Fallout Girls: Side Stories

Whispered conversations filled the Diner as everyone got into position. Amata quickly did a last-minute check to make sure everything was ready, from the food and decorations to making sure that the jukebox was ready to play. This was the first surprise party she had been permitted to prepare in years; everything had to be perfect.

Everyone looked around as the door suddenly opened and Tom Holden, the Vault’s waste management specialist, hurried inside. “They’re on their way!” He said breathlessly.

Amata’s heart rate immediately went straight through the roof. “This is it! Places, everyone!”

There was an outburst of rustling and sharp whispers as everyone readied themselves, then dead silence fell in the diner. Amata hardly even dared to breathe as she waited anxiously for the new girls to arrive. Time seemed to tick by excruciatingly slowly, each second feeling like an eternity, until, finally, voices were heard just outside the diner.

The tension in the room finally exploded as the door slid open. “Surprise!”

Cracks and pops filled the air as everyone set off party poppers, showering the new girls in confetti and glitter.

Sunset grinned widely as she led the others into the room. “Wow. What’s all this?”

“It’s your welcoming party!” Amata called out as she hurried to the front of the group, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. “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.”

Pinkie gleefully threw her hands up in the air and bounded into the diner screaming, “Woohoo! Best surprise Vault welcoming party ever!”

Most of the other newbies followed Pinkie into the crowd to mingle, but Sunset hung back with Amata. “This is amazing. You really didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“It was nothing,” Amata lied easily. Convincing her father to let her go all-out had been about as pleasant as getting teeth pulled, but it was worth it. Amata was so happy about pulling off a successful surprise party that she was practically giddy. “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.” She gestured into the room. “Go ahead, have fun.”

"Come on, Sunset, they have cake!" Pinkie called out excitedly.

Sunset grinned and headed into the crowd. Amata was glad to see several of the residents that had spoken to the newbies on their tour earlier going back for another chat. Security officers were keeping a close eye on proceedings to make sure no one broke the gag order about North Block, but Amata was sure that most of the people in attendance weren’t dumb enough to try it.

After grabbing herself an ice-cold Nuka Cola, Amata wandered around the edge of the party, anxiously watching and hoping that everyone could integrate without any issues. Thankfully, it looked like everything was going along swimmingly.

Pinkie was by far the loudest of the newbies, skipping all over the place, throwing around way more confetti than Amata had known that the Vault possessed, and eating a frankly astounding amount of cake. Rarity, on the other hand, was surrounded by a group of the Vault’s more fashion-conscious women, while Sunset was casually chatting with a stream of different people while keeping a close eye on the others.

Things soon got particularly loud in one corner. Amata went to check on it, worrying that the security officers might kick up a fuss, only to see that it was security officers who were making most of the noise. Some idiot had apparently challenged Applejack and Rainbow to a contest of strength, and now the two were taking it in turns to arm-wrestle half of the security officers who were supposed to be keeping an eye on things.

The only newbie left was Fluttershy. Amata looked everywhere in the crowd, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Finally, right when she was wondering if the newbie had slipped away somewhere, Amata found Fluttershy lurking safely in a corner between James and his young assistant, Jonas.

James called out with all of the others as the Rainbooms entered the diner. Thankfully, they all seemed delighted by the surprise party, so that was one hurdle out of the way. As he watched the girls start to mingle, he realized that that wasn’t quite right. In fact, he couldn’t see a particular one of the girls at all. Fluttershy was nowhere to be seen.

“Um, is it alright if I sit over here with you?” The girl in question asked, having somehow managed to slip through the crowd in a matter of seconds.

“Of course.” James stepped aside so Fluttershy could slip onto the bench next to him. She hesitated, seeing someone else sitting there already, but James smiled reassuringly at her. “That’s my assistant, Jonas. Don’t worry, aside from his cooking, he’s harmless.”

Jonas sighed and shook his head. “Did you really have to mention my cooking?”

“In the interest of keeping our new residents safe, yes,” James replied with a grin.

Jonas gave an exaggerated sigh, but Fluttershy giggled and slid onto the bench next to him, clearly feeling a little more at ease. Still, it was clear that she wasn’t comfortable being the center of attention, so James sat on the bench as well. It wasn’t ideal, but hopefully having Fluttershy safely nestled between him and Jonas would shield her from the worst of the peanut gallery.

“Well, as you’ve just been told, I’m Jonas. I help this old grump out in the Vault’s clinic.” James made a mental note to throw a bunch of paperwork his way for the ‘old’ crack. “What’s your name?”

Naturally, James had already told Jonas everything about the new girls, despite the Overseer’s order, but it was good to see that he was keeping up the charade.

“Um, I-I’m Fluttershy,” she replied in a voice barely above a whisper.

Jonas nodded, though James wasn’t entirely sure that he had heard her. “Nice to meet you. So, what do you think of the Vault so far?”

“It’s, um, nice,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“It’s just a shame that the Overseer isn’t,” Jonas added in an undertone.

James agreed with the sentiment, but it still wasn’t something that should be spoken aloud near members of the security team, even under the cover of a party. Not at a time where keeping their heads down was of the utmost importance. “Say, Jonas, do you mind grabbing some drinks and snacks for us before they all disappear?”

The sudden question clearly took Jonas by surprise, but realization flickered across his expression and he quickly stood up. “I’ll be back in a second.”

James watched him go before turning to a mildly confused-looking Fluttershy. “A word of advice-” he said quietly, “-the Overseer doesn’t really take criticism well, and most of the security team will happily report even the smallest and pettiest of insults. Be as respectful as possible when talking about him.”

