As the pair trode down the cracked roadway, Luna looked over at Sarah and examined the woman’s face carefully. Her eyes were focused on something off in the distance, her mind clearly lost in thought.

I wonder what she learned, Luna mentally mused.

Well, it must be something rather important, Nightmare replied. Look at the way she is standing, her mind is clearly elsewhere. Only revelations of a grand scale can elicit such a response, her other half stated with an internal frown.

Indeed, Luna agreed, though her frown was clearly visible on her face. I do hope that she shares what she learned soon.

Yes, secrets lead to plots, which lead to betrayals, which as you know lead to abandon-

ENOUGH! Luna unexpectedly roared, the mental ‘vibrations’ echoing through her head. SARAH IS OUR FRIEND, SHE WILL NOT BETRAY US! SHE WILL NOT PLOT AGAINST US! SHE WILL NOT ABANDON US!

Nightmare was cowed for a moment by the sheer volume of Luna’s protests, but recovered not long after. So you say now! You said something similar about both our sister as well as Clover! Both of whom loved us! And did that stop them from betraying us? Did that stop them from abandoning us in our of need?! Did that stop them from waging a war against us? A war which has seen us banished to this dead world where the magic is so weak that we are reduced to a fraction of what we are capable of? Nightmare raged back at her, her voice dark and venomous.

I-

What? What could you possibly say to make it alright? Nightmare demanded, cutting Luna off. Our friends hate and despise us! Then they betray us and lock us away where no one may find us as if we are embarassing foal’s toys!

But Sarah-

FACE IT, WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WE CAN TRUST! SARAH IS NOT OUR FRIEND! SHE IS SIMPLY ANOTHER PERSON OUT TO HURT US! Nightmare shouted, her voice turning to that of hysterical filly. THAT’S ALL OTHERS DO TO US! THEY HURT US! THEY HATE US! THEY-THEY DESPISE US! WE-WE ARE NOTHING! IT IS ALL WE HAVE EVER BEEN! she wailed, her voice becoming full of sobs. We-we-we try and help-and-and-all we ever get is hatred... we.... we are worthless... we don’t matter... otherwise we would have frie-

*SLAP*

Luna was shocked out of her... argument and looked up to see Sarah staring down at her, her hand tensed.

“Can you hear me now?” Sarah asked, her voice hoarse and raspy.

“I...you... hit me...” Luna said, struggling for words, she had somehow ended up on her knees, and she had no idea how.

“It was the only way to get through to you apparently,” Sarah rasped. “You just... stopped walking and fell to your knees, weeping uncontrollably,” she said, her voice becoming full of concern as Luna noticed her soaking wet facial fur. “I tried shouting and yelling at you but you just kept weeping and it was getting worse so... I tried something different.”

Luna stared at her for a moment before she slowly got into a sitting position and pulled Sarah into a tight hug, wrapping her forehooves and wings around the woman as she pressed her face into Sarah’s unarmoured neck and began to weep.

Sarah stood there, frozen in surprise, hardly expecting the gesture. Then slowly, she eased into the embrace and began to gently pat the back of the mare’s soft neck and instinctively made a quieting gesture. Luna’s silken feather’s tickled her exposed skin and her astral mane swirled in a stunning pattern as it flowed before her eyes as she pressed her cheek into the soft fur.

Unfortunately, their embrace was rudely interrupted.

*BANG*

Luna let out a strangled shriek as the super mutant brought his nail covered board into her back. Luckily, her armour caught the nails before they could do any damage but the impact still slammed into her with inhuman strength.

“TIME TO DIE!” the mutant shouted as he prepared for another swing and brought it slamming into Luna’s side, sending her crashing to the ground.

*CLANK-CLICK-BOOSH*

Sarah’s combat shotgun went off with an explosion of noise and the supermutant caught the full pellet burst of buckshot directly to the face. The pellets tore into the mutant’s eyes, pulping them near instantly and blowing out the back of his skull.

