded. "I'd want to know who I really was. Why don't you try doing something like this? Just ask them about memories like you did with me?"

"Right." Sunset bit her lip. "Are… are you positive that you'd want to know?"

"I just said so, didn't I?" Harkness looked at her suspiciously. "Why are you so fixated on my opinion? You almost make it sound like…"

Sunset saw comprehension slowly dawning in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to take another leap. "Activate A3-21 Recall Code Violet."

Harkness winced and hissed as if he was in pain, then his expression shifted to be replaced with a look of blank horror. "My God, I remember… I remember it all. The Commonwealth… the Institute… all… all the runners I brought down… my God." He pushed off the table and walked into the middle of the room, one hand on his head as if he was trying to hold his own thoughts in place. "My whole life has been a lie."

"It hasn't been a lie," Sunset insisted, quickly stepping up next to him and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She took it as a good sign that he didn't throw it off. "None of your life has been a lie. Some of it has just been… lost in the dark for a while."

"What about my memories of my childhood, my family?" Harkness spat. "None of it's real. It's all just a fabrication, a figment of Pinkerton's imagination. Jesus, I'm not even human."

"Neither am I," Sunset admitted without thinking. In response to Harkness' surprised look, she waved a hand dismissively. "I was born as something else in Equestria, but the point is that it doesn't matter how you were born or what you came into this world as. Hell, you're a better person, a better man, than almost anyone else I've met in this world."

Harkness sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Look, I understand what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it, I really do, but… I just want some time alone. I've got a lot to think about."

Sunset couldn't say a word as Harkness pulled away from her and trudged to the door. The sound of the door clanging shut behind him sounded like the death knell for whatever small thing had been growing between them.

Twilight idly swung her legs as she sat patiently on the edge of the bed. She was currently in one of the rooms just off the Citadel's infirmary, waiting for a medic to help her with her physiotherapy. Her wheelchair was sitting in the corner; a trainee had helped her out of it before disappearing to tend to the wounded from the previous day's battle.

The sound of the door opening made Twilight look up, but she was surprised to see Applejack enter the room rather than a medic.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Applejack asked.

"I'm alright, thanks, just waiting to start my physio," Twilight replied. "Are you making progress with the gate?"

Applejack nodded and dropped into Twilight's wheelchair. "Ah managed to straighten it out enough to use, all that's left is to fix the wall so we can reinstall it properly. Ah offered to help, but for some reason they kept tellin' me to take a break and get some rest, so in the end Ah figured Ah may as well take them up on the offer."

"You should probably get as much rest as you can," Twilight told her. "Somehow I get the feeling we're going to be heading back out into the wastes ourselves at some point."

"Ah should be out there right now with the others," Applejack grumbled.

"There's not much we can do about it, the Brotherhood needs you here," Twilight replied fairly. "Besides, Rarity can handle herself, and I doubt anything is going to be able to get the drop on Pinkie or Fluttershy. The only one of us who's better suited to handling the wasteland is Rainbow Dash, and you know as well as I do that that girl is as likely to get into trouble as out of it."

Applejack huffed and crossed her arms. "Yeah, Ah guess. Ah just hate sittin' around here doing nothing. Ah know how to handle myself, Ah ain't weak."

Twilight watched Applejack seething in the corner, and pondered how to go about cheering her up. It was as plain as day to see what was bothering the farm girl, but addressing it without upsetting or offending her wasn't going to be easy. "No-one thinks you're weak, Applejack, we j-"

"Well, why the heck am Ah gettin' benched, then?" Applejack interrupted.

"You're not getting benched," Twilight said patiently. "You're literally the only person that could help the Knights fix the gate, no one else has that kind of power."

"Yeah, right," Applejack growled. "The Brotherhood has power armor, they would've managed to straighten the gate out themselves, eventually. Ah should be out there, usin' my magic to protect Rarity and the others, but now everyone thinks Ah'm weak after Ah got beaten by that big darn freak from Tartarus!"

There was the crux of the matter, just as Twilight had suspected. Getting defeated by Horrigan had bruised Applejack's ego and shaken her confidence, not to mention whatever additional psychological trauma she was hiding from almost getting squashed like a bug. Seeing no easy way out of this, Twilight decided it was best to just rip the band aid off and get it over with. "Applejack, none of us think you're weak for losing to Horrigan. Do you?"

Applejack's expression told her that she had hit the bullseye. "Wha-? Don't be ridiculous, Ah ain't weak! Ah mean, sure, maybe Ah ain't as strong as Ah thought Ah was, but… yeah, Ah ain't weak. Maybe. Probably not. Ah mean Ah might be, Ah guess, maybe a little."

"Applejack, you walloped Horrigan from one end of the Citadel to the other. The only reason it didn't kill him is because he's an absolute monster, in every sense of the word." If Twilight could move her arms properly, she would have waggled a finger at her friend. As it was, she settled for blowing a lock of hair out of her face. "Hell, all of the Knights are impressed that you lasted as long as they did. You can count the number of people who have fought against Horrigan and won on one hand, and no one else in history has ever punched him in the face and walked away from it. It took Liberty Prime to finally put that thing down. You know, the literal walking superweapon armed with actual nuclear ordnance. Do you really think you're weak because you can't quite hit as hard as a nuclear bombardment?"

Twilight saw clearly that her words were hitting home. Applejack shifted uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at her friend, but after a few moments she begrudgingly admitted, "Ah guess not. Ah just don't want anyone thinkin' that Ah ain't good for nothin' after that."

"I promise you, none of us think that you're good for nothing," Twilight replied honestly. She suspected that it was going to take quite some time for Applejack to properly pick herself up from her defeat, and even longer before she managed to shrug it off entirely, but at least they had made a start.

Before either of them could say anything else, the door opened and a medic stepped through, calling back over his shoulder, "Don't forget to tell Elder Lyons the news about our civilian patient, alright?"

Twilight instantly sat up straighter, ignoring the flash of pain from her back. "Civilian patient? Do you mean Adam? What's happened, is he alright?"

The medic held up his hands placatingly. "He's fine, don't worry. I'm just reminding my colleague to keep the Elder informed of any progress. Right now I'm more interested in you. Do you remember the exercises we went through last time?"

Fluttershy felt a vague sense of relief as she stepped into the Meresti Trainyard. After the skirmish with the Enclave, raiders and giant ants, the rest of the journey had been thankfully uneventful, but all of the excitement had fired Fluttershy's bloodlust, and she was having increasing difficulty keeping her eyes off of Rarity and Pinkie's necks. Just their smell and the sound of their heartbeats was enough to drive her to distraction.

"Are you alright, darling?" Rarity asked.

Fluttershy shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need blood. Soon." Without waiting to see if Rarity and Pinkie were following, she strode to the tunnel entrance and headed inside.

The metro tunnel was just as dismal and decrepit as the last time the Rainbooms passed through. Even the foul stench of the mirelurks they had dealt with previously still pervaded the air. Keeping an eye out for any booby traps, Fluttershy carefully picked her way along the tunnel. As she passed out of range of what little sunlight filtered in through the great metal doors at the end, she was brought to a halt by Rarity calling out to her, "Fluttershy, put your Pip-Boy light on before you hurt yourself!"

Fluttershy glanced back over her shoulder; Pinkie and Rarity were both hurriedly switching their own lights on and illuminating the area around them. "What do you mean?"

Rarity gaped at Fluttershy as if she had gone mad. "What do I mean? What do you mean, darling?! It's pitch black!"

"Huh?" Fluttershy looked around, momentarily distracted from her hunger. Away from the light, the world presented itself in an array of washed-out grays; colorless, and yet defined with crystal clarity. "Huh. I can see in the dark. That's new."

"That's incredible!" Rarity carefully hurried up next to her. "What does everything look like? Can you still see colors?"

"Everything is gray," Fluttershy replied curtly. The reek of rotting mirelurk covered any hint of the scent of Rarity's blood, but the rhythmic thumping of her heart was becoming more and more enticing to Fluttershy in a way that did not bode well for the fashionista's health. "I'll describe everything to you later, but can we please just find the Family first before I turn feral again?"

Rarity took a step back, chuckling nervously. "R-right. Sorry, Fluttershy, I keep forgetting how hard this must be for you. I'll stay focused from now on."

Fluttershy sighed and carried on ahead. The girls found avoiding the booby traps a lot easier this time around; Fluttershy's newly discovered impeccable night vision enabling her to easily spot the traps before they got anywhere near them.

As the group neared the final approach to the Family's hideout, squeezing past the abandoned metro cars that dotted the tunnel, Fluttershy hung back and let Pinkie go in front. The last thing she wanted to do was startle their sentry by suddenly appearing out of the darkness. That would be a good way to get accidentally shot.

When they stepped around the last subway car, carefully avoiding the last tripwire, a harsh voice shouted out, "Stop right there! Who the hell are you?"

"Take it easy, Robert, it's just your friendly neighborhood Rainbooms, again," Pinkie called in reply.

"Who? Oh, it's you lot." Fluttershy looked around Pinkie to see the Family's lookout, Robert, standing behind his sandbag wall flanked, as always, by two large metal drums, each with a fire merrily burning away inside. "I never thought I'd see you girls again. What are you doing here?"

"We need to speak to Vance," Rarity told him. "It's a matter of some urgency," she added with a glance at Fluttershy.

Robert shrugged. "Fine by me, we owe you girls for helping get the blood packs we need." We waved them past. "Go on, you know where to find him."

After thanking Robert, the trio hurried into the corridor that led to the Meresti Metro Station. Fluttershy found herself strangely reluctant to continue, now that she was so close. The Family was a gathering of cannibals from around the wasteland; people who controlled their cannibalistic urges by only consuming blood rather than flesh.

Fluttershy wasn't remotely afraid of them; they had been far too nice the last time she had met them, but she could already smell the blood packs that they kept ready for consumption. Her control felt like it was balancing on a knife-edge as it was.

Soon enough, the girls emerged into the makeshift settlement of Meresti Station. The area was fairly loud, with a loud hubbub of conversation suffusing the air. About a dozen people were gathered around a wooden stall. Fluttershy recognised one of them as Vance, the leader of the Family, from his distinctive trench coat as well as the Shishkebab he kept scabbarded at his waist. One of the group spotted the girls and said something to the others, who all turned to look as the trio approached.

Vance's eyes widened when he saw them. "Girls, this is a surprise, though not an unwelcome one. Indeed, your timing is most fortuitous."

Rarity, Pinkie and Vance quickly slipped into conversation, but Fluttershy wasn't paying any attention. One of the group was clutching a blood pack, opening the nozzle as if she was about to drink from it.

The scent of blood so close washed away the last of Fluttershy's restraint.

Fluttershy felt her magic rippling through her body, felt talons and fangs lengthen as wings unfurled from her back. With a feral snarl, she launched herself at the hapless woman and snatched the blood pack from her hands before sinking her fangs into it.

The blood felt like a balm as it flowed down her throat. It numbed her mind and soothed the awful itching that the blood hunger caused for just a brief moment, until the pack was empty.

Looking around for more blood, the people scrambling back away from her tickled Fluttershy's predatory instincts, but the sight of a half-open mini fridge, fully stocked with blood packs, quickly snagged her focus. Vaulting over a wooden counter in the way, Fluttershy growled and snarled to scare off any fools that wanted to challenge her for her prize. Seeing that none dared get between her and her prey, Fluttershy gave a victorious hiss and set to gorging herself, draining the blood packs one after one in quick succession.

Unfortunately, the blood ran out before Fluttershy was truly sated, but by the time it was gone she had at least regained enough of her faculties to hold off from going on a frenzied rampage. Straightening up, Fluttershy flicked her hair and looked around to see where her friends had gotten to.

Rarity and Pinkie were standing exactly where Fluttershy had left them, both looking as if they were about to dive for cover. Vance was standing next to them, an expression of slack-jawed amazement on his face. "I assume this is what you wanted to talk to me about?" He said slowly.

"Er, yes," Rarity giggled nervously. "Fluttershy has been having difficulty controlling her, well, hunger for blood in stressful circumstances. We were hoping that you might be able to help."

"More blood would be nice, too," Fluttershy said bluntly.

"Of course." Vance called for some of his subordinates to bring more blood, then gestured for the girls to follow him. "Come, walk with me."

Fluttershy fell into step alongside Vance as he walked to the escalators and headed up to the mezzanine, Rarity and Pinkie following in their wake.

"How long have you had this issue, Miss Fluttershy?" Vance asked.

"Not long," Fluttershy replied. "Around a week and a half, I think. That's when I first ended up like… this." She flexed her wings for emphasis.

"I see." When they reached the mezzanine, Vance leaned against the wall and looked at her, running his eyes particularly over her wings and fangs. "Have you had trouble controlling your hunger at all times, or only when stressed?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "After the first, um, frenzy, I managed to keep the hunger under control quite easily. I needed to have more blood after about a week, but a single pack was enough, unless I use a lot of my magic, then I need more." She frowned and leaned against the wall, too. "The problem is that there was a battle at the Citadel, where we're staying for the time being. I didn't fight, but something about the excitement and the smell made it hard to control the itch."

"Which is when you thought of us?" Vance asked. Fluttershy nodded. "Understandable. Before I can help you, however, I would like some more details, if that's alright. How did you become like this?"

Between the three of them, the girls explained everything, from Fluttershy's initial exposure to FEV in Vault 87, to her escape from the raiders that kidnapped her, her mutation and resultant frenzy, right the way up to the fight against Horrigan and their trek to meet the Family. Vance listened carefully, asking pertinent questions whenever they came to him but mostly allowing the girls to do the talking. He was surprised and a little shocked that FEV was the cause of Fluttershy's condition, but he accepted it easily enough.

"I had heard from Arefu about the magical abilities you girls possess, but for it to manifest in such a way when mixed with FEV is truly incredible," Vance said when they were finished. "Incidentally, it's a good thing you girls were able to facilitate our alliance with the people of Arefu. If we didn't have their help in acquiring blood packs, then your little feast back there would have been a considerable blow to our supplies."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Fluttershy said quietly.

Vance shook his head. "Do not apologize, I understand all too well how difficult it can be to control one's inner darkness."

Fluttershy let out a soft sigh of relief. "Do you think you can help me control the hunger?"

"I do, but…" Vance tilted his head as he watched her. "I notice you keep referring to it as the hunger, not your hunger, is there a reason why?"

Fluttershy stared at him in mild confusion. "Well, I mean, it's not me, is it? It's all because of the FEV."

Vance gave her a piercing look. "My child, I don't mean to be cruel, but while the FEV may have been the initial catalyst, I assure you that it was you who did those things."

A lead weight dropped into Fluttershy's stomach at his words.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Rarity hissed. "We want you to help her, not torture her!"

"I want to help, and I will, but to do so I first need Fluttershy to accept who she is," Vance replied. "I'm not saying that you are to blame for what happened, I merely want you to understand that it was not some dark hand at work, some mystical force dictating your actions. The FEV, and your mutation, are a part of you, now. You are two sides of the same coin. Light and dark, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, all many parts of the singular entity that is you." Vance shook his head. "If you cannot come to accept that, then I'm afraid that there is little I can do to help."

Fluttershy felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She wanted to say that he was wrong, that the FEV was a parasite that had infected her mind; it wouldn't even be a lie, but Vance's words had the ring of truth about them.

Seeing her hesitation, Vance pushed off from the wall and started towards a nearby corridor. "Come with me."

The girls shared a concerned glance before following him. Vance led them through the old metro station until they came to a door marked 'Restroom', with a computer terminal just outside. "This is where we bring all new members of the Family," Vance told them. "Here, they meditate in solitude, deciding whether they wish to stay and learn our ways, or leave and give society a second chance." He used the terminal to unlock the door then held it open for Fluttershy. "If you believe that you can come to terms with the darkness inside you, then enter and begin your meditation. If not, the Family will provide as much blood as we can spare, and I will give you whatever advice I can, though I do not know how much it will help. The choice is yours."

Fluttershy looked back at Pinkie and Rarity, but they were both as lost for words as she was. As she wrestled with her doubts, she saw Pinkie glance into the room and, ever so subtly, nod. "You can do this, Shy."

"Pinkie?" Rarity asked warily.

Fluttershy looked Pinkie in the eye, seeing a dark reflection there. Pinkie had already faced her demons, standing at the top of a precipice back at River City. If her friend had the courage to stand on the edge of despair and stare into the abyss, then Fluttershy would dare to try, too.

With her decision made, Fluttershy turned and stepped inside the room without another word. She had been keeping herself busy ever since she had mutated, throwing herself into studying medicine and FEV, all to avoid thinking about the horrible things she had done while using her mutation as a shield to avoid dealing with the horror and guilt of it. It was time for that to change.

"You're making the right decision," Vance said, pride evident in his voice. "It will be painful, but if you can face your darkness; if you can accept it and allow it to be a part of you, then I can help you to control it. I shall be back in a few hours. Good luck."

Fluttershy flinched as the door slammed shut behind her and locked automatically. A solitary chair was placed next to a little table in the middle of the room. Sitting down, Fluttershy flexed her claws and, for the first time in a while, allowed herself to think about Adam.

Author's Note

Apologies for the slight delay in the update, had a mild issue with writing implements.

Chapter 85 - Sanguine Solution

The room was utterly silent. Even the sparse lighting had been switched off, so that the buzzing of the electricity couldn't bother Fluttershy's sensitive hearing and thus disrupt her meditation.

Fluttershy had been in the meditation room for three days now, her solitude only broken when a member of the Family brought her food, water and, once a day, a small glass of blood fresh from a pack. It was always Vance himself who delivered the blood, bringing with it a few words of encouragement sprinkled with nuggets of wisdom for her to ponder.

Truth be told, Fluttershy was surprised that he had dared to come back after the first visit. She had done as asked and spent her first few hours thinking about everything that had happened, everything that she had done; starting with the awful moment where some horrific impulse had prompted her to try and euthanize Adam.

Going over the memories of her virus-induced mutation, and subsequent rampage, was almost unbearable. The ensuing hysterical breakdown had been a long time coming, but Fluttershy had been surprised by just how furious it had made her.

It wasn't fair. It would have been easier for Fluttershy to swallow if everything that had happened to her had been part of some evil plot; at least then she'd have someone to blame. Instead, she was stuck shouldering the consequences of a freak accident. The butt of some cruel cosmic joke.

Something dark and violent within Fluttershy had reared its head in response to her anger. The urge to rend and tear had become almost overpowering; a predatory instinct that recognized a threat and sought to tear it limb from limb. But with the perceived threat being her own mind, the pent up aggression was left seeking a target.

That target very nearly ended up being the nearest members of the Family. It took all of Fluttershy's willpower to keep from smashing down the door and initiating a bloodbath. To keep a lid on it, she turned her rage on the room around her. The table and chair were smashed to kindling, the door to the toilet had been ripped from its hinges, and the walls had been shredded like paper beneath her claws.

It was as she was calming down from that outburst, squatting in a dark corner and panting heavily, that Vance had first turned up with a glass of blood for her. Maybe he had thought that it was safe once the noise had died down, or maybe he was insane enough to deliberately test her willpower right as she was coming down from a frenzy; either way, introducing uncovered blood into the room had been almost suicidally dangerous.

Fluttershy had scented the blood and was hurtling towards its bearer before she even realized what she was doing. At the very last second she had managed to twist her arm aside, and the slash that had been intended to open the jugular of the lesser predator instead gouged deep furrows in the concrete wall beside the door.

Vance, to his credit, had barely even flinched, though Fluttershy had smelled the fear coursing through his body. She had thankfully managed to avoid tearing his fingers off as she snatched the glass out of his hand, then retreated back to her corner and turned her back on him to drink it in peace. While Fluttershy lapped at the blood, Vance had crouched in the doorway and told her about the tenets all members of the Family were expected to live by.

Fluttershy had tried to ignore him at first, largely because she feared that acknowledging his presence would have swiftly led to her draining the poor man of every drop of blood he possessed, but his words stuck with her even as he cautiously backed away and left the room, locking her in again. When Fluttershy had finally managed to calm down entirely, she had gone through everything he told her again in her head.

The Law of Blood was first. Feast not on the flesh; consume only the blood. This is our strength.

Fluttershy was pretty sure that she had that one nailed already, but Vance had made sure to impress on her its deeper meaning of channeling and directing one's hunger. He believed that Fluttershy could learn to apply the spirit of the law even when ravenous, keeping her hunger directed at blood that was already outside the body or, in extreme circumstances, that which was freely offered from the vein. Fluttershy privately hoped that the day she fed directly from a person would never come.

The Law of Exile was second. Bear not the child; welcome only the exile. This is our fate.

Given that the FEV almost always sterilized those it infected, and Fluttershy hadn't had the courage to test herself yet, she wasn't even sure that she could have children, and in any case such considerations were a long way off, unless things happened to go spectacularly well with Adam. If he ever woke up.

The Law of Nobility was third. Feed not for pleasure; partake only to nourish. This is our dignity.

That one would be easy enough for Fluttershy to follow. As soothing as the act of feeding actually was, she hadn't felt the urge to drink blood at all until prompted by the FEV.

The Law of Night was fourth. Seek not the sun's light; embrace only the shadows. This is our refuge.

This was one rule that Fluttershy didn't feel the need to worry about. She wasn't bothered by daylight in the slightest, not even in her vampiric form, and while her enhanced senses gave her an incredible advantage in the dark, she couldn't restrict herself to only being active at night if she wanted to help her friends. Shy she may be, but she didn't feel the need to hide away from society.

The fifth and final law was the Law of Family. Kill not our kindred; slay only the enemy. This is our justice.

Fluttershy had given a lot of thought to the Law of Family. She hated the idea of harming others, and the thought of killing people was abhorrent, and yet she had done it herself easily. Too easily. She had blamed the FEV at first, and it certainly played a large part in what happened, but Fluttershy realized that she had been using that as a crutch and as a veil. Blaming the FEV allowed her to absolve herself of guilt but, more than that, it allowed her to ignore her own dark feelings. Feelings that had been around since long before she ever went to Vault 87.

With her initial freakout out of the way, Fluttershy had found it easier to think back over what she had done. She wasn't happy about any of it, not by a long shot, but she understood what had happened, why she had done it, and, over the last couple of days, she had managed to accept it.

The FEV may have been the catalyst, but the change, the darkness, was a part of Fluttershy now. During her meditation, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room the same way she had seen Tree Hugger doing it back home, she had finally managed to come to terms with that fact.

Now, Fluttershy was calmer and more comfortable than she had been since she had first arrived in this world. She wasn't exactly happy; her boyfriend being in a coma somewhat precluded that, but she was at least at peace with herself.

She was ready to rejoin the world.

As if on cue, Fluttershy heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards her. She got up off the floor, brushed the dust from her clothes, then flexed and stretched her stiff wings before turning to face the door and waiting. Almost a minute later, Vance finally opened the door. "Ah, Miss Fluttershy. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, thank you," Fluttershy replied.

Vance looked around at the room, at the wreckage she had piled as neatly as possible in the corner. "I like what you've done with the place." Fluttershy blushed and tried to stammer out an apology, but Vance shook his head. "Don't apologize. This room is meant to help us accept what we are and what we want to be. Sometimes, doing so requires us to vent our emotions into the surroundings. Better to do that on concrete instead of another living being." He looked over at Fluttershy. "How is your meditation coming along?"

Fluttershy straightened up and clasped her hands together. "Your teachings have helped, and I think I have a better chance of controlling my hunger now. I'm ready to go."

Vance smiled and gestured to the door. "Then let us leave this room and set you on your merry way. Your new life begins now."

Together, the two left the room and slowly walked back to the main living area. When they got to the mezzanine, Fluttershy was glad to see Rarity and Pinkie sitting together at a table playing cards. Both of them leapt to their feet when they spotted her.

"Fluttershy! Darling, are you alright?" Rarity asked as she hurried over.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled softly. "I'm alright. I think I've figured things out, now."

"Are you gonna break stuff instead of biting people?" Pinkie asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because we heard you tearing the walls apart from all the way down here. The guys were saying that Vance has brass balls for going in there with you every day."

"Pinkie, please learn to show a little tact, will you?" Rarity moaned as Fluttershy blushed.

Vance chuckled and crossed his arms. "It is merely a matter of faith. I believed that Miss Fluttershy would have the strength to restrain herself, once she was willing to try and accept herself for who she is. Though, I would be lying if I said that I was completely unafraid."

Apparently not amused by Vance's flippant attitude, Rarity cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yes, well, now that your meditation is over, what are we doing now, dear?"

"We're going back to the Citadel," Fluttershy replied, getting relieved sighs from both Rarity and Pinkie. "Um, hopefully without getting attacked by raiders or ants or the Enclave this time."

"Woohoo! I'll grab my stuff!" Pinkie darted off before anyone could reply, zipping around the station like a lunatic.

Fluttershy raised a curious eyebrow. "I thought we only brought my nursing kit, her pickaxe and both of our packs? What else is she getting?"

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. Not long after we got here she started complaining about the fact that her pickaxe wasn't practical in a fight, which of course is true; she can't hit something with it without whatever she strikes exploding like a bomb, then after that she started collecting bits and pieces of random junk."

"Her mind does work in… interesting ways," Vance put in. He shrugged and added, "She has already paid for everything she asked for by cooking and baking for us, and she clearly has a plan in mind for it all, so you may as well just wait and see what she comes up with."

Rarity cheeks turned green as she nodded. "Yes, I've never seen a cake baked with blood before, and hopefully I never have to see one again."

"She mentioned trying to make one before," Fluttershy noted.

"I'll see if there's a slice left for you before you go," Vance said with a nod.

"Already got one!" Pinkie cried cheerfully as she reappeared, her pickaxe in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other. Her pack was bulging with mysterious treasures, and even more pieces of assorted junk had been clipped or tied on to it, making her look like some sort of bizarre scrap prospector.

Vance looked at her in bemused surprise, then visibly decided not to ask and turned back to Fluttershy. "We've restocked your nursing kit with more blood packs already, but there's something else I'd like to give you before you go, so would you mind waiting at the tunnel entrance for me?"

"Oh, um, alright." Fluttershy watched curiously as he disappeared back into the corridors. "That's strange. I was expecting him to ask for some sort of payment for helping me."

"You know that's not his style, dear," Rarity replied, turning to head to the escalators. "Besides, Pinkie and I have been helping him work out how to use his new magic crystal."

Fluttershy almost slipped on the escalator steps in her surprise. "There's magic here?!"

Rarity nodded. "There certainly is. Apparently, they took it off the body of a raider who tried to attack Arefu. Vance said that it called to him the moment he saw it, but he didn't know how or why."

"Is it a Geode?!" Fluttershy asked incredulously

"Thankfully, no," Rarity said with relief. "I think it's just another one of the crystals that everyone seems to be digging up from Raven Rock, though that in itself is worrying enough. No, it's just a simple ruby, with a little bit of magic inside. We showed him how to pony up using it, and I must admit, he does look rather dashing with those wings, but it doesn't give him powers like ours."

"Nope! It just gives him fangs and bat wings, kinda like the ones you've got!" Pinkie added brightly.

"Bat wings?" Fluttershy would have asked more, but they reached the base of the escalators and she realized, with more than a little embarrassment, that every member of the Family was gathering near the tunnel entrance, all looking at her. Some looked wary, others disturbingly focused, but most looked almost reverent.

Fluttershy had to fight down the urge to hiss at them.

"What's going on?" Rarity whispered.

"Maybe they want autographs?" Pinkie suggested.

The sound of footsteps on the mezzanine snagged Fluttershy's attention, distracting her from the crowd of gawking people. She looked back over her shoulder to see Vance standing on the mezzanine"s wall. He had a shining blood-red ruby on a chain around his neck, and clasped in his hands was a sword, nestled in a scabbard.

The ruby flashed and great black wings erupted from Vance's back. He took a deep breath, then took a single step forward. His wings and trench coat fanned out impressively as he fell. At the last second, his wings flapped once to slow his descent, and he landed on the ground with a dancer's grace.

"That's a pretty awesome entrance," Pinkie whispered.

Fluttershy privately agreed. She suspected that Vance had arranged to have everyone gather at the door just so he could put on such a dramatic act, but there was no denying the effect it had on his followers; each and every one of them looked at him as if he were a living legend, a king come to grace his subjects with his presence.

The same way that many of them had looked at her.

Vance approached the group slowly, each step measured and deliberate. "Brothers, sisters, dear members of the Family," he called out in a grand voice. "Today is an auspicious day. Our guests are leaving, but over these last three days they have given us something truly special." He nodded to Pinkie and Rarity. "They have brought us laughter, warmth, and a reminder of the joys of good food with good company, and they brought us something even more valuable."

It was all Fluttershy could do not to flinch as every eye in the station turned to her.

"The world's first true vampire," Vance continued, his voice soft, yet still carrying effortlessly through the room. "Fluttershy may not have been cursed with the same affliction as us, but still she sought us out, seeking our guidance. We all saw three days ago the reflection of our own struggle; the dark hunger that we must all fight to control, a common bond in spirit if not in letter. Now, today, she stands before us once again, a living embodiment of the ideal that all members of our Family strive to achieve."

As embarrassing as it was being the object of such a public grandstanding, Fluttershy couldn't help but admire Vance's initiative, not to mention his audacity. Using Fluttershy's situation as a foundation, he was solidifying his position whilst simultaneously improving the standing of the Rainbooms among his people. Lifting himself and his allies higher without putting anyone down. It was a masterstroke. No matter what flaws the man may have had, Vance was undeniably a born leader.

Fluttershy tensed as Vance stepped closer, stopping just out of arm's reach. "Lady Fluttershy. Do you remember the laws I spoke of that our Family lives by?"

"Of course," Fluttershy replied, her mouth suddenly dry. "I've thought a lot about them over the last few days."

Vance nodded. "Normally, I give each member of the Family one particular Law that they are to memorize and meditate on, that they may achieve a deeper understanding of it and therefore enrich us all with their insight. I know that you aren't staying with us, but would you take one of our Laws with you? Perhaps, if we meet again, you could enlighten us with the perspective of a true vampire?"

Fluttershy tried not to make her relief too obvious. Vance had mentioned such a thing before, during her meditation, and it was something that she had spent a great deal of time considering. "Actually, I was thinking of focusing on two of them."

"Truly?" Vance asked. "Pray tell, which do you wish to achieve a deeper understanding of?"

"The first law, the Law of Blood," Fluttershy replied. "I think you're right about following the spirit of it. If I can direct my hunger even when it's at its strongest, then my friends will be that much safer."

Vance smiled at her. "An admirable goal. And what is the second?"

Fluttershy swallowed, determinedly not looking at Rarity or Pinkie. "The Law of Family. Kill not our kindred; slay only the enemy." She tried to ignore her friends' gasps as she continued, "If it were up to me, I would never hurt anyone, or let anyone die, no matter who they are or what they've done. No-one is irredeemable. But sometimes, a choice has to be made. Rehabilitation may not be an option when lives are in immediate danger. If it comes down to it, and I have to choose between sparing an enemy or saving an innocent life, I hope I have the strength to act in time."

Rarity looked at her in a mix of surprise and concern. "Fluttershy, are you sure you've thought this through?"

Fluttershy gave her a grim nod. "Either way I'll have regrets. I'd rather regret the blood on my hands than regret not saving a friend. Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on leaving a trail of death and destruction across the wastes, but I'm not going to let the rest of you shoulder the burden of fighting alone." She held her hands up and flexed her claws. "Besides, it's not like I haven't done it before."

Vance dipped his head. "A difficult decision to make, but a necessary one. In that case, this final gift I have for you may prove doubly useful." He held up the scabbard with one hand and slowly drew out the sword with the other. The blade was long and narrow, made out of some dark alloy that barely reflected the light, with a thin groove running down the middle to reduce weight. The handguard seemed plain at first, but Fluttershy's keen eyesight picked out intricate characters carved into it.

"This is Vampire's Edge. Before the war, it would have belonged to a high ranking officer of the Chinese army," Vance explained. "It is far lighter, sharper, and more durable than any other of its kind that I have seen. I have been keeping it locked away, intending to bring it out for special ceremonies." He sheathed the sword again and held it out to Fluttershy. "I believe it will do far more good in your hands. May it protect you well."

Fluttershy took the sword carefully, trying not to let her reluctance show. Vance was right; even in its scabbard, the blade felt as light as a feather. She tried to thank him, but she couldn't seem to get her mouth to work anymore, so she just settled for a nod of thanks and attached the scabbard to her belt.

Thankfully, Vance didn't need any further response. "Farewell, my friends. I hope that our paths cross again in the future. But until then, go with the knowledge that, should you ever need refuge, the Family will always have a place for you and your friends." He placed a hand over his heart and bowed low, the rest of the Family swiftly following suit.

Fluttershy almost choked at the sight of everyone bowing to her, but she managed to stammer out a 'thank you' before turning and heading down the tunnel towards the exit, keeping her footsteps calm and slow so as not to seem too rude.

"That was… unexpected," Rarity said quietly as she fell into step beside Fluttershy. "Still, I'm not complaining about getting help without having to fight for it. I just hope the weather is nice and clear."

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope. I was talking to Robert earlier, and he said it's hammering down out there."

Rarity sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fantastic."

Chapter 86 - Change in Fortune

Sunset groaned and let her head thud against the desk. She and Pia had finally managed to get almost all of the loose magic in Rivet City corralled, contained and controlled. Even the spontaneous lightning generated by the trees had been stopped thanks to Applejack's idea of sticking taps in the trees and literally siphoning off the excess magic into jars.

Naturally, a lot of magic was being extracted that way, but the science team had put together an efficient system of cataloguing the magic as it was extracted; setting the varieties they recognized aside in vats and selling off the excess to the Brotherhood of Steel at a heavily discounted price. It helped that the city's reopening, and the resultant influx of people and caps, had allowed the science team to hire a few new hands to help with all of the work.

All that remained were the magically enhanced fusion generators. Sunset and Pia had spent the last few days alternating between brainstorming safe ways to test them, and attempting to come up with a scientific theory as to how and why the magic reacted to radiation the way it did. Unfortunately, progress was a little slower than either would like. Specifically, progress was non-existent.

"What time is it?" Pia asked tiredly.

Sunset grumbled and straightened up so she could check her Pip-Boy. "Nine thirty-two AM, so just over a minute since you last asked."

Pia made a disgusted noise and shoved a clipboard across the table. "This is insane. I've tried every single thing I can think of and I'm getting nothing. None of these equations make any sense whatsoever. How did you used to figure this shit out back in your world?"

"At CHS, I didn't. I never managed to figure out exactly how magic worked back there," Sunset replied. "As for Equestria, things worked differently there. It had what we call a background magical field; a quantity of magic in the water, the earth, even the air itself. It doesn't really make much of an impact on day-to-day life, but it's an essential constant in magical theory and calculations. Trying to figure out magic without it is… How can I put this? … Imagine how much different physics would be if you went to a reality where neutrons didn't exist. A layman wouldn't really understand the issue, but a nuclear physicist would lose their mind."

Pia frowned and scratched her neck absently. "I'm not a nuclear physicist, but I guess the only issue would be atomic mass, so certain elements wouldn't exist. No, hang on, there'd probably be some issue with gluon interaction…" Her frown deepened, then she held her hands up and shook her head. "You know what? I'm not even going to try and wrap my head around it. Okay, so magic study without a magic field is a fucking nightmare, got it."

"Pretty much." Sunset rubbed her eyes, feeling utterly exhausted despite it still being early morning. "And that's before we add the effects of radiation into the mix."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Pia sighed heavily. "I give up. Let's take a break for now and come back to it later."

"Good idea," Sunset said with relief. "I've got training with Danvers later, so I don't want my brain to be too fried for that."

Pia looked at her almost warily. "So… Harkness is still avoiding you?"

Sunset nodded. She had barely even seen him since she had returned his memories. He had even assigned his second in command, Lana Danvers, to take over her training in the gym. The woman wasn't as good a fighter as Harkness, but she was still better than Sunset. Somehow, the fact that Harkness was still looking out for Sunset's well-being despite what had passed between them just made it hurt all the more.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened between the two of you?" Pia asked tentatively.

"Nothing major," Sunset replied in a toneless voice. "Just a difference of opinion."

Pia looked up as the door opened, then tensed up in her chair. "Um, are you absolutely certain that it wasn't something big?"

Sunset gave her a curious look, glanced over her shoulder to see who had come into the room, then did a double-take when she spotted Harkness in the doorway. She blanched as she spotted the plasma gun clasped in his hands.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you," Harkness said quickly, correctly interpreting her expression. "I'm actually here to thank you."

"Thank me?" Sunset asked incredulously. "What for?"

Harkness smiled sadly. "For the other day. You could have been a little more subtle about the way you went about it, maybe a bit smarter too, but you did the best you could and, well, I am the one who effectively told you to do it. I've got no one to blame but myself."

Pia looked from one to the other as if she was watching a tennis rally, a look of intense curiosity on her face. "Seriously, what is going on between you two?"

"It's private," Harkness and Sunset replied in unison.

"All right, all right, I'll keep my nose out." Pia glanced at the door. "I can leave you two alone if you want to make up properly on the table."

"Shut up, Pia!" Sunset hissed in a mortified whisper.

Harkness gave her an unamused look. "Enough with the jokes, Pia, I'm just here to give Sunset this." He patted the plasma gun meaningfully.

Sunset stared at him in surprise. "You're giving me that?! But, why? You're in charge of protecting this place, don't you need it?"

"I have other guns," Harkness replied. "Besides, I've heard about all the trouble you've had with the Enclave. If you're going up against power armor, you're going to need a weapon that can penetrate it. This should do the job." He held it up in one hand as he gestured to different parts of it with the other. "I've replaced some of the parts and altered others to make it tougher and easier to maintain, and I've refined the output so each bolt it fires is more powerful without using more ammunition. If you're done here, I'll take you up to the flight deck and show you how to use it."

"Whoa." Sunset glanced at Pia. "Uh, are we done here, or…?"

Pia shrugged. "Fuck it. Sitting here and staring at numbers that make no fucking sense isn't going to help us figure this out. May as well take our minds off it for a bit."

"You'll figure it out," Harkness said bracingly. "I never imagined you'd be able to stop the trees from shooting lightning, but you did. Hell, I thought we were going to have to install a few dozen lightning rods up there."

"Lightning rods wouldn't have helped," Pia supplied. "Magic lightning apparently doesn't earth like normal electricity, it just shoots out into the air randomly."

Sunset gasped as an idea suddenly exploded into her mind. "Holy shit, that's it!"

Pia and Harkness both stared at her in surprise. "What's it?" Pia asked.

Sunset ignored them and rifled through the sheets of paper on the table until she found a blank one, then snatched up a pencil and started scribbling down formulas. "I can't believe I didn't spot this before."

"Spot what before?" Pia pressed.

Sunset paused in her writing for a moment. "How can I explain this in simple terms? You know how light can be treated as both a particle and a wave?"

"No?" Harkness replied.

"It's a physics thing, light behaves as both a particle and a wave," Pia supplied. "Go on, Sunset."

Sunset shrugged and returned to writing as she spoke, "Well, back in Equestria, magic operates under a similar duality; it can be treated either as physical matter or as an energy field, and can behave as both at the same time," Sunset explained. "That's why when two unicorns fire a beam of magic at each other the beams clash, instead of just passing through each other."

"Did she just say unicorns?" Harkness asked quietly.

Sunset nodded jerkily. "Yeah, I was actually born as one, but that's not important. What is important is the fact that magic can't behave like that, in a dual state, without a background magical field to stabilize it. Don't ask why. Starswirl the Bearded spent almost two decades working out the minutiae. It takes years to learn the details of it."

Pia crossed her arms. "Okay… that's fascinating, but how does it apply here?"

Sunset glanced up from her notes just long enough to flash her a grin. "Magic has been behaving exactly like that in this world, too."

"But you just said that magic can only do that when there's a background magical field… wait…" Pia's eyes widened as her mind caught up with her mouth. "You think this world has a background magical field of its own?!"

"I think so," Sunset replied. "In fact, I'm almost positive."

"How can you be so sure?" Pia asked.

"The lightning." Sunset mentally chided herself for not noticing sooner. "The lightning wasn't earthing when it was coming from the trees, so where was it going?"

Pia frowned and snatched up a pencil and paper of her own, quickly wrote down what Sunset had already said, then looked up at her expectantly. "Okay, hit me."

"I'll try and keep this as simple as I can." Sunset took a deep breath before continuing. "Object density affects how the background magical field works, and so does the presence of living creatures, even if they themselves can't use magic. If there wasn't a background magical field, then all of the excess magic from the trees should have all just bled into the ship constantly, instead of blasting out of the tops of them as lightning."

"So most of the magic was going up to the tops of the trees to escape the dense materials and people inside Rivet City, then escaping into the air as lightning when it couldn't travel any further?" Pia asked.

Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Of course, it could just be the case that the rusted metal that makes up the ship is insulating the magic; that has been known to happen sometimes, which would also funnel the magic upwards, but that's where the lightning itself becomes important. If the lightning was just caused by magic escaping the ship and burning itself out, then there should be residue in the air. You'd be able to see it as multicolored dust in the air after each lightning bolt, until it settles back to the ground. The whole damned flight deck wouldbe covered in it if that was the case."

"Is this going to start making sense soon?" Harkness put in.

Sunset glared at him for a second before turning back to the paper. "There's no dust, no residue or aftereffect of any kind, meaning that the magic is diffusing into the atmosphere completely. It wouldn't do that if there wasn't a background magical field in the atmosphere for it to diffuse into."

Pia finished writing it all down, then hummed as she thought. "I don't know, are you sure about this?"

