Her hair swirled around her face as the woman fell through the air. Above her she saw Luna look back at her now empty saddle in surprise and then look about frantically to find her.

SARAH! SPREAD YOUR LIMBS! Nim shouted within her mind, wind whipping by her ears, Sarah complied and did as Nim instructed. Now, give me control, we must be limp before we hit anything!

Limp? Sarah asked as she surrendered control of her body to Nim and felt herself go limp.

That was all the time she had before her fall was interrupted rather painfully. Sarah’s breath was forced from her body as she slammed through first a weak board and then onto what was obviously a very hard piece of metal. Her world jerked erratically as she bounced and then rolled across the metal, its odd angles and twisted spikes jabbing into her. Thankfully, her armour protected her from that particular aspect of the fall.

Unfortunately, she was still in a world of pain as her rolling came to a stop. Her vision swam and she turned to the side to puke until she discovered that she was now on the very edge of the downed radio tower that jutted out from between the hospital and the hotel. Sarah tried to move her arm but found that it stubbornly refused to move.

Be careful Sarah. We avoided the majority of damage thanks to our quick thinking, but we were not 100% successful so lie still, Nim instructed within her mind. Sarah let out a long breath, and decided that for the moment, she should just focus on breathing. Sarah, it appears that we will have to wait for Luna... it looks as if our area is too ‘hot’ for her to retrieve us at the moment.

Fuck, Sarah groaned.

Luna stared at Sarah’s body as it lay there on the edge of the radio tower, gunfire traced around her but she hardly noticed. She spun to the side and attempted to swoop down to retrieve Sarah, but apparently their attack had ‘kicked the hornets’ nest and a dozen bullets sprang up at her from down below forcing her away.

The alicorn grit her teeth in anger. How dare these parasites prevent her from reaching the one she loved! A cry of rage leapt from her throat and she tucked her wings, dropping towards the nearest group of mutants.

Just before she landed, her wings shot out and stopped her dead drop as he hooves slammed into the top of the mutant’s skull. Grey matter sprayed everywhere and Daybreaker leapt out at the mutant on her right, slashing through its chest as the alicorn landed and ducked beneath a nail board.

Four rapid beams of cherry red energy launched out from her laser rifle and pockmarked the mutant’s body, reducing it to ash while Luna sliced through another nail board with Daybreaker. The Mutant with the destroyed board tried to charge her, but Luna’s body twisted and her hooves lanced out at him in a furious buck. Her hooves crashed through the pathetic metal chest armour which crumpled around them before she brought Daybreaker sweeping through its neck.

The mare let out an angry breath as she searched for more targets, she found none. Then her gaze returned to where Sarah was lying still upon the radio antenna. She could not very well fly up to her, too dangerous, it would attract far too much attention that Sarah was in no state to handle. So, that meant Luna would have to find her way to the spot.

The mare set off at a sprint for the doors of the hospital, quickly discerning it to be the only viable way to get to Sarah. She blasted the doors open and came into a room that was... disturbing. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of net lined bags full of... gore. The constant sound of dripping blood all but roared in her ears, and the floors appeared to have been bathed in the stuff.

Luna paused for a moment in the doorway, unsure of whether or not she should proceed or perhaps find another way to Sarah. Then she thought of her love lying still on that beam of metal with no help in sight as a mutant leered down at her and her resolve hardened. A bullet roared out from the balcony above, quickly followed by several more. They found their marks, and riddled her chest plate with holes. Luna gasped in pain but she ignored the pricks of metal and charged forward towards the balcony, dismissing the incoming fire as trivial.

Sarah was her number one priority.

Meanwhile, up on the roof.

“So... think she’s alive?” Brick asked Butcher as she scanned for more targets, her prized minigun Eugene held between her fingers.

“Maybe, depends on how hard and on what she landed,” Butcher replied with a frown. “I hope she’s alright, that was a pretty ballsy.”

“Yeah, pretty stupid too,” Donovan observed from where he was fruitlessly trying to rewire the elevator. “Swooping down like that may have surprised them, but it left them wide open to incoming fire.”

“It’s the thought that counts in my opinion,” Brick stated with a small shrug. “Let’s just hope that the magic horse can get to her in time.”

“You just want to pet the pretty magic horse,” Donovan said mockingly, looking up from his work to see the woman glaring at him hostially.

“And what if I do? Is there a problem with that?” Brick asked him in a threatening voice.

“I... um no,” Donovan replied. “Nothing at all.”

“Good,” Brick stated with a grunt.

Butcher just shook his head, he just wanted to get off of the damned rooftop.

Sarah lay on the metal, she’d managed to move herself away from the edge but it had cost her quite a bit of energy.

This... is the worst pain I’ve felt in a long time, the woman groaned to Nim.

I know, but be at peace, Luna is on her way, Nim replied soothingly.

