The journey back to Megaton was quiet and somber. The weather didn't particularly help, as the snow had gotten even heavier during the group's time in the library.

Sunset's thoughts were a mess. Her own recent lapses in judgement were bad enough, but seeing the other girls start to snap was like having a knife twist in her gut every time. Applejack's loss of temper was at least understandable, after what had almost happened to Rarity, but Twilight's outburst had been callous, even sadistic. The wasteland had clearly affected her far more than any of the others had ever expected.

As the group reached the top of the last hill before Megaton, Sunset came to a halt. The others stopped and looked back at her curiously. "You okay, Sunset?" Adam asked.

Sunset nodded and rubbed her temples. "Yeah, just trying to get my head on straight."

Twilight winced. "Is this about earlier?"

"Partially, but it's more than that." Sunset sighed heavily and kicked up a puff of snow. "The Exodus team is already working on a portal. Our research was the last piece of the puzzle that they needed, all that's left for them to do is to actually build the damned thing and get it working. We're so close to getting home, so why are we fucking things up so much?"

"What do you mean? We haven't fucked anything up recently?" Twilight replied.

Sunset gave her a sardonic look. "You hung someone alive from a ceiling using barbed wire. You don't think that's just a little fucked up?"

A flash of guilt crossed Twilight's face. "I… might have gone a bit overboard. Can you really blame me, though, after everything that's happened?"

"I'm not in a position to blame anyone for shit like that, but that's exactly my point," Sunset insisted. "Over the last few days it's as if we've all gone completely fucking insane. The only reason we're even out here is to keep ourselves busy while we search for a piece of equipment that'll hopefully be completely redundant anyway, but for some reason half of us have still managed to lose our tempers and ended up committing horrific crimes."

"We have good reasons for what we do," Twilight countered.

"Do we?" Sunset asked. "Adam, you're pretty much the benchmark for goodness in this world, what do you think?"

Adam cocked his head to the side curiously. "What do you mean, half? Who else are you talking about?"

"Applejack murdered Moriarty last night," Pinkie said in a flat tone.

"Seriously?" Adam asked incredulously.

Sunset nodded. "Her knuckles are a mess, so we think she beat him to death with her bare hands. She didn't even use her Geode."

Adam sighed, shouldered his plasma rifle, and took his helmet off. "Personally, I think the whole situation is fucked up. What Applejack did is sort of justified, I'd say, but only because of how much influence Moriarty has in Megaton. Even with Jericho's testimony, Simms wouldn't be able to do much to touch Moriarty. I don't like it, but killing him off is probably going to make a whole lot of people a lot safer. As for what you and Twilight did…"

"Just give it to us straight, Adam," Sunset told him.

Adam hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay. You both royally fucked up. Don't get me wrong, I get why you did what you did. It's understandable, given the amount of shit you've both been through, but you still need to get your heads on straight." He jammed his helmet back on. "No more killing unarmed people unless it's unavoidable, and try to kill people as cleanly and painlessly as possible. Capiche?" Adam waited for both of the girls to nod before turning back to Megaton. "Good. Come on, let's get inside."

"And let's try not to commit any more atrocities while we wait for the portal to get up and running," Sunset added in an undertone.

The group was only a little surprised to see Stockholm still up in his usual nest, huddled up underneath a large patchwork umbrella. He opened up the gate, then waved the girls through before closing it down again.

Megaton was practically deserted. The relentless snowfall had driven most of the residents under cover, leaving only the few with urgent errands still moving around.

"One second," Adam called as the girls turned towards the walkway to Craterside Supply. "You, uh, might want to change your clothes first."

Sunset looked down at herself, then around at the others. All of the girls were in something of a state, with muck and blood splattered liberally over them, but Rainbow and Twilight were utterly horrific to look at. Both were coated from head to foot in gore from the battle against the raiders, and not even the constant snow had managed to cover it up.

Deciding to spare Moira the sight of other people's innards, the girls headed to the Temple while Adam went to drop his armor off at his house. As expected, Primrose was already waiting in the main room for the girls to arrive, accompanied by half a dozen Disciples who immediately helped the girls out of their armor and took it away for cleaning.

