A knock came on Travis' door.

Followed by more fervent knocking a few seconds later.

"Travis."

"TRAVIS!"

More knocking that evolved into pounding. "TRAVIS!"

The radio DJ woke up and groggily stumbled to the trailer door, unlocking it and swinging the door open.

"What?" He asked, looking down. He couldn't even recognize who he was talking to, the sleep was still in his eyes.

"You left the music playing, Ohh, Baby Baby by Smokey Robinson has been playing on repeat for the last hour! On more time, and someone's going to have a fit!"

"Huh?" Travis said, letting the question sink in. "Oh." Turning around, he flicked the switch to the broadcasting equipment off.

"Just..."

Kicking his chair out of the way, he sighed, still groggy and wearing only a t-shirt and his underwear.

"Did he change the music yet?" A second voice came from the bottom of the DCR staircase.

"Almost." Came a third.

Travis put yesterday's recording on, a solid six hours of music, advertisements, and him dj'ing would give him the time to keep sleeping.

He flopped back down in his bed, leaving the door wide open, and was asleep before the first person even knew that he was finished changing over the music.

"Travis?"

"Travis?"

Hearing the music switch over, and the tape rolling, the first person shrugged his shoulders and quietly closed the trailer door.

"This is Diamond City Radio, your host here, Travis Lonely Miles, so long as someone pokes me with a stick to check if I'm still breathin' every few days, the music will always be rolling, and the bright lights of Diamond City will always be shining. For our first song of the day, is Ohh Baby, Baby by Smokey Robinson."

"Damnit, Travis!"

The knocking resumed again.

"TRAVIS!"

"Only here, on Diamond City Radio."

Reappearing at the front steps of the Weatherby tower, Meathead immediately noticed the changes that took place since he and Nate left. The Giddyup-Buttercups had dragged all the skeletons out onto the street, followed by sweeping all the rubble into a pile right outside the door. The shelves in the storefront were lined with rows of dried goods and products, all placed neatly and ready for purchase. While on the coffee shop cafe side, Meathead saw one of the Giddy-ups on her rear-hooves, polishing a table with a rag underhoof.

Of the seven ponies there were three down in the store, "<Hello Buttercups,>" Meathead said, unable to tell one apart one pony from the other.

"Hi, Nate! You're back!" She raised a hoof to her mouth and whispered, "It's Trotsiana, by the way."

"<Trotsiana, right.>"

"Hey, Nate!?" Stampede called out to him, trotting over. "Gigi and Giddy came back a while ago, screaming about a massive sea monster that demolished a dock to the south and west of here. It nearly killed a boy who was there. His name is Donny Kowalski, they're upstairs resting."

"<Thank you Stampede. I'll be sure to speak with him. Good idea taking him up where it's safe.>"

"Oh, and Nate? Could you help hook us up to the bus later? We want to give it the old heave-ho, and pull it out of the main door."

"<Sure, let's do it in the morning when there's more light, I've had a long day.>"

"Okay, see you then!" Stampede said, cheerful as all the other Giddy-Ups.

Meathead went to the elevator, which was also scrubbed clean and smelling of powdered soap, then pressed the button for the top floor.

Checking his Pip-Boy, it was 2:45 A.M. November 3rd.

"<Jesus.>" Going from Vault 111, to Lexington and dealing with the last of the raiders from Corvega, to the initiation with the Brotherhood of Steel, Diamond City, Pickmans gallery, and finally the USS Constitution, Meathead was feeling understandably worn out.

At the executive office suites, Meathead shouldn't of expected anything less than the same spring-cleaning treatment that was applied downstairs. The floor was swept clean and mopped, all the piles of dirt and glass scattered across the floor were gone. There were a few full sacks of garbage bags, evidence of other Giddy-Ups cleaning and scouring the place clean while they were gone. So much had happened, he couldn't even recall what day they left.

As much as Meathead wanted to lay down, there were two lives that needed to be dealt with before he collapsed on the bed in the Captain's room .

The first was laying on a couch with Gigi and Giddy cuddled up next to Donny. Gigi had her head laid across his lap, with his arm over her neck, while Giddy was on the ground, next to his feet.

As he approached them, Giddy and Gigi both woke up, and spotted Nate coming their way.

"Nate," Gigi whispered.

"Sorry, but we didn't know where else to take him. It wasn't safe to take him south."

"<You don't need to be sorry for saving Donny's life. I need to speak with him, and we'll see about getting him back to his home. Did he say where he lived?>"

"At the Harbormaster Hotel. I don't think he knows his home address, but that must be where his parents work. His parents can pick him up from there!" Gigi said enthusiatically, their outdated logic kept them from understanding that the Harbormaster Hotel was in fact where the boy lived. Donny was still motionless except for the rising and falling of his chest.

