Sunset froze as the feral ghoul hurtled towards the group, much much faster than she had expected it to be capable of. With a jolt she realized she had to do something, but Rarity got there first, extending her good arm as a huge gemstone materialized out of thin air in front of the ghoul. The foul creature smacked into the sudden obstruction and rebounded, landing flat on its back.

Rarity let her arm fall and the gem slowly faded from sight. Sunset nodded stiffly to her, ashamed that she had frozen up like that. A low growl had Sunset whipping her head back around. The ghoul was clambering back to it’s feet, saliva dripping from it’s open maw. Even more concerning was the sight of two more feral ghouls loping onto the walkway behind it.

“Awww nuts.” Applejack muttered, moving away from the generators to stand next to Sunset, raising her shotgun as she did so.

Sunset gritted her teeth and fired several rounds at the first ghoul as it rose, but the bullets just sank into it’s moldy armor, not causing any obvious injuries. She tensed as the creature launched itself forward once again, trying to aim at the monster’s face, when a blast from Applejack’s shotgun nearly deafened her. The ghoul stumbled as it’s arm was blown away in a welter of gore, then toppled to the floor as Sunset managed to put a carefully aimed bullet through it’s forehead.

The girls weren’t given even a moment’s respite as the other two ghouls charged straight past their fallen kin.

Sunset barely managed to get a shot off as the next ghoul closed in. Fortunately this one lacked the body armor of it’s compatriots, and the creature twitched as the bullet dug into it’s chest. Sliding out of the way as the ghoul staggered past Sunset lashed out with the butt of her pistol, then put another bullet in it’s skull as it reeled from the blow.

The second ghoul dodged around it’s fallen partner and lunged at Applejack, claws reaching for her face. Unable to bring her shotgun to bear in time, Applejack ducked under the ghoul’s swipe and shoved, hurling it backwards with her magically enhanced strength. The hapless creature sailed through the air only to slam back onto the metal walkway, momentum rolling it over until it came to rest in a mangled heap.

The girls stood still as silence descended, weapons raised and ready.

Sunset had no idea how long they waited like that, eyes and ears straining to pick out any more hidden threats. It felt like hours, but it could just as easily have been seconds.

“Ah think that’s the last of them,” Applejack whispered, finally breaking the silence, “Y’all okay?”

A series of quiet murmurs was her only reply, each of the girls still trying to process the sudden bout of extreme violence that had just unfolded.

Shaking like a leaf, Sunset tiptoed around the corpses littering the area and edged towards the walkway. Keeping her gun trained on it, she cautiously approached Applejack’s fallen foe and nudged it with her foot. She nudged it a little harder when there was no response, then finally gave it a solid kick.

Nothing happened.

Sunset let out a breath and lowered her gun, her shoulders slumping as she relaxed. A chorus of sighs and quiet muttering let her know the others were feeling the same relief.

“That was a little… intense.” Pinkie said soberly.

“Yeah… intense,” Applejack mumbled as she surveyed the carnage. “They… they weren’t… people… right?”

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. Her eyes had a glazed look to them, and when she spoke it was in a flat voice devoid of any emotion, “Not anymore. There’s no known way to cure a ghoul who’s turned feral. The only thing we can do is euthanize them before they hurt anyone.”

Applejack hung her head at Fluttershy’s words, “That… that just ain’t right.”

“To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything right in this wasteland,” Twilight replied quietly, “We should keep moving, who knows how many more of these things there are down here.”

“Good idea.” Rainbow stepped over to Applejack and clapped her on the back, “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, ah think so, just… y’know. Ah’ve shot targets and stuff before, but ah’ve never pointed a gun at a living creature. Takes some getting used to, even if they are zombies.” AJ sighed and rolled her shoulders before making her way over to Sunset, “Best get behind me sugarcube. Ah’ll go first until we get out of the subway, then we’ll see if we can find someplace safe to take a breather.”

Sunset just nodded and stepped aside, sliding her pistol back into it’s holster. Between her strength and her shotgun, Applejack was definitely the right person to take the lead in such confined places.