Applejack and Rarity were both in their own rooms, so the girls checked in with Fluttershy to make sure everyone was okay before allowing themselves five minutes each for a warm shower, followed by a change of clothes and a quick meal. With that out of the way, the girls left Flutters and Primrose in charge and headed up to meet Moira.

Fortunately, not many people appeared to have made the trip up to Craterside Supply, meaning that the snow on the path hadn't been too heavily compacted. Even better, Moira still had her space heaters going, which was a godsend even after such a short walk in the snow.

Moira herself was flicking through her file on the counter when the group arrived. She perked up the moment she spotted them. "Is the library there? Are there books? Can I go borrow one?"

"The library is still standing," Sunset replied. "Twilight has the archives downloaded onto holotapes."

The look on Moira's face as Twilight pulled said holotapes out of her pack was one of unfettered joy. "Really? A whole library's worth of data, right there? That's great news!" She eagerly took the holotapes and stroked them affectionately before grinning at the girls. "So, what else did you find? Tell me all about it!"

Twilight gave her an incredulous look. "What else?! That's an entire library's archives there! Don't you realize how valuable that is?! I even copied a full set for myself!"

"Of course I realize how valuable it is, that's why I sent you out in the first place!" Moira replied in a scandalised tone. "I suspect that you and I are the only people in the wastes who understand just how truly precious this collection truly is!"

"Hey!" Sunset piped up.

"That's just rude," Adam grumbled.

Moira wasn't paying any attention. She had already gone back to staring lovingly at the holotapes. "Oh my goodness, when I'm done with this, I'll have to work on copying all this information. That could take a while, you know." Rainbow cleared her throat loudly, making Moira jump and hurriedly shove a small tray towards the group. "Oh, but here's a book of mine and some caps for your research." She smiled brightly. "Think of it as pay for a civilization worth of overdue books."

Sunset glanced in the tray. A fat pouch full of caps sat on top of some sort of self-help book called 'Lying, Congressional Style!'. "Is that the end of the book, or…?"

"Oh, no, sorry," Moira replied. "It was originally going to be, but I figured I should probably put in an extra section dealing with the new magic in this world; the dangers of it, what it's doing to the wildlife out there, and what we can do with those magical crystals that keep popping up."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "I guess you want our help with that?" Moira nodded enthusiastically. "Well, you're in luck. We've done a whole bunch of research on how magic interacts with this world's radiation, and how dangerous it can be when it's misused. Want to see it?"

"Absolutely!" Moira practically yelled.

Without needing to be told, Twilight started pulling more holotapes out of her pack. "I hope you're not busy, this is going to take a while."

---

Holding cells were rarely pleasant things. The cells in the Exodus building, however, were particularly spartan, with little more than a cot and a steel toilet in a tiny concrete room.

Turner supposed that he was lucky. He was at least being given three hot meals a day and a blanket, which was more than the Communist spies these cells were originally built for were offered. He was even given books, which helped to stave off the boredom. "It's not enough though. No, not enough. Where's the research, hm? Where's the learning?"

A noise outside the cell door made Turner look up eagerly. "Is it time for another test? More experiments, more learning, more magic, all mine."

The metal plate covering the little viewing slot was slid open, and an unfamiliar set of eyes looked in. These eyes had known magic, Turner's own mutated eye could tell, but they hadn't touched it in some time.

"Doctor Turner? What the hell happened to you?!" A voice hissed.

Something about the voice was familiar to Turner. "Who are you?"

"Michaels, of Squad Sigma," the voice replied. "I heard that you were mutated and locked up, but what happened to you?"

"Betrayal, of course," Turner told him. It was technically true, after all. "Doctor, sorry, President Shoichet and her little entourage set in motion a chain of events that led to the destruction of Raven Rock. Horrigan and I managed to escape but, as you can see, I did not get away unscathed."

Michaels' eyes hardened. "Is it true that they've allied with the Brotherhood of Steel? That they're letting those mongrels have access to our Base Crawler?"

