Sunset raised her hands slowly, not taking her eyes off the man below. “We don’t want any trouble. We’ve been sent by the people of Arefu, to negotiate.”

The man raised an eyebrow, but didn’t lower his gun. He had a bandanna around his head and was wearing some heavy duty combat armor. He was clearly a guard of some sort. “Yeah, Vance said we should be expecting someone soon.” He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and lowered the gun. “Alright, you can head on in. Speak to Vance, he’s usually on the mezzanine overlooking the common area.”

“Thanks, come on girls.”

As the rest of the group filed out from behind the train the guard raised his gun again. Now that she could get a good look at it, Sunset realized it was a compact sub-machine gun. “Whoa whoa, why are there so many of you?”

“They’re my friends.” Sunset replied warily.

The guard shook his head, lowering his gun again. “We weren’t expecting this many of you.”

“Is that a problem?” Applejack asked.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

The guard gestured to Applejack’s pilfered shotgun, held loosely at her side. “On how heavily armed your group is. We may be a bad-ass gang, but we aren’t stupid.”

“Heavily armed?” Applejack glanced down at her gun and chuckled. “Shoot, this here shotgun and Sunset’s little pistol are the only darn guns we got and they’re a lot more than we’re used to handling. You can trust me on that one.”

Sunset had to restrain herself from face-palming. She had no intention of trying to threaten the Family (unless she really had to) but she would have preferred to keep their lack of guns and experience with them a secret, if only so the Family would be a little more wary of picking a fight. Well, at least she forgot to mention the grenades.

The guard just raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? How the hell have you girls managed to survive in the wastes without any guns?”

“Duh, we’re awesome.” Rainbow smirked, planting a hand on her hip and trying to puff herself up, though the effect was hampered somewhat by the tattered sling she still wore.

The guard looked incredulously at her, then shook his head. “If you say so. Alright I’ll let you pass.” He turned to open a gate in a nearby mesh fence and gestured for them to follow. “Come with me, I‘ll show you the door.”

“Thanks, we appreciate it.” Sunset said brightly as they followed the guard through the gate. He locked it the moment they were through and led them through a short corridor. There were a few makeshift tables, covered with guns and various pieces of equipment, even a computer terminal and a small bed, everything a Wasteland guard post would need. Sunset realized the Family must be more organised than she’d given them credit for.

“I must admit, I‘m a little surprised.” Twilight said suddenly, “You’re the first person we’ve met who hasn’t been concerned about how we look?”

Sunset‘s brow furrowed. Now that she thought about it, Twilight was right. He’d been more interested in why they were there than anything else.

The guard just grunted. “Everyone’s got their own problems.” Sunset's impression of the Family went up, if only slightly. At least they didn't seem to be bigots, not yet anyway. As the group turned a corner he indicated a metal side door. “Go through there and turn right. When you get to the end of the tunnel you’ll see the mezzanine above you. You’ll probably find Vance up there.”

“Thanks again.” Sunset stepped through first with the others close on her heels, closing the door behind them as the guard returned to his post. They were back in the subway tunnel, on the other side of the crashed train. The tracks continued on to their right, past another turnoff and opening up into what Sunset assumed must be the station.

“So far so good.” Twilight said quietly as the group started making their way towards the station. “Do you think they’ll listen to us?”

“I certainly hope so darling.” Rarity replied. “Though after the way things have been going recently, I’ll be very surprised if our negotiations do go smoothly.”

“Me too.” Sunset admitted. “We have to try though. Let’s just try not to antagonize them while we’re at it.”

“Um, what if they don’t want to listen to us?” Fluttershy asked shakily.

Sunset put a hand to her chin as she thought. “Distract them with a grenade and run like heck?”

“Oh yeah, ah forgot we had some of them.” Applejack stopped in her tracks, eyes widening for a moment before she shrugged and continued walking. “Meh, works for me.”