*WHIZZ*

A .32 round slashed into the concrete to Sarah’s right, her eyes darted up to see a mutant with a hunting rifle eyeballing her for another shot. The woman darted to the left, the shot whizzing by her ear hot enough to leave a burning pain. Sarah ignored the pain, adrenaline taking over.

She blitzed at the mutant and was about to bring her shotgun up to fire at it when a trio of 5mm slammed into her side and carried her off her feet. Sarah looked up to see a much bigger mutant armed with a minigun looming over her.

Roll! she snapped to herself, shoving her body to the side just in time to avoid an avalanche of 5mm rounds which ate into the concrete with the ferocity of a starving hobo. Sarah’s roll was stopped by the hunting rifle armed mutant whose large armoured foot slammed into her stomach. The breath blew out of her as she gasped in pain and the woman’s eyes watered in pain.

“I’M EATING TONIGHT!” the mutant exclaimed excitedly as it pointed its hunting rifle’s barrel at Sarah’s head. It twisted its foot and Sarah let out another gasp as she tried to reach for her sidearm.

“NO YOU ARE NOT!” a familiar voice roared back in response. The mutant looked up in time to see Daybreaker slam through his forehead, the silver blade stabbing through it and out the back of his head.

The blade pulled free and the mutant dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, that also meant he fell on top of Sarah who let out another gasp as four hundred and fifty pounds of flesh and metal fell on her with a thud.

Luna, her eyes blazing with anger charged towards the last mutant. He roared at her as he revved up his minigun for another storm of lead, but a stream of laser fire splashed against him. He shrieked in agony, or maybe it was excitement before suddenly disintegrating into a pile of ash.

“Sarah! Sarah are you alright?!” Luna shouted as she galloped up to her friend and with a mighty ‘oomph’ shoved the dead mutant off of Sarah.

Sarah let out a relieved breath, and then took a quick inhale of air as she got to her feet. “I-I’m fine Luna,” she said with a shake of her head. “Just got winded, that’s all,” she added.

“Were you not shot by the minigun?” Luna asked her, looking at the hole in the armour of her chest. Sarah followed her gaze and reached into the hole with her finger. She flinched, pain tickling out from it, but when she drew her finger back it was dry. Sarah frowned and dug around for another second before she pulled out the crumpled bullet.

“Looks like my armour stopped it,” she told Luna, shaking her head. “Lucky.”

“Yes... very lucky,” Luna agreed as she sheathed Daybreaker. “I was worried that I had lost you...”

“I’ve still got some fight in me, don’t worry,” Sarah assured her, gently patting Luna’s neck. “So... are you alright now?”

“In all honesty Sarah... no... I do not believe I am,” Luna replied with a sigh. “But I will carry on regardless.”

“Well... that’s good I guess,” Sarah said with a small frown. “Word to the wise though... try not to have emotional breakdowns in the middle of the street. As you saw... it seems to go badly.”

Luna gave her a shaky nod. “Right... I feel rather foolish now. I would never have allowed myself to commit an act like that were I on the battlefield,” she replied, clearly angry with herself.

“It’s fine, but we should keep moving,” Sarah told her, still patting the mare’s neck. “Save the tears for when we’re safe, okay?”

“Right, yes I shall,” Luna replied, nodding her head rapidly.

“Good, now let’s get going before more uglies shows up,” Sarah said as she quickly bent down to pick up the fallen hunting rifle along with the loose ammo.

The two started out again in silence and walked until they reached their destination, a large building which had been seemingly gutted by hundreds of pipes. There were a pair of super mutants wielding nail boards in front of it, but other then that the entryway seemed clean.

“How should we do this?” Sarah asked Luna as they crouched around a hundred meters away from the mutants..

“I can take the fools in a matter of seconds,” Luna stated as she half-drew her sword.

“True... but maybe we should just snipe them,” Sarah suggested, taking out her hunting rifle. “Your laser rifle seems to have excellent accuracy and it’s better then charging across a hundred meters of flat, coverless ground.”

“I don’t know... I’ve never tried to ‘snipe’ with this rifle,” Luna replied with a small frown.