“O-of course,” Fluttershy replied anxiously.

“Don’t worry too much, the Overseer hasn’t kicked me or my son out, yet, and there aren’t many people in the Vault who annoy him more than my boy,” James reassured her.

“What’s your son’s name?” Fluttershy asked.

James smiled softly. She clearly wanted to talk about something less stressful, and it certainly wasn’t a topic that he disliked. “Adam. Technically, he’s a pedicurist, but most of the time he helps me out in the clinic as an assistant. He’s not far off your age, now that I think about it…”

Amata couldn’t help grinning as she watched the North Blockers all mingling without any issues. The only problem, if one could call it that, was that she couldn’t really join their conversations without butting in. Being the Overseer’s daughter had plenty of drawbacks to it. Only Adam treated her just like everyone else, but he was stuck doing paperwork in the clinic while James and Jonas were absent.

Right as Amata was about to give up and grab herself another slice of cake, she saw Tom, his girlfriend Mary, and Twilight Sparkle all get up from a table, leaving Sunset on her own. Amata took the opportunity to slip onto the bench opposite her. “So, what do you think?”

“This is amazing,” Sunset replied brightly. “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 suppose I shouldn’t really be surprised given the circumstances. None of us have ever met anyone new, let alone anyone so… out there!” Sunset just smiled back at her, so Amata asked a question that had been on her mind since the tour earlier. “So I guess you’re kind of the group leader?”

“Who, me?” Sunset asked, apparently caught off guard by the suggestion. “No, not really.”

Amata gave her a surprised look. “Really? The others seem to look to you for guidance, so I just assumed that you were the one in charge.”

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

"I agree,” Twilight added as she returned with a plate of cake and the other North Blockers. “We really could use a group leader, and Sunset would be the most logical choice.”

Rarity nodded and slid onto the bench next to Amata. “Indeed. You’re the perfect person for the job.”

“Absolutely,” Applejack agreed. “Ah’m surprised that you ain’t kicking up a fuss over it though, Rainbow?” she added with a raised eyebrow.

Rainbow grinned and shook her head. “Nah, Sunset’s got this. Besides, leaders get all the responsibilities and stuff; if Sunset’s leader then it just gives me more room to show off how awesome I am.”

“Sunshim’s large and in charge!” Pinkie exclaimed. Amata thought for one horrified second that it was meant as a fat joke, but no-one else batted an eye.

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

Something about their ready agreement clearly meant something to Sunset, as she said quietly, “Wow, uh… thanks, guys.”

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

“The Fall Formal?” Amata asked, remembering a second too late that she was treading dangerously close to breaking her father’s rules. The new girls clearly weren’t so careless, as they all shared an awkward look.

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

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

“Thanks to Sunset!” Pinkie added with a smirk.

“Wait, what?” Amata glanced at Sunset in surprise. It was clear that the other girls trusted her, perhaps even admired her, so it was a little hard to imagine them being at odds in any way.

Sunset ran a hand through her hair, apparently 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 so bluntly it was almost cruel. "No offense," she added with a wink at Sunset who, surprisingly, just smirked back at her.

Amata stared at Sunset in shock. It was hard to reconcile the affable girl sitting in front of her with a description that better suited half of the Vault’s main population. “Wow, sounds like you were a real bitch,” Amata said without thinking.

Sunset frowned and averted her gaze. “Uh, yeah.”

An awkward silence fell, giving Amata plenty of time to silently curse her own big mouth. She was a representative of not only the Overseer but the entire Vault population, she should know better than to run her mouth like that without thinking.

After a few excruciating seconds, Rarity thankfully cleared her throat and broke the unbearable silence. “Yes, well, it all worked out in the end, at least.”

“Sorry,” Amata said sheepishly, vainly trying not to squirm from sheer embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s alright, I got used to it a while ago,” Sunset replied in a tone that said she was anything but used to it, then brushed off her lap and stood up. “I‘m just going to go to the restroom. Is there one near here?”

Amata wasn’t fooled for an instant, she was well-versed in making excuses to get some time alone, but she gave directions to the nearest restrooms anyway. Sunset nodded and gave a half-hearted thanks before leaving.

“Did you seriously just call her a bitch?” Rainbow growled the instant Sunset was out of the room.

“Rainbow! Language!” Rarity snapped in a scandalized tone.

Amata shook her head and waved her hands frantically. “I wasn’t saying that she is one! It just, sort of, slipped out?”

“If that’s the kinda language that just slips out of you, Ah’m a mite concerned about what sorta people y’all got here in the Vault,” Applejack put in. “The only time Ah ever heard anyone cussin’ so casually was when Granny Smith caught her thumb with a hammer back when Ah-” She was cut off as Pinkie suddenly slapped a hand across her mouth.

Hearing any little facets about life in the North Block was fascinating, but one particular implication was more surprising than it should have been. “Wait, you girls don’t swear?” They all shook their heads with varying degrees of emphasis. “Wow. I mean, it’s not exactly encouraged here in the main Vault, but…”

The new girls shared a worried look, and Amata suddenly had a sudden realization that they might well be even more sheltered than the rest of the Vault population, at least in some ways. Just as she was trying to come up with a way to bridge this unexpected gap her father called for her over the P.A system. With a heavy sigh, Amata apologized to the girls and told them that she’d be back as quickly as she could. It was time to report what she had gathered about each of their personalities so far.