Tara hummed happily as she strolled through the corridors towards her new lab, deep in the bowels of Raven Rock. She glanced back down at the assets list in her hands, unable to believe just how many resources were being devoted to this project. Doctor Turner had already headed off to Requisitions to get the equipment they would need and Becky was currently in a briefing with one of the legendary Sigma squads, freshly assigned to this project, leaving Tara as the one to inspect their new workspace.

Oh my gosh, I’m so excited! We might actually get to make first contact with inter-dimensional travellers! That is, if the guy on the radio broadcast we intercepted was telling the truth. And wasn’t undergoing a prolonged and vivid hallucination of some kind. I mean he is a wastelander after all, who knows what kind of psychological issues he’s got. Not to mention whatever chemical crap he probably pumps into his body. But still, even if it is a load of bull, at least I get to experiment with our collected alie-

“Ah, Doctor Strong. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Tara jumped at the unexpected voice. Glancing around wildly, she spotted the speaker standing in front of the door to her new lab. An imposing man, he had iron-grey hair and wore a heavy, tan trench coat over a jet-black uniform.

The man stepped forward and clasped his hands behind his back, “I don’t believe we have ever officially been introduced. I am Colonel Augustus Autumn.”

Tara hardly needed the introduction. She didn’t think there was anyone in the Enclave who could fail to recognise the leader of the military. She snapped a quick salute, “A pleasure to meet you Colonel. Is there something I can do for you?”

“At ease, Doctor. I’m actually here because I have some questions for you. I understand you recently finished work on designing Duraframe servos for our new Hellfire prototypes?”

Tara nodded, “Yes, sir! Wait, is there a problem with the design? Did we make a miscalculation somewhere? I was sure I accounted for ev-”

Colonel Autumn held up as placating hand, “Relax, Doctor. Doctor Turner has informed me that your work on the servos was exemplary and I see no reason to doubt his word. My questions are actually about your sudden reassignment.” He lowered his hand and clasped it behind his back once again,” You see, I was led to believe that upon completion of your work on the Hellfire Project you and Doctor Shoichet would be assigned to my Jefferson Taskforce.”

The Colonel narrowed his eyes, sending a shiver down Tara’s spine, “Imagine my surprise when I discover that you have both been removed from the taskforce and attached to a new project. One that I have not been given the details of as of yet.”

Tara frowned at that, “You weren’t made aware of it, sir?”

“I was not,” Colonel Autumn made a show of looking around to make sure no-one was listening, then stepped closer and lowered his voice, “I don’t know what this new project is about, but the Jefferson Taskforce could prove to be a huge step in returning the United States to its former glory. It is a top priority operation. Now, Doctor Turner has informed me that you are something of a prodigy, so I would appreciate it if you could explain to me why our most brilliant scientist is being directed elsewhere at such a critical juncture.”

Tara blushed at the compliment, but shook her head hesitantly, “I-I’m sorry, sir. But the President was very insistent that we don’t discuss the project with anyone unless he personally authorizes it.”
Colonel Autumn narrowed his eyes, “I understand that this is a matter of clearance and I respect your dedication, but I’m afraid I must insist.”

“That won’t be necessary Colonel.”

Both turned as someone called out, and Tara felt a surge of relief at the sight of her brother striding towards them. Heavily muscled with cropped jet-black hair he cut an impressive figure, especially in his officer's uniform.

Autumn raised an eyebrow as he drew near. “Lieutenant Colonel Strong, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

The Lieutenant Colonel snapped a salute, “Sir, I’m here to personally oversee all security matters pertaining to Doctor Strong’s current project.”

Autumn returned the salute with a sharp look, “And what exactly is Raven Rock’s head of security doing playing babysitter for a little science project? Not favoring your little sister I hope?”

“No sir,” came the curt reply, “But when a project requisitions our entire stock of X-51 classified materials I would prefer to keep a close eye on it.”

Colonel Autumn’s eyes widened at that little bit of information, “I see.”

Tara glanced sidelong at her brother. If President Eden hadn’t told the Colonel anything about Project Exodus that was his business. She’d done her best to avoid getting involved in the power struggles between the higher-ups, but her twit of a sibling had just gone and dumped her right in the middle of one between the two most powerful entities in the whole damned Enclave. Tara snapped her attention back to Colonel Autumn as he spoke again.

“Very well, Lieutenant Colonel. Given the nature of the X-51 materials I expect you to keep me informed of any ‘security’ developments that arise as a result of this project.”

“Naturally, sir.”

“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a speech to prepare for the next cadet graduation. Lieutenant Colonel, Doctor.” With a curt nod Colonel Autumn turned and strode away.

