Sunset sighed as she made her way down the stairs towards the rear exit of Galaxy News Radio.

“You okay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

Sunset glanced at her and tried to smile, “Yeah, I’m just… not really looking forward to this part.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Applejack agreed somberly. “But hey, at least Sentinel Lyons managed to scrounge this up for us!” she said brightly as she brandished her new bolt-action hunting rifle. It was the only weapon the girls had accepted from the Brotherhood’s stores, aside from a new pair of combat knives for Rainbow Dash.

Rarity and Pinkie were more comfortable with their magic, Fluttershy adamantly refused a weapon of any kind, and giving Twilight a gun would frankly have endangered the Rainbooms more than any opponent they faced. Sunset had decided to stick with her pistol rather than risk aggravating her ribs with a heavier weapon, even if it was running low on ammunition. If push came to shove, she could always just pilfer any weapons she found along the way.

Sunset glowered as the thought of scavenging crossed her mind. That had been part of the survival lesson the girls had received from Lyons after they given her a rundown of their magical abilities; to always loot anything useful you can find, even off the corpses of your enemies, so long as you can safely carry it. Essential to their survival though it may be, Sunset still didn’t relish the prospect of rummaging through the pockets of dead people.

“Ah, here it is!”

Sunset glanced up at the sound of Rarity’s voice. There, at the bottom of the stairs, waited the reinforced rear-exit of Galaxy News.

“Well, this is it. Y’all ready?” Applejack asked.

A few moments passed with no response.

Finally Sunset sighed and stepped forward, “Come on, let’s just get this over with.”

“Just be careful,” Twilight warned, “Three-Dog said there’s a big drop on the other side of this.”

Sunset nodded as she turned the handle and shoved the heavy door open, then gasped as she saw the aforementioned drop.

If the building had been intact, the girls would still be inside Galaxy News. As it was, the whole rear of the building had been blown away, leaving barely a meter of floor left on the other side of the door. Leaning over the edge, Sunset could see that each of the floors below had been destroyed as well, leaving a treacherous climb down several storeys until they reached the ground.

“Well that’s not good,” Rainbow commented, “Want me to fly down and see if it’s clear?”

Sunset nodded, “Good idea, but be careful.”

“Sure thing.”

With a quick flap of her wings Rainbow leapt into the air and banked around, soaring in lazy arcs as she scouted the floors below. As soon as she reached the ground she did one last sweep then shot back up towards the rest of the group.

“We’re good, but the floors below are pretty messed up. Looks like there’s a few places where you’ll have to jump down to the next level.”

Rarity gave one of her characteristic scoffs, “Oh please, darling. You’re forgetting who you’re with.” Stepping up to the edge, she swept one arm out in an elegant gesture and a series of gemstones materialized, glittering stepping stones that spiraled down all the way to the bottom, “Ta da!”

“Nice work, Rarity!” Pinkie said appreciatively.

“Yup, that saves us a bit of trouble,” Applejack added.

As Rainbow, Fluttershy and Twilight flew down under their own power, Sunset led the others down the makeshift stepping stones, keeping a hand on her pistol just in case. Sneaking a peek at the winged girls, Sunset was surprised to see that their pony-up transformation had even affected their backpacks, adjusting the straps and even altering the packs themselves so the girls could use their wings without difficulty.

Outside the remains of the building exterior, the path, or at least what passed for one, split in two. The left-hand way headed over a bridge to another metro entrance, while the right-hand way sloped steeply down and curved away out of sight behind piles of rubble.

“So which way now?” Rainbow asked as the others caught up.

“To the right,” Twilight replied, “That way should lead to an old car tunnel we need to go through.”

Making their way carefully down the hill, the girls rounded the corner and followed what was left of an ancient road strewn with the burnt out husks of cars and buses. It was lined on one side by a high wall and on the other by towering piles of debris. As they picked their way through the rubble Pinkie suddenly held a hand out, stopping them all.

“Hold on a second,” she whispered, peeking over the top of a car.

“What is it?” Rarity asked.

“Feral ghoul, by the door over there.”

Peering ahead, Sunset saw that the road descended into a tunnel, but the entrance was entirely blocked by rubble save for a small pedestrian access door off to the side. Sure enough, a single feral ghoul was shambling around aimlessly next to it.

“Ah see it,” Applejack said quietly, raising her rifle.

A single gunshot rang out and the ghoul crumpled to the floor.

Rainbow nodded appreciatively, “Nice shot, AJ.”

Applejack didn’t respond as she lowered her rifle and led the way over to the fallen ghoul. The ghoul lay on it’s back, moaning feebly as blood dribbled from the neat little hole in its chest. Despite herself, Sunset couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. Another gunshot echoed off the walls as Applejack put the poor thing out of its misery, making each of the others flinch.

