"Why are there Brotherhood Paladins and decent-looking militiamen mixed with some gang-banging raiders and mercs and other disreputable-looking types?" Sunset asked, puzzled, while searching the dead bodies for usable loot. "And why are their eyes fully white, without pupils and other stuff?"

"Beats me, lass," Chip Drop said while rummaging around for loot as well. "I am just as baffled as you are. I can believe Brotherhood and some types uniting to destroy Brightlight for some reason, but they would never consort with raiders, and vice versa. Even if they all started really hating Brightlight at the same time. This makes no sense. And the white eyes are another fucking mystery."

"Has this been the only attack of this kind?"

"On Brightlight, yes. However, Horseshoe Highway got pretty banged up, we actually have refugees from there."

"Really?" Twilight spoke up.

"Yes, and they all said the same thing, white eyes and all. We thought they were joking, the mayor almost chased them out of the city. But now, it seems, they were not joking. Which is a fucking conundrum. Hey, lass, mind not looting our guards?" Chip Drop addressed Sunset as she moved on to the next body, which was of a dead Brightlight guard. "We don't take kindly to that, and we kinda need the stuff that remains from them. Anyone else is free game, but don't touch our folk."

"Alright, sorry, man," the fiery-haired girl apologized, and moved along to another body - of a raider this time.

"Why did Mayor want to chase the refugees out?" Twilight asked while hiding the holotags of dead brotherhood Paladins.

"Well, lass, Brightlight is not fucking charity. Harsh, I know, but we don't have infinite resources. The influx could easily sap us of all we have, sometimes it's not simple to keep the settlement afloat. Heard of how Daring Duo and Appletowners, along with CWN militia and Brotherhood of Steel wiped out the White Knives? Well, some folks aren't happy with that."

"How come?"

"Well, I don't give a fuck about these bastards; if you ask me, they were asking for it for a long damn time. But they were, like, one of the main cash-spenders here in Brightlight. Whenever they got lucky and got themselves some caps, they would come here and spend it in casino or on alcohol and hookers."

"Hookers?" Twilight gasped.

"Yep, Round Risk thought it would be profitable to have some call-girls here, and boy, was he right. We had strippers before, but that "innovation" boosted the profits like a goldmine."

"So Brightlight is in not in best shape, economically speaking?"

"We suffered a major drop after that event, yeah. But honestly? I am not really sad. These guys were acting like masters here, me and other guards had to regularly throw them out of here when they couldn't pay their fines. Gits. And I'm certain that if Curve Blade could, he would try and take Brightlight for himself."

"Yeeeesh," Applejack spoke up, "glad that didn't happen."

"Me too. Say, how did you get that power armour? Only Brotherhood has it, as far as I know, and they hunt the deserters like NSC did traitors."

"Ask me no questions, partner, an' Ah'll tell ya no lies."

"Classified, I got it. Anyway, ladies, you got all the loot you wanted?"

"Wait a bit," the farmer detached the power packs from dead Paladins, "might come in handy. And... gimme a moment," she grabbed the frontal piece of the power armour and after some fiddling, pulled it off. "Ah-ha! Rarity, mind helping me with mah frontal piece?"

"Of course not."

Rarity spent three minutes detaching the damaged frontal torso piece from Applejack's suit. Finally, she gave a mighty tug, and the piece came off, exposing the internal exoskeleton. Applejack picked up the relatively undamaged piece and set it against her chest, pushing it.

"OK, now help me fasten it," she said. In two minutes, the piece was firmly secured in place, and she turned to Chip Drop:

"Now we're ready."

"Good. Come on, we need to see Round Risk."

As the girls entered the town, they immediately noticed some tents erected haphazardly here and there.

"Refugees," Chip Drop explain. "The locals live in flats that have not collapsed yet and are not irradiated as shit, of which there is very little, so there hasn't been much place for that many people in the beginning. But the refugees have been arriving more and more, which forces them to live on the street. I don't envy them."

"You mentioned the mayor wanted to get rid of them?" Sunset asked.

"Yep, he did, but the refugees do not simply hang around here, thankfully, or most of them don't at least. They do odd jobs around here, some of which people hate doing, and people who are fit and know how to tell one end of gun from another volunteer as guards. That actually boosted our defensive capabilities somewhat."

