"Twilight..."

Sunset Shimmer could not tell for how long she has been crying and cradling Twilight Sparkle's body. Time lost any meaning for her. It could be seconds, minutes, hours or even days, but it would still feel the same to her.

Grief and desperation were overwhelming her, sapping any strength she still had.

And a sense of guilt as well.

My fault. It's all my fault. Just like when I charged after those bandits and forced Flash to follow me, I forced Twilight to go with me now, after two very dangerous individuals. We separated and she was left all on her own against this elite mercenary. I saw him limping away; he got hurt, it appears, but that was not enough.

She was left all alone, and now she's... she's...

Sunset's brain simply could not make itself think the word "dead", even if the logical conclusion appeared to be exactly that.

She can't be dead, some part of Sunset argued desperately. She can't!!!

"There they are!" she heard someone speak. The voice was not familiar, and she could not tell if it was a friend or a foe. In any event, she would not be able to lift her laser rifle now even if she wanted to, and she honestly cared little if death was coming after her right now.

"Oh thank the stars, we found them," another voice sounded, this time more familiar. Flash... Flash Sentry? "Oh shit, they're both heavily wounded! Redheart! Redheart! Get here, now!"

"Sir, I hear you! Where're... oh my goodness, what happened to both of them?!"

The human figures moved closer to her. One of them dropped to her knees, and Sunset vaguely recognized Scribe Redheart, the medic of Brotherhood of Steel.

"Twilight..." the fiery-haired girl tried to protest as Twilight's body was taken away from her hands. She did not want to let her friend go, feeling that if she goes, she dies for real...

"Shhh..." she heard someone else speak, and then Flash gently hugged her shoulders. "It's OK. You're safe now."

It's NOT OK! She's dying, and you're taking her from me! Sunset wanted to shriek, but even her voice failed her.

"Twilight," she muttered once again, and then reeled slightly as exhaustion overtook her.

Her eyes rolled up, and she collapsed.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Celestia banish it to Tartarus, what the heck is that incessant beeping noise?!

Sunset Shimmer stirred, groaning at the annoying high-pitched sound of some stupid machine, and opened her eyes - closing them immediately, as the bright light of the surgery lamp proved to be too bright for her.

Wait... surgery? What the fuck?

Turning her head to the left (and receiving a flare of muscle pain in her neck), and opening her eyes again (more slowly), she realized several things.

First, she was lying on her back, as it appeared. Apparently, the vestibulary apparatus had been unable to inform her brain of it earlier.

Second, she was indeed in a surgery, and the annoying beeping was coming from some medicinal equipment.

Third, she was looking at Twilight's bare shoulder.

Her eyes widened.

Wait... bare shoulder?

She gaped at the sight of her Equestrian friend lying under the covers... apparently, without clothes.

Why in the wide world of Equestria would she be lying... there... naked...

And then the memories hit her like a speeding train without brakes.

The battle.

The fight through the main base of the White Knives.

The confrontation between them and Curve Blade, along with the reinforcements of Crimson Hands.

The pursuit.

The separation.

The duel between her and Curve Blade.

Twilight's scream of pain.

The untimely demise of the leader of the bandits.

Twilight lying unmoving...

She noticed that her compatriot had a breathing mask on her, and that her chest was rising and falling at a measured pace.

A wave of relief flooded her.

She's breathing. She's alive. Thank Celestia!

She felt tears of happiness coming to her eyes; her muscles sagged as the relief from emotional and physical tension she had experienced prior.

Sunset faced the ceiling again, salty liquid running down her cheekbones. Quiet sobs escaped her throat as she drowned in irrational euphoria.

She's alive! I'm alive! These thoughts were racing to and fro in her head right now, and she smiled.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Sunset saw the now-familiar form of Nurse Redheart.

"Oh, you're awake," she said. "You have been through quite an ordeal, young lady."

The fiery-haired girl tried to speak, but her throat felt very hoarse, and she was unable to make coherent sounds.

"Here," Redheart gave her a glass of water with a straw, "drink."

Sunset drank the vitally important liquid, feeling immensely better.

"Thanks," she said.

"No problem. Are you feeling any pain right now?"

"No... no, I am not," she tried to move her limbs a little bit, and noticed that she indeed felt no pain. "Everything seems fine."

"Good."

"Twilight... how is she?" Sunset tilted her head to the left. where Twilight was lying under cover.

"Your friend over there? She got shot up pretty well; when we brought her in, her heart was on the verge of failure, and we had to give her a blood transfusion to compensate for the loss. There were also a lot of armour splinters; of all things, she got shot by a 12.7mm pistol of all things, and was very lucky that nothing pierced her arteries. In short, we had to perform some quite careful surgery on her."

"She will live?"

"Yes, but for now, we're keeping her sedated or she'll go into pain shock."

"And others?"

"All of your other friends are alive, although some of them got nicked by bullets, but they're fine, nothing life-threatening. But some of Appletowners and our own Knights and Paladines are in severe condition right now. I'm afraid the casualty number was not that low, too..."

"How many?"

"Thirty-nine Appletowners, eleven CWN militiamen, five Paladins and six Knights."

"Sixty-one in total?!" Sunset gasped.

"Yes, but, given what kind of fortress Curve Blade had for a base, I am grateful that there were no more victims."

"Still, that's... too much."

"Well, it's true. But White Knives paid dearly for it - none of them survived. No one. Even among the mercenaries there was only one survivor, that elite merc with advanced armour..."

"Shock Gauntlet?"

"Yes, him. I have to say, the couple of you are extremely lucky. Twilight survived a fight with him, if barely, and you killed Curve Blade. The Daring Duo will be, like, ultra-famous throughout the Northern Wastelands now."

"You've heard of Shock Gauntlet?"

"Only snippets, none of them really that informative. You might be better off asking Elder Aegis about him."

"OK then. May I go out?"

"Not yet, you need to rest for several more hours; in fact, I should probably let you and Twilight out of here together, not separately. While you were not shot by high-caliber ammunition, you got wounded pretty severely as well, not to mention your exhaustion."

