"So, let me get this straight," Sunset rubbed her forehead, "Future-Tec complex is surrounded by a big-ass wall with turrets that have 30mm autocannons as well as homing missiles, not to mention that it probably has warbots inside, so a direct assault is suicidal. However, not only that, but we have those Flameswords as potential enemies, in addition to Trade Sixty-Six?"

"Why the word "potential", Sunset?" Flash asked, setting up an automated turret. "I am pretty sure that if they are enemies of Brotherhood, then they are our enemies as well. I don't think these guys differentiate between chapters."

"Me, Applejack and Rarity are not officially affiliated with Brotherhood of Steel, remember? Applejack does not have the sigil of Brotherhood on her power armour, now that I remember. If Twilight does not openly announce her allegiance with Brotherhood, Flameswords should not even attack her... although I am worried that they might mistake us for Brotherhood operatives if they see Applejack in power armour."

"I'm not sure about this. If Twilight does not wear the shoulder pad with Brotherhood insignia, then you four would not look like Brotherhood members. While people in power armour that are not affiliated with Brotherhood of Steel are rare, it is still possible to meet them. You could easily look like an independent warband. The only problem is that Twilight has a disk with Brotherhood codes. If you walk around with it inside her Pip-Boy, then Flameswords might attack you on sight, since their IFF will automatically mark Twilight as hostile, and I don't imagine you not firing in return if they open fire on her."

"So if I want to avoid attention from Flameswords, I should not have Brotherhood's codes active?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, and you should not display our insignia either. In fact, if you favour a stealthier approach, you should not travel with us unless necessary. Even if you happen to be with us with your codes inactive, Flameswords might not discriminate between you and us."

"That said," Sunset turned to her compatriot, "Twilight, what sort of approach do you prefer?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready to just up and shoot all the Flameswords just like that," Twilight said. "I know they are Brotherhood's enemies, and their interference may seriously mess with our mission, but I am not sure I can freely trust Elder Sierra as of now."

"Do you want to see him in person?" Flash asked.

"That night be preferable, although I am not sure of it. What is closer from here, Ponyville or Manehattan?"

"Ponyville," Rarity replied, still looking out of the window through her optical sight. "Maretonia - or, more correctly, its ruins - is the closest to us, then to the west and slightly to the north goes Ponyville. After that comes Manehattan and even further Appleloosa. Beyond that, there's the so called Saddle Desert, which is of no interest to us."

"OK," Sunset said, "so our task is to get to Ponyville, right?"

"And try and see whether there is significant presence of Flameswords to the south of Ponyville, yes," Twilight said.

"What kind of approach should we use?"

"Hmmm... truth be told, I am not in favour of openly displaying our flags. I'd prefer if Flash and other Paladins defended this house, as it appears to have become our primary base for the near future. Me and the girls will try to investigate the area without giving away our alliance, and hopefully avoid conflict. Although I am not sure how successful we will be. I tried to ask others about other possible threats before we left, but they were... reluctant to talk. Aside from Flameswords and Trade Sixty-Six and maybe two-bit raider gangs, I don't know what enemies we may encounter."

"As long as it's not someone like White Knives or Adagio again..." Applejack muttered.

"I hear you, Applejack. Hopefully, it... no, I shouldn't say it or I'll jinx it. What about the defenses of the house?" Twilight addressed Flash.

"With automated turrets and extra mines we have here, as well as mobile titan-kevlar-carbon polyalloy cover plates we managed to borrow, I think we're more than set against small threats. I'm still not certain how well we'd do against any heavily armed enemies, so if you want to do stealth, then you should investigate Ponyville as fast as possible."

"That was what I was thinking of," Twilight said. "Any objections?"

No one said a word.

"Alright, then I think we need to build a path. I looked at the map of Western Wastelands when we were in Western Chapter's HQ. There is an established settlement on approach to Maretonia, known as Donkey Stopper. It's not big, and there does not seem to be anything remarkable about it - primarily it's a place for travellers and merchants to stop and rest on the way to the ruins of Maretonia. There are no settlements in Maretonia itself, except one that is located near the Route 25 that goes from Maretonia to Manehattan and known as Straightlane, but several villages are spread out away from city outskirts. And further down the road, there is a town known as Marehoof. From that one, we can walk along Route 25 until we find a turn to Ponyville... in theory, that is. Brotherhood has Route 25 listed as a highly dangerous area, due to an overabundance of raiders and slavers in it."

"Why are there so many raiders and slavers?" Rarity asked.

"Route 25 apparently still serves as an important trade route between Marehoof and all settlements that are located near it, and many caravans are located there. It is a perfect place for someone who wants to capture slaves or just kill everyone and rob the caravan."

"Drat," Applejack said, "then we shouldn't use it, Twi. That's just asking for trouble, if you want mah opinion."

"The alternative is, unfortunately, no less risky," Twilight looked at her Pip-Boy, navigating the map. "In the last years, people have worked out a route to Ponyville, locally known as Little Pony's Walk. Despite its name, this path is not easy either. There are almost no tarmac roads there, and the place is infested with local mutated creatures, some of them very dangerous. There are cazadors' swarms and mirelurks' nests in the area, and rumours have it that a Deathclaw can be met there."

"Cazadors?" Sunset's eyes went wide. "And a Deathclaw? Forget it, Twilight, I'd rather face a dozen slavers with only a pistol than try my luck at that."

"What has you so scared, Sunset?"

"Er, haven't you heard of what these creatures are?"

"I'm afraid I haven't reviewed all the notes I got from the Brotherhood on that."

"Well, mirelurks are mutated crabs that have a rather tough shell, so if you find yourself against one, you should aim at its face, because their shell resists bullets pretty well. They also almost never appear alone, or at least merchants told us so, and facing them isn't a walk in the park, but it's other monsters that scare me. Cazadors are mutated wasps that have an extremely potent poison; if you get stung by one, you should have a special antidote on yourself or a SuperRegenStim, because without treatment, its stings are almost always fatal. And these creatures come in swarms, so you shoot one and the whole swarm goes after you. Fortunately, there's no more than a dozen cazadors in one swarm, but it's still trouble, since the most reliable way to get rid of them is to destroy their wings first and then shoot them. But Deathclaws are a stuff of nightmares."

