Luna lay in the garage upon a pair of mattresses, Sarah’s sleeping form dozed comfortingly on her side and one of the mare’s wings was folded gently over the woman’s chest, warming her. Across from the pair, warming his hands on a small fire that they’d created out of pieces of wood and a few old newspapers was James. The man had been mostly silent as they’d set about the tasks needed for making camp within the garage, other than to make soothing noises to his daughter or answer small questions that had been directed at him.

Now with Sarah asleep and gently nuzzling her side Luna began to feel a bit sleepy herself. Up until now she had been fine, but there was something so soothing about having her lover draped across her. Luna let out a small yawn and began to prepare herself for sleep when James suddenly spoke up.

“So, Luna... how did you come to know my daughter?” the man asked from his seat.

Luna frowned for a moment before answering. “To be perfectly honest… it was when I almost stabbed through her head with my sword,” she answered awkwardly.

“Really?” James inquired, raising an eyebrow slightly at that. “I suppose it is the Wasteland so that type of meeting isn’t exactly unexpected... but normally people don’t always become friends... or more in this case, after that.”

“True,” Luna agreed before sparing Sarah a tender glance. “But I suppose there was just something about Sarah that drew me to her.”

In her sleep Sarah turned her head and began to gently breath on Luna’s side, her hot breath playing warmly against her fur.

“I see that the feeling is mutual,” James commented though he frowned. “How long have you two been... together?”

Luna blushed hotly. “A single day now?” she hazarded. “To be honest... time runs together here... I’m simply glad that I have her.”

James smiled softly as a tender look crossed his own face as he looked at his daughter. “I’m glad for that too... she’s just like her mother.”

Luna’s ears perked up. “Really?”

“Yes, she has the same no-nonsense take on the world and when she’s doing something that she’s good at it’s impossible to stop her,” James answered with a smile.

“I see,” Luna said before she bent her head down to softly kiss Sarah’s forehead, making the woman mutter something quietly in her sleep as she tightened her hold on Luna. “I can’t say that I disagree with that.”

James just chuckled quietly. “Indeed...” he agreed before trailing off for a moment. “You know... when I first heard on the radio that my daughter was traveling around with a talking, flying, horse I thought Three Dog had been hitting the Jet... and now here you are.”

“Here I am,” Luna echoed with a wan smile. “And to be honest... there’s no place that I’d rather be than in her arms.” Then she frowned. “My goodness... I sound like a character out of one of Tia’s sappy romance novels.”

“Well, that’s love for you,” James replied, a small smile on his face once more. “Also, who is Tia? If you don’t mind me asking of course.”

“Tia is my sister,” Luna replied with a small sigh. “I miss her greatly now.”

“And you didn’t before?” the man asked her with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I... we... we fought often,” Luna admitted quietly. “We both had our own way of doing things... and our subjects always liked hers more.”

“Ah,” James said with a small nod. “Classic sibling rivalry, except with your subjects taking the role of parental approval?”

Luna frowned for a moment before answering. “I suppose so, now that I think about it. She was always older and prettier than I. Always had a legion of ponies following along behind her, either looking for a favor or for a glimpse beneath her tail...” the alicorn shook her head. “At any rate, we argued, and then fought, and then fought a war... and that is how I ended up here.”

“A war?” James asked, raising an eyebrow. “That escalated rather quickly.”

“Yes... well I was very foolish,” Luna stated before letting out a sigh. “And I got banished here for my foolishness.”

“I see,” James replied with a small nod.

They sat in silence for a moment longer before Luna asked a final question. “Sir... what is your plan?”

James smiled. “Well Luna, my plan is very simple. I’m going to save the Capital Wasteland.”

Luna smiled faintly. “Now that’s a goal that I can get behind.”

James just grinned before he glanced down at his Pip-Boy. “Well, it’s time for this old man to get to bed, I’ll see you in the morning,” he told her before he got up and then lay down on the spare mattress.

“Goodnight,” Luna replied as she lay her head down on the mattress and swiftly fell asleep with Sarah’s head resting against her neck.

Sarah stirred from her sleep and found herself face to neck with Luna. She breathed in the alicorn’s familiar scent and gave the fur in front of her a soft kiss. Morning Nim, she mentally added as she lay there, simply enjoying the sensation of lying beside her lover.