"Sedatives, or..."

"No sedatives, unless you want to?"

"Ack, please no."

"OK then, try to have a rest."

"Thanks."

As the door closed, Sunset allowed her body and mind truly relax. Of course, some part of her still was wary of Brotherhood of Steel, but she was simply too tired to care.

They might try and capitalize on the fact that they saved our lives, though...

She was unable to ponder on this more, though, as she slipped away into the realm of dreams.

Several hours later, Sunset woke up again, this time to find Twilight Sparkle consciousness and no longer with a breather mask.

"Hey, Twilight," she called.

"What the... oh, hi, Sunset," the Princess of Friendship replied. "Where are we?"

"Brotherhood bunker again."

"Oh my."

"How you're feeling?"

"Sore," Twilight winced. "They took me off sedatives, but my whole body still hurts. They gave me some light anaesthetic instead of Med-X, and it helps, but I still feel it."

"Well, Med-X has morphine in it, and that stuff is addictive. You'd better not get too accustomed to it."

"Makes sense... but let it be known that I hate pain."

"Pampered Princess," Sunset could not resist some teasing, which made Twilight groan.

"Disrespect towards the ruler of Equestria should be made a punishable offense," the alicorn-turned-human grumbled.

"Punishable by what?"

"Telekinetic hurl in random direction."

"The paperwork for this punishment would be obscene, Twilight."

"You're right, damn it. Still, am I a Princess or not?"

"Not in this world," Sunset gave her a wry smile, to which Twilight responded by blowing her a raspberry, very maturely. Said action resulted in more laughter, however.

"Say," the unicorn-turned human continued, "are they letting you out soon?"

"I hope so," Twilight responded, "I hate just lying around here. And why in Equestria do I have to lie almost naked beneath these covers?"

"Sanitation, probably - if they were doing extensive surgery on you, then typically all clothes except underpants are taken off, if possible. Although how would they get you out of them that quickly..."

"We had to simply cut them," the voice of Scribe Redheart sounded as the Brotherhood's doctor came into the room. "Except the Vault jumpsuits - they can be taken off pretty quickly if needed. How are you feeling, Twilight?"

"Sore as Tartarus, and I really want to get out of here soon. Also, mind telling me why I got these tubes sticking into my hand under covers?"

"It's an IV system, and it is to introduce healing medicines straight into your cardiovascular system. You have never seen one?"

"More like she never had the need to experience intravenous injections in hospitals," Sunset interfered.

"Ah. OK then. Sorry to disappoint you, Twilight, but the medicine has to run its course, and it's not that quick. We can release you the day after tomorrow and not sooner.

"Aaaaaawwwwwwww," Twilight whined at the prospect of lying there and doing nothing. "Can I at least get a book here?"

"Perhaps several hours later, when the medicine in bottle ends. Disturbing the system is highly discouraged."

"And me?" Sunset spoke up. "You'll release me tomorrow, too?"

"I did say I'd like to let you out of here together, so yeah. And don't make puppy eyes at me, young lady. You were very exhausted when you came here, and were basically running on medicines. Your organism needs rest."

"Tartarus damn it. Fine, you're the doc. Can I at least get some books, too?"

"I'll see what can be done."

The day was spent primarily in boredom and frustration at not being able to get out of the room, and reading books. Both Sunset and Twilight used diligent students of Princess Celestia (the former to a lesser degree, though) and knew better than to dismiss books as egghead-ish stuff.

Next day, Scribe Redheart did some quick analysis on them and declared that they were free to leave the medical wing, giving them their freshly repaired and washed Vault jumpsuits. As they exited the room, they were met by Elder Aegis.

"Congratulations on your recovery, Miss Sparkle, Miss Shimmer," the leader of Brotherhood's local chapter spoke.

"Thank you, Elder Aegis," Twilight responded, and Sunset added a simple "Thanks".

"Your friends are already waiting for you, and your possessions will be returned on exit, but before you leave us, there is something I would like to discuss with Miss Sparkle in my office, in private."

Both girls looked at each other, silently communicating; a moment later, Sunset shrugged her shoulders.

"I see no reason against it," she said.

"Good. Shall we proceed, then?" Elder Aegis said, leading the way to his office. As they came up to it, Sunset remained outside, while Twilight followed the elderly man inside. As they assumed their positions at the table, the Elder spoke:

"Miss Sparkle, I have already spoken to Miss Applejack about this, but our alliance has proven to be much more... effective than I had believed. While the casualties the allied force has suffered are regrettably high, we have managed to prevent more fatalities by providing medical aid to the wounded, yourself included."

"For which you have my gratitude," Twilight replied. "I thought that my life had come to an end when I was out there."

"It would have, if someone had not provided you with some quick first aid, or you would have quickly bled out."

"I see," Twilight frowned. "Anyway, what do I owe you for my surgery and recovery?"

"Nothing in the immediate time, but Miss Applejack had mentioned that you wanted to investigate the ruins of Trottingham, and there are some things of interest to the Brotherhood. But we will talk about this later, if you don't mind. I would like to inform you that we have come to an agreement with Appletown and CWN militia regarding the compensation of the cost of medicines; Appletown shall supply us with some apples in return, and CWN have paid us in caps. So we are quits, as the saying goes."

"I am relieved to hear that. What else did you want to talk about?"

"You, to be exact. You have not yet recovered from amnesia, have you?"

"No, I have not. We hope that our quest in Trottingham will help me with that, although that hope is... rather slim. But it is the only lead I have."

"I see. You did ask for some books regarding the pre-apocalypse science while recovering, though."

"I hoped to recover some knowledge on the technological advancements that took place before and during the war, yes. While I am more well-informed now, I cannot help but notice that the books on some things, like microfusion energy, are rather... scarce in details."