"<Hey, Donny. Kid. I need to speak with you.>" Meathead noticed on the coffee table stand next to the couch was a 10mm gun, that definitely wasn't his, so it must've belonged to Donny. "<Donny.>" Meathead said louder.

The boy woke up, and jerked his head back. It felt sore from craning his neck forward while he slept, but waking up, he saw the man in a vault-suit standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"<My name is Nate, but, I heard you and the girls here had a little bit of a scare yesterday. I just want to know you're okay, and in the morning, we'll see about getting you back to where you belong.>"

"Okay. It was a Mirelurk Queen."

"<What's a Mirelurk Queen?>"

Working himself up, he spoke loud and fast, "It's a huge monster-sized mirelurk as big as a house! It's got super-massive claws that ripped through the whole dock, and spits acid, and it's got giant fangs, and it's huge! But-"

"<Okay, Okay. Alright, Alright. It's big. Where did this happen?>"

"Behind the Shamrock Taphouse. Next to the Harbormaster Hotel."

"<Who else do you know lives at the Harbormaster?>"

"Well, there's the Captain. But I ain't never seen him on a boat before, and then there's Eddie, Ark...and...uh...Greg Something...There's a whole bunch more, but I can't remember them all!"

"<Alright, Captain, Eddie, Ark, and Greg. That's good to know. What were you doing there?>"

"Fishing. Trying to catch some dinner." Donny suddenly gasped, "But there's more! I was looking out at the harbor and there was a big eye that rose up out of the water! I saw it turn around, then dip back down. A few minutes later, it popped right back up at the same spot and did the same thing!"

"<Okay. I'll be sure to check it out, and maybe deal with the Mirelurk Queen when I have time...but the second sea monster?>" Meathead didn't know what to make of the description so far.

Maybe it was a piece of metal from a ship that sunk offshore bobbing up and down with the motion of the waves? A buoy that was caught?

"<Alright. Thank you Donny, I'll let you get back to sleep, and in the morning, I'll take you to the Harbormaster. Good night.>"

"Good night, mister."

"<Gigi, Giddy, are you alright watching him until the morning?>"

"Yep-er-rooskie. Absolutely." Gigi said, "Good night, Nate."

"Positively." Giddy replied.

"<Then, Good Night.>"

\111/

Taking the second elevator to the roof, then walking down onto the deck of the USS Constitution, the small platoon of Civil War re-enactment robots were still patrolling endlessly.

"Ahoy, Lieutenant! I hope all goes well in these troubled times?" Captain Ironsides asked.

"<Yes. I'm retiring to my chambers for the evening.>" Meathead replied.

"Very well then, all is quiet on the homefront. Carry on."

Lifting the door to the below-deck, Meathead closed it behind him, and then went to the captain's room. Still hanging in the changeling pod was Thunderstruck. She reacted to his presence filling the room, anticipating her release from the pod. Still unconscious, Meathead flooded the pod with as much positive emotion and love he could spare, making the pegasus twitch and stretch her hooves out, pawing at the membrane wall. The most noticeable difference to the pod was how black and brown the film lining became, it was all the dead skin, hair, and cuts that healed and were bubbling to the surface.

Drawing in a large breath, he exhaled. "<Alright, Let's get you out.>" Setting a metal washtub underneath the pod, and laying out a blanket for her to lay on, he readied himself for the newcomer. One last detail, he reminded himself, taking a small mirror and setting it up on the desk for the pegasus to see herself in.

Dispelling Nate's cover, Meathead's horn glowed, and the gelatinous fluid dissolved, pouring down into the washbin, saving him the hassle of cleaning it up later.

The bamboo-colored pegasus with a two tone golden aspen and brown mane nearly fell out, but was caught in Meathead's magic embrace, gently lowering her to the blanket. She shivered and withdrew her limbs closer to her body for warmth, breathing in and out, she was waking up.

The transformation from six days in the pod were drastic, she barely looked like the same pegasus. Meathead wrapped the blanket around her, and gently wiped her mane clean, and moved down to the rest of her body. Quickly wiping her nethers and tail before she woke up completely, Meathead pet her mane, calmly whispering "<It's all right. It's okay. You're safe now. It's okay to wake up. You're beautiful. You're safe.>"

Her wings were next to be wiped off, but she brushed off the blanket that was being used as a makeshift towel as well. Stirring, her legs stretched out and she inhaled a large breath.

"<It's alright. You're safe.>" She made to twist her head to see who was speaking, "<Wait, before you look at me, you need to understand I look ugly compared to you.>"

"What's..." She coughed, then coughed again, and finally a third time she coughed so hard and deeply, the pod fluid came spattering up from her lungs and out over her lips. "What's going on?" The pegasus opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was her reflection. Her own eyes were looking back at her, and she didn't process it right away, then shrunk back and recoiled away from the mirror, backing up into Meathead.

