Sunset stood with Primrose near the top of the Temple's main staircase, looking down at the brazier blazing away below. "It really is kinda beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is," Primrose agreed. "I feel like I could watch it for hours, sometimes."

"Is it just pure magic, or have you added some kind of fuel to it as well?" Sunset asked.

Primrose shook her head. "No, it's entirely formed from magic. The first embers were brought from the Helix Glow in the Church of Atom, and we add a portion of any magic we acquire to it every evening."

"Huh." Sunset briefly considered asking what the heck the Helix Glow was, but decided against it.

The pair quickly settled into a companionable silence, content to simply watch the Disciples and visitors below going about their day. Watching the sheer number of people who came to pay their respects, Sunset suddenly found herself feeling self-conscious, especially since many of the people who came and delivered gifts were residents that she regularly saw around Megaton.

Just as she was considering running and hiding in her room, Sunset saw Adam, Fluttershy, and Rainbow enter the Temple.

"Oh, all three of them are together?" Primrose glanced at Sunset. "Would you like me to inform the others, Lady Shimmer?"

"Yeah, please," Sunset replied. "Thanks, Prim."

"Not at all, Miss Shimmer." Primrose bowed and hurried upstairs to find the rest of the Rainbooms.

Sunset smiled and settled herself against the railings as she looked down at the three new arrivals. A passing Disciple apparently told the trio where the others were, as they all nodded and started making their way up the stairs. When they were about halfway up, Fluttershy suddenly smiled and looked up to wave at Sunset, as if she had expected her to be there. Sunset just waved back, belatedly marveling at how impressive her friend's enhanced senses were.

"Hey, I was wondering when you were going to get back," Sunset said as the three finally reached her. "Did you run into each other on the way back?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, I spotted these two coming back from the Monastery when I was circling around, so I figured I'd come in with them. Also, I haven't seen any sign of that other speedster. I think she's laying low."

"Good. Hopefully she's managed to get herself eaten by a Deathclaw or something, but I doubt we're that lucky." Sunset straightened up and stretched. "Either way, the Wasteland Survival Guide is finally all done and dusted. Moira is going to give us a copy when she gets it all printed." She glanced up at the stairs leading to the girls' bedrooms. "We've got our next objective too, if you're up for it. Applejack wants to head over to the Regulator HQ that Simms mentioned so she can set her record straight."

Sunset looked back at the others just in time to see them share an uneasy look.

"Actually, um, we've run into a little bit of a problem," Fluttershy ventured.

Resisting the strange urge she felt to groan with frustration, Sunset forced herself to ask calmly, "What problem?"

"We picked up a radio transmission from Vault 101," Adam replied. "From Amata, specifically. She says that the Overseer has gone completely nuts, and she wants our help."

Sunset's first gut reaction was to tell them to screw off, but she almost immediately changed her mind. Amata had gone far out of her way to help the Rainbooms, the least they could do was hear her out, and Adam deserved some closure too. "Okay, as soon as the others come down, we'll go and see what she has to say." She smiled wryly. "You never know, by the time we get back we might even get a message from the Enclave saying that the portal is ready. That would be poetic."

As soon as she said it, Sunset felt a strange pulse in the air. "What the…?"

"What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked.

Sunset shook her head. "I'm not sure." She frowned and turned to stare at the wall, her senses still tingling. "I thought I just felt a surge of Equestrian magic from somewhere." She sighed and turned back to the others. "Probably just the magic in the walls acting up."

---

Luna groaned and raised her head. Alarms were blaring, louder and deeper than the school fire alarm, and she could hear people shouting somewhere nearby, but the room around her was utterly pitch black. A sudden thrill of fear flickered through her at the thought that she might have been blinded, but Luna forced it down. Her back felt odd, too, unfamiliar sensations coupled with an odd feeling of weight combining to make her feel strangely unbalanced.

Pushing herself to her feet, Luna struggled to piece together what had happened. She remembered the Diviner activating, then Sonata had slammed her in the back, shoving her towards the portal and the other person standing in front of it. She didn't know whether the lack of any pain was a good sign or not.

