Luna’s sleep was tumultuous and troubled.

“Luna, you know that this is a bad idea and you shouldn’t even consider it,” Clover the Clever told her softly from her position at the desk in Luna’s room. She was looking over a set of plans, Luna’s plans for the future.

“But Clover... you know that my subjects dislike me and my work with the sky... perhaps if they had more time to appreciate it they could grow to like it just as much as they do the sun,” Luna argued.

“They might... or they could simply grow to hate you for imposing your night on them,” Clover pointed out, her voice quiet.

“Or they could grow to love it!” Luna retorted, her voice dropping into a near deadly tone. “They certainly seem to love Tia’s day. Why won’t they love my night?”

A sad look touched the purple unicorn’s face. “Because they are afraid of what hides in the shadows, Luna...”

“I have brought order to those creatures, they no longer prey upon our beloved subjects in the night unless they leave the safety of their settlements!” Luna replied fiercely. “But they don’t celebrate as they should, instead they remain locked away at night, hiding from my beautiful stars!”

“Luna,” the other mare said softly, getting up from the desk and going to stand beside her princess, gently laying a hoof on her side.

Luna moved away from the her. “It doesn’t make any sense! My night is perfect! The stars and constellations are perfectly arrayed to create images to bedazzle and bewitch their eyes! The moonlight is soft enough to feal gently caress them as they walk beneath it, and the quiet blackness casts the perfect blanket for their moments of love!” she ranted angrily. “It just doesn’t make sense!”

Clover sighed and looked down. “Princess, Luna... I’m afraid that I can’t help you in this. As much as I would truly love to... the natural order must be maintained. We cannot simply readjust the schedules of every farmer and pony in Equestria who rely on the sun to do their work,” she said slowly in a compassionate voice. “Please, drop this subject by the wayside, forget it and attempt to win over the populace through other means.”

The Princess of the night stared at Clover, her face stricken. “Bu-but Clover... please, you must see the reasons behind this, please!” she pleaded.

The other mare just shook her head. “Luna, please, this is your closest friend talking, not the Archmage. You must think of the average pony here, they’re easily frightened by what they don’t understand... and the night represents that in and of itself,” Clover told her softly.

“I-I know this... but Clover why can they not learn to accept my night?” Luna asked. “They accept Tia’s day easily enough, our little ponies are nothing if not adaptable... they proved this during Discord’s years in rule.”

Clover frowned. “Luna, the normal rise and set of the sun and the moon are two of the things that have helped to establish normality and routine in ponies’ lives. If you change that they might react... badly.”

Luna shook her head. “But-but if there is no change things stagnate and-and-and...” she trailed off as she realized that she was grasping for straws. “It’s-it’s not fair Clover!” she wailed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Clover closed the distance between them and pulled the taller mare into a hug.

“There there, I’m here for you Luna,” Clover said softly as she patted Luna’s neck. “I’m here for as long as you need, and nothing you do will ever change that.” Luna poured her grief into her friend's soft fur, tear after tear running down her blue cheek.

Liar Nightmare whispered as she observed the pair in the dream. Just another liar among a sea of them.

Shu-shut up! Luna replied. I-I’m sure that-I’m sure that Tia manipulated her... that’s why she cast me out!

Tell yourself what you want, it doesn’t change the fact that she betrayed us, Nightmare replied coldly.

Luna let out a quiet whine, and rushed to another dream.

Sarah looked down at Luna who was squirming, struggling, and kicking outward with her legs worriedly. She’d already checked the ‘alicorn’ for bullets, or any other obvious form of injury, but had found nothing besides a few dozen shallow cuts and moderate bruises.

The woman shook her head and turned away, thinking about everything that had happened over the course of just about an hour. She still didn’t understand at least half of what Luna had told her, nor did she understand how she managed to hold a sword in the air without touching it... and that wasn’t even going into how she’d managed to seemingly absorb the information from her brain.