"What's going on!?" Twisting around, she looked up at Meathead and shrieked, "Agh! Who are you?!"

Grabbing ahold of her emotions, Meathead changed them rather forcefully, bringing them back down to Calm and content, the fear didn't sit well in Meathead's stomach, but he dealt with the inconvenience for now. She swallowed, and took another deep breath, suddenly finding herself not as scared of the creature nursing her. It was extremely important to Meathead to get the first impression right, even if he was uncomfortable.

"<My name is Meathead. I'm a Changeling. We're sort-of Equines, but part insect as well. My friend and I rescued you after you were shot. You've been out for six days now."

"Six...days?" She asked, letting the word rest in her mouth. "What...happened?" Tearing her eyes away from Meathead, then back to the mirror, she looked at her reflection again, and then down to her hooves, patting herself and feeling her chest and barrel. "What did you do to me? What is that?" She said, spinning around the cabin and seeing the Changeling pod, "Where am I?"

Her hoof shot up to her throat and she gasped, she could move, the chains that were around them were gone, and so was the Nuka-World dog collar that used to cut into her neck and rub against her skin. "It's gone." She was elated.

"What happened?" A trickle of fear was working its way back into her conscious, but that was to expected from waking up in an unknown place.

"<I'll start at the beginning, but would you mind if I asked you your name?>"

"I..." Her thought process stopped dead, "I don't have one. I never got one that I liked."

Not wanting to bring up the subject of her previous captors just yet, Meathead changed the direction of the conversation. "<Well, my friend, Nate, didn't know what to call you either since we couldn't ask you, so he called you Thunderstruck.>"

Her eyes narrowed, then widened, "Huh...Thunderstruck? Okaaaay?" She was rolling her hoof over, stretching out some more kinks that came with not moving for so long, and mulling over accepting her new name. "I kinda...like it."

Meathead smiled and nodded, "<That's great to hear. I'm glad you like it.>"

"So what happened? What did you do to me?" Thunderstruck asked, she felt clean and fresh. The alien sensation was so foreign, that she never knew she could look like this.

"<We saw you fly over Diamond City, I spotted you, and tried to get your attention, but you were too high up. We followed you to the Atomatoys Headquarter's building, but someone, either a mutant or a raider, shot you, and then you fell. After dealing with the mutants, we got seven Giddyup Buttercups and myself included, to pull a carriage all the way back here. Once we got back here, we cleaned you up, but you were out cold and still hurt from the bullet. You're lucky, it was a 20 gauge scatter shot, really small bb pellets. How does your wing feel?>"

Thunderstruck took a step back and expanded her wing, expecting it to hurt, but the look of shock and relief on her face when her wing opened and closed perfectly without any extra strain, she practically sunk to the floor. "What happened to me?"

"<It partially has to do with this.>" Meathead said, poking the Changeling pod with his hoof. <This is a healing pod, I put you in and let you rest for a long time. The great thing about these things is that it excelerates how fast the body sheds dead skin cells and hair, so about twenty-four hours inside is equal to five days. How you look now after six days is roughly a month of good clean living.>"

"A month...." Thunderstruck looked at herself in the mirror again, frowing, she had a hard time accepting what she looked like, and suddenly found herself tearing up. The last time she looked at herself, she was coated in blood, paint, and other things she didn't want to even think about. Her entire body was sore, and her ribs were showing, but now...

Thunderstruck broke down sobbing, crying out, "What's happening to me?!"

Tears flowed down her face. Meathead came to her side, and she leaned into him, crying into his shoulder. "<It's alright...Everything's going to be okay. You're safe now. No one is coming for you, and no one is going to get to you. You're safe.>" Meathead repeated himself over and over again, but Thunderstruck kept crying. She moaned a few times, then kept crying until her sinuses were clogged, snorting to keep breathing. The fur on her cheeks and face was wet with tears, but Meathead held her close, rocking her gently, and letting the pegasus feel happy for what felt like the first time in her life.

"<Wouldn't it be nice if we were older,
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long?"> Meathead sung softly, changing his voice to match Mike Love of the Beach Boys.
"<And wouldn't it be nice to live together,
In the kind of world where we belong?
You know it's gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together.
Oh wouldn't it beee nice?

Thunderstruck wrapped her wings out and around Meathead, embracing him, pulling him closer to hold.

For nearly twenty minutes, she shuddered and sobbed, leaving a streak of tears on Meathead's chitin, but he was patient.

After a while, Thunderstruck stopped crying and slowly lifted her head to meet Meathead's eyes.

"What's happening to me?" She said, swallowing once.

"<What you're feeling now is perfectly normal. You're getting in touch with your emotions. It's something that not many people get the time or the place, or even the people to support them to deal with, but It's all right. I'm just glad you're safe.>"