"One of our patrols had encountered a Deathclaw once in Northern Wastelands," Flash took over. "Two Paladins and half a dozen Knights. They radioed for reinforcements, and we sent two dozens of heavily armed Paladins and forty Knights against it. When we arrived, none of that patrol survived, and the creature killed seven Paladins and ten Knights before our combined fire took it down."

Twilight gaped at him, unable to believe what she just heard.

"It did?"

"It did. Me and my boys saw it happen in person," Flash said, and the other Paladins nodded. "Bottom line is that Deathclaws are some sort of government's experiment on super soldier creation that went horribly wrong but managed to produce a creature capable of destroying power-armoured soldiers. They are extremely fast and agile, but also very strong and they can take severe beating before going down. Frankly, if you four go out there and meet one, you are dead. Even if we were to go together, I think we'd have a thirty percent chance of emerging victorious. That is, at least one of us standing at the end."

"Fortunately," Twilight interrupted, "the map I have has the locations of Deathclaws' hideouts marked, so we know where we should not go. The notes say that Deathclaws do not venture far from their places of habitat. As long as we stay five kilometers away from the hideout, we should not be attacked by a Deathclaw. And they are very few and far away from each other."

""Should not" and "will not" are two different things, Twilight, but if that gives us a wide enough path, then it may be worth the risk," Sunset said, still in doubt. "What else should we know about Little Pony's Walk?"

"There are several places of interest: Brotherhood's post Charlie-15, the remains of a factory owned by RobCo, a military base of 232nd Scout Regiment that apparently should still have some vehicles in working order but is overrun by super mutants, another military base that hosted personnel from 7th Mobile Artillery Division... apparently, we shouldn't go there either - it's surrounded by a minefield and some weird automated defense system operates mortars out there... oh, and the notes say to be wary of the area between two settlements known as Hoofgale and Colt Lake Town - according to the notes, it's a battlefield between some warring factions. And finally, there is a town known as Freemare - a rather large place, like Appletown. From it, one can easily get to Ponyville. Okaaaay... any ideas where we should go? I know that Route 25 sounds attractive, but I don't feel OK using it if we all don't go."

"Truth be told, Ah don't think we should take Route 25 either," Aplpejack admitted. "If we are under constant threat from them slavers and raiders, we may run out of ammunition sooner than we'd expect. The less people and critters we meet, the better."

"I am still not sold on Little Pony's Walk," Sunset admitted. "I admit I am pretty scared of cazadors and Deathclaws. The former we can handle, but the latter? No. And the way is rather long if we want to avoid all dangerous areas. We'd have to spend the night somewhere after that."

"There are abandoned villages all over," Twilight said. "We can easily do that."

"OK, but they might not be as abandoned as we may think. Just for future reference. All I'm saying is that I'm more for Route 25."

"Rarity?"

"I don't know, darling," the alabaster-skinned girl replied. "Route 25 is too perfect for ambushes, as far as I got it. But the prospect of facing cazadors and Deathclaws is scary as well. I guess I'll follow whatever you decide."

"Flash? What you and others would recommend?"

"Both options are very risky. And remember, you must actually reach Marehoof first. Western Wastelands are... tougher on travellers than Northern Wastelands," the ex-rocker said. "I'm afraid we really cannot say which is better."

Which means... the decision's on me, Twilight realized. After several minutes of pondering, she said:

"OK, girls. We'll go to Donkey Stopper tomorrow morning, at eight o'clock a.m., and will try to reach Marehoof, if possible. On the way, we'll gather more information, and then will decide whether we should take Route 25 or Little Pony's Walk. Deal?"

Everyone agreed.

"Excellent. Now let's recheck our equipment and restock ammunition. Stahlmesser was not the friendliest guy around, but he did not forbid us from using the HQ's armory to bolster our defenses - what with Flameswords and Trade Sixty-Six walking around - so help yourself to whatever you need. We did not carry that much ammo for it to lie around."

Several hours went by while the girls restocked their ammo supply and rearranged their equipment so it would be easier to carry, and also spent some time on weapon maintenance. Per Flash's advice, they packed several magazines of different ammo types - armour-piercing, hollow point, and even high explosive-incendiary/armour-piercing ammunition for Rarity's sniper rifle.

"If you meet Flameswords and come under attack, standard ammunition won't do much unless you manage to penetrate the armoured glass of the helmet or hit the places where microfusion power pack connects with the armour itself," he explained. "Armour-piercing ammunition normally can't do much damage to human body, since it does not flatten when hitting it, but it can damage the power exoskeleton underneath the plates."

"And what about this HEI/AP ammo?" Rarity asked.

"High explosive-incendiary/armour-piercing ammunition is best suited for taking out the power packs. T-72d and T-80b models can be taken out if you hit the power pack with that one. The incendiary agent destabilizes the power pack once its integrity is compromised, which may lead to instant armour deactivation."

Twilight and Sunset, who had energy weapons as well, picked up high-capacity batteries and microfusion cells. Flash showed them how to readjust the power output on the weapons so that the laser beam would deal more damage and penetrate easier - which would be useful against Flameswords as well.

"You'll have to be careful with overclocking the beams, though," Paladin Silverblade told both of them as they finished practicing.

"Overclocking?" Twilight asked.

"It's the slang term for adjusting the power output that was called such by some computer geek and gained popularity. As for why you need to be careful - well, the intense beam degrades the focus optics quicker than the usual one, so if you overuse it, your rifle will bust quicker. Sometimes it's better to use high-capacity cells as an extended magazine of sorts - keep the power at normal levels and you'll have twice the number of shots left."

"Thanks for the advice."

Once they were finished, Sunset asked Twilight to have a talk with her alone, without witnesses. The alicorn-turned-human was surprised, but agreed, and they went out of the house, backs turned to it. Sunset had asked Rarity to watch over them, so both Equestrians felt relatively safe under the ex-fashionista's watchful eye.

"OK, Sunset," Twilight asked her compatriot in a hushed tone, "what is it about?"

"It's about magic. I was rummaging among my personal effects when I found this."

On Sunset's palm lay something resembling a medallion that had her cutie mark emblazoned on it. Twilight wrecked her brains for a moment, trying to recall whether she had heard of something like this, and then remembered.

"It's something you gained when you were at Camp Everfree and my counterpart conquered her fear of her darker self?"

