Sunset sighed and leaned against the side of an old railcar. Her thoughts were an absolute mess. Things had been bad enough during the battles against the Enclave, but the last two days had somehow managed to be an absolute nightmare and Sunset wasn't sure how much more of it she could take. The only high point was the fact that she and the others had successfully avoided the radioactive storm.

After leaving Minefield the night before, the Rainbooms had tried to travel back to Megaton as quickly as they could. Unfortunately, even though they made good time, the group had barely managed to reach Meresti Trainyard before the storm broke overhead, and they had been forced to seek shelter with the Family.

Vance and his wannabe vampires were of course more than happy to let the group stay the night, in return for spending several hours interviewing both Fluttershy and, when they realized that he was her boyfriend, Adam. The only problem, as far as Sunset was concerned, was the constant talking about blood.

It was all too much. Sunset had had enough of blood. She had gotten through the night somehow, but hearing the same ridiculously edgy rhetoric over breakfast had been too much. Ditching the crowd, Sunset had left the Family's hideout and gone outside into the Trainyard for some fresh air.

Luckily for Sunset, fresh air was in abundance. The skies were still horribly overcast, and the ground was still soaking wet and dotted with puddles.

The sound of crunching gravel snapped Sunset back to reality. She straightened up and whipped around, bringing up her plasma rifle just as someone stepped around the nearest train car. "Don't move!"

"Whoa, don't shoot! It's me!" Rainbow cried out, holding her hands up.

Sunset sighed and lowered the gun. "Sorry."

"It's cool," Rainbow replied, dropping her arms. "I'm just glad you didn't shoot first. Dodging at that range would have been tricky."

"Can you actually dodge plasma and bullets?" Sunset asked.

Rainbow joined Sunset against the train car. "Plasma's easy, the bolts are slow. Bullets, I don't know if I'm fast enough. I mean, I might be, but the trouble is actually seeing the damn things. They're small, fast, and there's always hundreds of them. It's like getting attacked by a swarm of super-fast hornets." She sighed and kicked at a pebble. "Super speed is nothing like the way it is in the movies."

"It's still cool as all hell, though," Sunset offered.

"Damn right." Rainbow grinned, but her expression quickly turned somber as she looked sidelong at Sunset. "Are you okay?"

Sunset opened her mouth to say that she was fine, but the words wouldn't come. She sighed and shook her head. "I'll manage."

"You sure?" Rainbow asked.

"No," Sunset replied with a grim chuckle. "It's not like I've got much of an option, though, is it?"

"I guess not," Rainbow replied. "We've seen a lot of nasty shit over the last couple of days."

Sunset nodded. "It's probably going to get worse over time."

"Is that why you're out here?" Rainbow asked.

Shrugging was almost too much effort. "All their talking about blood and darkness… I couldn't take it. I've seen enough blood over the last couple of months."

Rainbow looked down at the floor, and for a moment Sunset thought that that was the end of it. Then came the words she didn't want to hear, "The raiders?"

"They're not the first people I've beaten to death," Sunset said harshly.

"First ones who weren't a threat, though," Rainbow countered, sending a knife through Sunset's heart. "I'm not judging you. Hell, if I'd known what they had done I would've been the first one to put them out of our misery, and you know damn well that Applejack would have turned them into finger paint without a second thought. I'm just…" Rainbow sighed. "I know that kinda shit screws with your head. If you need to, I don't know, talk or something, I'm here."

Sunset nodded. "I know. Thanks."

The two slipped into a companionable silence. Sunset shifted slightly to try and settle her armor more comfortably; the bullet she had taken in the back the day before had left a slight dent that she hadn't managed to hammer out properly yet.

After a while, the sounds of conversation approaching alerted the pair to the arrival of the rest of their friends. "Hey, we wondered where the two of y'all had gotten to," Applejack called as they stepped out into view.

"Just getting some fresh air," Sunset told her. "All ready to go?"

"Sure are! The Family were even nice enough to refill Fluttershy's juice box for her," Applejack replied.

Rarity's nose wrinkled. "Do you have to call it that?"

"I quite like it," Fluttershy put in. "It sounds less grisly than blood reserves."

Rainbow smirked and opened her mouth, but Sunset shut her up with a nudge before she could say anything crude. "Alright, let's get moving," Sunset said, straightening back up. "Remember, there's a raider camp around the corner, so keep your guard up. They didn't dare to attack us yesterday, but that doesn't mean they won't today."

The others voiced their assent and readied their weapons. Fluttershy hefted her new sniper rifle with confidence. The Family had practically fallen over themselves to assist when she had asked them to teach her how to shoot. Sunset doubted that Fluttershy would do particularly well yet: There was a big difference between a sniper rifle and the rickety hunting rifles she had practiced with, but having extra firepower on hand was reassuring. Sunset just tried not to think about what the wasteland had done to the person who bore it.

When they were ready, the group set off. The reclusive raiders from the day before were still in their little camp, huddled around the fire, but they were content to simply watch the group warily, wisely not trying to pick a fight. Applejack questioned the decision to leave them alone in turn, but Adam talked her down. Sunset was more than a little relieved. She didn't want to go picking any fights unless they had proof that someone was causing trouble.

