Sunset sighed heavily, wondering how her life had spiraled so dangerously out of control in such a short time. She was currently hunched over on a little metal bench, elbows on her knees and her eyes unfocused. Images kept flashing through her mind unbidden, filled with blood and violence and death.

Sunset shook her head to try and clear it, but that just made the throbbing in her skull worse, so she gave up and tried to distract herself by sorting through the rest of her memories of the day so far. Shock, head injuries and an unhealthy dose of painkillers had made the more recent details somewhat… hazy. Again.

None of the others were around for the moment. Applejack and Fluttershy had taken Rarity to the clinic the moment they had set foot back in Megaton, while Twilight and Pinkie had gone to look for Lucy, to break the news about what had happened to her family. Sunset had felt duty-bound to take up that task herself, but Rainbow had refused point-blank. Instead she’d found herself dragged here, to the Church of Atom.

It was an odd building to say the least. From the outside it looked mostly the same as most of the other buildings in Megaton, that is, a multi-story conglomeration of scrap metal. But, for reasons known only to themselves, the Church of Atom decided to put the entrance on the second floor, with makeshift ramps winding around the building and connecting it to different levels of Megaton.

At least the cultists had been decent about letting her in. After a few quiet words from Rainbow Dash Sunset had been ushered downstairs into some sort of congregation area, with a series of benches lined up in front of a little lectern.

Sunset was dragged from her reverie by the sound of uneven footsteps, and a moment later a bottle of water was held out in front of her.

“Here you go, something to take your painkillers with.” Rainbow said. “Don’t worry, it’s not radioactive. The Confessor said something about ‘not forcing Atom’s gifts on those who are not yet ready’.”

Sunset took the bottle gingerly, her sore fingers barely able to grip it. “Thanks. Is he okay with us staying here for a while?”

Rainbow snorted. “Are you kidding? He practically begged us to stay, said to take as much time as we need.”

Sunset didn’t bother to respond as she knocked back some lozenges. She was fairly certain she’d taken more than the recommended dosage, but was entirely certain that she didn’t give a damn, even if her supply was starting to run out.

Rainbow hissed as she eased herself onto the bench, pulling out a few more painkillers of her own. “Well, today has sucked.”

“Yeah.”

“At least nothing else happened on the way back here.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “Do you think we made a mistake going to Arefu first?”

“Nah, it was definitely the safest option. At least we know the path between Arefu and Megaton is safe…ish. Who knows what kind of mess we would’ve gotten into if we tried to come straight back here from the train yard.” Rainbow replied. “Besides, we really needed to get rid of Ian before AJ smacked him one.”

Sunset had no argument for that. The poor fool had been in awe of the girls after their little ‘altercation’ with the raiders, but that hadn’t stopped him from sneaking hungry glances at Rarity’s wound whenever he thought the others weren‘t looking.

Truth be told, Sunset probably would have punched him herself for it if she had been in any condition to.

The sight of Rarity‘s blood-caked arm and dress flashed across Sunset‘s mind again. She tried not to groan as she stared down at her torn and bruised knuckles. Sunset swore she could still feel each punch she’d thrown as well as the ones she’d taken, not to mention the sickening impact of that last fatal strike with her knee, or the kick of the gun as she’d…

“Hey, look… are you okay?” Rainbow asked suddenly, dragging Sunset back out of her morbid mental replays.

“I’m ...” Sunset tried to say she was fine, that she was just tired, but the words wouldn’t come. Something had broken inside her, and she didn’t know how to fix it. “No… no I’m not.” she half-whispered, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

“Yeah, I figured. I’d be kinda freaked out if you were y’know.” Rainbow chuckled awkwardly. There was a moment of silence before she cleared her throat. “Yeah that wasn’t a great joke, my bad. So, uh, you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

There was a creak as Rainbow shifted on the bench. “Are you sure? I mean it’s cool if you just want some space, but usually whenever you have a problem or something the first thing you do is come and find one of us or go and write about it to Princess Twilight.”