“Well, that’s that out of the way,” Applejack muttered.

“Whoa AJ, that was cold,” Rainbow said, giving her a half-impressed, half-worried look.

“It had to be done. You girls coming?”

Sunset nodded curtly, tearing her eyes away from the corpse, “Yeah. Rainbow? You and Applejack go in first, the rest of us will follow.”

“And remember girls, try and stay quiet. We want to see any trouble before it sees us,” Twilight added.

“Got it,” Rainbow replied as she stepped over to the door. She grasped the handle and glanced over her shoulder at Applejack, who readied her rifle and gave a quick nod. Quickly and quietly, Rainbow opened the door and stepped aside to let the farm girl lead the way.

The girls found themselves in a maintenance corridor lined with pipes. After only a few paces the corridor rounded a corner and abruptly opened up into a car tunnel.

The tunnel was devastated, shattered vehicles and mounds of rubble covering almost the entirety of the floor. Squinting in the dim light, Sunset could just make out the corridor on the other side of the tunnel that they needed to head for. Crouching low, the girls crept forward slowly, not willing to take any chances. Every now and again a low growl would echo through the tunnel and terrify the group, but, after what felt like an eternity, they reached the corridor without incident.

Moving forward as quietly as they could, the Rainbooms made their way carefully through a series of corridors, offices and tunnels, each of them utterly deserted, save for a couple of dead super mutants. After wrestling with her squeamishness, Sunset was more than a little annoyed that neither of the bodies had anything even mildly useful on them.

It wasn’t until the group finally entered the metro tunnels proper that they encountered something living.

Stepping out of a corridor and onto the tracks, the girls spotted a wall of sandbags and a wooden barricade in an adjacent tunnel, clearly an outpost or encampment of some kind. At first they thought it was just as abandoned as the rest of the metro so far, until they heard a gurgling cough from behind the barricade.

Each of the girls tensed up, ready for battle.

When nothing immediately jumped out and attacked, Rainbow silently drew her blades and crept forward. Sunset held her breath as the athlete peeked behind the barricade, then released it as she sheathed her blades again and straightened up, waving the others over.

“What is it?” Sunset whispered as she tip-toed over.

“See for yourself,” Rainbow whispered back.

Curious, Sunset poked her head behind the barricade, then gasped at what she saw.

A girl was asleep on a bed set up in the middle of the tracks, clutching an assault rifle to her chest. Her head was entirely shaved, and she was wearing little more than a ripped pair of shorts and a threadbare tank top. Even in the darkness Sunset could clearly make out the bloodstained bandage wrapped around her gut.

“Oh no, do you think she’s alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh, you do know she’s probably a raider, right?” Rainbow hissed.

“That doesn’t mean we can just leave her like this!”

The two quickly shut their mouths as the girl moaned and shifted, her eyes opening slowly. She blinked stupidly at the Rainbooms for a second, then yelped as her gun was snatched out of her grip by a purple aura.

“Easy! Easy,” Applejack said quietly, slinging her own rifle over her shoulder as the girl looked around fearfully, “We ain’t going to hurt you. Ah’m Applejack, what’s your name?”

Eyeing the group warily, the girl sat up slowly. Looking at her, Sunset realized the poor girl couldn’t be more than fourteen or fifteen, “Maddy. Name’s Maddy. What the fuck are you people?”

“How charming,” Rarity muttered sarcastically.

“You didn’t hear the radio broadcast?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her, “Uh, I don’t see a radio down here Sunshim.”

“Yeah, this isn’t exactly a fucking penthouse.” Maddy said scathingly.

Sunset opened her mouth to retort, then closed it when she couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Alright, that’s enough cussing missy,” Applejack cut in suddenly, “You okay Sunset? You’re looking mighty peaky.”

Sunset frowned, a little annoyed with herself for not coming up with a snappy comeback, “Yeah, I’m fine, just a little sore. I’m going to sit over here for minute.” Suiting actions to words, she plonked herself down on the edge of the tracks. Ignoring the stab of pain that shot through her stomach, she slipped her pack off and dug around for another water bottle.

I can’t believe I need another drink already. Why am I so thirsty!?

Turning back to Maddy, Applejack gestured to the bandage around her gut, “So what happened to you?”

“And where’s the rest of your raider buddies?” Rainbow added with a frown.

Maddy threw Rainbow a filthy look, “This is just a scratch, nothing I can’t handle. And as for the rest of the crew, they…” her voice wavered as she stared defiantly at Rainbow. Finally she looked away, “They’re all dead.”

“Oh! You poor thing!” Fluttershy rushed forward and pulled the protesting young girl into a hug. Maddy struggled for a few moments, then gave in an just accepted the cuddle with a sigh.

