With a satisfied sneer at his one liner the mercenary, Buck, pulled down the trigger and sent a blast of buckshot into the woman’s head, or he would’ve anyways if not for the fact that he wasn’t able to pull down the trigger. He tried for several more fruitless seconds, but that was all the time that Sarah needed. Before Buck realized what was happening he was lying on the ground, gasping in pain as a very sharp ache from his groin pulsed through his body. Levi and Tug tried to pull down the triggers to their own weapons, but they found themselves similarly incapable of doing so.

Luna’s face was set in a harsh expression, a cross between determination and pain as she sent Daybreaker flying towards one of the two mercs. The longsword passed easily through the man’s throat as a stream of hot blood poured from the gash. Sarah meanwhile had drawn her 10mm pistol, and fired two shots at the last standing merc’s head. The first shot grazed the tip of his helmet with minimal damage, and the second shot went wide.

Having by this point figured out that his gun would no longer prove useful, the last merc dropped it and drew his combat knife, charging at Sarah. The woman’s eyes widened and she lurched backwards, just barely avoiding a slash intended to tear open her stomach. Even so, the blade caught the edge of her vault suit and tore easily through the fabric. Sarah fell to her knees and rolled to the side, coming up in a crouch-like she’d been trained to, and fired a three round burst at the merc.

The first one missed, flying right past his ear, but the second and the third punched him in the chest. If he felt any discomfort the merc didn’t outwardly show it except for an annoyed grunt. He sneered contemptuously at the woman as he prepared to finish her off, but he suddenly froze in place, a long piece of impossibly cold steel jutting from his chest. He had time to look down at it, and let out a horrified gurgle before Luna pulled Daybreaker from within him and let the man fall to the ground.

Sarah panted, but gave the alicorn a smile which she returned. Then, the woman turned to the downed merc who was still clutching at his crotch.

“I am surprised that they do not have armor down there,” Luna observed as she began to clean the blood from Daybreaker’s blade by rubbing it against the dead merc’s hair. “Most soldiers in Equestria know the importance of genital protection.”

“Yeah, you’d think so wouldn’t you,” Sarah agreed as she crouched beside the man and put her 10mm against his ear. “Alright, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to give me some answers,” she told him in a steely voice.

“Or?” the man asked, his voice coming out in a soprano.

“Or I shoot you in the head, I thought that was obvious,” Sarah deadpanned.

“You don’t have the guts,” the merc growled. Sarah looked at the man with a puzzled expression on her face for a moment and then she adjusted her pistol slightly, and pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through the man’s ear and he screamed loudly as a crimson river of blood laced out of his newly holed ear.

“Now then,” she began, her voice strangely businesslike. “You’re going to answer my questions.”

The merc grunted painfully but moved his head in an assenting sort of way.

“Good,” Sarah replied. “Now, you said that Mister Burke sent you; why is he after me?”

“You... you beat the shit out of him; what did you expect him to do?” the merc asked, his voice pained.

“I expected him to get the message, and leave me alone!” Sarah snarled angrily.

The mercenary began to cackle despite the pain. “You actually thought that? What are you, stupid?”

Sarah growled. “Okay, so are you the only team after me?”

“Fuck no, we’re Talon Company, you bitch. That means that we’re going to be hunting you across the Wasteland until we bring Burke your head,” he told her. The woman’s eyes narrowed and she bit her lip, an edge of nervousness crossing her face.

“Is there any other way for me to get out of this?” she asked.

“No, we’re Talon Company, no refunds, no bribes, no one rescinds their order; you’re a marked woman Sarah Summers and we’ll hunt you down no matter how many of us you kill,” the man growled.

“Well in that case,” Sarah muttered, bringing the 10mm back to the side of the man’s head. “I guess you’ll be the first.”

BANG!

Sarah let out a sigh and got up from where she was crouched and reloaded her pistol. Luna looked over at her with a worried look on her face.

“So... you are to be hunted?” Luna asked quietly.

“Yeah... looks like it...god dammit,” Sarah growled. “This is bad Luna, this is really, really bad!” her voice had become an almost panicked shriek.

Luna walked over to her and put her head on the woman’s shoulder. “Calm yourself Sarah, we dealt with these... ‘Talon Company’ men, we can deal with the rest as they come.”

“We, we got lucky this time!” Sarah exclaimed. “What if they get us while we’re sleeping, or when we’re not expecting it, we only survived this time because that idiot stopped to chat first!” The woman’s growing panic was making her voice become shrill and painful to listen too.

The alicorn sighed. “We will find a way out of this, do not worry Sarah,” she stated, doing her best to keep her voice level and calm.

