Sarah awoke feeling strangely... refreshed for the first time since she’d left the vault two and a half days ago. She attempted to stretch her arms up, but found that they were covered by one of Luna’s soft feathery wings as was the rest of her chest. Sarah glanced over at the slumbering alicorn’s head, and noticed that the mare’s mane was slightly more... shinier than it had been yesterday... she was unsure of what to make of that.

The woman was content to simply lie there for a moment, Luna’s wing along with her fur and body heat were extremely comfortable to lie among, but after several moments the woman felt the urgent need to attend to her body’s urges. Slowly and carefully, doing her best not to disturb the slumbering alicorn, the woman slid out from beneath Luna’s wing and headed across the hall towards the other bathroom.

That done, she returned to the other bathroom where Luna was still slumbering.

“What am I going to do with you?” Sarah asked rhetorically in a quiet whisper. “I don’t think Simms will mind you staying in my house... but I still know nothing about you... or how you suddenly gained the ability to speak English.”

The woman shook her head, and walked over to where her hunting rifle was still leaning, grabbing it and beginning to clean the gun. Polishing the wood with a small can of polish that she’d snagged off one of raider along with a surprisingly clean rag she’d found in the back of the store.

As she polished, her injured shoulder began to ache dully and Sarah grimaced at the pain. She’d been lucky that the bullet had gone cleanly through, missing the bone and making it a much less difficult healing job done simply with a stimpack. However, even it it was well on its way to being healed, the wound would trouble her for a day or so; there was only so much that ‘modern’ medicine could do. She could’ve always taken a Med-X... but there were obvious problems with that, and Sarah didn’t want to become dependent on the chem.

She finished with the rifle, and drew her trusty 10mm pistol from her belt pouch and began to repeat the process with the weapon that she’d owned for most of her adult life... it had been a gift from the Overseer actually... on the day that she’d completed from the Vault’s security officer’s training course. Sarah felt another shiver of regret, but pushed it down and away. She had more important things to think about then her past... like her future.

Aimlessly, she pulled out the small pair of headphones built into her Pip-Boy and inserted one into her ear before turning on the radio and tuning it to Galaxy News Radio. The signal was a little scratchy but she was still able to make out the sound of Three Dog’s voice. Sarah had been rather skeptical of the man at first, but the more she listened to his voice the more sure she was that, while he may not have been the most...subtle person in D.C. he at least had his heart in the right place.

“Hey everybody, this is Three Dog, your friendly neighborhood disc jockey. What's a disc? Hell if I know, but I'm gonna keep talking anyway.” he began with his usual joke. “So, not too long ago I told you kiddies that someone got out of that hole in the ground north of Megaton right? Well, it turns out that that someone just so happened to pay old Three Dog a visit!”

Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise and she jammed the other earphone in her ear.

“His name is James, and he’s a pretty cool guy,” Three Dog continued, oblivious to Sarah’s reaction. “But poor old James had been in that hole for a long time, kids, and didn’t know what was what, that’s where I came in. I told James all about the Good Fight and about all the different factions out there in this wild wasteland of ours before sending him on his merry way.”

The woman knew that Three Dog continued talking, but she didn’t hear anything that he’d said. Instead she was sitting in the plastic chair, a blank look on her face as she processed what she’d just heard. Then, she pulled the headphones out of her ears, quickly retracting them back into the Pip-Boy and stood up, the rifle jumping to her hands.

She had a goal now, she knew where her father, James, had gone, and she was going to go after him. And if she was going to do that, then she needed to make sure that her bag was packed.

Luna awoke to find Sarah kneeling on the floor of the bathroom, her bag opened on the ground and a dozen items were scattered about as the woman’s hands moved with expert speed among them. However, the mare’s main attention was given over to the fact that she felt... extremely dirty. She looked down at her forelegs, and saw that they were still stained with the blood and gore of the raider that she’d stomped to death the day before.

Bile began to rise in her stomach, but she fought it down and stood up from the matresses. Sarah was so engrossed with her sorting that she didn’t notice the alicorn, something that painfully reminded Luna of Clover’s sometimes obsessive need to make sure that things were ‘just right’. Not wanting to disturb her new... friend... Luna began to sneak past the clearly distracted human and made it to the bathroom’s exit. She made it successfully, and quickly crossed the hall to where she had seen another bathroom the evening before.