"Yes," Sunset confirmed. "This was formed from a crystal that Gloriosa Daisy, the camp's manager, had found in a cave that was full of Equestrian magic. After that event, although we were in places where Equestrian magic was not as prevalent as there or near CHS, the pendants still had lingering magic, and we could feel it. But now this pendant is totally inert. And speaking of which, remember me mentioning the emapthic abilities I had gained there?"

"Something vague about this does come up from my memories," Twilight scratched her chin.

"I have not paid a lot of attention to it during war and anything, but when the nuclear apocalypse occurred, I seem to... have lost the ability to gaze into minds of others."

"Really? Maybe you should try me?"

"Won't hurt to try," with these words, Sunset put her hand against Twilight's forehead, waiting for the rush of feelings and emotions to slam into her head as it did in Camp Everfree...

...the only thing she felt was the warmth of Twilight's forehead.

The fiery-haired girl strained all her senses in an attempt to feel the Equestrian magic inside her friend, but was unable to get anything. Her sense of magic was totally gone; she was just like a normal human in that regard. Trying to feel the magic inside her, as unicorns, could do, also ended in a dud. That revelation left Sunset very disappointed, but also vexed at the same time.

Fucking great. I had magic, and now I have really lost it and did not even notice it. Great fucking job, Shimmer.

"No," she breathed out, frustration lacing her words. "It's a dud. I can't gain a look into your mind, and I even can't sense your magic, or mine."

"Neither can I," Twilight said. "But... Adagio used magic, right? There has to be some way to do it..."

"Maybe, but whatever it is, I can't think of anything," the fiery-haired girl hung her head. Twilight thought for a moment, and then snapped her fingers in frustration.

"I am at a loss either. There is a theory I am thinking about, though..."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Not right now. I have not formulated it fully yet."

"When you do, tell me, OK?"

"Of course, Sunset."

The fiery-haired girl felt extremely bored as she sat behind the tesk, staring at the monoblock's screen as she shifted through the e-mails sent to RobCo Trottingham by... well, people. Spamming bots sent letters as well, but the spam screen took care of most of them, and if it did not, all it took was a request to the IT department to add another address to the spam screen filters.

There were several types of letters she had to deal with: internal memos, official governmental letters, customer complaints, business propositions from other companies, and spam that went past the filters. The first type was merely read, replied to or sent, the second were read very carefully and forwarded to wherever necessary, the third were immediately forwarded to the customer support department (with a mental promise to strangle the next person to send a complaint at the wrong address), the fourth were read and forwarded to the CEOs with her comments, and the last one was instantly deleted without reading.

In reality, the types of letters were more diverse, but in general there were these five categories.

Sighing, Sunset Shimmer took a sip from the cup standing on her table. At least the coffee she had here was pretty good. Her boss, Digit Rate, hated sub-par coffee with a passion, and had a high-class coffee machine installed, with high-quality coffee always available. In fact, he hated everything sub-par, and had a perfectionist streak, which made him a rather difficult boss to work with.

Sunset, however, managed to build a rather good workplace relationship with him. At least he never screamed at her. Well, Digit Rate did not scream or swear at women at all (as far as she knew), but he never particularly cared about the feelings of the person who found themselves a target of his wrath for some mess-up.

He also did not eye her up as... blatantly... as some men did if she had to leave her normal workplace. RobCo's dress code required that female secretaries dressed in a way that would not be blatantly sexual, but would still accentuate their beauty. The founder of RobCo believed that secretaries were the "face" of the company, and had laid down the requirements for secretaries' physical attributes, dismissing any criticism and accusations of discrimination.

Sunset knew that her body was considered rather attractive by human standards, but although her attire consisted of a white shirt, black leather skirt that came down to her knees, semi-transparent stockings and high-heels of the same color, she noticed regularly that she was eye-undressed at least once a day by males, and even some females once in a while. While she took pride of her beauty and being able to elicit such a reaction, as it boosted her confidence and self-esteem, the situation was still annoying at times. Especially if someone tried to use a bad pick-up line on her.

The salary, however, was a good balance against this inconvenience. And the view she had from the corporation's local HQ's was breathtaking.

Sunset could barely believe at times that she managed to get the job. Since she moved to Trottingham, she was surrounded by suspicion, due to the fact that TODC terrorist attacks and National Security Commissariat's paranoia changed the people's mindset to near paranoid. She was visited regularly by local police, who ensured that her registration papers were in order, which was not unnoticed by neighbours.

With this stigma, she was less likely to get a decent job. However, once she saw an ad for a secretary's position at RobCo, she decided to seize an opportunity and give it her best shot - and succeeded. Digit Rate was impressed by her management and rationalization skills, and repeatedly said that his letters and papers have never been in such an order.

Having been Princess Celestia's personal student still had some perks.

"Good morning, Miss Shimmer."

The smooth voice of her boss shook her out of musings, and she quickly gave him a polite smile.

"Good morning, Mister Rate. How are you doing this day?" she spoke.

"Fine, fine. What about you?"

"I am doing well. Would you like me to prepare your coffee, sir?"

"No need, Miss Shimmer, I will do it myself. Remind me, please, if there are any important meetings."

"At 14:00, you will have a meeting with the CEO of Sea Breeze Energy, and the head of Trottingham's division of National Security Commissariat has expressed his wish to meet you at 17:00 sharp."

"Thank you, Miss Shimmer. Inform the NSC that I will meet their head."

"Understood, sir. I'll send you the digest of important mail in five minutes."

"Thank you again."

Digit Rate went into his office, and Sunset continued sifting through the mail.

The day went by in a blur, with nothing unusual happening. Sunset worked as usual, sifting through mail, accepting calls and making a regular pause to stretch her muscles. Desk jobs were not the healthiest around.

Better than sitting on the frontline, though.

Since she was not born there, Sunset did not feel any particular loyalty towards the United Federation of Equestria. When her papers were pushed from the system, it was written in there that she was not born within the Federation, but her country of origin could not be determined, and she was granted UFE citizenship by virtue of being adopted by a foster family. Despite having lived in the human world for a long time, Sunset was not really inclined to fight in the war unless forced to, understanding that the true cause of war was the desire of higher ups to hoard the remaining natural resources for themselves - everyone else be damned. She disapproved of that, but wisely kept silent - one never knew what Commissariat would consider sedition this day.