“There is no way out!” Sarah exclaimed. “Don’t you get it? They’re hunting me!”

The woman was all but screaming now. Luna paused for a moment to consider her conversation options before settling on one. Before Sarah had time to react, Luna’s hoof shot out and delivered a ringing, painful slap across the face. The mare had been careful not to put too much strength into the blow, well aware that if she wasn’t careful that she could break Sarah’s jaw and or teeth, but the slap did its job and Sarah quieted.

“Better?” Luna inquired as Sarah gently massaged her face.

“Umm... better,” Sarah agreed slowly. “Oww, that hurt, Luna.”

“It was intended to,” Luna replied simply without a trace of a smile. “I hope that I caused no lasting harm?”

“No... not really,” Sarah muttered, still massaging her cheek. “Though I think it might leave a bruise.”

Luna nodded. “We apologize, but you seemed... otherwise unreachable,” she said slowly.

The woman nodded faintly and then sat down tiredly on the ground beside the fresh corpse as her adrenaline rush wore off. “It’s... no big deal. You did the right thing,” she replied.

“So, what now?” Luna inquired.

“We... strip these guys and take their armor, weapons, and ammo... and then we head for GNR,” Sarah answered. Moira can wait, I’m sure she’ll understand, she probably won’t even notice how long it took, she thought to herself.

Luna looked at the bodies of the dead, slightly disturbed by the prospect of stealing from them, but then she remembered who they had been, and her doubts vanished like the morning dew. The two ‘women’ worked quickly, gathering up both combat shotguns, several dozen shotgun shells, three knives, an odd boxy rifle which had never been fired, and last but not least the three suits of combat armor.

Luna watched curiously as Sarah removed her vault suit, revealing pale white skin beneath as well as two strips of cloth that covered her her chest as well as her waist. Then she placed the torn vault suit on the ground beside her.

The mare continued to watch as Sarah cut several of the armored plates off of the Talon armor with the knife, and placed them over several vital spots on the vault suit. Then she clucked her tongue and took an odd oblong object out of her bag and began to spread a clear substance from within the object over the plates before turning them over and firmly pressing them onto the spots of the suit that she’d selected. When she was done she stood up and stretched her back.

“There, that should work for a while,” Sarah declared happily as she tugged one of her arms behind her back.

“Would it not have been simpler to just wear their armor?” Luna inquired, a faintly amused smile on her face at the woman’s actions.

“Yeah, it would’ve been, but... this suit reminds me of home,” Sarah replied with a small sigh. “We just have to wait a few minutes for the Wonderglue to dry and then we can get going.”

“Alright...” Luna said slowly as her eyes looked over the woman’s pale mostly naked body. “Why are you so pale underneath your armor? Surely you do not wear it at all hours do you?”

“Not really... it’s because I was raised in a Vault underground,” Sarah explained before looking down with a dark frown on her face.

“Oh...” Luna said, not really sure what to say to that. Instead, she decided to look around and really take in the landscape and was utterly shocked by what she saw.

The unnatural, cracked brown stone that they were standing on was littered with dilapidated metal objects that almost looked like carriages. A large one to her left was large, red, and very imposing. The ‘carriages’ however were the least of her concern. As she continued to gaze, she caught sight of what must have once been a great city... only to see that it had fallen so far into disrepair that it was crumbling into dust. Directly in front of her was what once must have been a truly great causeway, but large holes dotted it, and there were even entire sections which had collapsed.

The mare shuddered at the sight of the sheer destruction on display before her, including several blackened and decayed plants which were growing in large pots along with a number of severely twisted, long dead trees. Luna reached out for some of the natural magic from the land and came to a shocking discovery. The land was dead, both magically and physically.

She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t sensed it before she had stopped to look around...but there wasn’t a single spark of magic anywhere within a hundred miles. Luna paused for a moment as the implications of what she was discovering hit her. Magic flowed through the land of Equestria, it was not only what powered the spells that mages of every species, but also what kept the world around them moving. Indeed, not many Equestrian species would be able to survive without magic.

If not for our alicornhood... Luna mentally murmured to Nightmare.

We would be unable to access any magic here whatsoever, Nightmare finished with a mental scowl. Thankfully, we will not have that issue... though our reserves will refill much slower than they normally would so we will have to be careful not to use it all in one place.

Luna nodded at seemingly nothing which Sarah noticed out of the corner of her eye but thought better of answering. Then the mare let out a long breath before she turned to Sarah.

“Your world is... very...” she trailed off, not wanting to anger the woman.

