For the last couple of days, Rainbow had spent her time moping around in the clinic. Her surgery had been a success, and her shiny new implants had been put in without any issues. There were even a couple of badass patches of bare metal visible right behind her ears where the implants were a little too bulky to fit under the skin.

The only problem was the fact that, as the doctor had warned, Rainbow still couldn’t hear anything with any clarity. Everything just registered as dull buzzing or droning. It was better than nothing, but there was no way that she could go wandering around the city like this, let alone try and head out into the wastes. She had learned a little American Sign Language with the help of one of the nurses, but not enough to hold a proper conversation with.

And so Rainbow had moped. Thankfully, Doctor Preston had been happy to let her laze around in the clinic, largely because he wasn’t too busy at the moment, what with everyone staying indoors due to the weather.

Sprawled out on a clinic bed, Rainbow flinched and whipped her head around as she saw the door open out of the corner of her eye. She relaxed when she realized that it was just Doctor Preston coming in. “Hey, doc. Any news?”

The doctor smiled and nodded. His words came across as a low hum to Rainbow, but she didn’t need to hear to recognize the items he held up. “Are those my new hearing aids?!” She asked eagerly. The reply was another nod and more indecipherable mumbling, but instead of being irritated by it this time, Rainbow sat up and hurriedly pulled her hair back away from her ears. “Alright! Come on, I’m sick of not hearing anything!”

With yet another obliging nod, Doctor Preston stepped over to Rainbow’s side, put one of the hearing aids on the bedside table, and raised the other to her ear. The feeling of the aid getting squished into her ear was a little weird, but it wasn’t too bad until a high-pitched squeal punched into her brain, making her wince and yelp. Thankfully, the noise only lasted for a second before going mostly quiet again.

“That’ll be the aid syncing with your implants, it should only last a moment,” Doctor Preston said as he picked up the second hearing aid. Rainbow practically exploded with excitement at the sound of his voice, but she forced herself to stay perfectly still until the second hearing aid was in. “There. Can you hear me?”

“Perfectly!” Rainbow exclaimed, reveling in just how crisp and clean the sound was.

“Excellent.” Doctor Preston grinned and stepped back. “How about the fit? Any pain or discomfort?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nope, you did an awesome job with the molds!”

“I’m glad to hear it. All that’s left to do now is give the aids a quick test to make sure they’re working at their full range, and if all goes well then you’re good to go,” the doc explained.

The top deck of Rivet City was truly breathtaking. It had largely been hidden from view by the thickly falling snow when the Enclave party had arrived, but now that the snow had stopped she was actually up on the deck, Luna could hardly believe her eyes.

Huge metallic trees rose up out of the ship to tower over the surrounding city ruins. Above the treetops, random chunks of scrap metal floated around sedately in a purple aura that bore a shocking resemblance to Twilight’s magic. The floor of the deck itself was mostly covered in deep snow, but where it had been cleared away Luna could see a carpet of burnished ankle-high metallic grass; soft blades of steel, copper, brass, and probably other metals that she couldn’t identify all mixing together to create a beautiful stippled effect. Dozens of crystalline obelisks reached out through the grass and snow, in a kaleidoscope of different colors, ranging in height from a mere three or four feet to well over ten feet tall.

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” Sunset asked.

Luna looked over at her, casually leaning against a thick malachite obelisk. “It certainly is. I can hardly believe just how powerful your magic really is.”

Sunset just shrugged. She pushed away from the obelisk and shuffled over to lean on the railings around the edge of the deck. “Our magic isn’t that powerful, not on its own. There’s a subtle quirk in this reality’s laws of physics that makes some things work a little differently in this world compared to CHS, radiation being the most obvious part. Mix a large dose of our magic with massive amounts of this world’s ionizing radiation, and you end up with something like this.” Sunset gestured vaguely at the trees and floating metal.

“That’s… a little concerning,” Luna admitted. “I suppose I should just be thankful that the radiation from the war has decayed enough to allow safe travels outside, relatively speaking.”

“Yeah, to an extent. I’d still make sure to take a radaway if you’re outside for more than a couple of hours though,” Sunset said in a tone that was as casual as it was chilling.

Just as Luna was about to ask why they weren’t hunkered down in a shelter permanently if there was even a slight chance of ambient radiation being a problem, a hollow boom echoed from somewhere off in the distance. “That sounded like it came from Project Purity,” Luna noted, a slight tremor in her voice betraying her worry.

“No, it was too close for that,” Sunset assured her.

The two cautiously leaned over the railings to look back towards the bow of the ship. There, hovering over the ruins near the bow, was a black shape that Luna recognized as a Vertibird. As she watched, there were several flashes and a plume of snow and dust puffed up from within the ruins. The sound of rippling explosions reached their ears a second or two later.