As the time kept closer to 14:00, Sunset took care to prepare the meeting room for the upcoming talks with the CEO of Sea Breeze Energy. Despite the name, this company was not solely devoted to generating electricity via hydro-power stations, and was one of the biggest crude oil producers. RobCo cooperated closely with Sea Breeze Energy, and Digit Rate and the other CEO were on first-name basis, so this was nothing unusual for her. She knew what to do.

It was 13:46, and she and Digit Rate were looking out at the window. Sunset was sipping the black tea, as she had previously gotten several snacks into her stomach.

"Everything's perfect, Miss Shimmer, thank you."

"Thank you, Mister Rate. I'm glad everything is to your liking."

"Flow Cloud keeps telling me he wants to steal you from me, believe me or not."

Sea Breeze Energy's CEO wants to get me? Now that's news, Sunset thought, but said instead:

"Steal me, huh? I need to remind him that kidnapping people is a criminal offence, punishable in wartime by ten to twenty years in prison."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Digit Rate laughed. "You know what I meant, Miss Shimmer."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I am not inclined to change my employer at the moment."

"Heh. Glad to hear. Flow will be disappointed."

For some time, Sunset sipped her tea in silence, until Digit Rate spoke up again:

"Miss Shimmer... may I ask you a personal, non-work-related question? Not as your boss?"

The fiery-haired girl raised an eyebrow, but answered:

"Yes, you may."

The man shifted in place, looking somewhat uncomfortable, and turned to her, speaking in a slightly less confident than usual tone:

"Miss Shimmer, there's no way I can phrase it differently, so... are you dating anyone at the moment?"

The young woman almost choked on her tea, but managed to avoid doing a spittake and set the cup and the plate on the table.

OK, I totally did not see that one coming. Why is he asking me that? What is his motif? I know businessmen usually prefer to hire those that are single and not dating, but he can't be checking for that just to fire me if this were otherwise, right?

Turning back to her boss, she replied, adorning a serious facial expression:

"That's a rather bold question, Mister Rate. I will answer, but I would like to hear what prompted you to ask me this."

"And I will answer you, Miss Shimmer. You see, I have been a widower for six years, when I lost my wife to cancer. After this time, only now I have decided to... try and have a relationship with a woman again. I have been thinking for some time, and realized that I am... infatuated with you, shall we say? But I cannot approach you like this if you're already seeing someone; that's why I'm asking this."

Silence fell again, the air getting tense. Sunset spent some time composing herself; the admission threw her off the hook.

OK, he surprised me again. I did not know that tidbit; then again, it's his private life. If he shared that with me, he certainly did not do it on a whim. But he might be looking for a quick fling instead of a relationship. I need more information.

"Okaaaay... you've been rather straight to the point. To answer your question, no, I am not dating anyone. Truth be told, I have not really put myself on a dating market."

"Oh... I see."

"May I ask a question in turn?"

"Go ahead."

"Why me? What made you consider me as a romantic interest?"

"Well, that's actually two questions," Digit Rate chuckled, and Sunset rolled her eyes at the cheesy humour, "but I'll ignore that. As for why I set my eyes on you... that's a complex question for sure. I cannot name some single thing that sets you apart from the rest. I think it's more like how well many little details that make you... well, you, align together with each other, and how they create a beautiful... I dunno, unity?"

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air.

"Goodness I've become so rusty at speaking to women..." Digit Rate facepalmed in embarrassment.

"So..." Sunset tried to break the tension, "it's not just my looks, or my stature, or personality, but everything that you find attractive in me?"

"At the risk of sounding very corny, yes."

Corny indeed, but at least it seems he is honest. "And what kind of relationship are you looking for? Is it a serious, long-term relationship you want, or something like friends-with-benefits relationship?"

"I definitely wouldn't be against a long-term relationship, although I'd like to see if we're truly compatible first. I have always preferred slow-paced relationships. My wife, may she rest in peace, liked to complain about it," Digit Rate smiled, "although she never really meant it."

"And the fact that I am your direct subordinate? Not to mention this relationship - pardon my bluntness - would look like a plot from a boss-secretary porn movie?"

This time, her boss laughed uproariously.

"Well, I have never been one to care about what others think of me and my relationships. After all, I hired you instead of others that had several degrees behind the belt but no brains in their head. I never told you, but I got some flak from others for it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Don't be. As I said, I didn't care. And I told them to... ahem... perform an anatomically impossible act, so to say."

The fiery-haired girl stood, pondering over the bombshell she just experienced. After Flash Sentry, she has not really experienced the wonders of dating and romantic relationship. The graduation, the work, the worries of war - it just never occurred to her that she was a young woman. Well, a unicorn in a female human's body, but she has lived in the human world for so long she had trouble envisioning herself as a pony. And Digit Rate certainly seemed a good potential mate... if she were to desire so, that is.

This is all too sudden and confusing, Sunset thought.

"Well..." she started, then paused for a second. Sighing, she continued, "I am not saying I would be against it, but... this is too sudden. And I am not sure I think of you in a romantic way. Can I think on this for some time before answering, Mister Rate?"

"Of course, Miss Shimmer. And thank you," her boss replied.

"For what?"

"For your honesty."

"Ah, heh-heh... no thanks required."

"Let us prepare for the meeting, then."

Sunset took her cup of tea again, and took a sip. Both of them stood in silence, mentally preparing themselves.

They were not prepared for what occurred, however.

A wailing sound pierced the air, loud, dreadful and chilling. Sunset felt as her hair tried to stand up even where it did not grow.

"What the..." Digit Rate muttered, as he turned on the Radiation King radio, which was preset to a specific frequency. The wailing sound that could be heard from the street repeated itself from the radio for a few times, until it was replaced by a loud and monotone voice:

"This is a message from Priority One Nuclear Warning System. This is not a drill. Repeat: this is not a drill!"