"Is everyone from Horseshoe Highway gone?"

"No. They actually had bigger numbers than everyone believed - apparently, they have some people living in underground basements which are connected by makeshift tunnels. The majority of those who escaped are women, children, people who can't really fight or those who were tasked with protecting them. The road from Horseshoe to Brightlight is dangerous, you know."

"Yeah, I heard."

"The last batch of refugees said that around half of the people remained there when they ran, determined to fight these pseudo-zombies, but these fuckers are relentless. And it's not advised to go into the western area either."

"What for?"

"There're rumours about mind-hacking technology of sorts. Sounds kinda stupid; personally, I think it's some virus or something."

"Virus?" Twilight butted in.

"Yes, there was a corp here, Stable Hearts Limited, that specialized in microbiology. Rumours were that they dealt in pathogens, so I would not be surprised if someone was careless and broke a vial with something infectious."

"Hmm. Is there a way to defend oneself from viruses?"

"You can buy some in local shops if you want. We actually have some military-class masks designed to withstand chemicals, radioactive dust and virii."

"The correct word is "viruses", Chip."

"What-fucking-ever, I am not a damn linguist."

How eloquent, Twilight thought sardonically.

"We're here," Chip Drop declared as they arrived at a more well-preserved building with two guards standing outside. As they entered, they rose up the stairs to the second floor and went through the door in the end of the corridor.

Round Risk was a man in his early fourties. He was dressed in a striped business suit and trousers and wore a tie. The suit and the trousers used to be white, but the time appeared to be merciless to it, as the colour looked pretty dull. The black vertical lines were also dull and some even slightly grayish. This partially made the mayor look not as imposing, and he apparently understood that (as the girls judged by his sour face), but he stubbornly refused to deviate from some sort of pre-apocalypse social norm that demanded from VIPs to look as presentable as possible.

"Welcome, ladies," he said briskly, and made a hand gesture to the chairs situated in front of his desk. "Sit down, if you will."

"Ah'll stand if ya don't mind," Applejack said. "Mah armour is kinda heavy, ya know."

"Your choice, Miss."

Other girls decided not to ignore the invitation and sat down.

"I see that you have answered my call for help. On behalf of Brightlight, I thank you. As I promised, each of you is entitled to a reward of one thousand caps. Here," he pulled out four bags with caps, "this is for you. And don't be surprised - local prices are quite high, you're likely to run out of caps in a month or so if you are not careful. Not as soon if you don't play at "True Trot" casino. Now, should I brief you on the local laws?"

The girls nodded.

"Very well. First and foremost, you are allowed to carry weapons around, but you must keep them holstered. You can unholster them only if you see that someone attacks you. There is also an "appropriate response" rule. Basically, it means that if someone attacks you with a knife, you shouldn't waste them with a rocket launcher. Take out a knife, a pistol, or an SMG. Or assault rifle at worst. But LMGs and grenades will be considered overkill and the owner might get fined. This is more to avoid casualties among bystanders, so most of the time everything goes in defense as long as you do not put others at risk. If you do, the victim or someone who is close to the victim in case the victim perishes can accuse you of being tardy with guns and seek to fine you, exile you or kill you. If they choose to fine, you must pay the sum the victim or their rep states or be exiled. Exile means you are banned from entering Brightlight, either for some time or forever, and if you try to enter while exile is in effect, you might be killed by guards. If someone decides they want to kill you, you may want to settle this via a one-on-one duel - we have a special arena for that - or refuse a duel. In the latter case, the victim or their rep may still try to kill you, and if they succeed, they will not be arrested or shot by guards. Do you get it so far?"

"Yes," Sunset spoke, while Twilight sat eyes-wide at harshness of the laws, Applejack frowned, and Rarity sat with an impassive expression.

"Attacking someone without provocation with anything from your bare hands to Fat Man, robbery, theft, and killing without my official permission is strictly forbidden. The guards may deal with violators as they see fit, including deadly force. You are also expected to obey the guards without hesitation. Disobedience is punished at guards' discretion. When you enter the casino or shops, you must obey all rules they set, otherwise they may ban you from their premises as they wish. You can dispute the ban, if you so wish. You also can defend yourself if a charge is brought against you. That's the gist. Got it?"