Silently cursing the darkness, Luna fished her smartphone out of her pocket and switched on its flashlight. It didn't illuminate much, but it was enough for her to spot two figures lying on the ground next to her. "Trixie?! Sonata?! Are you both alright?!"

"I think I scraped my knee," Sonata replied, sounding more annoyed than hurt.

Luna nodded, satisfied that she was fine, and looked down at Trixie. "Trixie? Are you alright? Miss Lulamoon, answer me!"

"Ow." Luna felt a wave of relief as Trixie raised her head and blinked in the torchlight. "What happened?"

"I think we were sucked into the portal," Luna replied. She decided not to mention her suspicion that it was the residual magic in Sonata that had dragged her in, accidentally knocking the other two through on her way. The last thing the Vice Principal needed was for the girls to start throwing blame at each other. "Are you injured?"

Trixie sat up and shook her head. "I don't think so." She picked up her hat and stuck it on her head, then frowned and squinted into the darkness. "Where are we?"

Just as Luna opened her mouth to say that she didn't have a clue, the alarms suddenly stopped. Unfortunately, any relief she felt at that was marred by the fact that she could still hear unseen people talking anxiously nearby.

"We've got company," a deep voice rumbled loudly, making the three flinch. A second later a bright light burst into life a short way away. Luna instinctively stepped protectively in front of the girls as the light approached, noting with concern that it was at least twelve feet off the ground, and accompanied by impossibly heavy footsteps. She fought the urge to quake as a massive humanoid wearing what could only be described as a futuristic suit of full plate armor stomped into the light of her phone, the bright light coming from its helmet. "Hmph, looks like more Rainbooms."

"Rainbooms?" Luna blurted out despite herself.

"Step aside, Horrigan, let me through!" An oddly familiar voice rang out. The giant shifted to the side, making way for a woman to step into the light. "Oh, balls."

Luna glanced warily up at the giant, Horrigan, before turning her attention to the woman. She had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing an impeccably tailored suit, and there was something about her face that niggled at the back of Luna's mind. Whoever she was, she was clearly in charge. "Who are you? How do you know the Rainbooms?" Luna asked.

"That's… a long story," the woman replied.

"And one that we're not telling here," another voice said firmly from beyond the light. "Madam President, I must insist that we get you somewhere safer immediately," they added, cementing Luna's belief that the woman in front of her was in charge.

The President glared over her shoulder into the darkness. "I'm not going anywhere until I know what state the portal is in." As if in response to her rebuttal, there was a loud clang and the area was suddenly bathed in blinding light. "Finally. Right, how's the… oh, god damnit."

Still blinking from the sudden illumination, Luna turned to see what the President was staring at. A huge metal ring stood at the top of a short metal ramp, connected to heavy banks of machinery and computers that vaguely resembled the Geode Diviner, though much bulkier and retro-looking. Unfortunately, both the ring and its accompanying machinery were blackened and twisted, as if they had been scorched by intense heat.

"Let me guess, that's the portal that brought us here?" Luna asked flatly.

"I'm afraid so," the President replied sadly.

Sonata groaned loudly. "Seriously?! I'm stuck in some dumb other world again?!"

"And, surprise surprise, it's your fault, again!" Trixie snapped.

"This one isn't my fault!" Sonata shot back.

"Girls, this isn't the time," Luna cut in firmly. She was about to turn back to the President when she spotted something odd out of the corner of her eye. Trixie's hair was at least a foot or two longer than usual and, with her hat lying on the floor, two animal-like ears could be seen poking up from the top of her head, sure signs of the magic the Rainbooms usually wielded. "Trixie? What…?"

Trixie looked up at Luna curiously, and her eyes almost popped out of her skull. "Vice-Principal?! When did you get wings?!"

"Wings?" Luna turned on the spot like a twit, then realized what she was doing and glanced over her shoulder instead. Her jaw dropped when she saw a set of magnificent dark blue wings extending from her own back. "I… how?"

"The excess magic in the portal must have ponied you up," the President said, almost to herself.

Luna nodded slowly, staring absently at her new appendages. "Magic… right…" A sudden realisation made Luna gasp and snap her gaze to Sonata, but the Siren was strangely unchanged.

"The Raingoons broke my amulet, remember?" Sonata said in a tone that dripped with acid.