"There must be, it's the only way any of this makes sense," Sunset replied, double-checking the equations she had written down. "If I'm right, then all we need to do to get the affected generators working safely is attach a couple of Diffusers to siphon off excess magic and vent it into the background magical field. If we can gather the right parts, we could probably get one of the generators up and running in about a half hour or so."

Pia gave her an uncertain look. "That sounds all well and good, but what if you're wrong? You said yourself that magic works weirdly in worlds without a background magical field. Maybe the lightning not leaving a residue is just another example of that."

"Yeah, maybe." Sunset gave a satisfied nod and straightened up, crossing her arms. "But I've just tried putting the details of the new magic teleporter room upstairs into one of my old Equestrian formulas for measuring controlled unicorn teleportation, and the math checks out perfectly."

"Really?" Pia hurried around the table to look at the formula. Sunset had to give her a quick layman's explanation of what some of the symbols represented, but after double-checking it thoroughly Pia stepped back and ran a hand through her hair. "Shit, you might actually be onto something. Alright, I think it's worth a shot. All we need to do now is bring it up with the rest of the council so we can put it to a vote."

"That won't be necessary," Harkness cut in. "You only need two out of three votes for it to go ahead. We're both members of the council, that's two votes right there, so you can get straight to work without making us deal with Bannon's whining."

Sunset raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? I don't want to be rude, but did you actually follow most of what we said?"

Harkness shrugged. "You're two of the smartest people I know. If you say that this will work, then I'll believe you. You've earned my trust."

Hearing him say that sent a warm feeling flooding through Sunset's chest. Pia grinned too, clearly happy to have a solution within her grasp, though the fact that she didn't have to deal with Bannon was probably part of it as well. "Sounds good to me," she said brightly. "Alright, Sunnybuns, how do we make those Diffusers?"

It didn't long for Sunset to describe how to make the Diffusers. When she saw Sunset's sketched diagram of them, Pia recognized them as, essentially, miniature Tesla coils; easy enough for her to cobble together. The trickiest part would be directing the magic into the Diffusers and out through the electrodes on top, but Sunset had a few ideas for getting around that.

When Pia was sure about what was needed and how to put it together, she gathered up her notes and smiled at Sunset. "What are we waiting for? Let's get to it!"

Sunset glanced unsurely at Harkness, hoping that she could talk to him in private. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he said, "You go on and get started, Pia. There's something Miss Shimmer and I need to discuss."

Pia looked from one to the other curiously, then shrugged and headed for the door. "Fine, but don't take too long. I'm going to need her help to finish putting all of this together."

The door clicked shut behind Pia, leaving an awkward silence in the room. When she couldn't take it anymore, Sunset cleared her throat and asked tentatively, "So, er, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright, all things considered," Harkness replied. "I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days, about a lot of different things." Sunset waited patiently as he placed the plasma gun on the table and leaned against it. After a moment he gave a look that was almost wary. "You really don't think it matters that I'm not human?"

"Not in the slightest," Sunset said firmly. "Whether you're an ordinary human or not doesn't make a blind bit of difference as far as I'm concerned. Most of the people I've met in this world have been jerks, losers, or absolute monsters, human or not." She smirked at him. "Besides, where I come from there weren't any humans at all, so who am I to judge?"

Harkness let out a quiet chuckle. "Yes, unicorns you said, wasn't it?"

"Among other things," Sunset replied with a cryptic smile. "If we can ever build a portal home, you can come and see for yourself. Speaking of building things, we'd better go and give Pia a hand before she comes hunting for us."

"Good idea." Harkness stood and picked up the plasma gun again. "Then, once this is all finished, I'll show you how to use this."

Sunset winced as she remembered his offer. "I appreciate it, but if this experiment works I'm going to have to head back to the Citadel immediately. The other girls will need to know. I suppose the Brotherhood should, too," she added as an afterthought.

"Fair enough. In that case I'm sure the Brotherhood will be able to teach you how to use it." Harkness slung the gun over his shoulder and stepped over to the door. "If you used to be a quadruped, I guess that would make doggystyle the most natural way for you. Duly noted."

Sunset cocked her head at him curiously. "What do you mean by doggystyle?"

Harkness stared at her in amazement, then burst out laughing. "Oh man, you're even more sheltered than I thought." He held a hand up in response to Sunset's indignant pout. "That's not a bad thing, it just makes me feel a little guilty about one or two things. Tell you what, if or when I manage to get my head back on straight, I'll be happy to show you. Deal?"

"Deal," Sunset replied. "And I'll hold you to that!"

"I'm sure you will." Harkness chuckled, but his expression quickly turned somber. "Until then, I… I just want some time to try and figure things out. Is that okay?"

Sunset nodded, vaguely understanding what he was hinting at. "Take all the time you need."

Harkness drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Right, now we really had better go and find Pia."

It didn't take long for Sunset and Harkness to find Pia, and barely half an hour later the three were gathered in the main lab, watching as a pair of technicians finished connecting a pair of Diffusers to their selected generator. The issue of directing the magic had been solved easily enough; they had simply dipped some of the components in a vat full of purple magic that had been siphoned from the trees. They had chosen the purple stuff because Sunset suspected that it was, essentially, a condensed form of Twilight's magic, and given that Twilight's Equestrian counterpart bore the Element of Magic itself, then using her magic was most likely to achieve the desired result.

Sunset felt her heart pounding as the technicians finished with the Diffusers and hooked the generator up to an industrial floor fan. If this experiment worked, it had ramifications for a lot more than the mere generation of electricity. "Okay, are we ready to go?"

Pia bit her lip, clearly nervous, but bravely stepped up to the generator anyway. "Ready when you are."

Sunset waited for the technicians to finish with the fan and get out of the way, then nodded once. "Switch it on."

Her lips moving in a silent prayer, Pia pressed a button on the generator before skipping back several places.

The generator hummed loudly as it powered up. The Diffusers fizzed and popped a few times, a series of purple sparks crackling out from their electrodes, then a faint violet glow emanated from them and the sound settled into a gentle hum. A second later the fan switched on, the blades slowly picking up the pace until they were a circular blur, sending a strong wind blowing towards one of the side rooms.

"It's working," Sunset whispered, hardly daring to believe. She stepped forward and put a hand into the fan's airstream. She couldn't sense the presence of any magic whatsoever. "It's clear, the Diffusers work!"

Pia and the technicians whooped and exchanged high fives as Harkness congratulated them. "I can't believe it, it actually worked!" Pia exclaimed excitedly. "The other scientists are going to freak out when they learn that this world already had a magical field, but we can worry about that another time. For now, we… uh… Sunset? What are you doing?"

Sunset wasn't listening. The moment she was certain that the Diffusers were working, she had darted over to a nearby table and grabbed a clean sheet of paper and a pencil, her hand flying as she made rapid sketches. "This world really has magic… it's weak, but it's enough... I won't even need to adjust the equations all that much… all we need are the right parts, and a way to lock on to the right signature…"

"Would you mind telling us what it is you're muttering about?" Pia asked. "You're starting to creep me out."

Sunset dropped her pencil and looked around at Harkness. He just sighed and smiled wryly. "Back to the Citadel?"

Pia blinked in surprise as Sunset nodded. "The Citadel? Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Something has actually gone very right for a change," Sunset replied quickly. "I need to speak to the rest of the Rainbooms as quickly as possible."

"Can't we at least celebrate a little first?" Pia asked. "What's so important about this background magical field that you have to go running off the second you confirm that it's real?"

Sunset took a deep breath, trying vainly not to get her hopes up, and held up the rough blueprint she had just drawn; a mirror surrounded by a complicated mechanical rig. "I know how to get us home."

Rainbow hated hospitals. The Citadel's infirmary wasn't much like any hospital she had been in before, but it still counted. Her, Applejack and Twilight were all sitting around Adam's bed, chatting quietly in an attempt to distract themselves from the fact that Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity still weren't back from the Family yet. A message had come in from Arefu two days before, saying that the trio had arrived, and that Vance had agreed to try and help Fluttershy control her hunger, but nothing had been heard since.

"Ah still don't think we should trust that Senator Lily," Applejack said suddenly. "Not in the slightest."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Duh, we don't. Elder Lyons said the same thing when I handed over my report and their intel, but he also said we can't just ignore what she tells us."

Twilight hummed thoughtfully. "I think we can trust her."

The other two stared at her in shock. "Are you high again? Or should Ah get the docs to up the meds?" Applejack asked incredulously.

"Think about it," Twilight replied, ignoring the comment. "It may sound childish, but people have been chasing immortality for millennia, even in our own world. With this world's technology, and Equestrian magic, she might even be able to achieve it."

"Why would she even want to be immortal?" Rainbow asked. "Every time you see a movie where someone can live forever, they always want someone to find a way to kill them. They get bored, or they get sick of watching their loved ones get old and die. It just seems pointless."

Twilight shook her head. "That's possible, but those sorts of people are always the ones who see immortality as the end goal. Lily is a scientist. There's a reason she wants to be immortal, and I suspect it's something to do with research. I can't imagine a scientist getting bored of immortality; there's always more to learn, more to discover, more to create. Imagine how far you could push science if you had an eternity to study it in."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Okay, remind me to tell Sunset that we need to keep an eye on the mad scientist over here."

Twilight gave her a flat glare. "I'm not saying we should trust her completely, just that she's probably telling the truth about wanting to keep Project Exodus going, and getting us home. I agree that we should be very, very suspicious of what she wants to do with her immortality, if she ever gets it."

"Meh, Ah guess you're right about that," Applejack said with a shrug. "Not much we can do about it either way. Elder Lyons has the intel, it's up to him what he does with it."

The three lapsed into a bored silence after that. Being stuck in a room with two coma patients, Adam on one side and Sarah Lyons on the other, wasn't exactly conducive to a happy atmosphere, but this was the only place where the girls could be sure that the Scribes wouldn't try to pester them about magic.

"There's something I've been wondering," Rainbow said suddenly, with an odd look at Adam. "People in comas still get food pumped into their stomach through tubes every day, right? So what happens when they need to take a dump?"

"Nice, Rainbow, real nice," Applejack huffed.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "No, it may be unpleasant, but it's a fair question. Unfortunately, Rainbow, the body's natural processes don't stop just because someone is in a coma, so nurses have to regularly check the patient over and, if necessary, er, clean them up."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Hang on, Fluttershy was working as a nurse at Rivet City back when Sunset was in a coma. Does that mean she…?"

"No!" Twilight replied quickly. "Doctor Preston knew that Fluttershy wouldn't be comfortable with looking after a friend like that, so he had someone else take care of it."

"But the only other person who worked at Rivet City's clinic was Doctor Kaplinski." Rainbow grimaced as she put two and two together. "Oh. Uh… let's not tell Sunset."

"I wish you hadn't told me," a voice mumbled petulantly. The girls all gasped as Adam shifted and opened his eyes, looking up at them blearily. "Where's Fluttershy?"

Chapter 87 - Together Again

Walking through the middle of a torrential downpour wasn't a particularly nice experience. Trudging through bombed-out ruins, on a bone-chillingly cold day, in the middle of a radioactive torrential downpour, was yet another miserable experience for Sunset to add to the list of miseries that she had endured in the wastes so far.

The only thing that kept the journey at merely miserable, rather than nightmarish, was the immense overcoat that Sunset had been given by Tabitha. It was incredibly baggy, made of thick leather to keep her dry and lined with lead to protect from the radiation. It came with a pair of foot coverings that slipped under the pant legs to protect her shoes, and the hood had a stiff, wide-brimmed hat attached to keep the rain off her face, whether it was windy or not. Even the plasma gun that Harkness had given her was in a thick sack made of the same material, along with a handful of the little microfusion cells that functioned as it's ammunition.

Of course, the whole ensemble was incredibly heavy, especially with armor on underneath, and visibility was vastly reduced thanks to the hood and hat, meaning that fighting while wearing it would be almost impossible. Thankfully, having a squad of power-armored Knights as an escort meant that very few beings would be dumb enough to try and attack, especially in this weather. At least, that was Sunset's hope. Nothing had tried to attack them yet, so that was always a plus.

Even so, Sunset couldn't help but feel relieved when they finally got back to the Citadel. The main entrance still hadn't been fully repaired, despite the best efforts of the Brotherhood, so a set of temporary supports had been erected to keep the gate in place while they raised and lowered it.

Once the group was inside, the Knights separated to give their reports to their superiors, while a gaggle of Initiates helped Sunset remove her overcoat.

"Your friends returned a little while ago, Miss, from Arefu" one of them said as they hung the coat up for scrubbing. "They're in the showers right now, then Miss Twilight has asked if you could all join her in Miss Applejack's quarters. They have something important to discuss."

"Awesome, thanks!" Sunset quickly thanked the rest of the Initiates and headed off to the showers herself. Slogging through the rain in armor and a thick overcoat was a perfect way to work up a sweat, so she figured she may as well clean up and check on Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie while she was at it. The fact that Twilight wanted to gather the Rainbooms all together afterwards was even better; it saved Sunset the job of tracking them all down herself, though she was mildly concerned about whatever it was that Twilight wanted to talk about.

When she reached the showers, Sunset found Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy getting dressed in the changing room. The three looked around as she entered. "Hey, Sunset! How's it going?" Pinkie asked brightly.

"Pretty good, actually," Sunset replied with a grin. "I've got some big news for everyone, but that can wait until I've showered. How did things go with the Family? Did you have any trouble crossing the wastes?"

"We had a little trouble with some raiders and an Enclave outpost on the way," Fluttershy said as she towelled her hair. "And, um, giant ants, too. The way back was alright, though. I think the weather is keeping most of the trouble at bay. Rarity had to keep up a shield the whole way home though, to keep the rain off us." Rarity did indeed look exhausted; every movement was slow and half-hearted, and her head was sagging even as she tried to pull her shoes on. "Things went alright with the Family, though," Fluttershy continued. "I, um, may have had a bit of trouble at first, but it worked out in the end."

Sunset listened eagerly as the girls described everything that they had experienced over the last few days. She was impressed that Fluttershy had managed to gain a measure of control over her hunger, though hearing about Vance's little demonstration just before they left almost had her in stitches: As much as he professed to be blessed by the arrival of a genuine vampire, Sunset couldn't help but think that it must have threatened his ego as well. Only someone with vanity to spare would have arranged such a self-aggrandizing display.

When the discussion turned to the Laws of the Family that Fluttershy had chosen to pursue further, though, Sunset couldn't help but feel a shiver run down her spine. The first Law made perfect sense; helping Flutters to control and direct her bloodlust. The second, however, hit uncomfortably close to home. "Slay only your enemies, huh?"

Fluttershy nodded grimly. "I'm not going to start going out of my way to pick fights, and to be honest, I'm not really sure that I'll be able to actually go through with it if the time ever comes, but I have to try. I can't stand by and watch the rest of you put your lives on the line while I just hang back and try not to get in the way." She picked up a sword from next to a locker, surprising Sunset. "Vance gave me this. He called it Vampire's Edge. Hopefully, it'll help give me courage when the time comes."

Sunset sighed and glanced at the plasma gun she had set aside. "I hate to say it, but I know what you mean. I think Harkness was thinking the same thing when he gave me that."

"I was wondering where you had gotten that from," Rarity murmured to herself. "Goodness, that's three of us with new weapons, now."

In response to Sunset's querulous look, Pinkie shrugged and said, "I'm going to try and build something with the Scribes' help later. I hope I'll never have to use it, but…"

"But we might not have a choice," Sunset finished. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, then drew in a breath and shoved the dark thoughts to the back of her mind. "Well, either way, I've got some good news." Sunset quickly finished getting undressed before grabbing a towel and some toiletries from a cupboard. "Let me just have a quick shower and we'll all head over to Twilight's room together."

Pinkie smirked at her. "Are you sure you want to go straight there after the shower, or will you want to get dried and dressed first?"

"Pinkie!" Rarity snapped.

Sunset laughed and stepped over to the door to the showers themselves. "Sorry, Pinkie, but I will be getting dressed first, so enjoy the view while it lasts!"

After a quick shower, largely spent listening to Pinkie giggling, Rarity giving an exasperated lecture about dignity and Fluttershy muttering enviously about body confidence, Sunset hastily dried herself off. It was only once she was dry that Sunset realized, much to Pinkie's amusement, that the only clean clothes she had in her pack were the Enclave clothes she had been given back at Project Exodus. Even Rarity didn't have anything spare for her tucked away in her pack.

The walk to the quarters Applejack and Rarity shared was, thankfully, a short one. Even so, Sunset's choice of clothing garnered more than a few confused and concerned looks from the Brotherhood personnel she met along the way.

"Who's in there?" Fluttershy asked as they approached the room.

Sunset looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I can hear five heartbeats in there," Fluttershy replied. "I guess three of them are Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and one of those heartbeats is very strong, so I'm guessing that's Fawkes, but… who's the other one?" She frowned and sniffed deeply, then her eyes widened and she suddenly darted off ahead of the others.

"Hey, Fluttershy?!" Sunset hurried after her, struggling to carry her armour and plasma gun while Rarity and Pinkie followed along.

Fluttershy skidded to a halt and slammed the door open, eliciting surprised yelps from those within. Sunset caught up just as Fluttershy stepped into the room.

Applejack was sitting at a small desk with Twilight next to her in the wheelchair, Rainbow was sprawled on the bed opposite, and Fawkes was sitting cross-legged in a corner. The only empty space was the bed next to the bathroom door.

"Well, now there's a sight for sore eyes!" Applejack said brightly.

"He's in the bathroom," Fluttershy said blankly. Before anyone could ask what she was talking about there came the sound of a flushing toilet from the bathroom, then a moment later the door opened.

Sunset gasped as Adam stepped into the room, wearing simple Brotherhood-issue pants and a t-shirt. She almost said something, and she felt Pinkie about to explode with excitement next to her, but every eye in the room was drawn to Fluttershy.

"Flutters!" Adam stepped forward the second he spotted her, but Fluttershy took a step back and lowered her gaze to the floor, rubbing her elbow awkwardly. Hurt flashed across Adam's face, but only for a moment before comprehension bloomed. "Is this about the FEV?" Fluttershy snapped her gaze back to him in surprise. "Yeah, one of the trainee medics let slip what happened when he was giving me a checkup. Poor twit can't keep a secret to save his life." Adam shrugged and gave her a hopeful look. "So, yeah, I know about the whole vampire thing.”

Fluttershy nodded sombrely. "O-okay, um, so we should, maybe, talk things over at some point, but until then, um, we should-"

"Pick up where we left off?" Adam suggested in a hopeful tone. The poleaxed expression on Fluttershy's face plainly said that that was not what she was going to say, and Adam faltered at the sight of it. "I mean, if that's what you want…?"

Fluttershy blinked dumbly at him, then looked around at each of the others in turn, a blush slowly creeping up her neck. Sunset feared that she might bolt like a scared rabbit, but instead she visibly steeled her resolve and looked at Adam. "Fuck it."

Before anyone could react to the language, Fluttershy crossed the room in the blink of an eye, grabbed the front of Adam's top, and yanked him into a smouldering kiss that stunned everyone. No-one knew quite how to react as the two wrapped their arms around each other, kissing deeply. Rainbow shifted and grinned, as if she was about to say something, but a sharp look from Twilight made her settle back down silently.

That's interesting, Sunset mused. When did Twilight get a hand on Rainbow's leash?

After an uncomfortable few moments, for everyone else, anyway, Fluttershy and Adam finally separated. Fluttershy's face was burning brightly enough to fry an egg. She quickly turned and stepped over to the empty bed, having a little trouble with her sword as she sat on the edge of it, and flicked her hair in front of her face, though her embarrassment didn't stop her from leaning into Adam when he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry, Fawkes, but your 'welcome back' greeting just got bumped down to second place," Adam said with a faint blush of his own.

Fawkes held up a hand. "I have no intention of kissing you myself, so I shall graciously accept this demotion."

"Wait, what did Fawkes do?" Pinkie asked eagerly.

Applejack snorted. "Swept him up into a big hug then swung him around like a little girl. It was one of the funniest things Ah've ever seen." She gestured at Rainbow. "Hey, Dash, shift your ass so people can sit next to you."

"Don't move on my account, I'll just settle myself here." Sunset raised an eyebrow as Rarity stepped over to Applejack and perched sideways on her lap. Applejack made several garbled noises that almost approached speech, but didn't attempt to make the fashionista move.

"In that case, I call Fawkes!" Pinkie cried loudly. She darted over to Fawkes and dropped down into his lap, who just shrugged and accepted it without comment. Given the size difference, the two looked like a put-upon but indulgent father and his overly exuberant daughter.

Realizing that she was the only one still standing, Sunset shrugged and closed the door so she could lean against it. "I'll just stay here for now. What did you want us all here for, Twilight?"

Twilight vaguely waved a hand at Adam. "I was just going to surprise everyone with Adam being back, so, uh… surprise?"

"Cool, because I've got something important to tell you all as well. " Sunset grinned. "I know how to build a portal to get us back home."

The others all made noises of shock, joy, and incredulity at her words. "How did you figure it out?!" Twilight demanded.

"We ran experiments back at Rivet City," Sunset replied. "It turns out this world has a background magical field of its own, so we can actually build a portal based on the design of the Geode Diviner itself. The parts should be easy enough to come by, so all we need is something that can lock on to Equestria's magical signature, but that's going to be the tricky part."

"We're going to need something like the SDT-1 that they showed us back at Project Exodus, aren't we?" Rainbow asked.

Sunset nodded, quietly surprised that Rainbow had even remembered the designation. "Which means we need to make a decision. Two, actually."

"What decisions?" Pinkie asked.

Sunset jerked her chin at Adam and Fawkes. "First of all, if we build a portal, do you two want to come home with us?"

"You are inviting me?' Fawkes asked incredulously. Sunset just nodded. "I… I am honored beyond words." He glanced at Adam. "What will you do?"

Adam frowned thoughtfully. "A month ago I don't know what I would have said, but… my parents are gone, but Project Purity, their dream, is still here. I know it's up and running now, but the Brotherhood is still having trouble distributing water around the wasteland, even with Rivet City's help. I want to come with you, but I want to help stabilize the water distribution, and try to improve the connections between the various settlements in the Capital Wasteland first." He looked down at Fluttershy worriedly. "If that's alright?"

"Of course it is," Fluttershy replied quietly.

Fawkes nodded. "Very well. Then I shall assist in that endeavour to the best of my abilities and, when the time comes, I will join you in your journey beyond this world."

"I appreciate it," Adam said with a grin. "Okay, Sunset, what's the second decision?"

Sunset breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. "The second one is a little harder, and I think it's something we all need to decide on. Do we try and search the wasteland ourselves for an SDT-1? Or do we help the Brotherhood of Steel win the war, sign a peace treaty with whatever is left of the Enclave, and have Project Exodus help us build a portal when the war is over?"

The others looked around at each other uneasily.

Pinkie rubbed her neck awkwardly. "We're probably going to have to fight whatever we do, aren't we?"

"Almost certainly," Sunset replied with a grim nod. "Either against the Enclave, or against raiders and whatever else is lurking out there in the wastes."

"Like Talon Company," Twilight muttered darkly.

"I say we help the Brotherhood fight the Enclave," Rainbow put in. "At least that way we'll have Liberty Prime on our side, not to mention a bunch of power-armored Knights and Paladins."

Applejack nodded. "Ah'm with Rainbow."

"I hate to admit it, but so am I," Rarity sighed. "The Enclave is going to try and get to us either way. I don't like it, but we're probably better off taking the fight to them."

"Fighting alongside the Brotherhood will give us the greatest chance of survival, while also maintaining our relationship with them and giving them more reason to help us in turn," Twilight added. "The only problem, aside from the tangled mess that is the ethical considerations, is going to be dealing with the Enclave's power armor."

"I've already sent a message to Elder Lyons asking if I can have some Scribes help me build a weapon," Pinkie cut in, her expression dour. "If we can make it work, power armor won't be a problem."

With everyone else's decision made, all eyes once again turned to Fluttershy. She swallowed hard, then brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I guess you'll need me, too. Someone is going to have to patch Rainbow up when she gets herself hurt again."

"That's just harsh," Rainbow muttered as the others laughed.

Sunset sighed and looked around at her friends, surprised by how much stronger they had all grown. "It's settled then. We fight."

Elder Lyons frowned as he read through the latest reports from his scouts. He and Scribe Rothchild were sitting at a desk in his own personal office, while Eden waited patiently on top of it.

"I'm guessing they don't have good news," Rothchild stated as he watched Lyons carefully.

"Sadly not." Lyons threw the report on the desk and glared at the crystal spider on his desk. "The Adams Air Force Base is not in the location you gave us."

Eden folded his forelegs and sighed. "That is most unfortunate. It appears someone must have tampered with my files on Enclave facilities during my routine maintenance at Raven Rock."

"Or you aren't telling us the whole truth," Rothchild countered.

"I have no reason to lie to you," Eden said flatly. "Besides, almost everything else I have told you has been true. Why would I bother to lie about this one thing?"

Lyons eyed the little spider suspiciously. Eden had indeed provided a wealth of information on the Enclave's infrastructure, technology, current research projects, even the personalities and tendencies of its most important personnel, and all of it so far had proven true. In particular, the breakdown of Enclave training, strategy and small-unit tactics had proven exceedingly useful during the fight for control of the Capital Wasteland. When it came to the exact locations of Enclave outposts and facilities, however, his information was annoyingly inaccurate. The fact that the Citadel's own archives were largely corrupted or deleted certainly didn't help matters. "Why would anyone bother altering your knowledge of where these sites are located?" Lyons asked.

"I can only assume it was performed at Acheson's behest," Eden replied. "The only personnel I know of with both access to my server and the ability to alter data without my knowledge were part of his team." Eden sighed and awkwardly laid down. "Acheson has always been ambitious, but I never imagined he would be aiming for total control of the Enclave. He must have been planning to take control for years; intending on using me as a figurehead while he manipulated events behind the scenes."

"If all goes well, Acheson won't be a problem for any of us for much longer," Lyons said firmly. "We do have some good news. Our scouts have confirmed the location of the satellite relay station mentioned in Project Exodus' intelligence report. If we can secure that station, we should be able to discover the true location of the Adams Air Base."

"That's a big if," Rothchild put in. "Especially if Senator Lily's information is true."

Lyons glanced down at Eden. "Well? Can Senator Lily be trusted?"

Eden hummed thoughtfully. "Normally, it depends. She is utterly fixated on making herself immortal, and will go to any lengths to achieve it. The abomination loose in the depths of Raven Rock is testament to that. If Doctor Shoichet was telling the truth, and bear in mind that the good doctor has already betrayed the Enclave to save the Rainbooms once, and Acheson really is the one that manipulated Horrigan into attacking the Citadel in an attempt to destroy either the Brotherhood or Project Exodus, then I imagine that Senator Lily will use any and all methods to protect her interests and wipe Acheson from the face of the earth. In this regard, I believe we can trust her."

"Very well." Lyons crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "The only question that remains is how to go about securing the satellite relay station without suffering devastating losses. We have to send in Liberty Prime, the station is too heavily defended for us not to, but if the Exodus intelligence is true..." He frowned at Rothchild. "Have we come up with any way at all of countering the Bradley-Hercules satellite?"

Rothchild shook his head. "Twilight Sparkle has been working to improve Liberty Prime's operating speed, reaction times and targeting systems, but we don't know if that will be enough to help it survive. We tried coming up with a system to scramble missile locks, but it won't be completed for months at best. On top of that, we're going to have to deal with lobotomized deathclaws, plus the Enclave's newly developed armor and magical technologies. This is not going to be an easy fight."

Lyons nodded grimly. "I agree, but it is a challenge that we are going to have to face head on. Liberty Prime will go. I had intended for Paladin Tristan to lead the assault, but he was injured in Horrigan's attack, so I'll have the Wonderbolts lead the charge in his stead. That just leaves dealing with the Enclave's magic." He sighed heavily. "Send for the Rainbooms. If they are willing, then tomorrow, at dawn, we will strike."

Chapter 88 - Broken Steel

The black clouds and horrible weather of the past few days had finally cleared up, leaving nothing but beautiful clear skies. Sunset couldn't help but notice the irony that such a pleasant day would be marred by such an ugly task.

The Rainbooms were gathered in the Citadel's courtyard, along with Adam, Fawkes, and Star Paladin Cross. Liberty Prime, the Wonderbolts, and the rest of the strike force had already departed, taking separate routes to the rendezvous point in order to try and hide their planned target.

Twilight was sitting in her wheelchair, fussing over the details of the equipment and supplies that the group was taking with them. She would be the only Rainboom sitting this mission out. The rest of the girls had been given gray Brotherhood of Steel combat uniforms, and were wearing their armor over the top of it, Rainbow's sparkling in the sunlight.

Sunset quickly checked over her own equipment as she waited. She had the plasma gun that Harkness had given her, a combat knife sheathed at her waist, and two pulse grenades attached to her belt.

The rest of the group were just as well equipped; Rarity had been given a special robotic glove connected to sensors that ran into her sleeve, under her Pip-Boy and up her left arm, allowing her to use her hand without issue despite her nerve damage. Rainbow had Flashburn, a pair of combat knives scabbarded on her lower back and the plasma grenade she had filched from the metro tunnels, what felt like a lifetime ago. Applejack was inspecting the new laser rifle she had been given, and had a pair of frag grenades clipped to her belt, while Fluttershy had Vampire's Edge and her ever-present nursing kit.

Adam was back in his Enclave power armor; freshly repainted deep blue with yellow trimming and a large '101' stenciled on the breastplate, his own plasma gun dangling from one arm. Fawkes had his Gatling Laser, and was wearing his very own gray combat gear stitched together by Rarity from spare Brotherhood uniforms, complete with combat armor made out of heavy plates of scrap metal. Cross was standing slightly apart from the others, clutching her trademark super sledge.

Pinkie, however, was probably the most heavily armed of the group. Her pickaxe was strapped across her back, but in her hands she held a bizarre contraption that looked like a grenade launcher made out of random scrap: its stock and trigger looked like they once belonged to a combat shotgun, and it had a small steam gauge assembly fixed just in front of the trigger guard, with a short chimney forming the barrel.

"Okay, I've gotta ask, what even is that thing?" Rainbow asked suddenly, eyeing the weapon with concern.

Pinkie grinned and hefted the weapon. "It's my new Party Cannon! The Scribes helped me put it together yesterday. It's powered by a fission battery I got from the Family, and Elder Lyons let me use a few magic crystals that have a bit of my magic in them to build it with, so when I pull the trigger…" She snapped the weapon up and pointed it away from everyone. When she fired, a shower of glittering pink sparkles shot out of the barrel.

The others murmured appreciatively. "That's pretty awesome," Dash admitted, "but what does it actually do?"

"If we're lucky, you'll never find out." Pinkie sighed heavily. "So I guess you'll see when we get to the relay station."

Sunset felt her heart clench at the sight of her perkiest friend having her spirit crushed. "Don't worry, girls. I know this mission is going to be as bad as any other we faced, maybe even tougher, but no matter how hard things get, just remember that every step forward we take is another step closer to home."

"Well said, Miss Shimmer." Everyone turned to see Elder Lyons step into the courtyard, followed by Squire Maxson who was carrying what looked like a metal dinner tray laden with shining metal objects. A closer look revealed that the objects were dog tags, each with a small holographic screen next to lines of etched information.

"Before you depart, I have something that I would like to give to each of you." Elder Lyons clasped his hands behind his back and drew himself up to address the assembled team. "Ever since you came to us, you have all shown tremendous courage, loyalty, and a willingness to aid and protect others no matter the odds; qualities that my chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel holds in the highest regard. In light of your achievements, even in the face of terrible darkness, it is my great pleasure to waive our traditional recruitment process and offer each of you a position in our organization."

Sunset shifted uneasily. As much as she appreciated the fact that the Elder held them in high regard, she wasn't sure that she was willing to thoughtlessly make herself and her friends subject to the commands of the Brotherhood of Steel.

Sensing her reluctance, Elder Lyons held up a hand. "Do not be concerned, Miss Shimmer. I have already spoken with the other leaders of the Council, and they have agreed that the Rainbooms shall be inducted into a new Order: The Order of the Staff, whose remit is the research and use of magic in defence of the weak and the innocent. You will possess a certain level of autonomy from the rest of the Brotherhood hierarchy, answering directly to me, and even then you have my word that I will give no command that you don't have the power to refuse if you wish."

"Can't say fairer than that, Ah guess," Applejack said with a shrug.

Sunset hesitated for only a second before nodding. If anyone in the Brotherhood of Steel could be trusted to hold their word, it would be Elder Lyons.

The Elder smiled softly. "As a sign of your new ranks, I shall bestow you with these holo-tags. Wear them well, and with pride." He picked up the first set and held them up. "Adam Howard." Adam put his plasma gun down and pulled off his helmet as he stepped forward, tucking it under his arm. "Your courage and self-sacrifice saved the lives of many of our brethren, and helped spread the gift of life-giving water to every civilized settlement in the Capital Wasteland. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel."

Adam lowered his head to allow Elder Lyons to slip the holo-tags around his neck. "Thank you. After everything the Brotherhood has done for my family, this means a lot."

Elder Lyons clapped a hand to his shoulder, then reached for the next set of tags. The chain on the second set seemed a lot longer than the first, though the reason became clear when the Elder called out, "Fawkes."

Blank shock flitted across Fawkes' face. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Elder Lyons replied with a smile. "You have fought well alongside our brothers and sisters, going to great lengths to help the people of the wastes with no thought of reward or praise. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel."

Fawkes stepped forward and dropped to one knee. Elder Lyons slipped the holo-tags over his head, but instead of standing back up, Fawkes stayed where he was. He worked his mouth, as if he was trying to say something, but after a few attempts he just lowered his head and covered his eyes with a hand. Adam gripped his shoulder and smiled down at him. After everything that Fawkes had been through, everyone present knew how much it meant to him to be accepted as an equal.

Picking up another set of tags, Elder Lyons stepped over to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle. Your agile mind has helped drive scientific progress both here and in Rivet City, and your magic is some of the most powerful and adaptable that the Brotherhood has yet encountered. For this, I declare you a Field Scribe of the Order of the Staff." Twilight swallowed, then used her magic to lift her hair out of the way so he could clasp the holo-tags around her neck.

"Rarity," Elder Lyons called out next. "Your generous soul and refusal to allow any good deed go unnoticed and unthanked provide a shining example of what I want my Brotherhood chapter to aspire to. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Order of the Staff."

Rarity curtseyed, holding herself like a princess as the Elder affixed her new holo-tags. "I'm grateful for the honor, Elder."

Elder Lyons smiled and nodded to her before turning to Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie. You've bounced back from everything the wasteland has thrown at you and still found the courage to smile. Your boundless energy reminds all of us, Brotherhood or not, of what it means to be human. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Order of the Staff."

Pinkie practically vibrated in place as the Elder struggled to put on her holo-tags. "Oh, oh, does this mean I get to be called Sir Pinkie? Or would it be Sir Pie? Oh, or maybe Pinkie of the Pie? Sir Pie of the Pinkie? Do I still have to find a pink emerald before I can be a true Pinkist?"

"Why don't you think it through and get back to me?" Elder Lyons said hurriedly. As Pinkie continued her erratic muttering, he picked up another set of holo-tags and cleared his throat. "Applejack. Your straightforward honesty has earned the respect and trust of our brethren, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that without your incredible strength and determination, the Citadel, and even the Brotherhood of Steel itself, would have fallen. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Order of the Staff."

Applejack took her hat off to let the Elder put on her holo-tags. "Well, shucks, this sure is somethin' to show the folks when Ah get home. Ah appreciate it. Just don't go askin' me to start speakin' fancy all of a sudden."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Elder Lyons chuckled. Fetching another set of holo-tags, he stepped over to Fluttershy, who blushed faintly as she realized that she was next. "Fluttershy. Several of the Knights wounded in the assault on Project Purity owe their lives to your swift and tender care, and even though recent events have placed you in an almost unthinkable position, you still have not given in to the evil that plagues many who suffer in this world. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight-Medic of the Order of the Staff."

Fluttershy dipped her head, her blush deepening as the Elder affixed her holo-tags.

Rainbow came next. The second the Elder looked in her direction she straightened up and puffed out her chest, holding her head up proudly. "Rainbow Dash. Your loyalty and valor know no bounds. You remain ever willing to throw yourself into the darkest abyss and always emerge in a blaze of glory. You will be pleased to know that, even before this was decided, the other Knights have taken to calling you the Sapphire Knight. For this, I declare you a full-fledged Knight of the Order of the Staff."

"Sir, thank you, sir!" Rainbow cried loudly, snapping a crisp salute once her holo-tags were on.

Sunset stiffened as Elder Lyons picked up the last set of holo-tags and turned to her. "Sunset Shimmer. Last, but most certainly not least. Ever since your arrival in this world, your friends have looked to you for guidance and leadership. Bearing this burden, despite facing challenges unlike anything you have ever encountered before, you have strived towards your final goal, and still managed to help every unfortunate you’ve encountered along the way. For this, I declare you a Knight-Sergeant of the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Commander of the Order of the Staff."

Commander?! Sunset almost blurted out a refusal on reflex, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. She had known that the girls had looked to her for direction right from the start. They had even nominated her as their leader back in Vault 101, this just made things a little more official. Once the Elder had put her holo-tags on, she picked one up and inspected it. The little metal tags had her name, date of birth, and blood type stamped on them, along with a tiny imprint of her cutie mark. The little holographic screen detailed her rank and which section of the Brotherhood of Steel she belonged to; in this case the Order of the Staff.

"These tags mark you as members of the Brotherhood of Steel," Elder Lyons explained. "The details of how the Order of the Staff will fit into the rest of the Brotherhood hierarchy will be hammered out later, but for now, take comfort in the knowledge that those tags guarantee you the respect and aid of any Brotherhood of Steel personnel you will encounter here in the Capital Wasteland." He looked around at each of them in turn. "I wish I could arrange more of a ceremony for this, as is customary, but I am afraid there simply isn't time. Speaking of time, I should let you return to the task at hand. The other squads will wait for you at the Rockland Car Tunnel. Good luck, and godspeed."

The group all saluted, though Sunset suspected that only Cross and Rainbow actually did it properly, then without further fanfare they turned and headed out of the gate. Each of them waved to Twilight as they went, who waved back with a melancholic expression.

Turning left once they were out of the Citadel, the group made their way up and over the shattered ruins once again. Rainbow and Fluttershy ponied up and flew over, but the others were again forced to rely on a mix of Rarity's magic and their own sense of balance. Rainbow asked why the Brotherhood didn't try to build an easier passage through the debris, but Cross told her that the near impassable terrain was far too useful from a defensive standpoint for them to bother.

"That was… unexpected," Sunset said quietly as she picked her way down a mound of broken concrete.

"That's one way of putting it," Rarity sighed. "Still, I must admit that it's nice to have solid proof that the Brotherhood of Steel is going to stand with us."

Rainbow grinned. "It's pretty awesome that we actually get to call ourselves Knights, too. Anyway, you'd better watch your step there, Knight-Sergeant."

"Don't even start, Rainbow," Sunset warned her, though she did turn her attention back to where her feet were going.

"You should bear your rank with pride," Cross said firmly. "For an outsider to be granted a position of leadership, not to mention given command of their own Order, is unprecedented in the history of the Brotherhood."

Sunset sighed. "I guess, but I'm not helping you guys out so I can start grabbing power."

"Maybe not, but power will make it easier for you to gather whatever you need to get yourselves home," Cross replied.

"She's got a fair point," Applejack put in.

"I know." Sunset sighed again as she hopped off the last chunk of concrete and landed on ordinary dirt. She waited patiently for the others to join her before pulling up the map on her Pip-Boy. "Okay, the Rockland Car Tunnel is almost due East of here. Cross, are there any particular areas between here and there that we should be careful of?"

Cross frowned as she thought. "If we travel as the crow flies, the only places I can think of would be Tenpenny Tower, which shouldn't be an issue as long as we don't try to bother them, Andale, and Warrington Train Yard."

"Let me guess, raiders?" Applejack asked.

"At Warrington? Not likely," Cross replied. "The train yard is overrun with feral ghouls, and as for Andale, well, the less said about that place, the better."

Sunset got Cross to point out the locations of each of them on her map. "Leave Tenpenny Tower alone, and avoid Warrington Train Yard, got it." Sunset nodded and hefted her plasma gun. "Alright, let's move out."

The group followed a series of old roads that snaked through the ruins, taking a minute southerly route than when they had last passed this way on the search for Vault 87. Fluttershy's keen senses proved invaluable, allowing them to avoid what was almost certainly a raider crew camped out in an old parking lot.

Soon enough, the team found themselves right at the very edge of the D.C. ruins. Sunset made to follow an old road that led in the direction they wanted, up a short slope, but Cross held her back. "You don't want to go that way. There's an overpass a little North of here, we can follow that."

Taking her advice, the group headed in the direction Cross had indicated. As they rounded the slope they spotted the overpass ahead, leading towards a large rocky hill. "That's the way we want to go," Cross said. "If we followed the road we'd end up in Andale, and that is not a place I'm in the mood to deal with right before an important mission like this one."

"What exactly is Andale?" Rarity asked.

Cross scowled. "A blight on this world. Someday I shall see it burnt to the ground, but we don't have the time right now."

The girls shrugged and decided to take Cross at her word. As they approached the overpass, they noticed that it actually followed a gentle slope up the hill that was largely devoid of rubble; a far easier prospect for a climb that didn't take them too close to whatever Andale was.

Adam made a point of investigating an overturned truck at the base of one of the overpass' pillars, hoping to scavenge something useful. Sunset made a mental note that she and the rest of the Rainbooms should probably learn from his example.