Once inside, the alicorn took care of pressing bodily matters, after several minutes of trying to figure out how to use the strange upright toilet that was very different from those of Equestria. After which she went over to the sink, turning on the tap and putting down the stopper to allow it to fill with water. Much to her disgust, the water was far from fresh, instead coming out as a dirty brown color, more akin to waste then actual water intended for cleaning. Still... water was water and she had to wash the blood off of herself now.

When did we become so squeamish? Nightmare inquired disdainfully.

When we are not together things such as this are most... unpleasant and I am unable to ignore them, Luna said as she lifted a hoof up into the uncomfortably high sink and sank her hoof into the freezing cold dirty water before she began to scrub at it with her other hoof. It was a long, cold process. The dried blood seemed extremely persistent to stay on her fur, but eventually after several minutes of being soaked in the dirty water Luna withdrew both of her forelegs from the sink.

She wasn’t exactly what you would call satisfied with the results, but she and... Tia had put up with far worse things during their fight with Discord.

Her sister’s face flashed through the alicorn’s mind and she felt a wave of bitter anger course through her veins... accompanied by a great sense of sadness and... regret. Were it not for her sister, then Luna would not be in her current situation, if not for Tia then she would have been the one receiving sonnets and the like from their subjects.

For her entire life, she’d been second fiddle to her elder sister. She’d never known either their father or mother, but she was certain that Tia must have been their favorite child. After all, how could she fail to have been? With her perfect white coat and flowing rainbow mane, Celestia was far more beautiful than the likes of she. Luna glared into her reflection in the dirty, cracked mirror.

Her pale blue coat and blue eyes did nothing but glare back at her. She snorted, and looked away again. Turning to find Sarah leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.

“Good morning,” Luna said, feeling a bit awkward.

“And the same to you,” Sarah replied, equally uncomfortable as they both suddenly realized how little they knew about each other. “So... you hungry?”

“Famished actually,” Luna replied, and her stomach all but roared in agreement. Her face flushed a little and she redirected her gaze to the floor.

Sarah raised an eyebrow slightly and a small smile crossed her face. “Well... I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I’ve got some spare food on me. I mean, it’s only some 200 year old chips and a few snack cakes but it’s better than nothing right?”

The mare raised her head in surprise and stared at the woman, clearly shocked “That sounds... “ she started to say and then shook her head. “Thank you, Sarah. Thank you very much.”

Sarah chuckled slightly. “Hey, I know that they’re not the best thing in the world but-” she paused in mid sentence and a little of the laughter in her tone died. “-they’re not the best thing in the world,” she finished lamely and Luna could tell that she was obviously thinking of something different.

“Do not worry... even if these ‘chips’ and ‘snack cakes’ are 200 years old then they cannot be worse than some of the field rations I have made do with over the years,” Luna replied. “Though... must we eat them in the privy?”

Sarah’s face broke into a small smile as a bit of her laughter returned and she let out a small giggle. “No, heh, we don’t.”

Sarah watched Luna’s face as she nibbled experimentally on the edge of a fancy lady snack cake. The woman was in the process of eating her own morning meal, a fairly bland can of 200 year old cram, with a metal fork. They were sitting at a table that the woman had dragged from the back room along with a pair of chairs. Luna had opted to ignore the chair as it wasn’t the right size for her and had simply sat down beside the table.

After several more miniutes of silent nibbling the alicorn finally bit fully into the cake, and her eyebrows rose in surprise.

“This is... very good,” Luna said after several moments of chewing.

“Yeah, they’re one of my favorites,” Sarah agreed with a small grin

“And what is it that you’re eating?” the alicorn inquired curiously. Sarah looked down at the processed meat and wished she hadn’t, it was easier to forget what it was if you weren’t looking at it.

“Cram... it’s a kind of meat-thing that they made from before the war... it’s lasted 200 years,” she said uncomfortably.

Luna frowned at her. “War? What war?”

“You’re not frightened of the fact that I eat meat?” Sarah asked in return with a raised eyebrow.