“Ugly?” Sarah supplied with a sigh. “Yeah, I know...”

Luna gave her a sideways look before remembering something that the woman had said yesterday. “Wait, you told us that you were ‘new here’ as well; what did you mean by that?”

Sarah looked over to her and snorted slightly in irritation. “That’s because I am from a Vault, Luna,” she said levelly though Luna sensed a wave of grief and inward turned anger. “I only… moved out... a day and a half ago.”

The mare eyed her uncertainly for a moment, she sensed a story behind the words, but was wiser than to press the issue.

I believe we know some of it, and will share it with you tonight, Nightmare silently promised her.

Good, Luna replied.

“I see,” Luna said aloud after a slightly uncomfortable moment of silence. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s... fine,” Sarah grunted as she bent down and picked up the newly modified armor and pulled it on, wiggling and moving around a little to get comfortable. Then she patted the armored plates one by one with small satisfied nods as each one stayed in place. “Perfect, this should hold up well.”

Luna nodded. “It does indeed look much more... sturdy than before,” she said diplomatically.

“Yes, yes it does,” Sarah said with a nod of her own along with a small smile. “So, are you ready?”

“Indeed I am,” Luna replied. “Where are we going?”

Sarah paused for a moment as she thought about how to answer. “We’re heading downtown, to the GNR building... it’s time for me to get some answers,” she stated with enough intensity to make Luna’s eyebrows rise in surprise. Then the woman began heading off to the north east, Luna walked beside her, taking in the destroyed scenery with a rising sense of... homesickness.

They had only been walking for twenty miniutes, when they came to the bank of a stone lined river. Much to Luna’s disgust, the water was a sickly greenish color.

“Well... I hope you know how to swim,” Sarah declared as she looked at the expanse of water.

“Yes, but I will not ‘swim’ in that putrid muck,” Luna replied, shaking her head at the thought as she spread her wings. “No, I will fly over it.”

Sarah gave her a jealous glance. “Lucky,” she muttered.

Luna glanced at her with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry that I cannot offer to carry you... I am not nearly strong enough yet to do so...and even under normal circumstances you are too large.”

Sarah sighed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it... I can handle a little dirty water.” She then took a hesitant step into the water, and the cold liquid seeped into her boot.

“Are you sure it is wise to wear that armor while you swim? It looks most... heavy,” Luna asked her carefully. “I do not wish to see my only friend in this place drown.”

The woman shook her head. “I’ll be fine... cold and uncomfortable, but fine.”

“We could always look for a way around,” Luna suggested.

“No! That will take too long!” Sarah snapped, a hint of annoyance entering her voice and making Luna draw her head back in surprise at the anger behind her words.

“Very well then, we were simply seeking to save you from hardship,” Luna told her with a frown before she ascended with several awkward and obviously painful wing flaps.

If Sarah took note of the mare’s annoyance she didn’t mention it and continued out into the river, the water rushing in around her. Luckily, everything she was wearing was water resistant so it didn’t become overly waterlogged and even kept her warm for the most part. As she swam she heard the distinct sound of her Pip-Boy ticking away, warning her of the slight amount of radiation she was absorbing just by swimming.

The alicorn flew along above her, keeping a careful eye set on the woman in case she was in need of assistance... though Luna was struggling to stay aloft as it was and the woman’s added weight would most likely result in both of them drowning.

If she drowns because of this, we will not help her, Nightmare growled within her mind. She is being stubborn and pigheaded.

Luna sighed internally, her better half had a point.

It took them five minutes to reach the opposite side where Sarah struggled to pull herself up onto the concrete embankment. Luna offered her a hoof, and the wet woman gratefully accepted it. The mare was almost pulled forward into the water by the unexpectedly heavy weight that Sarah represented but she managed to adjust her stance in time and helped hoist the woman up onto the cracked ground.

“Thanks,” the woman said shortly with a small smile as the water streamed off of her. She shook her black hair out and Luna jumped back in annoyance as the icky water sloshed across her fur.

“You’re welcome,” Luna answered with a frown as her horn began to glow. She winced a bit, and suddenly both the water on her fur along with the excess water on the woman disappeared leaving them both dry.

“Wow... thanks a lot,” Sarah said, a small smile spreading across her face.

“Do not mention it,” Luna replied, wincing again at the pain in her horn.

That was when the raiders sprang out of hiding.

“Die bitch!” the lead one shouted as he appeared above them, firing down at them with an assault rifle. Sarah felt a string of bullets fly over her, only two of which hit and thankfully bounced pointlessly off of her armor plating.