"Anything good?" Rainbow asked as he rejoined them.

"Found a first aid kit with a couple of stimpaks," Adam replied. "Also I got something for you, Pinkie."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow as he passed her a glass bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid. "Nuka-Cola Quantum?" She read out.

"Oh, those are pretty rare," Cross put in. "It's a crazy drink. It's more radioactive than ordinary Nuka-Cola, but it tastes a hell of a lot better and gives you a buzz like nothing else. It makes your piss glow, too, if you're into that sort of thing."

Pinkie's eyes practically popped out of their sockets, and she looked down at the bottle as if it were a sacred treasure. "Why did you have to be radioactive? Why must fate tempt me so?"

The others tried not to laugh as they offered their sympathies, but Pinkie kept the bottle anyway, stuffing it into her hair before getting right back to walking with a skip in her step. "I'll just have to take it home and figure out how it's made. There's bound to be a way of making it without it being radioactive!"

Sunset highly doubted that, but decided not to disabuse Pinkie of that notion.

The last part of the hill became quite steep as it rose to meet the overpass, but the lack of debris meant that it wasn't too difficult for the team to overcome. When they reached the top of the hill, however, Fluttershy hissed and lowered herself to the ground, making the others follow suit.

"What's up?" Sunset whispered.

Fluttershy pointed off to the right. "Enclave outpost. Not far that way."

Sunset nodded and looked around to the left. There was plenty of rubble around the top of the hill to provide cover for them. "We'll take the long way around. Stick to the rocks, and stay out of sight." She quickly relayed the plan to the others, and they stealthily picked their way towards the far side of the hill. Sunset was worried that Adam and Cross would have trouble being quiet thanks to their power armor, but Adam managed to keep the sound of his footsteps to a minimum, and Cross was quiet enough that Sunset could barely even hear her move.

Unfortunately, the other side of the hill held its own dangers. Rainbow reached the slope first, then stopped and motioned for the others to do the same before scooting back to Sunset. "Raiders. They're in some sort of parking lot over there."

"That'll be the Overlook Drive-In," Cross said with a grimace. "Shit. Most of this side of the hill is made up of high cliffs. The only way down is a slope that goes right past the Overlook, we won't be able to get past without getting spotted."

"Are you sure that they're raiders?" Applejack asked.

Rainbow nodded grimly. "They're literally in the middle of using chains and hooks to hang a corpse from a lamppost, so yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Sunset groaned with disgust. "Great. Okay, let's take a closer look and see if we can get past without a fight."

Creeping closer, the group soon spotted the raiders in question. There were five of them, standing together at the edge of an old drive-in cinema filled with cars and, as Rainbow had mentioned, working together to hoist a corpse up onto a floodlight.

"Sick bastards," Adam muttered. He turned to glance at Sunset, then did a double-take when he saw Applejack. "Uh, AJ? Why are you smiling?"

"Because Ah have a plan," Applejack replied with a grin. "All of y'all stay down. When the blast dies down, start runnin' down that there slope."

"Blast? What blast? What are you-" Sunset was cut off mid-question as Applejack took a frag grenade from her belt, pulled out the pin, then used her enhanced strength to lob it right into the middle of the jumble of cars. "Oh, shi-"

The explosion that followed was deafening. The grenade blew first, then nuclear reactors that served as engines for the cars all detonated at the same time with all the force and fury of a bomb, their combined might sending hot air and scraps of warped metal scything through the air. The raiders didn't stand a chance.

Before the echoes of the blast had even begun to die down, Applejack leapt to her feet and belted towards the slope. "Come on, before the Enclave comes lookin'!"

The group broke out into a sprint, dashing past the remains of the Overlook and hurtling down the hill as fast as they could, each of them flinching as more explosions came from the cars that had been on the very edge of the blast. The gradient of the slope was much steeper than expected, and everyone was forced to dodge rubble, boulders and trees as they careened down the hill, utterly unable to stop.

Sunset swore as she narrowly avoided slamming into a dead tree, then felt her stomach drop as she spotted a Protectron standing directly in her path.

"Enemy. Detecte-" The Protectron raised an arm, readying it's laser, but Sunset leaped into the air and smashed her foot into the glass dome of its head. The Protectron toppled backwards and, to her own amazement, Sunset found herself balancing on the robot as it slid and skidded down the hill until, just before it crashed into a boulder, she dove off and dropped into a commando roll to preserve her momentum, then carried on with her mad charge down the hill.

Finally, the ground leveled off and the group were able to bring themselves to a halt, each of them bending over to catch their breath. A hissing sound grabbed everyone's attention, and they all looked around just in time to see Adam sliding on his back, until he came to a stop right in the middle of them.

"That was awesome," Adam muttered breathlessly.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You slipped?"

"I slipped," Adam confirmed. He thanked Fawkes as he helped him to his feet, then looked over at Applejack. "You're a crazy bitch. Just thought you'd like to know."

"Ah'm aware," Applejack said proudly.

"We're all aware," Rarity spat, glaring daggers at her.

Cross huffed and straightened up. “Well, at least we're on the right track. There's Tenpenny Tower."

Sunset looked where she was pointing. An immense building rose up ahead of them. It looked like an old high-class hotel from the big city, towering at least twenty stories tall.

Applejack let out an impressed whistle. "Now that looks fancy. Ah bet it ain't cheap to live in that place."

"It really isn't," Cross replied. "Only the wealthiest wastelanders can afford to live there, but the security alone would be worth the price. Their security team is top-notch, and so is their hardware."

"As long as they don't try to use it on us, I couldn't care less right now." Sunset checked to make sure none of her equipment was damaged, then took the lead once again. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Luckily for the group, the ground ahead was mostly flat, with only the occasional low and gentle slope breaking up the monotony. Tenpenny Tower loomed over them as they drew nearer.

Cross reassured everyone that the residents would leave them alone as long as they didn't take any hostile actions, but Sunset couldn't help feeling nervous. She was sure that she had heard someone mention the place before, in no pleasant context, and to make things worse she couldn't shake the sensation that they were being watched.

When they reached the tower, the team saw that there was a large perimeter wall protecting the place, taller even than Fawkes, made up of enormous concrete slabs. The guards asked their business when they got within earshot, but didn't press further when Cross replied that they were just passing by. Even so, Sunset didn't let her guard down until they had left the tower a long way behind.

A few ruined buildings dotted the landscape beyond Tenpenny Tower, followed by several large concrete constructions a little further on and, beyond that, more rocky hills lined with cliffs rose up on the horizon.

"That's where we need to go," Cross said, pointing to the hills and squashing Sunset's vain hope that she wouldn't have to do anymore climbing that day. "You see those concrete buildings surrounded by fencing? That's Warrington Train Yard. We should probably head to the South a little so we can get past without being spotted by any feral ghouls."

No-one felt any need to disagree with her on that point. Each of the Rainbooms, other than Sunset, could vividly remember their last encounter with a horde of feral ghouls in the metro tunnels beneath the D.C. ruins, and none of them had any desire to repeat the incident.

Trusting to stealth once more, the group took care to give the train yard a wide berth as they headed up into the hills. Fluttershy said that she could hear and smell the ghouls shambling around in the yard, but thankfully the ghouls didn't share her incredible senses, and the group was able to pass without incident.

More good fortune followed, as while they were now steadily climbing the first of the hills, the slopes themselves were actually quite shallow. There were patches of treacherous scree dotted around, but they were easy enough to avoid. A short way up the first hill, the girls had a minor shock when they spotted what at first seemed to be beautiful green plants growing around a fallen tree. It was only when they got closer that they realized that what they had thought were plants were actually bright green mushrooms, growing on tall stalks that reached up to the girls' knees.

"Is it bad that Ah kinda got my hopes up for a second there?" Applejack asked.

Cross sighed and shook her head. "Honestly? So did I."

As they progressed further up the hill, the ground got progressively rockier. Rounding a particularly impressive boulder, the group paused in their tracks as they spotted a large building, constructed from steel and concrete, sitting on a rocky promontory above them to their right as if it were a sentinel watching over the path below.

Something about the building sent a shiver down Sunset's spine. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something wasn't right. Whatever was inside, it was ancient, it was buried, and it was evil.

"Wh-what is that place?" Rainbow asked quietly, clearly sensing something too.

"The Dunwich Building," Cross replied in a somber voice. "We should get moving. I don't know much about that place, but no-one who has gone exploring in there has ever come back out."

Sunset shook herself to try and shift the bad feelings. "Which way is the rendezvous point?"

Cross pointed up the hill past the Dunwich Building. "That way. It's not far now."

The group picked up the pace as they passed the promontory, staying as far away from the building as possible and doing their best not to look at it. When they were past, and the others were letting out sighs of relief, Sunset looked back at it, almost reluctantly. Her heart leapt into her mouth as she spotted a pale face looking at her from one of the windows, but before she could so much as blink, it vanished. Shivering uncontrollably, Sunset put her head down and walked away as quickly as she could, pointedly ignoring the gossamer whispers that seemed to claw at her mind.

"Alright, we're here!" Sunset jumped out of her skin as Cross suddenly spoke up. They had come across the shattered remnants of a road, leading up towards a cliff. Nestled at the bottom of a cliff was an old car tunnel. The tunnel entrance was blocked by huge boulders, but a team of Brotherhood Knights was gathered around a side door, shifting wooden supply crates off a truck and taking them inside.

One of the Knights waved as he saw the group approaching. "Hey, you made it! Head on inside, Paladin Metzger is just setting up a base camp."

Cross thanked him and stepped through the door. The others quickly followed and found themselves in a dimly lit corridor. Squeezing past the power-armored Knights, the group passed through the corridor and into the car tunnel itself, which was mercifully free of debris.

Lots of lights had been set up to illuminate the area, along with several pre-fabricated barricades and a handful of defensive turrets. Several Knights and Scribes were hurrying around, shifting supplies, tending to equipment and setting up more defenses.

Paladin Metzger was standing in the middle of the area, her helmet tucked under an arm as she directed the operation.

"Hail, Paladin," Cross called out.

Metzger looked around and clamped a hand over her heart as she spotted the group. "Hail, Star Paladin, Rainbooms. I- oh?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked at each of them. "Hey, the Elder actually went through with it? In that case; hail, Brothers and Sisters. Come in, we've got billets over here and plenty of clean food and water to go around. Make the most of it while you can."

"How long until the operation commences?" Cross asked.

"You were the last group we were waiting on," Metzger replied. "You've got an hour to get yourselves refreshed before we head out to meet Liberty Prime."

Author's Note

As thanks for reaching 500 likes, here's a bonus chapter!

Broken Steel will now begin in earnest, look forward to seeing how things change going forward...

Also, kudos to anyone who gets Pinkie's rather obscure reference without the aid of Google!

Chapter 89 - Death From Above

Loud metallic groans filled the air as the walls finally stopped shaking. Acheson grunted with effort as he used the T.I.R.E.K. suit to suck up the last of the loose magic floating around the room. Magic was a wondrous tool, that was undeniable, but getting it to work consistently with standard technology was, at times, a royal pain in the ass.

The most recent experiment had been simple, at least in theory: Adding a quantity of modified magic to a set of repurposed armor plates to be added to the Daybreaker prototype. Unfortunately, the magic, a customized blend of Loyalty and Laughter, had apparently disagreed with the cocktail of magic that was already flowing through the Daybreaker and expelled itself rather forcibly into the surrounding air.

The unexpected arrival of a cloud of unrestrained magic had turned the workshop into a madhouse as Acheson tried to corral the magic and Doctor Holt attempted to keep all of the equipment and documents from wandering off.

As Acheson siphoned the last drop of magic, he sighed and savoured the feeling of raw power that flowed through him. He amused himself by flexing his arms, watching the magic washing out of the T.I.R.E.K. and rippling across his muscles, until a low rumble caught his attention.

The Daybreaker shifted in its restraints and let out the same noise again. Acheson couldn't help but wonder if it was laughing at him. The prototype had continually mutated with each new infusion of magic and it now stood eight feet tall, with armor plates so clean and white it almost hurt to look at them, and was so slender that it would be almost impossible for anyone bulkier than Holt herself to actually wear the thing properly. Physical changes weren't the only mutations it was undergoing, and Acheson was positive that the Daybreaker had achieved a rudimentary level of true sapience.

A loud knock on the door echoed through the workshop, prompting Doctor Holt to abandon her efforts at tidying and hurry over to see who was there. Acheson turned his own attention to the mess all over the floor, intent on ignoring whichever fool was attempting to disturb his experiments, until Holt came back with a harried-looking Major Owens in tow.

"Major? What are you doing here?" Acheson asked.

"It's the Brotherhood of Steel, Doctor. They've assembled a strike force, accompanied by Liberty Prime, the Rainbooms, and the Vault 101 boy," Owens explained.

Acheson grinned. "It took them long enough. I wonder how long the Exodus team will be able to hold out against them?"

"They're not targeting the Exodus Building," Owens cut in. Acheson turned to stare at him curiously. "The strike force is assembling at the Rockland Car Tunnel. We believe that they're targeting our primary satellite relay station."

"What?!" Acheson gasped. He had expected the Brotherhood to launch an assault on the Exodus team in retaliation for the attack on the Citadel. He never imagined that they would ignore Exodus entirely, let alone that they would find the relay station so quickly. "Is the Bradley-Hercules Satellite ready to fire?"

Owens shook his head. "Not yet, but the techs say it should be ready soon. No more than an hour or so."

Acheson nodded. "Tell them to get it working as quickly as humanly possible, then contact the relay station and tell them to hold the Brotherhood off for as long as possible. Have them fight to the last man if need be." It wasn't too unreasonable an order. That relay station was the most heavily defended Enclave facility outside of the Adams Air Force Base itself. "I'll fetch you an authorization code, so tell the techs to fire the instant the satellite is ready."

Sunset took a deep breath to calm herself as she stared at the exit to the Rockland Car Tunnel. The scouts reported that the Enclave defenses began just on the other side of the door, and their troops were entrenched along the entire length of the road to the relay station. Even with Liberty Prime on their side, the strike force was in for one heck of a fight.

More than that, Sunset knew that there would be no running away or cowering in a corner this time. If she wanted to get her friends home as quickly and safely as possible, she was going to have to fight. She was going to have to kill. Sunset had thought that she had come to terms with the prospect of doing just that before the assault on Project Purity, but the truth was that that awful experience had shown her just how woefully unprepared she actually was. This time would be different. It had to be.

"Remember, let the robot do most of the heavy lifting," Metzger said, seeing how nervous Sunset was. "We're just here to support the tin can until we get to the relay station itself, then we take over. And don't forget, you're not fighting alone in this, your brothers and sisters are here with you. We're a team. You watch our asses, and we'll watch yours."

Sunset nodded and straightened up. "Okay."

"You got this?" Metzger asked.

"I've got this," Sunset replied with another nod. Metzger clapped a hand to her shoulder and stepped to the front of the group, leaving Sunset to look back at her friends. They all looked back at her, their expressions tense, but determined. Sunset glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was looking far more tense than the others. "You okay, Dash?"

Rainbow shifted to settle her armor a little more comfortably. "Yeah, just thinking about the plan for the satellite."

"You mean if we can't stop the uplink in time?" Sunset asked. She could hardly blame Rainbow for being worried. If they couldn't cut off the uplink in time, Rainbow would be Liberty Prime's first, and possibly only, line of defense. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Rainbow said firmly.

"Final checks, people, make sure you're ready!" Metzger called out.

Sunset glanced back at the door, then drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before addressing the rest of the Rainbooms. "Alright, girls. You heard the Paladin. Watch each other's backs out there. Let's pony up!"

The girls all nodded and ponied up one by one. The other Knights waiting around whistled and called out encouragement to them, while Adam, Fawkes and Cross just raised their weapons in a quiet salute. Metzger looked around at the gathered troops, her own Wonderbolts lined up next to her. "I hope you're ready, people. This battle could well be the one that decides the outcome of the war. Our enemy is strong, and their defences are tough, but we're the Brotherhood of Steel! We cannot yield, and we will not falter! Liberty Prime is with us, the Rainbooms are with us, and even the little lunatic from Vault 101 is with us!" A few Knights chuckled at Adam's sigh. "There is no greater fighting force in this entire wasteland! We will prevail! Are you with me?"

The Brotherhood troops cried out in unison, and Sunset couldn't help feeling her own spirits lift at the sound of a crowd of strong voices belting out through armored speakers. Metzger raised her laser rifle and turned to the door. "Then let's do this! Everybody, charge!"

Light streamed into the tunnel as Metzger kicked the door open and charged through it. The Wonderbolts thundered out after her, then Sunset led the Rainbooms out next.

A narrow road snaked off ahead of them, bordered on one side by low cliffs and on the other by a rocky valley. A series of crackling blue energy fields blocked the road, and several concrete towers dotted the valley, each topped with clusters of gun turrets. Sunset gulped as a Vertibird soared into view, but before anyone could react bright blue lasers seared through the air and blew it to smithereens.

"ENGAGING RED CHINESE AGGRESSORS." The ground shook as Liberty Prime stomped into view, lumbering into the valley utterly unconcerned by the laser fire that crackled from the turrets.

The Knights opened fire on the turrets, while the Rainbooms ducked behind their power-armored fellows to avoid the retaliatory laser shots, but thankfully most of the turrets were targeting the giant robot.

Liberty Prime didn't bother firing again. It simply strode up to the base of the nearest tower, then stamped on something that exploded with a crackle of electricity. The turrets atop the tower were silenced instantly, and the first energy field blocking the road powered down a moment later.

"DEMOCRACY IS TRUTH. COMMUNISM IS DEATH." Liberty fetched a mini-nuke from its back and hurled it at the next field, vaporising the emitters and destroying the turrets around it.

"Keep moving! Everyone press forward!" Metzger barked. She led half of the strike force down a slope into the valley, with Pinkie, Rainbow and Applejack following, while Cross, Adam, Fawkes, and the rest of the Rainbooms joined the other Knights as they dared the roadway.

A handful of Enclave soldiers guarded the way ahead, and just beyond them a third energy field blocked the way around a corner; this one crackling with blue and pink energy. As the Knights and soldiers traded fire, Rarity conjured glittering pillars spaced evenly apart for the troops, largely Sunset, Fawkes and herself, to take cover behind.

Taking aim from behind one crystal pillar, Sunset swallowed her reluctance and fired at the nearest soldier. Adam and Fawkes both focused their fire on the same target, and the soldier's armor heated up, warped, then finally gave way beneath the storm of laser and plasma fire. Sunset felt her stomach lurch as the soldier fell, horror and revulsion threatening to overwhelm her, but she thrust her feelings to the back of her mind and focused her attention on looking for her next target.

"Shoot the same bad guys that I do!" Adam called out. "We'll concentrate our fire and overwhelm their armor, one by one!"

Sunset and Fawkes readily followed his advice, though the Enclave soldiers didn't make it easy. Crystal cracked and melted under their weapons fire, and Sunset saw two Knights fall before their guns, but the Brotherhood had the advantage of numbers. The soldiers didn't last long.

When the last soldier fell, the Knights charged up towards the energy barrier. Sunset looked around for Liberty Prime, but the robot was distracted by a particularly large Vertibird, one bristling with weapons and protected by a purple magical shield that rippled and flickered with each laser that Liberty fired at it.

A bright red laser sparked off the ground near Sunset's feet, making her yelp and jump aside in fright. A set of turrets on top of a nearby tower had apparently decided that the group stuck next to the energy field made good targets. Sunset dodged behind Adam, using him as a power-armored human shield while she shot one of the turrets until it exploded in a shower of sparks. A swift volley from Fawkes and Adam took care of the others.

"We need to find the generator, we're sitting ducks up here!" One of the Knights snapped.

Loud explosions ripped through the air as Liberty Prime finally gave up and just tossed a nuke at the Vertibird, blowing it out of the sky. "DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL." The robot glanced down and fired its lasers at something out of sight, then the energy field fizzled out and disappeared.

Adam huffed a laugh. "I guess that was the gener-"

A loud screeching roar cut him off, and barely a second later a two-legged reptilian nightmare bounded around the corner. The closest Knight had just enough time to yell out a warning before the creature pounced on him, claws and teeth flashing.

"Deathclaw!" The other Knights fired wildly as the Deathclaw tore through their companion's power armor with horrifying ease.

"No you don't!" Rarity threw an arm out to the side and summoned a circular razor-edged gemstone, then sent it spinning towards the Deathclaw's legs. The monster roared in agony as the gem scythed through bone and muscle, sending the creature tumbling to the ground, but its misery didn't last long as Cross darted forward with her hammer raised high. Sunset tore her gaze away just as the hammer struck home with a sickening crunch.

"AMERICA WILL NEVER FALL TO COMMUNIST INVASION." Liberty Prime stomped along in search of enemies, following the curve of the valley as it, and the road above, turned to the right. Almost as soon as Liberty turned the corner the air was ripped apart by a terrific storm of lasers, plasma bolts and missiles, all directed at the robot. Wading through the fusillade, Liberty retaliated with its own lasers and the occasional thrown nuke.

"That's our cue, let's go!" Cross led the group up on the road in a thundering charge around the corner. Sunset gritted her teeth and followed them reluctantly. Thankfully, there were no more energy fields blocking the road, but in their place were metal barriers and barricades guarded by turrets and more Enclave soldiers. The relay station rose up behind them; a windowless concrete edifice that bore no markings whatsoever. Huge satellite dishes rose up in a row on a ridge behind the building.

More firepower was directed at the advancing group, forcing Sunset to keep her head down as she ran, firing off snap shots whenever she got a chance. The flurry of lasers and plasma was also accompanied by brightly coloured flashes of light that spoke of magical weaponry being deployed, though in the chaos it was impossible to see what the effects were.

Sunset yelped as a laser scored a furrow across her armor. Ducking behind a Knight, she pulled a pulse grenade from her belt, armed it, and hurled it at the nearest barricade. The grenade detonated with an electronic crackle, and the soldiers behind the barricade lurched as their armor suddenly lost power. Cross took the opportunity to smash through the sudden weakness in the Enclave's defences, followed by several Knights, and they set to butchering the helpless troopers without mercy.

A colossal blast suddenly rocked the road, ripping a Knight to pieces and showering those nearby with grit, shards of metal and chunks of meat. Sunset hissed as she felt a sharp pain in her leg, but she ignored it and focused on diving behind a wrecked barricade. Looking around carefully, she spotted an Enclave soldier reloading a Fatman; a weapon the Brotherhood had taught her about that launched miniature nuclear warheads. She fired at the soldier, but ran out of ammunition before she could take him down.

As she ducked down to reload, hoping that the soldier wouldn't think to target her with a nuke, she spotted something pink moving down in the valley. Pinkie had spotted the soldier too and, heedless of the lasers turning patches of dust to glass around her, reached up to fish a Nuka-Cola out of her hair and stuffed it into the barrel of her Party Cannon, before pointing it up at the soldier with the Fatman.

The Cannon fired with a high-pitched thoom. Sunset watched in amazement as the Nuka-Cola flew in a lazy arc, leaving a trail of glittering pink sparkles in its wake, until it smashed against the soldier's chest. The blast that followed was audible even over the furore of the battle. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the soldier was an armored pair of legs, standing incongruously like a half-made statue.

"Holy shit," Sunset muttered under her breath.

"Language, darling," a voice said weakly. Sunset turned and saw that, to her mild surprise, Rarity was crouching next to her. The fashionista was liberally splattered with mud, ash, and blood, but at least the latter didn't seem to be her own. "This is a little more than we bargained for."

"You can say that again," Sunset agreed fervently. She flinched as a bolt of plasma melted a chunk of the barricade next to them. "Are you managing okay?"

Rarity nodded and stood up just long enough to fling a small crystal spike before ducking down again. "Their armor is too strong for my magic, so I'm just trying to aim for their weapons. It'll be harder for them to kill us if they can't shoot us." She brushed her hair out of her face and peeked over the barricade again. "Alright, darling, let's keep moving!"

It happened in an instant. Rarity stood up and placed a foot on top of the barricade, ready to vault over it, when a hissing orange bolt struck her in the chest and exploded like a miniature sun, punching her clean off her feet.

"Rarity!" Sunset scrambled over to her. The magical shot had burned a fist-sized hole through her armor, but the uniform beneath was only singed. Rarity groaned in agony, prompting Sunset to look around at the Knights. "Medic!"

"Give me a second!" Sunset whipped her head around to face the source of the shout. Fluttershy was kneeling next to a fallen Knight, back where the energy field had been. Sunset felt her blood run cold as she realized that Fluttershy had her hands inside the Knight's abdomen, clearly trying to staunch a horrific injury, but even as she watched Fluttershy gave up and shook her head, swearing loudly before pulling her hands out and sprinting up to Rarity. "What happened?"

Sunset scooted back to give her room. "Some sort of magic bullet. Shot her in the chest."

Fluttershy put her ear to Rarity's chest and listened carefully for a couple of seconds. "No broken bones, you're fine." She pulled out a stimpak, rolled the fashionista's sleeve up and jammed it into her arm, ignoring Rarity's pained hiss. "This'll help you get back on your feet. Try not to get shot again!"

Without another word, Fluttershy turned and ran towards the next fallen Knight, ducking and weaving to avoid getting shot.

"She's scary when she's in doctor mode." Sunset glanced down at Rarity. "You good to go?"

"I think so?" Rarity grunted and tried to pull herself to her feet, then yelped and dropped to the floor as another orange bullet whizzed past her head and blew a chunk out of the ground.

Sunset looked around wildly for whoever was targeting them. A multicolored blur grabbed her attention as Rainbow flew up to the top of the relay building, Flashburn blazing in her hand. Apparently, she found her target, as she swung the blade once towards something laying on the roof and a moment later an object that looked awfully like a head rolled off the edge of the building, dropping to the ground below like a forgotten ball.

Another explosion shook the earth as Liberty threw another nuke, and all of a sudden an abrupt silence fell. Taken off-guard by the sudden lull in the fighting, Sunset carefully stood up and looked around for any enemies, only to realize that there weren't any left. All of the Enclave soldiers outside the relay station were either dead or too wounded to keep fighting.

"What now?" Rarity asked, standing up and rubbing her chest.

Sunset looked up at the satellite dishes. "Now we get inside and shut this place down before they can finish the satellite uplink."

"COMMUNIST THREAT ASSESSMENT: MINIMAL." Liberty Prime lumbered closer to the station, and a blue light illuminated the building as it scanned the structure. "SCANNING DEFENCES. STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS DETECTED. EXPLOITING." The giant robot hurled a nuke at the building. When the smoke cleared, Sunset saw a huge crater in the wall, with a spiderweb of cracks running through the concrete, but it hadn't been enough to breach the interior. Realizing this, Liberty walked right up to the crater, raised a fist, and punched a hole right through the solid concrete.

"Okay, now for the hard part," Sunset said grimly. Before she could take a step closer, two of the satellite dishes suddenly moved, metal groaning as they both aligned and pointed up into the sky. Sunset's heart sank as she realized what was happening. "No… no, no, no… we're too late."

"SATELLITE UPLINK DETECTED. ANALYSIS OF COMMUNIST TRANSMISSION PENDING." Liberty Prime ripped its arm from the wall and stepped back, tilting its head to look up at the sky. Mere seconds later, it let out a wailing siren. "WARNING. WARNING. RED CHINESE ORBITAL STRIKE IMMINENT." Liberty thrust an arm out, pointing away from the station. "ALL PERSONNEL SHOULD REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE, IMMEDIATELY."

Shouts and orders rang out from the Knights, and the strike force swiftly retreated back the way they had come, dragging their wounded with them. Sunset and Rarity looked up as they ran. Bright lights could be seen in the sky, growing brighter with each passing second. Fear clutched at Sunset's heart as a rainbow-coloured blur rocketed upwards to meet them.

"Rainbow?! Is she insane?! What's she doing?!" Rarity cried.

"Trying to save Liberty Prime," Sunset replied shakily. Elder Lyons had warned them about the possibility of an orbital strike, but since they didn't have any way of attacking a satellite directly, this was the next best option. "She's going to try to intercept as many missiles as she can, and destroy them before they reach the ground."

Rarity gave Sunset a horrified look. "She's going to try and stop a barrage of orbital missiles head on?! With a sword?!"

Sunset didn't answer. Technically, all Rainbow had to do was sever a fuel line, wreck a guiding fin, or do enough damage to the fuselage to knock a missile off course, but with how fast the missiles would be travelling, not to mention getting away from each missile before it exploded, or even outrunning the explosion… it was a tall order, even for Rainbow Dash. One slight miscalculation, one wrong wing flap, and Liberty Prime wouldn't be the only one they lost.

Even as the pair ran, the first explosion lit up the sky. Sunset felt her heart clench, then another blast came, then another. After the third explosion, Liberty Prime fired upwards with its own lasers, and the sky was suddenly filled with fire and smoke.

"TARGETING SYSTEM INSUFFICIENT." Liberty Prime suddenly crouched and held its arms above its head. "NOT LIKE TH-"

The ground heaved as the first missile hit the ground right next to the robot. The force of the explosion sent seething air hissing over the fleeing Knights, and the immense shockwave made the very ground heave and split, throwing the girls to the ground. Further blasts followed as more missiles slammed home, turning the world into a hellish mess of screaming air and tortured earth.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the noise died away and the ground stopped shaking.

Sunset coughed dryly. Slowly, half-afraid that the nightmare would begin again, she removed her arms from her head and moved her legs, shifting from the ball she had instinctively rolled into. She looked around at the others, seeing the Knights, Cross, and Adam still standing, while Rarity, Fawkes and Fluttershy were all curled up just as Sunset was.

"Is everyone okay?" The sound of Pinkie calling out from the valley below sent a brief glimmer of hope through Sunset's chest, boosted a second later as she heard more Knights shout responses, Applejack's voice among them. As she stood and looked back towards Liberty Prime, however, Sunset felt that hope waver.

A great cloud of smoke and dust obscured the spot where Liberty Prime had crouched. Sunset could neither see nor hear a thing; not a glimpse of the robot, not a peep from its speakers, not even the groan of flexing metal.

A bright light descending from the sky made Sunset flinch, and her breath hitched as Rainbow touched down gently and swept Flashburn around with a flourish. "That… was fucking awesome! Isn't that right, big guy?"

Sunset's heart leapt as a giant shadow rose to its feet within the cloud. Its armor was blackened and rent open in places, but every single member of the strike force let loose a victorious roar as Liberty Prime raised a fist to the heavens. "LIBERTY SHALL NEVER DIE."

Chapter 90 - Satellite Uplink Assault

Bolstered by the survival of Liberty Prime, not to mention the sheer awesomeness of seeing a giant battle robot striking a victorious pose like a fictional action hero, the Brotherhood of Steel strike force charged back towards the relay station with renewed vigor.

The hole that Liberty had punched in the station's wall was situated directly above a concrete ledge that ran around the outside of the building, presumably some sort of maintenance access. While out of reach from the valley floor, the ledge was level with and easily accessible from the road above. The members of the strike force that had followed the road reluctantly stopped their headlong charge when they reached the building and waited for those who had taken the valley to catch up.

Metzger was the first to crest the slope. The moment the whole force was gathered she called out to a handful of Knights, ordering them to wait outside with Liberty Prime in case the Enclave sent reinforcements. "The rest of you, get inside and shut this place down before those bastards launch another orbital strike!"

Raising her hammer high, Cross pointed at the hole. "For victory!" The Knights roared and followed as she led the way, thundering recklessly along the narrow ledge in single file.

Sunset and Rarity hung back, waiting for the other Rainbooms to catch up. Both turned as they heard a low, drawn-out hiss from behind. Fluttershy was walking slowly towards them, pinching the bridge of her nose and keeping her gaze fixed on the floor. Adam and Fawkes were walking along behind her, giving her worried looks.

"Are… are you alright, dear?" Rarity asked warily.

Fluttershy shook her head. "Too much. It's all just…" Her Geode glowed brightly, then there was a flash of light as she shifted from her ponied up form to her vampire form. The moment Fluttershy's transformation finished she shoved a hand into her nursing kit and whipped out a blood pack, biting into it and draining it in a heartbeat. Adam cocked his head at her, but the helmet he wore hid his expression.

"Better?" Sunset asked.

Fluttershy nodded as she tossed the empty pack aside and licked her lips. "For now."

A gust of wind announced Rainbow's arrival. "Hey, are you going inside?"

"In a second, we're letting the guys with power armor make the first push," Sunset replied.

"Good idea," Applejack said as she and Pinkie finally reached the group. "Wow, y'all are a mess. Ah hope none of y'all are hurt?"

"We're fine, darling," Rarity replied, though she covered the hole in her armor with a hand as she said it. "Shall we get going?"

Pinkie shook her head. "I'll wait out here. I doubt my Party Cannon will be much use inside," she said in a toneless voice. Sunset couldn't help but notice that Pinkie's eyes were unfocused, staring at something the others couldn't see. Her hair was still poofy, though, which seemed to be a good sign.

"I'll stay out here too, in case the satellite fires again," Rainbow said, looking up into the sky.

Sunset nodded and hefted her plasma rifle. "Alright, we'll see you soon, then. Let's go, girls."

Joining the stream of Knights hurrying into the building, the group carefully made their way across the ledge and into the hole. A featureless corridor greeted the girls, with a single door smashed open at either end of it. The sounds of fierce fighting came from both sides.

Deciding to head through the door on her right, purely because the fighting didn't quite sound so brutal this way, Sunset and the others found themselves in a tall room lined with metal shelving units and kitchen appliances. Two squat machines dominated the far end of the room, while above hung the remains of metal walkways and stairs. Chunks of twisted metal and molten slag in the middle of the room showed what had happened to the rest of the stairways.

A pair of tunnels led out of the room; one to the left, and the other behind the squat machinery. Both were guarded by Enclave soldiers, trading fire with the Knights that had charged into the room.

Adam and Fawkes quickly added their firepower to the fight, while the girls prioritized finding some decent cover first. More Knights were following them into the room, but the Enclave soldiers weren't budging an inch.

"We need to block off one of those tunnels!" Sunset shouted as she crouched behind an old refrigerator.

"Got it!" Rarity rolled out from behind a shelving unit and threw her hands out towards the tunnel on the left. A huge gemstone appeared in front of the tunnel entrance, sealing it up. "That won't hold them for long!"

She hardly needed to have bothered with the warning. The instant the side tunnel was closed, every single Brotherhood Knight in the room turned their weapons on the soldiers in the other tunnel, unleashing a hail of lasers and plasma bolts that not even Enclave power armor could stand against.

The gemstone gave way a heartbeat later, shattering to pieces as an Enclave soldier barged through it like a battering ram, only to be greeted by a punishing fusillade that cut him down before he could even raise his weapon. His fellows lasted only a few seconds longer.

As the last soldier slumped to the ground, Sunset lowered her weapon with a quiet huff. The Knights quickly set to dividing up labor: Selecting squads to take each tunnel and another to tend to the wounded. Sunset looked around, trying to see where her friends had gotten to, when she spotted something drop from above.

The Enclave soldier landed with a crash that shook the floor. His armor was bigger and bulkier than ordinary Enclave suits, and he wielded an immense sledgehammer that crackled with electricity.

Before anyone could react, the soldier lashed out at the nearest Knight. The hammer slammed into the Knight's chest with a hollow boom and a bright flash of light, and suddenly the whole room was plunged into darkness.

Sunset cowered behind the refrigerator as Knights fired blindly, scarlet, emerald and blue strobe flashes throwing nightmarish shadows on the walls as the soldier stalked his prey in the dark. Only the electricity arcing across the head of his hammer gave any clue as to where he was.

Aiming for where he should be in relation to his hammer, Sunset fired as rapidly as she could, sending a stream of plasma bolts at the soldier. The soldier seemed utterly unfazed, but the plasma lit up his silhouette well enough for others to target him.

"Ah got him!" Sunset stopped firing as Applejack leapt out of the shadows, drawing her fist back for a strike. The soldier turned, searching for the source of the shout, but before AJ could get close enough to strike several bolts of plasma struck the soldier in the back, washing over his shoulders like emerald flames.

Applejack skidded to a halt. The light from the shots faded quickly, but it was enough for Sunset to see her expression shift from determination to abject terror. "N-no…" Applejack stepped back as the soldier turned to face her, her voice shaking, "No… get away, get away from me!"

"Look out!" A winged shadow slammed into Applejack just as the hammer swung, missing the pair by inches.

Sunset raised her gun again, but before she could fire someone pounced on the soldier's back. The crackling electricity lit up Rarity's face from beneath, making her look utterly demonic as she pressed her hands to the soldier's armor, and a horrific crunch echoed through the room. Just as darkness fell again, the soldier gurgled wetly and fell to the ground with a loud clang.

An uneasy quiet fell in the wake of the soldier's death, broken only by the moans of the wounded and the hissing of bubbling plasma. Sunset hurriedly switched her Pip-Boy light on just as several Knights activated flashlights built into their helmets, lighting up the room.

Fluttershy was hunched over Applejack, her expression grim as she rubbed her friend's back. Rarity and Sunset hurried over to find Applejack curled up into a ball, hyperventilating.

"What's wrong with her?" Rarity asked urgently.

"Panic attack," Fluttershy replied tightly. "We have to get her out of here."

"N-no," Applejack forced out between breaths.

"You're in no condition to keep going!" Rarity snapped.

Sunset looked down at Applejack with concern. "What set this off? It's not like Applejack to have a panic attack."

"I get the feeling recent events weren't as easy to shake off as we expected," Fluttershy said quietly. She rummaged through her nursing kit and pulled out an empty syringe and a small vial. She filled the syringe using the vial, then gently took Applejack's arm. "Here, this will help." Applejack barely seemed to notice the needle sliding into her arm, but a few seconds later her breathing slowed down to normal and she visibly sagged.

"What did you give her?" Adam asked as he and Fawkes strode up to the girls.

"A sedative," Fluttershy replied. "I was going to use it to slow myself down if the bloodlust got too powerful. I know it's risky, but I put it together with my unenhanced metabolism in mind; Applejack is bigger and heavier than I am, so she should be okay. She's not going to be in any condition to fight for a while, though. As soon as I can get her outside without pushing past a bunch of Knights, I will."

Adam nodded. "Right, I'll stick with these two, the rest of you push on with the other troops."

"I am not leaving Applejack here in this state!" Rarity hissed.

"Rarity and I shall stay," Fawkes cut in as Adam tried to retort. "Her magic will be particularly useful in protecting us, but you, Adam, will be far more useful than I in preventing another orbital strike." He clamped a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I shall protect them with my life, you have my word. Go."

Adam sighed heavily, then nodded again. "Fine. I guess it's just me and you then, Sunset. Flutters, Fawkes, Rare, be careful."

"We should be saying that to you," Fluttershy countered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep this idiot out of trouble." Sunset looked up as a wounded Enclave soldier crawled out of his damaged armor. She glanced around for a medic, spotted one who was closing the eyes of a dead Knight and, swallowing her unease, called him over as she dashed to the wounded soldier's side. Resting a hand on the fallen man's forehead, she quickly used her magic before getting out of the medic's way. "Try and save as many Enclave soldiers as you can, too. The less people who die here the better."

With the information she had stolen from the soldier's memories fixed firmly in her mind, Sunset pointed to the left tunnel and shouted out, "The control room is this way! Let's go!" Without looking back, she charged towards the tunnel. The loud thumping of armored footsteps told her that Adam and the other Knights were following.

"I almost forgot she was a telepath," one of the Knights muttered as Sunset ran past.

Several Brotherhood Knights had already gone down the tunnel. In a small break room off the tunnel Sunset spotted a Knight watching over a pair of captive Enclave soldiers, both kneeling next to their power armor with their hands behind their heads. Hurrying past, it wasn't long until the sounds of combat could be heard from up ahead.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Adam asked as they hurried forward.

Sunset glanced back over her shoulder. She didn't need to ask who he was talking about "They'll be okay. Fluttershy is probably struggling with her mutations right now, but helping Applejack will give her something to focus on, and neither Rarity nor Fawkes will let anyone get near them without a fight." Sunset looked ahead as they drew closer to the battle. "Right now, you should probably be more concerned about what's going to happen to us."

A handful of Knights were clustered around a door at the end of the tunnel, firing upwards at something inside the room beyond. Whatever it was, it fell swiftly, and the Knights ducked through the door in rapid succession.

Sunset took cover behind the door and peeked inside. The room was narrow but incredibly tall, lined by a metal staircase that climbed several storeys into the darkness above. A bitter firefight was being waged between the Knights trying to make their way to the upper levels, and the Enclave soldiers doing their best to hold them back. Power-armored corpses littered the stairway.

"That looks rough," Adam grumbled.

Sunset nodded, then did a double-take as she realized that he had the dead soldier's magic hammer in one hand, and his plasma rifle clutched like an oversized pistol in the other. "What the hell are you bringing that for?!"

Adam shrugged. "I was thinking of giving it to Cross." He glanced into the room and squared his shoulders. "Stay behind me. Use my armor as cover and shoot anyone who targets us."

"Right!" Sunset followed as Adam stepped into the room, raising his rifle and blasting away one-handed. She couldn't help but envy the ease with which he handled the weapon, even with the aid of his power armor.

The two slowly advanced up the steps, Sunset flinching every time a laser or plasma bolt cracked off the walls or Adam's armor. They moved with caution, trying to avoid getting caught in the sights of too many soldiers at once while focusing their fire on one target at a time. The Knights quickly followed suit, and between them the Brotherhood force started making smooth progress up the stairs. A soldier armed with a gatling laser slew two Knights and held the others off at one point, but only until another Knight managed to bring a missile launcher to bear and crack the offending trooper's armor wide open.