Luna nodded again, not bothering with an apology. The Dazzlings had brought that particular misfortune upon themselves. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Luna turned back to the President, determinedly avoiding looking at Horrigan. "Alright, Madam President, who are you people? Where are we? Why did you bring us here? And how do you know about the Rainbooms and their magic?"

The President looked between the three visitors curiously, then sighed heavily. "I'll answer all of your questions, but first let's get somewhere a little more comfortable." She gave the ruined portal one last wistful look before turning and walking away, gesturing for the others to follow. "This way."

Following a group of complete strangers deeper into an unknown complex, one of whom appeared to be an oversized sci-fi villain, didn't exactly seem like a good idea to Luna, but her options were limited. She looked back at the girls. Trixie was looking anxiously between the strangers and Luna herself, while Sonata's expression was it's usual blank self, though whether that was due to confusion or apathy was anybody's guess.

Luna sighed softly. "Come on, girls. Stay close to me."

Sonata and Trixie both nodded, the latter sweeping up her hat before falling into step behind their Vice-Principal.

The President, flanked by Horrigan and another woman, led the trio through the large room, which Luna now noticed looked like some sort of warehouse filled with metallic barricades facing the portal. Scientists were gathered around the barricades, most of them either eyeing the newcomers with surprise or poring over notes, though a few were simply staring at the portal despondently.

"Tara, come with me," the President called out as they passed a huddle of scientists. One of them, a blonde woman with glasses and an agitated expression that reminded Luna of Twilight Sparkle, split off and hurried to join the group. "The rest of you, I want a report waiting for me as soon as physically possible. And get a squad down here to look for Vincent and Turner!"

As the other scientists scattered to obey, the President marched purposefully towards a set of huge metal doors leading out of the warehouse. The yet-unnamed woman, Luna assumed she was a bodyguard of some sort, pressed a button in the wall and the doors slowly slid open.

The three newcomers gasped at the scene that greeted them. Another warehouse lay on the other side of the doors. Unlike the first one, this one was dotted with all sorts of metal crates and storage containers, but the trio's eyes were immediately drawn to the massive pillar of swirling multicoloured lights rising up in the middle of the room. A short metal fence with a small gate cordoned off the base of it, while the top rose up and out through a hole in the ceiling. A melodious tune, like thousands of crystal bells, emanates from the pillar. There was no doubt in Luna's mind that Equestrian magic was at play.

Without looking back, the President made a beeline for the pillar and leaned on the fence, looking up into the kaleidoscopic morass. Tara quickly stood next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder as Horrigan and the bodyguard took up flanking positions on either side of the pair.

"This is more comfortable?" Luna asked suspiciously.

"It's open enough that no-one can eavesdrop on us without being noticed," the President replied without looking back. "Given the circumstances of your arrival, I'd say it's probably safer to stay here than go wandering through the corridors further on."

"What does that mean?" Trixie asked.

The bodyguard threw the President a pointed look. "It means what we should be doing is heading to the elevator and getting Potus back to HQ. There are plenty of scientists either here or there who are perfectly capable of debriefing our new visitors."

"Not a chance, Agent Drops," the President countered firmly. She took a deep breath and turned around to look at Luna. "Right, your questions. I can only give you a brief rundown for now, but I promise you'll get more details soon. First of all, we're an organisation called the Enclave, of which I'm the President. Essentially, we're the last remnant of this country's former government, parts of the military, and certain business conglomerates."

"The remnants?" Luna frowned. "Was there some sort of rebellion or something?" She kept her tone carefully neutral. Looking back on what she knew of history, any coalition of corporations and government officials that was toppled by the people tended to thoroughly deserve it, and weren't usually the sort of people you could afford to offend.

Surprisingly, the President just laughed. "God, no. Things would probably be easier if there had been." Her expression quickly soured. "There was a nuclear war around two hundred years ago. The vast majority of the world's civilisations were wiped out, and the environment has largely been reduced to an irradiated wasteland."

Luna felt a shiver run down her spine. "I hope you're just trying to make a bad joke."

"I wish," Tara said quietly. "You'll see for yourself when you head up to the surface."