Good morning Sarah, Nim replied casually. How are you feeling?

I feel... amazing, Sarah answered as she gave Luna’s neck another soft kiss.

That makes good hearing, Nim stated happily. We were very worried about you after the trauma of yesterday.

Yeah... well as long as I never have to hear anyone with that accent again I’ll be okay, Sarah replied, still leaning into Luna’s warm furry body.

We cannot promise that, but we shall do our best to make it so, Nim told her comfortingly.

Aww, thanks Nim, Sarah replied. I love you.

Thank you... we love you as well, Nim replied, sounding just the smallest amount uneasy with the topic. Shall we rouse the sleepy princess?

I suppose, though really I’d like to just spend all day like this, Sarah replied, running a hand down Luna’s wing, feeling the feathers’ soft fluffy exteriors.

Do be careful with those, Nim told Sarah causing the woman to withdraw her hand slightly.

Did I do something wrong? Sarah asked Nim.

No... but you must always be careful with feathers, Nim replied. If you were to pull one out by accident, especially one of the primaries then you could cripple Luna’s flying abilities. Or even if you just pulled out one of the non essential ones but did it in the improper manner then it could end with an infection.

Sarah stared mutely at the wings, suddenly unsure if she should even be touching them.

Don’t worry though, Nim told her calmingly. It is not likely to happen because of idle touching, in fact, if you give us time we can teach you how to preen her... in ways that she has never experienced before.

You’ll have to, Sarah agreed with a small smile as she moved her fingers back to Luna’s neck and gently stroked the fur.

Indeed... so if you do not mind us asking... what will we be doing now? Nim inquired.

What do you mean? Sarah asked, frowning a little.

Well, we have located and rescued your father, have we not? Nim asked her rhetorically. And that was your overall goal wasn’t it? So, my question is; what shall we spend the rest of our time doing?

I... hadn’t thought of that, Sarah replied. I mean, first and foremost we’ll get my father back to Project Purity... and probably stick around to help him out.

Hmm, we hope it is not a long process, Nim replied. We have grown accustomed to traveling and staying in one place for too long may bore us.

Then I’ll just have to find something interesting to occupy your attention, Sarah said in a devilish voice before she blushed. Anyways, as much as I’d love to spend the rest of the day cuddling with Luna, I should probably get up.

Probably, Nim agreed as Sarah gently pushed Luna’s wing off of her and gave the alicorn a kiss on the cheek. Luna’s eyes blinked open and she smiled.

“Good morning Sarah, Nim,” Luna told her, yawning slightly. “Did you sleep well?”

“Very,” Sarah answered before she glanced at her father who was still sleeping soundly. She walked over and patted him gently on the shoulder. “Dad, it’s time to wake up.”

“Never thought I’d hear you say that to me,” James replied before yawning and rolling on his side so that he was sitting upright. It was only then that Sarah caught sight of the 10mm he’d been holding in his other hand. The woman raised an eyebrow slightly at that but decided that it made sense, if she didn’t have Luna and Nim around she’d probably be doing the same thing... she still might.

Her father holstered the pistol at his side in an easy and familiar way that spoke of years of practice and then the three of them set about making breakfast over a new fire. It was surprising, James had somehow managed to gain a large number of cooking supplies and food which he stored in an old leather backpack. He also happened to be a glorious cook.

“Wow... this is the best meal I’ve had in... years I think,” Sarah complimented her father as she dug into her bowl of stew. “What is it?”

“Molerat stew,” James answered with a chuckle, Sarah’s eyebrows furrowed and she looked down at the bowl in her hands before back up at her father.

“Really?” she asked, not buying it for a second.

“Yes,” James answered, smiling at her. “It’s an old recipe I learned how to make when I was younger. Of course, we don’t have nearly as many of the ingredients here in the Capital Wasteland as we did out west... but I make do.”

“You came from out west?” Sarah asked him in confusion.

“Yes, all the way from Vault 21,” James replied before looking over to Luna who was in the midst of eating what looked like a wasteland salad of some sort. “And how is your breakfast treating you?”

“It is exceptional,” Luna replied, looking up from her meal, a piece of vegetation sticking to her bottom lip. It was quickly swiped up by her long velvety tongue. “Better than what we have had for quite some time.”