Finally, after a more gruelling climb than any Sunset had ever undertaken, the Brotherhood managed to reach the top of the stairs. She supposed she should feel relieved at clearing the hurdle, but the trail of dead and wounded troops from both factions behind them, not to mention the knowledge that the fight was far from done, crushed any enthusiasm she could have felt.

"Which way now, Knight-Sergeant Shimmer?" One of the Knights asked.

Sunset pointed over to a narrow corridor. "That way. Through the corridor, down another stairwell and into another tunnel system."

The Knights moved aside as Adam stepped to the front. "I'll take point. The rest of you keep them off my back, and don't forget to concentrate your fire on one poser at a time. It's the only way we'll be able to penetrate their armor."

No one had any complaints about that, especially given how much more durable Adam's stolen Enclave armor was than the Brotherhood's ancient suits. Moving into the corridor, the team were surprised to find absolutely no opposition. They progressed slowly, checking every nook and cranny, but they didn't encounter anyone or anything until they emerged into another tall room.

A scene of absolute devastation met their eyes. Broken bodies were scattered all over the place, blood and entrails coated from every surface, and the stairway leading down had been shredded like paper. The stench was enough to turn Sunset's stomach, but worse was the cloying sensation of dark magic hanging heavy in the air.

"What the hell happened here?" Adam asked quietly.

A bizarre electronic chuckle made everyone flinch. Looking around for the source, Sunset spotted something glowing in the corner of the room. Cautiously moving closer, she realized that it was a large gun resembling a gatling laser, but with wisps of dark purple, pink and silver magic wafting around the muzzle. It let out another electronic chuckle, and Sunset backed away from it slowly. "I get the feeling we do not want to mess with that thing."

"We'll get a containment unit up here as soon as the site's secure," one of the Knights said. "I've gotta say, I'm not sure whether I'm glad that the Enclave is having trouble with magic too or not."

Sunset shook her head. "As long as it's not trying to kill us, I'm willing to worry about it later. Right now, I'm more concerned about how we're going to get downstairs."

The Knight stomped over to the edge of the stairs and looked over the railings. "It's not a big drop, our power armor can take it. You'll just have to make your way down carefully."

Without another word, the Knight kicked the railings away and hopped over the edge, his fellows following after with loud thuds as they landed below. Adam offered Sunset a shrug before dropping down himself.

"Typical. I should have brought Rarity or Rainbow Dash with me," Sunset grumbled.

Muttering under her breath in an effort to distract herself from the gore dripping from the ceiling, Sunset slung her plasma rifle over her shoulder and carefully made her way down the broken stairs. It was slow going at first, but after the first flight the remaining stairs were undamaged, allowing her to hurry after the others.

The Knights hadn't bothered waiting for her. The sounds of battle echoed through the building before Sunset even reached the first floor. They raged intensely for a moment, then a loud boom knocked a rain of dust from the ceiling, leaving silence in its wake.

"Please tell me that was Adam using that hammer," Sunset whispered to herself as she jumped down the last few steps and sped into the nearby tunnel. She rounded a few corners with no sign of anyone, then finally almost ran head first into the back of a Knight as she sprinted blindly around the last bend.

"Easy there, Knight-Sergeant," one of the Knights said brightly, holding her laser rifle over her shoulder. "We've got this under control.

A couple of Enclave soldiers lay dead on the floor, and a trio more were stepping out of their armor under the supervision of the Knights, their heads bowed and their hands above their heads.

"How much further?" Another Knight asked.

"Not much further," Sunset replied. "We're almost at the heart of the station. Adam?" The boy in question looked around curiously. "You take the lead again, I'll be right behind you."

Leaving a few Knights to watch over the surrendered soldiers, the rest of the team advanced through the tunnels once more. There were only a handful of them left now, including Adam and Sunset, but they were confident that they could handle whatever the Enclave had left to throw at them.

The group soon came to the end of the tunnel. They climbed up yet another short staircase and found themselves in a small room full of old server stacks, all beeping away cheerily. A large metal door at the far end of the room led to another short tunnel, and beyond that lay another large security door.

"That's it," Sunset said quietly. "That's where the satellite uplink terminal is located."

Adam nodded, hefting his plasma rifle in one hand and the hammer in the other while the remaining Knights clutched their weapons tightly.

Sunset pulled her last pulse grenade from her belt, then took cover by the wall next to the door. "Okay, on three. One. Two. Three!"

She pressed the button to open the door, but before the door had even finished rattling open a voice from inside shouted, "Don't shoot! We surrender!"

Surprised, and more than a little relieved, Sunset peeked into the room. Huge computer banks filled the room, red lights twinkling all over them. The biggest computer, the satellite uplink terminal itself, sat right in the middle of the room. A dead Enclave soldier lay on the floor, and a slightly battered-looking officer kneeled next to him with his hands behind his head. Two more soldiers were standing next to their empty armor with their hands raised, while a second officer had a plasma pistol aimed at the base of her kneeling compatriot's skull.

The armed officer, a tall woman with cropped blonde hair, lowered her pistol as the Knights stepped into the room. The Knights raised their weapons as the officer stepped forward, but she ignored them and stopped in front of Sunset, looking her up and down. "I'm Lieutenant Bles. Lieutenant Colonel Strong said you'd arrive at some point. I'm sorry we couldn't stop the orbital strike, but we delayed it for as long as we possibly could. In any case, we've secured the uplink, and made sure that the stored data is safe and decrypted for the Brotherhood's perusal, you'll find everything on these terminals."

Sunset's eyes widened with recognition. "Colonel Strong? That means…"

Bles nodded. "I'm working with the Exodus team. It's an honour to finally meet you, Miss Shimmer."

Author's Note

Apologies for the delay on this chapter, as I mentioned in the blog I had a buffer put together to avoid this exact problem, but I burnt through it a lot faster than expected.

As for the reason for the delay, my wife's grandfather was diagnosed a few months ago with cancer, which took a turn for the worse a few days ago. As such, I prioritized time with family over my writing.

Unfortunately, Cyril passed away in his sleep the night before last. He was surrounded by family, and he was asleep with a morphine drip, so I imagine there aren't many more peaceful ways to go. There is a lot of family drama going on already involving wills, but that's a whole other story.

I'm back to writing now, as much as I can, but I'll be trying to update this story every Sunday now rather than Wednesday, just to give myself some extra time to get the next chapter done. Sorry for the downer, but I felt that you all deserved to know why there was a sudden hitch in the update schedule.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Comments and criticisms are welcome, indeed they're encouraged, and thanks for reading.

Chapter 91 - The Dust Settles

There were many things that Sunset had taken for granted in her old life, both in Equestria and at CHS. One of the biggest things, something so fundamental and invisible that no one ever noticed it until it was gone, was something so rare in the Capital Wasteland that Sunset felt genuine happiness whenever she found it.

Fully functional toilet plumbing. With clean water.

Even in the Citadel or Rivet City, with Project Purity running at full capacity, clean water was rare enough that the toilets mostly reused filthy brown water, or worse; faintly luminous rainwater. Only the Enclave were willing to use precious clean water for flushing toilets even in their most remote facilities, a fact that Sunset found herself oddly grateful for.

With her business done, Sunset stepped out of the cubicle and shuffled over to the sinks, sighing heavily.

The battle was over, the satellite uplink had been secured and the surviving Enclave personnel had been rounded up by the Brotherhood of Steel, both Exodus and loyalist. All that was left for the Rainbooms was a short rest period before they headed back to the Citadel with Liberty Prime.

Unfortunately, now that the battle was done and the adrenaline was gone, Sunset felt herself crashing hard. The only parts of her body that didn't ache were the bits that stung instead; minor cuts, bruises and burns she hadn't even felt happening during the fight itself.

Sunset groaned and looked into the mirror above the sink. She looked like a mess. Blood, mud, ash and oil covered almost every inch of her body, while her hair blended it all together in a sticky matted mess.

"Whoa, you look rough." Sunset blinked and looked around, noticing with some surprise that another Knight was in the room with her, washing her hands. "They're giving out hot food out by Liberty Prime. I'd grab what you can before they send you back to the Citadel."

"Thanks," Sunset mumbled. She turned on the taps, washing her hands before scrubbing as much muck from her face as she could.

The Knight wafted the collar of her suit and wrinkled her nose. "Damn, it's hot inside that power armor. The old T-45s don't have any cooling systems. I swear, if you wrung out my clothes you'd get enough sweat to drown a toddler."

"Delightful," Sunset huffed.

"Yeah. I, uh, I'm kinda off my game here." The Knight coughed and cleared her throat. "I saw you fight back there. You're pretty tough, not to mention resourceful." Sunset just grunted and dried her face off with a towel. The Knight winced and slicked her hair back with a hand. "So, anyway, I was wondering… before we go back to the Citadel, do you want to get some of that food? With me, I mean. Food with me."

"Sure, food sounds good," Sunset replied with a sigh. Eating would probably be a good idea, if only to try and perk herself up. "Where did you say they were giving it out?"

The Knight raised an eyebrow, then frowned with concern. "You really are fucked, aren't you? I thought that wasn't your first battle?"

Sunset shook her head and turned to lean against the sink. "No, but fighting like that… killing… it's not something I can get used to that easily."

"I guess that's fair." The Knight smiled sadly and stepped to the door of the toilets. "I guess I'll have to ask again some other time. Come on, let's get you some food."

Sunset frowned curiously as she followed the woman out of the toilets, then shook her head as she remembered something. "Do you know what happened to that weird magic gun we found?"

The Knight grimaced at the reminder of it. "They stuck it in a containment crate ready to be shipped back to the Citadel. Cross and Metzger are both going to suggest that the Scribes stick it in storage and forget about it." She shivered as she walked over to her empty armor. "The damn thing was still laughing even when we stuck it in the box." The armor hissed as it sealed itself with the Knight inside. "So… food?"

Sunset nodded slowly. "Food."

The area outside the satellite uplink station was bustling with activity. Knights hurried around organizing guard shifts and moving supplies, while the Scribes that had waited in the car tunnel during the battle now cooked, repaired equipment, and tended to the dead and wounded. Liberty Prime stood watch over it all: A silent sentinel tirelessly protecting his smaller brethren.

Fluttershy sat on a rock near the edge of the gathering, nursing a small bowl of soup. She was back in her ordinary human form for now. While initially reluctant to consume any more of her blood packs, especially when there were so many wounded who would need transfusions, the Scribes had insisted that they had plentiful reserves of their own blood packs. And that she would be better served keeping her bloodlust thoroughly locked down than struggling needlessly.

Applejack was sitting with Rarity on an empty supply crate nearby, hunched over while the fashionista rubbed her back. The sedative had mostly worn off now, not that it had been particularly strong in the first place, but the aftereffects of it, the battle, and the panic attack had clearly brought Applejack to the limit of her endurance. Rarity was tending to her as best she could, but Fluttershy doubted that there was much anyone in the wastes could really do to help.

She hadn't said anything yet, but Fluttershy was almost certain that the fight with Horrigan had left a lingering trauma in Applejack's mind; a festering splinter that would be nearly impossible to remove even with professional help. Seeing the Enclave soldier lit up by green plasma had probably wrenched the poor girl right back to her near-fatal encounter with that colossal monster.

Listening carefully, Fluttershy could hear Pinkie and Rainbow talking nearby. The two were hiding it well, but they were both wrestling with their own demons even as they ate and joked around with each other. Pinkie's laughter wavered, almost as if she were fighting back tears each time she opened her mouth, and Fluttershy had noticed earlier that she seemed to be looking through people rather than at them. Even Rainbow was shaken. She was still shamelessly bragging about how quickly she had moved and how awesome it had been to back up Liberty Prime, but she didn't actually mention any concrete details about the battle, and she couldn't quite hide the tremor in her hands as she held her bowl.

The sound of approaching footsteps grabbed Fluttershy's attention, and she looked up just in time to see Adam walking towards her. He had left his battered armor to the Scribes and was now wearing just his Vault jumpsuit and Tunnel Snakes jacket.

The scent of the plateful of barbecued squirrel bits Adam was carrying mixed with the acrid smell of power armor lubricant, the sour odor of sweat, and the earthy musk of his skin as he sat on the rock next to Fluttershy. "Hey. You okay?"

"Worn out," Fluttershy replied honestly. "You?"

"Sore. Turns out going on a hike followed by fighting a battle right after you wake up from a coma is a great way to make your muscles hurt," Adam said in a surprisingly cheery tone.

Fluttershy winced sympathetically. "The medics did make sure to move your limbs around regularly while you were unconscious, so your muscles and tendons wouldn't atrophy too much, but I guess it wasn't enough. Do you need painkillers?"

Adam shook his head. "Nah, it's okay, thanks. It hurts, but it's the good kind of hurt, y'know? Like the ache you get after a decent workout." He held his plate up to Fluttershy. "Squirrel bit?"

"Oh, yes please." Munching on the little piece of meat, Fluttershy looked around at the organized chaos going on around them. It took her a moment to realize that something was missing. "Where's Fawkes?"

Adam swallowed his mouthful and gestured vaguely at the station. "Metzger asked him to help keep an eye on the captives. Him and the other Wonderbolts are near enough the only people she trusts to guard them without mistreating them. Some of the other Knights are grumbling about it, but she told them they could direct their complaints to Liberty Prime and see where that got them."

Fluttershy let out a quiet giggle at the thought of someone trying to whine to the robot. She went on to take a spoonful of soup, but paused as she noticed Adam watching her out of the corner of her eye. Seeing that she had noticed, Adam looked away and scratched at his stubble, as if trying to hide his emotions. "So, uh… that was your vampire form, huh?"

A nervous flutter ran through Fluttershy's gut. "Um, yes." She looked down at her bowl, not confident enough to look him in the eye. "I… um… I'm sorry that you had to see me like that."

"I'm not." Fluttershy looked up at Adam hopefully. He was still scratching his cheek, and it took her a moment to realize that he was doing so in an attempt to cover up a faint blush, though she couldn't fathom what was causing it. Adam glanced at her, then quickly looked away again. "You-" His voice came out in a squeak, and he cleared his throat before trying again. "You… well… y-you looked really, uh… y'know… er… good. You looked good."

"Um, okay?" Fluttershy said uncertainly. She couldn't quite believe that she looked anywhere near 'good' in her vampire form, but it wasn't Adam's style to lie about something like that, so she just accepted the compliment with a shy smile and considered herself lucky that her vampiric side didn't send him running for the hills. The fact that his heart rate had increased did confuse Fluttershy a little, though. He certainly didn't smell afraid. In fact, whatever he was feeling, the fresh scent wafting off of him at the moment wasn't something that she recognized off the top of her head.

Before Fluttershy could figure it out, Metzger came stomping over in her armor. "Best finish your food quick, you'll be leaving with Liberty Prime, the captives, and us Wonderbolts in about 15 minutes."

"What about Sunset? Has she eaten yet?" Fluttershy asked.

Metzger nodded. "Yeah, one of the Knights just dragged her out of the shitter to get some food. You should probably give her a stimpak before we head out, though. Poor girl looks like she's about to drop." She reached into a pouch at her hip and pulled out a bright red apple. "Hey, AJ." Applejack looked up slowly. Her expression was a bleak picture of exhaustion and gloom. Metzger handed her the apple. "Eat this, and get Fluttershy to give you a stimpak, too. It'll help, trust me."

"You're beginning to annoy me," Acheson growled.

The Daybreaker prototype just looked down at him impassively. The armor was still safely secured in its maintenance frame, but over the last few hours every time he had tried to run a diagnostic or check on its programming the machine had done everything it could to make things difficult, if not downright impossible. It seemed that the continued growth of its sapience was also making the Daybreaker… insubordinate.

Before another test could begin, the door to the workshop was slammed open. "Doctor Acheson! We have a pro-"

"What the hell have I told you about interrupting me!" Acheson bellowed as he rounded on the intruders. Major Owens was standing in the doorway looking panicky, while Lieutenant Simpson, Colonel Autumn's former lapdog, was waiting behind him impassively. "If something has gone wrong, fix it! I can't spend all of my time babysitting you and your pathetic lit-"

"The uplink station has fallen!" Major Owens cut in. "The orbital strike failed to destroy Liberty Prime!"

"What?!"Acheson snapped. "How could the orbital strike fail? That satellite was created to devastate whole military compounds! That toy robot should have been squashed like a bug! Fire the satellite again!"

Owens shook his head. "We can't. The uplink station was our main connection to the Bradley-Hercules Satellite: The uplink built into the Base Crawler doesn't have enough power to get a stable signal through."

"Well grab some technicians and boost the signal!" Acheson shouted. "If the Brotherhood of Steel manages to decrypt the satellite's targeting and mapping data they'll be able to pinpoint this airbase, and before you know it we'll have that damned robot knocking on our door!"

"It's too late," Owens said darkly. "The last communication we had with the satellite before the connection was cut showed that the data had already been decrypted and was being downloaded. They'll have everything they need to find us by now."

Acheson roared and activated the T.I.R.E.K suit's magic, grabbing a nearby supply crate with an orange magical glow and swinging his arm to smash it against the wall. "Idiots! Ignorant moronic whelps! I gave you simple instructions: Use the satellite to destroy the robot, and do not let the Brotherhood seize the uplink station! How did you incompetent fools manage to fail on both counts?!"

Owens snarled at him. "We failed, Doctor, because the Rainbooms proved far more dangerous and powerful than we were led to believe! And at least a quarter of the magical equipment our troops were issued malfunctioned, causing heavy casualties to our own forces: Something that I warned you about when you ordered the equipment to be issued before it had been field tested!"

"The equipment worked fine on the firing range, so don't try and pin your failures on me, Major!" Acheson retorted. "Don't forget which of us holds the real power here, boy. I am the one in control of the Enclave now, not you."

"Well, perhaps our oh-so-wondeful leader can divine a way to protect the airbase from the walking superweapon that is going to be making its way here very soon?" Owens asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Acheson growled and turned away, thinking hard. "Can the Base Crawler be moved to another location quickly enough to avoid detection?"

"Not a chance, it doesn't move anywhere near fast enough to outrun a power-armored strike force, even if the armor is obsolete," Owens replied. "Even if it could be moved, we wouldn't be able to cover our tracks, and we wouldn't be able to fit all of the Enclave's civilian population on board in any case."

"Of course." Personally, Acheson couldn't give a damn about fitting the civilian population onboard, but it was a moot point if the Base Crawler wasn't fast enough. "Thankfully, the Brotherhood won't be able to do anything with the satellite themselves, the uplink station doesn't have the capability. All they've done is slow our firing sequence down." He crossed his arms and looked up at the Daybreaker armor. "Do as I said and grab some technicians to boost our uplink signal, and send a message to the Exodus team. Tell them that the Senate has ordered all military units and equipment to be brought back here. Once that's done, I want you to drag every single scrap of military hardware you can find out of storage and make sure it works. If those Brotherhood bastards think they can take on the Enclave, we'll show them exactly how wrong they are."

Elder Lyons fought to keep smug superiority out of his expression. The scouts had returned from the uplink station and, while the exact numbers of dead and wounded was still coming in, the initial reports all confirmed that the assault had been a tremendous success.

The station had been taken with only superficial damage to the superstructure and it's delicate equipment, Liberty Prime had taken some minor damage but was still fully functional, several Exodus supporters had been found and were divulging information already, and the remaining Enclave personnel had been taken into custody without any issues. On top of all of that, Adam, Fawkes, and the Rainbooms had all acquitted themselves well in the battle, and had contributed significantly to the operation's overall success.

Lyons couldn't have asked for a better result. There had been a lot of grumbling in the ranks about bringing in Adam and creating an entirely new branch for the Rainbooms, and accepting Fawkes, a Super Mutant, as a Knight, had caused an uproar among the Order. The results of the battle, however, would go a long way towards silencing any dissent. Hopefully, this meeting would quash whatever was left.

The entirety of the Brotherhood of Steel's leadership, minus those at the uplink station, were gathered in the Great Hall. Scribe Rothchild was sitting at Lyons' right hand, and the Elder spotted Paladins Bergen and Stark sitting amongst the rest of the inner circle. Squires Maxson and Peters were both standing behind the Elder, waiting to attend to him as needed.

Lyons idly pondered the former raider while the others got themselves settled. Rothchild had insisted that Peters be brought into the meeting alongside Maxson, though why was something that he hadn't addressed. Not yet, anyway.

Seeing that the rest of the brass were waiting on him, Lyons put Rothchild's game to the back of his mind and straightened up, calling out in a clear voice, "Ladies, Gentlemen, everyone, as I'm sure you're all aware, the satellite uplink station has been successfully taken. As expected, the Enclave attempted to destroy Liberty Prime with an orbital strike, but thanks to Twilight Sparkle's upgrades and the incredibly heroic efforts of Rainbow Dash, Prime survived with only minimal damage."

"So she actually managed to intercept missiles launched from orbit?" One of the Scribes muttered incredulously. "Forget Knight; we should promote her straight to Paladin."

Lyons nodded. "That is actually part of the reason I have called this meeting." He looked around at each of the attendees in turn. "Many of you expressed concerns over my decision to recruit the Rainbooms-"

"We didn't express concerns that you recruited those girls, we question the point of creating an entirely new branch of the Brotherhood for them when they themselves admit that they intend to leave the world the instant they are able to," Bergen interrupted loudly.

Several of the others reprimanded him for such a blatant breach of protocol, but Lyons held up a hand to silence them. A couple of those present had nodded as Bergen spoke, and the Elder was determined to crush this insubordination once and for all. "The point, Paladin Bergen, was to prepare ourselves for the future. Equestrian magic will almost certainly remain long after the Rainbooms have gone, and there are going to be an increasing number of people who are directly affected by it and become able to pony up through the use of crystals. Some of our personnel may even gain powers such as those wielded by the Rainbooms."

A murmur ran through the room at that, and Scribe Rothchild leaned forward to speak, "The Order of the Staff is about more than just the Rainbooms. It will be an Order for any members of the Brotherhood of Steel, Knight or Scribe, who is capable of drawing magic out of the crystals we mine from Raven Rock. The Rainbooms were recruited into it so that we may learn as much as we possibly can about how to directly utilize magic before they return to their own world. Squire Peters-" he gestured to her, prompting her to straighten up and lift her chin proudly, "-will be one of the first members."

Now Lyons understood why Rothchild had wanted Peters there. Silently thanking his old friend for his foresight, the Elder nodded sagely. "In light of their contributions, I believe our newest recruits have all proven their value and their worthiness beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"The Rainbooms, certainly, and James' son, perhaps," Bergen agreed. "However, even you cannot possibly justify allowing Super Mutant filth to sully our ranks."

"I can't see why not," Stark put in, surprising Lyons. "Sure, I was concerned at first, but the big guy has fought well for us over the last few weeks. The fact that Adam and our new amazon warrior princesses all trust him certainly counts in his favour. I think we should let him stay."

Bergen grimaced. "This is a disgrace. As if things weren't bad enough when the Outcasts left, now you want to allow mutants and Enclave rejects into our ranks. What's next? Ghouls? Trogs? The fucking Chinese remnants? Do any of you even have any shame?" Several of those present gasped at the disrespect he was showing, even some of his supporters looked uncomfortable, but Bergen just shook his head and looked over Lyons' shoulder. "What about you, Maxson? It's your ancestor's legacy that the Elder is shitting all over, what do you think of all of this?"

Dead silence filled the room. Elder Lyons would be well within his rights to exile Bergen on the spot, but something stopped him from talking. Every eye in the room turned to Maxson. Somehow, everyone knew that whatever the boy said would affect the whole Brotherhood of Steel.

Maxson seemed surprised and more than a little nervous at having everyone suddenly staring at him, but that was understandable given his age. He quickly schooled his features into a calm and composed expression, though Lyons did catch him shooting a glance at Peters out of the corner of his eye. "I admit that I had my doubts about Fawkes too, at first, but someone recently pointed out to me that the only difference between him and us is luck."

Bergen scoffed. "Luck? Don't be absu-"

"That's right, luck. You asked for my opinion, so kindly shut the fuck up until I've finished giving it." Lyons blinked in surprise at hearing the boy talk like that, but Maxson didn't notice. "As far as I'm concerned, the only one shitting on my ancestor's legacy here is you. Fawkes is a Super Mutant, but he's also a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel, and he works a damn sight harder than most when it comes to helping the people of the wastes. He has earned some god-damned respect, so it's about time you gave him some."

Everyone stared in stunned disbelief at Maxson. Bergen had wilted under the boy's harsh rebuke, while those who supported him all looked like they were rapidly rethinking their positions. The only person who didn't look utterly dumbfounded was Peters, who was struggling to keep a smug, triumphant grin off her face. Lyons had a sneaking suspicion as to who exactly had put those thoughts into Maxson's head.

The silence was finally broken as Rothchild cleared his throat. "If no-one has any further questions…?"

"Actually, I have one," Stark put in. "I get that having Rainbow Dash intercept the orbital strike was a fair plan: Seriously, that was awesome. But why didn't we just order Liberty Prime to blow up the satellite dishes on top of the station? I mean, aren't they the actual bits that send the signal up to the satellite? Why not destroy them and prevent the satellite from firing altogether?"

"A fair question. The truth is, we believe that having continued access to the satellite will work in the Brotherhood's favour," Rothchild answered. "If we can successfully acquire the launch codes when we assault the Enclave's main stronghold, we may be able to utilize the remaining orbital missiles ourselves. I shouldn't have to tell you how potent such a resource could prove to be."

"When will we be assaulting the stronghold?" One of the Knights asked.

Lyons scratched his beard as he thought about it. "We will have to perform some swift repairs on Liberty Prime first. In the meantime, we are planning on sending a small team, most likely Adam and the Rainbooms, to acquire an old piece of technology that will hopefully give us an additional means of defence against the Enclave's Vertibirds. All told, I'm hopeful that the final assault will be launched in about two or three days at most. Any other questions?" He glanced around, then nodded with satisfaction when no-one spoke up. "Very well. You're dismissed."

As the gathered leaders filed out of the room, Lyons gestured for Rothchild, Peters and Maxson to wait. When they were alone, and the door to the hall was closed, Lyons turned to Peters. "My apologies, young Squire, I hope you don't mind that we effectively shunted you into the Order of the Staff, back there."

Peters just shrugged. "I don't give a sh- I don't really mind where you put me, so long as I have a safe place to stay."

"That's good to hear. I'm a little concerned that your bad language is rubbing off on certain other Squires, but that conversation can wait for another time. Run along, now. I'm sure that you've got a lot of training to catch up on today." Lyons waited until the girl was gone, then smiled at Maxson. "It appears that I owe you my thanks, young man."

"I was just telling the truth, Elder," Maxson replied.

Lyons noticed that the young lad's eyes were flicking to the door now that Peters had left. The Elder bit back a sigh and indicated that the boy could go. He had barely finished dismissing him when Maxson darted off after Peters.

"I think you should foster that, you know," Rothchild said with a smile.

"Foster what?" Lyons asked in bemusement.

"Peters and Maxson," Rothchild replied. "She's strong-willed, tough, and she's one of the very few people in the Brotherhood who won't try to curry favor with him on account of his ancestry. She'd make a good right hand when he becomes Elder someday. Every Elder needs someone who isn't afraid to stand up to them, and Peters will gladly knock some sense into him."

"Or just knock his teeth out." Lyons sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right, though. She has apparently had some effect on him already."

Rothchild chuckled. "Yes, apparently they had something of an argument shortly after the Enclave's attack here. Ever since then he's been following her around like a duckling after its mother."

Lyons grunted and crossed his arms. "Good grief. I've spent years trying to instil some moral fiber in that boy, yet somehow he grows far more after getting put in his place by a raider girl."

"To be fair, she's confident, brash, and she has tits. That's a powerful combination to use against an impressionable young boy on the cusp of puberty," Rothchild pointed out.

"Hmph, a raider changes her life and eventually becomes the advisor to the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel. It would be a story for the ages." Lyons sighed again. "If she stays, anyway."

"When are you going to tell her about what Sunset discovered about her aunts?" Rothchild asked.

"Not yet," Lyons replied. "This battle with the Enclave is going to be exceptionally dangerous. I doubt that a Squire will be forced into combat, but I'd rather not risk giving her such a big distraction until we're sure that the war is over. In the meantime, we should probably talk logistics for the Rainbooms' next mission. Magic or no, scavenging in Old Olney is not going to be easy."

Author's Note

Hey everyone, I'd just like to thank you all for your support and patience over the last week, it means a lot. We're back to our regularly scheduled programming, updating every Sunday from now on!

Comments and criticisms are welcome, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 92 - Next Mission

Shame burned like hot coals beneath Applejack's skin. She had frozen up. When the time came, and her friends needed her help, she had cowered like a little girl and forced her friends to rescue her instead. She hadn't even managed to stand herself up by the time the battle was done: It had been Rarity who had helped with that, then guided her outside.

Applejack probably would have felt better if she had at least been able to walk back to the Citadel under her own power, but even that had been beyond her as her legs had buckled before they even got back to the car tunnel. The sugar from the apple and the stimpak had barely helped at all. The rest of the way back had been spent in a half-conscious daze cradled in one of Liberty Prime's hands. Applejack's memories after that were entirely blank until she woke up in the morning, wrapped up warmly in her bed.

Unfortunately, even a good night's sleep didn't provide any relief from her own miserable memories.

"It's not your fault," Elder Lyons said gently. "A traumatic experience like what you went through was bound to leave a mark. I should have thought to get you checked over sooner."

Applejack didn't reply. She was currently sitting on the edge of her bed, with Rarity next to her, and Elder Lyons and Paladin Stark there to discuss her future with the Brotherhood. A medic had already been and gone, talking about what had happened and making notes until he had finally made his horrifying diagnosis.

Post-Traumatic Stress.

The very thought of it made Applejack's gut writhe with humiliation. It was too early to say if this was simply the beginnings of PTSD rearing its ugly head, but the medic said that it was likely. Applejack hated it. Hated herself. She was supposed to be strong, stubborn, a mighty tree that could ride out any storm. Instead she was struggling to keep herself from shaking, or simply curling up into a ball and weeping; a pathetic little weakling.

"He's right, darling," Rarity told her. "There's nothing you could have done about this, it's something beyond your control."

"Ah shouldn't be this weak," Applejack mumbled under her breath.

"It's not about being weak or strong," Paladin Stark insisted. "You're looking at this like it's just fear you're losing to, but that's where your mistake is." When Applejack didn't reply, he sighed and continued, "Look, anyone can fight fear, that's easy, but PTSD isn't fear. Imagine fear as a pebble. Terror, what you feel when you face something huge and powerful like a Behemoth or something, that's a boulder. PTSD? That's a meteorite the size of the Mojave coming along to mess up your day. You can't fight a meteorite, even with all of your magic, no-one can. Trust me on this one."

Elder Lyons nodded. "It would be wise to listen to him on this one. Paladin Stark has more experience with this sort of thing than most, that's why I brought him to speak with you."

Applejack looked up at the Paladin in surprise, but he just grunted and averted his gaze. "There's a reason I don't run many combat missions these days," he admitted uncomfortably.

Coughing delicately, Rarity asked, "So, er, where do we go from here?"

"There are medications that can help," Elder Lyons replied quietly. "For the short term, I'd recommend that we keep you out of combat operations against the Enclave."

"Why?" Paladin Stark raised an eyebrow. "Applejack didn't get triggered until she got up close and personal with them, so why not just give her a bigger gun than that crappy little laser pointer and let her blast those Enclave bastards from long range?"

"Ah'm up for that," Applejack said quickly. Anything that would give her a chance to feel useful, and preferably let her bury a few of the assholes who had made her feel this bad.

Elder Lyons scratched his beard as he thought. "That could work. We do have a few big guns spare."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Rarity ventured.

"Ah'll do it," Applejack said firmly. "What kind of guns do you have?"

"That depends. How long can you keep your super strength up for?" Stark asked.

"Not too long," Applejack replied. "If any of us girls use our magic constantly for too long it supercharges the others."

Seeing the gleam in Elder Lyons' eyes, Rarity shook her head. "I wouldn't get your hopes up, supercharging our magic makes it very volatile. The last time it happened Sunset constantly heard the thoughts of everyone near her whether she was touching them or not, Twilight levitated everything in her vicinity, and you don't want to imagine what happened when Pinkie went anywhere near anything sugary."

Elder Lyons grimaced. "I see your point. Very well, we shall see if we can strip down a minigun so it'll be light enough for you to use."

Applejack snorted. "Don't bother strippin' down anything. Ah can handle any gun you give me easy enough."

"No, you can't." Paladin Stark rejected her suggestion immediately. "A minigun is heavy, especially with all of it's ammunition. Carrying it is one thing, but lugging it to a battlefield, aiming, firing, and reloading, firing some more, then dragging it back home afterwards? That's something that takes a lot of training and practice to get used to. You're only going to have a couple of days at most, unless you're willing to bite the bullet and sit out the assault on the Enclave's final stronghold."

That gave Applejack pause. The thought of missing the battle while her friends went felt cowardly, demeaning, and depressingly tempting. "Strip down a minigun," she forced out.

"This isn't a good idea," Rarity warned.

"Don't worry," Elder Lyons said gently. "We'll spend the next few days giving Applejack a crash course in the use of a minigun, on the sole condition that she stays at the rear of a formation, away from close engagement, and provides fire support. Nothing more," he added firmly with a glance at her.

Applejack wanted to retort, but just the thought of getting too close to a power armored soldier again was enough to send an icy shiver down her spine. "Ah'll do it, Ah'll do fire support," she said, her voice a little higher than usual.

"Good." Elder Lyons nodded. "An instructor will come and fetch you as soon as the gun is prepared. Until then, and whenever you aren't being shown how to use the gun, I want you to rest. I'll permit an hour a day of physical training, but any more than that and I'll make sure you aren't included in the final battle against the Enclave. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, Ah got it," Applejack grumbled.

Elder Lyons eyed her suspiciously for a moment, then relented and turned to Rarity. "The same goes for you. Rest as much as you possibly can for the next few days. The Scribes are fixing your armor as we speak, so you should get that back soon. If you need any more painkillers, just see one of the medics. For now, though, we shall leave you to it. Rest well."

"Painkillers?" Applejack frowned at Rarity as the two men left the room. "What did he mean by that? What happened?"

Rarity waited until the door was closed, then stood up with a grim expression. "This."

Applejack's breath hitched as Rarity suddenly pulled her top off, but her shock immediately turned to concern as she saw the awful discoloration peeking out from beneath the fashionista's bra.

"I apologize for the lack of dignity, but this brassiere is making things more than a little painful." Rarity hissed as she unhooked her bra, then let out a quiet sigh of relief as it dropped to the floor.

Any feelings at seeing Rarity half-naked were immediately quashed by the sight of the horrific bruise blooming on her breastbone; a black blotch that stood out like a vile stain against her otherwise pristine skin.

"What happened?" Applejack whispered.

"A sniper with a magic bullet," Rarity explained. "My armor took most of the hit, but it still left more than enough damage to be going on with." She winced as she sat back on the bed next to Applejack. "I must say, I almost miss the battle. With all the adrenaline in my system it didn't hurt anywhere near as much yesterday."

"Ah can imagine." Applejack chuckled bitterly. "Well, your body's hurt, and my brain is a mess, so between us Ah guess that makes us one whole unbroken person, right?"

Rarity scoffed and nudged her with a shoulder, then hissed as her bruise twinged. "Remind me not to do that again until this is healed."

"Want me to kiss it better?" Applejack blushed furiously as she realized what she had just said. "Ah meant, uh, do you want an ice pack or somethin'?"

Rarity shook her head, her cheeks ever so slightly flushed. "No, the air is chilly enough on its own. Actually, I really should put another top on, just in case someone comes knocking."

"Right." Applejack tried to swallow the strange lump that had formed in her throat. "Well, uh, Ah'm gonna try and get some sleep until the instructor comes."

"Good idea," Rarity replied, fanning her cheeks with one hand while she picked up her top with the other.

Applejack watched her head back over to her own bed, then shook herself and set to getting herself changed, wondering what the strange sense of disappointment she felt was about. Preoccupied as she was, she didn't notice that she wasn't the only one with a disappointed look on her face.

Sunset moaned softly as she stepped under the hot shower. She had washed the worst of the muck away the night before, but she had been way too tired to appreciate it as she gave herself a quick once over before passing out in bed. Now, she planned to thoroughly enjoy the ten minutes of shower time she was permitted.

After scrubbing away the last of the blood and gunk, Sunset raised her face to the showerhead and allowed the hot water to wash away her stress and soothe her aching muscles. Truth be told, Sunset was surprised by how well she felt.

The assault on the satellite uplink station had been a waking nightmare; Sunset had fought, and killed, yet somehow she was still… functional. Every death that she could remember weighed on her conscience, but the guilt was more bearable this time around. She had honestly been planning on forcing herself to remember every single life she took, no matter how unhealthy that was, but when it came down to it, after the first couple of kills it had become much easier, as if her emotions had detached themselves from what her body was doing.

It helped that, in the chaos of battle, it was effectively impossible for Sunset to keep track of every single person that she had personally killed. Of those that she definitely had, the fact that she was doing it to help save more lives down the line, not to mention getting her friends home safely, provided cold comfort.

Sunset looked around as someone else stepped into the room. The woman, Sunset recognized her as a Scribe, nodded respectfully when she saw who was already there. "Knight-Sergeant Shimmer, Paladin Metzger wants to talk to you when you get five minutes spare, if that's alright?"

"Sure thing, as soon as I'm done here I'll go and find her," Sunset replied. “Do you mind helping check if I've got all of the muck out of my hair?"

Once she was positive that she was clean, Sunset thanked the Scribe, dried and dressed as quickly as she could, and set off to see what Metzger wanted. The debrief of the battle had already been done, so she suspected that there was another mission already lined up.

Asking around, Sunset was directed to a briefing room near the labs. Metzger was waiting inside, along with Pinkie, Adam, and Fluttershy.

Metzger greeted Sunset with a nod. "Knight-Sergeant. I'm glad you're back on your feet. Sorry about the short notice, but Elder Lyons has a mission for you if you're up for it."

"What's the mission?" Sunset asked.

Metzger gestured to a map spread out on a nearby table. "The Scribes are putting together new weaponry capable of destroying the Enclave's Vertibirds, so we don't have to rely entirely on Liberty Prime. But there's some crucial tech they need before they can start production. Unfortunately, with every other member of the Brotherhood busy preparing for the final assault or recovering from injuries, the only people we have available for a recovery mission are you four."

Pinkie cocked her head curiously. "What about Rainbow Dash?"

"She's already been sent to Project Exodus with a report for Doctor Shoichet," Metzger replied. "Fawkes is being trained in squad tactics, or, well, if we're honest, some of the squads are being trained to get used to having a Super Mutant working with them. Me and the Wonderbolts are getting sent out to reinforce Project Purity in an hour or so as well, so that just leaves you."

"I'm up for it," Adam said with a shrug. "Where are we headed?"

"The Olney Powerworks." Metzger pointed to it on the map. It was located in the far northern reaches of the Capital Wasteland. "Hopefully you'll be able to find an experimental Tesla Coil, built before the war. That's the piece we need."

Pinkie bit her lip, clearly hesitating, then asked tentatively, "Who are we going to have to take the coil from?"

Metzger laughed drily. "No-one. No wasteland group has ever been able to set up shop in Old Olney. Anyone crazy enough to try hasn't managed to survive very long."

That didn't sound promising to Sunset. "Why do I get the feeling there's some sort of mutated wasteland monstrosity living in the powerworks?"

"More like a bunch of them. Old Olney is crawling with Deathclaws." Metzger glanced at Fluttershy. "That's why Elder Lyons asked you to tag along instead of training with the medics some more. Your magic might prove invaluable out there."

Fluttershy blanched as she realized what Metzger was getting at. "B-but I've never used my magic on a Deathclaw before! What if it doesn't work?"

Seeing Metzger's confusion, Sunset and Pinkie explained what had happened when Fluttershy had tried to use her power on Mirelurks. By the time they were finished, Metzger's expression was grim. "That's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world. Your enhanced senses will still provide a huge advantage when it comes to avoiding any Deathclaws. And you'll also have this." Metzger placed what looked like a primitive radio on the table. "This is a prototype scrambler unit Scribe Vallincourt made. It constantly puts out a signal that disrupts the control collars the Enclave uses on their own Deathclaws. If you run into any, the Enclave scientists in control will be in for a nasty surprise."

"You think we're going to run into the Enclave at Old Olney?" Sunset asked.

Metzger shrugged. "They've got to be getting their Deathclaws from somewhere, so either they're breeding them, or they're catching them in the wild and taking them back to their base. This is just a precaution. Be careful with it though, it hasn't exactly been field tested yet."

"In other words, you're hoping that we'll field test it for you." Sunset sighed and rubbed her temples. "Fine, I'm in. What about you two?"

"I'll go," Fluttershy said, quietly but firmly. "My senses will help you out there, and my magic might come in handy in a pinch."

Pinkie shook her head. "I guess I can try and see this as a road trip? Who knows, maybe wild Deathclaws like party games."

"If anyone can find that out, it'll be you," Metzger chuckled. "Okay, mark the location on your Pip-Boys, grab your gear and whatever supplies you'll need for the trip, and meet back up in the courtyard. You'll be leaving as soon as you're ready."

The Citadel lab was a hive of activity as dozens of Scribes bustled about preparing weapons, testing equipment and, most importantly of all, repairing Liberty Prime. Much of the damage to the robot had been purely cosmetic, but there was enough of the outer armor that needed fixing for Rothchild to label it as the absolute highest priority.