Sunset flinched at the name. “I don’t… I can’t… this isn’t something I could speak to her about.”

“Why not?”

“Isn’t it obvious?!” Sunset cried, shooting to her feet. “I just murdered two people! Do you know how rare murder is in Equestria?! Ending a life, taking away everything that someone was and were ever going to be, just ripping a hole in a community like that and leaving nothing, it’s one of the worst crimes you can commit! How can I face Princess Twilight after this!? How can I even speak to her!?” Sunset wrapped her arms around herself and turned away. “I don’t deserve to go back home.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down a second.” Rainbow stood too, throwing an arm around Sunset’s shoulders. “First of all you did not murder those raiders.” Sunset made to protest but was stopped by Rainbow poking a finger out of her sling and planting it over her lips. “Shut up and listen a sec.”

Sunset frowned for a moment, then just sighed and obediently waited for Rainbow to speak.

“Okay so, yeah, you did kind of, sort of… technically… kill them.” she said slowly. “Which does sound kinda bad.”

“It sounds kinda-”

“My point,” Rainbow continued, “is that it wasn’t murder. The first one was an accident, that crazy raider woman was trying pretty hard to kill you, you were just defending yourself. The only reason she’s dead is dumb luck, you didn’t put that rock there. Heck after that fight I’m impressed you were even able to stand, she beat the living daylights out of you.”

Sunset had no response for that. It had been an accident, not that that made her feel any better. The beating she had taken certainly hadn’t helped matters, though Sunset had given almost as good as she got.

“As for the other guy, well, what choice did you have? Rarity was out of it, Applejack was distracted and I… well…” Rainbow rubbed her neck, her eyes distant. “I didn’t notice in time. I got knocked down and I just, I couldn’t push through the pain quickly enough. That’s on me.”

Sunset looked up at her friend, appalled. “But… how can you… there’s absolutely no way this is your fault Rainbow!”

“It’s not your fault either!” Rainbow said forcefully. “That lunatic was aiming right at Fluttershy, and you saved her life!” The young athlete stepped back and took a breath to calm herself. “Listen Sunset, you’re looking at this all the wrong way. Yeah, you killed someone, but only to save your friend’s life. I know you feel terrible about it, but I guess that’s a good thing.”

Sunset just blinked in confusion. “How can that be a good thing?”

Rainbow smirked at her. “It shows you’re still a good person.”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond, then closed it when no words came. Her throat bobbed as Rainbow pulled her in close for a hug. It was faint, but Sunset felt a little weight lift off her shoulders as she leaned into her friend, wrapping her arms around her.

“So, you okay?” Rainbow asked quietly.
“No, but... I think I will be.” Sunset sighed. “You’re a great friend, you know that?”

“Duh it’s me, you should know how awesome I am by now. Just remember I’ve got your back, no matter what happens.” Rainbow huffed. “You’re not alone here Sunset. I don’t care what it takes, we’re all getting home alive, and that includes you. I’m bringing you back whether you think you deserve it or not, even if I have to drag your sorry butt across the wasteland myself!”

Sunset just snorted, too sore and emotional to notice the sudden ripple of magic that passed over her friend. She released her arms and stepped back, drying her eyes on her sleeve. She still felt awful, but if Rainbow believed that Sunset was a good person, then she could do her best to believe it herself too. “Thanks Rainbow, I needed that.”

“Hey, anytime.” Rainbow grinned and folded her arms, her wings flexing as she shifted.

Wait… wings? WINGS!?

“Crap!” Sunset yelped.

“What!? What is it!?”

“You’ve ponied up!”

“Really? Wait, what’s wrong with tha- oh. ”

Rainbow’s eyes widened as she realized what Sunset was panicking about. They both slowly turned their heads to face the back of the room.