"That is because the overwhelming majority of research and development you have conducted, either allegedly or assuredly, fell under the category of classified military research. Due to the paranoid secrecy regarding your works, the intricate details of many things have never been put into books for masses, for fear of enemies learning our secrets. When the potential of microfusion energy was realized by the government, it instantly forbade exporting anything that has to do with this field, or releasing to mass market. Instead, they concentrated on creating power armour, energy weapons and so on."

"Was microfusion energy the only thing I appear to have worked on?"

"No; we have fragmentary data showing that you participated in the design of Vaults, and were even employed by Vault-Tec for some time."

Uh-oh. Better not mention that to Rarity.

"There must be something else you have worked on, but we have no data on that. What we have available about you mostly points to microfusion energy and things related to it. The data also point to one particular location: the offices of Vault-Tec in Trottingham."

"Do you want me to explore the offices?"

"Yes, if this is possible. We do not have immediate plans for venturing there, as we're still dealing with super mutant packs in Hoofington, and if you scout the area, it would be extremely beneficial for both of us. The copy of whatever data or you find or samples of valuable technology will also earn our gratitude. There is one thing, however - Vault-Tec offices were located within city boundaries, and I have no idea if the area around is heavily irradiated. If it is, kindly tell us and we'll see what to do next. That's what I ask of you in return for our help."

"I see."

"Is there anything you want to ask of me?"

"Well..." Twilight took several moments to ponder what she wanted to know and what questions the Elder might not answer. Eventually, she spoke:

"I was meaning to ask about the Brotherhood of Steel."

"Could you be more specific? And keep in mind that I may not be able to answer some things for security reasons."

"The origins. What I know is that the Brotherhood of Steel just... up and appeared, clad in power armour, having advanced technologies and hiding in bunkers. But where did Brotherhood come from? Who founded it? And with what purpose?"

Elder Aegis kept silence for several seconds before resting his head on his intertwined fingers, arms propped up on elbows.

"Well, this is something we do not really hide, altough we do not advertise it that much either. Truth be told, Miss Sparkle, I cannot give you the full picture myself, and certain parts are conjencture, pure and simple. Our founder is named Iron Gear, and he used to be a Colonel in Mechanized Infantry division of UFE armed forces. He is now called the High Elder, and is a supreme leader of the Brotherhood. His location is kept in secret, but he maintains connection with other chapters via hardened and well-protected cable connections between military bunkers, as well as military radio network, if possible. It is also thanks to him that we have our circle, gears, sword and wings sigil: this was the emblem of his unit before the formation of the Brotherhood, and this carried over to other people who joined the organization later."

Twilight listened with rapt attention, greedy for each and every tidbit of information; something that has not gone unnoticed by Aegis.

Such passion for knowledge. It is a shame that her talents were misused by the government, he mused. She could have revolutionized the world, if it had not been plunged first into war and then into atomic flames.

"As for why Elder Gear formed the Brotherhood, with its current ideals... I'm afraid I have no data on this particular subject. He never disclosed the underlying reason behind his views."

"Yet others follow him?"

"Remember, Miss Sparkle, that our organization consists majorly of those who served in Mechanized Infantry Corps, like Elder Gear himself, or played some role in military engineering and even R&D. His name was - and still is - greatly respected even before the apocalypse. In fact, our "May the Steel be with you" farewell phrase used to be his unit's motto. So he holds a high degree of authority, both formal and informal, for many of us."

"OK, I understood that. But why did Brotherhood tend to be unfriendly to common people?"

"I am afraid that is widely because many people themselves have not been friendly to the Brotherhood. Iron Gear did mention that they had had to fight off one attack after another before they found seclusion in wherever they are located now, and the attackers were not exclusively raiders, I am afraid."

"But who else would attack them?"

"Probably some particularly disgruntled groups who developed hatred towards the UFE military for its involvement in riot suppressions."

"The army participated in riot suppressions? I thought it was the job of the police!"

"Closer to the end of the war, when poverty and food shortage, not to mention war weariness, became a bad issue, the number of anti-war riots grew, and the police was struggling and at times unable to contain the tide. National Security Commissariat augmented the police with their own riot control squads, which had much bigger authority - they even could open fire on civilians without warning in self-defense or in response to provocations - but sometimes even these measures did not help, and they had to mobilize the army reserves to suppress the riots. What's worse is that sometimes rioters managed to form violent anti-government guerilla groups, which resorted to terrorism in order to end the war, and a good number of them were aided by TODC intelligence operatives. Some of them actually managed to form well-armed insurgent groups that were really dangerous, and NSC again mobilized the army along with SWAT units to destroy them. Mechanized Infantry had had to participate in such activities as well."

"But why the hatred?"

"Because, unfortunately, neither NSC nor the army gained much love from the citizens in such riot suppressions or anti-guerilla operations, because it resulted in civilian casualties, sometimes quite high. Once in Baltimare, the police SWAT groups, 14th Mechanized Infantry battalion and Commissariat's assault troopers practically burned down several blocks of the city in their attempt to destroy a dangerous insurgent group. For that task, they did not hesitate to bring APCs, tanks and even gunships. They accomplished their mission, but at a very terrible price: aside from the insurgents, the final casualties report said 3,161 dead civilians, and 10,582 wounded."

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed, shock and horror showing on her face. "Why did they do it? What could have possibly justified such death toll?"

"Probably the fact that the number of insurgents themselves exceeded two thousands, according to the intelligence gained by Commissariat. But the people were not that inclined to trust NSC, since they had exaggerated the threats more than once when trying to justify their more... atrocious acts. Some of the people who are under my command had actually taken part in that operation; they told me that the number of more than two thousands was in fact true, and that the insurgents were defectors from UFE military, disgusted by some atrocity our forces had committed sometime, but NSC forbade the dissemination of said information, and summarily executed each and every insurgent they got their hands on."

"...and the people of the Brotherhood are disliked for having participated in such operations, right?"

"Yes, the stigma is still strong. Before we got into contact with Appletown, none of the people wanted to actually talk to us. They were more inclined to shoot first, having ensured their numerical superiority before."