"It can't be..." Sunset whispered. The words "this is not a drill" were the worst thing she could have heard after hearing a nuclear attack siren. She hoped never to hear it, and prayed she misheard, but the next words from Priority One Nuclear Warning System, or PON-WS, as it was commonly known, destroyed that hope:

"To all citizens of United Federation of Equestria. The country is under a nuclear attack. Intercontinental ballistic missiles have been launched from TODC territory and are on their path towards the Federation. The data has been confirmed. More attacks may follow. All citizens are to evacuate from the areas that can be targeted by a nuclear attack. Participants of Project Safehouse by Vault-Tec are to proceed to their designated Vault immediately. Obey all lawful orders from the government, National Security Commissariat, military authorities, police and civil defense departments. Remain calm and avoid panic. Take your passport and other identificating documents with yourselves, as well as food rations, medicines and clear water. If you have a portable radio, take it with yourself, but remove the batteries from it. Insert the batteries inside and switch on the radio once you are safely away from the blast radius. Take measures to avoid radioactive fallout, as well as other harmful factors of a nuclear blast. Once you are aout of the blast zone, proceed to the nearest civilian evacuation center. Stay tuned to this wavelength for further instructions."

The siren continued to wail outside.

Crash! The cup that Sunset was holding fell on the floor and broke into pieces of porcelain, spilling the remains of the tea on the carpet. Her mind struggled to reboot after the doomsday message.

This... this can't be happening!

"Miss Shimmer!" Digit Rate tried to remain calm, but she could clearly tell he was in panic. "Do you have the emergency package with yourself?"

"Y-yes..."

"Grab it quickly and go to the roof! We'll get away with a vertibird!"

It only took six minutes for Sunset to grab her ID and Vault admission papers along with some other necessities and run to the roof - impressive, considering she was in her high-heel shoes.

As she was on the top, she saw a lone vertibird standing on the surface, primed for flight.

Where's Digit Rate? she thought.

"Shimmer!" she barely heard someone shout. It was someone from the higher-ups who worked on the same floor where she was. "Stop gawking and get inside! We don't have much time!"

Driven by instincts of self-preservation, Sunset crossed the distance until the vertibird in an impressive timerate of eight seconds. In a hurry, she forgot to exchange her high-heels for more comfortable shoes, so even she was slightly impressed by herself.

The man who shouted at her stuck out his hand. Sunset grabbed it without thinking, and was pulled inside. The vertibird's doors closed, and the fiery-haired girl felt a small lurch as the aircraft rose from the ground. She sat in one of the seats, closest to the window that now had the panorama of Trottingham below. Sunset's stomach churned at the thought that she was seeing Trottingham like this for the last time...

The vertibird was racing away from the city...

FLASH!

A blinding light assaulted her eyes, forcing her to shut her eyes out of instincts before they burnt out from the intensity. Screams pierced her ears as everyone started shouting in panic, their voices becoming an incomprehensible garble. The flash receded, and Sunset was able to briefly look out of the window.

For a small moment, she saw the buildings crumble, and then the pilot turned the vertibird away, trying to force the maximum speed out of the engines, blocking her view.

Whatever speed the vertibird had, it was not enough.

The compressed air hit the aircraft, making it spiral out of control. A siren rang from the cockpit as the pilot tried to regain control of the vehicle, but it was to no avail.

Amidst the primal fear and horror at the prospect of her impending doom, Sunset had only one thought in her mind:

The bombs were not supposed to fall this soon!

This thought dominated her mind as the world spun around, ground gradually getting closer and closer...

Sunset awoke with a gasp.

Five seconds passed until she was able to gauge her surroundings, and then she understood what happened.

It's been a long time since I had that nightmare.

She really disliked reliving that day in her dreams. Of course, since she was still alive, the events went differently.

For instance, the vertibird made it safely out of the blast radius before the nuclear warhead hit Trottingham. They still saw the flash from the explosion, but they were not hit by the shockwave, and even if the vertibird was hit by an electromagnetic pulse, the complex and prohibitively expensive anti-EMP-insulation of the onboard avionics worked as advertised.

The bomb did hit sooner than expected, but they were already far away.

The transport delivered them to Vault 75. Few of the survivors of the nuclear war.

Despite all her negative feelings towards Vault-Tec, Sunset still felt grateful that they provided RobCo with the emergency straight-to-Vault evacuation service. Of course, it was for the executives, not the common folk, but the benefit of being a secretary to the local CEO was closeness to the helipad. And during the panic that took place once the message from PON-WS hit the waves, no one asked questions whether she actually paid for said service. Some higher-ups that happened to be in the same Vault as her did, however, and since she was almost always near Digit Rate, someone probably assumed that the latter paid for her. There were enough rumours of them being secret lovers to lend credence to that theory.

Or maybe the guy who grabbed her hand as she ran up to the vertibird just was kind enough to let her in despite her not having paid for emergency evacuation.

Sunset tried not to think of the fact that she might have taken someone's place in that vertibird. Someone who actually paid for that, and stood bewildered, seeing no vertibird on the helipad, before the heat and the shockwave killed them...

She shook her head violently. What was done, was done. She could not change the past.

The unrequired feelings of guilt still were there in her mind, however.

Punching the pillow in frustration, Sunset turned to the other side, hoping to catch some nightmares-free shut-eye.

The track through Western Canterlot Wastelands would require all of her strength, and she needed to be at one hundred percent.

Next morning, Twilight, Sunset, Aplejack and Rarity gathered together on the ground floor. Twilight and Flash were setting up the portable radio station to communicate with Elder Aegis, as everyone else kept watch on the outside.

Finally, the station was set, and Twilight spoke to the microphone:

"Squad Rapture to Base. Come in, Base."

"Reading you loud and clear, Rapture. Do you read us?"

Recognizing the parlance for establishing connection quality, Twilight replied as taught:

"Loud and clear. Requesting a comm line to Elder. Code - Revolver Hammer Strike, two-five-seven."

"Code recognized. Establishing comms, please wait."

Silence followed, until Aegis' voice rang in her headphones:

"Aegis here."

"Knight Sparkle reporting," Twilight replied. "We secured a house formerly belonging to Traders Sixty-Six. Established contact with Western Chapter's Star Paladin Stahlmesser, as Elder Sierra was away on a mission. According to Stahlmesser, Future-Tec complex is inaccessible due to presence of active Thunderfire turrets and sophisticated access system. In addition, a group of defectors named "Flameswords" threatens the Western Chapter. Stahlmesser requested that we investigate a location likely to be their main base, to the south of Ponyville. If we manage to eliminate the threat, he promises support in my mission. Over."

"Understood. How do you plan to proceed, Knight?"

"By not declaring my allegiance to Brotherhood. Only auxiliary squad will go with me. Paladin Sentry and his squad will defend our current position. We managed to augment the defenses of the house with automated turrets and portable anti-assault shields provided by Western Brotherhood Chapter."