"The surface? Are we underwater?" Sonata asked curiously.

"Underground, actually," the President replied. "This is an old pre-war facility we reoccupied with the express purpose of building a portal to your world."

Luna nodded, trying not to look at Horrigan or the holstered weapon on Agent Drops' hip. "Of course, that begs the question of why?"

"Research, at least initially, though now we're trying to get the Rainbooms home, too." Tara ran a hand through her hair. "As you just saw, something went wrong."

An awful sense of déjà vu flickered through Luna's mind. "You weren't planning on bringing us through." It was a statement rather than a question, but both Tara and the President shook their heads anyway. "Why do I get the feeling you're about to tell me that the portal was sabotaged?"

"It wasn't. Well, not as such," Tara replied.

The President sighed heavily. "An over-eager scientist, one who was actually incarcerated for his excessive and unethical experiments, somehow escaped his cell and disabled the safety protocols on the portal while we were testing it." She grimaced and glanced around the room. "We're still not sure exactly what he did and how, and he's actually still at large, hence why we're waiting here until our security operative checks back in."

"That makes sense," Trixie muttered uneasily, and Luna couldn't help but agree with her. Wandering through a maze of corridors with a mad scientist on the loose sounded like a good idea for a video game, but a nightmarish experience in real life.

"Where do the Rainbooms come into all of this?" Sonata asked flatly.

Luna glanced at her, surprised that she wasn't calling them the 'Raingoons' for a change.

"That… is a long story," the President said in a weary tone.

"And one we don't have time for," Horrigan rumbled, startling the three visitors. "Vincent is here."

The President immediately whipped around, the others swiftly following her gaze. A young man with cropped black hair, wearing a crisp military uniform, was striding towards the group. Much like the others, Vincent seemed oddly familiar to Luna, but she couldn't quite figure out why.

Vincent's eyes widened when he saw the new arrivals, but that was the only outward sign that he'd even noticed them as he strode up to the President and saluted. "Madame President, Doctor Turner has been apprehended."

"Good," the President said with clear relief. She turned back to Luna and the others. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I've spared all the time I can for the moment. Doctor Strong will take you to the common room so you can get some rest, and she'll be happy to answer any questions you have."

"Assuming I know the answer, anyway," Tara added.

Luna just nodded calmly and allowed the scientist to lead her away, glancing over shoulder to make sure that Trixie and Sonata were following. "Stay close to me, girls. You don't want to get lost."

"Any more than we already are," Trixie mumbled.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that we'll get everything fixed soon," Luna assured her. Truth be told, she was quite proud of how well Trixie was handling the situation, even if her usual swagger was nowhere to be seen. Regular exposure to the Rainbooms' bizarre antics seemed to be helping to lessen the shock of what had happened. It was certainly helping keep Luna from freaking out, though she couldn't wait to get a chance to examine her new wings in private. Sonata seemed to be holding up well, too, though this was the second time that she had been through something like this.

With a subtle breath, Luna straightened her shoulders and focused on where they were going. No matter how well it looked like the girls were managing, Luna was the adult of the three, and it was her job to keep them all safe. Maintaining a calm front was going to be a big part of that. She just hoped that she could keep it up long enough.

---

Becky watched the new arrivals walking away with mixed feelings. As soon as they were out of sight down a corridor, and the door shut tight behind them, she walked over to a nearby steel crate, picking up a loose crowbar from the one next to it. "Motherfucker!" She brought the crowbar down on the crate as hard as she could. "Stupid! Fucking! Asshole!" Becky kept up a stream of profanities, punctuating each one by slamming the crowbar into the crate.

Finally, after she had vented the worst of her anger, Becky tossed the mangled crowbar aside, panting heavily. "Where's Turner?" She growled.

"Dead," Vincent replied flatly. "I found him in the control room with the bodies of Michaels' and the control team. He was just about to leave when I arrived. He demanded that I let him pass so he could interview some new guests, I assume he meant those girls you were with just now, and when I ordered him to stand down he tried to force his way past. I had to put him down."

Becky nodded. "Are you positive that he's dead?"

"Mozambique Drill, he's not getting back up from that," Vincent insisted.