Twilight sat comfortably in her wheelchair next to the terminal at Prime's feet, looking up at the Scribes clambering over scaffolding as they worked to bend metal plates back into shape and welded fresh pieces over holes and rents. Ostensibly, she was supposed to be monitoring the robot's diagnostic routine, but she had already written a program to do that for her while she performed her own secret task.

Aware of the people constantly moving around her, Twilight tapped out a query on the terminal, taking care to type quickly with her magic when no-one was paying attention.

Glancing upwards, Twilight was relieved when Liberty ever so slightly shook its head. <Good..I.have.something.for.you.>

Using her magic, Twilight subtly pulled an old milk bottle from an inside pocket of her lab coat. Inside was a sloshing purple and orange mix of liquids: concentrated essences of Sunset's and her own magic that had been an absolute nightmare to procure without anyone noticing. Checking to make sure no one was looking, Twilight opened the bottle and pulled out the liquid in her magic, floating it quickly across the floor into Prime's shadow, up its legs, around its waist and under the armor plating of its torso.

There was a faint flash as the magic soaked into Prime's fusion generator.

Unfortunately, the flash caught the eye of a Scribe on the scaffolding, who frowned at the spot where the magic had gone curiously.

"That was me," Twilight called up. "I spotted some exposed wiring and figured I'd tuck it away before it hurt someone."

The Scribe nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Good thinking, Sparkle!"

Twilight smiled and turned her attention back to the terminal, satisfied that her secret plan was safe for just a little while longer. The Enclave, and the whole Capital Wasteland, were in for a very big surprise when it was time for it to be finally unveiled.

The butcher's bill was almost due, and Twilight intended to make sure that it was paid in full.

Chapter 93 - On The Road Again

A light breeze swept over the wasteland, ruffling Sunset's hair and wafting a layer of dust across the ground. She breathed in deeply, enjoying the moment of peace while it lasted. She, Adam, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were standing by the bridge near the Super Duper Mart, deciding on what their next move should be.

The journey so far had been easy enough. A small group of raiders had been lurking around a short way north of the Citadel, but they hadn't dared risk a fight against three Rainbooms and a power-armored warrior.

"I think we should head that way," Adam said, pointing past the Super Duper Mart. "That'll be the straightest path towards Old Olney."

"That's west, Old Olney is to the north east," Fluttershy corrected gently. She glanced at the Mart. "This side of the river will take us in the right direction, but there's a Mirelurk nest, an Enclave outpost, a warren of giant ants, and at least one raider gang we'll have to get past, and that's just to get to Meresti Station."

"But the other side of the river might have Super Mutants." Sunset hummed and checked her map. "We're right at the northern tip of the downtown ruins, so hopefully we're less likely to run into any Super Mutants. Plus, that side of the river will give us a much straighter shot to our destination. I say we cross. What do you think?"

The others readily agreed. Once they'd crossed the bridge, the group followed the bend of the river to the north, avoiding getting too close, just in case there were more Mirelurk nests about.

As the ground rose, more ruined buildings came into view: An outlying section of the downtown ruins. The group gladly gave them a wide berth, following a road that led them around the edge of the buildings and any hostile groups that may have been dwelling within.

The journey was, at first, a lot less stressful than Sunset had anticipated. They passed buildings and blasted areas of detritus with little difficulty. They even discovered what appeared to be a huge scrapyard, though they made sure to go around it, just in case.

The only encounters of note were a run in with an incredibly overgrown and bloated fly, which Adam put down with a single shot from his plasma rifle, and a crossing with a pair of mutated bears.

That had been enough to get Sunset's blood racing. But, thankfully, despite their horrifying appearance, the pair were quite happy to leave the group alone once Fluttershy had had a word with them.

Fluttershy proved invaluable in other ways; her senses allowed the group to easily avoid confrontations with raiders, radscorpions, and even a bizarre robot rolling around on tracks with what appeared to be a brain in a glass container for a head.

The ground rose and fell gently, dotted with rocky patches and pits filled with radiation or billowing Equestrian magic, but even so the four made good time.

Unfortunately, their good fortune had to run out at some point.

As the group was climbing a hill towards Old Olney, Fluttershy suddenly stopped and tensed up. "There's an Enclave outpost up ahead."

Sunset looked up the hill. Near the top was a rocky area packed with debris, along with an equally rocky promontory that could also harbor potential enemies. "Are you sure that they're Enclave?"

"Positive," Fluttershy replied firmly. "They're not Exodus either, they're joking about how Acheson is going to crush Shoichet and her, um, f-fuck buddies."

"Assholes," Sunset spat, then checked her plasma rifle while Pinkie loaded her Party Cannon. "How many of them are there?"

Fluttershy crept forwards on all fours, her head cocked as she listened. "Two soldiers in power armor, three people without armor and…" she hissed angrily. "One Deathclaw."

"Do you think the Deathclaw will be able to hear us? Or smell us?" Adam asked.

"It won't matter, they're keeping it locked in a crate," Fluttershy replied.

Pinkie sighed with relief. "That's good. In that case, let's head back a little then sneak around really quiet-"

"No," Fluttershy growled. "It's in pain. I will not let them get away with this."

"No, wait! Fluttershy!" Sunset swore under her breath as Fluttershy darted forward in a running crouch.

Moving as quickly and quietly as they could, the other three followed as Fluttershy disappeared into the rocky area below the promontory.

Weaving through the debris, Sunset heard voices wafting down from the peak. She hoped that all of the Enclave personnel were up there. A short distance into the rocky area, Sunset slowed to a halt, her eyes widening in horror.

Two large shipping containers were sitting incongruously among the rocks. One was open and empty, but the other was closed and locked with a solid deadbolt. Fluttershy was standing before the closed shipping container. There was a flash of magic as she vamped up, then she raised a clawed hand and, before anyone could stop her, sheared through the deadbolt in one fell swipe.

"What was that?!" The shout from above showed that the sabotage had not gone unnoticed.

Fluttershy clearly didn't care. She ripped away the ruined bolt and hauled the container doors open. Sunset felt an icy claw grip her chest as a Deathclaw stepped out into the light, looking around almost curiously.

"I sure hope this scrambler works," Adam said drily.

"What the hell?! That suicidal bitch just let the Deathclaw out!" Someone shouted from above.

Sunset looked up to see the Enclave soldiers staring at Fluttershy. An unarmored officer looked around them, spotting the rest of the group first, then stepping back in horror as he spotted Fluttershy. "That's the girl that controls animals! Shoot her you fuck-wits!"

The soldiers swore and raised their weapons, but by then it was far too late. Fluttershy dove aside into a commando roll while the Deathclaw lunged at the base of the promontory, scaling the rockface in a heartbeat and unleashing itself on the men.

Sunset flinched at the sounds of horrific carnage coming from above. At least it was over quickly, the shrieks of mutilated metal and the screams of terror swiftly fading, leaving only a deathly calm in their wake.

Fluttershy moved first, walking around the rocky area to find an easy way up. After sharing a worried look, the others cautiously followed. The Deathclaw was waiting patiently for them at the top of the promontory. Sunset tried to avoid looking at the gory mess it had made of its erstwhile masters.

"At least we know that the scrambler is working." Pinkie sighed with relief, then glanced sidelong at Fluttershy. "Normally, I love surprises, but could you at least let us know the next time you're planning a stunt like that?"

"I-I'm sorry," Fluttershy replied quietly. "I just, I could tell that he was in pain and I… I didn't think."

Sunset patted her on the shoulder as she stepped past. “We get it, just give us a heads up next time. I've only got one spare pair of underwear on me." She looked up at the Deathclaw. Sunset felt a little thrill of fear at being anywhere near the creature, but at the same time she couldn't help but admire the creature, enjoying a view that very few people would get to see and live to tell about.

As Sunset inspected it, she spotted a little black box half-buried in the back of the Deathclaw's skull. "So that's how they're controlling them. Deathclaws are scary as hell, but that just feels wrong."

"It is wrong. It's that thing that's hurting him, but he's probably programmed not to touch it." Fluttershy reached down and pulled what looked like a bulky remote control from the hand of one slightly dismembered corpse. She wiped the blood from the little screen, then started flicking through it. "This looks like the control module." Fluttershy looked from the remote to the Deathclaw and back, then bit her lip. "I… I think I'm about to pull another crazy stunt."

"You're not going to let us use him as a bodyguard, are you?" Sunset asked.

Fluttershy shook her head. "I want to turn the control unit off."

"Of course you do." Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair, idly wondering how she could manage to hold a rational conversation while standing in a miniature open-air butcher's shop. "One second. Adam, stay where you are. Pinkie, get behind him and get your Party Cannon ready, in case our new friend decides he wants a bigger lunch."

"Roger!" Pinkie stepped behind Adam, who just sighed and lowered his shoulder so she could use it as a gun rest. After sidling behind Adam herself, Sunset nodded to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pressed a button on the remote. The Deathclaw shivered and shook its head, dazed, but before it could recover Fluttershy spoke, "It's alright, they can't hurt you anymore, you're free now." She tapped the back of her head. "Don't touch that. I know it's painful, but trying to pull it out is going to hurt a lot more. We're going to go into Old Olney now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to attack us when we're on our way back. If you get hungry…" Fluttershy looked around at the dead bodies and swallowed, her face paling. "There's plenty of food here."

Without another word, she turned and walked away, heading north. The others looked warily at the Deathclaw before following. None of them felt particularly comfortable turning their backs to it, but, thankfully, the creature didn't follow them.

The grisly crunching of bones as she walked away would haunt Sunset's dreams for a long time to come.

Princess Twilight dropped onto the chair with an exhausted sigh. Getting the crystals she had been given to resonate with the correct magical frequencies was proving exactly as fiddly and awkward as she had expected, and hooking them up safely to the Geode Diviner was just as tricky.

"How's it going?" Principal Celestia asked.

"We're getting there," Twilight replied. "We've got a fair few crystals connected, but we're still going to need more before we can open the portal again, and it's probably going to take a couple more hours to reconfigure the Diviner to safely open one to a world without Equestrian magic. That's assuming we can get it right."

Celestia nodded. "I have faith in you."

The two looked around curiously as someone opened the door. Trixie was standing in the doorway, an annoyed expression on her face. "Vice-Principal Luna sent the Great and Powerful Trixie to fetch you both. There's something you need to see."

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Something we should kick to the curb as soon as we find out what it wants," Trixie answered cryptically. "They're in the Vice-Principal's office."

Celestia and Twilight shared a confused look before setting off through the school.

When the pair arrived at Luna's office, they found a surprise waiting for them. Sonata Dusk was there, sitting in the chair opposite Luna herself.

"Ah, good, you're here. Miss Dusk apparently has something to tell us," Luna explained.

"No, I don’t," Sonata said flatly. "Why would I have anything to tell you three?"

Luna gave her a disbelieving stare. "You told me literally two minutes ago that you needed to see Twilight."

"Yeah, but I don't have to tell her anything," Sonata replied as if she was talking to an idiot. "I'm just supposed to text Dagi and ask her what flavor ice cream she wants, then wait with the annoying Princess until she replies."

The others watched in utter bewilderment as Sonata did exactly what she said she would; sending a quick text then sitting still with a vacant expression on her face. Barely ten seconds later Sonata's phone rang. "Hey, Twilight Sparkle's here. Should I go get the ice cream now?" Her expression soured at the reply. "What do you mean there's no ice cream?! Why do I have to give my phone to her?! Can I get ice cream later? How about tacos? Ugh, fine!" Sonata held the phone out to Twilight. "She wants to speak to you."

Baffled beyond any rebuttal, Twilight just accepted the phone without question. "Hello?"

"Twilight Sparkle," Adagio said by way of greeting. "This is Adagio Dazzle. We need to talk."

Chapter 94 - Dark Surprises

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Chapter 95 - Insult and Injury

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Chapter 96 - Olney Underground

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Chapter 97 - Shock Value?

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Chapter 98 - Conflict Looms

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Chapter 99 - The March

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Chapter 100 - Who Dares Wins

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Chapter 101 - From The Ashes

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Chapter 102 - Peace Treaty

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Chapter 103 - Elements of Fallout

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Chapter 104 - Holy Water

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Chapter 105 - Not So Subtle

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Chapter 106 - The Temple of Harmony

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Chapter 107 - Ups and Downs

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Chapter 108 - The Wasteland Survival Guide

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Chapter 109 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Food and Medicine

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Chapter 110 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Radiation

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Chapter 111 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Minefield

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Chapter 112 - Wasteland Survival Guide: M̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶R̶a̶t̶s̶ Breakdown

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Chapter 113 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Mirelurks

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Chapter 114 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Injuries

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Chapter 115 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Rivet City's History

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Chapter 116 - Wasteland Survival Guide: RobCo

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Chapter 117 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Knowledge

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Chapter 118 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Dangers of Magic

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Chapter 119 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Wild Wasteland

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Chapter 120 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Crystal Finish

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Chapter 121 - Déjà vu

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Chapter 122 - Moons of Fallout

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Chapter 123 - Exposition

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Chapter 124 - Underground Again

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Chapter 125 - Grim Reveals

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Chapter 126 - Discomfort

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Chapter 127 - Another One Bites The Dust

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Chapter 128 - Defensive Measures 101

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Chapter 129 - Unity

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Chapter 130 - Reeling

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Chapter 131 - When It Rains...

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Chapter 132 - Eclipse

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Chapter 133 - Durasteel Dodgeball

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Chapter 134 - Coping

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Chapter 135 - Fall

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Chapter 136 - Secret Machinations

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Chapter 137 - Plausible Deniability

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Chapter 138 - Trixie's Resolve

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Chapter 139 - Luna's Resolve

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Chapter 140 - Sonata's Resolve

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Chapter 141 - Sunset's Resolve

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Chapter 142 - Lily's Resolve

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Chapter 143 - Becky's Resolve

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Chapter 144 - Horrigan's Resolve

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Chapter 145 - Unity's Resolve

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Interlude - Sunset's Isekai

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Chapter 146 - Planning

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Chapter 147 - Calamity From The Skies

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Chapter 148 - Pyrrhic Victory

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Chapter 149 - An Elder, a Zombie, and a Rainboom...

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Chapter 150 - Steel Rivets

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Chapter 151 - Sobering Thoughts

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Chapter 152 - Gathering the Rainbow

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Chapter 153 - Moons of Rivet City

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Chapter 154 - Moons and Rainbows

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Chapter 155 - Deal

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Chapter 156 - Time Out

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Chapter 157 - Waffling

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Chapter 158 - Apples and Ant... Boy

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Chapter 159 - Initiate Scoots

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Chapter 160 - Improvements

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Chapter 161 - The Good, the Bad, and the Siren

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Chapter 162 - Winter Wasteland

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Chapter 163 - In The Metro Of Madness

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Chapter 164 - Mall Mutant Mauling Mayhem

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Chapter 165 - Regulator HQ

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Chapter 166 - Germantown Police HQ

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Chapter 167 - Kitchen Nightmares

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Chapter 168 - Big Trouble... in Big Town?

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Chapter 169 - Wasteland Justice

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Chapter 170 - Guiding The Flock

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Chapter 171 - Cut Off The Head...

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Chapter 172 - Restraint

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Chapter 173 - Shattered Talon

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Chapter 174 - Shephard's Gambit

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Chapter 175 - Shadow Over Rivet City

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Chapter 176 - Cleanup

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Chapter 177 - Tell Your Tale

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Chapter 178 - Beyond the Horizon

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Chapter 179 - True Blue

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Chapter 180 - Transparency

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Chapter 181 - Starting to Crack...

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Chapter 182 - Capitol Idea

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Chapter 183 - Dash's to Ashes, Dust to Dust

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Chapter 184 - Get Wrecked

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Chapter 185 - ShyWanderer Taxi Service

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Chapter 186 - Reilly's Rangers

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Chapter 187 - Hindsight and Hard Liquor

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Chapter 188 - The Team

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Chapter 189 - A Request and a Railway

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Chapter 190 - Underground, Overground, Wombling Free...

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Chapter 191 - So Many Paths, So Little Singing

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Chapter 192 - Hangways and Holograms

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Chapter 193 - Temple of Cheap Knock-offs

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Chapter 194 - A Bridge Too Far

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Chapter 195 - Unsafe Working Conditions

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Chapter 196 - REALLY Unsafe Working Conditions

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Chapter 197 - Guns of Anchorage

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Chapter 198 - Paving the Way...

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Chapter 199 - Along the Dark Path...

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Chapter 200 - Operation Anchorage

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Chapter 201 - Bane to Many Men

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Chapter 202 - Southern Belle-rophon

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Chapter 203 - Rarijack Rampage

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Chapter 204 - Rags and Rewards

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Chapter 205 - Bad Clothes and Bad Vibes

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Chapter 78 - Tricks, Traitors and Trouble

Princess Twilight couldn't help but grunt with effort as she lugged a heavy bag through the corridors of Canterlot High. It was packed full of magical crystals sent directly from the Crystal Empire. Twilight was glad that Cadence and her brother had responded to her request so quickly, but her gratitude didn't make carrying a sackful of crystals any easier. Thankfully, she didn't have far left to go.

Pausing outside the Diviner room, Twilight put the bag down just long enough to open the door, then grabbed the handles to drag it inside. Inside, Starswirl and Micro Chips were hunched over the Diviner's console while Vice Principal Luna was standing behind them with her arms folded, staring up at the Diviner. Luna and Starswirl both looked around as Twilight shuffled into the room, then quickly hurried to help her.

"What is all of this?" Luna asked as they hefted the bag onto a desk.

"Magic from the Crystal Empire," Twilight replied. "Hopefully enough to help us make a stable portal to wherever the girls are."

Luna gave the bag an impressed look. "It's about time we got some good news. How long will it take to set them up?"

Starswirl shook his head. "A few hours at best, more likely a day or so. It won't be easy to calibrate them all to the correct magical frequency. Once that's done it's simply a matter of opening a portal, seeing if it's the correct world, and adjusting the frequency if it's not, but setting it all up in the first place is not going to be the main problem."

"At least it's a step towards getting the girls home," Luna said with a sigh. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think there's much that can be done beyond what you're already doing. Unless you've found anything out about Tempest?"

"Not yet. Celestia and Cadence are making some quiet enquiries with relevant authorities, but they haven't turned anything up yet," Luna replied. "What about you? Have you managed to get in contact with your world's Fizzlepop?"

"I've sent a letter, but the last I heard she was on the other side of Equestria," Twilight told her quietly. "It could take a while for her to reply."

Starswirl patted the two on the back. "Do not worry overmuch, we may not know our opponent or their objectives, but we at least have the advantage in that we still hold both the Diviner and the portal to Equestria. I assume that the portal is guarded on the Equestrian side?"

Twilight nodded. "The rest of the Pillars of Harmony are on their way to Ponyville as we speak, and my friends are holding down the castle in the meantime." Her cheeks flushed and she rubbed her neck awkwardly as she added, "I, er, think some of the students of the School of Friendship may have heard what's going on and written home, too. At least, that's the feeling I got from the letter that King Thorax sent me asking if I needed somecreature to talk to."

Luna opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again and shook her head. "So, the castle is safe?"

"The castle is safe," Twilight replied. "Don't worry, we'll get started on calibrating the crystals right away."

Adagio Dazzle bit back a groan as she watched Sonata and Aria bicker over the TV channel for the hundredth time. Still, as annoying as the two were, at least it was a familiar annoyance. Between babysitting the human Sunset Shimmer and waiting for the increasingly irritable Tempest to fulfill her end of their bargain, Adagio found herself almost longing for the days when putting up with her fellow Sirens was the worst part of her day.

The sound of the front door opening grabbed the attention of the three, and a moment later Tempest herself stalked into the room. Adagio hated to admit it, and would never do so out loud, but Tempest had raised effortless intimidation to an art form. The woman was tall, lean and muscular, with deep purple skin and a dark pink mohawk, and she moved with a predatory grace that belied her height.

"Sirens, I need a word," Tempest said without preamble.

Adagio scowled at her. "We have names, you know."

"I'm not in the mood for playing around," Tempest growled warningly. "I need information and I need it fast."

"Why not ask your pet upstairs?" Adagio said with a roll of her eyes. "She's been saying that she's bored-"

"Do you want to go home or not?" Tempest snapped. When no-one said anything, she gave a curt nod. "That's what I thought. As I was saying, I need information. Have any of you ever heard of a pony named Starswirl?"

"Starswirl the Bearded?" Adagio asked in surprise as Aria scowled and Sonata hissed like a cat. "We've met before, but that was a very long time ago."

Tempest frowned and crossed her arms. "It appears that, while I was away shoring up our finances, Starswirl came through the portal to assist Twilight Sparkle in fixing their little project. Do you know anything that might help us to gain an advantage against him?"

"We don't," Adagio replied quickly, before either of the others could chime in. "Like I said, it was a long time ago, and it might not even be the same pony."

Adagio kept her expression carefully neutral, with just a hint of condescension, as Tempest eyed her suspiciously. Finally Tempest sighed with irritation and turned to head back out. "I'll go and do some more reconnaissance. Try not to burn the house down while I'm gone."

The Sirens waited until Tempest was definitely gone before turning to each other.

"There's no way it's the same Starswirl," Aria said flatly. "That wrinkly old sack must have died years ago."

"I'm not so sure," Adagio said quietly. "I wouldn't put anything past him and those annoying Pillars of his."

Sonata blinked and gave them a blank look. "Pillars? I thought they were ponies?"

Adagio groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Just go back to watching TV, Sonata." As Aria and Sonata predictably returned to sniping at each other, Adagio looked over at the door Tempest had left through. Everything was going wrong and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon. At the rate things were getting worse, it was going to be practically impossible for the girls to get back home to Equestria.

"What do you mean, we won't be able to go home?" Aria asked.

Adagio silently cursed herself; she hadn't meant to say anything out loud. Glancing at the door to make sure that human-Sunset wasn't in earshot, she said quietly, "Things are getting out of control. It was bad enough that the Raingoons ended up getting sent to who-knows-where, but with Sparkle and now even Starswirl here, I don't see how we're going to be able to get back to Equestria. Not without doing something drastic."

"Like what?" Aria frowned. "You don't want us to try and force our way through, do you? Cause I don't think that'll end well for us."

"Don't be ridiculous," Adagio spat. "Even if we managed to get through the portal, we'd have half of Equestria chasing after us and we'd just end up back where we started."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "Uh, why not just ask Tempest? She said she'd help us get back, it's time she kept her promise."

"That's if she even has any intention of keeping her promise," Adagio countered. "No, we need to do something ourselves."

"It's been a really long time, and we don't have our magic anymore, so why not just ask Starswing if he'll let us back through?" Sonata asked.

"It's Starswirl, you moron, and he's not going to let us through just because we ask nicely," Aria said roughly.

"Hang on a second," Adagio cut in. "As impossible as it sounds, I think Sonata might be onto something." She paced up and down the room as a plan slowly came together in her mind. "We'll have to play this carefully. Tempest knows we're not idiots. Or, at least," she paused and grinned evilly at Sonata, "she knows that I'm not an idiot."

The Citadel was many things; a fortress, a sanctuary, a training ground, and a laboratory, just to name a few. Unfortunately, one of the things it wasn't was romantic.

There were plenty of Knights and Scribes who got together; going on dates to the occasional dances that were held in old halls or going on late-night walks through the lesser used corridors, but neither of those options were particularly appealing to Rarity. Sitting on the roof and looking up at the stars at midnight sounded wonderful, but getting permission to do it was worse than getting teeth pulled. The laser turrets installed for defence also detracted from the atmosphere somewhat.

With her preferred methods out of reach, Rarity had been left with few other options. She had conferred with Tabitha, naturally, but while her counterpart had sympathized with her desire to build a romantic atmosphere, her suggestions had been geared towards pragmatism and a level of daring that Rarity wasn't certain that she possessed.

After a week of being chased in circles by her own mind, Rarity had decided to take a break from her scheming, at least temporarily. Thankfully, Pinkie was always good for providing a distraction, and so Rarity found herself sitting at a table in the Citadel's courtyard with Pinkie, Fawkes, and Twilight in her wheelchair, taking it in turns playing a game of checkers on a borrowed steel plate using painted metal nuts as pieces.

Rarity hummed thoughtfully as she considered her next move. Fawkes, her opponent for this particular match, was proving to be a surprisingly good player, able to give any of the girls a run for their money. "I think this will do nicely," Rarity said as she shifted one of her pieces forward.

Fawkes nodded and casually took three of her pieces in one smooth move, dropping his piece in her starting line. "King me."

"Oh, for the…" Rarity scowled and kinged his piece before settling down to decide her next move.

"Wow, you kinda suck at this," Pinkie said bluntly.

"To be fair, I've only played against Twilight and Fawkes so far," Rarity retorted. Twilight couldn't quite move her arms enough to play, so she resorted to using her magic to move the pieces. This didn't stop her from using some mathematical wizardry to annihilate everyone she played against. Even Pinkie's utterly random play style couldn't beat her.

Still scowling, Rarity moved one of her pieces forward. A moment later she let out an exasperated groan as Fawkes took two more pieces and gained another king. "It is not like you to be so inattentive to detail," he said quietly. "Is something on your mind?"

Rarity sighed and lowered her head. "No. Yes. I don't know, I'm just… stuck with something of a personal matter." She raised her head just in time to see the others sharing a concerned look.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Twilight asked.

Rarity shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, darling, but I'm not sure that it's something you can help me with."

"If you're sure," Twilight said.

"I'm sure," Rarity replied, though it wasn't entirely true. In fact, Twilight or Fluttershy were both perfectly placed to help her with questions about romance, but this was something she wanted to do on her own, not to mention the painful feelings such a conversation would bring up in them.

"If I may ask, how is your research on the FEV coming along?" Fawkes asked Twilight, tactfully changing the subject.

Twilight groaned in response. "It's a lot harder than I expected. Learning about nuclear fusion under Doctor Li was hard enough, but this is a very specialized subject in a completely different branch of science. Between the painkillers and the physiotherapy, I hardly feel like I'm making any headway whatsoever. Fluttershy is making a lot more progress than I am with it."

"She does have some experience as a nurse, I'm sure that helps," Rarity put in. "Besides, it's her body that has been affected, I'm not surprised that she's studying the FEV as hard as she can."

"I know," Twilight sighed. "I just wish there was more that I could do."

Rarity gave her a reproachful look. "Twilight, darling, you are pushing yourself too hard as it is. Even when you're supposed to be taking a break you end up helping the Scribes update Liberty Prime's programming."

"That is a break for me!" Twilight insisted. "I enjoy working on Liberty's programming. It makes a change to actually do something I'm good at."

"Darling, there are lots of things you're good at," Rarity said firmly. "I know things are difficult right now, but we'll get through this." She absently moved another of her pieces forward. "As soon as this dreadful war is over we can put our minds together and, with the help of the Brotherhood and the Exodus team, figure out a way to get home."

"Assuming the Brotherhood wins, and the Exodus team don't get wiped out," Twilight grumbled.

"It will be fine," Fawkes said quietly but confidently. "There will be much bloodshed, but Liberty Prime is with us, and Eden's information has proven incredibly useful."

Rarity shivered at the reminder of the creepy little spider that had been given the occasional tour of the courtyard, riding on the shoulder of a Knight like some bizarre pet. She was still having trouble believing that the horrid creature was the former President of the Enclave.

"He still wants to speak to us, doesn't he?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight nodded. "I've been considering it, but I'd rather wait until I'm healed up a little more. I don't want to have my mind muddled by painkillers when I'm dealing with him."

"Rather you than me, darling." Rarity reached for one of her pieces, then blinked dumbly and frowned at the board. "Where have all of my pieces gone?"

"You lost," Fawkes said flatly.

"Oh." Rarity sighed and let her shoulders slump. "Well, I wish I could say 'well played', but I fear I didn't put up a very good showing this time around."

Fawkes chuckled as he started resetting the board, but before they could decide on who was playing next they were interrupted by a voice calling out, "Hey, Miss Sparkle!" The group looked around to see a Squire hurrying towards them. She made a crude attempt at a salute as she said, "Elder Lyons wants to see you, he wants help sorting out some magic stuff."

Something about the girl seemed familiar to Rarity, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She shook her head and put it to the back of her mind as she asked, "Does he just want Twilight, or should we all go?"

The Squire shrugged. "Fuck if I- uh, I mean, I don't know. Maybe the three of you should come, just in case."

Rarity rolled her eyes and apologized to Fawkes as she got to her feet. She frowned at the Squire as they fell into step behind her, Pinkie dutifully pushing Twilight's wheelchair. Something about the Squire was definitely familiar, she just couldn't figure out what.

Horrigan breathed in deeply as he waited, feeling the air hissing in through his helmet's filters and flowing through metal tubes before they filled his lungs. He was currently strapped into a huge frame reminiscent of those used for working on power armor. Doctor Bohn, though she insisted that he call her Sienna, was busy checking the readouts of his armor and life support systems on a nearby terminal.

Strange as it seemed, Horrigan quite enjoyed times like this. Whenever he was being examined or having his armor adjusted was an opportunity to relax and not have to worry about keeping an eye out for potential threats; a rare luxury for a former bodyguard.

"How are you feeling, Horrigan?" Sienna asked. "Any pain?"

"No, Doc," Horrigan replied. He knew that the good doctor was only doing her job, but it still amused him that she thought a pathetic little Super Mutant could hurt him. He had faced a small band of them on his morning patrol. One of them, a foul-smelling beast with purple hair and a bony horn poking out of its forehead, had managed to get the drop on him, jamming a crystal spike into his shoulder joint from behind. The feeble attack had barely scratched Horrigan's armor. He had made sure that the Mutant didn't live long enough to get a second chance.

"What about your fusion cores? How are their power levels looking?" Sienna asked.

Horrigan checked his armor's power source with a thought, the information getting delivered directly to his mind through the chip in his brain. "Still staying steady at 50%."

"Good." Sienna put on a bulky set of headphones. "Now can you push all of your armor's settings to normal, please?"

Horrigan did as he was asked. It was an odd sensation. It almost felt as if he was relaxing some intangible mental muscle, freeing the power stored in his armor and allowing it to flow as it was supposed to. "FUSION CORE OUTPUT IS BACK AT 100%."

Sienna winced at the volume, even through the protective headphones. "Okay, can you drop it down for me again?"

With a sigh, Horrigan focused and brought the power back under control again. He would much prefer to keep the power flowing at all times, but he had to keep himself in check if he didn't want to deafen everyone in the vicinity every time he spoke. "Back at 50%."

"Thanks." Sienna pulled the headphones off and rubbed her ears gently. "It looks like your magic is definitely what's causing your volume issues. I'll have a word with Doctor Strong and see if we can figure out some way of isolating your speakers from whatever channels your magic is flowing through. At least then you'll be able to talk normally without having to restrain yourself."

"I'm still surprised that magic even exists," Horrigan said flatly.

Sienna nodded in agreement. "You're not the only one. The whole world has gone bat shit crazy over the last month or so."

"Do you know why my fusion cores aren't running down normally?" Horrigan asked.

"I haven't got a clue; I'm a doctor, not a physicist," Sienna replied bluntly. "You'll be better off asking Doctor Strong about that one."

Horrigan just grunted and shifted his shoulders slightly to get more comfortable. He waited patiently as the doctor ran through several more tests, answering the occasional question thrown his way, until finally she was satisfied.

"Ok, you're all set," Sienna said as she switched the terminal off.

With his moment of peace over once again, Horrigan sighed and helped Sienna disconnect the diagnostic cables from his armor. It took a lot longer to do than it had in his old facility, but, given that most of the equipment here had been cobbled together in a hurry from whatever the team could get their hands on, that was only to be expected.

Just as they finally disconnected the last of the cables, Horrigan heard the sound of booted feet approaching. A few seconds later there came a knock on the door and Lieutenant Colonel Strong poked his head in. "Is everything going smoothly in here?"

Horrigan snapped to attention and saluted crisply. "Sir, yes, sir!"

Sienna's lips thinned at having her work interrupted, but she nodded anyway. "As far as I can tell, Horrigan is perfectly healthy. Well, as healthy as he can possibly get while missing his legs, skull, and several internal organs."

"I'm fine," Horrigan insisted. "Everything that's missing has either been replaced or I didn't need it anyway."

"Good," the Lieutenant Colonel said before Sienna could reply. "I've received orders directly from the Senate. You're to provide support and protection for a mining team at the remains of Raven Rock. You'll be leaving in fifty minutes."

Horrigan would have raised an eyebrow if he still possessed them. "I thought I was supposed to stay here, in case those Brotherhood maggots send their toy soldier our way?"

"That was the original plan. Unfortunately, if the Senate wants to dictate military operations, there's very little I can do to stop them," Strong replied, his expression clearing showing that he dearly wished that he could. "We should be alright while you're gone. The Brotherhood hasn't attacked us yet, so we might be lucky. In the event that they do launch an attack while you're not present, we'll do our best to hold them off until you return."

Horrigan growled angrily. He didn't like civilians interfering with military matters, and he especially didn't like being used as a pawn in a petty political tug of war. Still, as the Lieutenant Colonel had said, there was little that could be done about it. "I'll get ready to leave immediately."

"Not yet, you need a nutrition intake first," Sienna cut in.

Lieutenant Colonel Strong nodded. "Doctor Bohn is right, you've got fifty minutes yet. Take your time."

Horrigan sighed and sat heavily on the floor as the Lieutenant Colonel left the room. As Sienna got to work opening the panel on his armor that allowed nutritional supplements to be pumped directly onto his stomach, Horrigan rested his helmeted head on his fist and pondered what was happening with the Enclave. They were already at war with the Brotherhood of Steel but, with the way things were going, he almost felt like the Enclave was just as much at war with itself.

Author's Note

And so the plot thickens...

Next chapter, magic in the Citadel...

Chapter 1 - The Geode Diviner

Sunset Shimmer strode purposefully through the halls of Canterlot High, making her way to the spare classroom where her friends were waiting. Her heart was pounding and she was trembling with excitement. Today was the day they would finally activate the project they had been working on for the last few months.

Stopping outside the room, Sunset took a deep breath to steady herself before she pushed the door open. Inside, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both leaning against a window, not a trace of nerves showing on their faces. Rarity was occupying herself with her makeup, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were playing cards to pass the time. Lastly there was Twilight Sparkle, hunched over as she inspected the machinery that dominated one end of the room.

The machine was what Sunset and her friends had been working on for the last few months. A complicated system of electrodes, Tesla coils and power supplies had been constructed around a large, ornate mirror; a technological twin to the mirror portal in Equestria. A series of intertwined cables connected everything to a large console just off to the side, with lots of little screens and dials set into it.

“Hey, guys,” Sunset called out as she dumped her bag on an empty desk. “Is everything ready?”

Applejack chuckled and shook her head. “It will be if you can get Twilight to stop re-checking everything over and over.”

Twilight turned around, nervously adjusting her glasses. “Hey, Sunset, I was just checking this cable configuration again. Then once I’m done with that I’ve just got to re-calibrate the calibration equipment again and we’ll be ready for final checks!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Chill out, Twilight. You've done all of that, like, three times already.”

Sunset walked over and threw an arm around Twilight‘s shoulders, pulling her away from the machine. “Come on, Twi.” She grinned, guiding the nerd into a chair. “Sit down and try to relax until Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna get here.”

“Thanks, Sunset, I’m just a bit worried is all.” Twilight sighed, her shoulders slumping. “After all, this is the first magical machinery I’ve constructed since the Friendship Games, and look how that turned out!” she cried, throwing her arms up in the air.

Rarity looked up from admiring her nails. “It’ll be fine, darling. You may have made some... boo-boos... in the past, but you were on your own back then. This time around you have us.”

“Rarity’s right,” Applejack said as she threw herself into a chair. “Heck, even Princess Twilight has been helping us out with this.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I know, and I am grateful she took the time to look over the schematics for us.”

“It was awful nice of her to help us,” Fluttershy added as Pinkie packed their card game away.

Sunset couldn't help but smile at Twilight hunched in her chair. At least she wasn't the only one who was both excited and nervous about this. “It’ll be fine, Twilight, the preliminary tests have all gone perfectly.”

“True, and the results have all been promising so far,” Twilight agreed. “I’m just so excited, but I’m so nervous at the same time it feels like my head is going to explode!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air again.

“Ooooo you’re nervicited!!!” Pinkie Pie squealed.

The other girls all looked at each other in bemusement at Pinkie’s word-mashing, but before anyone could respond the door opened and Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna walked in.

“Well, girls, I got your message saying you had completed the project you have been working on,” Celestia announced. “Perhaps now you could fill us in on what exactly this is all about.”

Twilight stood and walked over to the control console. “Well, as you know, Sunset Shimmer and I have been working on a way to detect magical anomalies such as those that we encountered at Camp Everfree, the Daring Do premiere, and our more recent encounters with the Memory Stone and Vignette. We now think we have a solution.”

Sunset joined Twilight at the console. “We call this machine the Geode Diviner. It’s a combination of the technology our Twilight used to track magic during the Friendship Games and the system Princess Twilight uses to keep the portal to Equestria open. When activated it scans an area for any magical energy and, once we’ve finished calibrating the GPS, will project a holographic map showing the location of any anomalies.”

Celestia looked amazed, but Luna frowned at the machinery. “While this is indeed impressive girls, are you sure it is safe? We all know how these things have gone wrong in the past.”

Sunset nodded. “Safety was our top priority when building this, which is why we have been working with Princess Twilight back in Equestria. We have been constantly re-checking our theory and running simulations to make sure we have everything under control.”

Celestia and Luna both sighed with relief.

“Alright then, so how does it work?” Celestia asked.

Sunset fingered her Geode absently as she replied, “The Diviner works by radiating magical energy at a certain frequency. This energy resonates with the magical signature of our Geodes and the portal to Equestria outside. When it reads a signature that doesn't resonate with them it reacts to the disturbance and sends a signal to our Geodes so we can tell when something has been detected, even if we aren't in the room.”

“We actually got the idea from Princess Twilight,” Twilight added.

Celestia walked up to the mirror, inspecting it closely. “So is the hologram projected from the mirror? Or onto it somehow?”

“Oh, no, Principal Celestia,” Sunset replied as she sidled up to her. “The mirror is actually for an additional feature we had the idea for while checking our theory.”

“What kind of feature?” Luna asked, joining her sister at the mirror.

Twilight stepped forward eagerly. “We realized that if we could send a signal to our Geodes then we could send one to the Equestrian portal too! We’ve tested the system a few times already, on a low power setting just to be safe,” Twilight said quickly, seeing the look on Luna’s face. “If you are both ready, would you like us to activate it and show you?”

“Very well then, it seems you have taken all the necessary precautions. Please proceed,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Excellent!” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing the activation lever. “You may want to step back a bit though,” she added nervously.

“I thought you said it was safe?” Celestia asked dubiously, taking a step back nonetheless.

Sunset stepped in quickly, “It is, but whenever we switch it on with a Geode in the room the magic can react a little bit. It has a very short reaction range and it hasn’t actually hurt anyone, but we don’t want to take any chances with people who don’t already have magic.”

Hearing this, Celestia and Luna quickly made their way to the back of the room, very close to the door. They shared a glance, then turned back to the girls.

Celestia nodded to them. “Very well, girls, you may begin.”

Grinning with anticipation, Twilight cranked the activation lever. Instantly a low hum emanated from the machine and a pale light shone from the mirror. As the hum grew louder and the shine from the mirror intensified, Sunset felt the Geode hanging around her neck grow warm, emitting a bright glow of its own. Looking around, she could see the same thing happening to the Geodes around the necks of the other girls, the glow slowly growing to encompass their entire bodies. With a sudden popping sound, the humming stopped and the glow from the Geodes disappeared. Looking up at the mirror, Sunset saw that the light had faded, replaced with an image of a large crystalline room and a familiar purple Alicorn.

“Princess Twilight!” the girls all called in unison.

“Hey, girls,” Princess Twilight called back, waving one of her hooves. “Everything looks good from this end, any problems on your side?”

Twilight bent over the monitor on the control panel. “Nope, all energy levels are stable.”

Pinkie skipped over to the mirror. “Is everything staaable on your end, Twilight?”

Princess Twilight just rolled her eyes and smiled.

“So this is what you really look like then, Princess?” Celestia asked, moving closer to the machine again now that it seemed safe.

Princess Twilight nodded. “Yes, though I must say it is a little strange seeing you girls like this while still standing on four legs.”

“I have a question, Twilight,” Luna said as she walked over too.

“Yes?” both Twilight’s asked.

Luna blinked in sudden bemusement. “Er… I meant Princess Twilight.”

Sunset folded her arms. “We really should come up with a way of differentiating you two when we’re talking to you both.”

“That’s easy darling,” Rarity chimed in, raising an eyebrow as if it were obvious. “Twilight and Princess Twilight.”

Princess Twilight smiled awkwardly. “Calling me Princess all the time is a bit too formal-sounding to be honest. How about a nickname?”

“You could always just call this one 'The Alicorn'!” a voice called through the mirror. "Or you could call your Twilight 'Sci-Twi'"

“Or call this one Twit-Twi!” another voice called.

Princess Twilight scowled at somepony out of view. "That wasn't funny the first time and it isn't funny now!"

Sunset grinned at the mirror. “Hey, Starlight!”

Starlight Glimmer popped into view, waving at the girls. “Hey, girls. Sorry, I can’t really talk. I’ve got to monitor these readings just in case.”

“I recognize Starlight Glimmer...” Rarity said as Starlight ducked back out of view, “...but that other voice surely can’t… I mean it sounded like-”

“The Great and Powerful TRIXIE!!!” Trixie shouted as she bounded into view, her hat and cloak flapping about wildly.

