Dead silence filled the room.

Everyone was sitting around the table save for a doctor, who was busy giving Sunset a brief check-up. Luna watched anxiously as he worked.

Seeing Sunset have a complete meltdown had stunned everyone in the room. Luckily, the President had foreseen that one of the visitors might have an adverse reaction to the meeting and had a doctor on standby who had quickly been summoned and immediately given her a sedative. Once she had calmed down a little, the doctor had helped strip off the heavy-looking armor Sunset was wearing, taken off the bizarre computer she was wearing on her wrist, then finally removed her top revealing a gray and tan t-shirt before guiding her back into a seat. As soon as Sunset was sitting down, the doctor had given her a quick check-up, made her take some tablets, and was now measuring her pulse on her wrist while counting down on his watch.

Luna could barely recognize the girl sitting in front of her. Sunset was far leaner and more muscular than she had been what seemed only a few days ago, her arms were covered with small scars and barely-healed scratches, and another particularly nasty-looking scar marred her right temple. Her hair was lank and unkempt, her cheeks were hollow, and she had thick bags under her eyes that spoke of great difficulty in sleeping. If it weren’t for the hair and skin, Luna would have sworn that she was looking at a completely different person to the Sunset she knew.

“Is she going to be okay?” The President asked.

The doctor sighed and gently put Sunset’s hand down on the table. “She needs rest and fluids, but she should be fine from a physical standpoint. Mentally, I’d recommend a full psychiatric evaluation, counselling, and an introduction to cognitive behavioural therapy at the very least.”

“Which we aren’t currently equipped to sufficiently provide.” The President tapped the desk as she thought. “Thank you, doctor, you can go now. I’ll have my aide send you details of where Sunset will be staying in case we need you again.” The doctor nodded and left, closing the door behind him. “That could have gone better,” the President muttered. “How are you doing, Sunset?”

Sunset just shook her head and slumped over to rest it on the table.

“What happened?” Luna asked the President tightly. “You said that the Rainbooms were fine.”

“They were when I last spoke to them, but the wastes are dangerous, and things can change very quickly. On top of that, the spread of magic is making things more unpredictable than ever,” the President replied.

Luna could understand that feeling all too well. Even so, she had seen the Rainbooms in action on more than one occasion, and it was hard to believe that there was any magical mishap that they couldn’t handle. “What happened to the other girls? Who is Unity?”

“That is a long story,” the President said with a sigh. She glanced at Sunset, who was still slumped over in silence, then launched into what Luna could tell was a truncated explanation of who Unity was and what she had done.

“Wow, she sounds like a mean piece of work,” Sonata said when the explanation was done, without so much as a trace of irony in her voice.

“That’s exactly what you tried to do!” Trixie hissed.

Sonata scoffed loudly. “Uh, no, we didn’t want to rule, we just wanted adoring slaves who would do whatever we wanted. Totally different. Duh.”

“It’s what I tried to do, back at the Fall Formal,” Sunset put in suddenly. She slowly raised her head and glared suspiciously at Sonata. Her eyes were glazed and a little unfocused, but her expression was sharp. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“Because your stupid portal broke again,” Sonata shot.

The President raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been wondering about that myself. Weren’t you and the other Sirens enemies of the Rainbooms?”

Sonata shrugged. “Yeah, but we lost. The only reason we bothered helping that dumb changeling and the other Sunset trash the portal was because they were going to help us get back to Equestria.”

“Wait.” Luna fought the urge to slap a palm to her forehead as Sunset straightened up, her eyes narrowing and her voice dropping dangerously, “You sabotaged the Geode Diviner? You’re the reason that we were dumped in this world?”

“Uh, I guess so?” Sonata replied blithely. “I mean, I don’t think that was part of the plan, but-” She was cut off as Sunset suddenly lunged across the table, grabbed the front of her top, and pressed a large knife against her throat hard enough to draw blood. Luna just sat and stared, too stunned to move.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t gut you like the bottom-feeding shit that you are,” Sunset said in a terrifyingly calm voice.

Sonata’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “I, uh, I don’t want you to?!” She yelped desperately.

“I said a good reason,” Sunset growled.

The look of abject terror in Sonata’s eyes finally snapped Luna back to her senses. “Don’t hurt her! She’s been helping us!” Sunset didn’t move an inch, so Luna pressed on, “It was a changeling who sabotaged the Diviner; someone named Mandible. Adagio said the plan was just to put the Diviner out of commission, not open up a portal. As soon as the Sirens heard what happened they sent Sonata secretly to pass information to us.”

“I-It’s true!” Sonata squealed. “No-one was supposed to get hurt, I swear!”

Sunset scowled, apparently weighing their words in her mind, then finally shoved Sonata back into her seat and sat back down. “Fine, you get a pass for now, but if you ever, ever, fuck with me or my friends again, you die screaming.” With that dire proclamation, Sunset stood up, swaying slightly as she stepped away from the table. “I need to get started on those inhibitors. Where’s Lily?”

“Not a chance, the doctor said you need to rest,” the President said firmly.

Sunset turned to glare at her. “I can’t just sit around while-”

“Sunset, you’re fucked,” the President cut in. “You’ve had a nightmare of a day, you can barely even stand up straight, and the only reason you can even form coherent sentences instead of having a breakdown in the corner is because the doc just gave you a sedative and a dose of Mentats. We’ve set aside a residence for Luna, Trixie and Sonata, and there’s a spare bed there so you can stay with them. Go there, catch up, get some sleep, then we’ll see how you are in the morning. You aren’t going to help anyone if you collapse or have a nervous breakdown.”