"Excellent. Proceed with your mission, Knight, and don't let anyone discover your affiliation with the Brotherhood. This threat must be eliminated. Do you have anything else to report?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Good. Aegis out."

The connection broke, and Twilight said:

"Well, he basically said to to what Stahlmesser told us to do. I guess we better get to it, then."

"Be careful, everyone," Paladin Silverblade spoke. "Use emergency transmitters in your Pip-Boys if you are in great danger. We will do our best to get to you ASAP."

"Thanks."

The girls left the house and left in the direction of Donkey Stopper, their first destination.

Twilight vividly recalled her first times out in the Canterlot Wastelands, when it was just her and Sunset. She had a similar feeling of apprehension and wariness, mixed with tension as she tried to notice any potential threat before it got the jump on them.

This time was slightly different, because she had Applejack and Rarity beside her as well, but the unfamiliar environment and new dangers lurking beyond the horizon put her in a familiar state of apprehension. Considering that neither Applejack nor Sunset were here, and Rarity had not ventured into Western Wastelands very often, all girls were tensed as coil springs.

Overwhelming as the sense of near-paranoia was, it proved to be very useful... somewhat. As the girls traversed through one rocky area where the road was wavy like a snake and Rarity could not use her sniper rifle to her advantage, they had the misfortune of running into cazadors. As Sunset said, they indeed looked like overgrown wasps. Scared out of her wits, Twilight instinctively opened fire. Her bullets quickly made the cazador she encountered stay dead - but more of them followed from the nest that was located a bit further ahead, hidden inside a small cave. And some of them were bigger than the one Twilight shot.

"Aim for the wings! Don't let them come close!" Sunset shouted, firing from her assault rifle. Twilight had her laser rifle at the ready, and she began firing on cazadors as well. Unfortunately, laser rifle's rate of fire was not big, and hitting the wings was harder. In fact, Applejack and Sunset fared better because the cones of their fire left better chances at crippling the cazadors.

Despite their best attempts, a lone cazador that apparently was the strongest managed to approach Twilight and sting her. Startled by pain, she gave him a kick that pushed it back and fired at point blank range, killing the mutated insect. Several seconds later, she felt her head getting very dizzy.

"Oh ponyfeathers," she swore.

"Drat, there goes the first antidote," Sunset said. "Applejack, Rarity, hold her still."

The girls did as asked, and Sunset took out a syringe with the antidote. Carefully setting the needle against Twilight's neck, she pushed the plunger.

"Uuuuurgh," Twilight groaned.

"Don't moan. The antidote's no less nasty, but we need to get the poison out of your system."

The antidote's nastiness proved to be in nasty side effects. Twilight spent the next half an hour in a fever, feeling her body burning inside, and regirgutating the contents of her stomach as she lay on the ground, unable to stand from dizziness. Every couple of minutes she would curse, using either Equestrian or human versions of obscene language until she was able to stand and move.

"Note to self," she said, "be careful when firing on a cazador. Shoot one, and a swarm will come."

"Truth be told," Rarity spoke up, "I am not sure we would have been able to avoid the fight. This particular nest is too close to the road anyway. Are these creatures territorial?"

"Yes, they are," Sunset replied, "and now that I think of it, Rarity's right. We would have angered this swarm anyway."

"Let's hope we won't meet any more unavoidable nests," Applejack said.

"Spit, Applejack," Sunset said immediately, "don't jinx it."

The blonde girl immediately made three quick consecutive spitting sounds, making Rarity wrinkle her forehead in distaste.

"Twilight," Spike spoke from the rucksack, "can I take a sniff? If I know how cazadors smell, I might warn you in advance."

"OK, Spike," the lavender-skinned girl set him down. taking several sniffs, Spike made a nasty expression and spoke up:

"Yeeeesh. They even smell nasty. Well at least I know how they smell. Shall I take the lead?"

"Yes, but be careful and return immediately if you notice something. And try not to bark. We don't want to grab unnecessary attention."

"I hear you, Twilight."

The quintet moved ahead, eyes looking in all directions. They still had an hour and a half to go until the Donkey Stopper, and many things could happen in that time.

One thing did happen, when the girls and Spike stumbled into a nest of giant mutant ants. The beasts were not horribly dangerous, but they were very numerous, and the soldier ants have apparently developed a tendency to hurl some sort of an inflammable mucus at them. Rarity was forced to duck to avoid one of the flameballs, which landed on Applejack's frontal chest piece, sizzling out. The blonde girl raised an eyebrow at the giant ant that hit her, and a small burst of fire from her minigun turned the mutant into paste.

"There's no kill like overkill," she laughed.

As they got rid of the ants, the girls moved on. Without any unpleasant surprises on the way, they reached Donkey Stopper.

Donkey Stopper was not a large settlement by any means. Smaller than Appletown, it consisted of one rather large three-storey building that apparently served as a hotel, and smaller houses built from wood, typical for any farmers that spent their lives outside of big cities and in villages. Each house had a fence that surrounded it and the small patch of land where various plants and berries were grown. According to the data Twilight got from the Brotherhood of Steel, the town's economy was based on letting merchants stay with their caravans at a rather comfortable (by post-apocalyptic standards) hotel, and selling whatever the locals grew.

The town did not seem to be very well defended, but Twilight noticed that every local was armed, so she wisely decided not to underestimate them. For all she knew, Donkey Stopper could have military-grade weapons in their arsenal. That, and people with unmistakable profiles of sniper rifles lurked in the windows.

Their posse drew all kinds of looks, from astonished to apprehensive. When they arrived at the hotel, the lone guard at the entrance gulped and spoke, trying to hide his fear:

"Hello, ladies. Do ya need something?"

"Some rest and food and maybe check what you have for sale," Twilight said. "We're going to Marehoof."

"It's not often we see someone who is not a merchant wanting to go there," the guard said. "Especially warbands like yours."

"Warbands?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"That's what we call groups like yours, gal. Not raiders, not gangsters, not slavers, not merchants, not those from Brotherhood of Steel. Local slang; better get used to it if you're going to be in Western Wastelands for a while."

"Huh. Interesting. Thanks for the info."

"You planning to stay for a night?"

"No, we need a few hours' worth of rest, a place to temporarily dump our load and just chat about local news."