“Excellent,” James said, smiling. “I wasn’t sure if your tastes would match up well with ours.”

“Well they do,” Luna told him before her horn glowed blue and Daybreaker came free from its sheath on her side and she brought it up to float before her, inspecting the blade.

James watched the process curiously, he’d seen her use her magic before, not asking questions, simply observing. Luna frowned a little as she eyed the blade and she brought a small cloth out of her satchel as well, quickly rubbing the blade down.

“I must be more careful with her,” the alicorn said, still working at her task. “We are far from anyone who could repair her should she be damaged. Not that that is likely to happen, but still.”

“It can be damaged?” Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you said it was unbreakable.”

“Well, she is and she isn’t,” Luna answered. “She is in the sense that next to no physical strain will cause her to warp or shatter, but she isn’t because should I push her too far too fast her magic will run out.”

Daybreaker is enchanted but without an overabundance of natural magic that enchantment has little power to draw from, Nim added within Sarah’s mind. Normally this would not be an issue, Equestria is nothing if not full of magic, but here there is the distinct possibility that she will run out.

“Ah, I see, I think,” Sarah said, frowning as she worked the concept over in her mind. “So... the sword is kind of like a laser rifle? Run out of microfusion cells and it stops working right?”

“Indeed,” Luna replied. “She would simply become a large unbreakable stick.”

“So what you’re using to levitate things is actually called ‘magic’?” James asked Luna, speaking for the first time during the discussion.

“Yes,” Luna answered simply.

“And the fact that you’re violating several laws of physics is normal?” he inquired, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“I suppose so,” Luna replied. “Is that a problem?”

“No, no, just... strange,” the man replied before shaking his head. “Of course, so is the fact that you exist at all, so...”

“Just do what I do dad,” Sarah interjected. “Don’t question these things, it makes life easier.”

James cast a disparaging look at her. “Sarah, that is an absolutely awful attitude,” he told her before shaking his head and chuckling softly. “And yet, it doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

Sarah just grinned at him and then finished her meal. “Alright; let’s get going.”

“Alright, just give me a moment to get everything put away,” James replied as he packed up his gear. Sarah and Luna did the same though they didn’t take quite as long. Finally, they were ready to go and James took the lead through the door.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make it very far.

“Freeze,” a very angry and very tired female voice growled as a disturbingly large pistol pointed right between James’s eyes. Sarah was too far behind her father to get a clear shot, and neither could Luna. The woman with the pistol was wearing torn Talon Company armor and had an extremely angry expression on her face.

“Well hello there,” James replied, freezing in place.

“Shut up,” the woman growled. “I’ve fucking had it with you people, first I’m going to kill you, and then I’m going to kill the woman and the horse, and then I’m going to retire,” she growled.

“Ah, I see,” James said before his hands blurred.

His right palm came up and slapped the woman’s pistol wrist, catching her by surprise and sending the pistol falling to the ground. Before she had a chance to react to that the man had delivered a series of strikes to her chest, causing her to stumble back.

She managed to get her guard up in time to block another of the palm strikes and replied with a punch of her own. James saw it coming and slapped it away before his right arm darted out and slammed into her throat.

The woman’s mouth opened reflexively as she gasped in pain and James used that time to charge forwards and grab her head by both sides. The woman tried to fight him but the man’s grip was too strong, and with a simple motion James snapped her neck.

James let the body fall to the ground before turning back to see Sarah and Luna staring at him in shocked silence. Then purposefully he bent down and picked up the pistol and examined it before putting the safety on and tossing it to Sarah who caught it numbly.

“Well, that’s that then,” James stated with a small shrug as he cracked his neck. “Come on Sarah, let’s get back to Project Purity, I’ve got twenty years to make up for.”

Sarah just stared at his back as he began to walk away before Luna nudged her. “Yes, let’s get going,” the alicorn added.

Sarah nodded and then slowly began to walk.

That was... incredible, Nim stated, marveling at James’s display.

I... yes... I didn’t know he could do that, Sarah agreed slowly. I guess there are a lot of things about my father I didn’t know...

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the small delay in chapters, I've been focusing on series plotting lately. Making sure that my plots work in concert the right way and all. Anyways, more to follow.