Sarah stood before the giant metal door, a large lump forming in her throat. She was... going home. It was an odd thing to think about. She’d been so many places... seen and done so many things... and yet this one simple thing was terrifying her. Beside her, Luna leaned her neck against the woman’s and stood there silently; allowing the woman to make the decision without pressuring her.

We have been standing in this wretched room for ten minutes Sarah, either do it or let us return to Megaton, Nim stated within her mind, not being nearly as patient as Luna was.

The woman let out a sigh as she glanced at Luna who merely shrugged her wings slightly.

“She is right, as with all things Sarah, you must choose your path,” the alicorn said honestly.

Sarah closed her eyes and then pulled down the lever. The Vault door juttered back in its frame before being lifted free of the entrance, allowing Luna and Nim a first look at Sarah’s former home. It was unimpressive to say the least, a few haphazard barriers had been put up for some reason and the mare doubted that they could have stopped a radroach. Speaking of which, she saw three crawling around off to the side.

Wow... this is... a really badly planned defensive position, Sarah told Nim, her mind clearly falling back to basics instead of allowing her to be blown away by the changes. I mean... hell, I don’t think that it could stop a mole rat.

Agreed, now let us press onwards, Nim agreed, urging Sarah forwards

Sarah nodded and started forwards, noting the abundance of trash littering the floor. She turned the corner and was confronted by someone she didn’t think she’d ever see again.

“Stop right there! I don’t know how you got in here, but... hold on... Wait a minute! It’s you! I hardly recognized you with all the dust and grime from out there,” Officer Gomez said, blinking rapidly from within his... incredibly lacking in protection Vault helmet.

“Or the Power Armor, that could be it too,” Sarah agreed as lowered the magnum she hadn’t realized she’d raised.

“... or that,” Gomez said, shaking his head at the strangeness of seeing Sarah in the bulky suit of steel grey armor. “I guess that explains how you got in here... you’ve got more experience with that door then anyone else down here.”

Sarah frowned for a moment before shaking her head. “As much as I’d love to chat Herman, I need to know if you know where Amata is,” Sarah said insistently. “She sent out a message and it sounded pretty bad.”

“Amata sent out a message?” Gomez asked in confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’d keep that under your hat. For her sake.” The man looked down and frowned. “She could get in a lot of trouble if people found out she sent you a message. So could I, just for talking with you now.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow at her ex-comrade. “What sort of trouble?” she asked.

The kind that gets you shot, Nim suggested idly. Not that that’s a large concern for us at present.

Gomez sighed and shook her head. “Let me bring you up to speed. It seems like it’s been a mighty long time since you left,” he said as he holstered his pistol. “The night you and your dad left, everything went crazy. Between the bugs and the confusion, we lost a lot of people. When your dad opened up that gate, he let loose a whole lot of crap, if you’ll pardon my language.”

Sarah was suddenly struck by indecision, as he mentioned her father, a blade of pain stabbed into her chest, but it was mostly counteracted by the following comment. She wanted to simultaneously cry and giggle hysterically. Luckily, she held back both, undoubtedly Gomez would have been perturbed by a laughing, crying woman.

As would most stallions we believe, Nim added silently.

“It’s... fine,” Sarah said after a moment, shaking her head. “I’m sure dad would be horrified to know that he caused all that... unfortunately he’s not around to hear about it.”

“I’m... I’m sorry to hear about that,” Gomez said with a real sigh. “Regardless of how things turned out down here, he was a good friend. I always figured he’d do well out there.”

“Yeah... he was doing fine... and then he wasn’t,” Sarah said,doing her best to keep her emotions in check and failing as a small sob escaped her lips.

“How long?” Gomez asked her.

“Two days ago,” Sarah replied softly.

To her surprise, Gomez stepped forwards and wrapped her in a hug. She stiffened for a moment before returning it. The hug didn’t last long and when he broke it, Gomez’s face was a bit flushed. Apparently he hadn’t been expecting to do it either. The man coughed once awkwardly.

“Anyways, it’s because of him that a lot of folks started thinking he had the right idea heading out there. He usually did, so if it was safe out there, why stay down here forever?” Gomez asked rhetorically.

“Because it’s a radioactive Wasteland full of creatures and people who would kill everyone in this Vault in a matter of minutes,” Luna said, finally speaking up and stepping into the doorway.

“Ahh!” Gomez shouted in surprise, bringing his pistol up to focus on her with surprising speed. “Mutant!”

Luna closed her eyes for a moment and her horn glowed, tearing the gun out of Gomez’s hand.

“Magical Alicorn from another world actually,” Sarah said apologetically. “Herman, this is Luna, she’s my... close friend.”

“I... um... what?” Gomez asked as he stared at Luna who was still keeping his pistol floating beside her head.

