Sunset held a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she crested the top of the hill. They had barely gotten out of Megaton and she was already a little out of breath, partly from the climb, and partly from focusing all of her attention on where she was putting her feet. The ground was still damp from the previous day’s rain, not really enough to make the girls’ footing treacherous, but Sunset didn’t want to take any chances.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, hurrying up after her. “We can slow down or go back if this is too much for you?”

Sunset scowled at her. Fluttershy and Twilight had been constantly fussing over her ever since she’d left the clinic this morning, “I’m fine, Flutters.” she grumbled. It wasn’t really a lie, after Doc Church’s ministrations Sunset had to admit that, despite her injuries, she felt better than she had since they’d left the vault.

“You’re far from fine Sunset, you have a potentially life-threatening injury.” Twilight cut in, “I know the medication may be making you feel like nothing is wrong, but you still have to take it easy.”

“Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to Rarity? You know, given that she got shot yesterday and all?”

“Well, um, Rarity’s wound is a lot easier to stabilize, especially with the brace on.” Fluttershy replied, “Your kidney contusion is going to be a lot harder to keep an eye on.”

Twilight nodded, “Besides, Applejack threatened to dump Rarity in a shopping cart and wheel her around like that if she didn’t agree to take it easy.”

Sunset just sighed and decided to try and change the subject, anything to get their attention away from her. “How’s Micky?”

Fluttershy cast a worried look over her shoulder at the unfortunate beggar huddled outside Megaton’s gate. Apparently he’d been lurking there for weeks, begging for water from travelers, but the poor fool had hidden himself every time he saw the girls coming, afraid of the new ‘mutants’ wandering around. The only reason the girls had spotted him this morning was because he’d somehow managed to sleep through the roar of the gate opening for the day. “I gave him a bottle of water, so, um, I think he’ll be alright for now."

Rarity sighed heavily, "Oh, I do wish we could help him find a place to stay inside Megaton, but after paying for the supplies and the medical bills we have hardly any caps left.”

Twilight gently patted Rarity on the back. “He’ll be okay, don’t worry. I know it sounds cold, but right now we need to focus on ourselves, this is going to be a very dangerous journey.”

Sunset nodded grimly. Twilight had gone with Fluttershy to learn what she could from Doc Church yesterday, but even for her agile mind there was only so much you could really learn in one afternoon. The girls would have to be extra careful, and not just for Sunset and Rarity’s sake. If anyone else got injured out in the wasteland, the group would be in serious trouble.

“Hey, you guys coming or what?” Rainbow called from up ahead.

The three girls rolled their eyes at each other, then giggled and moved to catch up with the others. Picking their way through the rocks, the girls found themselves at the top of a long slope. Ahead of them were the outlying buildings of the old D.C ruins, their huge, shattered husks packed tightly together. Sunset had to wonder why people were so scared of the ruins, surely if the buildings were sturdy enough then they would be much easier to fortify than random settlements out in the open.

Pinkie was crouched on top of a large boulder nearby, the others hanging around it’s base. As the three approached she stood and pointed ahead, to the east. “That’s the way Gob told us to go. Straight past the Super Duper Mart, over the river and then keep going east until we find Farragut West Metro Station!”

“Ah still don’t get why we can’t just go straight through the city,” Applejack huffed, “It would be a heck of a lot faster.”

“I asked Gob about that, and he says this way is the safest.” Twilight replied.

Rarity groaned, clutching her arm brace. “After everything that’s happened I vote for taking the safer path, even if it is a little slower.”

“Definitely.” Rainbow agreed.

Applejack nodded, “Ah hear you. Come on then, let’s get this over with.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie called as she sprang down from the boulder.

The other girls followed as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash took the lead, picking their way carefully across the ground and keeping their eyes open for any threats.

Keenly aware of Fluttershy and Twilight eyeing her carefully, Sunset fell into step alongside Rarity. “Hey… so, uh… how’s your arm?”

Rarity gave her a tired smile. “It’s quite alright thank you. A little sore perhaps, and I must admit the scars are going to take some getting used to, but I can always cover them with clothes or perhaps even a tasteful temporary tattoo, something that goes with my ensemble.” She gestured vaguely at her arm, “Given the alternative, this is nothing I can’t handle.”

“Good… that’s good.” Sunset said quietly.

They continued in silence for a few moments until Rarity spoke up again, “Do you know I’ve just realized I haven’t really had a chance to thank you properly yet.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, “What for?”