Another sprang from the up from behind a group of tires which he’d been hiding behind and opened up on Luna with a hunting rifle. The round shot out of the gun’s barrel and slammed into Luna’s rightmost shoulder causing the mare to stumble and let out a shriek of pain as the .32 round buried itself in her flesh. The raider let out an enthusiastic shout and started to fire again.

Sarah’s response to her attacker was to draw her newest weapon, one of the combat shotguns aquisitioned from the Talons, off of her back and bring the weapon to bear on raider whose eyes went wide with surprise.

As the raider targeting Luna tried to fire off another shot he found that the trigger was stuck and that the gun wouldn’t fire. Luna charged, Daybreaker held aloft and as she pumped her legs and used her wings to launch her forwards even faster. She closed the distance, and the cold blade sliced through the raider’s stomach in an explosion of blood and intestines as she eviscerated him.

Sarah pulled down on the trigger of her shotgun, and a blast of buckshot rang out and crashed into the raider’s face. The pellets slashed into the raider’s face, tearing open his cheeks and mulching his eyes. The raider fell to the ground dead and Sarah let out a relieved sigh.

Sarah turned to Luna who was looking down at the raider whose ropey intestines were decorating the concrete with a look of faint disgust as she she sheathed her sword. The woman quickly walked up the short set of stairs located nearby and walked over to the dead raider who she’d killed. She made quick work collecting of his equipment, easily grabbing the assault rifle and ammo that came with it.

Meanwhile Luna had taken a wing assisted leap over the dead raider and had found a group of green metal boxes, one of which was white and emblazoned with a large red cross that the alicorn recognized as the traditional sign of medicine.

“Sarah, over here,” Luna called to the woman. Sarah jogged over from her place above the alicorn and jumped down beside her, rocking on her feet as she fought to steady herself in the unwieldy weight of the still drying armor. Luna pointed a hoof at the boxes and Sarah’s mouth turned up into a smile.

“Great find, Luna,” the woman said, grinning as she walked over to the boxes and pried them open, pulling out several dozen types of ammunition along with a group of odd syringes and a few bandages.

Before they could ‘celebrate’ there was a loud roar from the other side of the riverbank. They turned to see two towering yellow-green figures clad in broken steel armor. Both of the figures were lugging incredibly large weapons which were unfortunately pointed directly at them.

“What are those,” Luna asked worriedly. Sarah blinked twice, and then started running.

“RUN!” Sarah shouted over her shoulder. Luna took off after her, using her wings to supplement her limp. As they reached the stairs, the first bullets began to crash into the concrete behind them, eating it up and pulverizing the stone.

The two ‘women’ sprinted up the steps, a hail of bullets chasing at their ankles. As they bounded free of the steps Sarah tripped and fell to her knees, stopping only for a second to get back to her feet, her eyes locked on the entrance to the subway station.

Luna followed the woman, but as she galloped she felt several dozen shards of pain fly into her flank and the searing pain almost made her fall and she let out a pained whiny. However, the alicorn persisted despite it and continued following the woman even as blood began to paint the street behind her crimson.

Dozens of bullets flew by Sarah’s head as she dashed forward and she felt several bounce off the armor of her shoulder, making her stumble forwards and she shrieked in pain as one of the rounds succeeded in penetrating her armor. She pushed onwards despite the pain in her back and managed to reach the entrance to the metro.

Luna had arrived at the same time as her, blood leaking from both her flanks which had been scoured by bullets.The woman didn’t have time to waste worrying about her companion however, and gripped the chainlink fence of the metro door and pried it open as bullets chewed away at the metal awning above them.

The mare and the woman tumbled through the gate and ended sprawled next to each other on the cracked hexagonal tiled floor, panting and bloody. Their immediate surroundings were illuminated by several miraculously working lights

“What-were-those things?” Luna panted in a pained voice as she tried, and subsequently failed to rise back to her hooves, letting out another pained whiny as her bloody haunches touched the floor once more.

Sarah tried as well, and was more successful. She managed to use the mare as a makeshift ladder to get to her feet, making Luna let out another whiny. The woman ignored that and offered the mare her hand. Luna grimaced and accepted the help, allowing the woman to pull her to her hooves. Leaning against each other they made their way to a blue painted metal door and hauled each other inside.

Author's Notes:

Just to let you guys know, the distances between places has been widened a bit to more acuratly reflect real life, or at least a little. The bridge that they could've used is around twenty minutes in the opposite direction and Sarah didn't want to go that far back, she's very goal oriented and using up fourty minutes to avoid getting wet is a waste of time to her.

Anyways, this is the last update till next Monday, hope you enjoyed it! Please comment!