One thing the group hadn't anticipated was how much of a difference the weather would make to their journey. Even though it was no longer raining, the previous night's downpour had turned the dusty wasteland into a muddy quagmire. Every step the girls took was treacherous, alternating between cloying and lethally slippery. Naturally, Adam ended up flat on his back within ten minutes of leaving the Trainyard, even with the advantage of his armor.

Worse was the fact that the rain had brought more radiation with it, and more than once Sunset heard her Geiger counter making a little more noise than was comfortable. Fluttershy was quick to distribute doses of Rad-X, little medicine capsules that helped protect the body against radiation, but the constant threat cast a pall over the party.

On the plus side, the Rainbooms didn't directly encounter any dangerous creatures or hostile people on their way back to Megaton. This was largely thanks to Fluttershy, who managed to alert the group before they stumbled across a wasteland nightmare enjoying its dinner.

As Fluttershy led them around at an inoffensive distance, Sunset caught a glimpse of a giant scorpion with an albino exoskeleton, quietly picking at the corpse of a mutated bear. The bear looked terrifyingly tiny in the scorpion's claws.

Shortly afterwards, the girls found the sentry bot that they had disabled. It seemed to be in fairly good condition for its age, so the group decided to bring it back to Megaton and see if they could reprogram it to protect the town alongside Deputy Weld. Twilight fiddled with the settings as much as she could without a console, and eventually managed to get it to roll along without shooting every living thing in sight.

Finally, splattered with mud, the group arrived back at Megaton. Bringing a sentry bot into town caused a bit of a stir. Stockholm waved the group through once they had convinced him that it was safe, but having the rickety thing trundling around with them brought even more attention to the group than usual.

To save the Disciples a certain amount of stress, Adam offered to store the robot at his house until it could be reprogrammed. Sunset had intended to hand the robot straight over to Simms, but, since the sheriff was nowhere to be seen, she accepted Adam's offer.

Adam's house was surprisingly nice. Two stories tall and made of the same scrap metal as the rest of Megaton, it came with a quirky Mister Handy robot named Wadsworth as a butler. Though Sunset could swear that she heard it insulting her under its breath when her back was turned...

Once the sentry bot was safely stowed away and shut down, and Adam's armor stored in a spare room, the group made their way back up to Craterside Supply to give Moira their report. Unfortunately, when they arrived, Moira was nowhere to be seen.

"Uh…" Sunset glanced over at the paid guard standing in the corner. "Where is she?"

The guard shrugged. "As far as I can tell, arguing with her kitchen appliances." Before anyone could ask what he meant, a small explosion upstairs knocked flakes of rust from the ceiling. The guard just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Crazy bitch is gonna get herself killed."

"What the hell is she doing up there?" Sunset asked. Her question was answered by a loud skittering sound, followed by a bizarre knee-high creature darting out of a back room on four spindly metallic legs. "Is that a… waffle iron?"

The mutated appliance hissed and hurled itself at the guard, who yelled in fear and tried to pull his assault rifle off his shoulder. Before the creature could attack, a crystalline spike flew from Rarity's hand and impaled it, nailing it to the floor. The creature burbled as it died, leaking a foul purple ooze all over the floor.

Moira hurtled into the room a second later. She skidded to a halt when she saw the dead waffle iron monster. "Oh, you got it. Nice job."

"You said you weren't experimenting with magic shit anymore!" The guard snapped.

"I'm not, I swear!" Moira replied quickly. "It turns out that little thing has been eating the crystals when I wasn't looking. I caught it just now, and I think that's why it tried to escape."

Applejack shook her head slowly. "Just when you think you've seen everything, this reality throws even more crazy shit at you."

"The world is full of strange and wonderful things," Moira said sagely, though she grimaced as she looked down at her former appliance. "Some more wonderful than others. Anyway, I'm glad that you're all okay!' Moira brightened up as she hurried behind the counter. "When you didn't come back yesterday, I started to worry that I'd gotten you all blown to smithereens!"

Rainbow snorted. "It'll take more than some landmines and a sniper to get rid of us."

"A sniper?" Moira asked blankly. She waved a hand as Sunset opened her mouth to answer. "Well, you're all fine, so it doesn't matter. Did you manage to get to the middle of minefield? Oh, and did you bring me a spicy little present?"

"We did, and we did," Pinkie replied, pulling the disassembled landmine out of her pack and placing all of its bits on the countertop.

Moira beamed as she shifted through the pieces. "My very own landmine! Just what I've always wanted. Well, always since I sent you out on this, anyway."

"I'll teach you how to put it back together and take it apart safely, if you want," Pinkie said.

"Oh, yes please!" Moira replied. "While you're at it, I want to hear all about what it was like going through Minefield. Tell me everything!"

Sunset let the others do the explaining. She had had enough of talking for the moment. With the others distracted, Sunset's mind began to wander. She mostly wondered about Darla and Tina, hoping that they were doing well in the Temple, and making a mental note to see if she could pick up a rattle or something for the baby.