"Before Appletown, your people never met a friendly face?"

"Aside from a couple of merchants, no. We were originally stationed to the south of Canterlot, but on the Day of Burning, we were forced to retreat underground to the closest bunker. We were isolated there for one hundred or so days, hiding from radiation. We learned about Brotherhood's existence on the fourteenth day, and Iron Gear agreed to accept us in absentia, but we could not go anywhere: the area which is now known as Southern Canterlot Wastelands had a good number of military bases and installations along with some ICBM silos, and was bombarded with nukes very heavily; plus, some asshole (pardon my language) from TODC had decided it would be a good idea to drop a couple of salted warheads there, to irradiate the area further, so we had to stay there for a long time. But we could not last that long; the bunker's supplies were not designed for as big of a number of personnel as ours was, and eventually, we would need to leave the bunker - and expose ourselves to radiation. While power armour grants some protection from it, it is not a perfect choice and you certainly cannot walk into a ground zero. Fortunately, for some reason, once we decided to leave the bunker, the radiation level was... tolerable. Still potentially dangerously high, but with enough Rad-X and RadAway, we managed to get to this area without coming down with fatal radiation sickness. The road... was not easy. We had had to endure constant attacks by raiders and people bent on revenge, plus some mutated beasts and super mutants, and lost twenty percent of our personnel, until we settled here. Up until one year ago, we only had hostile contact with locals, so that's why we're... slow to trust."

"I see. And why exactly is Brotherhood of Steel so focused on recovering pre-apocalypse technology? Did that come from High Elder Gear?"

"Yes, this particular idea comes from him; unfortunately, humanity has become very reliant on technology, and without it, the society that we had before the apocalypse has collapsed very quickly. That is not the worst thing; many people who are ignorant of the importance of technology pilfer, misuse or outright destroy it for their own purposes, and since many of the databases are lost now, there is a chance that some technologies may never be recreated. We have the advantage of being formed from Mechanized Infantry Corps and some members of military R&D department; this gives us the level of necessary knowledge to at least understand - most of the time - what a certain sample of technology is, how it works, how it is to be maintained and if it can be reproduced."

"Reproduced?" Twilight raised her eyebrow.

"In theory, that is. We are not numerous, and the industry is now in tatters; we cannot feasibly reproduce many things as of now. Currently we can only salvage and repair what survived and maybe reconstruct some items from spare parts. But we are only at the start of our path. Eventually, I hope, we will be able to run the surviving industrial plants again."

"Then why is Brotherhood so focused on weapons and armour?"

"...force of necessity. Our organization simply won't be able to function if our staff is under-equipped. The stunt that you pulled back then at the base of 9th Mechanized Infantry battalion has greatly improved our situation; before that, we were having a risk of running low on some items of critical importance, power armour being one of them - and no, I am not telling you about other items."

"Fine, I guess. Last question, not about Brotherhood."

"Yes?"

"From what I understood, radiation from nuclear explosions lasts for a very long time, that is, decades and centuries. Yet seven years have passed and yet people can relatively safely live and walk on surface. Sunset mentioned once that the population of Vault 75 fully expected to just live there for the rest of their lives. I also know that some device known as Garden of Equestria Creation Kit was issued to some Vaults, but I have little idea on how it may help."

"Garden of Equestria Creation Kit is a mystery even to us, because it was developed by Future-Tec, a subdivision of Vault-Tec, and these guys were extremely secretive. We only know of some rumours. Basically, the idea behind this device is to accelerate the decay of radioactive isotopes by spraying... something... an agent of sorts into the air, and this agent would easily go into water, and even underground. Once the isotopes become stable and non-radiating, the work is complete. The drawback is that during these processes, the radioactivity greatly increases and it is dangerous to be in the area. We have certainly never seen one. Only some Vaults were equipped by such devices, because, according to the rumours, they were ruinously expensive, even for a megacorp like Vault-Tec."

"You think that the radioactivity could have subsided thanks to these kits?"

"Unlikely; they work in a limited area, and aside from decay accelerator, they were supposed to have the means to recover the land contaminated by chemicals and biological agents as well. I think that maybe Future-Tec might have developed the separate means to combat the issue of radiation exclusively, because I have no other ideas on why is radiation not as big of an issue as expected. If someone could pull this stunt off, it would be Future-Tec."

"I see. Thank you, Elder Aegis. May I go now?"

"Of course, I will see you to the exit."

As Elder Aegis, Twilight and Sunset disemarked from the monorail that connected the main bunker with entrance point, they were pleasantly surprised to see all of their friends ready to see them.

"Hey everyone!" Sunset shouted, and Twilight waved at them with a smile.

"Twilight! Sunset!" the joint cry of happiness resounded across the closed space, and the girls were quickly drawn into a group hug. The majority of it was directed at the equine Princess, though, given that she was the one to return from the brink of death (again).

"Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack bellowed, wearing her usual attire instead of power armour, drawing the girl into a strong hug.

"A pleasure to see you back, darling," Rarity said as she faced Twilight and then hugged her (much more gently than Applejack).

"I see Redheart pulled the miracle again," Flash Sentry's face had a genuinely worried expression as he hugged the lavender-skinned girl as well, careful not to squash her with power armour-augmented strength. "How are you feeling, Twilight?"

"Better now than when I was lying there," Twilight replied.

"I am sorry, Twilight, I tried to bring help as fast as I could. I was not fast enough..."

"If there's someone who should apologize, it's me," Sunset spoke up. "I charged foolishly after the enemy again, like an idiot, thinking I could kill them quickly before they escaped."

"Given that you have no military training, that's understandable," Elder Aegis interrupted. "But I think that you know better than to do that now."

"I sure do. I should control my temper better."

"Enough of that!" Lemon Zest, who was dressed in a riot police uniform (and still had her headphones on) exclaimed, pulling Twilight into a hug as well. "We defeated Curve Blade, we destroyed the White Knives, we're cool with Brotherhood of Steel now! Life is good! Let's celebrate!"