"Yes," everyone chorused.

"Excellent. Grab one of these papers each," he pointed to a small stack, "these show more detailed rules as well as what counts here as crimes, punishments for them and local legal procedures. There is also a local map."

The girls did as asked to.

"I would like to discuss one more thing with you tomorrow when you are well-rested."

"Not today?" Sunset asked. "We can listen now."

"This is a serious matter, and, frankly, I am rather tired, so not today, no."

"OK then. Thank you. Shall we take our leave?"

"Yes, off you go."

As everyone exited the mayor's office, Chip Drop said:

"You can get a room in any of the hotels you desire. You might have to bunk together, as rooms are hard enough to come by here. I need to return to the post, so if you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Twilight replied, "and thanks."

"You're welcome," with these words, the guard left.

"Well," the alicorn-turned-human said, "let's find ourselves a motel. I'm tired of carrying this extra loot as well."

Half an our later, the girls managed to find themselves a "motel" that still had a free room for four persons, and each of them paid fifty caps for the room (which Sunset found outrageous, but the owner refused to lower the price and even railed against bringing Spike inside; to which Twilight threatened to spread bad word about his motel). As the girls dumped the load and settled themselves on cots (the room had no beds) they agreed on a schedule of guarding. Applejack and Sunset got the first watch, and Twilight and Rarity went to sleep. Both girls were rather tired, so they were able to dream undisturbed by nightmares, until five hours passed and they were shaken up by others and stood guard.

The sun was about to rise, and both girls could clearly see the street below - more or less. They watched the street below and checked the corridor on occasion. Fortunately, no one has attempted to disturb them, and the street below was quiet, with a rare exception of refugees doing something actively down below. Rarity also looked down her optical sight, whih remained mounted on her sniper rifle.

"Some binoculars or maybe a magnifying monocle would not hurt," she spoke. "Too bad it is problematic to find those here."

As three hours have passed, the alabaster-skinned girl asked Twilight:

"Darling, may I be so bold as to ask you some questions?"

"No problem, I am bored out of my head anyway," the equine Princess leaned away from the holographic sight on her AP-79 and looked at her friend.

"Pardon me if I am being insensitive, but I have wanted to ask you for some time... how are you adapting to what this world has become? Is it different from Equestria? No, wait, that's a stupid question. I mean, how different it is from Equestria?"

Twilight cast her eyes down, withdrawing deep into her own thoughts for some time and keeping silence. Her facial expression changed from neutral to strained, and the former fashionista worried she crossed a red line she should not have. Suddenly, Twilight sighed, looked out of the window, and spoke while not meeting Rarity's eyes:

"To answer your last question, Rarity? It is quite different from Equestria. Radically different, I would say," she waved her hand in the direction of the street. "Equestria does not possess the kind of technology you have here, this I have learnt long ago. But the people? Hoo boy, it is as if Tartarus itself opened here and either corrupted many people or simply spawned many monsters in human bodies, because I have never seen such uncovered and wanton cruelty, selfishness and downright debasement everywhere. It's not like we don't have crimes or wars in Equestria, but if you were to pick a random pony, most likely that pony would be a good person or a here-and-there, not what one would call good but neither would call evil. And here? I am starting to think that whenever I talk to a human, I must shake my hand and hold a pistol behind my back at the same time."

"Well, darling, the idea regarding a pistol does not actually sound ridiculous in these times... but I agree, this is rather frustrating."

"I don't understand, Rarity," Twilight locked her eyes with Rarity's, violet meeting blue. "How come there are so many evil humans in this world, without any morals whatsoever? Where did these raiders and slavers come from? Were they always such despicable, or something forced them to it? I can't help but think that humans embrace evil too easily..."

The ex-fashionista bristled slightly at this remark, but stifled the small feeling of indignation that rose up within her.