Then we shall handle it, Nightmare stated, speaking for the first time since her... breakdown earlier.

Are you capable of it? Luna asked her, a note of concern in her mental voice.

Moreso than you, Nightmare snapped as she used Luna’s magic to grip the laser rifle. “We shall take the one on the right,” Luna told Sarah who raised an eyebrow slightly but nodded as she brought the hunting rifle up to her shoulder.

“Alright,” Sarah said, targeting the mutant on the left. “On three. One. Two. Three.”

*Bang*/*Zap*

The two rifles went off , the mutant on the right simultaneously disintegrating into a pile of fine ash while the one on the left fell, its skull torn open.

“We love that sight,” Luna told Sarah with a wicked grin. “To reduce our enemies to a pile of ash, such a fitting fate for fools.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said as she cast a worried glance at Luna. “You ready to move up?”

“Yes,” Luna answered with a simple nod as she holstered her rifle and drew her sword. “Let the beasts come at us.”

“I’m hoping that we already killed them all,” Sarah deadpanned as she began to walk forwards. As she did so, she glanced skywards. “Wow, looks like we got here just in the nick of time, it’s going to be a hell of a storm.”

“Get down!” Luna shouted as a mutant rose out of cover cradling an assault rifle. Sarah reacted instinctively and dropped to the floor in time to avoid a crescendo of 5.56mm rounds which pelted the wall behind her.

“Take him down!” Sarah shouted at the mutant as she rose to her knees cradling her combat shotgun.

Luna did so, and the mutant’s arm went flying as a laser slashed through it causing him to let out a scream of pain. Sarah sent a blast from her shotgun into its chest for good measure and the hulking brute tumbled to the ground.

Sarah let out a sigh and shook her head as she surveyed the wreckage surrounding the main console of the... purifyer. There were a good ten super mutants strewn around it, all of them torn apart by either shotgun pellets, lasers, or Luna’s sword.

“Wow, there were a lot of these guys in here,” Sarah said with a tired sigh as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

“Yes, yes there were,” Luna agreed with a small sigh of relief as she eased both Daybreaker and her laser rifle back into their respective resting places on her back. “I wonder why, I don’t see anything of value here. At least... not to them.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Sarah replied with a shrug as she walked up the stairs and up to the main console. She frowned as she noticed several holodisks strewn across it. “Huh, these look recent,” she noted with a frown. “Want to hear what my dad had to say?”

“Sure,” Luna said with a nod as she strode over to Sarah. “Though, may we do it somewhere there are not corpses strewn about please?”

Sarah sniffed, and then nearly gagged as the overwhelming smell of dead super mutants assaulted her senses.

“Yeah, sure, let’s check out the basement and see if we can’t find a place to stay the night. I’m not stepping a foot outside while it’s raining radioactive water,” Sarah suggested as she began to walk back they way they’d come.

“I see the wisdom in that,” Luna agreed, nodding and following the woman. “I would not want to fall ill here.”

“Tell me about it,” Sarah said. “Speaking of which, I’m surprised that the entire Wasteland hasn’t died of dysentery by now.”

Luna shuttered. “Do not make such jokes Sarah. If the disease is the same here as the one I am thinking of, then it is truly a fate worse than death to become afflicted with,” the alicorn cautioned her.

“Dad actually said the same thing once actually,” Sarah replied. “Though now that I think about it, he may not have just been talking about old stories.”

“I would like to drop this subject,” Luna interjected rather hurriedly. Sarah gave the mare a sideways look as she pushed open the basement door, but shrugged and let it drop.

The basement was dank and rather cold, but as the two made their way down the stairs they were confronted by a very confused mutant.

“Huh?” he said with an almost comical look on his face. “Are you the food?

“No, we’re the entertainment,” Sarah answered simply before she brought her shotgun up and blew his skull off.

“That was well executed,” Luna observed with a small chuckle as they continued forwards.

“What, the shot?” Sarah asked her.

“No, the one liner. I can never think of good ones,” Luna replied.

That is because we have better things to do then be witty while killing people, Nightmare stated causing Luna to roll her eyes.