“So what happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow don’t press the poor girl, she’s been through enough,” Rarity said chidingly.

“It’s fine,” Maddy huffed, glowering from under Fluttershy’s wings, “It’s all that vault asshole’s fault.”

Sunset glanced up at that, “You mean Adam?”

“How the fuck should I know his name?” Maddy shot, earning a reproachful look from Flutters. She rolled her eyes before continuing, “Fine I’ll stop swearing. Anyway, me and a couple of the others were down in one of the camps when this guy in a vault outfit comes out of nowhere and starts shooting up the place. All of the noise attracted the ferals, and he escaped in the confusion. I was the only one who made it back here.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy said quietly, squeezing Maddy a little tighter.

Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly, “I hate to say it but… you know… if they were raiders-”

“Then they deserved it?” Maddy spat, “Well those raiders were the only fuckers who would take me in after my parents were eaten by a fucking deathclaw, so watch your fucking mouth you mutant slut!”

“That’s ENOUGH!”

All of the girls turned to stare at Sunset in surprise.

“Look, we don’t have time to sit here and argue right and wrong. Fluttershy, can you help her sort that wound out properly?”

“O-of course.”

“Good. Give her a stimpak if you have to. And as for you,” Maddy couldn’t help but flinch as Sunset addressed her, “I can’t even begin to imagine whatever you’ve been through, but right now you have a chance to turn things around. Do you know the way to Galaxy News?”

Maddy looked uncertainly at her, “Uh, yeah?”

“Good. As soon as you feel up to it I want you to sneak out of here and find your way there.”

“But the Brotherhood of-”

“Won’t hurt you as long as you keep your gun away and your hands up,” Sunset continued firmly, “Tell them the Rainbooms sent you, and that you want to speak to Three-Dog. As long as you’re willing to help, then he’ll look after you.”

Maddy chewed her lip nervously as she thought it over, but finally she nodded.

“Are you sure it’s alright to just leave her alone?” Rarity asked in an undertone as Fluttershy went to work.

“Probably, I mean it’s got to be safer than following us around down here, right?” Sunset tried to stand back up, only to stumble as a wave of dizziness rushed over her.

“Whoa there!” Applejack grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her, “You okay there sugarcube?”

“Yeah… yeah… just stood up too quickly,” Sunset muttered, then hissed as another jolt of pain flashed through her gut, followed by a bigger wave of dizziness.

Dimly she realized that something was going very, very wrong.

“Fluttershy…?”

The room span as Sunset’s legs crumpled beneath her, Applejack barely managed to catch her before her head hit the tracks, “Hey! Wha- Fluttershy get over here!”

Fluttershy was at her side in a flash, “Quick, lay her down!”

As soon as Sunset was safely settled on the floor Flutters reached down and yanked up her dress.

“Fluttershy be careful of her modest… oh my…” Rarity trailed off as she saw Sunset’s exposed midriff.

The bruising had gotten even worse, and there was a noticeable swelling on the one side.

“Everyone give us some space!” The rest of the group backed away as Twilight darted forward, dropping to her knees next to Fluttershy.

“No… oh no…. no no no…” Ignoring Sunset’s pained moan, Fluttershy ran her hands over the swelling, her face growing steadily paler as she inspected it. With a sudden movement she pulled a stimpak from her nursing kit and slid it into Sunset’s arm. As soon as it was empty she withdrew it and turned back to her kit, rummaging around for something else.

Sunset sighed with relief as the stimpak took the edge off the ever-increasing stabbing pains in her gut. The relief was short-lived as she saw Fluttershy pull a blood pack out of her kit, check the blood type, and carefully slide the needle into her arm.

“What’s going on, what’s with the blood?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s haemorrhaging,” Twilight breathed.

Applejack raised an eyebrow, “She what now?”

Twilight just shook her head, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob.

Sunset felt a chill run through her as the others shared a worried look.

Oh no, please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it does.

Fluttershy’s voice shook as she spoke. “We… we have to get moving. We need to get to Rivet City as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? There’s no way Sunset’s up to that journey right now,” Applejack replied slowly, “Shouldn’t we rest here for a bit to let her get her stren-”

“We don’t have that kind of TIME!” Fluttershy snapped, “Her kidney contusion has gotten worse and now something has ruptured. She’s bleeding internally.”

The others stared in shock as Fluttershy lost her composure, tears streaming silently down her face as her whole body shook.

Sunset felt cold terror grip her at Fluttershy’s words. She didn’t have much medical knowledge, but she knew enough to know exactly how much trouble she was in right now.

Her eyes burned as she glanced helplessly up at Twilight.

“I’m dying, aren’t I?”

Next Chapter: Chapter 23 - Fading Sunset Estimated time remaining: 43 Hours, 7 Minutes