"Good," Becky said viciously. "Do we have any idea how he escaped?"

"I can't say for sure, but the control team were clearly killed quickly and efficiently with conventional methods, while Michaels was killed by some sort of magic," Vincent replied. "Best guess, Turner must have convinced Michaels to let him out, then killed him once he'd gotten what he wanted."

That made sense to Becky. Michaels had, after all, been the one who had tried to stop the Rainbooms' escaping, what felt like a lifetime ago.

Agent Drops quietly cleared her throat. "Madame President, do you really think it's wise to let Tara handle our new guests alone?"

"She'll be fine," Becky said confidently. She had recognised the three visitors the moment the lights came back on, thanks to her brush with Sunset's memories. The fact that Sonata Dusk was with them was a surprise, but Tara would undoubtedly get to the bottom of that. "Right, I'm going back to the portal. On the off chance that the SDT-1 has miraculously survived, I want-"

The sound of the elevator doors at the far end of the warehouse sliding open grabbed everyone's attention. A soldier hurried out of it and, seeing the group, made double time over to them. A sick feeling started pooling in Becky's stomach. No-one was supposed to come downstairs until called unless it was an emergency.

"Madam President!" The soldier saluted sharply as he reached the group. "Apologies for the interruption, but we've had an urgent transmission from the Adams Air Force Base. All contact has been lost with the personnel at the Raven Rock outpost."

Becky fought down the urge to scream. Her inner circle was one thing, but she refused to let the rank and file see her as anything other than unflappable. "I'll contact Elder Lyons immediately. Horrigan, please go and find Sienna and send her to help Tara. Vincent, go to the portal room and make sure that everyone is following protocol, then come and find me. Let's try and avoid any more catastrophes today."

---

Trixie looked around anxiously as she and the others followed the scientist through the facility. Aside from the initial pair of massive warehouses, the entire complex seemed to be made up of monotonous concrete corridors. Without a guide, any visitor would swiftly become hopelessly lost.

Something felt off. Trixie supposed that that was only natural, after all, she had just been sucked into a portal and dumped into a completely different world. Still, something definitely wasn't right about this place. For a start, everyone Trixie had met so far seemed suspiciously familiar and, while she couldn't be certain, she had an odd feeling that the President had recognised her.

The guns weren't helping matters. It made sense to Trixie that a President's bodyguard might carry one, and a soldier was a no-brainer, but Trixie had also spotted a subtle bulge in the President's suit that she would have confidently bet was a concealed weapon. Somehow, she doubted that Horrigan, the giant robot-thing was just an oversized construction worker, either. Wherever the three were, this place wasn't safe.

Trixie shook her head and tried to shift her train of thought. Despite what she had been told, she didn't want to even think about what sort of world they were in. One thing at a time. Portal. People. Facility. No need to think about anything beyond that.

To try and take her mind off things, Trixie took a quick mental inventory of everything she had on her. Aside from her phone, she had her handkerchiefs, trick wands, lockpicks, fake flowers, a healthy supply of smoke bombs, several firecrackers, sparklers, and the last of the fireworks that Principal Celestia had demanded be removed from school premises.

Trixie glanced shiftily at Vice Principal Luna and hoped desperately that they weren't about to get searched by security or something. The last thing she wanted right now was a lecture.

---

This world had potential, Sonata decided. Sure, the people here were shady government types, and the land above was, apparently, a mess, but she could work with that.

The main draw was the fact that this world clearly had massive amounts of Equestrian magic. Sonata had already absorbed as much of the excess flowing through the portal as she possibly could, stuffing it deep down inside herself so no-one would notice and try to take it from her again. Next, she was hoping to get a closer look at the giant magic pillar-thingy.

Without her amulet, Sonata couldn't draw magic out of other people, nor could she use it to control them or toy with their emotions, but that wasn't going to stop her from grabbing whatever she could. She just had to make sure that the Raingoons didn't find out.

And remember not to call them Raingoons out loud. People seemed to like them here.

As they walked through the boring corridors, Sonata looked around idly, hoping she would spot some magic crystals or something similar. It would make things much easier if she could make another amulet for herself.

Next Chapter: Chapter 123 - Exposition Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 59 Minutes