"Well, come in and ask the lady behind the stand. Her name's Homina Edelweiss. She'll tell ya everything. And don't start any messes here."

"Wasn't planning to. Thanks."

Homina Edelweiss turned out to be a woman in her early fifties, with already greying hair. She greeted them rather kindly, and informed them that a room would cost them one hundred caps in total. The girls paid the sum, and the lady gave Spike a dog's treat, which he munched rather happily.

The girls dumped the majority of their load in the room. Applejack agreed to stay and guard it, and Rarity turned on her Stealth-Boy to follow Twilight and Sunset around as the two Equestrians left to see what the town had to offer.

Unfortunately, an hour later, they had to conclude that they lacked necessary information to conclude whether to use Route 25 or the Little Pony's walk. The locals did not get out of Donkey Stopper, preferring to get the news from either the merchants or CWN, although the strength of the signal was rather lousy in the area - as Twilight discovered to her annoyance.

The pair was on the way to find something to eat, when they heard a man with black hair (and some gray streaks in it) say in a drawling, grumpy voice:

"Well ain't that the She-Demon and her little friend."

"She-Demon?" Twilight whispered, as a brick fell into her stomach.

This person couldn't know about me vs. Sunset match at Canterlot High...

"Of all the fucking..." she heard Sunset grumble, and then exclaim in a faux-jovial tone:

"Hello, Mr. Doodle! How are you doing?"

...or could he?

Turning to the source of the voice, Twilight saw two persons who, if one were to look carefully, did resemble a certain couple of donkeys whose wedding she missed because of a bugbear attack (and Derpy Hooves).

"As well as one can do once the world got blown to smithereens," Cranky said. "You lot look scrawny as Tartarus. You wanna come in? Matilda just made excellent stew."

"Er, can we call our friends first? Applejack and Rarity?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, they're with ya? Come on, call them before the stew gets cold."

Twilight nodded and ran.

"Heh," Cranky smiled slightly, "never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad to see you alive, Shimmer."

"Same here, Mr. Doodle."

Both Applejack and Rarity were surprised to see Cranky Doodle alive, and gladly accepted his invitation to dinner. Matilda set up a table for them, and everyone received a good option of brahmin stew. Feeling hungry, the girls and Spike greatly appreciated the efforts of Matilda, and thanked her profusedly.

"No thanks needed. Eat it up while you're here and Cranky's feeling generous," the elderly woman hugged her husband.

"Really, Matilda, I'm not stingy and you know that," Cranky grumbled.

"I know, but you aren't really keen on having guests here."

"Because few of them had the decency to invite us as guests instead of grabbing the free food. For us, it's not free. And I haven't seen my former students for a long time. Who else but them deserves a good meal?"

"I wouldn't use the word "deserve", Mister Doodle," Twilight said, "but we are grateful for your generosity. Considering our plans and dangers of the Wastelands, it might be long before we eat home-cooked food again."

"Thank you for kind words, Sparkle. That said, what're you four doing right now?"

"Well... I lost some of my memories, and I am trying to retain them, following the clues I find along the way."

"And others are helping you?"

"Yep," Applejack replied, chewing. "We hadta help Twi."

"Young lady, don't talk with your mouth full. It's bad manners."

"Oh c'mon..." Applejack grumbled, and Sunset chuckled.

"Some things never change... it seems even the end of the world didn't change you, Mister Doodle."

"The world's not dead yet, Shimmer. It merely got dropped into Tartarus pretty fast, and doesn't want to crawl out."

"True. Anyway, I have a question. Can you tell us some sort of what's going on in Western Wastelands? CWN signal doesn't go well in the area."

"Yeah, can't always catch the blasted broadcast either. Thing's not been the same since damned Brotherhood of Steel knocked out the radio tower that transmitted CWN's waves."

The girls pointedly refrained from looking at each other.

"Why did those varmints do that?" Applejack asked.

"No damned idea, lass. Tin cans did it a couple of months ago, or three maybe? All i know is that one day CWN's signal is weak, and then merchants tell me that Brotherhood knocked the damn tower off."

"That's... lousy," Twilight commented. I'll have to ask Stahlmesser about that. "Was it really Brotherhood? I heard rumours that there's some group that deserted from there, so it could be them, in theory."

"Kid, I only say what merchants told me. And they listen to word of mouth. Maybe it was that group. You think someone's gonna check who the guys in power armour were? The only guys in tin crates that locals know 'bout are Brotherhood Paladins. Applejack here might be the first one not from Brotherhood... or are you a member of Brotherhood, Applejack?"

"Nah, Ah ain't. One ex-Paladin gave the suit to me, and Brotherhood varmints wanted it back. Ah wasn't going ta part with it, an' Twilight here worked a compromise, so they lay off of me. That was the Northern Chapter, though, maybe these guys are worse."

"Maybe."

"There's one thing I wanted to ask you girls."

"Ask ahead," Sunset said.

"Lately some bastard started killing our brahmins left and right. If that goes on, our whole cattle's gonna die and Donkey Stopper will be badly hit. It always happens at night, but we just can't find the culprit, they're too crafty. If you aren't in a hurry, maybe you could help the town?"

The girls looked at one another.

"Hmmm..." Twilight said. "Our initial plan was to get to Marehoof as soon as we can, but I can't think of any viable reason to say no. Girls?"

No one objected.

"All right. Mister Doodle, when do the killings happen?"

"Between eleven p.m. and three a.m. at night. Whoever this git is, they're crafty. We never caught them, even when a dozen of ours was on patrol."

"And where?"

"Mostly at north-west, although they hit both western and northern sides as well."

"Then we'll do a stakeout."

"I'll talk with locals and see who's willing to help."

"Thank you. And thank you both for the dinner."

"You're welcome," Matilda smiled.

When the clock hit eleven p.m., girls were already in position. Applejack was looking over the north-western side, Twilight had the western side, and Sunset looked at the northern one. Rarity took position on the hotel roof, which allowed her to oversee all three directions.

The girls activated their Pip-Boys, which had radio transmitters installed in them now.

"Comm check," Sunset spoke into her Pip-Boy. "Everyone hear me?"

"Yes."

"I hear ya."

"Loud and clear, darling."

"Hear you loud and clear too. Alright, keep your eyes open, and call others if something happens."