Sarah shivered at the thought... that was so creepy that the woman could barely think about it.

And then there had been hints at other things... Luna had referred to herself as ‘we’ at one point... did that mean that the mare was crazy? Or was it a simple slip of the tongue? Sarah didn’t know and she wasn’t really sure if she wanted to find out... especially if it was the first option.

Then of course, there was the obvious question; where was she from?

She’d said ‘Equestria’ but Sarah had never heard of the place, even in Mister Brotch’s class... when she’d bothered to pay attention to the prewar geography part. So... that once again left two options. Either Luna was from a part of the Earth that had been so irradiated that the humans had all turned into unicorns with wings... or Luna was an alien!

Sarah looked down to see that she’d been unintentionally fingering her hunting rifle. She removed her fingers from the comforting wooden stock and put the rifle on the tiled floor, letting the barrel lean against the chair as she herself leaned back against the plastic.

She put thoughts of Luna out of her head for the moment and focused on the most important one; finding her father. Sarah frowned deeply at that. it... it wouldn’t matter if he’d just told her that he was leaving, but no, he’d simply left, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Now she was going to find him... and get some answers!

Now that she had a quiet minute to look back on things... Sarah had to say that the most surprising thing about that... day was the fact that Butch of all people had stood by her. The woman shivered a little as a cold draft blew over her and she reached into her travel bag to pull out Butch’s jacket and wrapped it around herself, taking comfort in the warm leather.

Butch may not have been her type, but she’d almost considered asking him to come along with her out into the Wasteland... of course then she’d remembered all of the shit that she’d had to put up with because of him over the years, along with the fact that he was just a barber and would probably gotten killed in a few minutes after she’d left the Vault. Then again, she had too... running towards the closest people in sight, who had all been heavily armed raiders, was not her brightest idea.

She shivered again, and this time it had nothing to do with the cold. That sniper’s bullet had nailed her in the chest and she’d been lucky that it had miraculously missed anything vital. That, and the fact that she’d been able to staunch the bleeding with a stimpak fast enough was the only reason that she hadn’t been ‘raider rape chow’ as some put it.

Luna gave a particularly violent twitch and Sarah looked at her with a pitying glance, she must have been having awful nightmares. With a small sigh Sarah got up from the chair and sat down beside Luna and began gently running her hand across the mare’s back in an attempt to sooth her. The mare stiffened at her touch, but relaxed after several seconds and began to sleep a bit sounder.

“Tia...” the mare mumbled in her sleep.

As she continued to stroke, Sarah was hit by the absolute absurdity of her current situation. Here she was, sitting next to a mix and match mystical creature right out of Grognak the Barbarian, inside of an awful smelling, rundown superstore on a mission to find food and water in a radioactive wasteland full of murderers and rapists. The woman sighed and shook her head as she continued to stroke the mare; it was one odd world.

“Sister, have you heard of my discussion with Clover the Clever?” Luna inquired of Celestia as they sat together at the breakfast table. Before the mare sat a plate of expertly scrambled eggs. Celestia who come to taking only two pieces of toast for breakfast, was embroiled in large stack of paperwork which she looked up from and set aside her quill.

“Ah yes, she did mention your plan,” Celestia replied cordially.

“And?” Luna asked hopefully.

“And I’m inclined to agree with her Luna,” her sister told her.

“But Tia, that’s-”

“I know it isn’t fair Luna,” Celestia said, interrupting her. “But our little ponies are just beginning to get used to having a set schedule as opposed to the constantly shifting chaos that existed under Discord’s reign.”

“It would only be two extra hours of night sister, it is not as though I want to cast the world into never ending night!” Luna exclaimed. “I simply want ponies to enjoy my night!”

Celestia sighed and took a delicate bite of her toast before answering. “I understand that Luna, I really do, but as I said, I’m afraid that it just isn’t feasible,” her sister said tiredly. “Now please; drop this subject.”