Princess Twilight turned to glare at the prancing unicorn again. “Trixie! I only agreed to let Starlight invite you to this if you stay quiet and stay put!” Trixie sat with a snort as Twilight turned back to the mirror, composing herself. “Vice-Principal Luna, you had a question?” she asked in a dignified voice.

Luna blinked for a moment, then gathered her thoughts. “Yes, I was wondering how exactly you would know if we are trying to contact you through th-”

“Hold on a second,” Starlight called suddenly. “Twilight, these readings don’t look good.”

Sunset looked over to where their Twilight was bent over the monitor. “We see it too, it looks like something is interfering with the signal.”

Princess Twilight frowned. “It’s not coming from here, I’ve put a shielding spell around this entire room. It must be something from your end.”

A low hum started coming from the machine again as the lights flickered in the room.

Twilight typed some commands into the console, checking sensor readings. “The Diviner isn’t picking up any magical energy. It seems like there’s some sort of electrical pulse coming from somewhere.”

Sunset stepped back, worried. “Either way this isn’t good, we should switch it off until we figure out what’s wrong.”

The image in the mirror suddenly flared and sent sparks running up and down it’s frame. The whole machine was vibrating loudly.

“Shut it down, now!” Sunset yelled as the others shrieked and backed away from the machine. As Twilight grabbed at the activation lever electricity arced from the console, forcing her back.

“Are you okay?!” Princess Twilight called. “Starlight, shut it down!”

The image in the mirror vanished, but instead of the surface of the mirror, a swirling vortex of dark energy appeared. Sunset yelped as she felt her Geode get yanked towards the vortex. Falling to her hands and knees, she saw the same thing happening to the rest of the girls. Their Geodes glowed madly as they, and the girls, were dragged screaming towards the vortex. Celestia and Luna each rushed forwards and grabbed Fluttershy and Applejack, who had been closest to them.

A loud bang came from the Diviner and several cables were knocked free. As they came loose the vortex grew suddenly more powerful, sucking everything in the room towards it. Sunset saw Twilight, who was closest to the machine, get sucked right into the vortex and disappear. Desperately trying to claw her way away, Sunset grabbed hold of Pinkie who was sliding along the floor, unable to get a good grip.

As another loud boom rocked the room Sunset felt herself and Pinkie lifted from the floor and hurtle towards the mirror, swiftly followed by Rarity and Rainbow Dash. The last thing she saw was Celestia and Luna finally losing their grip on Fluttershy and Applejack, before she hit the vortex and everything went dark.

Chapter 8 - A Deadly Proposition

“How do you know her name?” Twilight asked quickly.

Mr Burke smiled at her and spoke in a smooth, oily voice. “Oh I know far more than just her name Miss Sparkle, Miss Shy.” His smile widened at the girls’ surprise at being recognized. “To answer your question, the local cultists have been spreading word of your little group as quickly as they possibly can.”

“Local cultists?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“The Church of Atom.” Sunset replied, eyeing Burke warily. “You have a proposition for me?”

Burke nodded. “Indeed Miss Shimmer, one that I believe you and your friends are uniquely suited for. If you are interested I would appreciate you stepping over here so we can discuss our business more… privately.”

Twilight frowned at him. “You expect three young girls to follow a mysterious stranger into a secluded back alley?”

“I would prefer not to be overheard.” Burke chuckled as Sunset raised her eyebrow. “The business I wish to discuss is of a… sensitive… nature. Normally the saloon would be a far more suitable choice for a private conversation. The bustle and noise would make us much more difficult to overhear, but you girls stand out too much. People would pay attention.”

Sunset frowned, thinking hard. She was interested in hearing what Burke had to offer but her instincts were screaming at her not to trust him. On top of that, as much as she cared for them, Fluttershy and Twilight would not have been the first friends she would have chosen to go following an untrustworthy stranger into a dark alleyway. Especially not out here in the Wasteland where most of the people she had spoken to were armed in some way.

Eventually, she decided it was worth the risk. “Alright Mr Burke, we’ll hear your proposal.”

“Excellent. Please, follow me.”

As the girls followed Burke into the alleyway, Fluttershy whispered quietly to Sunset. “Um, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Fluttershy’s right, we’d be safer out in the open where people can see us.” Twilight added.

Sunset nodded, smirking slightly. “I know. If he tries something there won’t be anyone around to help us. Which means if he does try something, no-one will be around to see you use your magic on him. You don’t have to hurt him.” Sunset said quickly at the look on Twilight’s face, “Just pick him up and hold him so he can’t hurt us while we escape.”

Twilight glanced ahead at Burke, then looked back at Sunset and nodded grimly.

As Burke reached the end of the alleyway he glanced around. They were right under the Megaton’s outer wall, at a convergence of several narrow alleyways. Satisfied that no-one was around, he turned back to the three friends. “This will do nicely.”

Sunset folded her arms, not letting her guard down for an instant. “So what exactly is this secret business of yours and why do you think we’d be so suited for it? I mean you don’t even know us.”

Burke tilted his head, regarding the girls keenly. “I understand you girls have been looking for work, yet you have not gone seeking the charity of the Church of Atom despite their clear... infatuation... with you all.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and that. She had considered going to the Church of Atom for help but decided against it. For whatever reason Cromwell and his followers had taken her and her friends to be blessed in some way by the strange deity they worshiped and it didn’t feel right to take advantage of them in that way.

“So what’s your point?”

“My point, Miss Shimmer, is that you seem to prefer doing your own dirty work. A work ethic I can admire. That and your lack of attachment to this decaying excuse for a settlement makes you a group of very valuable individuals indeed.”

The three friends shared a glance. Sunset wasn’t sure where he was going with this and wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to find out. “What do you mean?” she asked slowly.

Burke glanced around again to make sure they were still alone, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I represent certain… interests who view this festering sinkhole as a blight on a burgeoning urban landscape. They have tasked me with recruiting someone who, for example, had been rejected by the local Neanderthals for no greater reason than a simple difference of color. Someone who wouldn’t care, who would in fact be interested in seeing this settlement simply… go away…”

Twilight just blinked in surprise. “Go away? What do you mean?”

“Wait…” Sunset had seen what the man was getting at, and she did not like it one bit. “You want to destroy the town?”

He smiled slightly. “Correct, and in a way that your associates at the Church of Atom would very much appreciate I assure you.” His smile widened further. “The un-detonated atomic bomb, the monument to the great ‘Atom’ they worship with such diligence is still very much alive. All it needs is a little motivation.”

Sunset gaped at him. She couldn’t believe what this lunatic was coming out with. In fact, she realized, she didn’t believe him at all. The girls were clearly from out of town whereas Burke himself was probably a resident. He was probably trying to pull some sort of sick prank on them, or give them some sort of test. No-one would seriously suggest something like that to anyone, let alone complete strangers.

As these thoughts were running through Sunset’s head Burke pulled his coat to the side, revealing a small box tucked into an inside pocket. Sunset spotted something else under his coat that sent a cold shiver down her spine.

Luckily, Burke didn’t notice her consternation. “This is a fusion pulse charge. All I require is someone to rig it to the bomb‘s control panel. Once that is done you will detonate it at a secure location far from here.”

Twilight cringed away from it, looking at Sunset. “Is… he being serious?”

Sunset just smirked, trying not to give away the cold fear she felt flowing through her. “Nice looking toy, what’s really in there? Confetti?”

“I assure you this is no joke.” Burke said darkly. “Here. See for yourself.” He pulled the box out of his coat, pried open a small panel on the bottom and held it over Sunset’s Pip-Boy. Immediately her Geiger counter started crackling. Sunset yanked her hand back as Burke closed the panel again and smoothly slid the box back into his coat.

“That thing is real.” Twilight said slowly. “You really want the town gone.”

“Finally cottoned on have you?” Burke sneered.

“But what about the people? We can’t just force them out of their homes.” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Not to mention how difficult it would be to get them to leave in the first place." Twilight added. "I suppose you could offer some sort of compensation, but even with that how would we convince them to evacuate?”

Burke raised an eyebrow at the two girls.

Sunset caught his intention and it chilled her to the core. “We don’t.”

Burke snorted. “At least one of you can keep up.”

Sunset felt like there was ice in her veins. This man was talking about slaughtering an entire town as if it were nothing. Just an everyday business transaction. Walk away, flip a switch and subject an entire town to the same fate that had swallowed their civilization two hundred years ago.

They had to get this to the sheriff, but first they had to get away from Mr Burke. Simply walking away wasn’t an option, not knowing what else he had under his coat. For now Sunset decided to simply play along, hoping Twilight and Fluttershy would realize what she was doing.

“Okay, let‘s say we’re interested.” Sunset tried very hard to ignore the shocked looks she got from the other two, “What’s in it for us?”

“Sunset… what are you doing?” Twilight breathed.

Burke gestured vaguely around at their surroundings. “You mean besides ridding the world of this feculent eyesore? How about repaying the brutish inhabitants for the absolute lack of common decency they have shown you so far? And as for the Church of Atom…” He chuckled maliciously, “Those zealots believe you to be some sort of blessed prophets of their ridiculous god. Having you unleash the full might of their holy relic would be a blessing beyond measure in their eyes.”

Sunset leaned forward, giving what she hoped was a seductive smile. “That does sound interesting, but I was hoping for something a little more… tangible.” she purred.

Mr Burke smiled at her. “It seems I underestimated you Miss Shimmer, as did Moriarty. If you didn’t understand the way the wasteland works before, then you are certainly a very fast learner.”

Sunset stepped forward to lay a hand on his chest, keeping the smile plastered on her face even as her skin crawled. “I appreciate the flattery, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, of course.” Burke nervously reached up to straighten his tie, “My employer is a very, very wealthy man. Do this one small thing and you shall never again lack for caps or luxury.”

Twilight grabbed Sunset‘s arm. “Sunset you can’t do this! I know we’ve had trouble since we got here but this isn’t the answer!” she whispered desperately.

“I’m doing what I have to.” Sunset said roughly, turning to look Twilight in the eyes. They stayed that way for a moment, Sunset keeping a fierce look on her face but hoping desperately that Twilight would catch on. Eventually Twilight stepped back, her head drooping. Fluttershy placed an arm on her shoulder and nodded subtly to Sunset.

Well, at least one of them gets it Sunset thought as she turned back to Burke and gave her best attempt at a twisted smirk. “All right Mr Burke, I‘ll do it. You provide the charge, I‘ll provide the crater.” she said quietly, putting as much conviction as she could into her voice.

Burke gave her an oily grin as he pulled the charge out of his pocket and held it out. “Here’s the fusion pulse charge. There is a control panel that is suitably exposed, just pry it open and connect the charge on the inside of the casing. That will be enough to get the bomb primed.”

“Got it.” Sunset said, taking the charge and tucking under her arm.

“When it’s done meet me at the saloon and I shall escort you to Tenpenny Tower. Once we are there you will have the pleasure of wiping this cesspool from existence.”

Sunset nodded “Alright, I‘ll get it done. You head out first, I guess you don’t want people to notice that we've been talking.”

“You assume correctly.” Burke replied silkily. Without another word he strode back down the alley. As soon as he was out of sight Sunset let out a breath. Before she could say anything she felt the pulse charge yanked out from under her arm. Whipping around, she saw the charge floating in front of Twilight, grasped her magic’s purple aura.

“Alright Sunset, what the heck was all of that about!?”

Sunset just blinked. “What?”

Fluttershy spoke up in a very small voice. “Um, I think Sunset did the right-”

“What do you mean what?!” Twilight cried, ignoring Fluttershy’s quiet efforts. She pulled a vague imitation of Sunset’s voice, “You provide the charge, I’ll provide the crater. What WAS that?”

“Twilight, you need to calm down.” Fluttershy said firmly, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

Sunset felt a hollow pain in her chest as she looked at her purple friend. “You… you don’t actually think I was going to destroy the town, do you?”

Twilight shook her head. “Of course I don’t, I just…” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I… I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen you all, you know, ‘bad girl’ before. It freaked me out. But, why did you say all that?”

“Ah‘d kinda like to hear that too.” Applejack drawled as she stepped out from around a corner, Rarity sauntering along behind her.

“Yeah Sunshim, what gives?” Pinkie called down from where she and Rainbow were perched on the roof of the building above.

The three girls jumped at the sudden appearance of the rest of their friends.

“Wait, you were all watching? Why didn’t you say anything!” Twilight snapped.

Rainbow shrugged, “That guy looked shifty so we followed you. Figured he‘d bolt if we all turned up so we decided to stay out of sight.”

“Of course, we were all terribly worried when we heard what he wanted, but it looked like you had it under control.” Rarity piped up, “It was obvious, to me at least, that you were using your feminine wiles to get that… whatever that thing is off that horrid man. We just can’t help wondering, well, why?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you just grab the creep and drag him over to the sheriff?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset sighed heavily, terrified at how close this could have come to ending in disaster. “He has a gun, I saw it when he opened his coat to show me the pulse charge. It’s got a silencer attached. I was worried that if we tried to say no or run away he could kill us and no-one would ever know what had happened.”

There was a brief, appalled silence as the others digested her words.

Applejack let out a slow whistle. “Good gravy girl, that was some mighty quick thinking you did back there.”

“You said it AJ.” Rainbow agreed.

“I, um, I saw it too.” Fluttershy said quietly, “That’s why I didn’t say anything.”

“Well it’s a good thing we didn’t try to force our way into the conversation.” Rarity muttered, “That could well have turned into a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.”

Sunset glanced over at the charge, still clutched in Twilight‘s magic. “Can that thing really do what he said it can?”

Twilight grabbed the box out of her aura, turning it over in her hands. “I think so?”

“We need to get that thing to the sheriff.” Applejack said flatly.

“You’re right, we need to let him know what’s going on as fast as we can.” Sunset nodded, “Do any of you have any idea where he is?”

The others all shook their heads.

“Alright, I guess we‘ll just have to go look for him.” Sunset sighed as Rainbow and Pinkie clambered down from the roof. “Come on girls.”

Finding Simms didn’t turn out to be as hard as Sunset had feared. Almost as soon as they exited the alleyway Pinkie spotted him at the restaurant down by the bomb, chatting to Confessor Cromwell and a young boy they didn’t recognize.

As the girls hurried down to him they agreed on a plan. Sunset would speak to the sheriff while the others distracted Cromwell and his followers. They might be nice people, but Sunset still didn’t feel comfortable letting them know about the fusion pulse charge that was currently nestled within her pack.

The Confessor spotted them first as they approached. “Blessed children! It is a pleasure to see you all again so soon! Honored Rarity, Honored Rainbow Dash, it warms my heart to know that you brought this humble shepherd’s request to your most esteemed sisters.”

The others all turned to stare at Rarity and Rainbow.

“We didn’t take advantage if that’s what you’re all wondering.” Rarity said tartly, though she blushed a little as she said it. “They offered us caps from their donations and we politely but firmly refused.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously. “U-huh, so what was this request about?”

“They just asked if we could bring the rest of you along some time to have a chat with the acolytes and stuff. No biggie.” Rainbow answered.

Twilight grinned at him, “We're all here, why don't we talk now?”

Cromwell glanced at the wide-eyed sheriff, then back at the girls. “Nothing would please me more but please, do not go out of your way for us. Your desire for self-sufficiency is truly inspiring and I would not wish to impose on your time while you are still getting yourselves settled.”

“Actually, that would be perfect.” Sunset said quickly, “I just need a quick word with the sheriff, would you mind keeping my friends company while they wait?”

Simms raised his eyebrows at the obvious excuse, but the Confessor just beamed at her. “Nothing could please me more Honored Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset tried not to let her relief show as Cromwell eagerly started chatting with the others. She turned to walk away and gestured for the sheriff to follow, glancing up towards the saloon to make sure Burke wasn’t watching. Satisfied, she wandered over to the far side of the bomb, out of sight of the saloon entirely, before she turned to the sheriff. Sunset blinked as she realized the young boy had followed them over too.

Simms noticed her gaze. “This is my son Harden.” That explains the resemblance, Sunset thought. “Don’t worry, anything you want to say to me you can say in front of him. So what’s this about exactly, problem with the job hunt?”

“No. Well, yes. Sort of. We tried the restaurant like you suggested, but they didn’t have anything.”

“Have you tried Craterside Supply? Moira’s always looking for assistants for her crazy experiments.”

“Sounds interesting, but we actually have a bigger problem at the moment.” Sunset glanced over to make sure Cromwell was still distracted. “While we were looking around, we were approached by someone, a Mr Burke?”

Simms suddenly groaned and shook his head. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to say?”

“Er, to be honest, it’s probably a lot worse than you’re thinking.” Sunset slipped her pack off. “Uh, you might want to stand over here, so Confessor Cromwell can‘t see this.”

The sheriff raised an eyebrow at that. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Sunset sighed and pulled the charge out of her pack, angling her body so Cromwell wouldn’t be able to see it from where he was standing. She wasn’t sure he would recognize it for what it was, but she didn’t want to take the chance. “Burke gave me this fusion pulse charge, he asked me to rig the bomb to explode.”

“Jesus! Gimme that thing!” Simms yelped. He reached his hands out for it but Sunset pulled it out of his reach.

“Careful, we don’t want them to see!”

“Want who to see?” the sheriff snapped.

Sunset just gave him a blank look. “Do you want the Church of Atom to know you have something like this?”

Simms glanced over his shoulder towards Cromwell. “Good point. Alright, come here.”

They shifted so she could pass him the charge while keeping it out of sight of anyone else. He inspected the charge quickly before stuffing it into his coat and turning to his son. The poor boy looked terrified.

“Harden, I want you to go home and stay there until I come for you, and don’t breath a word of this to anyone, you hear me?” Harden nodded rapidly. “Alright, go on now.”

Harden turned and ran as fast as he could to a staircase and disappeared up it. As soon as his son was gone Simms squared his shoulder and jerked his chin towards Cromwell and the others. “Do your friends know about this?”

“Yes. That’s why they agreed to distract Cromwell while I spoke to you.”

“Good call. I don’t think Cromwell would do anything about it himself, but I still wouldn’t take the risk. Come with me.” They walked quickly back over to her friends. “Sorry Confessor, but I’m going to need these girls to come with me for now.”

Cromwell looked around, curious. “Is there a problem sheriff?”

“Don’t worry Cromwell, your new friends aren’t in any trouble, but I do need them to come with me. I’m sorry but it can’t wait.”

“Oh, of course sheriff. Until next time Honored ones.” Cromwell bowed deeply to the girls as they left.

The sheriff strode purposefully through the town, shrugging his assault rifle off his back. The girls hurried to keep up. The people they passed quickly got out of the way, looking curiously after the unusual group but not daring to ask questions.

Sunset fell into step alongside Simms. “What are we going to do?”

Simms glanced over his shoulder at the girls. “I want all of you to come with me to the saloon. Sunset, you’re with me, the rest of you just stay back and watch while I do the talking. You’re about to get an education in Wasteland justice.”

Sunset shivered and slowed down to let Simms go in front. Turning to the girls she spoke in an undertone so he wouldn’t hear. “Alright girls, I think the sheriff can handle this, but just in case I think we should be prepared to use our magic to help out.”

“What if Mr Burke tries to shoot someone?” Twilight asked worriedly.

Rainbow smacked a fist into her palm. “Then we take him out before he can.”

Sunset nodded. “But be careful everyone, we don’t want to take any chances.”

“Darn right we don’t.” Applejack muttered. “It’s going to be awful cramped in there with all of us though. Maybe you should stay back with the rest of us.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Sunset said, sounding more confident than she felt. “I’ll go with the sheriff to confront Burke, the rest of you position yourselves around the saloon to jump in if you have to.”

“That puts you in an awful lot of danger darling.” Rarity warned.

Rainbow shook her head. “Don’t worry, if I see a gun I’ll dash in and grab it off him before he knows what hit him.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Applejack smiled, patting Sunset on the back. “Don’t worry sugarcube, we got your back.”

The girls fell silent as the saloon came into view. Not bothering to slow down, Simms shouldered the door open. The patrons all looked around as he barged his way in. The zombie behind the bar took one look at the group and disappeared into a back room. Moriarty was nowhere to be seen. Burke was sitting alone in a little alcove off to the side.

The other girls spread themselves out around the saloon as Simms stormed over to Burke, Sunset close behind. A look of anger passed across Burke’s face as they approached but he quickly schooled his features into neutrality. The whole saloon fell silent as Simms stomped right up to his table. “You there, Burke! I’m placing you under arrest for endangering the town of Megaton.”

Burke just leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow. “Under arrest? Why, whatever for sheriff?.” he asked calmly.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Simms snarled. “I know all about your plan to blow up the bomb! Have you lost your goddamned mind!?”

The other patrons started muttering at that but Burke just shook his head, feigning innocence. “I do apologize sheriff, but I simply have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Maybe this will jog your memory.” Simms pulled the fusion pulse charge out of his coat and slammed it on the table in front of Burke. “Try and explain your way out of that one.”

Burke stared at the charge for a moment, his face unreadable. Suddenly he stood smoothly and dusted off his suit. “Very well sheriff, it seems you wish to take the word of a mutated outsider over a man of impeccable conduct.” He glared over his glasses at Sunset. “But no matter, I‘m sure we can resolve this little dispute in time.”

Simms glared at Burke for a moment longer. As the sheriff turned away Sunset let out the breath she had been holding, when something caught her eye. Burke had subtly slipped his hand under his coat and was pointing something at Simms’ back.

Without thinking Sunset lunged forward, shoving Burke with as much force as she could muster. She heard a quiet ‘phut’ and saw Simms stagger as she collided with Burke. They both crashed into the wall, another muffled gunshot ricocheting off the floor. Sunset desperately grabbed for the gun but Burke rammed his elbow up and across her cheek, knocking her back. His fist crashed into her chin and Sunset fell backwards, slamming painfully into a wall and crumpling to the floor.

Before Burke could react there was a blur of color and he was yanked sideways. Rainbow was struggling to pull the gun out of his grip, but he was holding on too tight. Another low phut sounded and Rainbow let go, narrowly avoiding getting shot. Burke shoved her away before she could recover, sending her sprawling over a table.

He straightened up and looked at Sunset, snarling as he pointed his gun directly at her face. “Treacherous bitch.”

Several rapid gunshots rang out, bright flashes lighting the whole saloon. Sunset saw a small spark from the end of Burke’s gun and felt a blaze of heat across her temple as he staggered back against the wall. Crimson patches blossomed all over his suit as he slumped, barely standing. Simms lunged forward and jammed the barrel of his rifle into Burke’s throat, forcing his head back. He had time for one last look of shock before Simms fired. The back of Burke’s head exploded outwards, coating the alcove behind him in sticky gore.

Sunset felt her gorge rising as Burke’s body crumpled to the floor. Forcing it down, she looked around to see if everyone was alright, then immediately regretted it as she saw Rarity being violently sick by the staircase. Fluttershy was standing near the counter, a look of abject terror on her face as she stared at Burke’s corpse. Sunset tried to stand but her legs wouldn’t co-operate. She was shaking violently, and realized vaguely that her head was throbbing.

The other patrons started calling out to each other, making sure no-one else was hurt. It looked like they had all ducked for cover the moment the shooting started. A groan brought Sunset’s head whipping around, the sudden movement sending waves of nausea rolling through her. Rainbow hauled herself painfully to her feet, clutching her shoulder.

Pinkie appeared out of nowhere and crouched next to Sunset. “Are you okay?”

Sunset couldn’t muster the energy to respond as she saw Applejack hurry over to Rainbow. Pinkie offered Sunset a water bottle, which she took gratefully. Chugging down the cool liquid helped her focus. Or at least it reduced the spinning in her head.

“Is everyone okay?” she gasped as Pinkie helped her to her feet.

“We‘re alright.” Pinkie said quietly. Her eyes widened as she spotted something on Sunset‘s face. “Oh no, Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY GET OVER HERE!!!!”

Fluttershy jolted as if electrocuted. Sunset blinked blearily at her as she scurried over. “What’s wrong Pinkie?”

“You’re bleeding.”

Sunset reached up and touched the side of her head, where she had felt the heat. Her hand came away coated with sticky blood. Looking at the red stain on her hand, her vision started to blur. Sunset back slumped against the wall as pain, guilt and fear rose up, washing over her and sending the room spinning.

She had brought them to this. It had been her idea to build the Diviner that had dragged her and her friends to this rotten world. Her lack of leadership had seen them thrown out of the vault and her subsequent stupidity had nearly led her friends to their deaths out here in the wasteland.

Sunset was almost grateful when the floor rushed to meet her, cool, dark oblivion claiming her in one last burst of pain.

Author's Note

And another chapter rises!

Honestly was a bit nervous about this chapter, Mr Burke is quite a character and I do hope I've done him justice here.

Comments and criticisms greatly appreciated!

Chapter 25 - Center of Attention

This is nice.

The gentle breeze, the waves rolling against the cliffs, the wind chimes ringing softly in the leaves.

It’s nice.

Calm.

Soothing.

The pain is gone now.

Or maybe there never was any pain?

Was there pain? Or wasn’t there?

Meh, who cares?

Maybe I should ask Celestia, since she’s stood right there on that book.

Oh, wait. That’s a bat-pony.

I wonder what that beeping sound is?

Sunset’s eyes slowly cracked open as she woke up.

She glanced around sluggishly, trying to figure out where she was.

Sunset seemed to be in a small room, but her vision was blocked by a folding screen that separated her from the rest of the room. The walls, ceiling and floor around her were all made of some dull, grey metal. The annoying beeping sound turned out to be a heart monitor, stationed next to a little bedside table with a jug of water and a few glasses on top.

Giving up on the room, Sunset turned her attention to herself instead. She was on a gurney of some sort, with thin sheets pulled up to her chest and her arms resting on top. Sunset grimaced at the needles and tubes poking out of the one arm, then did a double-take as she spotted the simple grey tank top she was wearing, the bright colors of her Geode sticking out like a sore thumb against it.

Where the heck did that come from? Hang on a second…

Reluctantly, Sunset peeled back the blanket with her non-perforated arm and lifted her top slightly. Thick medical dressings coated the left side of her belly.

“Great,” Sunset shook her head and pulled the blanket back up, shivering slightly. Figuring it was time to find out where she was, and where her friends were, she decided to try calling out, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Sunset heard footsteps approaching, and a moment later a young woman in a typical white lab-coat appeared around the screen. She had shoulder-length brown hair and sparkling blue eyes that widened when she spotted Sunset staring back, “Oh, you’re awake!” The woman stepped over and knelt next to the gurney, “I’m Doctor Janice Kaplinski, how’re you feeling?”

“Uh… kinda thirsty?” Sunset replied.

Janice nodded and reached over to grab the jug of water and a glass off the bedside table. Sunset tried to sit up, but hissed at a twinge of pain from her stomach.

“You probably shouldn’t try to sit up right now, don’t want to pop your stitches,” Janice said with a wince, “Here, let me help.”

With Janice’s help, Sunset was just able to lift her head enough so she could drink without choking or spilling anything. Once she was finished she dropped her head back onto the pillow, “Thanks. Where am I? Are my friends okay? What happened?”

“Your friends are safe and unharmed,” Janice said reassuringly, “It’s… er… probably best if I let Doctor Preston explain the rest. Just give me a moment and I’ll go and find him for you, okay?”

Sunset just nodded as Janice disappeared back behind the screen. A moment later there was a metallic clank and the sound of a heavy door closing announced her departure. A shiver ran down her spine as she went over Janice’s words again in her mind. Clearly she’d had surgery of some sort, but she still had no idea just how bad things had actually gotten.

Sunset wasn’t left to stew for long, as only a couple of minutes later the door opened again and a man stepped around the screen. He looked to be easily in his fifties, his kindly, bespectacled face framed by grey hair with a matching beard and mustache. He had a clipboard under one arm and, like Janice, wore a long lab-coat.

“Good afternoon, I’m Doctor Preston,” the Doctor smiled as he wheeled a chair over to the gurney and settled himself on it, “I understand you may have some questions about what’s happened but I’d just like to go through a few things first if that’s alright with you?”

Sunset nodded hesitantly.

“Good, good. Now, can you tell me your name please?”

“Sunset Shimmer.”

Doctor Preston made a note on his clipboard, “Good. And where are you from, Sunset?”

“Uh… Vault one-oh-one.”

“I see, and where were did you come from before that?”

“Canterlot High,” Sunset replied cautiously.

“And before that?”

Sunset eyed him warily, wondering just how much he knew, “Equestria…?”

Another note on the clipboard, “And can you remember what you were? Back in Equestria?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless felt herself relax slightly. Three-Dog hadn’t mentioned anything about Equestria in his radio broadcast, which meant that Doctor Preston must have spoken to her friends, “I was a unicorn. Princess Celestia’s personal student.”

Preston tried to repress a smile as he made another note, “One last question, what’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

Sunset frowned as she thought back, “We… we were running through the tunnels. Applejack was carrying me. I think I remember there being some feral ghouls but…”

“That matches up with what your friends told me,” Preston nodded, “Excellent. You’ve been unconscious for quite some time and your brain had been starved of oxygen for a little longer than I’m comfortable with, but it doesn’t seem to have had any major effect.”

“Wait, starved of oxygen? What do mean?!”

“You were in a very bad way when your friends brought you here. You had lost a frankly alarming amount of blood and your kidney had degraded severely, it was incredibly difficult to repair. Honestly I would have removed it if I thought you would survive the procedure.”

Sunset couldn’t repress a shiver at that.

Doctor Preston smiled reassuringly at her, “Don’t worry. Rivet City still has a small stock of pre-war experimental hydrogel for use in emergencies. That helped seal the wound quite nicely. There will probably be some impairment in the function of that kidney, even after you’ve fully healed, but your other one should pick up the slack without any problems. ”

Sunset nodded slowly as the Doctor stood and pulled a small torch out of a pocket, “Now I’d like to give you a quick once-over, just to make sure everything’s in order. Would you mind removing your Geode while I do so?”

“You know about my Geode?” Sunset asked, surprised.

“Your friends explained it to me. You needn’t worry, the only people who know are myself and Doctor Li. Your secret is safe with us.”

Sunset hesitated for a moment, then reached up and slipped the Geode off with her good hand, reaching over to place it on the bedside table. As soon as that was done Doctor Preston got to work. Sunset tried to stay as still as possible while he checked her over, shining the torch in her eyes, checking her pulse and listening to her chest with a stethoscope. After that he started testing her limbs, making sure she could still feel and move them properly. Finally he turned his attention to her abdomen, gently pressing in different areas and asking if she felt any pain or discomfort.

“So… um… you seem to have accepted the whole ‘I used to be a unicorn’ thing quite easily,” Sunset stated, trying to distract herself from the fingers tracing across her belly.

The doctor hummed softly, “I was skeptical at first, even after I saw some of your friends’ abilities. Does this hurt at all?”

Sunset shook her head, “What changed your mind?”

“Doctor Li was adamant that your ’magic’ was actually some form of advanced technology. In order to prove this she made the mistake of trying to analyse it.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, your friends did try to warn her that your previous attempt at doing just that hadn’t quite gone to plan,” Doctor Preston chuckled, “After witnessing the aftermath of that little farce the Council has, quite wisely, put a complete ban on all magical experimentation within the bounds of Rivet City, and I have decided to try and keep a more open mind about things.”

Sunset smiled up at him, but before she could say anything the door was suddenly slammed open. A moment later a familiar face darted around the screen, clad in another lab-coat and wearing her hair up in a tight bun.

“Sunset!”

“Hey, Fluttershy. Ho-”

Any more speech was cut off as Fluttershy burst into tears and dropped to her knees next to the gurney, throwing her arms around Sunset in an awkward attempt at a hug.

“Well you seem to be healing nicely, so I’ll let you both catch up,” Doctor Preston said softly as he stood, giving Fluttershy a quick pat on the shoulder before he left.

Careful not to nudge the needles in her arm, Sunset reached up to awkwardly hug Fluttershy back, patting her head with her good arm, “Hey, it’s okay Flutters. I’m okay.”

The two stayed like that for a little while, Sunset bemusedly doing her best to comfort the young nurse as she bawled her eyes out. She was more than a little discomfited herself at Fluttershy’s reaction. I must have been in more trouble than I thought.

Fluttershy eventually managed to get herself under control, perching herself on Doctor Preston’s chair and roughly drying her eyes on her sleeve, “I-I’m sorry. Are you alright? Are you in any pain?”

Sunset smiled and shook her head, “I’m fine. I actually feel pretty great!”

“Oh thank goodness!” Fluttershy sagged with relief. She rubbed her eyes again and leaned forward to check the tubes entering Sunset’s arm, “You’re on a low dose of Med-X along with the fluids and medication at the moment, but now that you’re awake we can always up the dosage if you need it.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sunset idly fiddled with the bottom of her top, “So, uh, how is everyone?”

“Everyone’s been… stressed. Dealing with the feral ghouls was bad enough but after what happened to you during the surgery…” Fluttershy shuddered and shook her head, “I think everyone will just be glad to know that you’re finally awake.”

Sunset frowned at that, “What do you mean? What happened during the surgery?”

Fluttershy froze, her eyes widening, “Di… didn’t Doctor Preston tell you what happened?”

“He told me he was in a bad way when we arrived and that the surgery was difficult but that’s about it,” Sunset looked at the young nurse expectantly, but didn’t get a response. “Fluttershy, what happened during the surgery?” she pressed.

Flutters sighed and looked away, knotting her hands in her lap, “You… weren’t breathing when we arrived. Luckily we managed to resuscitate you when we got to the clinic and Janice set up a blood transfusion while the other doctors worked, but partway through the surgery your…” She closed her eyes, tears streamed silently down her face once more, “Your heart stopped.”

Sunset felt the blood drain from her face.

“The doctors were still patching you up, so I started the chest compression's. They managed to close the wound, but we couldn’t get your heart started again,” Fluttershy choked back a sob, “I kept going. You were fixed, you had the blood, but you just wouldn’t come back. Doctor Li tried to… tried to call time of death…”

Sunset reached out to clasp her hand as the young nurse broke down again. The heart monitor betrayed her own racing pulse as the full realization hit of just how close to the brink she had been.

“Fluttershy listen to me. I’m alive, okay? You brought me back,” she urged, half trying to convince herself, “You brought me back, and I can never thank you enough for that.”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly, “I couldn’t give up. I couldn’t let you go I just couldn’t I-”

“Hey, hey. It’s alright, I promise,” Sunset said softly as Fluttershy leaned over for another hug.

Focused on trying not to break down herself, Sunset barely heard the scrape of the door over Fluttershy’s quiet sobbing. She managed a wobbly smile as another familiar figure stepped around the curtain.

“Whoa, you look rough.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, “Nice to see you too, Rainbow.”

Rainbow smirked and moved to crouch next to Fluttershy, “Hey, I call it like I see it. I’ve told the others you’re awake, they’re on their way up now. How are you feeling?”

“Eh, pretty good I guess, all things considered.”

“Awesome, how about you Flutters?”

Fluttershy just nodded silently, her arms still wrapped awkwardly around Sunset.

“What about you and the girls?” Sunset asked, “Fluttershy told me everyone’s been stressed.”

Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly, “Heh, yeah. It’s been… kinda crazy. How, uh, how much do you remember? About the journey here?”

Sunset shook her head, “Not much. I remember speaking to Maddy, getting carried by Applejack, you nearly getting shot by those turrets-”

“Of course you do,” Rainbow mumbled.

“-and I think I remember us running into some feral ghouls? But it all gets fuzzy after that.”

“Huh, so you don’t remember that huge horde of ghouls we fought?”

“Horde of them?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t really remember much of that either,” Fluttershy said, peeling herself away from Sunset, “I was too busy making sure you were okay.”

“Lucky you,” Rainbow muttered, “That was one heck of a fight though.”

Sunset listened intently as Rainbow described everything that happened after they left the cavern with the turrets. The first group of ghouls they encountered, the horde, the collapse of the station and then finally the men that accosted them as they tried to leave. She could hardly believe everything she heard. Probably wouldn’t have believed some of it if Fluttershy hadn’t been there to confirm, Rainbow was known to exaggerate sometimes after all.

“That’s insane,” Sunset muttered when the tale was finished.

Rainbow nodded in agreement. “We were pretty lucky really. The only reason security even let us on board without a fuss was because they’d heard about us on the radio.”

“I just can’t believe you had to go through all of that,” Sunset said softly. She shook her head and looked up at Rainbow, “Is everyone coping alright?”

“I’m, um, I’m alright. I’m just glad we all made it here,” Fluttershy replied.

“I’m totally fine. Yep, totally not having nightmares or anything,” Rainbow chuckled nervously, “Applejack’s been playing it cool, but I think she’s having trouble too.”

“Rarity and Twilight have been keeping themselves busy, but I know they’re having nightmares too,” Fluttershy added, “And Pinkie’s… well…”

“Being Pinkie?” Sunset supplied.

Fluttershy and Rainbow shared an uneasy look.

“Not exactly,” Rainbow said slowly.

“What do you mean?”

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door opening yet again. Rainbow stood and shifted the curtain aside to reveal the rest of the Rainbooms trooping into the room.

“Sunset!”

“You’re alright!”

Sunset smiled as the girls hurried to her side, talking over each other as she reassured them that she was on the mend. Rarity looked mostly the same as always, aside from the fact that her arm brace had finally been taken off. Applejack had swapped her usual outfit for a set of heavy-duty work overalls, with her sort-of-stolen Vault-issued tool belt worn over the top. Twilight was once again clad in a long lab-coat, her hair tied sloppily back and a set of goggles perched precariously on her forehead. Lastly, there was Pinkie.

Sunset could hardly believe the change that had came over her party-loving friend.

Pinkie’s hair had lost all of it’s usual puff, laying straight and flat in a sensible ponytail. Her boisterous exuberance was gone without a trace, replaced with a quiet and unassuming demeanor that gave Fluttershy a run for her money. Worse than that was her expression. Pinkie smiled and replied when spoken to but, just once, Sunset saw the mask slip, the forced cheeriness replaced by a haunted and broken look that had no right being on the face of someone so bright and cheerful.

“Pinkie? Are you o-”

“Yep! I’m fine!” Pinkie yelped, an unconvincing smile plastered on her face once again, “I’m just glad you’re finally awake, you’ve been asleep for so long!”

Sunset considered pressing the issue for a moment, but she let it slide. If Pinkie didn’t want to talk yet, she wouldn’t force her. Besides, Pinkie had reminded her of something.

“Speaking of, how long have I been out cold for? Something tells me it’s been more than just a few hours.”

“A few hours?” Rarity glanced uneasily at the others, “Darling, you’ve been comatose for almost a week.”

“A WEEK!?” A painful twinge from her abdomen had Sunset instantly regretting her outburst.

Applejack nodded solemnly, “Yep, so right now you’re going to take it easy and do exactly what the doctor tells you. Is that clear?” Sunset just nodded meekly, “Good, ’cause as soon as the doc says you’re good to go we’re going to have a little discussion about that ridiculous stunt you pulled.”

“Awww….”

Tara huffed as she stared at the terminal in front of her. It was bad enough that Colonel Autumn was constantly trying to catch her alone to try and squeeze more details about Project Exodus out of her, but now the rest of the higher ups had gotten wind of the President’s secret project and were trying to stick their noses in.

Stupid politicians. Senator Devall isn’t too bad, but I swear if Senator Prince tries to force his way in one more time I’m going to grab that little ex fifty one Blaster and ram it up his pompous-

“Hi, Tara. How’s it going?”

Tara nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice behind her. Whirling around, she relaxed as she saw Becky closing the door.

“Whoa, you okay there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tara sighed and turned back to the terminal, “Sorry. I’m just a little on edge. These results are taking forever to come through.”

“What results?”

Tara nodded towards the sealed experiment chamber off to the side. Blast-resistant and radiation-proof, it was perfect for running tests on items of unknown origin and function, “The old readings from artifact ex fifty one dash one four.”

There was a pause as Becky tried to remember which item she was on about, “The signal detector thingy?”

“The signal detector thingy,” Tara echoed, “At least, I think that’s what it is. I’m just running it a diagnostic to make sure all of the signal data matches what we have on record, but it’s taking so damned loooong!”

She huffed and slumped over on the desk, then smiled as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind, “Sunny… what are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Tara could hear the smile in Becky’s voice. She giggled as she felt a little nibble on her ear, “Stop that. Sienna will be back soon, what if she catches us again?”

“Doesn’t that just make it interesting?”

“Maybe…” Tara grinned and turned her head slightly to plant a kiss on Becky’s lips.

Becky raised an eyebrow at that, “Now who’s misbehaving?”

“Oh, shut up and kiss me, Sunny.”

Becky quickly complied, turning Tara’s chair around and kissing her hungrily. Tara couldn’t resist a moan as Becky straddled her lap and hooked their legs together.

Both girls jumped as the door suddenly opened, Becky flailing for a moment as she tried to leap away.

They looked around to see another of the doctors who been assigned to Project Exodus. Clad in the standard-issue Enclave lab-coat, her jet-black hair was tied back in bunches and she was wearing a set of protective goggles over the top of her usual pink-framed glasses.

“Hello Doctors.”

“Hello, Doctor Bohn,” Becky forced out through gritted teeth.

Tara giggled nervously, “Hi, Sienna.”

Sienna just gave them a deadpan stare, “I suppose I should just be glad that you’re clothed this time.”

“Hey, we were clothed last time too!” Becky shot, her and Tara both blushing furiously.

“A lab-coat and shoes does not count as being clothed, especially when the coat is open and there’s nothing else underneath,” Sienna retorted, “Also, you don’t seem to have noticed that the diagnostic on the signal detector thingy is finished.”

Tara gasped and span her chair back around to face the terminal. Sure enough, the results of the diagnostic had popped up on the screen. “Perfect! Okay, let’s have a look.”