The sound of a folder slapping shut tore Sunset out of her reverie. She hadn't even noticed Moira taking notes.

"And that's the first chapter done!" Moira said enthusiastically. She tucked the file back under the counter and fetched a small box up instead. "I know you're probably sick of explosives after all of that, but as a token of my appreciation, I wanted to give you some of these spare frag grenades I picked up, along with a few stimpaks as a little 'thank you' for helping me get this far!"

"Alright, grenades for everybody!" Rainbow exclaimed, holding up the box.

"I'll just take the stimpaks," Fluttershy put in quietly. Sunset was relieved to see that her vampiric friend hadn't gone loopy enough to start grasping for high explosives, at least.

Adam weighed one of the grenades in his hand, then tucked it into a pocket before turning to Moira. "What's on the itinerary for the second chapter?"

"The second chapter's going to be a bit trickier, I think," Moira replied. She reached for her file, realized that she had put it away, and quickly hauled it back out. "It'll cover how to handle creatures out there, for better or for worse."

"If you think we're gonna get up close and personal with Deathclaws for you, you've got another thing comin'," Applejack told her bluntly.

Moira winced and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure a guide on how to deal with Deathclaws would just be the words run, hide, and pray, written in really big letters. No, I'm thinking more along the lines of repelling mole rats, learning about mirelurks and, when all else fails, how to handle being injured."

"Ugh, we have plenty of experience with that last part," Rarity said, rubbing her left bicep gently.

"That's great!" Moira chuckled awkwardly as everyone frowned at her. "I mean, it's not great, obviously, but you know what I'm getting at. What I'd really like, though, is a live sample to work on-"

"Okay! Repelling mole rats, that sounds fun," Adam interrupted, much to Sunset's relief. "How exactly are you planning on doing that?"

Moira turned and started sifting through the piles of junk on her shelves. "I've actually made a chemical repellent stick, so people can just shoo them off if they start burrowing in and causing tro- oh, here it is!" She whipped out a solid stick, about the length of her forearm. The end of it was smeared with a toxic-looking green goop. "I just need to test it before I put the recipe in the book, and that's where you come in."

Fluttershy's nose wrinkled in distaste, and she flapped a hand in front of her face to try and dissipate whatever she could smell. "What is that stuff?"

"It's just a little mixture of my own concoction," Moira replied cryptically. "Mostly it's made up of Jet, Psycho, a splash of-"

"Jet and Psycho?" The glare on Fluttershy's face would have given Horrigan pause. "You're using two different kinds of powerful amphetamines in an animal repellent?!"

Some deeply buried survival instinct clearly kicked in inside Moira's head, as she took a step back and subtly lowered the stick out of sight behind the counter. "I-it's only a small dosage of each, so it shouldn't be-"

"Small for a human constitution, or a mole rat's?" Fluttershy asked pointedly. The look on Moira's face showed that she had indeed miscalculated, and was deeply regretting it already. "I thought so," Fluttershy hissed. Quick as a flash, she stepped over to the counter and whipped a hand forward to pinch Moira's ear. Ignoring the pained squawks and protests, Fluttershy tugged Moira from behind the counter and started marching her towards a back door. "Come on. We're going to go upstairs and see if we can come up with something that won't be horribly dangerous. Adam, Twilight, we'll need your help."

Everyone stared in mute shock as the pair disappeared into a back room.

"Uh, what the hell just happened?" Rainbow asked.

"Moira did pretty much the one thing that's guaranteed to piss Fluttershy off," Applejack replied. "Potentially threaten a cute little animal."

Rarity let out one of her characteristic scoffs. "I would hardly call mole rats cute."

"It's Fluttershy, she'd probably try and cuddle a pack of Deathclaws if they didn't keep trying to eat us." Twilight sighed and stepped over to the door, gesturing for Adam to follow. "The rest of you may as well go and relax. This is probably going to take a while."

"Fair enough. Have fun." Sunset scratched her head and turned to the remaining girls. "I guess… we can just do what we want for a while?"

Rarity sighed and flicked her hair. "In that case, I think I'll go and speak to the Disciples. I want to learn a little more about what exactly everyone does there."

"Ah'll come with you," Applejack put in immediately.

"I'm going to see if I can find Lucy," Pinkie said. "I want to make sure that her and Ian are okay."

Sunset nodded. "Fair enough. What about you, Rainbow?"

Rainbow hummed and glanced at the door, evidently considering something. "When they're finished with that repellent, Moira is still going to want us to test it for her, right? I'm gonna go and see if I can find one around the outskirts of Megaton so we haven't got to bother searching later. See you soon!"

"Wait!" Sunset tried to stop her, but Rainbow had already sped out of the door at top speed. "Typical. How long do you think it's going to be before that idiot remembers that Fluttershy is the only reason mole rats don't attack us on sight?"

"Probably when she tries to pick one up and it tries to bite her," Applejack replied.