“She’s right, take some time to recuperate, then go at this with fresh eyes, alright?” Luna added.

Sunset tried to glare at them, but she ended up just sagging and staring at the floor. “Okay.”

---

Sunset closed her eyes and tried not to think about anything, instead choosing to focus on the feeling of the snow whipping past her. It was easy enough. Whatever kind of sedative the doctor had given her was keeping a lid on the worst of her emotions, making her feel oddly detached from her own body, though the implications of why the Enclave would have such a drug were far from pleasant.

Luckily, the President had prepared a jeep to take the group to their new home, saving them the arduous task of trekking through the snow to the residential area. Sunset had jumped into the front passenger seat, largely to put off the inevitable questions for as long as possible.

“Here you go,” the driver said suddenly, bringing Sunset back to reality with a bump. She hadn’t even realized that the jeep had stopped. Allowing herself a small sigh, Sunset thanked the driver and got out, swung her pack over her shoulder and snatched up her plasma rifle, then looked up at the building next to them. It was a detached house, rather than a semi or terrace, which made Sunset believe that it would usually be reserved for the Enclave’s higher-ups.

“Hold on, I’ve got the key,” Luna said gently as she stepped past. She unlocked the door and stepped inside to hold it open for the others. Warm air rushed out to greet them.

Sunset looked around as she entered, checking for threats and exits through force of habit. The house had a small hallway with a few doors leading off to other rooms, and an elaborately carved staircase that headed up to the second floor. “I’ll go and dump my stuff in a bedroom,” Sunset grunted. Keenly aware of the gazes of the others, she shuffled upstairs.

There were two similar sized bedrooms on the second floor. Each of them had a pair of beds, two wardrobes, and a single chest of drawers. Sunset picked one of the rooms and Propped her plasma rifle up against the chest of drawers. Next, she threw her pack on one of the beds, stripped off her damp Brotherhood uniform and got into a clean set of Enclave lounging clothes in the form of simple shorts and a tank top. Her armor had been left with the President for the technicians to check over.

As tempted as she was to simply clamber into bed and pass out, Sunset knew that she had to speak to the others. With a sigh, she quietly padded downstairs.

Luna and the others were in the lounge. It was well-apportioned, with a squishy couch and a pair of matching chairs all gathered around a blazing fireplace. Sonata and Trixie were both on the couch, while Luna was standing next to the fire. Sonata flinched and reached up to touch the scabs on her neck as Sunset entered, but Sunset just ignored her and dropped into one of the empty chairs.

“Are you okay?” Luna asked tentatively.

“No. No I’m not,” Sunset replied calmly. She was mildly thankful for the sedative at that moment. Instead of feeling like she was about to cry, or scream, or rage out, she just felt hollow. Empty. She couldn’t even muster up the energy to be angry at Sonata.

“The President told us about the war,” Trixie put in quietly. “Is that where you got those scars?”

Sunset absently glanced down at her arms. “Some of them. I think half of them came from just dealing with raiders and other assholes.”

Luna frowned and crossed her arms. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but… what happened to you girls in this world? As Trixie says, we heard about you being involved in the war, but the President said that you girls were fine. Is this world really that bad compared to ours?”

“Bad?” Sunset looked up at her in blank surprise. She glanced at Sonata and Trixie, who were both watching with wary expressions, then turned her attention back to Luna. “Rarity got shot.”

The others gasped and reeled in shock. “Is she okay?! What happened?!” Luna demanded.

“It was months ago,” Sunset replied, almost in a daze. “A man shot her in the arm. She can’t move her fingers properly without a prosthetic glove now. Twilight got slashed by a Deathclaw, so she has some weird implant thing in her back to help her walk and heal. Applejack has PTSD from when Horrigan tried to squash her, and I think Rainbow might as well, but I’m not sure. Me and Pinkie both had to have surgery because we almost died from internal bleeding and, uh… what else? Oh, yeah, Fluttershy got mutated by a virus and now she’s a vampire. That was after raiders kidnapped her and tried to rape her, but before an asshole tried to rape Rarity in Megaton.”

An appalled silence fell in the wake of her revelations.

“That’s awful,” Trixie said in a horrified tone.

“You’re joking, right?” Sonata asked warily. “It’s just a bad joke?”

“Why the fuck would I joke about shit like that?” Sunset countered.

Sonata stared at her in wide-eyed shock. “So… um… I’m sorry? That sounds really rough.”

Luna reached out and grabbed the mantelpiece over the fire to steady herself. “The President said that this world was bad, but I never imagined it would be so…” She shook her head slowly, then looked over at Sunset. “I’m so sorry, Sunset. I can’t believe you’ve been stuck in a place this terrible for so long.”

“It’s not your fault,” Sunset replied automatically. She blinked in surprise as a thought occurred to her. “Huh, it’s not my fault either.”

“I-I did say I’m sorry! And I meant it!” Sonata exclaimed, pressing her hands to her neck protectively.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kill you. Not yet, anyway. I’ve done enough killing.” She lowered her gaze to the floor. “Too much killing.”

“You… you were really forced to fight in the war?” Luna asked tentatively.

“Not just the war,” Sunset said heavily. “This world is dangerous. More than you can imagine. We’ve had to fight and kill just to survive, all of us have. And we’re going to have to keep doing it until we can find a way back home.” She pressed a hand to her head, then slowly stood up and trudged to the door, deciding that she had had enough conversation for the day. “I’m getting food. You want anything?”

Next Chapter: Chapter 133 - Durasteel Dodgeball Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 45 Minutes