“Why, for helping to keep me safe yesterday or course!”

Sunset stared at her incredulously. “Safe?! You were shot!”

“I’m well aware darling,” Rarity replied brightly, “But at least you helped to get me out of harm’s way afterwards.”

“And you saved me from the raider, we’re even.”

“I suppose,” Rarity admitted, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t thank you anyway, so… thank you.”

Sunset shook her head, but smiled all the same, “Yeah, you too.”

Rarity grinned smugly, “You’re more than welcome Miss Shimmer.”

The girls lapsed back into a comfortable silence as they trudged closer to the Super Duper Mart. The supermarket was huge, towering over them as they drew closer to what Sunset assumed was the rear of the building.

“Looks pretty intact,” Applejack noted, “Reckon we’ll find another settlement or something in there?”

Twilight shook her head, “That doesn’t seem likely, according to Billy this place has been abandoned for years.”

“Maybe we should take it slowly and try to stay out of sight anyway, um, just in case.” Fluttershy said quietly.

Sunset nodded, “My thoughts exactly.”

“Sounds good to me.” Applejack added, “So how do we get across the river?”

Pinkie paused in her tracks and pointed ahead, “That’s easy! We just use that bridge right there!”

The girls looked where she was pointing. Sure enough there was a small bridge just to the side of the supermarket, crossing what was left of the Potomac in remarkably good condition.

As the group reached the rear of the Super Duper Mart, sudden shouts and gunshots ripped through the air, coming from the front of the supermarket. The girls all darted to the back wall of the building, taking cover behind a pair of large metal trash bins.

“That’s not… aimed at us… is it?” Rarity gasped.

Applejack shook her head as more shots rang out, gripping her shotgun tightly, “Nah, sounds more like there’s some folk having a disagreement out front.” she whispered.

“That’s one heck of a disagreement.” Rainbow muttered.

The noise intensified for a moment then died away abruptly, leaving a ringing silence in its wake. Rough voices called out, checking on each other and making sure the threat was over.

Applejack glanced over her shoulder at the others. “What do you reckon, should we make a break for it while it’s quiet?” she asked, nodding in the direction of the bridge.

Sunset looked over at the bridge and huffed, “No, it’s too exposed. If someone spots us and starts shooting we won’t have any cover at all.”

“Should we wait until they go away?” Rarity asked.

“But we don’t know how long it’ll be before they go, or even if they’re going to leave at all, we could be waiting all day!” Twilight countered

“What if they’re just travelers like us?” Fluttershy asked, “Someone might be hurt and need our help.”

Applejack groaned and shook her head, “Darn it, this isn’t getting us anywhere. What do you think Sunset?”

Sunset ran through the options in her head, “Well we can’t use the bridge until we know it’s safe.” She slipped a hand under her jacket and smoothly slid her pistol out of it’s holster. Like her gun, the concealed holster had once belonged to the late Mr Burke. Sunset had dug it out of her pack during her stay at the clinic. “I say we sneak around and see if we can observe whoever it is without getting spotted. If they look friendly, good, if not…”

“Then we get the drop on them, try to take them out or scare them off before they know what’s happening.” Rainbow finished.

“That sounds awfully dangerous.” Rarity said quietly.

“It is,” Sunset admitted, “But it’s the only option I can think of right now.”

The girls looked around at each other uneasily. When no-one else said anything, Applejack sighed and rolled her shoulders, “Alright, if it’s the only plan we’ve got, then it’s the best plan we’ve got. Come on y’all, let’s get this done.”

Making as little noise as possible, the group crept carefully around the side of the building, Sunset making sure to unscrew her pistol’s silencer and slip it into a special pouch in the holster. Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something as Sunset took the lead, but a quick shake of the head from Applejack silenced whatever protest she had been about to make.

Quiet, rasping voices reached the girls as they neared the front of the building, but still nothing came into view. Whoever was talking was right in front of the entrance. Grasping her pistol tightly, Sunset peeked around the corner.

A large parking lot spread out in front of the store, dotted with ruined cars and even an old bus. Four people were huddled together around a fire, talking quietly and occasionally glancing at something over on the far side of the lot.
Ghouls.

Sunset quickly noted the guns that two of them carried, small pistols similar to her own, then ducked back out of sight. They didn’t look anything like the last raiders she had seen, their thick clothes were cleaner and much more practical, but Sunset wasn’t willing to take any chances.