"Sounds about right." Sunset shrugged and put it to the back of her mind. "It's a good thing she can handle herself. Come on, let's drop our stuff off at the Temple and do… whatever."

The route between Craterside Supply and the Temple was becoming increasingly familiar to the girls by this point. Even the constant stares were simply a fact of life by now.

Surprisingly, Primrose wasn't waiting when the girls arrived at the Temple. Briefly acknowledging the stream of people who greeted them as they climbed the stairs, the girls separated when they reached their rooms.

Sunset stripped her armor off and hung it on the stand, then placed her plasma rifle on her bedside table. Next came a much-needed shower. It was only when Sunset was standing back in her room, clad in clean clothes and toweling her hair dry, that she realized that she had a problem. She had no idea what to do with herself.

Free time wasn't something Sunset had had in abundance recently. Anytime she had managed to find a spare hour or two, she had spent it either studying, napping, or putting in some extra training. None of those were particularly appealing options at the moment.

An answer to the predicament arrived in the form of a particularly loud stomach growl.

"Right. Food." Decision made, Sunset turned on her heel and headed back downstairs, intent on finding lunch. Her plan was made much easier as she spotted Primrose leaving a room on a lower floor. "Hey, Primrose. Primrose!"

The Handmaiden turned, her eyes wide. "Lady Shimmer! Forgive me, I didn't know that you were back."

"It's fine," Sunset replied, hurrying down the stairs to her. "I was just about to go looking for some food. Is there anywhere in Megaton that sells non-radioactive food?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Primrose replied. "I can get one of the Disciples to cook a meal for you, but if you'd rather eat out then the only place in Megaton is the Brass Lantern. Don't worry, the food is good, and yes, the food is radiation free. Just avoid the Nuka-Cola."

Sunset let out a soft sigh of relief. "Awesome. Hey, do you want to come with me? My treat."

The look of regret on Primrose's face was tragic. "I would love to, but I'm afraid I've already promised Joshua that I would come with him to deal with the Sheriff."

"Oh, about the weapons we brought back?" Sunset asked.

"Er, yes and no," Primrose replied uneasily. "Actually, the Sheriff isn't happy about the proposal, especially given the disagreement he and Joshua had before."

Sunset stopped and looked at her curiously. "What disagreement?"

Primrose turned to Sunset, but couldn't quite meet her eyes. "All of the businesses in Megaton give a small percentage of their profits over to the town, to pay for equipment and the upkeep of the town's water purifier. The Church of Atom contributes, too, using a percentage of the donations they receive.'

"That sounds fair," Sunset said.

"It is. Well, I think it is, anyway," Primrose agreed. "The problem is that, well, Joshua refuses to allow the Temple to contribute in the same way."

The words put Sunset's temper into a slow burn. "Why not?" She asked evenly.

Primrose bit her lip, her nerves starting to show. "Joshua believes that the Temple exists for the Goddesses, and that, since you're actually physically embodied in this world, then all of the donations should go directly towards making you all comfortable."

"Nope, not happening," Sunset cut in. "Tell Joshua that the Temple will contribute the same percentage that the Church of Atom does. Religion does not trump law."

Surprisingly, Primrose actually looked relieved at Sunset's order. "Of course, Lady Shimmer. I'll tell him."

"Thanks. Ok, I'm gonna go and see how the Brass Lantern checks out." Sunset waved as she left the Temple. "Later."

As Sunset walked down the steps outside the Temple, ignoring the stares of the people queuing up outside, she realized that she had made a small error. Namely, she had no idea where the Brass Lantern was.

"Excuse me?" The nearest woman in the queue almost jumped out of her skin as Sunset addressed her. She pointed to herself nervously, her eyes practically popping out of their sockets. "Yeah, you. Do you know where the Brass Lantern is?" The woman nodded jerkily and pointed across the crater. "Okay, thanks."

Leaving a small hubbub in her wake, Sunset strolled over to the building indicated. It was a large single-storey building with a counter that, as Sunset approached, she realized served as an open air dining area, with a fridge and register both tucked behind it. A small sign marked 'The Brass Lantern' sat beneath a set of much larger neon yellow lights displaying Chinese calligraphy.

A young woman was working the counter, serving customers and calling orders out to someone inside. "Do I just pick a seat, or do you have your own system?" Sunset asked.

"Sit wherever you fancy, I'll be with you in just a second!" The woman brought over a small menu on a clipboard. "Here's our full menu, would you like-" She did a double-take when she realized who she was speaking to. "Hey, you're the leader of those Rainbooms!"

"Yeah, that's me," Sunset replied as she perused the menu.

"I'm Jenny Stahl. My older brother owns this restaurant." Jenny glanced around, then leaned in close. "I've got to ask, what exactly are you girls? I've heard people from Arefu saying that you're aliens, Three Dog says that you're magical girls from another dimension, and half of the crazies in this town think you're either angels or goddesses. Which is it?"

"Right now, I'm a customer," Sunset said firmly. "Depending on how good your iguana soup is, maybe a repeat one."