"And the terms of good and evil themselves are... are... messed up," Twilight continued. "In Equestria, we put a high value on a sapient life. Even more war-like species like griffons or minotaurs shun trigger-happy violent thugs and dispose of them as quickly as they can. Killing someone is always taught to be a last resort, even in self-defense, although it is not as heavily restricted if there is a war. Even if there is a war, we always try to come to peace and a compromise. Here? I do not see a life having any value at all. Life here is the cheapest thing, because it is worth nothing," she spat in disgust. "And that is if I do not think of slavers. I don't think there has been an instance of slavery in Equestria for... what, half a millenium or something? I'll have to ask Sunset. And everyone kills here... well, not everyone maybe, but those who want to live longer will definitrly kill at some point. We consider ourselves good, but we kill and kill and kill... because the alternative is death or worse, and there is no other option. I... I hate that, Rarity. What's worse..."

The lavender-skinned girl sighed, and continued:

"You ask me how I am adapting? Oh, I am adapting all too well. I am no trained soldier, but I have already learned how to operate and maintain all these weapons I have on me, how to wear armour, how to fight and how to give first aid to myself and others if necessary. I do not think I can fight as well as Equestrian Royal Guard, since their tactics are vastly different and they are based on magic, but give me some of these guns and my magic back and I might be able to bring a good number of them down with me. My hands... or hooves, if you will... are stained with blood. I have already killed more people than any Royal Guardpony can kill during their service. I... I have changed, Rarity. And I don't think it was for the better. I have killed trying to defend other, I know that, but that does not make me feel better, and does not stop me from fearing what will my pony friends think once I return... if I return."

"No ifs, darling," Rarity said sternly. "We will get you back there. What kind of friends we would be if we didn't try to help? As for your feelings, Twilight... I understand where you're coming from, but, if I am to be honest... I cannot judge you at all, and if I did, I would be a hypocrite."

"What do you mean?"

"You do remember my... vendetta?"

"Yes."

"Well, when Applejack shouted at me for killing decent people, she was not fully wrong. I did kill people whose only so-called crime was to be a former employee of Vault-Tec. I looked at them and only saw what I wanted to see: persons blindly serving the evil mega-corporation who used me in their nefarious scheme known as Societal Preservation Program, white-collars without conscience. I refused to consider that they were not aware of this, that they were deceived as I was... I looked at them, and all I saw was the face of Sweetie Belle, all I heard when they plead for their lives was..." suddenly, the ex-fashionista stopped, and shook her head, "I am sorry, Twilight, I am not comfortable remembering that particular moment. Bottom line, I cannot claim to have a moral high ground to judge you for anything you have done when I myself am stained by blood, or when I experienced pure schadenfreude killing someone who deserved to die."

"Care to share an example?"

"Revolving Axe, a Colonel of National Security Commissariat. He was an officer who vetted candidates for a place in a Vault. They did not want un-loyal citizens in these bunkers, or so they claimed, at least. However, when it came to Societal Preservation Project, there were cases when the standard procedure went out of the window. You mentioned Vault 49 which was filled to brim with criminals? Normally, the Commissariat would not even approve of that, but most likely someone decided to wave this off. As for Vault 85, the poor people of which were used for FEV experiments, Revolving Axe chose people whose political reliability was rather low - by NSC standards, at least."

"How come Sweetie Belle got herself on that list?"

"She criticized Commissariat on MyStable. She wasn't unpatriotic, and it took me a lot of time and nerves to prevent her from signing up for the army after the Manehatten Massacre - she wanted to do that because she was furious over the death of Babs Seed, with whom she, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were friends - but when NSC began cracking down a little too heavily, she left rather scathing remarks on whenever they messed up and the government was not willing to reign them in."

"Why would she want to sign up for the army? They didn't accept child soldiers, right?"

"Right, and the law clearly states that children are legally allowed to volunteer only when they turn eighteen, even if the country is in a state of war. But she was only fifteen, she could not serve, and I told her as such. We argued a lot, but some time later, a terrorist attack in Stalliongrad took the lives of our parents, and she was devastated, so she stayed with me."

"So she was deemed politically unreliable?"