Rarity groaned and raised her hands to her head, her purple locks swaying as she gently massaged her temples. “Two days ago I would have said you were crazy for even thinking such a thing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but right now I think it might actually be a good idea.”

“Yeah, I’d rather we avoided that if we could.” Rainbow muttered. “I’ve had enough of grenades for one day.”

“Fair enough.” Sunset said quickly, unable to resist a glance at Rainbow’s backside. A slight limp and the bandage visible through the small hole in her pants were the only outward signs of their sporty friend’s newest ‘injury’.

The girls stopped talking as they came to the end of the tunnel and stepped into the station. It was a lot larger than Sunset had expected. The tracks between the platforms had been covered with wooden planks, forming a makeshift floor. There were benches and chairs everywhere, and the entire place was lit up by dozens of little portable lamps. Looming over the whole area was a large mezzanine, just as the guard had mentioned. A man and a woman were stood up there, surveying the area and it’s inhabitants from their lofty perch.

That must be Vance, Sunset thought. She spotted a broken down escalator leading up to the mezzanine and, remembering what the guard had said about speaking to Vance first, made her way over to it, the others looking around warily as they followed. The various members of the Family paused in the middle of whatever tasks they were doing to stare as the girls walked past. Curiously, none of them looked hostile or intimidated, a first as far as Sunset was concerned. Several people looked wary, certainly, but most of them just seemed curious.

Still, none of the girls dared to let their guard down, Vance’s eyes followed them as they ascended the escalator and made their way over to him. He had thick, dark hair and was wearing a heavy leather trench coat. He had some sort of makeshift sword sheathed at his side, a thick tube connected it's handle to what looked suspiciously like a gas tank strapped to his back.

The woman at his side was scarcely less imposing. She had short blonde hair and was wearing heavy black pants and a small leather vest over a red short-sleeved undershirt, cut short to expose her midriff. A gleaming sub-machine gun was holstered at her waist. Sunset supposed it was a good sign that neither of them had drawn their weapons yet.

Vance threw his arms wide as they approached. “Welcome to our home.” His voice was deep and calm. "My people call me Vance, and this is my wife Holly.” Holly smiled and nodded as Vance gestured to her. “I lead this group of weary travelers and outcasts who need a home. And to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Sunset nodded politely, wondering vaguely what he meant by outcasts. “It's, er, nice to meet you. I'm Sunset Shimmer and these are my friends.” The others nodded, Rarity and Fluttershy each giving a small, shy wave. “We've been sent by the sheriff of Arefu to discuss the recent... incidents.”

Vance blinked, apparently surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and nodded. “I suspected that someone would be coming to see us soon, though I admit I wasn’t expecting such a large group. At least, not for negotiations...” He eyed the girls warily as he spoke. “Given your… general… lack of weaponry, am I to assume that you are looking for a peaceful resolution?”

“We certainly hope so!” Twilight laughed nervously.

“As do we.” Vance replied softly, relaxing visibly. He raised an eyebrow at the look on the girls' faces. “You seem surprised by this?”

Sunset and Twilight shared a look. “Well... Yeah.” Sunset rubbed at her neck, not sure how to go about this. “To be honest, after everything we’ve heard we weren't expecting you to be so...?”

“Reasonable?” Holly supplied.

“Understandable, of course.” Vance folded his arms and heaved a sigh. “Perhaps it would be best if you tell us what you have heard and what the people of Arefu are requesting. We can base our negotiations around that.”

Sunset hesitated. “Well…”

After a few moments of silence, Applejack huffed and stepped forward. “Alright look, there ain’t no pretty way of saying this, so ah’m just going to come out and say it.” She tilted her hat backwards and looked Vance dead in the eye. “We know y’all have been causing a ruckus for a while, but things are getting out of hand. We know you killed the town’s Brahmin. Now the Wests are dead too and Ian has gone missing, ah’m assuming he’s their son, and the sheriff reckons it all comes back to you. You want to know what the folk back at Arefu are requesting? They want to know what your problem is, they want to know what happened to Ian, and they want to be left alone.”