"Ah agree; Big Mac's waitin' for us," Applejack spoke up. "Elder Aegis, thank you again. For... well, everything."

"You are welcome, Miss Applejack. Also, my men want to pass the compliments to you. We have not had such good apples since... well... I can't recall since when."

"Really? Well, you're welcome, partner."

"I hope that we can continue addressing each other as such. Fare well on your adventures, everybody, and may the Steel be with you."

"May the Steel be with you, Elder Aegis," Twilight said, as the elevator began climbing.

"Thank you, Miss Sparkle," Aegis replied, but quietly, so no one heard him.

"Congrats on your recovery, Twilight," Big Macintosh said, sitting behind the steering wheel as the previously-expropriated car raced through the arid land. Twilight was on the shotgun seat, while everyone else was behind them (Sunset called machine gun again).

"Thanks, Big Mac," she replied. "I say, does this car have a windshield?"

"A bullet-proof windshield, no less. We found it while looting the main base of the White Knives. So no worries about getting killed by shot to the front."

"Oh, that's better."

"Indeed. Lucky us, Brotherhood did not want it."

"The Paladins of Brotherhood were trying to get all the loot and not share?"

"Eeyup. Or Ah think so, at least. They were so eager to get all the high-tech that the prison had, we just picked this thing quietly before they saw it."

"I see that many people follow the "finders keepers, losers weepers" routine."

"Unfortunately, that's the norm."

They continued the road in silence until they arrived at the apple orchard, where they disembarked.

"I say, Flash," the lavender-skinned girl addressed the blue-haired ex-rocker, "are you staying in Appletown for a long time now?"

"Well, I have some free time on me now, thanks to this whole stunt, so Elder Aegis allowed us some rest, and I would like to spend it here for some time."

"Well, it's good. Have you been wounded?"

"No, not really. Whatever wounds I had were mere scratches, barely worth more than RegenStim. No need to bother Scribe Redheart."

"OK, if you're sure, but please don't fall into the trap of macho invincibility."

"Will do."

"Hey... what're those?" Twilight pointed to the row of objects in distance.

"Bodies."

"Bodies?!"

"Yes... wait."

Indeed, what Twilight saw was a row of bodies that belonged to unfamiliar people; the style of clothing indicated that these people were raiders. The holes left by bullets left no place for speculation as to the cause of death.

"Has there been an attack?" Applejack approached the nearest town inhabitant.

"Yes, some ragtag group decided to have one final blast after you guys took out the White Knives for good. Just charged here, no plan, no self-preservation. Just began shooting. Well, we dispatched them quickly, but they killed one unlucky fellow."

"Fuck!" Applejack swore, making Rarity wince at the foul word. "And wounded?"

"Just one CWN militiaman. By the way, your sister also helped in defense."

"What?"

"Yes, killed two of them actually. She's shocked now, though..."

"Goldurn it, she wasn't supposed ta be in the line of fire!"

"I know, Applejack, it's just they caught us by surprise and Apple Bloom just happened to be right there when they attacked. We couldn't send her back, not without her getting shot in the back..."

"She's shocked, you said?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"The attack was just an hour ago; Golden Delicious is watching her, but she does not really want to talk."

"I saw this kind of behaviour before," Flash Sentry interrupted. "It happens when someone kills for the first time, in self-defense. Applejack, may I try and get through her?"

"Just don't make it worse, Flash."

"I had had to talk to a good number of soldiers who dealt with this kind of thing."

"OK then. Show me where is she," he addressed the man who informed them of the attack.

"Sure, sir," the man spoke nervously, slightly afraid of the towering young man in power armour, and led Flash away. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

"C'mon y'all, let's drop the luggage at the house, shall we?" Applejack said.

"OK," Sunset said, and no one objected.

Apple Bloom was sitting in the "hospital" on a free bed, hugging her knees. Golden Delicious was keeping a careful eye on her, and the varmint rifle she carried was standing rather far away from her, along with all the ammunition for it.

This is basically suicide watch. Can't blame him.

He had tried to talk to her about the attack, but she did not want to. She felt...

...stained.

Apple Bloom was not unaware of how much violence tended to plague what remained of United Federation of Equestria. First it was war, when every day there was a prime-time piece of news on TV regarding this or that battle. Further down the line, it was crime rate increase and riots, and even insurrections on occasion.

Violence became an everyday occurrence, just like eating or going to job.

After the Day of Burning, when the mechanisms holding the worst parts of human nature collapsed entirely, violence became a norm instead of an exception. She knew it because she heard Applejack and Big Macintosh speak about how raiders or super mutants attacked Appletown on many occasions.

She felt that one day, she too would pick a gun and fight for her life, just as not to be killed.

However, when the deed was done, she found herself facing an inner conflict.

She, like everyone else, were taught this one thing: Thou shalt not kill.

She had broken this unbreakable rule.

She was not stained with blood; her targets stood far away from each other. Not a single drop of blood had landed on her.

But why do I feel it did?! How do Applejack, Big Mac, Twilight, Sunset and others deal with it?

Suddenly, the door opened, and she noticed the big form of clad-in-power-armour Flash Sentry bustling in.

"Hi, Flash," she squeaked out, scared out of her wits.

"Hi, Apple Bloom. Me and others just came back and learned of the attack."

"Then you know that Ah... k-k-killed... two attackers?"

"Yes, they told us."

Apple Bloom hung her head.

"Hey."

"Uh?"

"I was a soldier during the war, Apple Bloom. I know this particular feeling."

"Did you feel as bad as I do?"

"Yes."

"Can you... tell me how you moved on from it?"

"Well, "moving on" might be the wrong words to use, more like "learned to live with it". Let me tell you how I felt after my first battle; that was before they put me in Mechanized Corps, by the way..."

"Do y'all think it was a good idea, to let Flash come alone?" Applejack asked Sunset as they were standing near the "hospital". Twilight decided to come inside but let Flash do the talking, while Rarity was standing to the side, outside of their hearing distance, cleaning her MSR-90 sniper rifle.