Sunset turned back to the girls and gestured for Applejack to come closer, then leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Four ghouls, they don’t look like raiders.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Just follow my lead.” Sunset raised a finger to her lips and turned back to the corner. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she thumbed off the safety and strode around the corner, raising her pistol as she went.

“Don’t move!”

The ghouls whipped around as Applejack stepped up next to her, leveling her shotgun at them. Blank shock flitted across their features at the sight of the girls. Realizing they were at gunpoint, the four slowly raised their hands.

“Easy now smoothskins, we don’t want any trouble,” the closest one said warily.

Sunset didn’t dare let her aim drop, “We heard gunshots, what happened.”

“Raiders,” another said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder, “They attacked us as we were setting up camp.”

Sunset looked over to where the ghoul indicated and spotted a pair of corpses, slumped against a car. Their filthy leather clothes were covered in spikes and hooks, with a multitude of vicious-looking knives strapped to their belts. Sunset shivered and turned her attention back to the ghouls.

The four were plainly terrified, their eyes darting between Applejack and Sunset.

Sunset sighed and lowered her gun, keeping her eyes on them in case they made any move to attack. The ghouls visibly relaxed as Applejack followed suit, their shoulders slumping as they released the breaths they’d been holding.

“Sorry about that y’all, can’t be too careful.” Applejack said softly.

The first ghoul nodded grimly, “Yeah, you’re telling me. Thanks for not shooting us.”

“Don’t mention it,” Sunset replied, “I’m Sunset Shimmer and this is Applejack.”

“Harry, and these are James, my daughter Heather and Henry.” The other ghouls each raised a hand as Harry pointed them out.

Applejack tipped her hat in greeting, “Pleasure to meet you, so what are y’all doing out here anyway?”

“We’re on our way to Underworld, figured we’d rest here for a few hours before we headed into the city proper.”

“Underworld? What’s that?” Sunset asked.

“It’s a ghoul settlement,” Heather said quickly, “It’s in the old Museum of History, in the middle of the city ruins.”

“Huh, we’re actually heading into D.C ourselves, you’re more than welcome to join us if you want?” Sunset offered.

Harry shook his head, “Thanks, but we got chased by radscorpions all the way here, then the moment we take a break those two assholes tried to jump us.” He sighed heavily, “We could really use a rest right now.”

“Suit yourselves. Is there anything you can tell us about the ruins? Anything we should keep an eye out for?” Applejack asked.

The ghouls looked around at each other and shrugged, shaking their heads.

“Sorry, but this is our first time in the Capital Wasteland. You probably know more about this place than us.” Harry replied.

I very much doubt that. Sunset sighed and turned to leave, “It’s okay, thanks anyway. Look after yourselves out here.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Sunset and Applejack trudged back to where the others were anxiously waiting. After briefly discussing what little they’d learned, the group turned and made their way back to the bridge, Sunset falling back to let Pinkie and Applejack lead the way.

The rest of their journey to the metro went fairly smoothly. Pinkie spotted the entrance almost as soon as they crossed the bridge, and even with their injuries it was a simple matter for the girls to pick their way across the rubble towards it, a fact Sunset and Rainbow were both particularly grateful for.

They were less pleased about finding several dead raiders strewn around the metro’s entrance.

“That’s… not a good sign.” Sunset muttered.

“No it ain’t.” Applejack agreed.

“I suppose… um… at least we didn’t have to fight them?” Fluttershy said quietly, her face ashen.

“Yeah, silver linings I suppose,” Sunset gingerly stepped around the corpses to where Twilight was waiting at the top of the subway stairs. She was staring down them with a look of trepidation. “Hey, Twilight, you okay?”

Twilight threw a sidelong look at Sunset, “Am I the only one who’s getting a really bad feeling about this? I mean… we haven’t exactly had the best luck when it comes to tunnels.”

“Whatever do you mean darling?” Rarity asked.

“Think about it. We were shot at when we left the Vault, technically through a tunnel, then when we escaped we were shot at again and you were beaten up.” Twilight shivered, “And yesterday we were nearly blown up in a tunnel, then when we left we were shot at and you were beaten up again!”

Sunset cast a worried look down into the subway, “You know you’re really starting to put me off tunnels.”

The rest of the girls crowded around, staring into the dim light below.

“Well… I guess there’s no point in standing around,” Sunset huffed, “Come on, let’s go find Galaxy News.”

And another chapter for your reading pleasure!

A bit of a quiet chapter this time around, but if you know Fallout 3, you know that that is not going to last very long from this point onwards!

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