Confessor Cromwell was standing at a respectful distance with a few of his acolytes. Their mouths were hanging open and their eyes were practically popping out of their heads. The girls and the cultists stood and stared at each other for a few moments.

“Oh, uh, hey guys!” Rainbow said innocently, finally breaking the awkward silence. “We can totally explain this. Right Sunset?”

Sunset just threw her a flat look.

“A divine blessing…” Cromwell said quietly.

“A what now?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

Cromwell stepped forward eagerly, his features lit up with wonder and awe. “Atom has seen the devotion you show to your fellows and granted you a measure of his divine resplendence! You are truly the most blessed of all!”

“No no no, that’s not it!” Rainbow said quickly, though she did blush a little. “I don’t know about Atom or whatever, but this…” she flapped her wings for emphasis, “Just sort of happens every now and again. Seriously, Sunset and the others can all do it too.”

“Rainbow!” Sunset cut in a little too late.

Rainbow just shrugged. “What? He’s already seen me pony up, we may as well tell him the truth.”

“You… you can all do this?” Cromwell breathed.

Sunset turned her gaze back to him, wondering exactly how much she would be safe telling him, and vaguely wishing she didn’t have to wrack her brain like this while it was still bruised and drugged. “Well… I mean… we don’t all manifest wings but… yeah?” She regretted her admission almost instantly as Cromwell and the other acolytes all turned expectant, almost pleading, gazes upon her.

Sunset sighed with frustrated resignation, then closed her eyes and grasped her geode, focusing her thoughts on her friends and the bond they shared as she felt for the magic inside. A sudden feeling of panic jolted through her as she wondered if her recent transgressions would somehow cut her off from the magic of friendship, followed by sweet relief as she felt a warm frisson run through her body. Sunset took a deep breath and relaxed as she felt her new ears twitch, accompanied by the comfortable weight of her freshly extended hair. Cautiously she opened her eyes.

Sparkly dress? Check. Huge boots? Check. Spiky headband? Check. About to get burnt at the stake like a witch by religious zealots...?

The cultists were all staring at Sunset, utterly gob-smacked. She managed to force a small smile, knowing that things were about to go either very well or very badly. She hoped things would go well but, considering how the wastes had treated them so far, Sunset fully expected things to go very, very badly. Her mind started to whirl as she desperately tried to figure out the best way to escape from the building and find the others.

“Angels…” Cromwell breathed.

The cogs in Sunset’s brain suddenly ground to a halt. “Wait… what?”

“Angels!” he repeated, sinking to his knees and clasping his hands together. “Look, my followers! Atom has rewarded our faith and graced us with the presence of His own angels!”

Excited murmuring snapped Sunset’s attention to the upper floor. More acolytes were crowded around the railing, staring down with wide eyes at the two girls. One of them suddenly threw his hands up in the air and shouted. “The Angels of Atom! The Angels of Atom are here!” The young man darted from the room and out into the open air, yelling about how the ‘Angels of Atom’ had come to spread their glorious word. Meanwhile the chatter from the remaining acolytes was rapidly growing in volume and fervor.

“Angels!”

“They’ve come to show us the way!”

“Our faith is being rewarded!”

“Do you see that light!?”

“It’s the Glow!”

“Please, grant us your blessings!”

“Show us the glory of Atom!”

“Aw horse-apples.” Sunset muttered. This was starting to get out of hand. She quickly let the magic drain out of her and returned to her normal form, Rainbow swiftly following suit.

Cromwell seemed to notice the look on her face. Panic twisted his features for a moment and he shot to his feet, spinning to face his followers and holding his arms out to them. “Everyone! Please, restrain yourselves!” It took a few minutes, but eventually he managed to calm the others down enough that they could hear him speak. “My brothers and sisters, believe me when I say I understand your elation.”