"You don't trust him?" Sunset raised her eyebrow.

"Ah just felt that it would be good for her to see family first."

"I can't fault your line of thought, but Flash fought in the war; he has the most experience in dealing with this sort of thing than we do."

"Maybe, but d'ya think that a soldier may not really get what a civvie thinks?"

"It depends on a soldier, I think. When I killed for the first time, it was one of the raiders. Point Blank, the guy who played drill sergeant in Vault Village, had already trained me in gun usage, but I was still hesitant to use them. However, when I saw the ugly mug of that raider coming at me with a cleaver... I panicked, and the pistol was in my hand. Before I realized what happened, the guy fell face first in front of me, his cleaver several inches away from my toes and blood pooling on the ground."

"What happened then?"

"I felt like the lowliest scum possible. We..." Sunset made a sign to signify that she was talking about Equestria, "are very averse to killing, even if it is in self-defense; most of the time, we fight to make an attacker retreat or incapacitate them. I was bawling my eyes out, thinking I didn't deserve to live. Then Point Blank just held me and let me soak his vest until it was drenched through. He talked to me about his war experiences and assured me that no one would hate me for defending myself with lethal force. But he took away my pistol for a time, so I would not get suicidal. We talked more about it."

"So, talking with someone who experienced this helps?"

"Yes, and I believe that Flash, thanks to his past, is the best candidate to make Apple Bloom feel better."

"If you say so, Sunset. Ah'll trust ya."

"Thanks, Applejack."

"Eh, Sunset?" Twilight appeared in the front door. "Flash wants us both to have a talk with Apple Bloom as well."

"And what 'bout me?" Applejack asked.

"Er, he said that Apple Bloom does not feel ready to meet you or Big Macintosh right now, so..." Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Ah, OK then. Good luck, you two."

"Thanks, Applejack," Sunset replied, coming inside and closing the door, leaving the blonde farmer alone with her thoughts.

Great. Apple Bloom's up and killed two people and now feels bad about it. That rascal is too young to gallivant with a gun around here, it's too dangerous for her! It's not like we don't have other people to defend Appletown! Rarity just had to...

Applejack stopped pacing (which she did not remember start doing), then slowly turned around and marched, her face twisted in anger.

Rarity set the cover for the firing mechanism back in place, pressing hard so that the lock would click and fix the detail firmly in place. After that, she set the Pontrottini rails and the optical sight back into their proper positions, and took away the cleaning kit.

Inserting the fresh magazine of .308 ammunition, she flipped off the safety, moved the bolt (noting that it was moving much more smoothly now), and then took out the magazine to insert an additional round.

"Rarity!"

Applejack. What does she want from me? the ex-fashionista thought, securing the magazine back in its place.

"Yes, darling?" she asked, turning around while holstering the sniper rifle behind her back.

"Don't you "darling" me, Rarity," Applejack snarled, glaring daggers. "Ah'm not in the mood."

Obviously, Rarity thought, given that if looks could kill, I would be dead right now. What lit your fuse this time?

"What happens to be the target of your wrath?"

"You."

Called it. "Could you be more specific?"

"What were you thinkin' about when you decided to teach Apple Bloom how to use guns?!"

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"She is sittin' in the hospital, her emotions wrecked by her killin' the attackers! What're you tryin' to do with mah sister?"

"I am not trying to "do anything" to your sister, Applejack, I was trying to teach her self-defense!"

"Right, and you conveniently forgot the part of dealin' with emotions, huh?"

"I did not anticipate this suicide raider attack to happen! I would never be so callous and irresponsible as to not prepare anyone psychologically, this simply happened sooner than I had planned, and..."

Rarity stopped as one of the words said by Applejack suddenly made it to the forefront of her mind.

"Wait... did you say "conveniently forgot?" What in the name of all that is holy are you insinuating, Applejack?!"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"To me, it is not, and can you please stop running around the issue in circles?!" Rarity's face was slowly becoming redder as anger began manifesting within her.

"Ah can't believe that you're not gettin' it... Fine, Ah'll spell it out loud to ya! You want to rope Apple Bloom into your revenge quest, don't ya?!"

Silence rang in the air as the indigo-haired girl stood aghast, her lower jaw in danger of dropping low. Whatever accusation she had expected, it was not that one. Finally, she croaked out, almost inaudibly, the one word that her brain managed to produce:

"...pardon?"

"You've been runnin' around the whole Wastelands killin' anyone on your hit-list, right, 'cause Sweetie Belle died an' Vault-Tec used you in their moustache-twirl evil plans? What better way to exact your precious revenge than to rope one of her best friends into your crusade?" Applejack came closer to Rarity, jabbing her index finger into the indigo-haired girl's armour-covered chest. "But listen here, prissy: Ah won't let ya take another person outta mah family!"

For several moments, the girls stood still in front of each other, Applejack jabbing Rarity with her finger and Rarity standing still, aghast at the turn of events. Once again, silence rang in the air as none of them spoke a word...

SLAP!

...until Rarity slapped Applejack's hand away, gnashing her teeth in anger that has erupted within her.

"How DARE you, Applejack?!" she shouted. "How dare you say that I am trying to snatch your sister to satisfy my personal desire for vengeance over the injustice done to Sweetie Belle and me?! She doesn't even know about it, and as far as I am concerned, she does not need to!"

"Really? She does not need ta know that you're the one who murdered mah cousin?!"

"Braeburn was not innocent, I have already showed you that, and besides, I was angry and did not know that you, or any of my friends actually were still alive! Do you really believe me to be so despicably heartless that I would not care a single bit about what you would feel?"

"How can Ah believe you? You never came to me after it!"

"Because I know how you would react! You never let anyone so much as glare at your family! Even Sunset Shimmer before her... ahem, turn-around did not dare openly bully Apple Bloom, because she knew you would come after her with fury demons of Tartarus would recoil from, with no regard for consequences! This world may be dead, but I still want to be able to walk away!"