Jenny nodded. "Message received." She stepped to the door and called out to someone inside. "Andy! One iguana soup special!" She waited for affirmation from inside, then nodded and turned back to Sunset. "That'll be out in a minute or two. Want anything to drink? We've got clean water, brahmin milk, Nuka-Cola, and a small selection of wines."

The last option caught Sunset off-guard. "Wines?"

"Yep! They're listed on the bottom of the menu," Jenny added. "Our latest batch of red is particularly good."

"Uh…" Sunset floundered for a moment. She had never even considered alcohol as an option. It just wasn't something she had ever tried before and, if she was honest, she hadn't ever imagined doing so. "I… I've never tried wine before."

"Oh, then you have to try the red!" Jenny grabbed a bottle and glass from next to the fridge. Sunset tried to object, but Jenny had already unscrewed the cap and poured out a glassful of the deep red liquid. "We import this directly from a supplier in Rivet City."

Sunset eyed the glass warily. "Is it radioactive?"

"Not in the slightest," Jenny replied. "We make sure that most of what we sell here is safe and edible, and some of it even tastes good!" She put the glass down in front of Sunset just as the restaurant's door opened and a man stepped out, holding a lightly steaming bowl of soup. "Perfect timing, Andy!"

The man just wordlessly handed Jenny the soup and disappeared back inside.

"And here's your soup!" Jenny plonked it in front of Sunset. "Go ahead, see how it tastes." She turned away to deal with another customer, calling back over her shoulder, "And let me know what you think of the wine!"

Sunset let out a slow breath as Jenny walked away. She wasn't particularly enthused about eating on her own, but she was determined to at least try and relax.

First, the soup. Iguana soup had quickly become a personal favourite when she had stayed in Rivet City. It was time to see how Megaton's offering fared in comparison.

Sunset wasn't disappointed.

The soup wasn't as creamy as it was in Rivet City, and there was something missing from the recipe that she couldn't quite grasp, but it was also lighter and sweeter. Sunset didn't enjoy it quite as much as Rivet City's version, but it definitely came in a close second.

Next came the wine.

Sunset hesitated before reaching for the glass. She had never really pictured her first time trying alcohol, but even if she had, she never would have imagined that it would be like this.

Gently lifting the glass, Sunset swilled it a couple of times, watching the deep red liquid swish around. Next, she gave it a light sniff. It smelled mostly fruity, but there was a distinct undertone that she couldn't place. Tentatively, she took a sip.

It wasn't tasty. There was a pleasant fruitiness to it, but it was largely overpowered by a strong flavor that almost made her grimace. Still, after months of nothing but water and brahmin milk, chilled if she was lucky, the wine was an interesting departure.

Despite expectations, the time passed quite pleasantly. Sunset quietly made her way through the soup, including a bowl of seconds, and polished off the bottle of wine along the way. Jenny chatted with her in between serving other customers, keeping the conversation light and casual.

Finally, when she was finished, Sunset settled the bill. "Not bad. I'll be coming here again."

"I'm glad to hear it!" Jenny replied, sweeping up the caps. She glanced up at Sunset, and her expression quickly changed as she spotted something over Sunset's shoulder. "What the hell are you doing here. You know you're not welcome anymore."

"I ain't here for you, this time. I'm here for this bitch," a voice said roughly.

Sunset looked around to see a tall man clad in filthy leather armor standing over her. He was bald save for a scruffy beard. It took her a second to recognize him as Jericho, the asshole who had thrown a bottle at Joshua when the Temple first opened.

Typical. Can't even have five minutes peace, Sunset thought. She stood and turned to face him, idly wondering why she was swaying slightly. The floor was probably unstable. "And what exactly do you want with 'this bitch'?"

"I hear you've been causing problems," Jericho grunted. He reached out to grab at her chest. "I'm here to give you a mess-"

Sunset grabbed his wrist before it could make contact and twisted it savagely, making him cry out in pain. Before he could recover she lashed out and smashed his nose with the heel of her hand. A sharp kick to the abdomen knocked him to the floor.

Jericho snarled and surged to his feet, only to freeze as he found himself staring at the business end of Sunset's Nova pistol.

"I'm only going to say this once," Sunset hissed. "Try any bullshit like this again, and they'll be burying what's left of you in a fucking bucket. Is that clear?"

Jericho just clutched his nose and shuffled away towards the clinic, grumbling under his breath.

"That's what I thought." Sunset holstered her Nova pistol, fumbling it once before she got it in. She turned back to Jenny and tried to apologize for the disturbance, but the woman just waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. Seeing you break that dickhead's nose has made my whole day." Jenny fetched another bottle of wine and held it out. "Here. On the house."

"Oh, thanks." Sunset took the wine, nodded to Jenny, then made her way back around to the Temple, unscrewing the bottle as she went. Her good mood from the meal had already been thoroughly quashed by the confrontation, and the way the world seemed to tilt every other step wasn't helping matters.

People tried to speak to Sunset as she entered the Temple, but she just waved them away so she could focus on the wine as she climbed up to her room. Just as she reached the last staircase leading up to the Rainbooms' floor, a Disciple stepped out of a nearby door. He quickly bowed when he saw her. "Your Grace! Forgive me, I didn't see you there."