“This is going to be a recurring theme isn’t it?” Luna asked Sarah conversationally while the security officer looked for the right words and attempted to steady himself.

“Probably,” Sarah said as she reached over and ran a metal covered hand over Luna’s cheek. “Don’t be offended please.”

“I’ll do my best,” Luna answered sardonically before looking at Gomez with a raised eyebrow. “I believe you were discussing the Vault’s belief that it was safe to go outside?”

Gomez stared at her. “Why can a horse talk?” he asked blankly.

“Alicorn, not horse,” Luna said with an irritated roll of her eyes. “Why does everyone call me that? It is not that difficult of a distinction to make! Horses are idiots who, when I was last in Equestria, found the idea of controlling fire groundbreaking!”

Indeed, the pack of savages, Nim agreed within Sarah’s head.

Gomez just stared at her, blinking blankly.

Sarah sighed and patted her on the neck. “Because we don’t have alicorns here Luna, I’ve told you that.”

“Still, it is not that hard to differentiate our two species,” Luna said sourly before looking back at Gomez. “Are you done gaping like a fool?”

Gomez gulped and shook his head. “I... I guess so,” he said slowly before adding. “I’m still surprised that the outside has talking hor-alicorns.”

“She’s the only one,” Sarah corrected before adding. “Anyways Herman, you were telling us about how people wanted to go outside?”

“Right... well the New Overseer didn’t like the sound of that one bit so he started cracking down on that kind of thought,” he explained slowly. “Guess he didn’t plan on you coming back,” he added ruefully.

“Yeah, neither did I,” Sarah said with a small shake of her head. “So... what now?”

“Well... I should probably put you two under arrest and take you to the Overseer...” he trailed off and shook his head. “But I know better than to bother trying. You were always the best officer in the Vault and with that armor... Besides, I always liked you Sarah.”

A smart man, Nim observed quietly.

“Thanks Herman,” Sarah said with a small smile.

“You’re welcome,” Gomez said with a shake of his head. “Anyways, some of your old friends or the ‘rebels’ think that opening the Vault is a good idea. I bet they’d like a word with you. Now more than ever.” Then he fixed her with a serious look. “Of course if you want, you can just walk back out the way you came in. Out of respect for you and your father I won’t tell a soul.”

Sarah frowned for a moment, weighing her options. On the one hand, what Gomez said was tempting. Just... leave and come back after she had the G.E.C.K. It would certainly be what Elder Lyons would want her to do, but on the other hand, Sarah wanted to help her old home.

Luna put her neck against Sarah’s. “What would you like to do, Sarah?”

“I think... we’ll go and see if we can’t sort this out,” Sarah said with a frown as she looked at Gomez who was staring at Luna again.

“Well... okay. Just be careful down there here... the Vault’s changed I tell you,” he told her, regaining his wits.

“Thanks Herman, but I think I’ll be fine,” Sarah replied, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “Trust me, I’ve faced much worse than Vault Security.”

Gomez just shrugged and let Sarah and Luna pass him by. The woman led the way to the Atrium, walking along the familiar steel corridors half lost in thought. As they entered the main Atrium she saw Officer Taylor standing behind another questionable barricade pointing his pistol at a familiar face.

“You know I can’t do that Freddy! Now get back down below before I have to do something we’ll both regret!” the old man’s voice cracked as he shouted at Freddy.

“What?” Freddy demanded. “You gonna lock me up like you did to Brotch? You can’t cage a Tunnel Snake man! Cause we RULE!” Freddy shouted rebelliously.

“Stay back!” Taylor shouted before firing his pistol at Freddy.

Sarah’s eyes widened and she rushed forwards, her power armoured fist slamming into the man’s side and sending him sprawling.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing you idiot?” Sarah shouted at the stunned man. “It’s against every regulation in the book to fire on unarmed civilians!”

“I... I didn’t mean to fire, I really didn’t,” Taylor protested as he got his breath back. “I just wanted to scare him off! But he had a knife! I can’t be too careful with those rebels!” Then he recognized her. “And how on Earth did you get in here?!”

“I knew the secret knock,” Sarah said blandly as she collected the man’s gun from the floor and tossed it over her shoulder to Luna, who caught it in her magic and shoved it into her saddle bag.

“Ahh!” Taylor shouted in surprise as he caught sight of Luna. “Mutant!”

“Alicorn,” Luna corrected in an irked voice.

“It talks!” the man shouted in horror before he got to his feet and ran off.

Truly, the security guards of this Vault are a force to be reckoned with, Nim stated. They could hold off a whole two molerats.

Luna snorted and Sarah just sighed. “Come on, let’s go find Freddy and make sure that he’s okay,” the woman said with a shake of her head.