He paused and placed a hand over his chest. “That same rapture pounds in my heart even now, but we must contain our euphoria at this most holy of blessings. These glorious messengers came to us today to seek rest and respite in our humble place of worship. Let us not disturb their tranquility they desire with our zealous praise, but grant them solitude, that they may hold divine council without interruption or worry.”

The acolytes each nodded and bowed reverently. Several of them wept openly, crying with joy at the sight of what they believed to be the harbingers of their salvation. Sunset wanted desperately to tell them the truth, but she didn’t have any clue how to go about telling them without shattering their dreams entirely.

As the cultists started to leave Confessor Cromwell slowly turned back to the girls. Tears of joy had carved streaks through the dust on his face. “Forgive us, your graces, we did not mean to offend you. Our only defense is that we were all overwhelmed by your heavenly resplendence.”

Sunset cringed inwardly, keenly aware of just how deep this hole was digging itself. “No, this is our fault. Look, the thing is-” she stepped forward, but the Confessor shrank away and bowed deeply.

“This lowly shepherd is not worthy of such kindness. I shall go now and leave you in peace.” He straightened up and held a hand over his heart. “If it pleases you, I humbly ask that you consider this church to be your home, your bastion of serenity amid the chaos of the Wasteland. I shall arrange for your accommodation to be the finest we can possibly muster, this I swear to you. Farewell, your graces.”

The Confessor turned and left, scurrying up the stairs and out of the door as quickly as he could, leaving the girls alone.

“Uh, what just happened.” Rainbow asked.

Sunset just groaned and slumped her shoulders. The sound of the door opening again brought her attention back up. She smiled as she saw Twilight and Pinkie enter the church.

“What the heck was THAT about?” Twilight gasped as Fluttershy scampered in after them, looking harassed.

“That’s what ah’d like to know.” Applejack grumbled as she stepped inside, supporting a certain fashionista.

“Rarity!” Sunset and Rainbow called out together.

The others looked down at their cries.

“So that’s where you were.” Applejack huffed. “Hold on a second, we’ll come down to you.”

Sunset watched nervously as the group made their way downstairs, paying special attention to Rarity. Her arm was immobilized in a brace and Sunset could just make out a clean bandage underneath, but that seemed to be the worst of it. At least she was walking under her own power, with only a little help from the others. Her dress, on the other hand, was utterly ruined, soaked with blood as it was.

Rarity looked around as soon as she was off the stairs. As soon as she spotted Sunset she tried to make a beeline for her, only to be stopped by Applejack.

“Hold up sugarcube. Ah let you walk over here on your own, now it’s time for you to sit and take a break, alright?”

Rarity gave one of her characteristic scoffs. “Really darling, I’m perfectly fine.” she slurred.

“The heck you are.” Applejack growled. “The doc said you need to rest up as much as you can, now sit down before you hurt yourself.”

Rarity rolled her eyes but did as she was told, perching herself daintily on one of the benches.

“So what did the doc say, are you going to be okay?” Rainbow asked.

“She’ll be fine, eventually.” Applejack sighed. “Luckily the bullet didn’t hit any of her bones, tendons or major blood vessels.”

Sunset slumped and let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “That’s a relief.”
“It most certainly is.” Rarity crooned. “For now I just need to keep my arm immobilized for a few days. After that the brace shall be swapped for a sling and I have a few lovely little light exercises to go through.”

AJ nodded. “Nothing too rough, just some gentle movements to help her arm heal properly.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she watched Rarity slowly swaying on the bench. Her eyes seemed to be drifting in and out of focus, and her pupils were huge. “What exactly did the doctor do to her?”

“Aside from pump her full of enough crazy painkillers to drop a wild boar? Heck if ah know.” Applejack chuckled softly. “Hey, Fluttershy? You’re better at this stuff than ah am, what did the doc do altogether?”

Sunset glanced over at Fluttershy, hunched in the shadows by the stairs with her face hidden behind her hair. A chill ran down Sunset’s spine at the sight of her dress, the frayed material still spattered with dirt and Rarity’s blood. Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair, a red-rimmed eye visible for an instant before she ducked back behind her fringe.
Sunset and Applejack shared a worried look.