"Yes, because that's what you do, right?! You walk away, as if nothing had happened! And go on to shoot other people, without a care for anything in this world!"

"What... you..." Rarity choked from the indignant rage coursing through her veins now, and then began to shriek, which meant that she was on her wits' end:

"I had nothing in this world to care about, Applejack! NOTHING! I was alone against the world, with no one to rely on except myself! I know how it is to feel utterly alone, and let me tell you that it was extremely UNPLEASANT! I almost committed SUICIDE at one point when I was at my lowest point, right there near Vault 85 when I found Sweetie's Pip-Boy, with her last message to me, when she was on the verge of death from radiation sickness!" By that time, tears were running down Rarity's cheeks (unstained by mascara due to the absence of latter), but she did not even notice that as her voice was growing louder, about to reach one hundred decibels mark. "And you dare to think that I would want to inflict THIS kind of pain upon you?!!! YOU DUMBASS!!!"

"Oh so you're invokin' the dumb blonde card now?! Well, you're a lyin' dishonest BACKSTABBER!!!" with these words, Applejack slapped Rarity hard on the cheek, which almost made the ex-fashionista tumble to the ground, but she managed to retain her footing.

Slowly, she turned her head back to the farmer, and snarled in a low, menacing tone:

"IT. IS. ON!!!"

Unholstering her sniper rifle and dropping it to the ground, Rarity lunged at Applejack, swiftly crossing the distance and raising her right fist. Applejack was ready for this, but Rarity predicted her movement and punched her into the stomach with another hand, which did not have the desired effect - Applejack's abs were rather hard, given her occupation.

"Ya gonna need to do better than that!" the blonde girl taunted, swinging her right fist and forcing Rarity to dodge.

"I have not even started!"

The indigo-haired girl attacked again. This time, when Applejack blocked her attack, Rarity suddenly kicked her opponent straight under the knee, making her shift her weight to the right leg and duck a bit. In return, Applejack delivered a massive kick with her left knee, but Rarity managed to half-successfully evade the blow. The pale-skinned girl tried to kick, but Applejack jumped back in time.

"That's all your fancy-shmancy martial arts classes teach you?" she taunted.

"They certainly are better than fighting like an orangutan."

The snark prompted the blonde into action, who swung her fist. As she tried to strike, however, Rarity managed to evade her attack, grab her wrist and flip Applejack (who had no heavy armour on her or any weapons at that moment) and throw her to the ground. Applejack struck back with her legs and hit Rarity in the chest, making her stumble backwards and release her hand, and stood back up, Stetson hat remaining on the ground. She tried to punch Rarity again, but the fashionista stopped both her hands, grabbing both wrists.

Undeterred, Applejack forced her hands to the sides, coming closer to Rarity and headbutting her.

"Aaah!" the indigo-haired girl screamed and stumbled back, blood gushing from her nose. Seizing the opportunity, Applejack punched her in the stomach, making Rarity double over; however, the latter lashed out with her strike that hit Applejack straight into the solar plexus. The blonde girl doubled over as well, unconsciously using Rarity as support. This earned her an uppercut into the eye.

"Ooof! Now Ah'm pissed!" Applejack snarled, and tackled Rarity, making her fall onto her back. Straddling the fashionista so that she would not escape easily, Applejack tried to punch her opponent in the face, but Rarity moved her head to the side and the blonde girl hit the ground instead, hissing as her wrist left the aftershock. Rarity, in turn, raised her hands, digging her nails (which were not that sharp) into Applejack's face.

BANG! BANG!

"Alright everybody, THAT'S ENOUGH!!!"

Both belligerents tumbled to the ground, looking at the source of the noise.

Sunset Shimmer was looking at them with hands covering her mouth and eyebrows almost gone above hairline.

Apple Bloom was staring wide-eyed, jaw dropped, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Twilight Sparkle was holding her still smoking revolver in her right hand, livid.

"You two immature imbeciles go back to the house," inhaling deeply, she suddenly shouted:

"RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!!"

"I can't believe you two," the Princess of Friendship was pacing in front of Applejack and Rarity, who were sitting on separate chairs in the living room of Applejack's house. "You two are mature people, why can't you act rational and reasonable?!"

The only answer she got was silence. Spitting to the floor in frustration (and missing the wince that Rarity made at this uncultured gesture), Twilight continued:

"There's enough fighting and violence going on around here without you brawling like foals! And you two did it out in the open? I can't even properly tell how stupid it was; just look what happened to Apple Bloom!" Twilight pointed at the youngest Apple who was crying into Big Macintosh's chest while the latter was glaring daggers at both his sister and the former fashionista (and now assassin).

"It's not mah fault!" Applejack shouted loudly. "Rarity's the one who taught her guns and started this mess!"

"I did it only to help her defend herself if the need arises!"

"No ya didn't, ya only did it so you..."

"SHUT!!! UUUUUUUUUUUP!!!" Twilight's face was red as a ripe tomato, she was breathing heavily, and she was so furious that Sunset nervously backed away from her. "I swear to sun and moon, if one of you starts shouting at another once again, I will bitchslap you both until you beg for mercy!"

Everyone in the room thought "Oh shit!" as the alicorn-turned-human swore, forcing everyone into total silence.

"Wow," Spike muttered, "I forgot how Twilight looks when pissed..."

"Now listen to me very carefully. These spats have to stop! Your frustrations are understandable, but now is not the time for fracture, especially if you two plan on helping me and Sunset in Trottingham! So whatever caused this fight needs to be resolved, like right now! Applejack, why did you two begin to fight?"

"Can we not talk about it in front of Apple Bloom?"

"Nope," Big Macintosh spoke, "you two upset her with your fightin', and now y'all need to confess. She deserves it."

"What we say might upset her more, Big Mac."

"Ah don't care!" Apple Bloom shouted angrily, cheeks stained with tears and mucus collected under her nose. "Ah don't think it can be worse than that!"