Becky sighed and turned to Sienna as her partner buried her nose in the diagnostic report, “So, what did the President say?”

“Doctors Evans and Pickering have both been assigned to Project Exodus, as requested,” Sienna replied, “Senator Devall has also been nominated to oversee our budget and resource management alongside Doctor Turner.”

“That’s a relief,” Becky muttered. Between the two of them, she was sure that Turner and Devall would be able keep the project’ requirements safe from outside interference.

“Could you two take a look at this for me?” Tara called suddenly.

Becky and Sienna glanced at each other for a moment, then stepped over to the terminal.

“What’s up?” Becky asked.

Tara pointed at the screen, “This is the most recent signal the detector picked up, aside from the electricity we’re using to test it,” she turned to frown at the other two, “This signal was detected just over a month ago.”

“That’s impossible, the detector has been in secure storage for the last four months,” Sienna replied.

“Wait a minute,” Becky said slowly, “Isn’t that around the estimated time that the Rainbooms’ portal allegedly brought them here?”

Tara nodded, “Yes, at least according to our calculations and the radio reports we’ve intercepted.”

Sienna’s eyes widened, “Are you saying this signal was generated by the portal opening?”

“I think so,” Tara replied, “And if what we’ve heard on the radio is true, that means this signal right here is either a kind of radiation we’ve never encountered before or it’s… well… magic.”

The three woman stared at the screen in awestruck silence.

“Is there any way we can open a dialogue with the Rainbooms?” Sienna asked eventually.

Becky frowned and tilted her head, “I don’t know. Our intel suggests that their current location is the settlement known as Rivet City. They’ve been there almost a week now.”

Tara pushed herself out of her chair and scurried over to the secure intercom, “Mister President? This is Doctor Strong.”

After a moment there was a buzz and a tinny voice crackled out from the intercom, “Doctor Strong? This is quite a surprise. What can I do for you?”

“We’ve found something important. At least I think it’s important, I mean it could be nothing. Not that I think it’s nothing. I think it’s really important! But I don’t want to give you the wrong idea or-”

“Please, calm down, Doctor Strong. What have you found?”

Tara took a deep breath before replying, “A signal. It may prove our alpha delta pi tau hypothesis.”

“That is fantastic news, Doctor Strong! What do you need to prove this hypothesis?”

“We need to scour all Enclave records, to see if there is any other example of this particular signal being detected at any point in the past,” Tara paused and glanced back at Becky and Sienna, “Also… we would like to know if there is any possibility of us being able to open a dialogue the alpha delta pi tau subjects.”

“…you want to contact the Rainbooms?”

“Yes, sir.”

There was a brief pause on the line as the President considered the request.

“Very well.”

Nestled deep in Evergreen Mills, inside a winding cave system that extended out from the old foundry, two men were on the hunt. The caves were the home of a makeshift bazaar that had been set up by an enterprising raider crew some time ago, to cater to others of their ilk.

The men shoved their way through the crowd of carousing raiders, making their way to their chosen targets.

“Alright, this is Jack’s place,” Blades said as he stopped next to one tunnel, “You comin’ with?”

Crawler shook his head, “Nah. I’m going to head on up to Madame’s, see if I can’t find myself some good pussy.”

“I though you fucked that slave chick back in Paradise Falls?”

“I said good pussy. That stupid bitch didn’t have a fucking clue what she was doing.” Crawler smirked as he turned to leave.

Blades huffed a laugh, “Alright fine. Just make sure you don’t spend all your caps, you still need a new fucking gun yet!”

“I know, I know!”

Turning down the tunnel, Blades was still chuckling to himself as he made his way around the corner and into the general store. The store was little more than a small cave lined with wooden counters and shelves that contained the stock.

Only two people were in the store at the moment, a woman browsing by one of the counters and the proprietor himself.
Bald as a cue ball save for a spectacular handlebar mustache, ‘Smiling’ Jack was one of the busiest and best traders in the wasteland. If you needed something, chances were he could get it. Friendly and jovial, there was always some idiot that saw him as an easy target, too stupid to realize that no weak little sap could ever survive in the shit-hole that was Evergreen Mills, let alone run a successful shop.

Jack took great pleasure in introducing those idiots to the business end of his customized shotgun.

“Hey! Jack!” Blades called as he entered.

Jack looked up and grinned as he spotted who was calling, “Well I’ll be damned! Blades you son of a bitch, I thought you were dead!”

Blades grinned back as he strolled over to Jack and leaned against the counter, “Sorry to disappoint.”

Jack laughed and clapped him on the back, “Shit, I ain’t disappointed! You always bring in the good stuff!” He stepped back and rested his hands on the counter, “So what can I do for you? You selling or buying?”

“Buying. And I’ve got a favor to ask,” Blades pulled his caps pouch out of his pants and threw it on the counter “I’m looking for a crew, and all of the best hardware you’ve got.”

“I like the sound of this,” Jack smirked as he emptied the caps out and started counting, “You got a big job lined up?”

Blades nodded curtly, “Yeah. I want to take down the Rainbooms.”

“Hah, you’re a fucking riot,” When Blades didn’t respond Jack stopped counting, the smirk sliding from his face, “You… you’re fucking serious.”

“Deadly fucking serious.”

“You’re crazy,” Jack said flatly, “Have you even heard about the shit Three-Dog says they can do? I don’t know if it’s true or not but either way yo-”

“It’s true,” Blades cut in, “Me and Crawler ran into them a little while back. They killed Gilda and Ice, but I managed to make one of them bleed at least.”

“Shit…”

“I’m in.”

Blades and Jack both turned to face the woman. She’d stopped browsing and was leaning against the counter, her arms folded under her chest as she watched the men. Lithe and beautiful, she had long, slicked-back blonde hair and was wearing a pair of rugged shorts with a ripped tank top. There was a stylized lightning bolt and wings stitched over her left breast.

Blades shook himself as he realized he was staring, “I… uh… what?”

The woman smirked at him, “The name’s Lightning. You said you’re after the Rainbooms, and I’m looking for a challenge.” Her smirk spread into an evil grin, “Like I said, I’m in.”

Author's Note

Another chapter for you!

Originally this chapter was going to be called Lesson Learned, then I ended up changing things slightly and adding an extra scene so I went with the new title.

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.

Chapter 41 - The Best Laid Plans

Deep within the Exodus’ building’s sub-basements, in a freshly appropriated office, Doctor Turner sat and typed away at a terminal. He was first compiling his findings regarding the Rainbooms unique radiation, and then he would begin noting down a series of hypotheses that he wanted to experiment with. He would have much preferred to be conferring with Doctors Strong and Shoichet, but that wasn’t really an option right now.

Doctor Turner sighed and leaned back in his chair. As soon as he’d escorted the Rainbooms back to their room he’d sought out Doctor Strong and tried to convince her that keeping the girls in custody was a good idea. He barely managed two words before she told him to ‘fuck off.’

Turner hardly blamed her for being angry with him since the young woman had always had a strong moral compass, one that kept her from crossing certain lines. It was a trait he envied. All too often he would become so engrossed in the purely scientific aspects of his work that he wouldn’t even realise what lines he was crossing, not until it was too late.

Shaking his head, Doctor Turner returned to his typing and resolved to speak to Doctor Strong again in the morning, once she’d had time to cool off and start thinking clearly again. In this particular instance, he wasn’t just following the President’s orders in the name of keeping his own arse covered. He glanced at the recorder he’d placed next to the terminal and shuddered.

Keeping the Rainbooms secure was the safest option, both for them and for the Enclave, Turner was convinced of that. Exposing just a trace amount of the Rainbooms unique radiation to a high quantity of native radiation had utterly bizarre consequences and he still had no idea what had happened to the weird little ball that had manifested in the testing room. For now he’d left the door locked and sealed while he worked on his hypotheses. Unfortunately, the most pressing matter he wanted to test was also the one that would be effectively impossible to experiment with in an ethical way. He sighed and frowned at the terminal, well aware that he could do little more than speculate at the moment.

The unique radiation that interacted with our native gamma radiation was merely a trace sample left on the surface of an inanimate object. The Rainbooms’ bodies contain only a small amount of that radiation, but even that droplet is whole orders of magnitude higher than what was left on that bloody table. If they end up exposed to high levels of our radiation, or even just to a moderate amount over a prolonged period, what the hell kind of effect will it have on those girls?

Sunset sighed as she put her own clothes on over the Enclave attire she was already wearing. Doctor Turner had escorted them back to their shared room and swiftly left, muttering apologies and reassurances that Sunset had only half heard. Her mind was slowly becoming a frazzled mess after what had happened downstairs with Becky.

“Can someone please explain just what in the heck happened down there?” Applejack asked, clearly having similar trouble.

Sunset shrugged as she pulled her boots back on, “You heard what Becky said, they were going to give our Geodes back.” She slipped into her jacket and perched herself on the edge of her bed, “She must have touched my Geode when they were getting them out of the lockboxes; it recognized her as being the same as me, somehow, and ponied her up.”

“Do you think that’s really what happened?” Applejack asked sceptically.

Sunset nodded, “I believe her.”

“How can you trust them so easily?!” Rainbow shot.

“I can’t really explain it. I just do,” Sunset replied, flicking her eyes towards the eyebot still hovering in the corner.

Rainbow didn’t notice, “Seriously? After everything the Enclave has pulled, you still-”

“Leave it be, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said calmly, placing a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Remember, we’re still being watched,” she whispered.

Rainbow gasped and almost turned to look at the eyebot, but caught herself at the last instant. “This blows,” she muttered.

“You said it, sister,” Pinkie agreed.

Rarity pursed her lips, “I have to agree with you there, though I may have phrased it slightly differently myself.”

“Speaking of phrasing,” Pinkie quirked an eyebrow at Sunset, “what was that about someone not being a virgin?” Sunset felt her cheeks warm as the others winced sympathetically. Rarity gave a delicate cough and sauntered over to the pink menace, whispering a quick explanation to her. Pinkie’s eyes widened as understanding blossomed, “Oooooohhhhh, that’s what that was about!”

“Yes, now can we please stop talking about that?” Sunset spat through gritted teeth, fervently wishing she had come up with something else, anything else, as a distraction.

The others were spared from answering by a knock at the door. Instantly on guard, nobody spoke or even moved for several seconds. “If we tell them to get lost, do you think they’ll listen?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s probably best if we get this over with,” Sunset replied. She stood and straightened out her clothes before calling out, “Come in.”

The door opened slowly and Tara poked her head through, “Hey. I’ve brought your Geodes with me, do you mind if I come in?”

At Sunset’s curt nod, the doctor pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped through. The Rainbooms stiffened as two soldiers followed her in, one carrying a stack of lockboxes in his arms, but thankfully the men didn’t say anything. Completely ignoring the girls, one soldier stood aside to guard the door while the other stepped over to the nearest bed and gently placed the lockboxes down on it.

“The boxes are unlocked. You’ll find the rest of your Geodes inside,” Tara explained before turning to the soldiers. “You can wait outside now, I’ll be fine on my own.”

“It would probably be best if we wait with you,” one of the soldiers replied.

“I said I’ll be fine on my own,” Tara repeated sternly.

The soldier shook his head. “With respect, Doctor, we’re here to protect you, not be your assistants. Until we can be sure that the Rainbooms aren’t planning any form of aggression in retaliation for their confinement; leaving you or any of the other scientists alone with them just isn’t an option.”

Tara threw him a disgusted look, then turned back to the Rainbooms, “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted things to go.”

“Pfft, whatever,” Rainbow mumbled.

“Frankly, we’re starting to expect this sort of behaviour from the Enclave,” Rarity added tartly.

Tara winced but quickly recovered, “I’d like to see if we can talk things through, but I don’t want to press you; so we’ll wait until tomorrow, if that’s okay. In the meantime, I’ll have this eyebot removed from the room, so you don’t fe-”

“That’s not a good idea,” one of the soldiers interrupted.

Tara scowled and rounded on him. “Given that one of the occupants of this room is a known telepath, how exactly is keeping them under constant surveillance going to help us? It’s not like we’ll be able to tell if they’re planning anything.” Not waiting for the soldier to respond, Tara turned back to the girls, “As I was saying, I’ll have the eyebot placed outside the room instead. There’s a toilet directly opposite this room, should you need it. If you want any food, just speak to the eyebot and one of us will be up to escort you to the dining hall.”

Sunset nodded slowly, “How’s Becky doing?”

Tara sighed heavily, “She’s feeling okay. She’s still all…” The doctor gestured vaguely to her head.

“Ponied up?” Sunset prompted.

Tara nodded, “Yeah. There aren’t going to be any long-term side effects, are there?”

Sunset shrugged, “Honestly? I don’t think so, but we haven’t had this sort of thing happen to anyone else from this world before. It’s kind of a unique case.” She decided against mentioning Doctor Li, at least in front of the soldiers.

Tara nodded again, “Okay, good. Anyway, I’d better get back and check on her.” She stepped forward and held out a hand, “I know things haven’t exactly gone smoothly between us, but I sincerely hope we can change all of that. We could do great things together, if we tried.” Her eyes flicked rapidly between her outstretched hand and Sunset.

Sunset frowned curiously. Taking the proffered hand she kept her face neutral as she felt the doctor pressed a crumpled piece of paper into her grip. Giving her hand a quick shake, Sunset stepped back and clasped her hands behind her back, hiding the paper from the soldiers.

“Okay,” Tara said quietly, “did any of you have any other questions?”

“Can we bring food back here from the dining hall?” Pinkie asked.

Tara chuckled softly, “Of course. Right, I’ll be off then. See you later, girls.” She gave Sunset a meaningful look before walking over to the eyebot and guiding it out of the room. The soldiers followed her out, closing the door behind them.

The moment they were gone, Sunset held up the piece of paper and quickly unfolded it. On it was a simple handwritten note. ‘Exodus. Tonight. Be ready.’

“I’ll be back in a sec, I need to use the bathroom,” Rainbow said suddenly.

“One second,” Sunset called out.

“Can it wait? I really need to pee,” Rainbow replied.

“Charming,” Rarity muttered.

Sunset smiled and crumpled the paper back up, “Just be quick then, I think I’ve got some good news.”

Bored and alone in the first aid room, Becky idly toyed with a lock of her newly multi-coloured hair. Tara had gone to give the Rainbooms the rest of their Geodes and to hopefully tip them off about the escape attempt, while Sienna had headed off to fetch the SDT-1. Both of them had forbidden Becky from going anywhere until the magic had left her body and she’d gone back to normal.

For the umpteenth time, Becky flicked her hair aside and reached up to fiddle with the odd pony ears sticking out of her head. She still couldn’t quite get used to the sensation of having them up there, especially when she realised she could move them around independently. Though, she had to admit, gently scratching behind where they connected to her skull was definitely a pleasant feeling.

The sound of the door opening distracted Becky from her mild bodily exploration.

“Hey, Becky,” Tara called as she stepped into the room. “How are you feeling?”

“Same as before,” Becky replied. “How did it go with the Rainbooms?”

Tara sighed heavily, “I didn’t get a chance to speak to them properly. Squad Sigma are refusing to leave any of us alone with them, as we suspected. I did manage to give them the note without the soldiers noticing though, and I’ve given them their Geodes back, so hopefully they’ll be ready to go when we are.”

“Hopefully,” Becky echoed. “How are they holding up?”

Tara sank onto a chair next to Becky’s bed, “Angry, upset, cautious. I can’t really say I blame them either.”

Becky nodded, “It’s only going to get worse when they find out what happened to James.”

“Yeah,” Tara sighed again. She looked down at her feet for a few seconds, then back up at Becky, “Are you… are you sure about this?”

“I am,” Becky replied firmly. “Are you?”

Tara nodded, “I still don’t know if we’re doing the right thing here, but… I can’t just sit around doing nothing.”

“I know the feeling,” Becky said softly, reaching out to take her hand.

Tara smiled thinly up at her, “I just hope everything goes to plan. Doctor Turner shouldn’t bother us, I told him I was angry with him and that I didn’t want to speak to him tonight.”

“Do you think he bought it?”

Tara raised an eyebrow, “I wasn’t acting, I am angry with him. He has screwed up or concealed information at almost every opportunity since we got here.”

“Fair enough,” Becky conceded. “What about Squad Sigma?”

“I’ve prepped the distraction, all we have to do is run the program,” Tara replied.

“Good.” Satisfied that the plan was coming together, Becky reached up and started fiddling with her hair again.

“That suits you, y’know.” Becky glanced down to see Tara smiling shyly at her. “The hair, it suits you,” Tara repeated.

“Well, it should. I mean it is technically mine after all,” Becky replied.

Tara reached up and pulled her own ponytail around, “What about me? Do you think I’d look good in purple?”

“You look better in nothing,” Becky stated in reply, getting a playful swat in return.

Both women froze as the door suddenly opened, then breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Sienna stepping into the room, the SDT-1 cradled under one arm.

Sienna raised an eyebrow at them, “You’re both clothed, and you’re glad that I’m here. This is turning into a really weird day.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll walk in on me with my head buried between her thighs again sometime soon,” Becky shot back, prompting Tara to give her a slightly sharper swat, accompanied by a blush this time.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Sienna deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she placed the SDT-1 on a nearby table. “By the way, I have no idea how to use this thing.”

“I’ll set it up,” Tara said quickly. “Did you have any trouble getting it?”

Sienna shook her head, “No. It was still in the testing room where Turner left it with the Protectron.” She frowned and folded her arms, “The Protectron was acting funny, so I sent it back to it’s charging pod to run a diagnostic on itself.”

“It’s probably just glitching from being left on standby for two hundred years,” Becky told her. “Alright, while you check me over with that thing, I think we should go over the plan one more time.”

The day passed almost unbearably slowly for the Rainbooms. Without the eyebot listening in on their conversations, they had spent several hours discussing everything that had happened; from the battle at Project Purity, to what had happened since they’d woken up, and finally the cryptic note that Tara had left them. Sunset was certain that it meant an escape attempt was imminent and the others mostly agreed that it seemed likely. Applejack and Rainbow still had concerns that it might be a trap of some sort, but none of them could figure out what possible purpose such an act might serve.

Eventually, they’d grown bored of simply talking over the same points over and over again, not getting any closer to an answer, and the conversation slowly died off. Twilight and Sunset had both made a deliberate point of avoiding talking about the revelation of their counterparts’ love life. Rainbow’s attempt at pressing the issue had been met with little more than stony silence and icy glares.

After a while the group made a single trip to the dining hall, accompanied by two soldiers and an apologetic Sienna, and decided to carry as much food as they could back to their room so they wouldn’t have to do so again. Stuck with little to do, and no real desire to explore the facility under the stern gazes of armored soldiers, the Rainbooms had kept themselves occupied in any way that they could, with occasional breaks for the toilet and snacks.

Twilight settled in to tweaking the programming of her Pip-Boy while Rarity busied herself trying to repair the damage that had been done to their clothes. The rest of the girls ended up pushing several of the beds together so they could comfortably play a game of cards, using a deck that Pinkie had pulled from somewhere. Throwing her cards down after several consecutive losses, Sunset was about to shuffle the deck again when she heard a faint tapping at the door.

Quick as a flash, the cards were packed away and the girls were on their feet, ready for anything as the door slowly opened to reveal Becky and Tara. Behind them stood Sienna, a pair of metal lockboxes in her arms. The three ducked quickly into the room and closed the door quietly. Sunset was glad to see that Becky’s hair and ears had gone back to normal since the morning’s events. “Did you read my note?” Tara asked without preamble.

Sunset nodded, “We did, and we’re ready.”

“Ready for what, exactly?” Applejack asked warily.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Becky replied.

Tara held a warning hand up as the girls all made sounds of relief and excitement, “I have to warn you, this is going to be difficult and dangerous. If you aren’t willing to take the risk, you’d best tell us now.”

“We’re ready,” Sunset said firmly. The others nodded in agreement.

“I do have one question first, though. If that’s okay?” Twilight cut in.

Tara glanced over at her, “Just one?”

Twilight smiled shyly, “Well, just one for now. Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us escape?”

Becky gave her a wry smile, “Sunset’s Geode showed me a lot of things. You girls don’t deserve this, and your worlds don’t deserve having to deal with the Enclave.”

Sunset frowned at her in confusion, “What do you mean by that?”

“That was what we wanted your help with,” Tara explained. “We were working on something called Project Exodus. Our objective was to find a way to open a portal to your world and see if it was suitable for habitation. If so, the Enclave was planning to travel there en masse, leaving only a token force behind to maintain a foothold in the wasteland while we rebuilt our civilization on your world.”

The Rainbooms stared at her in stunned silence. “There’s no way we would’ve helped you do that. Not after what happened at Project Purity," Rainbow said bluntly.

“Funnily enough, that’s pretty much what we expected,” Sienna said flatly.

“None of that matters right now, anyway,” Becky put in. “Right now, we need to get you out of here without anyone noticing.”

“Well, alright then! So, what’s the plan?” Applejack asked.

Tara stepped forward to answer, “First of all, we’ll need to sneak you through the facility to the main cargo area, that’s where the elevators are to the surface section of the building. Doctor Turner is asleep, so we shouldn’t have any trouble with him, the problem will be the two Sigma soldiers guarding the entrance to the cargo area.”

“How do we deal with them?” Twilight asked.

“That’s my job,” Becky replied. “All of you will wait in the admin office around the corner while I go and speak to the soldiers. We’ve set up a problem in the lower levels to act as a distraction for them. Hopefully, both soldiers will go down and deal with it themselves, rather than calling down reinforcements from upstairs.”

“It’s a pretty nasty incident we’ve cooked up, so they’ll probably deal with it themselves as an immediate priority,” Sienna added.

Becky nodded, “Once we’re through we’ll use the personnel elevator to reach the surface and then head out through the main entrance, which is where we’ll meet our next problem.”

“Let me guess, more soldiers?” Rarity asked.

“Four more,” Tara confirmed. “The entrance opens onto a large forecourt. The soldiers are billeted in a security office in the forecourt, along with the pilots for their Vertibird. The Vertibird itself is parked alongside the office. You’ll have to sneak past them somehow if you want to escape. Once you’re out your best option would be to head north for several kilometres, until you reach the remains of the river, then head east until you find Rivet City.”

“You’ll need to be extremely cautious, even once you’re out of here,” Becky added. “We weren’t lying when we said this building is deep in super mutant territory. And make sure you don’t actually cross the river. Chances are the Jefferson Task Force, the guys who took Project Purity, have fortified the northern embankments.”

“Can’t we just take a back way out?” Twilight asked.

Tara shook her head, “All of the other ways in and out of the facility have been sealed and barricaded, to reduce the likelihood of super mutants successfully gaining entrance. There is a parking lot around the back of the building that you can reach from the main entrance, but that whole area is dotted with concealed plasma mines, in case anything tries to break in from the rear.”

“Great,” Sunset muttered. “Do you have any suggestions on getting past the soldiers at the gate?”

Becky folded her arms, humming as she thought, “We might be able to make a distraction of some sort but, honestly, none of us has actually been topside since we first arrived here. We’ll have to see what’s up there that we can work with.”

“What about James and the other eggheads from Project Purity?” Rainbow asked. “There’s gotta be something we can do to save them!”

At the mention of James the three scientists shared an awkward, wary look. After a moment, Tara spoke up, “If you really want to save the scientists at Project Purity then the Brotherhood of Steel is probably your only real hope, but…”

“But what?” Applejack pressed.

Tara opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. After a few attempts, Becky placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Looking Sunset in the eye, Becky answered quietly for her, “James is dead.”

There were gasps and cries of shock and grief from each of the Rainbooms. The words hit Sunset like a brick, leaving her feeling like she’s been thumped in the stomach. Applejack quietly swept her hat off her head and held it over her chest, bowing her head sadly.

“Who did it?” Rainbow growled.

“We don’t really know the details…” Tara began.

“I said. Who. Killed. James,” Rainbow snarled, practically spitting each word out.

The scientists all flinched away from the sheer venom in her voice. “He did it himself,” Becky replied. “We were told that he sacrificed himself to activate some sort of failsafe that prevents anyone from using the purifier.”

There was a soft thump as Fluttershy’s legs gave out and she slumped to her knees. Applejack and Rarity quickly knelt down next to her, gripping her shoulders gently in case she fainted completely.

“How long have you known?” Sunset asked in a quavering voice.

“We only found out from Doctor Turner this morning,” Tara replied. “It’s why we were going to give your Geodes back and allow you to leave, if you wished. Then everything happened with Becky and your Geode and we just…”

Sunset closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to force down the grief and rage that roiled within her. There would be time to mourn later; right now they had bigger problems.

Becky sighed quietly, “I’m sorry, I know he was your friend.”

“He was more than that, he was the first person we met in this world who treated us like normal people,” Twilight replied sadly. “He was kind and smart and did anything he could to help us. He was even trying to help us figure out a way home.” She blinked a few times as the meaning of her own words suddenly hit her, “Wait, he was the one helping us get home! What are we going to do now? How are we going to get home without him?! We’re going to be stuck here fore-”

“Twilight, stop right there, breathe, and focus,” Becky said firmly. “You are not going to be stuck here forever.”

Sunset couldn’t help but be impressed at how quickly Becky stopped Twilight’s freak-out in its tracks. She supposed it must be second-nature given that she was dating the nerd’s wasteland counterpart. Still, Twilight wasn’t quite done yet, “But, without James, I have no idea where to even begin on getting us home.”

“We think we might have a lead for you,” Tara cut in. She glanced over her shoulder, “Sienna? If you wouldn’t mind?” Sienna nodded and stepped forward to place the lockboxes on one of the beds.

Tara thanked her and grabbed the first lockbox, fiddling with the combination, “When we were first attached to Project Exodus, we requisitioned a collection of unique technology that the Enclave has acquired over years of searching the wasteland. One of the items of particular interest was this thing.” She flipped the lid open and picked up as small metallic object from inside. It was egg-shaped, smooth and silvery, with curious little green crystals at each end, “We call it the SDT-1. It’s a signal detector of some sort, and it somehow managed to-”

“I’ve seen one of those before.” Everyone turned to look at Twilight, who was staring in shock at the SDT-1. “James showed me a picture of one. It’s the same as the item he was hooking up to the reactor and testing back in Vault 101, the thing that-”

“The thing that brought us here!?” Sunset blurted out incredulously.

“Wait a second, are you absolutely certain that it was one of these that helped bring you to this world?” Tara asked. Twilight just nodded dumbly.

“Well it’s about darn time we had some good news for a change,” Applejack huffed, still clasping Fluttershy. “Quick, hand it over and we can stick it in one of our packs.”

“We can’t give it to you,” Tara replied instantly.

“Why the heck not?!” Rainbow snapped.

“You don’t understand,” Tara replied earnestly. “If we give you the SDT-1, President Eden will make retrieving it the military’s highest priority. They’d stop at nothing to bring you all back in.”

Sunset swore silently. To be so close to a way home and not being able to take it, it was cruel beyond measure. “If you aren’t going to give it to us, then why did you even bring it up here?” Twilight asked, obviously thinking along the same lines.

“To show you what this kind of technology looks like,” Tara said as she gently placed the SDT-1 back in it’s box. “Somehow, this little gadget detected the energy pulse given off by the portal that first brought you to this world.”

“How can you be sure?” Twilight asked.

Becky smiled softly, “Simple, really. We just held it next to each of you when you were first brought here. Each of you gives off a faint, but distinct, magical signature. When viewed together, your combined magical signatures match the one that the SDT-1 picked up almost two months ago.”

“When we first arrived in Vault 101,” Sunset muttered to herself, getting a nod from Tara and Becky.

“The thing is, the Enclave didn’t create the SDT-1, we found it,” Tara continued. “It was originally discovered over a century ago, when the Enclave sent a scouting team to determine what had happened to our outpost in Appalachia. Since it can obviously detect your unique radiation, er, magic…” Tara paused for a moment, visibly uncomfortable with using such an ‘unscientific’ term, “a-anyway, since it can detect that, we were hoping that you could memorize what it looks like.”

“But what good would that do us?” Twilight asked.

“All of the X-51 technology is similar in style and design,” Tara explained. “We figured that you could search the wastes for something similar and, hopefully, find a way home on your own. We thought it was a long shot, but now that we know that there are definitely more of these…”

“Then there’s a chance we could find another one somewhere in the Capital Wasteland,” Sunset finished.

Tara nodded, “Exactly.”

Pinkie sniffed and brushed a tear off her cheek, trying to put the news about James behind her, for now. “I don’t get it, if the Enclave didn’t make that little egg-thingy, then who did?”

Tara opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a sudden beeping in her pocket, “Shit, that’s the timer I set for the distraction.” She reached into her pocket to turn off the alarm, then glanced up at Sunset “I know this is a lot to take in, but if you want to get out of here safely then we have to leave. Now.”

Caught off-guard by the woman’s sudden change in tone, Sunset hesitated before turning to the others, “Everyone grab your packs. Fluttershy, are you good to go?”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took several long, deep breaths. When she opened them again, her expression was determined, “I’m ready.”

“Good.” Tara quickly unlocked the second lockbox and beckoned Rainbow over, “Rainbow Dash? Here, these are yours.”

Rainbow cocked her head curiously, “What is it?”

“Two knives and some grenades,” Sienna replied. “We confiscated them from your pack when you first arrived here, as a precaution.”

Rainbow did a surprised double-take, “Awesome! I forgot about those. Hey, do you have my shishkebab?”

The three scientists glanced at each other in confusion. “Everything we had of yours is in this room. Anything else must have been left at Project Purity,” Becky told her.

“Damn it,” Rainbow muttered as she picked up her blades.

“Are you all ready to go?” Becky asked. When everyone confirmed that they were, she turned and handed the lockboxes back to Sienna, “Now, remember everyone. First, we’re going to the admin office near the main cargo area. Until I’ve dealt with the soldiers there we all need to be silent. Not just quiet, silent, understand?” A series of nods came in response. “Good. Okay, let’s get moving.”

Becky couldn’t help but worry as she led the group through the corridors to the admin offices. The Rainbooms were a worrying mix of scared, angry, and grief-stricken, though Pinkie was the only one openly, but silently, crying.

As they rounded the corner to the admin offices the group distinctly heard the voices of two soldiers just around the next bend, sending a shiver of anxiety through each of them. Thankfully, the door to the office they wanted was already open. Becky quickly ushered everyone else in. Once they were all inside and out of sight, she backtracked down several corridors since she had to make sure the soldiers were likely to hear her coming and it would certainly help matters if she was out of breath when she got to them.

Okay, Becky, take a deep breath. You’re going to have to really sell this, or we’re dead.

Clenching and unclenching her hands a few times to try and stop them shaking, Becky turned back and sprinted as fast as she could towards the soldiers. Belting past the admin office, she nearly crashed into the wall as she flew around the last corner. Just as she’d planned, the soldiers already had their weapons up and ready when she spotted them, standing in front of a pair of metal double doors.

“Sigma, thank God! I need your help!” Becky gasped.

“Doctor Shoichet? What’s wrong?” one of the soldiers asked.

She turned and pointed back down the corridor, “The damaged assaultron we found down in the lower repair center, it’s malfunctioning. I tried to deactivate it but it’s going wild, cycling it’s weapon systems constantly, and without any targeting data it…” Becky let the statement hang. An uncontrolled military robot without any targeting data would blast anything that crossed its path indiscriminately.

“What were you doing down there in the first place?” the soldier asked suspiciously. “You’re supposed to be in the first aid room?”

Becky lowered her head, “I… I was trying to take my mind off of all the… all of the shit that happened earlier.”

The soldier huffed angrily, “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

The second soldier nudged him with an elbow, “You go and deal with that, Michaels. I’ll stay up here and keep watch.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure no one gets past you, rookie. And as for you,” Becky flinched as the soldier pointed at her, “get your ass back to the first aid room. You do not want to be wandering around with a rogue assaultron on the loose.”

Becky’s heart sank as he stepped past her and broke into a run, leaving his fellow soldier still guarding the main cargo area. Unless both soldiers were out of the way, the plan was dead before it had even truly stared, “Uh, shouldn’t you go with him? Assaultrons are extremely dangerous.”

“Michaels is part of Sigma, he can handle it,” the soldier replied. “And now that he’s gone, maybe you can tell me what it is that you’re really up to?”

Becky’s heart went from sinking to practically leaping out of her throat, “I, uh, I don’t know what you mea-”

“Spare me the bullshit, Becky. After what happened this morning we both know there’s no way Tara would let you anywhere near a security robot on your own, especially a fucking assaultron. Not until she was a hundred percent certain you were back in top form.”

Becky took a cautious step back, “How do you…?” The soldier just sighed and shouldered his rifle before reaching up to remove his helmet. “What the… Vincent?! Since when have you been a member of Squad Sigma?!”

“Not long, Project Exodus is my first big assignment with them,” Vincent replied. “Now do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Th-there’s nothing going o-”

“It’s not going to take Michaels long to deal with the assaultron, that’s if it's actually been set to rampage, which I doubt,” Vincent cut in. “You clearly wanted us out of the way for something, so what is it?” Becky wilted under his gaze. She racked her brain, trying to come up with some excuse, but before she could Vincent sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose, “It’s the Rainbooms, isn’t it?”

Becky felt the blood drain from her face, “Don’t be so fucking stupid, I wouldn’t do-”

“You should practice being a manipulative bitch a bit more often, you’re out of practice,” Vincent interrupted again. “All of the Exodus scientists have clearance to go through this door, meaning the only reason you’d need us out of the way is if you’re bringing something, or someone, through that doesn’t have clearance. So, where are they? The toilets down that way? Or the admin office around the corner?”

Becky’s shoulders slumped in defeat. We didn’t even manage to clear the first fucking obstacle. “When did you get so fucking sharp?”

“I’m a soldier, it’s kinda my job to think tactically these days,” Vincent replied.

“You used to be shit at that sort of thing,” Becky mumbled.

Vincent smirked, “Yeah, well, I’ve had plenty of practice.” His smile faded as he turned serious once more, “Come on, Becky, just level with me.”

Becky sighed and looked away, “The Rainbooms don’t belong here.”

“No shit,” Vincent muttered under his breath. The two stood in silence for several long moments, Becky looking everywhere but at Vincent. Eventually he sighed heavily, “Man, I can’t believe you’re putting me in this position. Ah, fuck it. Go on, hurry up and bring them here, before Michaels gets back.”

Becky stared up at him in blank shock, “Wait, what?”

“Will you just hurry up already!” Vincent pressed. “Get them, and get the fuck out of here, quickly!”

“R-right!” Becky turned to run back to the admin office, then stopped as Vincent called out to her again.

“And remember, you owe me big time for this!”

Becky narrowed her eyes as she looked back at him, “I’m not going to fuck you again, if that’s what you’re after.”

Vincent snorted, “It’s not. But I wouldn’t complain if you put a good word in with Sienna for me.”

Becky arched an eyebrow, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Author's Note

Another day, another chapter. I'd originally planned for this one to be longer, but vastly underestimated just how much was going on, so I've split it into two instead.

Comments and criticisms are welcome, and thanks for reading!

Chapter 62 - Jolly Little Jukebox

The monotonous drone of the Vertibird's rotors was the only sound Sunset could hear clearly in the passenger compartment. She and the rest of the Rainbooms were packed in alongside Tara, Becky, Adam, Fawkes, a soldier, and a small family.

The number of people in the compartment meant that most of them were stuck standing up, holding onto small handles in the ceiling for stability. Of the Rainbooms, the only one who had been allowed to sit was Twilight because of her injury; Twilight had fallen asleep very soon after takeoff to the relief of her friends.

Fawkes and, to a lesser extent, the Rainbooms had been receiving a lot of curious looks from the non-combatant Enclave personnel aboard the Vertibird. In particular was a little boy who couldn't have been older than six that had become utterly infatuated with Pinkie Pie over the course of the flight.

Sunset, for her part, was mostly just trying to distract herself from the stench of sweat that pervaded the crew compartment.

"Hold on tight, we'll be coming in to land soon," the pilot called back to them.

Everyone who was standing up adjusted their grip and stance while those who were sat down checked their harnesses. Soon enough the Vertibird slowed to a hover; the landing itself was relatively smooth with only a slight bump when they actually landed, though it was enough to jolt Twilight awake.

Lieutenant Colonel Strong poked his head into the passenger compartment. "Alright, Rainbooms, this is your stop. The Citadel is directly to the East, beyond the ruins. You'll have to find a way over or around them." As Adam, Fawkes and the Rainbooms started disembarking, the Lieutenant Colonel called out, "Sunset Shimmer? I'd like a quick word before you go."

Sunset gestured for the others to get off first and shuffled through the Enclave personnel towards the pilot compartment. As she approached the Lieutenant Colonel, he stepped forward and she felt something solid press against her ribs. Glancing down, she realized that he had a laser pistol aimed directly at her heart.

"Don't move," Lieutenant Colonel Strong said quietly. "Just pretend everything's fine and we're having a pleasant little chat and you get to walk away from this alive."

Sunset swallowed reflexively. The position they were in blocked the pistol from her friends' sight, so there was little chance of help from there. Her first instinct was to ask what she had done to get on his bad side, but given everything that had happened to the Enclave and, more specifically, to his sister, there were just too many possibilities, so instead she asked, "What do you want?"

"I want the truth," Lieutenant Colonel Strong said flatly. "What exactly is your goal in the Capital Wasteland?"

"Me and my friends just want to go home," Sunset replied honestly.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that exactly what Project Exodus is supposed to be about?" he asked. "Why go back to the Brotherhood of Steel?"

Sunset arched an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? The Enclave attacked and kidnapped us, attacked a group of lightly armed scientists who were trying to make fresh water for the wasteland, tried to imprison us, attacked us again after we escaped and kidnapped half of our group, your scientists have stolen our magic and started messing around with it despite knowing how insanely dangerous it is and, as if that wasn't enough, we've just found out that your President was secretly plotting to murder most of humanity as part of some massive eugenics scheme? Why wouldn't we go back to the Brotherhood of Steel?"

That gave the Lieutenant Colonel pause. "Okay, those are fair points," he admitted. "What are you going to do now, though? I know that the Brotherhood is planning an assault on Project Purity, are you and your friends going to be a part of it?"

"I don't know." Sunset considered her words carefully. "I know Adam will join in after what happened to his father. As for me and my friends… the Brotherhood has promised to help us get home once they've retaken Project Purity. If having our magic on their side makes that easier for them then, well... I guess it all depends on how that peace treaty works out."

Lieutenant Colonel Strong narrowed his eyes at her, then finally removed the pistol and stuck it back in its holster. "I'll do what I can to have it pushed through." He glanced over her shoulder at the others, then leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "If anything happens to my little sister because of some shit that you or your friends pull, I swear, peace treaty or not, I will end you."

"I'd expect nothing less," Sunset shot back. Turning away, she gave one last nod to Becky and Tara, waved at the little boy who was staring up at her in awe, then navigated through the rest of the personnel and stomped down the Vertibird's ramp to rejoin her friends.

The moment Sunset was clear the ramp closed up and the Vertibird took off, gaining altitude quickly before its rotors tilted and it smoothly peeled away. Within moments it vanished from sight over the top of some ruins to the south.

"What did he want?” Rainbow asked when it was gone.

Sunset shrugged. "Eh, nothing special." Deciding that it wasn't worth riling up the others with his threats, she looked up at the devastated buildings towering over them. "Aren't these the same ruins we climbed over when we were heading to Vault 87 yesterday?"

"Was it only yesterday?" Rarity asked incredulously. "It feels like it has been a lot longer than that."

Pinkie pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's probably because we only get a chapter every two weeks at the moment, so…"

The others just stared at her in blank confusion. After a few awkward moments Sunset shook her head and said, "Anyway… Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight just nodded slowly from where she was propped up between Applejack and Rainbow.

"Don't worry, we'll be able to get her over there easily enough, so long as Rarity can help us out with her magic," Applejack said confidently. "Ah could probably carry her myself, but Ah don't want to risk nudging those crystals out of place or something."

"It's fine, darling." Rarity waved a hand and a ramp made of glittering gemstones appeared, curving around at a shallow angle until it reached a relatively stable-looking chunk of debris.

Fawkes stomped over to the ramp and crouched down to get a closer look. "A most impressive use of your abilities. It seems to me that the more I see of your magic, the more I realize just how versatile it can be."

"It's a funky trick, but do you think it'll be able to hold my weight with this thing on?" Adam slapped the chest of his stolen power armor for emphasis.

Sunset looked back at him as she started up the ramp. "If it can't, we'll just have Applejack toss you over the ruins and we'll meet you on the other side."

Adam chuckled softly. His laughter died away as he saw the look on Sunset's face. "You're kidding. She's kidding, right?" When no-one answered he started looking around at everyone wildly. "Hang on, are you being serious? Sunset? Sunset?!"

The final leg of the flight to Project Exodus was uneventful. The pilot took a slight detour to avoid a heavily mutated Behemoth, but they were lucky enough to avoid the attention of the roving bands of Super Mutants in the streets below.

Tara's thoughts were a jumbled mess. Handing the Geodes over had taken more willpower than she had anticipated and the shock of the magic leaving her body so suddenly had left her feeling exhausted. It was only the fact that there was a vast amount of magical waste still present at the Exodus building that gave her the strength to give up the power, at least for the moment.

Glancing over at her brother, Tara once again wondered what exactly he had said to Sunset before she left. Hopefully it was nothing too threatening. Tara was well aware that her brother believed her lies about Sunset being capable of mind control and she was beginning to suspect that that particular lie was going to come back to bite her in the ass at some point. Fortunately, the Lieutenant Colonel had his hands full for the moment.

Tara picked up from his hurried radio communications that Colonel Autumn had indeed been evacuated from Raven Rock by a squad of soldiers, but he was also still unconscious, leaving Andrew as the highest military authority in the Enclave.