“Looks like someone’s trying their luck against the Enclave,” Sunset said in a surprisingly calm tone. “It’s probably Super Mutants or a band of raiders.”

“Why would anyone try to attack a Vertibird? What do they gain from it?” Luna asked.

Sunset snorted loudly. “Any number of reasons. If it’s raiders, it could be that they’re desperate for supplies since there aren’t as many travelers to prey on thanks to all this snow. Or they could be trying to prove how tough they are and make a name for themselves, or it’s some lunatics picking a fight for shits and giggles.”

“Please tell me that that’s just a particularly tasteless joke,” Luna pressed, though she felt sure that she already knew the answer.

“I wish it was,” Sunset said grimly. “I know one girl who only joined a raider crew because it was her only chance of survival, and I’m sure that there’s a few others out there in the same situation, but they’re a minority. Most raiders are twisted psychopaths who rape, pillage and murder anyone who crosses their path just because they think it’s fun.”

The last word was spat with such venom that Luna had to wonder if Sunset was speaking from experience, a thought that chilled her to the bone. Driven by an urge to change the subject, and a certain sick curiosity despite how scared she was of the answer, Luna asked, “What about Super Mutants? Why would they attack a Vertibird?”

Sunset grimaced. “To eliminate a threat, sow fear among their enemies, and drag off any survivors to infect them and turn them into more Super Mutants.” As Luna digested that horrible little revelation, Sunset sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “The Super Mutants haven’t been all that active lately, and some people are suggesting that they’ve run out of the FEV they need to replace their losses, but I don’t think so. The fuckers still had plenty of that crap left when me and the girls infiltrated their Vault. I know we damaged their stocks, and we killed a fair number of Mutants, but we didn’t do that much damage.”

A vivid mental image of the girls fighting against a whole mob of creatures built like Fawkes flashed across Luna’s mind and made her blood run cold. Even with the benefit of powerful magic, facing off against such monsters, especially in a cramped underground facility, sounded like an absolute nightmare scenario.

“How have you managed to survive in this world?”Luna slapped a hand across her mouth as she realized what she had just said. Thankfully, Sunset just smiled wryly.

“It hasn’t been easy,” she admitted. “Almost everything out there in the wasteland can and will try to kill you, including the wasteland itself. Lucky for us, though, we’ve now got the training, the equipment, and the experience we need to survive out there.”

“Why do you even need to go back out there, though?” Luna asked anxiously. “You’ve helped the people of this world with their problems, you’ve taught them about magic, you’ve even fought in their wars! I understand that you need to find a special part to rebuild the portal, but the Enclave and the Brotherhood of Steel have soldiers. Power-armored soldiers. You girls have magic, but you’re still high-schoolers. Why do you have to keep risking your lives?”

Sunset sighed heavily. “It’s not that simple. There’s too many threats out there for the Enclave or Brotherhood to just drop everything and scour the wasteland for us. Besides, we don’t know where, or even if, there’s another SDT waiting to be found. We’ve got to do this ourselves.” She sighed again and leaned on the railings, a wistful look on her face. “Don’t worry. I don’t have any intention of dying until I’ve got everyone back home in one piece.”

Before Luna could say anything to that odd statement, someone called out from behind, “Hey, how’s it going?”

Luna and Sunset both turned to see Fluttershy walking towards them, hand-in-hand with a young man who had deathly pale skin and a mess of jet-black hair. He was wearing a heavily patched blue jumpsuit under a slightly tattered leather jacket, and had a pair of weapons slung over his shoulders. It took Luna a moment to realize that this must be what Adam looked like outside his armor.

“We’re good, just discussing the crap out there in the wastes,” Sunset replied. “What about you guys?”

“We’re fine,” Fluttershy replied with a small smile.

Luna did a double-take when she spotted that the usually meek young woman had a sniper rifle slung over her back and an actual sword scabbarded at her waist. Sunset didn’t seem to see anything unusual about it, as instead of commenting on it, she instead asked conversationally, “So what took you so long getting back here from Canterbury Commons? Was it rougher than you thought out there, or did you manage to get lost even with Fawkes babysitting you?”

Adam chuckled and shook his head. “Neither of the above. Canterbury Commons was weird as hell, that’s for sure, but while we were on our way back we heard Three Dog reporting about Grayditch, so we headed there to see if we could help out. I had to turn my radio off when we were down in the metro tunnels, which is why we didn’t hear about what happened at the Citadel.”

“Um, quick question, what happened down there?” Fluttershy asked, pointing over to where the Vertibird had been engaging a mystery enemy. The Vertibird itself was nowhere to be seen, but several thin plumes of smoke rising from the ruins showed where their targets had been.

“Someone had a minor disagreement with a Vertibird,” Sunset replied.