Sarah just let out another groan and slowly reached into her pocket to retrieve another stimpack. She’d already used three and knew that they wouldn’t fix what she was sure was a fractured rib, but figured that at least they’d keep her from dying as she waited for Luna.

Suddenly, the antenna shook slightly. Sarah sucked in a breath and looked up to see a large mutant walking towards her, an evil leer on its face.

“Puny human make good meal,” it said with a grin of square teeth.

Of course, Sarah muttered to Nim, reaching for her sidearm. The mutant neared her and with each step the antenna shook sending another stab of pain through Sarah’s chest. Nim, help me concentrate, Sarah instructed her as she focused on the task at hand.

Instantly, the pain in her chest vanished from her awareness as her fingers gripped the 10mm. The mutant had reached her at this point and it reached down with a giant hand to pull her up into the air by the front of her armour. Sarah got a glimpse of pair of goggles over its eyes and a heavily armoured chestplate.

“Stupid weak human,” it told her, grinning. “I’m going to eat you.”

“May I suggest... an alternative?” Sarah grunted back as she pulled down on the trigger three times.

The 10mm. grasped in her right hand rocked back thrice and a trio of bullets slammed into the mutant’s face causing him to stagger backwards and drop Sarah back onto the antenna. Pain came flooding back into Sarah’s mind and she let out a scream of anguish as her face leaned against the cold metal. The 10mm. pistol fell from her grasp and through the metal bars of the antenna to land on the one beneath it.

Aggghhh! Nim joined in the scream with one of her own as Sarah’s pain, which she had been suppressing overwhelmed her.

Before either of them could react, the Super Mutant who had recovered from the three bullets to the face, reached down and grabbed Sarah again. The woman let out another scream as its fingers closed around her gun wrist and she heard a disturbing ‘popping’ noise as a new jolt of pain roared through her body.

“Stupid human,” the mutant grunted through its blood covered lips before it punched the woman in its grip in the stomach. Sarah’s stomach churned, and she vomited on the mutant’s chest. “Now you made me messy!” it roared at her before it tossed Sarah to the ground and brought its foot up to crash down on her.

Sarah, who was struggling for breath and barely finding any to fill her lungs. Her vision was swimming in a mix of incoherent colors and her mind was sluggish.

Roll to the right! Nim screamed in her head, apparently recovered from the bout of pain she’d suffered. Sarah groaned but managed to roll just in time for the mutant’s foot to slam into the antenna, her hand grasping out at the bar beneath her as she did so.

“STAY STILL!” the mutant shouted at her angrily as it prepared for another stomp.

We have a knife, use it, Nim instructed Sarah who numbly reached for the combat knife on her hip.

As the mutant brought its boot down again, Sarah turned on her side and stabbed up at it with the serrated knife. The blade bounced off of the hard metal boot and the foot still had enough energy to crash into Sarah’s ribs. This time, Sarah’s scream of pain was deafening as she felt another rib crack but she kept her injured hand clamped around the object she’d reached for.

“Looks like you die now,” the mutant commented as it grinned down at her evilly. Sarah hyperventilated as she tried to suck more oxygen into her lungs, each breath sending an ache of pain through her body.

“I-don’t-think-so,” she gasped out as her injured hand rose up unsteadily to reveal the 10mm. pistol. The mutant didn’t have time to even frown in surprise before Sarah had emptied the entire clip into it’s neck. The mutant dropped with a *clang* to the metal antenna and Sarah let out a long drawn out sigh of relief.

Well done Sarah, Nim commented within her mind. We were not quite sure if we would make it through that.

Stupid... thing talked too much, Sarah replied. Now... if you’ll... excuse me... I have to pass out... now...

Luna bucked the final door open with her blood coated hooves and found herself standing on the antenna looking at Sarah’s fallen form. It was covered in blood and looked to be in horrible condition. Nearby, a headless super mutant was hanging by its foot from the antenna and it took Luna all of three seconds to deduce what had happened. Without pause she rushed up to Sarah, who was clearly unconscious, and scooped her up in her magic. The alicorn held Sarah close to her chest for a moment before moving her back to lay across her back.

FINALLY! Nim shouted within her head. WE ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR TARDINESS! How dare you take that long!

I was not in any way going slowly! Luna retorted angrily. You are the one who is supposed to protect her when I can not! The responsibility falls squarely upon your shoulders!

The alicorn then took flight, confident that she had killed enough of the mutants below not to be overly worried about those few remaining below. She also made sure that her magical aura was wrapped comfortingly around Sarah to prevent her from falling off.

WE-We--we know, Nim replied in a small voice. But... we could not help her. Not like we can you. She is... limited. We... have failed.

I am painfully aware of that, Luna stated as she neared the roof. Let us pray that these ‘Rangers’ have a doctor among their number.

Author's Notes:

So, tomorrow I'm going to Orlando on a Band Trip so I'm giving you guys a bonus chapter now :)