"Revolver Axe's files showed that very thing, yes. But, you see, her criticism was only of Commissariat. His files on Vault 85 show that there were other people who were even more politically unreliable than Sweetie. They either criticized the whole government, or shown anti-war sentiments, or even were caught sympathizing with TODC. Compared to them, Sweetie was small fish. And while it was Ding Dong who invalidated her papers officially, he only did that with Revolver Axe's blessing, as I had learned from his personal diary. He wanted to get bigger fish, so instead of having Forced Evolutionary Virus injected into her, he sentenced her to die from overexposure to radiation. And he thought nothing of suffering of the people who disagreed with the higher-ups. I was all for punishing traitors, but that took things too far."

"How did you kill him?"

"He was hiding in Baltimare, in the part of the city that was not as irradiated as the rest of it. His hideout did not allow me to snipe him from afar, and he did not need to go out for resupplying, so I was forced to infiltrate and take him on in close quarters. He did not expect anyone to have a Stealth-Boy, though, so I shot him with my pistol in seconds. And I felt revitalized when I did it. But that's not the end. Want to know the ironic part?"

"What's the irony?"

"Revolver Axe was the one who captured TODC agents responsible for Manehatten Massacre. He was lauded as a hero on the news. Heck, Sweetie Belle actually got a letter of condolences from him when she mentioned on social media that Babs Seed died. She seemed really pleased about that, and even called him the best Commissar she knew. Pardon my unladylike language, but the irony is a fucking bitch."

"I don't know whether to scold you or to agree with you. I mean, a hero whom your sister liked went bad, sentenced her to death and who was killed by you? That's messed up in the extreme."

"The whole world is messed up, darling. I am messed up. We are messed up."

Twilight felt as if something punched through her solar plexus and went through, exiting from her back. Rarity's statement, bitter and dejected, resonated within her on a level she did not anticipate.

She is right. We're messed up. I am messed up...

"Let us continue our overwatch, darling, so that no one gets the jump on us," the indigo-haired girl leaned against her sniper rifle again, prompting Twilight to gaze into the awaking Brightlight.

When Applejack and Sunset woke up, both Twilight and Rarity were on the verge of exhaustion, so while the latter two were allowed to catch some extra sleep, Sunset and Applejack went outside with the extra loot they planned to sell.

There were several shops in Brightlight, each of them specialized in selling something particular: there was a shop that sold weapons and ammo, a shop with drugs and medicines, a shop that had clothes of all things, and a shop that traded armour. Street vendors majorly sold food and water or some junk, and some offered repairs to weapons, armour and clothes.

Sunset and Applejack came inside the weapons shop and proceeded to barter with the owner on the price of weapons they planned to sell. As they expected, the owner tried to lower the price as much as possible, which was naturally met with resistance. In the end, the assault rifles and pistols left behind by slavers and "zombies" yielded them 1751 caps, although Sunset still angrily muttered later that they should have gotten at least two thousand caps. In return, Sunset bought some energy batteries and microfusion cells for 920 caps in total, and Applejack bought several 7.62mm ammunition boxes for 400 caps, leaving 431 caps of profit. Both girls wanted to see if they could buy some weapons, but of the models that were for sale they either already had the same or the price for what they put an eye on was (in their opinion) outrageous. Sunset gagged when she saw that in this shop, AR-22 assault rifle (the one that Shock Gauntlet had) cost 2970 caps and Applejack muttered quietly, "Did he spit his bit or something?" and they left the shop.

In the armour store, they sold off bits and pieces of the armour salvaged from dead bodies for 1212 caps. Sunset had her eye on a set of used urban assault armour in good condition, but it had a tag of 3000 caps on it and she decided against it. After a revision of medicines they had, they decided not to visit the local drug store and returned back to see Twilight and Rarity fresh as a daisy. Splitting the profits, each girl got 410 caps, and Sunset (with everyone's agreement) claimed the extra three.

Soon, they approached the entrance to the buiding where Round Risk resided. The guards let them in almost immediately, and they were sitting in front of the mayor again.

"You have already seen the "zombie" attack of yesterday, so I will not bother you with description. They are aggressive and they have white eyes without irises and whatever else one has in an eye, and they consist of people that under normal circumstances would never work together. The refugees from Horseshoe Highway told us that they came from south-western or western area of the city, since relative to their position, the attack came from north-west."