Sunset took a swig from the bottle and cast a critical eye over the Disciple. He was a little taller than her, with large forearms, windswept brown hair, and a chiseled jawline. Something about his powerful frame and subservient attitude stoked a fire in Sunset's core. "You'll do."

"Your Grace?" The man grunted in surprise as Sunset grabbed his robes and yanked him down into a clumsy kiss. He staggered as she pulled away, looking vaguely as if he had been clubbed across the head. "Y-your Grace?!"

"You've got two choices," Sunset said, quietly but firmly. "You can forget that this ever happened and go about your day, or you can follow me upstairs and have some real fun."

The Disciple tried to stammer something out, but Sunset just stepped past him. She paused when she reached the stairs up to the next floor and looked back over her shoulder. No-one else was around. "The choice is yours." She pulled her top off and planted a hand on her hip, smirking at the Disciple. "But don't spend too long thinking about it."

---

Leaving the confused man behind, Sunset swept up the stairs and strode towards her room. She grinned as she heard hurried footsteps coming up the stairs behind her. Sunset unlocked her door, dropped her top by the frame so it wouldn't swing and lock, then sat on the bed and put down the wine before taking her boots off. It took her a few tries, as she kept fumbling the knots for some bizarre reason, but she managed to get them both off just as the Disciple tentatively pushed her door open.

"Close the door." The man quickly obeyed. Sunset threw her socks away, then stood up and turned away from him. She smiled as she took her time undoing her bra and letting it fall to the floor, then shuffled her pants and underwear down her legs before stepping carefully out of them, giving the man a little show. Finally, Sunset turned back to him and planted her hands on her hips, sticking her chest out and cocking her hip to the side. "Well? Are you going to stand over there with your mouth hanging open or are you going to get over here and fuck me?"

The man hesitated, staring at Sunset as if he couldn't believe his eyes. Sunset herself was caught between excitement, nervousness, and impatience. All of her emotions were sent into a sudden whirl as the man finally ripped his top off and advanced on her.

Sunset immediately backed into the bed, her stomach feeling as if it were full of rampaging butterflies. To her surprise, the man dropped to his knees before her and grabbed her legs, hitching them up over his shoulders and dipping his head.

"What are you-" Sunset's breath hitched as his tongue found her most sensitive spot. She gasped and moaned, his tongue eagerly dancing around her intimate area and melting any coherent thoughts. Sunset laid back, entwining her fingers through the Disciple's hair as his hands ran over her body, one hand gripping her thigh tightly while his other reached up to squeeze her breast.

All sense of anything but the feel of what the man was doing to her body fled Sunset's mind. She writhed beneath his onslaught, losing herself in a world of carnal pleasure. Heat and tightness were building deep within her core, pushing her to drive herself against his mouth, groaning and gasping as he rolled her nipple between his fingers.

Finally, something exploded in Sunset's depths, and a wave of pleasure so intense it was almost painful dragged a primal moan from her throat. She curled up on herself as her climax rocked through her, each wave driving a wedge of sensation into her mind.

Slowly, the heights of sensation dwindled. As if noticing that her climax had passed, the Disciple pulled away from her and stood, leaving her panting. Her heart hammered in her chest as the man undid his belt and dropped his pants, letting his not inconsiderable length spring free.

Sunset instinctively spread her legs, biting her lip in anticipation as the Disciple lowered himself once more. He gently pressed his lips just above her mound, then traveled upwards, kissing her body with every inch he climbed until he reached her neck.

As the man nibbled at her collarbone, Sunset felt something solid press against her entrance. The Disciple pushed, and Sunset hissed as she felt a sudden sharp pain. "Ow, ow! Go slow!"

"S-sorry!" The Disciple pulled away, propping himself up on his hands. Surprise and fear flickered across his face, followed by dawning horror as he realized what was happening. "Is this your first time?"

Sunset clamped her legs around him as he tried to move away. "Don't stop! Just… just take it slowly, okay? Let me adjust."

The man obediently moved back in, tenderly nuzzling her neck. Sunset grabbed the back of his head to hold him there, mainly so he couldn't see her wince and grit her teeth as he pushed, stopping after every slight movement so Sunset could get used to it. Only when she felt his hips press against hers did she relax and let out a breath.

That had been more painful than Sunset had expected, despite what she had learned at sex ed classes. As she waited for the pain to subside, she amused herself by nibbling on her Disciple's ear and tracing circles on the small of his back with her fingertips, while he in turn braced himself with one arm and let the other roam up and down her body.

When the pain had dropped to a much more bearable level, Sunset started gently rolling her hips, indicating that she was ready to continue. The Disciple picked up on the hint, making small thrusts in time with her movements.

Pain and pleasure mixed as the two slowly picked up the pace. Soon, Sunset was panting again as her Disciple drove into her, rocking her whole body with every push. She hitched her legs up higher around him, trying to grab him as tightly as possible, when he started cursing under his breath. At first, Sunset thought that something was wrong, but then he growled and swore loudly as he gave a final few short, powerful thrusts.