Luna glared at her sister. “It’s always about you isn’t it?” she asked acidically. “You got to be queen because you were older, you have the love and admiration of our subjects because you’re more beautiful than I, and it is your sun who hovers in the sky all day soaking up our ponies’ love!”

The elder mare looked away. “I’m sorry Luna, but this isn’t about you or I. It is about what is best for our little ponies,” she said softly.

Luna snorted. “Or what is best for your ego!”

“The sun and the moon fill the sky for the exact same amount of time each and every day, it is not my fault that our ponies prefer the warm sunlight as opposed to the soft moonlight,” Celestia told her. “Why must you act like such a child?”

“Me acting like a child?” Luna asked, clearly enraged by the suggestion. “It is you who will not share!”

“Why would I have to? Our realms share an equal amount of time Luna, there is no need for me to share any more than I already do!” Celestia exclaimed.

“But your time is far more loved!” Luna shouted. “And you sit there in front of all of your adoring ponies while they do nothing but ignore and shun me!”

“My adoring ponies? Luna I spend most of my day arguing and corralling the nobles!” Celestia replied angrily. “It is not as if I spend my day listening to the sonnets that some waste their time creating in honor of my ‘beauty’.”

“And that is exactly my point! You have sonnets written about your grace and beauty, while I have only ghost stories!” Luna roared, startling several of the guards outside of the room into looking in worriedly.

Celestia waved them off with a wing and looked at her sister, her expression rather peeved. “Luna, as much as I would love to indulge you, I am afraid that the night and day cycle will not be adjusted,” she said sternly before rising from her seat, magically grabbing her paperwork and carrying it aloft with her. “Now I have work to do, you should get some sleep so that you will be ready for Night Court.”

Luna glared at her sister’s retreating flank, angry and indignant.

She had been rejected by her only real friend.

She had been slighted and ignored by her sister.

She was hated by the populace!

Without a word, the Lunar Princess vanished from the room and reappeared in her bedchambers. The mare threw herself to her her bed and began to weep softly into her pillow, no one understood, not even her sister... only herself.

Hello... a dark, mature voice whispered in her mind for the first time.

Luna eyelids fluttered open to find that Sarah had apparently fallen asleep atop her, the woman’s soft hand paused halfway down her back. The mare looked at the woman and carefully examined her for the first time since their initial meeting.

Now that the human was so close to her Luna caught sight of the thin layer dust and grime that coated both her tan skin and her black hair. As the mare looked over her gaze drifted to the woman’s shoulder, and she noticed the rip in the fabric as well as the ring of dried blood around the outside. She peered at the skin beneath the hole in the shirt and noticed that the pink skin looked much... fresher than that of anywhere else on the woman’s body.

As she continued her body wide inspection Luna took note of the two bumps that poked out of Sarah’s chest, concluding that they were most likely mammaries while internally wondering how a species could’ve developed such an uncomfortable place from which to feed their young. The mare shook her head slightly and continued her evaluation.

The armor that she was wearing was a cobbled together mix of a blue fabric, pieces of leather, and small plates of what appeared to be steel. The numbers 101 were emblazoned on it in a fading yellow color. Luna frowned; it was not what she would qualify as ‘armor’ and she was surprised that the woman was still alive at all. Her gaze turned to the wooden and metal tube that was leaning against the chair that the woman had been occupying when she’d gone to sleep.

It is a potent weapon of death, Nightmare observed quietly. We should learn how to use it, surely it would increase our ability.

Indeed... it reminds me of a crossbow of some type... though vastly different... and much more deadly, Luna agreed.

Perhaps we could ask our new ‘friend’ here to teach us its use under the pretense of it allowing us to bond? Nightmare observed.

We could always just use it as an actual way to bond, Luna pointed out.

Nightmare scoffed within their head. And you believe that would work? Has Clover’s betrayal taught us nothing? her voice asked scornfully. Friendship is for the weak and the frail. Those too pitiful to defend themselves, that is something that we will never be.