“You okay?” Sarah asked her, catching the movement.

“For the moment,” Luna replied as they continued down the corridor and entered into a room full of beds.

“Well, it looks like we found where we’re going to be sleeping,” Sarah stated with a smile, some of the beds even had sheets that didn’t look completely destroyed.

“Yes, now to see if there are any more of these damnable mutants around,” Luna said before taking a deep breath and thundering. “YOUR DESTRUCTION IS HERE YOU PILES OF POX RIDDLED CROW FOOD! COME AND FACE YOUR DEATHS!”

Sarah was literally forced to take a step back from the sheer... force behind the voice and she stared at Luna.

“Why did you do that?” she all but shouted.

“So that we would not have to waste our time looking for them,” Luna replied with a small smile. “It is my understanding that the filths are drawn to noise... so I gave them some noise.”

“I guess,” Sarah said. “But do you think you could have given me some warning first?” she added, rubbing the inside of her right ear with her pinky finger.

Luna blushed. “Sorry, I will remember to do that in the future,” she stated before drawing her sword in her magic. “Now, let us meet those who come!”

Sarah nodded and moved up to the side of the doorway. Within a matter of seconds, a mutant came running through, an assault rifle clasped in its grasp. Sarah fired twice, and it fell to the floor.

Another charged through, but Daybreaker swooped down and decapitated it.

The two repeated the process several times until they were sure that there were no more mutants left. After that the pair quickly dragged the bodies out of the main room and threw them down the stairs into the lower bowels of the basement. Then Sarah set up several frag mines she’d bought from Moira earlier at the doorway.

“Alright, that should do it,” she stated with a quick nod.

“They are set to explode if anyone but us comes near them, correct?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, they’ll act as a good wake-up call if we missed any of the mutants,” Sarah replied as she walked back to the beds. On the way, she noticed a coffee table with several more holotapes on it. With a frown, she picked one up. “Hmm... Better Days?”

“What?” Luna asked from where she was preparing a pair of mattresses for herself.

“It’s the name of this tape... want to hear it?” she asked. “I don’t know about you, but I need a bit of cheering up after earlier.”

Luna looked down for a moment and then smiled as she waved a wing invitingly for Sarah to join her. “Of course,” she said, nodding.

Sarah walked over and joined the alicorn on the beds, having long since realized that she was the best pillow ever. “Okay, let’s see here...” she slotted the holodisk into her Pip-boy and a woman’s voice began to speak.

“That batch of tests was inconclusive, but Madison and I are convinced it's a problem with the secondary filtration system. We're going to recalibrate the equipment and try again tomorrow so that...” the voice was soft and kind, Sarah could hear a gentle tenderness in it even as she described the problem.

“James, please, I'm trying to work. Now's not the time!”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose in surprise at that, what... did it mean? Was this... was this her mother speaking?

“So that's the next step. Assuming we get the results we need, we'll move on to.. James!” The voice of the woman she assumed to be her mother suddenly yelped and Luna craned her head to look at Sarah, raising an eyebrow while Sarah gave her a hapless expression as her mother laughed.

“Stop, I need to finish these notes!” there was another laugh, more coy then before. “We'll move on to diagnosing the issues with the radiation dampeners, that should... Owww! James!” Even more laughing followed that and Sarah could only imagine what had triggered the ‘owww’, not that she wanted to. “Now? We really shouldn't!”

The tape ended, and Sarah and Luna looked at each other for a moment before Sarah blushed.

“I um... I’m glad the tape ended there,” she stuttered.

“Yes... it would have been most awkward otherwise,” Luna agreed with a swift nod. “So... sleeping time?”

“Sleeping time,” Sarah agreed with an awkward nod as she leaned against Luna’s back, enjoying the sensation of the silky feathers falling across her body.

She seems quite fond of sleeping with us, Nightmare observed quietly, still rather subdued.

I shall not complain, Luna replied with a mental shrug as she lay her head down on her own pillow.

Overhead, the sound of rain could still be heard as the two drifted off to sleep.