Sunset's mind was thoroughly blank as her Disciple stopped moving. Dimly, she realized that it was over. Other senses ticked in one by one, as if each part of Sunset's body was lining up to give a report on what was up. Her chest was heaving, her heart was thundering in her own ears and she was entirely soaked with sweat.

All of this was exacerbated as the Disciple pulled away and sat back on his haunches, leaving behind a painful tingle in her groin that straddled the line between pleasant and horrible.

---

"Wow," Sunset huffed. "That… okay… wow."

The Disciple looked at her warily. "Your Grace?"

Those annoying words helped drag Sunset out of the swirling fog in her mind. "I'm okay, that was… phew! That was intense." She swallowed and sat up, looking around at the room as if she had never seen it before. "Uh… right. You should probably, uh, get back to whatever it was you were doing."

"Are…" The Disciple shifted awkwardly. "Are you-"

"I'm okay," Sunset said quickly. "No, seriously, I'm fine. I just, I'd rather not have anyone else find out about this." She winced as she realized how that sounded. "I just mean-"

"I get it," the Disciple replied with a nod. His face suddenly went white. "Oh, Harmony. Primrose might actually kill me." He scrambled off the bed, then paused and looked back at her hesitantly. "I should go. Are you… going to be alright?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Go on, get your ass out of here before Primrose catches you and we're both in trouble."

"Right." The Disciple dressed quickly. When he was ready, he turned and bowed to her. "Your Grace."

Sunset just nodded and watched as he left the room. She sat on the bed for several long seconds, then stood and started gathering up her clothes. Her top was first, so she could close the door properly. It wasn't until Sunset was pulling on her underwear, sending another throbbing tingle through her core, that the full weight of what she had just done crashed down on her. She looked around, taking in her scattered clothes, the bottle of wine, and the bloodstained bedsheet, then dropped onto the edge of the bed, burying her face in her hands. "Fuck."

It was all too much. Sunset felt like she was just constantly bouncing from one terrible mistake to the next, with regular interludes for extreme violence.

A quiet knock at the door was the last thing Sunset wanted to hear. She brushed her hair out of her face and tried to compose herself; she was not about to let Primrose or the other Disciple see her breaking.

The door slowly creaked open, and Fluttershy stuck her head in. "Sunset?'

"Fluttershy?!" Sudden panic gripped Sunset at the thought that her friend might have actually heard what had just transpired. "I mean, uh, hi! What's up?"

Fluttershy stepped inside and closed the door. "I was just coming to tell you that we've finished the repellent and gotten our next task, but…" She gave the bed an uneasy look. "Um, what… what happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Sunset replied, hoping desperately that the blood would mask any other smells in the room. "My monthly just started a bit early, y'know."

"No, it didn't," Fluttershy said flatly. Sunset grasped for anything that might throw her off, but Fluttershy just looked her in the eye and said gently, "I can smell him."

Sunset deflated. "Of course you can." She looked at the floor, shame burning her cheeks.

Fluttershy took a tentative step forward. "Did he, um, did he f-force himself on…"

Sunset laughed bitterly. "No. As per usual, this fuck-up is entirely my own doing." She planted her elbows on her knees and rested her head on her hands. "Now the whole fucking Temple is gonna know I'm nothing but a messed up slut."

"Don't say that," Fluttershy chided. Sunset didn't hear any footsteps, but suddenly Fluttershy was sitting at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You've just had a rough couple of days."

"When? You mean when I found the rape victims?" Sunset asked sarcastically. "Or maybe when I got shot by a sniper? Oh, how about when I committed a fucking triple murder?" She dug her nails painfully into her scalp. "Or how about just now when I lost my fucking mind and fucked a random stranger?!" Sunset's voice broke on the last words. She despised herself for showing weakness this way, but she couldn't prevent the tears from coming. Her whole body shook as she tried to hold everything in.

It was a battle she had no chance of winning. Especially when Fluttershy had no intentions of letting her.

"You can't blame yourself for any of this," Fluttershy said quietly. Sunset tried to contradict her, but Fluttershy wasn't having it. "I'm serious. Yes, you've made mistakes, some of them pretty big, but that's only fair given the amount of bullshit this world has dropped on you."

Hearing Fluttershy say bullshit with such venom was enough to make Sunset look up at her in surprise. Flutters blushed, but didn't look away. "All of us are dealing with a mountain of trouble thanks to this world, but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that me and you have been hit with more than most."

Sunset tried to refute that. "What? No, I… the others… Rarity got shot! And Twilight was injured by that-"

"All of us have been injured," Fluttershy cut in. "The difference? I'm sterile now." Sunset blinked in shock. "The FEV did it," Fluttershy explained. "And that's just the start of the problems that the virus has caused me. And you? You almost died, and that was well before we joined a military organization."

"Thanks for the reminder," Sunset said with a shudder.