Sarah led the way into the Vault’s Lower Level and led Luna into the dinner. It was... an empty and forlorn looking place. Several of the tables had been taken and even more were knocked over or on their sides. The woman grimaced and fought back good memories as she walked through the room, Luna close behind.

Are you doing alright? Nim asked her in concern.

As well as I could be all things considered, Sarah replied as she led the way up the stairs. Upon reaching the upper level she stopped and a small smile appeared on her face as she saw the leather-clad man approaching her.

“Well damn! Look who’s come waltzing back into the Vault!” the man exclaimed with a grin. “It takes some real brass iron balls to come back here!”

That is one way to put it we suppose, Nim commented with a mental chuckle.

“Hey Butch, it’s been a while,” Sarah replied with a grin as she walked forwards and held out her hand. Butch grabbed it and gave her a firm handshake before he let go and looked over her.

“Damn that’s some fancy armour you’re rocking,” he told her as he admired her power armor.

“Thanks,” Sarah said before stepping slightly to the side. “Butch, this is Luna, Luna, this is probably my second best friend, Butch.”

Luna eyed the man in leather for a moment as he did the same, then to Sarah’s surprise Butch’s eyes widened. “Oh my God! Your hair is amazing! I’m gonna barber the fuck out of it!” he exclaimed as he walked towards Luna with a wide grin.

“I... er... thank you?” Luna said rather uncertainly as he approached.

“You have no idea how few times I get to see hair this awesome!” Butch said as he finished his approach and gently put a hand in Luna’s mane to hold up a few strands of the light blue hair. “It feels incredible! How the hell do you keep it this soft?”

“Magic I suppose,” Luna replied as she stepped from one hoof to the other, not quite sure what to do.

“Kick ass!” Butch said with a grin.

He is... enthusiastic, Nim stated within Sarah’s head.

He gets that way sometimes, Sarah agreed, chuckling within her head as she walked up and tapped Butch on the shoulder. “Anyways, I heard you guys are having some trouble down here.”

“Yeah...” Butch’s enthusiasm disappeared as he let Luna’s mane fall from his hand and turned to look at Sarah seriously. “Ever since you and your dad left things have gone to shit down here. Hell, those bastard security officers, no offense, would have rushed us a while ago if I hadn’t stolen one of their guns when they issued martial law!”

Sarah sighed and nodded. “Good job Butch,” she commended before frowning. “Wait, do you even know how to use a gun?”

“Yeah, you point the hole at the other guys and pull the trigger till they’re dead,” Butch replied with a grin.

He’s not strictly wrong, Nim observed idly as Sarah resisted the urge to facepalm.

“Well... that’s good to hear I suppose,” Luna said with a frown before looking at Sarah. “Shall we continue on to Amata?”

“Yeah... Butch... how is she?” Sarah asked slowly.

“Well...” Butch trailed off for a moment before saying. “I’m pretty sure she hates ya.”

“I did kill her dad...” Sarah said with a sigh. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I’ll just wait out here and stand guard then,” Butch stated as he walked over to the wall and leaned against it. “Amata’s through there,” he added, jerking his thumb at the entrance to the medical office. Sarah nodded and walked into the room, Luna a few feet behind her.

The first thing she saw was that the medical office had been ‘renovated’ into something more closely resembling a bunk house then an infirmary. The next thing she saw was Amata who was staring at her in shock.

“Oh my God, you’re back! You got my message and actually came back!” her ex-best friend exclaimed, though Sarah couldn’t tell if her voice was excited... or terrified.

Sarah tried to allow a small smile to appear on her face but it didn’t quite make it.

“Yeah, I’m back,” the woman said. “I can tell why you ‘called’ for me. It’s a wreck down here.”

“Yeah... thanks to you,” Amata replied darkly before shaking her head. “But I guess I can’t blame you for shooting your way through the guards and killing my father. That would be silly,” she continued, her voice turning so acidic that Sarah almost flinched.

Well, someone woke up on the bitch side of the bed this morning, Nim said dryly within Sarah’s mind.

“I thought you were in trouble,” Sarah replied. “I was just doing what I thought I needed to in order to protect you.”

“Like shooting my dad, great way to protect me,” Amata said flatly. Sarah’s jaw hardened but she pushed down the rush of both shame and anger. Hell, she would have done much worse if it had been Amata that had killed her father.

“Sorry,” Sarah said lamely. “You asked me to be here for a reason. What do you need me to do?”

“I... I need you to make the Overseer step down,” Amata replied, her seething anger diminishing a bit. “He’s gone mad with power.”

“Okay. I can do that,” Sarah replied before frowning. “Would you like him dead or alive?”

Amata stared at her, disgust staining her face once again. “Alive if you can manage that. Brute.”