The girls looked at each other, their expressions grim.

"We don't know what may be the reason for this happening," Round Risk continued. "The refugees don't either, and there are various theories. Some people think that there is some sort of secret Commissariat brainwashing technology. Some think it's some toxin or a rage-inducing substance. Some think it's aliens, believe me or not. Lunacy. I suspect that there is some sort of a bio-weapon loose in that part, since Stable Hearts Limited, as far as I know, dealt with pathogens for some governmental project. We can't be certain. One merchant, Cap Collector, has dug up a small collection of military-class gas masks, which he wants to deliver to Horseshoe Highway. He is currently looking for guards, since he will go through area full of super mutants and two-bit raider gangs. If you agree to investigate this mystery and tell me what is the reason, I will offer you a sum big enough to cover the costs for four gas masks. Sorry, but I don't think he has gas masks for dogs," he spoke, looking at Spike.

"Spike'll be fine," Twilight said.

"I hope so. Do you agree? If you uncover what it is, I will grant you a right to a discount at local shops. I believe you will not be against it."

"You're telling me," Sunset grumbled.

"I also will offer a cash reward of one thousand and five hundred caps for each of you."

"OK, now why do Ah think ya don't expect us to return?" Applejack spoke up, frowning.

"I don't deny that the chances of success are low. But I have asked around and found out something interesting," looking at Twilight and Sunset, he said, "never thought I would see the Daring Duo here."

Immediately, all girls tensed, and took on a defensive stance.

"Since you managed to prevail against White Knives and Crimson Hands, I think you stand a higher chance of returning, given your ability to defy the odds."

"Uh-huh," Applejack continued, unconvinced. "An' you're not pissed at them for sending Curve Blade to Tartarus, where he belonged? Ah'll eat mah hat if that's true."

"His death did deprive Brightlight of a good part of the profit, and these zombies showed up at the worst opportune time. If you four manage to give me information on what the heck these zombies are, good. And if you somehow nip this problem, six thousand caps is not that much of a loss compared to other variants."

"Hmpf."

"I believe we can look into it," Twilight spoke. "Can we get the caps now?"

"Yes. Here," Round Risk took out a sack, "four hundred caps. This should suffice."

"Thank you," the lavender-skinned girl took the sack and quickly recounted the caps. Convinced that everything was in place, she said:

"We'll be on our way. Good luck in defending Brightlight."

"Thank you. Good luck to you as well - stars know you're gonna need it in spades."

As the girls exited the mayor's office, they did some quick asking around where they could find Cap Collector, and were told to go to a specific "district" in the southern area of Brightlight where merchants tended to hang out before leaving the safety of the settlement. Also, this apparently was the place where caravan guards offered their services. Fortunately for them, there were not that many merchants around this particular time, as few dared to try and leave in southern direction now.

When the quintet met Cap Collector, he laughed heartily and shook their hands (Spike excluded; instead, the dragon-turned-dog received a small piece of fried meat, which he ate prompltly).

"Well aren't the Wastelands a tight place," he exclaimed. "What brings you two to Brightlight?" he addressed Twilight and Sunset, "and who are your companions?"

"We have some business here in Trottingham," Twilight replied, "and these two are our friends; we reunited by chance."

"Well aren't you lucky gals; many people wish they could say the same about their friends," his face fell a little, but he quickly changed his expression to a more bright one, "and I'll be damned, one of you even has power armour! Wish I could have one of the guards like that."

"Actually, since you mentioned guards - you said you want to go to Horseshoe Highway?" Sunset interrupted.

"Yeah," the merchant scowled, "and I can't find anyone to help me guard my caravan. As soon as I mention Horseshoe Highway, these chickenshits refuse to even discuss payment with me or charge an indecent price."

"Well, I have heard on the grapevine that you sell gas masks of military class. Let's make a deal: give us each a mask plus some caps minus the cost of said masks, and we will guard your caravan until you arrive at Horseshoe Highway."

"How about six hundred to each of you?"

"Er..." Sunset looked as if she wanted to negotiate a better price, but then spoke: "Eh, what the Tartarus, six hundread to each of us... Spike included," she smirked.

"What?!"