Awkward silence followed in the wake of the farmer’s tirade. Sunset tensed as Vance and Holly shared a look, worried that Applejack’s blunt honesty was about to escalate matters, but to her surprise they both just sighed, Holly in particular looking quite abashed.

“What happened with the Brahmin was a most regrettable occurrence, for which I offer my most sincere apologies.” Vance shook his head slowly. “I was aware that certain members of our Family were making a nuisance of themselves but I never suspected they would go so far in tormenting the local populace.”

“It's a terrible thing. I wish we could give some sort of recompense for them, but we just don't have those kind of resources.” Holly said earnestly.

“It is indeed a shame, but I'm afraid that all I have to offer is my solemn word that such an incident will not occur again. As for Ian’s parents…” Vance's expression darkened. “I suppose the sheriff is correct, in a way.”

“It is not your fault.” Holly said firmly.

“My fault? Perhaps not, but it is my responsibility.” Vance sighed. “What happened to the Wests was a terrible tragedy, one that I was not quick enough to prevent. It was only through good fortune that I was able to reach Ian before he was truly lost.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked quickly, “Is Ian here? Is he alright?”

Vance nodded. “Ian is here and unharmed I promise you, he came with me voluntarily.”

“Can we see him?” Twilight asked.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that right now.” Vance said as Holly shook her head. “Ian is currently in isolation while he comes to terms with what happened in Arefu, and decides what he wants to do next.”

“It sounds to me like you’re imprisoning the poor boy.” Rarity shot.

“Nothing could be further from the truth.” Vance replied. “Ian is free to leave and seek his own path at any time should he wish it.”

“You said you managed to reach Ian before he was ‘lost completely’.” Sunset said quickly, before anyone else could retort. “What exactly happened up there?”

There was silence as Vance looked over the girls, an almost appraising look in his eyes. Finally he sighed. “Very well, but if you truly wish to understand what transpired then first I must tell you who and what we, the Family, really are. Perhaps then you will see why Ian belongs here with us.”

Sunset said nothing as Vance turned and flung out an arm, indicating the makeshift settlement spread out below. “What you see before you is the last bastion of hope for the downtrodden and misunderstood. It is a sanctuary for the oppressed and beacon of faith for the tyrannized.”

The girls listened as he recited what seemed to be a well-rehearsed little speech. “We are the remnants of society, cast aside like the clean-picked bones of a hunter’s feast. I led my flock beneath the sun-baked sands of the Wasteland to keep them safe and teach them my ways.”

“What exactly are your ways?” Applejack asked.

“And why are you outcasts?” Fluttershy added.

Vance glanced at the girls, his expression unreadable. “I provide these people with shelter, purpose and a sense of belonging. I help them to control their hunger, as I have with mine, that we may live with it without becoming the beasts that others perceive us to be. Society labels us as monsters, demons and the unclean. Men of science would call us cannibals, eaters of human flesh.”

Oh shit. If she hadn’t been paralyzed by shock, Sunset would have chastised herself for the profanity that flashed in her mind. She wasn’t the only one, each of the girls simply stood and stared at Vance as if he had suddenly grown another head. It was Applejack who finally broke the silence.

“Uh, come again?”

Vance sighed and shook his head slowly. “You need not be afraid. I have reined in my people’s cravings and taught them not to eat of the flesh but to drink of the blood.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow slowly. “Right… so… vampires?”

Holly chuckled at that. “In a manner of speaking. My husband has taught us the ways of the vampire, helping us to control our hunger by just drinking blood rather than actually eating people.”

“That’s… actually quite fascinating!” Twilight said brightly. She blushed as the others turned to stare at her in amazement. “I mean, I suspected that cannibalism would be an issue in the wasteland given the lack of reliable food production and distribution, but I never considered that people might use a substitute to help control their cannibalistic urges!”