"I’m sure she’ll be able to,” Luna said as she entered the room, having grown tired of the disrespect being leveled at her lover. “After all, she has already done several different impossible things. I fail to see how this would be any different.”

Amata stared at Luna, this time disbelief and shock highlighting her features.

“Did that... horse just talk?” she gasped.

“Alicorn!” Luna growled, her eyes flashing with both magic and annoyance.

Amata just stared.

“Anyways... who replaced your dad as Overseer?” Sarah asked, hoping to forestall another round of the same conversation.

“Allen Mack,” Amata said flatly. Sarah stared at her for a moment and then sighed.

“That hardheaded, idiotic excuse for a man is in charge of the Vault?” she asked flatly.

“Yes, because of you,” Amata replied.

“Fuck,” Sarah said before shaking her head. “Come on Luna, we’ve got an intolerant ass to reason with.”

“Wonderful,” Luna said before she gave Sarah a comforting kiss on the cheek. “At the very least should logic fail I’m sure we’ll be more than capable of ‘convincing’ him to stand down.”

Amata stared at the two and then snorted. “Oh of course, you would be into that kind of thing,” she said disgustedly as she looked between them.

“What?” Sarah asked puzzledly, unsure of what the woman was talking about.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Amata said, still looking disgusted. “She just kissed you!”

“Yes, and?” Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow even as Luna ground her teeth together.

“And it’s disgusting but predictable knowing you,” Amata replied with a sneer. “You always were a little too into Grognak’s ‘alicorn’.”

Sarah, grasping what her ‘friend’ was talking about simply looked at Amata with ‘so what’ expression on her face. “Yeah, and?”

“And it’s disgusting!” Amata exclaimed as if it was obvious. “She’s a horse Sarah, how in the hell could you ever do something like that?!”

“Luna is a thinking mare with an intelligent mind, there’s nothing disgusting about it,” Sarah replied with an annoyed frown.

“It’s beastiality!” Amata exclaimed, pointing at Luna. “She’s a horse!”

What is this woman’s problem?! Nim demanded angrily as Sarah’s fingers began to tighten into fists. How could you have been friends with her?

I... she was different, Sarah said slowly, doing her best to let the anger flow through and out of her before she did something she regretted.

*slap*

That was when Amata was sent sprawling by a single powerful slap from Luna’s forehoof that sent her sprawling onto a nearby bed.

“You will hold your tongue unless you plan on having it forcefully torn from your triangular mouth you poisonous snake,” Luna hissed at her. “Sarah is the most amazing, beautiful, intelligent and perfect woman I have ever met and you will not dare to insult her in my presence!” the mare shouted. “Now stay down before we lose control of ourselves and tear your head from your skinny neck!”

Sarah stared at her lover, whose fur was radiating anger the likes of which she’d never seen before from eyes full of a hatred that made Sarah want to run screaming into the night. Amata caught one look at it and nearly screamed, though she confined herself to whimpers of fear or maybe pain.

Damn, Nim stated.

“Wow,” Sarah said aloud as she stared at Luna. The alicorn turned her head at the sound of the woman’s voice and the anger vanished.

“My apologies, the frustration of being repeatedly called a ‘horse’ and the venom of this woman caused me to lose my temper,” Luna said with a small blush.

"I... don’t apologize,” Sarah replied walking closer and giving Luna a kiss on the lips. “That was the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.”

“You’re very welcome Sarah,” Luna murmured before she pulled away. “Now then, mayhaps we should see to this ‘Allen Mack’ and then leave this dreadful place?”

“Yeah,” Sarah agreed, realizing with a shock that she vastly prefered the Wasteland to her old ‘home’. The woman started for the door of the room and then paused as if she’d been forgetting something.

Her eyes widened as she realized what it was and she quickly stepped over Amata’s fallen body and into her father’s old office. She returned a moment later with a Bobblehead in her right hand.

Luna looked at her curiously.

“What is that?” the alicorn asked with a frown.

“Mint condition Bobblehead,” Sarah replied as she held it up for Luna to see. “It was my father’s... so now it’s mine.”

“I see,” Luna said before nodding simply and wrapping a wing around the woman as they headed for the door. “I’m sure he’d be happy to know that you thought of him.”

“I... yeah, yeah I guess he would,” Sarah replied with a sigh as she leaned against Luna. It had been an eventful day already and it was just getting started.

Author's Notes:

The way I see it, Amata has been stewing with her anger for the last four weeks or so as her entire world crumbled around her ears and the main blame for all of that can be traced back to Sarah and her father. Furthermore, the fact that she’s from the Vault means that Amata still carries essentially the same moral principles as someone from the fifties would have towards Sarah and Luna’s relationship. Especially because she knows next to nothing about Luna herself, all she sees is her former best friend (who killed her father and ruined her life) kissing a horse.