“She hasn’t said a word since we got back to Megaton.” Applejack whispered.

“After everything that’s happened, I don’t blame her.” Sunset admitted.

“Come on now sugarcube,” AJ gently cajoled, “It’s alright, we’re safe now. You’ve been on your feet for a while, why don’t you come on over here and have a sit down?”

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair, a red-rimmed eye visible for an instant before she ducked back behind her fringe.

“Maybe it’s freak-out time?” Twilight said quietly, “I mean, we had doctor mode earlier, so I guess maybe it’s time to let the emotions out?”

“I’m still up for joining in on that.” Pinkie muttered.

“Come on Flutters,” Rainbow called, “Get over here so we can all chill together while the crazy cultists are out.”

Fluttershy shifted on her feet, but didn’t look over again.

Sunset took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Look, Fluttershy? I know things are hard right now, especially after what’s happened today, but we’re all here for you. Things are going to be tough, but I know we can all get through this if we just stick together.”

“Sunset’s right.” Applejack added. “We’ve got a much better idea of the dangers that are waiting for us out in the wasteland now, and we won’t let ourselves be caught unprepared again.”

Sunset nodded. “You don’t have to be afraid Fluttershy. We won’t let anything else happen to you, or to any of the rest of us, I promise.”

Finally, Fluttershy moved her hair away from her face. She looked slowly around at each of the girls, before settling her gaze on Sunset. Fluttershy held that look for a few moments, then her face crumpled and she turned her head away, her hair falling back over her face. “I’m sorry… I can’t do this.”

Sunset felt an awful weight drop into her chest at those words. She’d clung to the desperate hope that her friends would stand by her despite the terrible acts she had committed, but now she was forced to confront the ugly truth. That her actions had pushed away the kindest friend she would ever know.

“Wha- come on Fluttershy, we can talk about this!” Rainbow cried.

“It’s okay Rainbow.” Sunset said quietly, slowly wrapping her arms around herself as she blinked back tears. “I… I think I should go.”

“You ain’t going nowhere.” Applejack growled. Her hands shook as she clenched them into fists. “Darn it, Fluttershy! Doc Church already spoke to you about this, Sunset only did what she had to! Heck, you wouldn’t still be here if Sunset hadn’t shot that guy, and ah can tell you for a fact that no-one is hurting more over him being dead than Sunset is!”

“I know.” Fluttershy whispered.

“Then why in the heck are you…!” Applejack trailed off, her chest heaving as if she was running a marathon. Finally she turned and walked away, clapping her hands to the back of her head as she shook it. “Nope. Ah can’t, ah can’t deal with this. Not right now.”

Rainbow stepped over to Applejack, reaching out a hand. “AJ, you need to calm down.”

“How the heck am ah supposed to calm down!” she yelled, “This ain’t right! None of this is right! Ever since we left that darn vault everything has gone to Tartarus, and you can be sure as sugar things are going to get worse!”

“Girls, you have to stop fighting!” Twilight shouted. A pleading expression crossed her face as she spoke again, quieter this time, “Please, this world has taken so much away from us already, don’t let it destroy our friendship too!”

Silence reigned as her words slowly sank in. Sunset glanced around at the others, trying to think of something, anything, that she could say to try and help the others feel better.

“You’ve got the wrong idea.” Fluttershy said softly, “I don’t blame Sunset.” The others all looked to her as she spoke. Her face was still hidden, but they could all see her shaking. Sunset could just make out fresh tears dripping silently to the floor. “It’s my fault.”

Rarity frowned, clearly struggling to stay focused through whatever drugs were still pumping through her system. “Er, what is darling?”