"You have no idea."

"Enlighten me!"

"Alright, fine!" turning to Twilight, the blonde spoke: "Ya want the reason, Twilight? Well, that's because she wants to recruit Apple Bloom into her revenge crusade!"

"What?!" Apple Bloom shouted again. "Why?"

"May I speak?" Rarity raised her hand as if she was in CHS and Twilight was this teacher that would sentence her to corporal punishment.

"Yes - Applejack, don't you dare to open your mouth or I will sock you into the face," Twilight growled, making the farmer cower in fear. Rarity inhaled deeply and said:

"Apple Bloom, when I learned that Sweetie Belle died, I knew immediately someone from Vault-Tec was guilty of it, and I... swore revenge. Later on, I learned that Vault-Tec used the charity organization that I ran - which aimed at helping people get into the Vaults - for nefarious purposes, as Vaults turned out to be places of some... truly sick experiments. I began hunting people connected to Vault-Tec; that's the "crusade" Applejack is talking about. But I never intended to rope you into anything, since this revenge quest is mine, and mine alone; Applejack simply thought that I was teaching you how to use firearms in order to turn you into a cold-hearted killer."

"Like you ain't one..."

PUNCH!

"ARGH! What the fuck, Twilight?"

"I did promise I would punch you! Dare to speak again?!" Twilight raised her fist again, ready to strike.

"Why did Applejack accuse you of being a cold-hearted killer?"

"Because she - goldurn it, Twilight! - killed Braeburn!" Applejack shouted again, while trying to avoid Twilight's angry punches.

"What?!" Apple Bloom gasped, and Big Macintosh's eyebrows rose. "Rarity... no, this can't be true!"

"I am afraid it is, darling," Rarity replied, her eyes downcast. Apple Bloom gasped, and Big Macintosh immediately leveled a glare at Rarity.

"Why?" he asked. Instead of answering, Rarity simply took out the diary she had apparently hidden in her rucksack and silently offered to take it. The Apple patriarch snatched it and read it quickly, from cover to cover, frowning as he went on.

"Fuck," he swore, shocking everyone. "Braeburn messed up, the damn noble fool. Ah told him we'd help, but he just didn't want to be a bother..."

"What's there? Let me read!" Apple Bloom snatched the diary, resisting all attempts to have it taken away. As she read the entries circled by Rarity, she gasped:

"Oh no... Braeburn... No! He caused Sweetie Belle's death!" With a new torrent of tears, she clung to her big brother again, wailing loudly.

"Told ya it would be too much, Big Mac," Applejack spoke up, eyeing Twilight carefully, but the latter decided that punches no longer were a good enough deterrent.

"Yeah, I get it now," turning his head to Rarity, he asked, "So, you exacted your vengeance upon Braeburn?"

"Yes, Big Macintosh. I lost control of myself when I learned of it... I did not know any of you were alive, and was shocked when Applejack discovered me. I shot her to the leg so she would not chase me, because I knew I could not outrun her, and escaped. Then I kept my identity a secret because I believed you would just shoot me if I admitted it..."

"Can't say Ah'm not tempted."

"...and I went on until Twilight, Sunset and Applejack fought me and managed to disable me. I told them and showed them everything."

"Ah can... believe that Ah understand your anger an' your hesitation to reveal yourself, 'cause trust me, Ah was quite angry at Black Widow - meaning, you - but Ah gotta ask: did you regret doing it?"

"Ah don't believe she did," Applejack interjected.

"Hush, you!" Twilight reminded of her presence.

"Actually," Spike interjected, "she does. I once saw her crying at Braeburn's grave at night."

"Really?" every Apple exclaimed.

"Yes," Rarity said, no longer holding her tears back, "because I knew right then that in my anger, I did to you what was done to me, and I knew Braeburn, and I regretted losing control... so one night, I snuck out of the house and went there, to... well... just say everything I felt to him. Spike found me there, and we talked quietly a bit."

"I can vouch for her," Spike added.

"OK... Ah believe you, Spike," Applejack said. "Rarity? Please... look at me."

The pale-skinned girl complied with the request.

"Ah shouldn't have thought of you as a cruel monster who was after mah family," Applejack took off her Stetson and held it as a shield of sorts in front of her chest, eyes sparkling with barely contained tears. "And Ah shouldn't have accused you of ropin' Apple Bloom into your plans. Ah'm sorry that I shouted at you and fought you. Could you... hopefully... forgive me?"

"Applejack, darling," Rarity could hardly speak because of her own tears, "of course I will... can you ever forgive me that I lashed out at your family?"

"Rarity, Ah always think of mah friends as family. Just... please, in the future, if something like that happens, let us resolve this as family and not strangers, agreed?"

"Agreed."

And suddenly, two friends lunged at each other, enveloping their friend into a hug and breaking into tears.

"Nice job, Twilight," Sunset whispered to her compatriot, and Twilight sighed in relief.

Well... we got that out of the way, at least.

Author's Notes:

Almost a month after an update; I have no shame whatsoever. Shame is a bad thing to live with

But honestly, my life has taken a not-so-good turn in last days. My job has become hectic and extremely frustrating and not worth the salary I receive. And it sapped my creativeness even more.

There was one segment I wanted to write into this chapter as well, but this will take more time and I just want this chapter out of the way, sorry.

More bad news is that this story might go on hiatus soon. I am once again faced with lack of creative juices for it, and to combat it, I found me Fallout 1 in hopes of getting more inspiration. But I have too little time to play now, and if I find it impossible to squeeze something out for Chapter 25, I will mark this story as on hiatus. Not permanent, no. Probably up to two months.

If I avoid this, then I will publish Chapter 25 when it's ready - I'm pulling a Blizzard here. I will also focus more of my efforts on the Sci-Twi/Flash romance story I keep promising. I need some pointers from my editor first, though.

I would like to hear whatever thoughts you have on this chapter, whether its contents are realistic enough or not, and so on.

Stay tuned, everyone