Frowning, Fluttershy unslung her sniper rifle and stepped over to the railings, then peered down the scope towards the site of the skirmish. She scanned the area for a few seconds, then sighed and lowered the rifle. “I can’t see who it was. You don’t think it was someone trying to attack Rivet City, do you?”

“It’s possible, but not likely. Not unless it was a scouting party or something,” Sunset said calmly. Something must have shown on Luna’s face, because Sunset smiled reassuringly at her and added, “ Don’t worry, Rivet City is the biggest and most heavily-defended settlement in the Capital Wasteland, and that was before the Brotherhood of Steel moved in. It can take care of itself.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Adam shrugged off one of the rifles and held it up so the others could see, “I found this in Grayditch. It’s a Chinese assault rifle, they’re a little sturdier and more effective than the US-made ones. I was gonna keep it as a backup weapon, but then I saw you newbies and I realized you might not have a gun yet, so, here.”

Luna stared blankly as he held the gun out to her. “You were talking to me?”

Sunset crossed her arms and glared furiously at Adam. “Luna and the others are staying either here or at the Adams Air Force Base. They aren’t going out into the wastes under any circumstances, so they don’t need a gun.”

“Sorry, Sunset, but I think Adam has the right idea,” Fluttershy cut in. “I don’t like it any more than you do, but think about it. How many times have we gotten into trouble even in the safest places? Remember what happened with Burke? And Jericho? Even you had trouble with a slaver right here in Rivet City.”

Sunset opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again with a scowl. She was silent for several long seconds, clearly trying to come up with a counter-argument, but finally she sighed and turned to Luna. “It… might be better for you to be armed,” Sunset admitted begrudgingly. “There’s plenty of people here who can train you, if that’s what you want, but don’t think even for a second that this is something you have to do.”

“It’s alright, I assumed that it might come to this at some point,” Luna said confidently, though inside she was bordering on total panic. She had trained with a little laser pistol with the Enclave, but this was a whole other kettle of fish, and seeing the miniature battle occurring so close to what was supposed to be a safe settlement had made things all too real. Swallowing her fears, Luna reached out and took the gun with a nod of thanks.

“Could you just hold this arm out to the side for me, darling?” Tabitha asked.

Rarity obediently stretched out her arm for her counterpart. She was currently being fitted for a stylish new trench coat, designed to fit under her usual armor, made out of newly-developed armorweave donated by the local Temple of Harmony. She also happened to be thoroughly enjoying herself. “I wish I could spend more time like this. Fashion truly is my passion, even if it is for something as base as warfare.”

“I hope you can get home soon and throw yourself back into it properly. Trading fashion secrets and trends between realities sounds fabulous!” Tabitha gushed. She looked over to one corner of the room and grinned. “In fact, I think there’s going to be a new trend sweeping through the more fashion-conscious wastelanders over the coming weeks.”

Rarity followed her gaze and smiled at the sight of Fawkes admiring himself in the mirror. He was wearing a simple ensemble consisting of black pants, a gentle cream dress shirt that complimented the tones of his skin, and an expertly-stitched brahmin-leather waistcoat over the top of it. Rarity had designed it herself. It had been tricky getting the cut right; heavily-muscled people had a tendency to look utterly ridiculous if the tailoring wasn’t done just right, but her experience in making suits for Bulk Biceps paid dividends in that regard.

The effect was dazzling. All Fawkes needed was a set of nice cufflinks and perhaps a pocket watch, and Rarity would happily describe him as dashing.

“Does everything fit comfortably, Fawkes?” Tabitha asked.

Fawkes flinched and whipped his head around, then self-consciously cleared his throat and patted his waistcoat. “Everything is perfect, Miss Germaine. I can not begin to thank the both of you for this.”

Both fashionistas scoffed in perfect unison. “There’s no need to thank us, dear,” Tabitha assured him. “With everything you’ve done for the wasteland, a nice outfit is the least we could do.”

Rarity was relieved to see Fawkes relax and actually offer up a small smile. Most of Rivet City’s residents were understandably wary of the Super Mutant in their midst, no matter how much the Brotherhood and the Rainbooms vouched for him. Tabitha was one of the few who had accepted him wholeheartedly. She had been so impressed with him, in fact, that she had eagerly told him about the Railroad and its purpose.

“Speaking of doing things for the wastes, I have something I’d like to run by you both,” Tabitha said suddenly.

“What is it?” Rarity asked as Fawkes looked over curiously.

Tabitha checked that the door was closed before answering, “In light of the Brotherhood’s current problems, we’re considering revealing the existence of the Railroad and its purpose to them. We’ll offer small-scale military support and access to our intelligence network, as well as potential recruits from the synths we rescue, in exchange for non-intervention in our work, and protection in the event that the Institute sends someone sniffing around again. What do you think?”

Next Chapter: Chapter 161 - The Good, the Bad, and the Siren Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 33 Minutes