Fluttershy choked back a sob, clenching the skirt of her dress so tightly her knuckles had gone white. “I Sh-should have been p-paying more attention.” she stammered, “The r-raider he… he was aiming at me. If I had m-moved or… or done something then you wouldn’t have had to sh-shoot him.” Fluttershy looked up at Sunset, guilt etched in every line of her face. “You had t-to put yourself through that b-because of me. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.”

Sunset crossed to Fluttershy in a flash, throwing her arms around the nurse as she sobbed uncontrollably. “It is not your fault Fluttershy.” she said, her voice firm even as tears streaked down her own face. “None of this is your fault. The only person who did anything wrong was that… that bastard!” Sunset didn’t give a damn about her language right then. As far as she was concerned the wasteland could throw whatever the hell it wanted at her, but she would not let it break her friends.

Out of the corner of her eye Sunset saw Rainbow shrug off her sling before she joined the hug, slipping her arms around the two and pressing her head against Fluttershy’s, “Come on Fluttershy, you know it’s not your fault. Hey, Sunset’s already given me a roasting for blaming myself, can’t let you get away with doing the same thing now can we?” Rainbow huffed a laugh, “Besides, if we let you get shot, then who’s going to patch me back up the next time I go and do something stupid?”

Fluttershy let out something that was halfway between a laugh and a sob. She tried to mumble something, but it was muffled by Sunset’s shirt as the rest of the girls pressed in, forming a huge group hug.

The group stayed like that for a while, just holding each other in comfortable silence.

Eventually Applejack peeled herself away, drying her eyes on her hat. “Well shoot, ah think we all needed that.” She plopped her hat back on her head and glanced over at Fluttershy. “Ah’m sorry Flutters, ah guess ah let my temper get the best of me there.”

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy replied thickly. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she sported a small smile nonetheless.

“Today has been somewhat… difficult.” Rarity noted, sliding awkwardly back onto a bench.

“You okay there Rarity?” Rainbow asked.

“Utterly fine darling.” Rarity half-mumbled, her head drooping. “I’m just going to watch the pretty colors for a tick.”

“Ooo…kayyy…?”

Twilight giggled softly. “Wow, she must be on some incredibly strong medication. But what about you Rainbow, how’s your arm feeling?”

Rainbow frowned and rolled her shoulder. “Huh, it’s still a little sore… but it actually feels pretty good. Guess it must’ve healed a bit when I ponied up earlier. Hey, I wonder if my butt healed too!” She suddenly shoved her hand down the back of her pants. A wince and a hiss of pain soon followed. “Ouch, maybe not.”

Applejack laughed as she dropped onto a bench. “Ah’m not surprised after you ran back to Meresti like that.”

“Well someone had to tell Vance that the sheriff accepted his offer.” Rainbow grumbled.

Sunset threw her a level glare. “And nearly get yourself killed by revealing that you had super speed to them?”

Rainbow at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah, that was my bad. But hey, you could have reminded me that they didn’t know about our magic before I left to speak to them.”

“She tried, but you’d already sped off like a road runner with a coyote on it’s tail.” Applejack retorted, “Ah told you, you should’ve just left it to the folks at Arefu.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Uh, I have a question.” Everyone turned to look at Twilight as she raised a hand. “When exactly did Rainbow pony up?”

The girls all turned to look at Rainbow who tried, and utterly failed, to look innocent. Sunset would have face-palmed if her face and hands didn’t still hurt so much.

Pinkie suddenly popped up from behind a bench, speaking incredibly quickly. “Oh, oh, oh, I know! Was it when you got back here and Sunset was feeling down so you tried to cheer her up and then you both ponied up and that’s why the crazy cult people are running around telling everyone about how we’re all angels sent by their radiation god to bring salvation to the world?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Pinkie? We all know Rainbow’s that dumb-”

“Hey!?”

“- but there’s no way Sunset would do something so irresponsible in front of a whole bunch of religious fanatics.”

Sunset forced an awkward laugh, a blush creeping across her face.