"He is a vital forward scouting element and without him we can't react to threats accordingly," Sunset continued with a deadly serious face. "It's only fair he is compensated as well."

"OK, lady, now you're just shitting me," Cap Colelctor crossed his hands and frowned.

"Alright, chill out, I was just messing with you," the fiery-haired girl laughed. "Six hundred to all of us and some free bits of meat to Spike, is that good?

"Hmpf. OK then, you have a deal. When will you be ready to move out?"

"Girls?" Sunset asked. "Anyone feels they need some last-minute shopping or repairs?"

A chorus of negative answers followed.

"Then we can move immediately," the fiery-haired girl told the merchant.

"Then let me do some quick pack-up and we move out."

As the gates of Brightlight closed behind them, Cap Collector addressed the girls:

"OK, everyone. I would like for my brahmins to remain alive, so I hope you do everything you can to get them and myself alive through this."

"We will," Twilight said. "We need to think on tactics, though. Clustering together is counter-productive and too high of a risk."

"Good thought, there is a chance someone might have a rocket launcher. It would be nice if someone were to scout ahead and the others remained close, just in case."

"Rarity is a sniper, and I have Spike, so I think both of us can scout relatively well. Applejack has power armour and she can take more punishment, though, which is no less important, I think. I don't know about Sunset."

"My scope works well from both positions, but I would like to avoid using too much of my Stealth-Boy if possible, and me sticking out will require much of its energy," Rarity replied.

"Why?" Applejack inquired. "You can't go without it?"

"Need I remind you that my armour isn't exactly built for frontline combat? I am not suggesting that you need to be thrown out into the fire line, far from it, but I am far less covered."

"She has a point," Cap Collector pointed out. "I think that if she remained close to me, she could look down the scope from the brahmin in all directions."

"That would make her too much of an attractive target," Sunset disagreed. "Better to have feet on the ground."

"Darn, didn't think of that."

"Then who goes forward? I go with Spike, anyone else goes with me?" Twilight continued. "If honestly, I thought Applejack would do good in defense."

"Ah ain't lettin' ya go out without support after your recent wounds, sugarcube," Applejack cocked her LMG and stepped forward. "Ah'm with ya."

"Me and Rarity stay in the back, then," Sunset declared. Twilight let Spike out of her rucksack, and the small dog ran forward, Twilight and Applejack running behind him, Sunset, Rarity and Cap Collector keeping distance.

The distance they needed to cover was not small by any means. There were forty kilometers between Brightlight and Horseshoe Highway, and they actually chose the shortest possible route without getting dangerously close to the ground zero. Cap Collector motivated the decision by the urgency, but this carried an additional risk of feral ghoul attacks or getting caught in a radioactive wind. As such, everyone agreed to try and cross the distance as soon as possible.

Spike was in the head, sniffing around for threats and barking if something caught his attention. When it happened, everyone brought their guns up, scanning around for potential threats. Most of the time, though, it was land mines.

"People drop them around sometimes, hoping that feral ghouls or super mutants get caught," Cap Collector spoke. "Honestly, I think it brings more harm than good."

Since none of them had the knowledge necessary to risk disarming the mines, this led to them having to take slight detours off course. This resulted in them losing time, which was deeply frustrating for everyone.

Several times, when Spike barked, they had to meet feral ghouls. Since everyone (except Rarity) had automatic weapons, they noticed the threat from afar and the groups of ghouls did not generally exceed 10-15 of them, they were quickly dealt with.

One time, however, they encountered super mutants. This forced Cap Collector to remain behind and struggle to control his two brahmins as the girls engaged the hulking green monstrosities. The combined-arms approach worked better than they expected: Applejack sprayed the area with suppressing fire or focused on pumping the enemies full of heavy bullets, Rarity worked with deadly precision, and Twilight and Sunset did their best to cripple the monsters or split their heads with bulletstorm, depending on the situation. Despite the resistance put by greenskins, they died pretty quickly.

As they approached Horseshoe Highway, several armed people ran up to the group and pointed their weapons at everyone.

"HALT!" a male voice cried, and everyone stopped.

"What the hay, man?!" Sunset screamed. "We're here to trade!"