Sunset shook her head, smirking slightly despite the circumstances. Stuck in an underground subway station surrounded by heavily armed cannibals and the colossal nerd is thinking about a research project.

“I suppose… as long as no-one‘s getting hurt, then I guess it can‘t be too bad…right?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Sunset felt a jolt in her gut as she realized why Vance was telling them all of this. “Someone did get hurt.”

The girls looked around at her curiously while Vance just nodded grimly. “Now you understand why Ian is better off with us.”

Looks of shock and horror passed over the girls faces as comprehension dawned on them. Fluttershy’s hands flew to her mouth and Pinkie’s hair deflated as her shoulders slumped.

“You mean… Ian… he… I…” Rarity groaned and turned to brace her hands on the wall, taking deep breaths as her face rapidly turned green.

“Good gravy.” Applejack breathed, plucking her hat off and holding it over her chest.

Rainbow looked slowly around at the others, blank shock written all over her features. “You mean he… he killed-”

“Don’t say it!” Rarity snapped before moaning again, covering her mouth with a hand. “Please… just don’t say it.”

Vance turned away, gazing down at his people in the station below. “The hunger that drives us must be kept in check. It is one of the most difficult things to teach. Ian lost control because no-one was around to guide him. His own family was alien to him.” He shook his head sadly. “He had a moment of weakness, and it was fatal.”

Rarity sank to her knees, moaning weakly. Fluttershy tottered over and slumped on the ground next to her, staring vacantly ahead.

“How in the heck are we going to explain this to Lucy?” Applejack muttered.

“Lucy?” Vance asked.

“His sister, I think.” Sunset replied quietly, pulling Lucy’s letter out of her pocket. “She asked us to deliver a letter to her family. That’s why we were in Arefu in the first place.”

Vance blinked at the letter she held. “Then a part of his human family still remains? Even more of a reason he needs to remain in isolation, lest she suffer the same fate as her parents.”

Sunset glanced around at her friends, then directed a pleading look at Vance. “This letter is all Ian has left of his old life. Will you at least let us give it to him?”

Vance stared in wonder at Sunset, muttering almost to himself. “Of all people you girls must surely understand the difficulties faced by outcasts in this day and age, and yet somehow you remain… altruistic.” His expression softened as he looked around at each of the girls. “Very well. You have earned my trust and my respect. If you wish to speak to Ian, you are free to do so.”

Sunset sighed and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Would you like me to show you to his meditation room?” Holly asked.

“Please.” Sunset glanced back at her friends, all of them still looking either horrified, stunned or distinctly queasy. “I… guess you all want to stay here?”

There were nods and murmurs of assent from all except Fluttershy, who just sat and stared at the wall opposite. Sunset’s shoulders slumped as she turned to follow Holly, desperately hoping that this trip hadn’t finally crushed the kind girl’s spirit.

Holly led Sunset into a corridor off the mezzanine and through a battered old ticket barrier. Around the corner was a heavily boarded-up gate, one that Sunset assumed once led outside, with a little side door labelled ‘Restroom’. Holly stepped over to a bulky computer terminal just outside the door and entered a code. A moment later there was a loud thunk as the door unlocked.

“That’s some heavy security for a toilet.” Sunset quipped, trying to perk herself back up and gather her confidence.

“You’re telling me.” Holly chuckled. “It’s the only room with a functioning electric lock and a working toilet, so we use it as a meditation room for new Family members, or for older members who need some time alone.” She pushed the door open and gestured inside. “Here you go, I’ll be waiting outside so just knock when you’re done.”

Sunset nodded and stepped through, Holly closing the door behind her. The room inside was in a parlous state. It was some sort of waiting room, with doors leading off to the women’s and men’s toilet areas, but the ceiling at both ends had caved in, massive piles of rubble leaving very little floor space and blocking the entrance to the men’s restroom.