"That's exactly what I mean, though," Fluttershy pressed. "Ever since we voted you in as leader in Vault 101, you've been the one to take the brunt of everything. Every time anything goes wrong, you're the first in line to deal with it. Whenever more responsibility comes along, it's you who shoulders the burden. Hell, you're a high school student, and yet somehow Elder Lyons decided that you were essential for helping to hammer out a peace treaty between two factions that have been at war for decades!"

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Just the fact that Fluttershy, of all people, was being so assertive, was enough to throw Sunset for a loop.

"On top of all of that, you're the only one who doesn't have any form of outlet for your emotions," Fluttershy continued. "Rainbow trains early every morning, when she thinks the rest of us are asleep. Rarity does fashion stuff every chance she gets. Applejack tinkers with her equipment and spends half of her time ogling Rarity when she thinks we aren't looking-"

"Those two are going to end up together soon," Sunset noted.

"They'd better, before one of them gives themselves a wrist injury," Fluttershy huffed. She blushed at Sunset's surprised look. "I've said before, I hear things, and that blood behind us is pushing my vampire buttons." She cleared her throat. " As I was saying, Pinkie cooks and plans parties. Twilight studies, and I feed on blood and, um…" Fluttershy coughed and looked away. "I've also considered, um, other things." She glanced back at Sunset. "But you haven't been doing anything. I've been trying to think of a hobby for you for a while, but nothing came to mind. Um, if you're going to start getting drunk regularly-"

"I'm not drunk!" Sunset exclaimed indignantly.

"You're tipsy, at least," Fluttershy countered. "You're slurring your words, for a start, and I could smell the wine mixed with your breath from the end of the corridor."

"Oh." Sunset breathed into her hand and tried to sniff it, then realized that she was just being daft. "Well, that part isn't exactly my fault. I didn't try to get drunk. I just wanted food."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you tell me what happened after you left Craterside Supply. Tell me everything."

Explaining everything was easy enough, at first. Fluttershy definitively agreed with Sunset that the Temple should pay its dues to Megaton. When she heard about Sunset accidentally getting pushed into buying a bottle of wine at the Brass Lantern, though, she sighed and shook her head. "No wonder you ended up tipsy. That wine is strong, you're not used to drinking, and on top of that all you've eaten today is an apple, some nutrient bars, and soup. You were near enough drinking on an empty stomach."

"How do you know so much about booze?" Sunset asked suspiciously.

"Half of the problems in Vault 101's clinic were alcohol-related," Fluttershy replied.

"Oh. Okay." Sunset let that slide and continued her explanation. Fluttershy was shocked to hear that Jericho had tried to attack Sunset, and promised to keep an ear out for any trouble he might try to cause. When Sunset reached the part where she seduced the Disciple, however, she trailed off, both girls blushing furiously.

Fluttershy scratched her cheek in a vain attempt to hide her flush. "Well, um, at least things weren't as bad as they could have been. I have to admit, I think both of you were in the wrong, though."

"What do you mean?" Sunset asked. "I shouldn't have come on to him like that. He thinks we're goddesses, there's no way he would have refused. I took advantage of him."

"And he took advantage of you," Fluttershy replied firmly. "You were obviously drunk and, goddess or not, you were very clearly in a vulnerable position. You were both idiots."

"Fair enough," Sunset admitted. "What now?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Right now, I'm going to get you a morning after pill, and a packet of condoms." Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red, but she talked over Sunset's refusals. "I'd rather you have them than not. At least then you have a safe outlet. Just please, please, be careful who you sleep with."

"I will," Sunset replied, deciding not to argue any further. After what had almost happened with the Scribe before, she was forced to admit that Fluttershy had the right idea. "I should probably apologize to that Disciple, too."

"I'll do that, I'll need to make sure that he doesn't have any std's anyway." Fluttershy glanced sidelong at Sunset. "You probably shouldn't have sex with him again. It's pretty, um, ethically questionable?"

Sunset nodded. "Noted." She chuckled softly. "What would I do without you?"

"Catch gonorrhea or something," Fluttershy shot, though she smiled as she said it.

Sunset couldn't help but snigger. "Okay, that's harsh." She stood and stretched, wiping her eyes. "Alright, crisis over. What did you say the next task was?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No way. You're still tipsy."

"I'll sober up," Sunset countered. "Besides, the last thing I need right now is to be stuck here worrying about what might happen to you lot out there in the wastes."

Fluttershy bit her lip as she considered. Finally, she sighed and relented. "Fine, but I'm pumping you full of a stimpak and whatever chems I can think of to counteract that alcohol."

"I thought I'd already been pumped full of enough fluid for one day," Sunset quipped, making Fluttershy choke out a laugh. "Okay. You do what you need to do while I get dressed."

"Deal." Fluttershy stood and started rummaging through her nursing kit, then stopped as a thought occurred. "Um, actually, while we're here, do you have any, um, tips?"

"Tips?" Sunset asked.

Fluttershy's eyes just darted between Sunset and the bed meaningfully.

Next Chapter: Chapter 113 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Mirelurks Estimated time remaining: 18 Hours, 40 Minutes