“Hardly,” Luna replied with a shake of her head. “We’ve fought beside many a griffin in our time so we are not so easily scared by it like many of our little ponies.”

“Okay...” Sarah said with a tiny nod, filing away the information for later while also noting that the mare had once again referred to herself using we.

“What of our question though?” Luna inquired. “What is this war that you speak of?”

Sarah frowned. How to explain the war...

“Well, you see... 200 years ago there were two countries at war,” she began slowly as Luna continued to nibble on the cake. “The United States of America, which is where we are, and China, which is across the ocean. Now... I don’t remember the background reasons that the two countries wanted to go to war... but it all boils down to the fact that the Chinese were communists and and the Americans were capitalist... which meant that it was something about the way the two governments ran the countries.”

“I see,” Luna said with a small nod. “Go on.”

“Well... one day the Chinese invaded Alaska, which was a part of the United States and the United States didn’t like that so they sent their own troops to kill the Chinese invaders... from my understanding it was a really long fight,” Sarah paused for a second to take a bite of cram. “Eventually it got to the point where the two countries couldn’t wait to end the battle and the war the old fashioned way so they launched nukes at each other... and here we are 200 years later still picking up the pieces.”

Luna stared at her incomprehensibly.

“You... you mean to tell me that it has been 200 years since these ‘nukes’ as you called them were launched and your country has still not rebuilt itself?” Luna asked, nearly speechless.

“Pretty much,” Sarah grunted.

“But... how? How is such a thing possible? Surely these ‘nukes’ could not have caused nearly that much damage!” Luna exclaimed.

“You haven’t been outside yet have you?” Sarah asked her humorlessly.

“No... I have not,” Luna said slowly.

“Well... I’m not going to bother explaining it to you... it explains itself,” Sarah said, then she sighed. “Luna... do you want to travel with me?”

Caught off guard by the sudden change in topic Luna took a few seconds before she opened her mouth to answer.

“Do you not want me? I know of nowhere else to go... I am a stranger here in this.... Wasteland as you put it,” Luna said slowly, and Sarah caught a hint of both anger and fear in her eyes.

“No, no it’s not that at all,” Sarah hastily corrected her. “I’m asking that because where I’m going is... bound to be dangerous and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Luna stared at her in the eyes for a moment and Sarah had the oddest feeling that the mare was gazing into her mind. Then the mare’s gaze relented and she smiled slightly, as if pleased with either the answer or what she’d seen in the woman’s eyes.

“While your worry is noted and very much appreciated, it is unwarranted,” Luna assured her. “I am very much capable of taking care of myself. We will gladly accompany you despite whatever dangers may stand before us.”

Sarah nodded slightly. “Alright... so... now that that’s settled... I suppose you have other questions right?”

Luna smiled, and nodded in return. “Yes... yes I do. For starters, what is that... tube that you have on your back, and how is it operated?”

“Wait, you’re an alien, and you’ve never heard of guns before?” Sarah asked in confusion. “I mean, I thought you’d have some laser things at the very least.”

Luna wrinkled her muzzle. “No, I haven’t the faintest idea of what you are talking about... the closest our home has to these ‘guns’ are the repeating crossbows of the griffins.”

The woman across from her raised an eyebrow slightly at that, but put down her now empty can of cram and took her hunting rifle off of her back. “This is a hunting rifle, you put the bullet-” she drew a piece of spherical metal out of one of her many pockets. “-which is a small piece of lead lined with copper-” she inserted the bullet into the gun’s port. “-and then when you want to fire it you pull down on the trigger down here,” she held the rifle’s trigger up for Luna to see.

As Luna examined it, Sarah could see the cogs in the mare’s heads turning. “But... then how does it produce the explosion?”

Sarah smiled, having expected the question. “Well you see, at the end of the bullet is a bit of gunpowder which is ignited when I pull the trigger and the tip of the bullet is shot out while the casing is expended, you should cover your ears,” she added. Luna quickly did so and Sarah stood up and sighted at a can on one of the shelves and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The gun’s report echoed throughout the empty store and Luna’s eyes widened. Sarah shouldered the rifle again and picked up a conical piece of metal from the floor and tossed it to Luna who caught it in her strange glowing aura.

