It had been a very tight fit but after several minutes of struggling and straining Sarah had been able to get Luna through the porthole and down into the sewers below. They’d been last, Luna insisting that she did not want anyone to be killed by their pursuers because they were stuck behind her rear end.

Now, the group of ten people and one alicorn were walking, or in two cases, limping down the absurdly spacious sewers. Sarah’s gaze was split between her father who was still being supported by Doctor Li along with an intern and Luna who was leaning heavily against her side.

Luna looked... haggard. Her normally youthful and expressive face was drawn and weary. The mare’s stary mane had returned to it’s non-ethereal blue color and it looked... drier and more likely to snap. Not only that... but there was a distressingly large swath of grey hairs among those crackly blue ones.

Worse, her strides were slow and measured, as if she was focusing solely on walking and not in the least on the world around them. Every few minutes Sarah would tap her gently on the neck and Luna would glance her way, smile, and then go back to staring at the ground in front of them.

Nim... is she going to be alright? Sarah asked Nim worriedly.

Now; no. In the future... yes, Nim replied, her voice containing just as much concern as Sarah’s. There... was not enough magic around her for her to be able to perform the teleportation spell when she cast it once, let alone twice... so she drew that power from another source.

Luna let out a grunt and cast an annoyed glance at Sarah, though the woman suspected it was not directed at her.

Wait... I think I know what you’re getting at, Sarah said, her brow furrowing as Luna leaned more heavily against her. You’re saying that...

“I drew the energy from my own body,” Luna whispered, her voice raspy. “It was... very stupid of me.”

“Is that why your mane is greying?” Sarah asked, steadying Luna as they started down the ramp.

“Aye,” Luna stated. “I suspect what I did would have cost a normal unicorn her life’s energy. Being who and what I am... I simply aged myself several dozen years. It will most likely be reversed over time... but at the moment I am rather frail for which I apologize.”

“I... don’t,” Sarah replied. “You have nothing to apologize for!”

“That is hardly true,” Luna said with a wry chuckle, causing several of the group to look back at her before looking back to the walk at hand. “I am always the burden, Sarah. My sister has almost died countless times for my mistakes. It was I who was captured by Discord, I who heedlessly charged the Council, I stupidly believed I was capable of subduing Sombra by myself...” The alicorn trailed off and shook her head. “I am a sham Sarah, a sham of a Princess, undeserving of the title Queen.”

Sarah didn’t know who any of those names were, but there was one thing she did know; she didn’t care.

"God dammit Luna, shut up!” the woman whispered intensely. “I am so incredibly sick of this. Stop shitting on yourself. You’ve saved me more times than I can count and more importantly, you saved my father’s life. You are not entitled to all this pathetic whining!”

Luna stared at her for a long moment and for a second Sarah thought she’d overstepped herself in some way, then the alicorn leaned her head against Sarah’s neck and let out a long sigh.

“Forgive me... being in this weakened state must be making my lips flap more than usual,” she apologized quietly.

No. The words were just less interesting, Nim stated.

Meanwhile as James leaned against her, Doctor Li looked at the man’s greying face with concern. Intern Laura had fallen back to stand beside her boyfriend leaving the two ‘alone’ so to speak.

“How are you doing?” she asked him quietly.

“You already know,” James replied with a shake of his head. “Those plasma balls burned through me... I’m having trouble breathing because they hit my lungs... I’m having trouble walking because my heart is having trouble pumping the blood... I’m having trouble speaking because I’m in so much pain.”

“I’m sure once we get you to the Brotherhood Lyons will be able to fix you,” Madison replied with a troubled frown. She knew just how little chance there was of that.

“I’ll be dead within the day,” James replied before he was interrupted by a hacking cough that wracked his entire body. He brought up a hand to cover his mouth and when he pulled it away it was wet and red.

“You don’t know that,” Madison whispered firmly. “Dammit James, I didn’t get dragged into all of this again just for you to die on me!”

James gave her a pained smile. “Oh Madison... I never did do right by you. Catherine and I knew... we always knew that you had feelings for me... but... I loved her more... I’m sorry,” he said before he coughed again, hacking up more blood, some of it getting on Madison’s white lab coat. “I’m so very sorry you spent your life pining for someone like me.”

Madison looked away for a long moment before a snarl of irritation left her lips.

“You know, I spent so many years wishing for you to come back out of that Vault,” she began in a harsh growl. “I always thought that when you did, you’d come to me and apologize for how you treated me, how you took Sarah and abandoned me even though I was perfectly willing to help you raise her as if she was mine...” she glared at him for a long moment before continuing. “But now that you’re here... I almost wish you’d never come.”