Andrew was rising to the occasion magnificently. Despite spending most of his recent career in Raven Rock, he was effortlessly coordinating the evacuees; swiftly gathering information on how many personnel had survived the blast and directing them to the most appropriate rendezvous points while simultaneously getting word out to as many officials as he could about the potential necessity of a peace treaty. Colonel Autumn wouldn't be happy about the latter, but there was little he could do about it until he woke up.

"We're coming up on the RobCo facility," the pilot called out. “Where do you want us to land?"

Becky leaned forward as far as her harness would allow her. "Head for the main entrance. There should already be at least one Vertibird there, they'll guide you in."

"There should actually be a few there," Andrew cut in. Catching sight of Tara and Becky's questioning looks, he added, "I redirected some of the evacuees to the Exodus building, it's the most defensible place in the area that's still under Enclave control."

The pilot contacted someone on the ground via radio, then the Vertibird banked around and slowed to a hover before coming down for a soft landing. When the crew compartment opened the personnel made their way down in a quick but orderly manner. Several soldiers were standing by to receive them, directing everyone across the forecourt and into the building.

Tara slowed to look around as she stepped off the Vertibird's ramp. The area had been entirely cleared of abandoned vehicles and debris and squads of soldiers were busy setting up sandbags while others were erecting makeshift shelters to serve as firing points.

"How have the Super Mutants not attacked this place yet?" Becky muttered.

"No idea, we haven't seen any sign of them," one of the soldiers replied. "This way, doctors, follow the directions and they'll assign you to a temporary room until we can set up something more permanent."

Tara shook her head. "That won't be necessary. I'm Doctor Strong and I'm the lead scientist for Project Exodus."

The soldier hesitated, then snapped to attention as Andrew joined them. "Sir!"

"At ease." Andrew gave him a firm nod, then glanced up at the building. "Who's in charge here?"

"Major Carter is the ranking officer, sir, but there's a soldier from Squad Sigma who's nominally in command of Project Exodus itself until the… er, until Doctor Strong returns," the soldier replied. He paused and put a hand to his helmet, clearly communicating with someone via his armor's radio, then nodded and said, "The people downstairs are expecting you. The eyebot will escort you down."

"Eyebot?" Tara looked around to see one of the curious little robots floating towards them.

The eyebot was unlike any other that Tara had ever seen. It was more heavily armored for a start and its armor plates glittered like fool's gold in the late afternoon light.

Apparently realizing that it had been noticed, the eyebot gave a trill of happy-sounding little beeps and turned to head back into the building. Tara and Becky shared a confused look, shrugged, and set off after it. The eyebot kept playing a jaunty little tune of chirps and beeps as it escorted Andrew, Becky and Tara across the forecourt, through the building, and finally into the elevator where they descended to the basement.

As the elevator began its lengthy descent into the bowels of the Exodus building, Andrew asked the eyebot to stop its chatter for a minute and turned to face the women. "Right, before we get down there I need to know the truth about Sunset Shimmer and the rest of the Rainbooms."

"What do you mean?" Becky asked, a little too quickly.

Andrew folded his arms and gave her a flat look. "I already know you were bullshitting us about Sunset being a mind reader and being able to mind control people. She nearly shit herself when I pulled a gun on her earlier, if she-"

"You what?!" Becky and Tara yelled together.

"I had to check," Andrew replied unabashedly. "If she was really such a dangerous telepath she would have known what I was going to do, or at least made me put the gun away sooner. So, what else have you been bullshitting me about?"

Tara sighed and sagged against the back of the elevator. "Sunset can't control people's minds," she admitted. "She is a telepath, to an extent, but she has to be touching someone for it to work on them. Everything we told you about the others is true, at least as far we know."

"I'm not sure about Pinkie Pie," Becky put in. "The memories I picked up from Sunset's Geode suggest that she can only detonate refined sugar, but it looked like her magic that blew up Raven Rock's entrance. It must be something to do with that pickaxe she has. That thing is new."

Andrew frowned at her. "When you say Geode, do you mean their necklaces?"

"Yes. Their Geodes are the source of the Rainbooms' powers," Becky replied. "When I touched Sunset's Geode, thanks to our connection, it actually transferred some of her memories to me."

Andrew's frown deepened as he looked from Becky to Tara. "So you were already planning on busting them out when you took their Geodes back in the prison block?"

Tara shrugged. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do, I just wanted to keep the magic out of Colonel Autumn's hands. Finding out that President Eden was keeping Project Scouring going in secret forced my hand."

"For fuck's sake." Andrew sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just… explain everything to me. Everything that happened when you had the Rainbooms here, everything that happened after they left, and everything that happened at Raven Rock. Don't leave out any details."

"Maybe later," Tara replied with a pointed glance at the eyebot. It was only then that she noticed that the little robot's armor was still glittering.

Andrew clearly noticed it too. "That's Duraframe, isn't it? Is it supposed to do that?"

"Not as far as I know," Tara said quietly. Either the eyebot had some odd coating over its armor that she had never seen before, or Equestrian magic was at work once again. Somehow she knew exactly which of the two options was correct.

The rest of the descent was spent in an uncomfortable silence, though the eyebot spontaneously starting up another chirpy tune actually made Tara feel a little more relaxed, much to her own surprise.

When the elevator finally reached the bottom and the doors opened, Tara gasped at how much the underground hangar had changed. All of the abandoned pre-war equipment was exactly where it had been left, along with the ruined trash from the battle against the mutated Protectron, but the magical waste had taken on an entirely new form.

Instead of a huge puddle of slurry, the magic now formed a swirling tornado made up of thousands of tiny wisps, each one a different color. The mass reached from the floor right up to the rough circular opening in the ceiling. Around the base of the tornado someone had strung up a chain between a series of short metal poles to act as a simple cordon.

Four people were standing around the chain and all of them turned around as the eyebot let out a loud trill. Sienna and Vincent were there, both ponied up, along with a male scientist that Tara didn't recognize. On the other hand, the fourth person was a woman that Tara recognized instantly.

"Mom!" Tara felt a weight she hadn't known she carried lift from her shoulders as her mother hurried forward and pulled her and Andrew into a hug.

"Thank God you're both okay," their mother gasped, squeezing them tightly.

"We're fine, mom." Twilight pulled back to get a proper look at her. "What about you, are you alright? Where's dad?"

Her mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "He's upstairs making sure that the children being brought here are properly accommodated. You know what he's like." She shook her head and fixed the two of them with a serious look. "But enough about us, what the hell has been happening? Why was Raven Rock destroyed?"

"Good question," Sienna said flatly as she approached, with Vincent and the other man just behind her. "Personally, I'd like to know why we felt another crazy magical shockwave that turned our slushy crap into this massive light show," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "then five minutes later we get a message saying that Raven Rock is gone and we're about to get a whole bunch of evacuees turning up."

"We can discuss that later," Andrew said curtly before turning to Vincent. "I'm assuming that you're the last member of Squad Sigma?"

Vincent saluted. "Yes, Sir. Michaels is here too, but he's still in a coma."

"Noted." Andrew glanced at the pair of orange wings sprouting from the soldiers' back. Vincent opened his mouth to say something, but the Lieutenant Colonel held up a hand to silence him and just said, "Never mind," before turning to the unknown scientist. "And you are…?"

"Doctor Whitley," the man replied instantly. "I was assigned to Project Exodus just before everything went to hell in a handbasket. And you've already met ED-E." The eyebot beeped happily.

Andrew looked around at everyone else in turn, eyeing them suspiciously. "You all seem strangely okay with this magic crap." When no-one replied he groaned and massaged his temples. "Why do I get the feeling that you're about to tell me something that's going to make me choose between my family and the Enclave?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on how we play this," Becky told him. "Having said that, we are going to need you to keep an open mind." She glanced at Sienna. "I'm guessing you've told the others everything?"

"Only Whitley and Mr. and Mrs. Strong," Sienna replied.

Andrew just huffed as he relented. "Alright, I'll give you a fair chance; start from the beginning."

Sunset sighed heavily as she stepped out of the Citadel's shower block wearing a simple grey Brotherhood of Steel uniform consisting of pants and a shirt while her own clothes were sent to be laundered.

Getting the gate guards to let her and her friends in had been difficult; largely due to Fawkes, partially due to Adam's stolen Enclave armor, too. Eventually they managed to convince the guards to let them in on the provision that Fawkes would be escorted by at least two soldiers at all times while within the Citadel.

Fawkes took their wariness in stride; according to him he was just glad that they were giving him a chance and that he now had friends willing to stand by his side and back him up.

Sentinel Lyons made a point of meeting the group when they were finally allowed in. When she saw the state that Twilight was in she ordered the Rainbooms to get her to the infirmary and to get themselves checked out while they were there, then dragged Adam and Fawkes off for an emergency debriefing with her father.

The medics in the infirmary were understandably concerned by Twilight's condition and immediately took her into surgery. Fluttershy went with them to try and help as much as she could, but the others were kept back as the medics insisted on treating their own injuries.

Pinkie and Rarity had nothing worse than a few scrapes and bruises, but Applejack had an ugly burn across her thigh, and Rainbow had a nasty bruise on the back of her hand where the Rad-Away needle had been, as well as an unpleasant case of radiation poisoning from her reckless charge out of Vault 87's front door. Sunset was now sporting a clean bandage around her upper right arm from a close encounter with shrapnel that she had almost forgotten about.

After the infirmary the girls had been granted the use of the Citadel's showers. It was the best moment for them in days, being able to wash away all of the blood, sweat, mud and grime that had been coating them since leaving Rivet City.

Now that she was clean, Sunset wasn't quite sure what to do; Twilight was almost certainly still in surgery, the others were still in the showers, and she had no idea where Adam and Fawkes would be. A sudden cramp from her stomach told her that finding food would be a pretty good idea.

"Miss Shimmer?" A voice called out, ruining that thought the instant she heard it.

Sunset bit back an exasperated groan and turned to see a Squire staring at her. She vaguely recognised him as the same one that was present the last time she had met Elder Lyons. "Can I help you?"

"Elder Lyons wants to speak to you as soon as possible," the Squire replied.

"Of course he does," Sunset sighed and pushed her damp hair back out of her face. "Okay, show me where to go."

The Squire led her quickly through the maze of corridors that formed the Citadel's interior. The Knights and scribes they encountered greeted her enthusiastically, offering their congratulations and thanks; news about what had happened at Raven Rock had spread like wildfire and morale among the Brotherhood of Steel had been greatly boosted by the fact that the Enclave had suffered such a devastating blow.

Soon enough Sunset found herself outside the same guarded door from her last meeting with the Elder. Unlike last time, the Squire knocked on the door himself and pushed it open without waiting for a response, stepping inside and holding it open for Sunset to follow. "Elder, I've brought Miss Shimmer, as you asked."

Elder Lyons looked up from the ‘C’ shaped table as Sunset entered the room. He and his daughter were the only ones in the room. "Excellent work, Squire Maxson." The Elder gestured to a chair placed just in front of him on the inner curve of the table. "Come, Miss Shimmer, take a seat."

Sunset walked over and sat in the offered chair as Squire Maxson took up position behind the two leaders he served.

"Good evening, Miss Shimmer. Are you and your friends alright?" Elder Lyons asked.

"I'm worried about Twilight, but the rest of us are okay enough," Sunset replied.

The Elder nodded. "I received word from the infirmary not long before you arrived to see me. The surgeons had a nasty shock when the crystals sealing Miss Sparkle's wounds disappeared, but they have managed to stabilize her and she is not in any immediate danger."

"Thank Celestia." Sunset sagged in the chair as relief flooded her.

Elder Lyons allowed her a few seconds of peace before he spoke up again. "I have already heard most of what happened in Vault 87 and afterwards from Adam and Fawkes, but I want to get your take on things. Specifically, I want to know anything you can tell me about the magical side of what happened."

"I, er…" Sunset pulled herself together and straightened up in her seat. "I'm not sure how much help I can be, most of the magic that's loose in this world is working differently from what I'm used to."

"Please, anything you can tell us, even the slightest detail, could help save lives," Sentinel Lyons put in.

Sunset hesitated. There was little enough she could say about the magic they encountered at Raven Rock that Adam and Fawkes wouldn't have already told them, save for her own perspective. The biggest issue that Sunset could think of would be the Super Mutant that had managed to acquire a Geode, but to truly warn the Brotherhood of Steel about the danger it possessed she would have to tell them about the Rainbooms' own Geodes.

In the end she decided that the Mutant was dangerous enough that she couldn't avoid warning them with a clean conscience. "There's something, but… if word of this gets out to the wrong people, it could make things a lot more dangerous in the wasteland, for us girls and for everyone else."

Elder Lyons hummed thoughtfully then turned to speak to the Squire. "Arthur, make sure you don't speak a word of what you hear here to anyone. Discretion can be as important a tool as anything else for a good leader."

"Yes, Elder," Squire Maxson replied.

"Good man." The Elder turned back to Sunset. "Very well, we shall ensure that whatever information you give us will be strictly controlled," he said with a nod for her to continue.

Reluctantly, Sunset explained about the Super Mutant and its Geode. She also remembered to tell them about the Mutant that had been enhanced by Pinkie's magic. The Elder and Sentinel exchanged a grim look at the prospect of an apparently near-indestructible Super Mutant, but they agreed that allowing word of the Geodes to spread unchecked across the wastes would potentially cause far worse problems.

"Is there anything else you can tell us about the magic that the Enclave had?" Sentinel Lyons asked.

Sunset frowned as she thought back. "I don't think so. Tara, Doctor Strong that is, gave back the Geodes that she borrowed, but apart from that I don't think I saw much more than Adam or Fawkes." She paused as she remembered something other than magic that she had heard. "Did Adam mention the possible peace treaty?"

Elder Lyons sighed and nodded. "He did."

His response didn't exactly encourage Sunset. "And…"

"And, I don't know what to make of it," the Elder replied. "If the Enclave truly desires peace then it would be a momentous occasion, a bright turning point in the history of the Wasteland, but… we don't know that it's true. Even if it is true, it will be difficult to convince all of our Knights and Paladins that we should agree to such a treaty; there's too much bad blood between our organizations."

He sighed and fiddled with his beard idly. "To make matters worse, we don't have the luxury of just sitting back and waiting for them to offer us a treaty. The longer the Enclave is in control of Project Purity, the greater the chance that they will be able to activate it and use it to secure the support of the local settlements. The fact that Frank Horrigan is potentially still alive is another problem. I remember what that monster was capable of. If he is truly back and enhanced by magic, then I fear that Liberty Prime may be the only thing on the planet capable of stopping him."

Sunset felt an awful sinking feeling in her gut at the Elder's words. "What are you going to do?"

"There's not much we can do," Sentinel Lyons replied. "I have offered to go to Project Purity personally, tonight, as part of a diplomatic envoy. We'll offer them a peace treaty in exchange for returning Project Purity to Brotherhood of Steel control." She shook her head slowly. "If they accept we can at least stall any further violence for a while, but if not…"

"If not, we have no option but to take Project Purity back by force," Elder Lyons finished. "If it does come to that, Adam and Fawkes have both agreed to fight alongside us, but what of yourself and your friends?" He held up a hand at the look on Sunset's face. "You do not have to fight if you do not wish to, none of us will judge you for it, but I cannot deny that your magic would be a great aid to us and, frankly, we need all the help we can get."

Sunset didn't reply at first. Despite what she had told Lieutenant Colonel Strong she wasn't interested in picking any more fights with the Enclave and she sure as Tartarus didn't feel comfortable answering for the others in that regard. "I… I'll talk to my friends. I can't promise anything, yet, though."

Elder Lyons nodded. "I understand." He glanced back over his shoulder, "Squire Maxson, please escort Miss Shimmer to the room we assigned for her." Turning back to Sunset he stood and held out a hand. "No matter what the future brings, you have my thanks, Miss Shimmer. I suggest you go and get some rest; the coming days could well be some of the darkest and most difficult the Brotherhood has seen for decades."

Colonel Autumn gritted his teeth as the medics worked to splint the mangled remains of his arms. Even with a borderline dangerous dose of the strongest painkillers available the agony was almost unbearable, but the Colonel flat-out refused to make any more noise than a grunt in front of his troops.

He had woken up in a makeshift clinic inside Project Purity a little over half an hour ago now and he was doing everything he could to take control of the situation. The medics had tried to warn Colonel Autumn that he needed to rest, that tests were needed to make sure no permanent damage had been done, but with the Enclave in such a precarious position now that Raven Rock was gone, he didn’t think he could afford to sit back and do nothing.

Admittedly, Lieutenant Colonel Strong had done a fine job of coordinating the evacuees. Unfortunately, his blatant attempts at pushing through a ceasefire with the Brotherhood of Steel, likely orchestrated by his sister and her lover, were not only premature but potentially dangerous.

The heavy footfalls of a power armored soldier slowly percolated through the Colonel's pain and drug-induced fugue. He looked around just in time to see a soldier stop next to his chair and snap a salute. "Sir! We've just received a message from the Brotherhood of Steel."

Colonel Autumn slowly arched an eyebrow. "A message? Who brought it?"

"A woman, sir," the soldier replied. "She says her name is Sarah Lyons and that she's the second-in-command of the Brotherhood of Steel. She had a few others with her as escort, but Lyons herself was unarmed."

"I see. And where are they now?" Colonel Autumn asked.

"They're waiting outside the first barrier for an answer, sir," the soldier told him.

Colonel Autumn nodded. "Good. What's the message?"

The soldier unfolded a sheet of paper and held it out for the Colonel to read. "They are offering a peace treaty. They will suspend any and all hostilities against the Enclave in return for handing control of Project Purity over to them by thirteen hundred hours tomorrow."

Colonel Autumn snorted as he read through the letter himself. There was plenty of flowery crap in there; assertions that they could make the wasteland a better place together, put aside past differences and such, but there was also a definite tone of 'or else' should the Enclave consider rejecting their terms.

After considering the letter for a few minutes, Colonel Autumn shook his head. "Tell the messenger we are rejecting their offer."

"Sir?"

"The Brotherhood of Steel has likely heard of the loss of Raven Rock already and therefore believe us to be in a state of immense disarray," Colonel Autumn explained. "While that may be partially true, it is also true that our hold on Project Purity has not weakened in the slightest. If anything, the influx of troops evacuated from Raven Rock has strengthened our position here. The Brotherhood must know this and they are attempting to take advantage of our confusion and intimidate us into complying with their demands."

The Colonel laughed humorlessly. "Think about it, soldier. If the Brotherhood of Steel truly believed that our forces had weakened, they wouldn't bother with this peace treaty, they'd attack, take control of Project Purity by force, and use that as a bargaining chip to force us to surrender. The fact that they're even trying this tactic proves that their leaders do not believe that they have the strength to shift us through military means."

"I see, sir." The soldier crumpled the letter up in his armored fist. "What should we do about the messenger?"

"Let her go," Colonel Autumn replied. "Their tactics may be slippery, but this Lyons woman must have some courage to come and face us unarmed."

The soldier nodded and tossed the crumpled letter on the floor. Colonel Autumn stared at it as the soldier walked away, wondering if he was making the right decision. Just as the soldier reached the door, Colonel Autumn called out, "Wait!"

The sound of running water almost felt hypnotic, the patter and heat of the shower doing what little it could to soothe Fluttershy as she scrubbed the muck from herself. When the water running off her was no longer black or crimson she turned the shower off and stepped out of the cubicle, grabbing a towel off the nearby rack as she went.

An hour had passed since Twilight had gone into surgery. She was still in there; the surgeons had stabilized her and were now working to repair her damaged back muscles, but Fluttershy had been sent away to get some rest. There was little more that such an inexperienced nurse could do to help anymore, especially when compared to the Brotherhood's own highly trained medical staff.

Fluttershy bit back her shame at being unable to help her friend in this time of need and focused on drying herself. When she was done she tossed the towel in a hamper and stepped over to the sinks, checking herself in one of the unbroken mirrors. She looked like a mess; her eyes were bloodshot and sunken with dark bags clearly standing out beneath them; her cheeks were hollow and her skin was pale and waxy.

If the animals at the shelter saw me now they'd probably be terrified.

Shaking her head, Fluttershy clothed herself in clean undergarments and the uniform that the Brotherhood had provided and left the shower block. Despite the number of Knights that had gathered in the Citadel for a potential assault on Project Purity, the corridors were surprisingly quiet. Most of the Knights were either on guard duty or were already asleep and the scribes were all busy at their posts, leaving only the occasional Squire hurrying about completing errands for their elders.

As she walked around a corner on the way to her assigned room, Fluttershy felt her heart skip a beat when she spotted Adam coming down the opposite way, clad in the same Brotherhood uniform. It actually suited him pretty well, he smiled wearily as he spotted her too. "Hey, Flutters. How's Twilight?"

"She's stable for now. There's still a risk of complications, but the medics are confident," Fluttershy replied, pushing her worries to the back of her mind. "Most of the damage was to her Rhomboid, Deltoid and Teres muscles, so hopefully the medics can save the mobility of her arms."

"Hopefully." Adam leaned back against the wall and patted the spot next to him. "And how are you doing?"

Fluttershy sighed and leaned against the wall too. "I'm… I don't know." She almost said that she wanted to go home, but saying that to Adam didn't seem particularly tactful. Instead, she went with a safer option. "I just hope the Enclave and the Brotherhood do end up signing a peace treaty."

"Yeah, me too," Adam agreed.

A somber silence fell between the two. Lost in her own thoughts, Fluttershy suddenly remembered something. "Oh, how is Fawkes doing?"

"He's pretty happy, actually," Adam replied in a tone of mild surprise. "He's been assigned to the same room as me for the night. I was just going to see if I could fetch an extra blanket or two while he's in the shower." He grinned and shook his head. "The Knights didn't want to let Fawkes anywhere near the showers at first, but Rarity threw the most epic tantrum I have ever seen until they agreed to let him in. Big guy looked like a kid at Christmas."

Fluttershy surprised herself by giggling. "It's probably the first shower he's had in a long time, if ever; it’s no wonder he's happy. I'm curious as to why you haven't had a shower."

"Wha- I have!" Adam spluttered.

A sly smile worked its way across Fluttershy's face. "Weird, I can still smell ice cream."

"Oh, wow, that again?" Adam huffed with mock indignation. "I'm never living that down am I?"

"Nope!" Fluttershy giggled at the memory from Vault 101. She and Adam had headed to the diner on their lunch break, but Adam hadn't noticed the 'out of order' sign on the dessert machine. Something was clearly very wrong with it as it ended up squirting ice cream all over the hapless boy. That alone wouldn't have been so bad, but instead of strawberry, the ice cream absolutely reeked of fish. It had taken several showers to finally remove the stench and Fluttershy had made a point of not letting him forget about it.

Adam let out a resigned sigh. "I guess I'd better go for another shower. Just in case."

"Don't be silly," Fluttershy nudged him with her shoulder. "You don't smell."

"Are you sure? You can't smell strawberry salmon on me?" Adam asked jokingly, nudging her back.

The two laughed at their silly little inside joke until Fluttershy suddenly became aware of three very important things. One; Adam was looking at her, two; their faces were inches apart, and three; the atmosphere between them was suddenly charged with something that both terrified and enticed her.

Fluttershy could feel her heart thumping in her chest, but her mind was strangely calm as Adam's head tilted slightly to the side. She closed her eyes as the two of them drifted slowly closer until their lips met. The kiss sent an electric charge racing up and down her spine.

After a single blissful moment, Adam leaned away slightly, breaking the kiss. Fluttershy dared to open her eyes. She barely caught one glance before he kissed her again and the two shifted so they were facing each other properly. Fluttershy wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her heart leapt as he placed a hand on her lower back and reached up with the other to gently cup her face. Fluttershy kissed him hungrily, her lips parting as he pulled her closer.

The sound of approaching footsteps suddenly broke whatever spell she was under and they both whipped their heads around just as Sunset appeared around the corner.

Sunset's eyes practically popped out of their sockets when she saw the two still intertwined and Fluttershy felt a blush like nothing she'd ever felt before exploding into existence across her face.

"Er, sorry," Sunset said awkwardly. "I… I was just coming to find everyone to, uh, tell them…"

"Has something happened?" Adam asked worriedly.

"Sentinel Lyons is back from Project Purity." Fluttershy felt a sudden twist of fear in her gut as Sunset spoke. "The Enclave rejected the peace treaty. The Brotherhood are launching their assault in the morning."

Chapter 67 - Broke The Wrong Cutie

Raised voices fell silent as Sunset opened the door to the Citadel's Great Hall and stepped inside with Applejack right behind her. Almost the entirety of the Brotherhood's leadership was seated around the c-shaped tables, a mixture of Knights and Scribes including Elder Lyons and Scribe Rothchild, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash both standing just inside the door.

"Miss Shimmer, so glad you could finally join us," one of the men called out snidely.

"That's enough, Paladin Stark," Elder Lyons said sternly. He gave the offending Paladin a lingering glare before turning to the girls. "My apologies. Coordinating the operation of Project Purity while preparing for our next strike against the Enclave has us all a little short-tempered at the moment."

"That's fair," Applejack replied, though she too leveled a glare at Paladin Stark. "Ah guess that's what you wanted to talk to us about?"

Elder Lyons nodded. "Partially. There are actually two issues we require your assistance with."

"The first is manpower," Scribe Rothchild supplied. "We just don't have enough Knights to defend the Citadel, Project Purity, Galaxy News, escort deliveries of water across the wastes, and take the fight to the Enclave. Especially if we try to keep up our usual patrols and exploratory missions as well. Liberty Prime is a godsend, but we can only spare a single squad at a time to go with it, and sending the robot out alone simply isn't an option."

Sunset rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Er, how exactly are we supposed to help with that? I hate to admit it, but I'm not going to be much use in a fight anytime soon."

"And neither are Flutters, Pinkie or Twilight," Rainbow added. "I know Fawkes is helping you protect the purifier, but I doubt that me, AJ and Rarity are going to make that much of a difference, no matter how awesome we are."

"We don't need you to fight directly, don't worry," Elder Lyons replied. "We were actually hoping that Miss Shimmer, and a select few others of you, would go to Rivet City and obtain the aid of their security team." He sighed heavily. "We've already contacted Chief Harkness. He wishes that he could help, but apparently they have their hands full dealing with a spate of magical problems that have broken out within the city. If you could help them get the magic under control, I'm sure that Harkness will be only too happy to aid us in return."

Rarity frowned and cocked her head to the side. "That's a fair idea, but is the route between here and Rivet City safe?"

"As safe as anything in the wastes," Scribe Rothchild replied. "There'll be a fire-team of Knights accompanying you, so you shouldn't have any trouble."

"Fair enough, so what's the other problem?" Applejack asked.

Just as Elder Lyons opened his mouth the door suddenly slammed open and a Knight burst in. "Elder! We've just received an emergency report from the sentries, Fluttershy of the Rainbooms has been kidnapped!"

"What?!" Rainbow disappeared in a flash, then reappeared a second later with Flashburn in her hand. "Who took her and which way did they go?!"

"U-up north, towards Wilhelm's Wharf," the Knight stammered.

"Rainbow, wait, we'll go toge-" Sunset's voice fell on deaf ears as Rainbow sped out of the room, again, in a blur of color.

Fluttershy grunted in pain as she felt herself thrown to the ground. She would have cried out, but the rough gag knotted in her mouth removed her voice as thoroughly as the bag over her head removed her sight. Her wrists were bound tightly behind her back, preventing her from doing much more than simply curling up on the floor where she'd been dumped.

"Nice work, shitbags," a male voice called out. Fluttershy was sure that she recognized it from somewhere. "That'll get the attention of the Brotherhood and the rest of those multicolored freaks. Remember the plan; they'll probably send out scouts first, but the mines we've set will slow them down. When they follow the false trail into the narrow street outside we'll ambush them with the pulse grenades and Mezzer. That clear?"

Several people voiced their agreement before the first voice spoke again, "Good. You three, get outside and keep a lookout. The rest of you, go sit on your asses for a while." The sounds of voices and footsteps slowly faded away and Fluttershy almost allowed herself to relax a little, then she jumped as a hand grabbed the bag and yanked it off her head.

The first thing Fluttershy noticed was that she was in a back room with walls of dirty grey concrete. There was a single door in one wall with a desk next to it and against the opposite wall was a filthy mattress and a lone steel bucket that she assumed was to serve as a toilet.

"Enjoying the view?" Fluttershy flinched and looked up. Her eyes widened as she recognized the two raiders standing over her; the very first raiders that the Rainbooms had met, and humiliated, just outside Arefu. The same pair that had shot Rarity after they'd met the Family. One of them, the blonde-haired thug with a crooked nose, bent over to leer at her. "Heh, not too bad on the eyes, are you? You've got good taste, Crawler."

The other, Crawler, just nodded. "What are we going to do with her, Blades?"

Blades straightened up and planted his hands on his hips. "She'll do as bait for now. Once we're done with whichever fuck-stain comes looking we can sell her to either Paradise Falls or Evergreen Mills. Until then, though," he clapped a hand on Crawler's shoulder, "she's all yours. I'm gonna go keep an eye out. Try not to break her too much. And for fuck's sake; use a condom. Bitch looks like she's coming down with something."

A lead weight dropped in Fluttershy's stomach at the mention of a condom. Blades snorted at her expression before ambling out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Fluttershy trembled with terror as Crawler advanced on her. She flinched as he crouched in front of her, but he just reached slowly behind her head and gently untied her gag. "That's better," he murmured, apparently to himself.

Crawler tried to stroke Fluttershy's cheek but she jerked away from his hand. He just smirked at her. "Resist if you want, but I think you know where this is going."

Huffing a laugh, Crawler straightened up and stepped over to the table. Fluttershy desperately tried to think of a way out while his back was turned, but between the adrenaline and whatever she was ill with she just couldn't think straight.

"I'd get on that bed if I were you," Crawler called as he unclipped his belt and dropped it on the table, "unless you want to tear your face and knees to shit on that floor." He licked his lips and pulled his top off, tossing it into a corner. "Using a fucking jimmy hat is a pain in the ass, but I'll take what I can get... for now." As Crawler fumbled with his pants he said bluntly, "Best get used to this cock, bitch, as soon as you're healthy you're getting the dicking of your life." He laughed sadistically. "Until then, I guess I'll just play with any of the other freaks we catch."

At Crawler's words, something deep inside Fluttershy snapped. She averted her eyes and flicked her hair across her face as he dropped his pants in an attempt to hide the expression of raw hatred that flashed across her features. An icy wrath filled her, leaving her mind strangely calm and clear.

The threat against her was bad enough, but she could not tolerate the threat against her friends. One way or another, this man had to die. Fluttershy had no weapon, but one thing she had learned from years of studying animals was that no creature was ever truly unarmed.

Fluttershy carefully gathered her feet beneath herself and rose to a crouch, shuffling her feet as if she was aiming for the mattress. Crawler chuckled and stomped towards her. "Too late for that, you're getting fucked right whe-"

The moment Crawler got close enough Fluttershy surged at him. Caught off guard, the raider didn't have a chance to react as Fluttershy clamped her mouth around his throat and bit. Her teeth tore through flesh and cartilage with a sickening crunch.

Crawler shoved her away, but the damage was already done. He clutched at the gaping hole in his neck in a desperate attempt to stem the crimson tide flowing down his front. Still seething with rage, Fluttershy kicked Crawler in the side of the knee, toppling him to the floor, then stamped brutally on his skull until he finally stopped moving.

The room fell silent save for Fluttershy's ragged breathing. Staring down at the corpse at her feet, it took several seconds before she noticed that she still had a chunk of Crawler's throat in her mouth. The moment she realized, the coppery tang of blood filled her senses and sent an electrifying jolt through her body.

Fluttershy spat the bloody mouthful out and, with a sudden surge of monstrous strength, snapped the rope binding her arms. She felt strong, powerful in a way she had never even imagined. More than that, she felt a savage bloodlust rising up within; a primal urge to rend and tear until nothing was left standing.

Glancing around, Fluttershy spotted a heavy knife on the table with Crawler's belt. Without a second thought she swept it up and stalked to the door. A new predator had been born, and her prey was waiting.

People and corridors alike became a blur as Rainbow sped past. The moment she reached the Citadel's bailey her Geode flashed as she ponied up and she rocketed into the air.

Rainbow knew that she should wait for the others; she was still sore from overexerting herself while training, and there was no telling just how many raiders there were, but she couldn't allow Fluttershy to remain in the hands of her kidnappers for even a second longer than necessary.

Aiming North, it wasn't long before Rainbow spotted the remains of a huge bridge; an ancient edifice that must have once spanned the river. Under one of the arches she spotted some sort of encampment. Two figures were seated inside, apparently playing a game of cards.

Perfect.

Rainbow shifted into a dive. She angled herself so that she flew right between the two of them, flipping over in midair and skidding to a halt while dragging Flashburn's blade along the floor ground, creating a cascade of sparks. As the two men yelped in surprise Rainbow pointed Flashburn at them and snarled, "Where's Fluttershy?"

The men scrambled off their chairs, almost falling over in their surprise, but Rainbow advanced on them before they could draw any weapons. "I said, where is Fluttershy?!"

"W-we don't know!" One of the men stammered. As Rainbow raised Flashburn he held his hands up and shook his head desperately. "It's true, I swear! Another crew brought one of you Rainboom people through here not long ago, but we don't know where they took her!"

"I don't believe you!" Rainbow snapped.

The man stepped back quickly. "Oy, easy, take it easy! They're probably somewhere in the ruins a little North of here." Rainbow just glared at him until he clarified, "The guy in the charge of that crew is an asshole called Blades. He's on the run from the Red Flags, he wouldn't risk going so openly past Grandma Sparkle's place on Wilhelm's Wharf. Too many fuckers who might recognize him."

Rainbow had no idea who Grandma Sparkle was, but she suspected that the man was telling the truth. Just in case, however, she whipped Flashburn through the air and growled, "If you're screwing with me, you'll regret it." Without waiting for a response she turned and sprinted out from under the bridge before taking to the air again.

The landscape spread out below Rainbow as she rapidly gained altitude. When she got high enough that she could see what was going on on the ground but was less likely to be spotted in return, or at least she hoped, she leveled off and followed the course of the river North, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. As she soared through the air she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

On the top floor of a ruined building overlooking a narrow alleyway, just off the river, a pair of people were squatting next to a hole in the wall peering down at the alley. In the building opposite a lone man was clutching a pistol in one hand and idly tossing something in the air with the other. Rainbow's heart clenched as she realized what it was; Fluttershy's butterfly hair clip.

Rainbow snarled and banked around sharply. She dove down through a hole in the roof above the two raiders to land behind them. Moving at top speed, she darted to the first man and slashed Flashburn across his hamstring. Before he could even draw breath to scream she ripped a knife out of his belt and rammed it through the hand of the woman next to him, pinning her to the wall.

The blood was still spraying from Rainbow's initial strike as she launched herself at the building opposite, directly at the man with Fluttershy's hair clip. Just before she reached the raider she flipped over in midair and slammed into him feet first. The impact knocked him flying backwards, sending the clip flying out of his hand. Rainbow caught it and skidded to a halt just as the other raiders started screaming.

"Where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow growled. The raider just coughed wetly. Blood and spittle dribbled down his chin as he struggled to breath, while his eyes wandered unfocused in a barely conscious fugue. "Aw, crap."

Just as Rainbow was about to fly back over to the other two raiders the muffled sound of gunfire from below made her dive for cover. Cautiously, she poked her head out of a smashed window and peeked down. The gunfire was coming from the open door of a building at the end of the alleyway.

"Hang on, Fluttershy! I'm coming!" Rainbow flew down to the ground and ran for the door, but before she reached it a man suddenly came stumbling out of it.

The man was a mess; blood was pouring from a nasty gash above his eye and another ragged wound in his side. Rainbow paused and held Flashburn up defensively. Something wasn't right here. "What's going on? Where's Fluttershy? And who's attacking you?"

Her words fell on deaf ears. The man just ignored her and kept staggering onwards as fast as he could. Rainbow wasn't sure whether she should try to help him or just leave him to his fate like the others, but a moment later the choice was taken out of her hands as someone hurtled out of the doorway and tackled him to the ground.

Rainbow watched in stunned horror and disbelief as Fluttershy plunged a knife repeatedly into the raider's back, flicking blood in all directions each time she ripped the blade out. Fluttershy herself was liberally splattered with gore, none of it her own, with a crimson stain around her mouth that really didn't bear thinking about.

Eventually, long after the raider was blatantly dead, Fluttershy stopped stabbing and leaned back, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath.

"F-Fluttershy?" Rainbow ventured tentatively.

Fluttershy slowly looked up at her, blinking in mute surprise, then clambered unsteadily to her feet. "I got them. I got them… all…"

Rainbow sheathed Flashburn and lunged forward in the blink of an eye, just in time to catch Fluttershy as she keeled over. Her face was flushed and utterly dripping with sweat, her eyes were rolling back in her head, and her breathing was growing increasingly labored. "Damn it! Hold on, Flutters; I'm getting you to a doctor right now!" Rainbow swept Fluttershy up into a bridal carry and leapt into the air, soaring back to the Citadel at top speed.

Blades watched with bated breath as the two Rainbooms disappeared into the sky. He had never imagined that things could go to shit so impossibly fast; he'd barely been out of their lair for thirty seconds, making sure that the stairwells in the surrounding buildings were clear in case of combat, when he'd heard screams coming from above.

Something had gone drastically wrong. The original plan had been to draw a Brotherhood rescue party into an ambush and hammer them with pulse grenades, but the flying Rainboom had torn that plot to pieces. The possibility of an attack from above just hadn't occurred to any of the raiders.

Blades had actually considered trying to sneak up on the rainbow-haired bitch, but the sound of gunfire coming from the lair had shown him that it would be pointless. Clearly Crawler, or one of the others, had royally fucked something up and, if the Rainboom that they had originally kidnapped was to be believed, the rest of the crew was already dead. A dozen raiders slaughtered in less than a minute.

Two of the sentries upstairs could still be heard whimpering in agony, but Blades wasn't stupid enough to try and help them. They would only slow him down. He had to get away before anyone else turned up, then figure out a way to get himself back on top.

Just as Blades stepped out of the building something solid slammed into the side of his head. Stars danced in front of his eyes as he dropped to his hands and knees, lances of pain shooting through his temple with each slight movement of his head. Blearily, Blades looked up to see his attacker. A hazy figure was standing over him, his outline wavy and distorted as if he wasn't fully corporeal.

"Your time's up, Blades," the figure said in a deep baritone. "You should have known that the Red Flags would find you eventually."

Blades frowned as he recognised the voice. "Chopper? You… what the fuck…?"

"Yeah, it's me," Chopper replied.

"Fuck." Blades held a hand up in a vain attempt to ward him off. "You don't have to do this, Chops. Let me go, and I can make it worth your while, you know I can."

Chopper shook his head. "Sorry, Blades, but unlike you, I'm loyal to the Flags. You broke our laws, and now it's time to pay the price."

Blades snorted. "Bullshit. If that raid had gone off without a hitch we'd be having a different conversation right now."

"If you believe that you're dumber than you look," Chopper spat. "All those who break our laws are punished whether their ploys work or not, that's how we maintain discipline. That's how we have survived and grown strong where others have failed." He folded his arms and glared down at Blades. "You attacked the Brotherhood of Steel against our laws, then fled when your ambush failed. Apparently, you still haven't learned your lesson if this debacle is anything to go by. You should never have left, Blades."

"Oh, get fucked," Blades huffed. He pushed himself up onto his knees and glared defiantly up at Chopper. "If you're going to kill me, just get it over with already."

A slow smirk worked its way across Chopper's face. "Nah, you're not getting out of this that easy." His smirk widened into a grin. "We've been ordered to bring you back to the Village. Shí Yáng wants to deal with you, personally."

Terror seized Blades as two more raiders appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his arms, the air shimmering around their tight stealth-suits. "W-wait! No! No, p-please! No!" He struggled to pull himself out of the clutches of the others, but their grip was just too strong. He was still writhing and screaming when Chopper stepped forward and yanked a bag down over his head.

Shock, horror, and anxiety warred for control of Sunset's mind as she listened to Rainbow Dash's explanation of what she had seen on her rescue trip. The two of them were currently in a small medical lab in the infirmary along with Elder Lyons, Rarity, Applejack, and one of the Brotherhood medics.

"You're saying that Fluttershy killed one of them?" Applejack asked incredulously.

Rainbow nodded, her face ashen. "At least one. From the amount of blood on her I'd say she took down a whole bunch of raiders."

"That's horseshit, it's gotta be," Applejack said flatly.

"I'm telling you, it's true," Rainbow insisted. "You didn't see it, she went nuts on that guy. It freaked me out."

"It's possible that the raiders drugged her," the medic suggested. "Some raiders dose their captives with Psycho so they struggle more. A high dosage would easily cause such a violent outburst, especially if they didn't restrain her properly. Of course, we won't know for sure until we get the results of her blood test."

Elder Lyons nodded. "Where is she now?"

"In a private room, away from the others," the medic replied. "I've got one of my team in with her at the moment taking blood, they should be back any minute."

In a private room, a few corridors down from the medical lab, Fluttershy lay unconscious on a hospital bed. The medic tending to her had carefully taken a blood sample and was just checking her vitals again before taking it to be analyzed. Both her heart rate and blood pressure were a little high, but they were within safe limits. More concerning was the obvious fever she was sporting.

As the medic left the room and hurried to the lab, he could never have known what it was that burned beneath her skin.

Empowered by magic and strengthened by blood, the curse of Vault 87 bloomed into a new and terrible form.