It was hard to really put into words what the Rainbooms were feeling as they trudged into Novac – a small shanty-town built around a motel… another remnant of the nuclear war they had just heard about. The revelation of the war itself still weighed heavily on the girls’ minds as they walked, especially Sunset; all the fears she’d had just this morning of the Legion, raiders, wildlife, and the men from Goodsprings were quite firmly reinforced as she realized that they – along with who knew what other manners of hellish forces – were nothing more than the byproduct of the apocalypse. An apocalypse that her and Twilight’s mad tinkering had gotten them tied up in.

Even so, as they stumbled toward the door of the motel office, all they could do was pray that all they’d seen so far was just a monumentally bad dream. But finally, just before they reached the door to what was undoubtedly the motel office, Fluttershy fell to her knees and just started whimpering. Not that any of her friends could blame her – they were wandering around in a nuclear apocalypse and had no idea if they could even survive. Rainbow Dash gladly knelt at her friend’s side and tried to think of words to offer her some sort of comfort, but nothing came to her. Or to any of the others, for that matter.

It was this crying that drew a shrewish old lady out of the office, who – like everyone else in the desert – appeared quite surprised at the look of the girls. “Well now. That’s certainly an interesting mutation,” she remarked. “Hope you’re not fixin’ to cause any trouble.”

Sunset barely even acknowledged her – her eyes were fixed on Fluttershy and her other friends, trying to find some way to inspire them that things would get better, but she couldn’t. Her gaze shifted upward to look out at the desert beyond the town – a ruin of a world scorched by nuclear weapons in a war that had apparently been started purely by greed with knowledge of who fired first lost to time. Suddenly she found herself thinking that the Bone Dry Desert south of Equestria was better than this… which it probably was.

The old lady could see the gaunt concern on Sunset’s face and cleared her throat. “Uh… sorry about that mutant crack; I’m sure you’re fine folks. Uh, can I get you something?”

“Water. Provisions. A map to New Vegas. And a place to rest.” Sunset answered absently, not even looking at the old lady as she unconsciously fiddled with her Geode.

“Certainly.” she nodded and walked back into the office. She returned quite quickly with a room key. “Enjoy your stay; you can pay whenever you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said simply, turning her hand to accept the key… brushing it against the old lady’s hand. She didn’t expect her powers to activate from the touch – she hadn’t intended to activate her geode’s magic, but her eyes went white as she peered into the old woman’s mind. She learned her name was Jeannie May Crawford and she was apparently the leader of the town of Novac… and that she had sold a resident’s wife to the Legion as a slave just for perceived ingratitude.

The vision faded as the woman stepped back into the office, leaving Sunset clutching the room key… which she clenched in her fist in rage, which boiled in her eyes with her tears.

The other Rainbooms looked up from trying – and failing – to console Fluttershy and themselves as Sunset walked past them to an abandoned gas station on the other side of the road. The fuel pumps and large model rockets around the building – like everything else in this forsaken desert – were left to rust and decay in the aftermath of a war that had lost all meaning, in a world replete with suffering.

Sunset didn’t care. She just wanted to hit something. Anything. Just to make the pain and anger stop.

And hit something she did – Sunset gritted her teeth and let the angry tears flow as she just started hitting the wall of the gas station; punching it, kicking it, beating it with her shotgun, everything she could do as her friends looked on in horrified morbid awe, which was mirrored by other residents of the town as they all came out and watched Sunset let out what must’ve been untold amounts of aggression on a concrete wall.

Finally, Sunset stepped back to seemingly admire her handiwork, out of breath, her knuckles gashed and bloody, her arms and legs sore, and tears of rage pouring down her face. She fell limply to her knees and took a deep breath before, under the watch of her friends and the entire town of Novac, she turned her face to the sky and let out an anguished scream at the top of her lungs, which echoed through the desert – probably for miles.

As her scream faded, Sunset weakly strained to her feet and staggered back toward the motel past the frightened and alarmed looks of her friends and the townspeople. She would’ve apologized for frightening everyone if she wasn’t so angry with this world for everything it had done, so she just took a medical ampule apparently referred to as a Stimpak, and jabbed it into her arm, the blood coagulants and painkillers immediately working their magic and making her feel much better… physically, anyway. She was still mentally and spiritually broken after what she’d learned and just dropped the empty Stimpak in the dirt.

One man – who had apparently stepped down from the dinosaur statue – shakily offered her a bag of supplies which she took with no questions. “I-If you’re interested, I’d be more than happy to throw in a Dinky the T-Rex souvenir.” he stammered in worry. “S- Something to remember the town by. Free of charge.”

Sunset just glared over at Jeannie May, who recoiled in worry as if she was afraid Sunset knew something… which she did. “Why would I want to remember this place?” she asked, poison on her tongue as she walked up to Jeannie May who was quite clearly visibly sweating now, and not just from the heat. Sunset raised her clenched fist and slowly opened it, letting the room key – now drenched in her angry blood – drop to the ground. “We won’t be staying.” With that and nothing further to say, she walked out of the motel and down the road out of town.

Only now – definitely not wanting to argue with Sunset’s decision – did the other Rainbooms stand up and move after her. “H- Hey Sunset, wait up.” Rainbow stammered in worry as they all raced out of town after their friend.

As the blood dried on the wall of the gas station and on the road, the citizens of Novac all watched as these mysterious children wandered to the highway, disappearing into the desert… hopefully never to return – a hope Jeannie May Crawford had in particular as she eyed the bloody key in the dirt.

On the highway out of town, the Rainbooms were still more than a bit worried about what Sunset had done and if she would be okay, though this concern started to fall aside as they saw a small band of Legion soldiers on the road ahead. They appeared more than ready to do some damage to these random passers-by until they saw Sunset – the blood drying on her hands and the fire of rage in her eyes was enough to alarm them into stepping aside to allow the girls to pass.

As soon as the Legion party was out of sight, Sunset felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around with a look of rage as if ready to yell at whoever it was to leave her alone… until she saw it was Fluttershy, tears streaking down her own face. Sunset froze and looked around, seeing similar looks of terror on the faces of all the others. That was what finally snapped her out of her rage; the knowledge that her tantrum must have terrified her friends. “I-” She didn’t even get a chance to speak as Rarity raised a hand to cut her off.

Rarity only said five simple words: “When you’re ready. No sooner.” That was all there was to say before Fluttershy reached into the group’s medical equipment and bandaged Sunset’s hands.

Finally, once her hands were wrapped, Sunset couldn’t hold it back any longer – she broke down crying and fell to her knees in front of her friends, almost worse than the aftermath of the Fall Formal. “I’m sorry!” she sobbed out loud on the broken road. Her tears fell fast and thick on the scorching asphalt as her friends crowded around her and held her close to comfort her, despite knowing that very little would help her after that.

Author's Note

So... in case it wasn't obvious... Sunset just unintentionally took her first perk.