"Shit, sorry, everyone!" the same voice shouted. "The zombies are sieging us again, we're a little tense here! Mind giving us a hand?"

"Just let the caravan in and we're coming!" the fiery-haired girl responded.

"Come on, then!" the armed men led everyone to the wooden fence surrounding Horseshoe Highway. There was a massive wooden gate which had two towers; as soon as the people standing there saw the incoming group, they shouted something, and the big doors slowly opened.

"Quick, man," the militiaman shouted, "I don't want them zombies coming here through the back gate. Oh fuck, called it!" he suddenly shouted, turning to the left, and sure enough, a ragtag group of people with familiar white eyes was charging them.

Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-dat! Applejack's LMG spat out 7.62mm bullets in a steady heavy staccato, halting the zombies in their tracks or dropping them. The militiamen of Horseshoe Highway joined in, getting rid of the stragglers.

"We're inside!" one of them shouted as the caravan crossed the gate. "Close it!"

The people began pushing it, Applejack and Sunset joining them, while Twilight, Sunset and Cap Collector began shooting in the narrowing hole, trying to keep the zombies away. In what felt like eternity, the Highwayers closed the gate and slid heavy bars into rings.

"OK, partner," Applejack spoke, dropping the empty box of her LMG and inserting the new one, "where's the gate we need to help y'all defend?"

"It's on the western side, come on, after me!" the militiaman responded, running in the aforementioned direction, Twilight after him, Rarity being next, then Sunset, and finally Applejack, as the latter one fed the belt into the feeder and closed the cover.

They passed small streets with broken asphalt, makeshift wooden houses or the remnants of pre-apocalyptic houses, and as they came closer, they heard shots and screams come closer and closer. A couple of minutes later, they came to a grisly sight.

The western side had extra walls and catwalks added to it with piles of sandbags thrown in, and like with the entrance they had just seen, there were two makeshift towers for snipers. However, zombies have managed to climb onto the defensive walls, and the defenders were engaged in a desperate fight for their lives.

Twilight barely suppressed a gasp as she saw one of the defenders fall down with a slashed throat, as the zombie brandishing a bloodied combat knife charged another defender, a young female in glasses. However, she managed to dodge his slashing attack and shot him point-blank with her revolver, then pistol-whipped him down off the wall. Unfazed, she took out the knife from behind her back and proceeded to stab one of another zombies in the back of the neck. The lavender-skinned girl shook herself out of stupor and raised her AP-79, aligning the holographic sight with another zombie that tried to attack the bespectacled female. Rarity dropped herself onto one knee and began sniping, taking zombies out with impeccably precise shots, and the chorus of other guns joined the fray.

Sooner than they thought, the attack winded down as the last zombie fell and landed onto her neck, which was bent at such an unnatural angle that it was pointless to doubt the fatality of such landing. As the Highwayers rushed in to help the wounded, the abovementioned bespectacled woman approached Twilight, Sunset, Applejack and Rarity; as she came closer, everyone took note of her blood-stained short pigtails. Angrily wiping off the droplets of blood of her glasses, the woman spoke:

"And here I thought I was hallucinating. You're just like the cavalry in every bad action movie, you know that? Arriving just in nick of time and such; if there were no fatalities among us, I would be actually laughing right now."

"I see your manners haven't changed at all," Sunset remarked.

"I saw no reason to change them. Still, happy to see some familiar faces. Let's head somewhere inside and talk. Maybe you'll be able to help me out of this clusterfuck."

"Lead the way, Sugarcoat."

Author's Notes:

I thought initially that the chapter would be longer, but on some deliberation, I decided that more generic action against feral ghouls and super mutants is not what is needed right now - they are not even the main threat anyway. I am also experiencing a shortage of writing time, which also contributed to cutting this chapter short.

Next chapters will pick up the pace, though, and will definitely be longer. And so will be the waiting period. I would like to update sooner, but I am still on my testing period on my new job, and I have recently received some criticism on my work, so yeah.

I hope you enjoyed the sudden surprise at the end of the chapter. I decided that this was a good moment to add my favourite Shadowbolt

Thoughts, comments and criticism, as usual, go into the comment box. Stay tuned!