The rest of the girls followed as Applejack led them over the walkway, past the staircase the ghouls had come up, and over to a door on the far side of the room.

“Ah sure hope this is the right way, ah do not fancy going down those stairs,” she muttered as she nosed the door open with the barrel of her shotgun.

They all let out a sigh of relief as they saw a short corridor ahead of them. After only a few steps it turned a corner to a staircase, which in turn led to another door.

“Well it’s about darn time!” Applejack huffed as she pushed the door open, revealing the concrete walls of the subway tunnels.

“Finally,” Sunset breathed as she glanced around, checking for any threats. Satisfied that they were safe for the moment, she shrugged off her pack and pulled out some painkillers and a water bottle, eager to get some relief from the throbbing that was slowly growing in her ribs.

Rarity sighed as she stepped onto the tracks, “It may not be much, but I am glad these tunnels are a little more spacious.” She absently scratched her brace as she looked around, “I’m not usually one for claustrophobia but even I’ll admit that those corridors were a little… oppressive.”

“I’m just glad I’ve finally got some room to maneuver,” Rainbow said flatly, stretching her arms out and rolling her neck.

Sunset couldn’t help but agree. While there was every possibility they were going to run into more feral ghouls, she would much rather face them in a wide subway tunnel than in a cramped maintenance corridor.

“And the best part is…”

Everyone turned to watch as Pinkie skipped over to a nearby wall and pointed to it, a huge grin spreading across her face, “We’re going the right way!”

Sunset looked up at the wall and felt her lips curve into a smile too as she saw what Pinkie had spotted. An odd symbol was painted on it, a winged sword whose blade passed through a circle full of gears. Underneath the symbol was the message ‘To GNR Outpost’ and an arrow pointing through a small corridor connecting two tunnels.

“Well alright then, let’s get moving!” Suiting actions to words, Applejack took the lead once more, keeping her shotgun poised and ready just in case.

The tunnels on the other side of the corridor were far less intact than any they had previously been through. Whole sections of the ceiling had caved in, forcing the girls to take extreme care when placing their feet for fear of tripping and breaking a leg or getting impaled on an exposed metal spar.

Sunset swiftly changed her mind about being in the subway tunnels. Trying to face down feral ghouls among all that debris would be near impossible. Fortunately the only creatures they encountered were radroaches which, unusually, seemed quite content to leave the girls alone.

“Ah never thought I’d be glad to see these little critters,” Applejack muttered, clearly thinking along the same lines.

“I’m surprised we haven’t seen more of them,” Sunset admitted.

Rainbow helped Rarity climb over a particularly awkward pile of masonry, then nodded at something up ahead, “Heads up, looks like we’re coming to the station.”

The station was just as trashed as the tunnel had been, the floor covered with huge mounds of rubble. At least the mezzanine and it’s attendant escalators appeared to be intact. The girls were less pleased to note several more dead feral ghouls scattered around, as well as the corpse of something a little… different.

‘It’ was humanoid, but nothing like any human Sunset had ever seen. Easily eight feet tall, it had dark yellow skin with thick, bulging veins and a musculature that put Bulk Biceps to shame. It’s head was completely hairless and it’s face was pulled taut in a tight, angry sneer. The few clothes it was wearing were made from heavy sackcloth, with odd bits of armor that seemed to cobbled together out of car parts, it even had half of a tire strapped over it’s shoulder to form a makeshift pauldron.

“What in the heck is that supposed to be?” Applejack asked, prodding it with her shotgun.

Twilight leaned over to get a closer peek, “I… have no idea. Maybe it’s one of those super mutants that Gob told us about?”

“Whatever it is, it’s hideous,” Rarity said flatly, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad we didn’t meet it while it was still alive.”

“You mean like that feral ghoul over there?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset nodded, “Yeah like that feral… wait WHAT!?”

Spinning around and fumbling for her gun, Sunset spotted the ghoul as it trotted out from behind a wrecked train car. The horrid creature snarled as it spotted the girls and broke into a run, scrabbling over the debris in it’s hurry to close with them. Before Sunset could draw a bead on it there was a sudden blur and something tripped the ghoul, sending it tumbling to the floor.