And yet here we are in another world, our magic drained, and our body gripped by pain with every movement. If that is not frail and weak then what is? Luna asked, her mental voice wavering a bit.

Nightmare remained silent for several seconds before answering. One chance, one chance is all she gets. If she betrays our trust, then we shall end her as surely as we will Clover upon our return to Equestria.

I don’t want to kill Clover... surely she has been manipulated by our sister...what else could explain her actions towards us? Luna asked hesitantly.

Perhaps she has been against us all along! Secretly plotting and scheming away behind our back! Would it be out of character for our ‘dear’ sister to attempt something like that? Nightmare snarled. She deserves a traitor’s death in any case.

Luna let out a small sigh, this one not mental. I am still tired, we can hold this conversation later... let us rest.

She was about to close her eyes again, but noticed that Sarah was shivering and shuddering in her sleep. Whether it was from cold, or fear, Luna couldn’t just leave her there. The Princess of the Night reached out with a wing and carefully unfurled it over the woman, hoping that her presence would ease the woman’s sleep much liker her own had done for her.

Sarah was back in the Vault, the indestructible steel ceiling staring back at her like the pupil a single giant grey eye as she lay back on her bed. Then, the ceiling changed, and it morphed into the Overseer’s bloody face as she’d put a bullet through his forehead.

“Why? I trusted you, I gave you a place here in the Vault, I allowed you to enter our security forces,” The Overseer spoke as the blood ran down his forehead. “And what did you do? You killed me.”

“It was an accident... I-I didn’t mean to!” Sarah shouted back, shutting her eyes, but that only made it worse as the Overseer’s face appeared in her eyelids.

“You shot me in the forehead,” the Overseer stated plainly. Then, the blood that had been running down his forehead washed over his mouth and he too changed.

Now it was Amata’s tearstained face that glared at her. “You killed him! You... you killed him! God damn you!”

“Amata I-”

“SHUT UP SARAH!” Amata shouted at her. “Do you think I can ever possibly forgive you for what you’ve done to me?”

“But... I’m your best friend!” Sarah shouted back, knowing it was pointless.

“My best friend? You killed my father, is that the type of thing that a best friend normally does?” Amata snarled nastily at her.

To that, Sarah had no answer, and simply began to weep softly.

The face shifted one final time, and she was staring at her father’s face.

“You know, you have no one to blame for all this but yourself,” he pointed out coldly.

“No, it’s your fault! All your fault!” Sarah shouted back.

“Is it? Is it really? Whose decision was it to kill the Overseer? Or better yet; what about the rest of the officers? Weren’t they your friends and comrades?” her father asked dispassionately.

“They-they were going to kill me... what choice did I have?” Sarah sobbed as she remembered the corpses of the security officers who she’d killed in her escape. “It-it-it was me or them!”

“And I guess we both know who you’d choose then don’t we?” James asked her with a sardonically raised eyebrow.

Sarah stared at the man’s face for a moment before trying to turn away, only to find that her head had been secured in place... as had the rest of her body.

Looming over her was a blood covered raider who smiled down at her with a broken toothed grin.

“Well, aren't you a pretty thing,” he asked, bending down to run a finger across her face. “But you know, I always prefer mine with a few good... cuts.” the raider drew a combat knife out of the side of his armor. “I’m going to make you bleed bitch. Then I’m going to fuck you raw.” As he said so he began to lower the knife towards her forehead.

Sarah stared at him, unable to move, unable to even scream as the knife made its way towards her. Images of the corpse in the Super Duper Mart passed through her mind and she began to shudder as revolting thoughts came unbidden to her mind.

A sudden explosion of darkness suddenly caught the raider in the ribs and he was thrown to the side, crumpled and mangled. Sarah looked around, anxiously awaiting what new terror awaited her.

Instead the world simply faded into black.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's to hoping that you guys enjoyed this little glimpse into our heroines' minds, also this will most likely be the last chapter I put out this fast.

Please comment and give feedback!