James winced, for the first time not out of physical pain and looked down.

“I know... I’ve ruined your life Madison, in more than one way now,” he told her quietly.

“Yes, yes you have,” she replied tiredly, the spite leaving her voice and being replaced by weariness. “Which is why you have to live... otherwise you’ll never be able to make it up to me.”

James leaned against her a bit harder and gave her fingers a squeeze. “I’ll certainly try Madison... I’ll certainly try,” he said before another round of coughs wracked his body.

The group continued much like that for the next ten minutes. The scientists and interns clustered in the center of the group along with the one surviving security guard from Rivet City, James and Madison in the front, and Sarah with Luna taking up the back. They didn’t stop until they came to a thick metal door with a computer terminal mounted in the wall beside it.

“I’ll have to unlock it,” Madison said as she pulled James along with her to the terminal and got to work.

It was then that Sarah heard the noise of metal boots crashing down on concrete from the room beside them. Sarah let go of Luna, who saged visibly but managed to maintain her footing, and walked over to crouch beside the doorway of the room.

She peered around the side of it and saw that there were several of troopers, she’d been told they were part of something called the Enclave, up on a balcony above her. They hadn’t seen her yet, nor did they seem to be aware that her group were outside.

They have not noticed us yet, Nim commented within her mind. It would be foolish to alert them of our presence.

Yeah... what about when they come down here though? Sarah asked as she glanced at a doorway in the far wall. I’m sure they’ll find their way down here eventually.

Very true, we would not like to be flanked, Nim agreed with a mental frown. Then she grew excited. Sarah, do you still have that ‘grenade bouquet’ which we picked up from Pinkerton’s traps?

Sarah frowned but nodded.

Excelllent! We also have several of those plasma grenades, do we not? Nim asked, growing more excited.

Sarah’s eyes widened and she grinned as she stepped away from the doorway and motioned for the other people in the group to keep their mouths shut. Then, with Nim’s help and guidance she reassembled the grenade bouquet, though instead of using fragmentation grenades she chose to arm it with plasma.

Then she rigged it to the door and smiled wickedly; the first person to cross that doorway was going to be nothing but a green blob on the floor.

She finished just in time apparently as Doctor Li had finished hacking the computer and the large metal door opened allowing the group to continue onwards. Sarah had taken up a position at the head of the group, trusting Luna to manage to keep up with them and coming to the startling realization that she was the only real fighter left in the group other then the solitary security officer.

Is Luna fine back there? she asked Nim worriedly as she crept forwards, repeated at the ready.

Yes, she is managing, Nim replied. Though she does not like being left alone back there.

I’d hang back if I could but- Sarah cut herself off as she spotted a feral ghoul up ahead. She calmly brought her repeater up to aim at it and pulled the trigger. The ghoul’s head exploded and Sarah calmly readied another round.

Another ghoul came running out of the murkiness of the tunnel, swinging its arm at her viciously. Sarah ducked beneath it and jabbed the stock of the repeater into its chest. The ghoul stumbled backwards and Sarah, with Nim’s assistance, plugged a bullet into its neck.

Several more ghouls came rushing at her, all meeting a similar end and Sarah was beginning to fall into a good rhythm when she realized that there were no more ghouls running towards her. The woman looked around and discovered that they had moved to a completely different spot then when she’d been started shooting.

I don’t remember getting here, Sarah thought to herself, mystified.

Your mind is rather strained at the moment, Nim informed her. We took over halfway through.

I... you what? Sarah asked, shaking her head to glance over her shoulder at the group, it was not far behind her, James and Doctor Li still in the lead with the Rivet City Security guard just before them. Nim had... taken control of her several times before, but never without her realizing it.

You were incapable of combat, we believed it would be preferable for us to take over than for you to die, Nim stated. We believe it worked rather well.

I... please don’t do that again without asking, Sarah said, barely suppressing a shiver.

Very well... we had not thought you would react in this manner, Nim said before falling silent as they arrived at another door.

Before Sarah could fully process everything that Nim had just said, Doctor Li walked up to her, her father still leaning against her. The woman’s face was pale and worried but she still managed to maintain a surprising level of calm. Sarah was horrified to see that her father was even worse looking than he had been before.

"We need to rest here for a moment,” Doctor Li stated. “Garza has a heart condition and even though your father is in need of more urgent care I’d prefer not to lose anyone.”