Rainbow stood behind the fallen wretch, a trail of disturbed dust swirling in her wake. As the ghoul lurched to it’s feet she span on the spot, giving Sunset a brief glimpse of an all-too-familiar combat knife before she used both hands to plunge it into the side of the ghoul’s skull.

The others could only stand and stare, torn between shock and amazement as the ghoul slumped to the floor, the knife still sticking out of it’s temple like some sort of gory antenna.

“Sweet molasses…” Applejack breathed.

No one else uttered a word as Rainbow struggled to pull her knife free. In the end she had to plant a foot on the ghoul’s head in order to tug the blade out. “Okay, that… was gross.” she said with a grimace.

“Gross? That was brutal!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“You said it Pinkie. What the heck were you thinking!?” Applejack growled, “Me and Sunset could’ve handled that perfectly well with the guns, there was no reason for you to go putting yourself in danger like that!”

“Chill out, Applejack, I can handle one stinking zombie by myself,” Rainbow smirked, planting one hand on her hip and twirling her knife with the other, “Besides you’ve only got, what, two shells left? May as well save the ammo for when we run into trouble.”

“Will the two of you please be quiet? Rarity hissed. “We don’t know if there are any more around here!”

“Hang on, let me check.” Before anyone could respond Rainbow disappeared in a colorful haze, and was back barely a second later, “Nope, nothing else in the station except us and the dead ones.”

Sunset sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. Deciding against chiding Rainbow for her sheer recklessness, she instead settled for confirming a nagging suspicion, “Rainbow, where exactly did you get that knife?”

Rainbow at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, “I… may have picked it up after that fight we had with the raiders.”

“It’s the one she tried to kill me with isn’t it?”

There was a slight pause. “Yes.”

Sunset sighed again and shook her head, “You know what, whatever, it’s fine. Come on, let’s get out of here before something else tries to kill us.”

“As much as I’m sure we’d all love to, which way do we go? Do we carry on through the tunnels or shall we see if there’s an exit up there?” Rarity asked, pointing up at the mezzanine.

“Gob said we need to exit the metro at the station, so I’m guessing we go up.” Twilight supplied.

“There’s definitely a way out up there,” Rainbow added, “No ghouls or anything either.”

That was good enough for the others. With Applejack and Rainbow in the lead, the group made their way up to the mezzanine. Once they reached the top Sunset privately marveled that it was still standing at all, given that a huge chunk of the ceiling had collapsed on top of it, there was even a car that had somehow dropped in from somewhere above. The hole in the roof was too dark to make anything out, but Sunset guessed there was a parking lot or a garage of some sort up there.

Taking advantage of their relative safety, the girls decided to take a rest and eat something, taking it in turns to keep watch on the station below. Twilight took the opportunity to takes notes from an intact route map, while Fluttershy made sure to give Rarity and Sunset a quick check-up. Sunset was particularly glad to have the gauze on her head removed. The graze on her temple from Burke’s bullet had largely healed, though she was going to be left with an interesting scar.

Once everyone was fed and watered, the group packed their things away and headed out. Following a corridor that led off the mezzanine, the girls came across a gate almost immediately, natural light filtering through the gaps. They pushed through the gate and hurried up a small set of steps beyond, eager to get out of the subways.

Sunset blinked as she emerged. The light was almost blinding after the cold darkness of the metro. Squinting, she could see that they were in a small square, ruined buildings towering around them on all sides. Letting her eyes adjust slowly, Sunset let out a sigh of relief as she stood and basked in the warm sunshine.

Her relief was short-lived.

“Stop right there!”

Sunset started as a commanding voice called out to them. Looking around wildly, she saw five figures standing on the edge of the square, in the shadow of one of the buildings. Clad in fully enclosed suits of steel armor, they each carried a gun of a kind that Sunset had never seen before, guns that they were currently pointing at the girls.

“This is Knight-Sergeant Metzger of Squad Pilum. This area is under the protection of the Brotherhood of Steel. Identify yourselves!”

An early update this time around!

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