“I told you sooo…” Pinkie sang, earning a giggle from Rarity and a face-palm from Applejack.

“In Sunset’s defense after everything that’s happened over the last two days I think it’s understandable that she wasn’t thinking clearly.” Twilight supplied. “I suppose we should just be grateful that they aren’t trying to burn us as witches.”

“Sure, instead they’re going to be worshiping us as if we’re divine beings from their freaky religion.” Applejack huffed. “And ah thought wasteland couldn’t get any weirder. The sooner we find James and get away from this crazy world the better.”

“Actually, we might have some good news on that front.” Twilight said with a smirk.

Sunset’s head whipped around at that. “What do you mean?!” she gasped, ignoring the wave of nausea caused by the sudden movement.

“After me and Pinkie spoke to Lucy we went up to Moriarty’s, to speak to Gob.”

“Did he tell you where Galaxy News Radio is?” Applejack asked eagerly.

Twilight nodded. “He did, and what’s more, as we were talking Galaxy News Radio actually started playing one the, well, radio. The DJ is a man named Three-Dog. Apparently they’ve been having trouble with their signal, but someone came along and helped them fix it.” Twilight’s smile widened. “Three-Dog thanked the man who helped him, and then sent a message out for James, who it seems did visit him before leaving for parts unknown. The message told James to find the man who helped him.” Twilight’s smile became a huge, gleaming grin, “A certain Lone Wanderer, from Vault one-oh-one.”

“Adam!?” the others cried in unison.

“He made it!” Fluttershy beamed, her hands clasped tightly together, “Oh I do hope he’s alright. We need to hurry up and find him as quickly as we can.”

“Whoa now, let’s slow things down a little.” Applejack said. “Ah’m glad that we know where we’re going, but we can’t just go charging straight out of here right now.”

“Why ever not darling?” Rarity asked.

Applejack glared at her. “For starters, most of us aren’t in any condition to do any more travelling today.”

“A battered unicorn, a stoned fashionista, a traumatized nurse, a pervy farmer, a mad scientist, an athlete with an extra butt-hole and Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow deadpanned, “Yeah, going out into the wastes now is totally a great idea.”

“Ah am not a pervert.” Applejack huffed.

“Whatever you say butt-licker.” Rainbow shot back.

“Ah’m never going to live that down am ah?”

“Nope!” Pinkie piped up.

Applejack grumbled and pulled herself to her feet, “Well anyway, speaking of battered unicorns ah think it’s time we got Sunset to the doc.”

Sunset blinked at that. “Me? But I’m fine. I mean, I’ll probably need some more painkillers and something for the bruises, but it’s not that bad.”

Applejack rubbed her neck awkwardly. “Uh, no offence sugarcube, but you look like Bulk Biceps has been using you as a piñata.”

“You did take a serious beating back there Sunset.” Rainbow added.

Sunset looked around at the others, but none of them would meet her eyes. Seeing no way out of it, she sighed. “Fine, but we should probably tell the Children of Atom the truth, we don’t want things to get any more complicated than they are.”

Applejack threw and arm around her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you over there before the rain picks up. Then ah’ll go and find Confessor Cromwell, see if ah can’t straighten things out.”

Sunset sat on the edge of a bed in the Megaton clinic, casually swinging her legs and wishing she could put her clothes back on. The clouds had finally made good on their threat of rain during her examination and, while the pitter-patter of raindrops on the metal roof was actually quite soothing, it was still a little too chilly to be sat around in your underwear. The ice pack currently pressed to her ribs certainly didn’t help with that, though it did wonders for her bruises.

Sunset looked up as Doc Church came back into the room. He was dark-skinned and his hair almost as white as snow, with a mustache and neatly-trimmed beard to match. The doctor was cranky but professional, and clearly knew his job well.