“And that’s all there is too it?” Luna asked as she examined the warm piece of inert metal.

“Basically,” Sarah replied. “Now; it’s time for you to answer some questions of mine,” she stated.

Luna looked away for a moment. “Ask your questions,” she said slowly.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at her reaction but proceeded. “Okay... so how did you learn English? The language that we’re speaking right now; because you definitely weren’t when I first met you.”

Luna looked back at her and a scarlet blush crossed the mare’s face. “Ah... yes. About that... I may have invaded your mind for the sole purpose of discovering your language.”

Sarah frowned at her. “Would you run that by me again, please?” she asked the mare with slightly narrowed eyes.

The alicorn gulped uncomfortably for a moment before replying. “Well... I used my magic to probe the language center of your brain... I know that it was horribly invasive of me... and ordinarily we wouldn’t have done it but... I was angry with you.... because you had killed that... man,” Luna explained haltingly. “We... are very sorry.”

Sarah gave her a raised eyebrow. “That’s... fine I guess... no harm done.... I think,” she said slowly.” So when you say magic... you mean like actual wizards and witches kind of thing right?” she asked. “Shooting fireballs out of your hand and calling down lightning... right?”

Luna nodded an affirmative. “Indeed, all magic energy is directed through the horn and sent out of it via the point,” she brought her head closer to Sarah so that she could inspect it. The woman ran a curious finger on the horn, and Luna withstood the urge to twitch as she touched the sensitive magical instrument. Sarah noticed the look of concentration on her face and withdrew her hand.

“Okay...and you use your ‘magic’ to control your sword too?” she inquired.

“Indeed, her name is Daybreaker,” Luna replied as she drew the sword and levitated it over for Sarah to examine, wincing slightly in pain. it seemed that she was still not up to 100% as far as her magic went.

The woman gently ran her fingers over the, blade, it was cold to the touch and even a small touch to one of its edges pierced her skin and she began to bleed slightly from a thin cut. Sarah put the finger in her mouth and sucked at it gently, discovering that the cold sensation of the blade had traveled to her finger. Even though she’d withdrawn her hand her eyes still gazed over the silver sword, taking in the faint moon symbol engraved into the crossguard as well as the the small sapphire embedded in the hilt of the 48 inch blade.

“She is a fine blade, and we wield her well,” Luna continued though she looked a bit concerned about the cut. “Do not worry, the coldness and bleeding will depart soon. She is heavily enchanted but anypony who creates a blade intended to kill no matter how small the injury dealt is an idiot. And we are not an idiot.”

That made Sarah nod slightly, though she eyed Luna with a slightly raised eyebrow. She then began to get up and grabbed her bag and threw it over her shoulder, gesturing towards the door. Luna nodded and followed her.

“Okay... so last question; why do you keep referring to yourself as we?” Sarah asked

Luna’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she thought about the answer. “Let’s just say that...”

She was cut off by the sudden sight of a gun pressing against Sarah’s forehead as she opened the door. Sarah’s eyes widened as she found herself face to face with the barrel of a shotgun while an imposing black man in black combat armor leered at her. His brown eyes glared into hers and Sarah’s skin began to crawl as she felt him mentally undress her. He was flanked by two others, all of whom were similarly armed though she noticed that one had a laser rifle.

“Sarah Summers?” the first man asked in a rough gravelly voice.

“Yes, what is this about?” Sarah asked as she nervously as the cold metal pressed against her forehead, fully aware that they were awful last words.

“Mr. Burke sends his regards,” the man replied with a dastardly smirk.

Author's Notes:

I know that I said that yesterday's was the last one that I'd be posting so soon, but you guys are such great readers that I feel like spoiling you a little (keep in mind, I only have another four chapters already written so I'll leave it up to you as to whether or not you think I should continue the once a day posting or hold off for a bit).

Onto the chapter itself, I know that it was very expostition heavy, but considering that there hadn't really been very much before I thought it was about time that these two began to gain a little more insight into each other. Also, I know that the Pip-Boy doesn't actually have built in headphones, but I liked the concept from FOE so I decided that they made sensee and borrowed them.