The others murmured their acknowledgement and stared into the night.

Twilight felt herself fall into the now very familiar routine of intense concentration when faced with boring yet life-threatening situation. The nature of threat to Donkey Stopper was unknown, and the onlly somewhat relaxing thing was that the attacker, whoever they were, did not use firearms.

Then again, that could change.

Several armed men were nearby, but in the distance. Not many volunteered to keep watch - most preferred to guard their own cattle, if they had it. Those who were present were armed with hunting rifles or pump-action shotguns of civilian models - not that impressive compared to the girls' arsenal. Then again, Cranky must have thought that their group stood a better chance than the locals.

Spike was sniffing around as well, but so far he was unable to sense anything.

Minutes drew on in tense silence, until...

"Twilight," Spike said quietly, "I feel some strange smell. It's not brahmin and not locals."

"What is it?"

"I can't say. Something feels familiar about it, but the scent itself is totally unfamiliar to me..."

"Hmmm... Spike, trace the scent."

Following her assistant, Twilight switched on her Pip-Boy radio and said:

"Rarity, Twilight here. Can you keep overwatch on me? Spike sensed something."

"Yes, darling."

Twilight held her laser rifle at the ready, eyes darting to the sides as Spike traced the scent to one of the small barns where one family kept their brahmin. The dragon-turned-dog said that the scent followed to the other side of the barn, where its door was located. The family that owned said brahmin let it walk around in their yard at night, so the door was not locked, which Twilight personally found stupid.

The lavender-skinned girl made several tentative steps, when she heard a horrible mooing sound.

Her blood froze. Forgetting everything, she rushed forward.

Although the barn was not really lit, the moonlight still illuminated enough of the horribly mutilated animal to recognize the source of the death scream of the animal. Taking a few steps forward, Twilight looked around inside, trying to locate the culprit.

They couldn't get far...

Then she hit something.

Taking a step back, she peered forward, not understanding what just happened.

Then she understood.

Her insides instantly fell below earth, and she screamed in primal fear.

Rarity could not clearly see Twilight once she entered the barn.

She expected many things to happen, but she did not expect Twilight flying out from the barn.

Shocked by the scene, Rarity pulled the trigger out of pure instinct, and a .308 bullet hit...

...something.

The shimmer of a cloaking field revealed the adversary as something of a size of a...

...super mutant?!

The size of the figure certainly resembled a super mutant, and judging by the outline of the shimmering cloaking field, it held a hydraulic hammer designed for mine workers, more commonly known as a super sledge.

Oh fuck! Rarity swore in her mind, and shot again, aiming at the beast's head. Another bullet raced to its target, and hit it, but super mutants were infamous for not being killable with one shot to the head.

Twilight tried to stand and run away, but it resulted in another super sledge hit across her back, which sent her flying again. However, the girl landed near the laser rifle she had released out of her hand when she flew back, and she wasted no time in picking it.

Laser fire managed to disrupt the cloaking field, revealing a super mutant with a strange dark-blue skin tone. Before the beast approached Twilight, Rarity shot it to the head again, and Cranky Doodle, who arrived at the scream, also fired at the mutant from his lever-action shotgun.

Another .308 finally cracked the skull of the strange super mutant and splattered its brains around.

Forgetting everything, Rarity ran down. When she arrived at the scene, she heard Cranky Doodle curse profusedly while checking Twilight for damage.

"And here I thought this was a myth," he said. "A nightkin."

"What?"

"A nightkin. Merchants were talking about rumours of super mutants with this skin colour who used cloaking devices, the so-called nightkin. People weren't inclined to believe them. Now I see the merchants were right."

"I wish they weren't," Twilight moaned, injecting RegenStim into herself. "Damn it hurts like a bitch... now we have super mutants with Stealth-Boys. Fucking great, what's next? A flying spaghetti monster?" she growled, putting her armour back on.

"You alright, darling?"

"Pip-Boy's medical program shows no internal damage to my organs and my ribs are fine. The thing's super sledge was very poorly maintained, judging by its look, or I would have more than bruises."

"What's happened?" Applejack shouted, running up to them, minigun at the ready. "You OK, y'all?"

"More or less," Twilight replied.

"What the hay is that nightmare stuff?" Applejack pointed to the nightkin.

"A nightkin, basically a super mutant who uses Stealth-Boys."

"Whut?! Oh fucking hay's bales, that's one mighty problem."

"Yeah," Cranky said, "they say the things are besieging Route 25 now. Guess it's even more dangerous now."

The girls looked at each other.

Then...

"Hey girls, you hear me?" Sunset's voice came out from their Pip-Boys, along with gun fire. "Someone's attacking the village! Hurry and - oh shit!.."

"Sunset? Sunset, talk to me!" Twilight shouted back.

No response.

"Damn it!" she ran in the northern direction, others following suit.

They arrived too late, unfortunately. Whoever the attacker was, they retreated very fast, and judging by the fact that some of the locals were dead from bullet wounds, it was not nightkins - at least, not nightkins who used melee weapons.

A lone survivor, badly wounded Homina Edelweiss, told them that some group of people mercilessly attacked the town, overpowering the defenders, and before anyone mounted a proper defense, they left, but not without capturing some people.

Twilight's blood ran cold.

Quickly she searched through the area.

As she feared, she could not see Sunset.

Spike sniffed around, trying to find their missing friend. Finally, sniffing at a small trail of blood droplets, he said:

"Yep. That's definitely Sunset's blood."

Author's Notes:

I decided it was time to be evil for a bit. So have a cliffhanger

TBH a good part of the chapter was improvised. I totally did not plan to introduce Cranky and Matilda. But as the chapter rolled on, I decided - hey, why not? Hope you were pleased

Cazadors are second worst motherfucking things after Deathclaws

Also, I saw Legends of Everfree. More than two weeks ago, I think. The power of the Internet And fortunately, it did not screw over with my original plans. There was a thing with girls' new powers, of course, but I had devised a bypass for that back when I saw the trailer and sneak peeks, and the movie did not invalidate that. But that's spoilers, and I'd rather avoid talking about magic in my story after the mess with Adagio for at least five chapters from now.

Moreover, the new movie inspired another plot line for Fallout: Equestria Girls, actually. I will make a blog post about Legends of Everfree and how it affects my projects later.

Thoughts, comments and criticism are welcome. Stay tuned!