That last part was news to Turner, but he kept his surprise off his face. His mind whirled as he tried to think of a way to turn this situation to his advantage. "It is. President's Shoichet's bond with the Rainbooms has led to a great many changes in the Enclave."

"Shit." Michaels glanced away. When he looked back, his tone was low and hurried. "I can't stay here long, someone will come back any second. What can I do to stop these traitors?"

"Not much yet, be patient," Turner replied. "The Exodus team is still working on creating a path to the Rainbooms' home reality."

Michaels nodded. "The portal."

"They're building a portal?" Turner hoped that the excitement in his voice would be misconstrued as urgency. "They are further along than I thought. This could be our chance. Do nothing for now, but when the time comes, you'll know when, come and find me. We shall show these upstarts their place in one potent act."

"Got it," Michaels said curtly. "I'll keep an ear to the ground. For the Enclave."

"For the Enclave indeed," Turner muttered as Michaels closed the viewing slot. "And for the advancement of knowledge…"

---

Excitement coursed through Tara's body, making her movements jittery and her voice quaver. "Are you sure that everything is ready?"

Doctor Evans nodded. "We've double, triple, and quadruple checked everything. All safety features have been tested thoroughly, as have each and every one of the components. We're as ready as we're ever going to be."

Tara looked up at the portal anxiously. It was almost time. "Get everything set up so we can begin testing the moment we get the go-ahead, and send word to President Shoichet. Tell her the portal is ready."

---

Darkness filled the ancient forest. Where once the way ahead had been clear, only obscured in the distance by the surrounding foliage, now everything was in turmoil, tossed about in the upheaval caused by powers beyond mortal control. As if the howling wind wasn't bad enough, blood rained from the sky in a nightmarish downpour, obscuring the path and clouding even the Sight.

Bloomseer Poplar pressed on through the murk. The lake of blood had risen to her knees now, as it had by this point every night recently, but tonight she was not alone. The new power soaking into the wasteland, and into the forest, had granted the Bloomseer a connection with the spirit of the forest itself, and opened her eyes to truths beyond her imagining.

Seven shining wisps, the souls of the otherworldly visitors who had been stranded in this world, careened through the forest at a terrible speed, one of them locked in a spiralling dance with a glittering breeze that alone had the power to make the world tremble. Everything they touched trembled and shifted into new configurations. A handful of other wisps fluttered along in their wake, growing more powerful and prominent with each passing moment.

Poplar struggled to keep up with them, but the blood was too deep and too thick for her to move as fast as she'd like. Pushing forward, she felt a thrill of fear as she saw the break in the canopy just ahead.

'Go on, Poplar. I am with you,' the Great One whispered in her ear.

The voice helped to give the Bloomseer strength. Shoving her fears aside, Poplar gritted her teeth and stepped out from under the trees. Stars above glittered like rubies, but they were now almost eclipsed by the twin crescent moons, one wrapped in inky darkness as always, the other protectively circling its own little star.

A terrifying roar shook the earth, and a colossal beast soared between the two moons. Poplar gasped at the sight of it. What she had once mistaken for wings were revealed to be great billowing clouds of power, pouring off the creature in waves.

With a shudder, Poplar made to plunge back into the forest on the other side of the break. Before she could, however, a sudden breeze rippled through the trees. Something was wrong.

Poplar looked around wildly, trying to see anything through the sheets of gory rain. The ground shuddered beneath her feet, and the breeze was drowned out by a low rumble that rapidly grew to a dull roar that made the whole forest tremble.

Seized by fear, Poplar tried to turn and run only to slip on something beneath the surface. Only by grabbing hold of a tree trunk did she manage to avoid falling into the blood. The salvation was short lived, as the tree creaked and slowly tilted over dragging the Bloomseer with it. Just before she was dragged under entirely, Poplar caught a glimpse of two of the wisps falling and disappearing beneath the blood.

Next Chapter: Chapter 119 - Wasteland Survival Guide: Wild Wasteland Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 53 Minutes