A young man, Sunset assumed it was Ian, was seated at a small table that had been plonked in what little floor space remained. He looked up as the thunk of the door locking echoed through the room. His eyes widened as he spotted Sunset and he scrambled to his feet.

“Wow, uh… um, hello?”

Sunset managed a small smile. “Hello, my name’s Sunset Shimmer. I’m guessing you’re Ian West?”

Ian just stared at her blankly. After a moment he seemed to realize what he was doing and gave himself a shake. “Oh, y-yeah. Sorry. Are you a new member of the Family too?”

Sunset shook her head. “Actually me and my friends came here to find you. Evan sent us, from Arefu?”

“Really? Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Ian smiled sadly, “Evan would probably have the whole town out looking for me if he could. He’s worse than my parents.” His smile vanished the moment the words left his mouth, replaced with a look of absolute misery.

“I’m sorry.” Sunset shifted uncomfortably as Ian looked up at her. “Vance told us, about what happened.”

“Right…” Ian’s shoulders drooped as his gaze fell to the floor. His voice shook as he spoke. “I guess you think I’m some kind of monster.”

Sunset hesitated. When she didn’t respond he sighed and turned away, slouching over to a bed tucked against one of the walls and dropping onto it. Silent tears streamed down his face.

Seeing that helped Sunset make up her mind. Despite what he had done Ian wasn’t another psychopath like Burke, just a scared young man no older than herself, stuck with a terrible affliction that he couldn’t do anything about. Sunset took a deep breath and strode across the room to sit on the bed next to him.

“I don’t think you’re a monster Ian.” Sunset said slowly. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now but… I do know what it’s like to have a darkness inside of you.”

“No you really don't.” Ian mumbled.

“Maybe not in the same way but… not long ago I was in a bad place. I was consumed with bitterness and jealousy, all I cared about was power and revenge against those who would keep me from it. I ended up going down a very dark path.” Sunset hesitated as she remembered the feeling of the magic searing through her mind and the corrupt, sadistic glee that had blossomed afterwards. “I… I tried to murder my friends.”

Ian looked slowly up at her. “What happened?” he asked quietly.

She smiled sadly. “They managed to stop me before anyone got hurt.” Except me… and I guess maybe Snips and Snails… “After that... they forgave me. Don’t get me wrong, it took a while to earn everyone’s trust again, but they stood by me.” Sunset placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “I know the circumstances are different, but you have people who care about you too. People who will support you, who won’t let you face the darkness alone.”

Ian shook his head slowly. “No I don’t, the only people who give a shit about me any more are the Family.”

“That’s not true Ian. What about Evan? You know he cares about you, and so does Lucy.” Ignoring his look of surprise, Sunset pulled out the letter and handed it to him. “She gave this to me. She wanted me and my friends to deliver it to her family.”

Ian hesitantly took the letter and opened it. Fresh tears started to fall as he read it through. “She asks about me a lot in here, says she really misses being home.” He sighed and folded the letter back up. “I had it all wrong. I never should have come here in the first place.”

“What are you going to do?” Sunset asked gently.

Ian just took a deep breath and stood up. Sunset followed as he strode over and rapped on the door. It was unlocked with another loud thunk and a moment later it was open, Holly standing in the doorway.

“Ian? Are you alright?”

Ian nodded. “I’m alright, thanks Holly. Can I speak to Vance?”

“Of course dear, what about?”

Ian smiled sadly. “I… I want to go home.”

I Liiiive!!!

Sorry about the recent delay, the last few weeks have been a bit of a train wreck irl and I haven't been able to get to my pc much.

While I have managed to get things mostly back on track I'm afraid from now on I'm going to have reduce my updates from once a week to once a fortnight for the time being. This should give me a little breathing room and allow me to build up a bit of a buffer so if the same thing does happen again i can still post new chapters even if I can't get to the pc.

Anyhoo, enough of the downer crap. I hope you enjoy the new chapter, comments and criticisms are welcome and, as always, thanks for reading!