“Do you have any stimpacks or buffout Sarah?” her father asked, looking at Sarah with pain filled eyes. “Around five would be able to keep Garza on his feet.”

“I... yeah, I have that many,” Sarah said as she fumbled in her stimpack pouch. She pulled out five and handed them to Doctor Li who took them and rushed off. Sarah took the woman’s place supporting her father. “Dad... are you okay?” she asked.

James seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering. “Yes, yes I’m fine Sarah. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m just a tired old man,” he told her, attempting to smile through the overwhelming pain that wracked his body.

“I mean... I could always give you one or two stimpacks if that would help,” Sarah said, biting her bottom lip. “I don’t want you too... you too die.”

James shook his head. “I’m fine Sarah, honest.” He was about to say something else when a horrible cough wracked his body. James brought his hand up to cover his mouth, but that didn’t stop Sarah from seeing the red stains of blood on his fingers. Sarah stared at the blood stained fingers for a second before looking up to meet her father’s eyes.

“You’re not fine,” she said softly.

“No... no I’m not,” James said. “And there’s no amount of stimpacks that will make me be.”

Sarah shook slightly as she stood there clutching her dying father. “No... no... there has to be something we can do,” she insisted. “If we can get you to the Brotherhood in time-”

“It’ll be too late... I’m afraid,” he replied. He looked like he was about to say something else when a massive explosion shook the tunnel behind them. “Sounds like they found your bouquet.”

Sarah looked at the man, tears running down her face as a small smile stretched across her face. “Yeah. Guess they did.”

It was then that Sarah noticed Luna slowly approaching, her strides looking a small bit more confident than they had before.

“We need to continue moving,” the alicorn reported. “It sounds as if they are getting close.”

“Yeah,” Sarah agreed simply with a small nod as she looked to Doctor Li who had returned and taken up position on James’s other side. She let go of her father and closed with the mare, giving her a pat on the neck. “Lets get out of here Luna.”

The door in front of them opened unexpectedly and revealed a power armoured figure. Sarah’s hands went for her repeater before she realized just who was standing in front of her.

Sarah Lyons smiled at her. “Hey Sarah... long time no see.”

Sarah had to admit, seeing the Citadel from the ground was much more impressive than from the air. It was a massive structure that had withstood bombings, planes, and even armies and come through mostly unscathed. A pair of power armoured Brotherhood soldiers stood in front of the frankly massive steel door alongside a pair of sentry bots all of whom looked at the exhausted group with skeptical expressions.

“You sure they’re clear?” one of the troopers asked, he wasn’t wearing a helmet and his face was set in a hard expression.

“Yes Bael I’m sure,” Sarah Lyons stated flatly. “Get the door open, now!”

‘Bael’ grumbled something but turned around and spoke into a small com system. “Open her up. Paladin Lyons’ orders.”

Sarah smiled... for once today things were going their way. Then she felt Luna shudder with exhaustion beside her and winced.

“Just a little farther,” she promised the alicorn whose only response was to nod tiredly.

The door rumbled open and Lyons led them through it and up a set of cracked stairs. From there they walked through a door and into the largest open air courtyard Sarah had ever seen. Of course, she’d only seen one, but even so, it was impressively large.

Off to the right and the left were squads of Brotherhood troopers and initiates practicing their shooting or alternatively doing pushups. Walking hurriedly towards them was an old man in a blue robe and a pair of people in scrubs. He was bald but had an amazing bushy beard to make up for it.

“Madison, James,” the blue robbed man said with a smile as he approached. Then the smile fell from his face when he saw James. “Oh my...”

“Hello Owyn... it’s been a long time,” James replied with a small smile that was as brittle as it was genuine. “As you can see... I may need some medical help.”

“Quite right, quite right,” ‘Owyn’ said before nodding at the scrub wearing women. “Get him to the Medbay as fast as you can.”

Sarah tried to step forwards and follow her but Lyons stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Sarah, you and Luna look like death warmed over,” the Paladin told her. “You need to rest.”

“But my dad!” Sarah protested.

“He’ll be fine,” Lyons told her, making sure that the black haired woman was looking into her blue eyes. “We’ll get you if anything happens; okay?”

“I... I guess,” Sarah said, wanting to struggle out of the woman’s grip and run after her father.

“Good, follow me and I’ll see if I can’t find you two beds,” Lyons said looking between the two.

“Just one if you can find it...” Luna said tiredly.

Lyons looked at Sarah for a moment before shrugging slightly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Sarah just nodded and stared after her father’s retreating form. “I love you dad...”