“Alright Sunset, let’s start the list.” Doc dropped into a chair next to her bed and held up a clipboard. “Two black eyes, multiple bruises across the face, arms, shoulders and abdomen, five bruised ribs and one cracked one, a mild kidney contusion and a mild concussion. That’s not including the gunshot injury you received yesterday. Not the worst result I’ve seen from dealing with your first raider, but it’s more than enough to be going on with.”

Sunset nodded slowly. She hadn’t realized just how much of a beating she’d received from that raider, but between the ice pack and the two stimpaks Doc had given her she was feeling a lot better, “Will I be okay to go once the rain stops?”

“That depends on where you’re going.”

“The D.C ruins, we need to try and find Galaxy News Radio.”

“Then no, you won’t be okay.”

“What, why not?” Sunset asked.

Doc threw the clipboard onto the bed and gave her a flat look, “If that kidney contusion gets any worse it could kill you.”

“Oh.” Sunset felt the blood drain from her face at that.

“Yep.” Doc shook his head and folded his arms. “What you need is rest and observation. Your kidney should heal on its own in a week or so, but even with bed rest the injury might progress into internal bleeding. If your kidney does heal fine you’re still looking at another month for your rib to fix itself.”

“But… we can’t afford to wait that long.” Sunset shot him a pleading look, “Please, isn’t there anything you can do?”
Doc just frowned, staring at her silently. Sunset found she couldn’t hold his gaze and looked away, shifting uncomfortably. He’s right. Leaving now would be way too risky.

Finally the doctor sighed and stood up, turning to leave. As he got to the door he stop and glanced over his shoulder. “Once the rain stops I want you to go and fetch your friend, Fluttershy was it?”

Sunset nodded.

Doc sighed again and shook his head. “Bring her back here, I’ll teach her what she needs to know about caring for your injuries. I want you to stay here for the night, so I can keep you under observation. If your condition doesn’t get any worse overnight, I’ll see about letting you go.”

Not far from the Meresti Trainyard, a certain blonde raider slung a hunting rifle over his shoulder as he strode over to the corpse of a young woman. His expression was unreadable as he stared down at the body. The raider didn’t bother to look up as another man stomped up next to him.

“Hey, Blades. I’m sorry about her, man. She was a good woman.”

Blades snorted. “For fuck's sake Crawler, you know she was a useless bitch.” He nodded to the other corpse lying at the base of a pile of rubble. “What about that dickhead?”

Crawler smirked and shook his head. “Nah that dumb fucker’s just as dead as he looks. I can’t believe he climbed on top of that pile, why the fuck didn’t he just flank ‘em and blow their fucking heads off from behind?”

“Like you said, he was a dumb fucker. Always had to show off.” Blades spat, “Did you get his stuff?”

“Most of it, looks like one of the girls grabbed his gun though.”

Blades nodded and turned to walk back to their makeshift shelter, “Yeah, looks like one of them took Gilda’s knife too.”

“Shit. Now what the fuck are we going to do?” Crawler asked, trudging along behind.

“Same thing we do every time Crawler, regroup and try again.”

“Are you fucking crazy!? Those witches have already beat the shit out of us twice!”

“Yeah, only this time they bled too.” Blades hefted the rifle for emphasis. “We just need more firepower, and a little bit of planning.”

Crawler grinned lopsidedly, “Alright I’m in. I’ll leave the planning to you, but where are we going to get the firepower? Do we go back to the Red Flags?”

“Fuck no! Shí Yáng would rip our dicks off and choke us with ‘em. I don’t know about you, but the only person I want to see choking on my cock is that albino bitch with the purple hair.”

Crawler chuckled darkly, “Yeah… I want that little yellow one with the pink hair.”

An evil grin lit up Blades’ face, “Sounds good to me. Come on, let’s head to Evergreen Mills. Smiling Jack owes me a favor or two, it’s time to cash in.”

Another chapter for your reading pleasure!

This was originally planned to be a 2000 word chapter... yeah that went out the window.

Comments and criticisms are appreciated and, as always, thanks for reading.