Tara rounded on her brother once she was sure the Colonel was out of earshot, “What are you playing at, Andrew?”

Andy just grinned at her, “What, I just told him the truth?”

“And how exactly did you know that we’ve been given all of the X-51 stuff?”

Andrew gave her a flat look, “You do remember I’m the head of security, right? The first thing the Requisitions Officer did when Doctor Turner asked for that equipment was inform me.”

“What, why?”

“It’s his job to, that’s why,” Andrew said seriously, “That stuff’s dangerous, Tara. I don’t know what you’re doing with it, but I want you to be extremely careful, alright?”

Tara just rolled her eyes, “Alright, alright.”

“I’m just looking out for my little sis,” Andrew said, giving her a playful nudge.

“Always the knight in shining armor,” Tara rolled her eyes, “Come on, you may as well help me do a safety review while you’re here.”

Princess Twilight stood in the lab room at Canterlot High, staring dejectedly at the Geode Diviner. It largely resembled her own mirror portal, only the attendant machinery was made out of steel and plastic rather than wood and brass, and there were far more coils, pumps, electrodes and cables than on her own humble apparatus. Necessary differences since this particular unit was powered primarily by electricity rather than magic.

Twilight sighed and lowered her head. This was supposed to have been a triumph, a marvel of magic and technology that would have helped safeguard this world from Equestrian threats. Instead it had turned into a monumental failure that had taken her friends and thrown them somewhere she couldn’t follow.

“Hey, Twilight.”

She turned at the sound of Starlight’s voice, a small flicker of hope burning in her chest, “Has anypony found them? What did Discord say?”

Starlight shook her head sadly, “Sorry, Twilight, but there’s been no sightings and Discord hasn’t sensed any magical disturbances that would indicate another portal opening up. He says he’ll have a look around though, just to be sure.”

Twilight just nodded, turning back to the machine.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. We’ll find them,” Spike said softly, laying a reassuring paw on her leg.

“Have you had any luck repairing the Diviner?” Starlight asked.

“It wasn’t actually damaged very much, we just had to replace a few fuses and power cables,” Twilight replied. She gestured to the young man typing away at the Diviner’s console, “Micro Chips is just checking the system log now. Hopefully that will shed some light on what exactly went wrong.”

“Hopefully,” Starlight echoed softly.

The three slipped into an uneasy silence after that, one broken only by the tapping of keys as Micro Chips continued his checks. Much as they wished they could help, neither of the ponies-turned-human had anything more than a rudimentary understanding of how the computers worked in this world.

The group were dragged from their thoughts as Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna entered the room. Both looked weary and miserable.

“I’ve informed the girls’ families,” Celestia said quietly, “They’re upset, but they understand that we are doing everything we can to make sure the girls are brought home safely.” She glanced over at Starlight, “I assume you didn’t have any luck in Equestria?”

Starlight shook her head.

“Do you have any idea what happened?” Luna asked.

Twilight looked over at the mirror, “I can only guess at the moment, but it seems that there was some sort of power surge that caused whatever that vortex was that you spoke of.”

“A power surge?” Luna frowned. When she spoke next, her voice had a slight edge to it, “Shouldn’t there have been some sort of safeties in place to prevent that from happening?”

“That’s just it, there are! It was one of the first things we all agreed on!” Twilight insisted, “The Diviner was supposed to shut down automatically in the event of any anomalous power readings, whether magical or electrical!”

“Did you have any problems with the portal on your side?” Celestia asked.

“None whatsoever. As soon as we realized something was going wrong with the Diviner we activated our safety procedure and the system switched off instantly.”

Starlight nodded in agreement. The ‘safety procedure’ on their end had simply been to yank the magic journal away from the mirror.

“The safeties we implemented on the Geode Diviner were intended to deprive the system of both power and magic,” Twilight continued, “The Diviner isn’t capable of creating a self-sustaining portal, it should have been rendered inert the second the safeties engaged. I have no idea why they didn’t work.”

“They were deactivated,” Micro Chips said suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at him in shock.

“What do you mean they were deactivated?!” Twilight cried.

Micro frowned at the console’s screens, “They were switched off after the Diviner was activated.”

Twilight gaped at him, “But… why would Twilight do that? Why would Sunset do that!?”

Micro shook his head, “I don’t know. What I do know is that when the Diviner was switched on someone increased all power outputs to their maximum setting.”

“That would be the electrical surge we detected,” Starlight muttered, “But that would only have increased the sensitivity of the Diviner until it fried the circuits, it still doesn’t explain what happened to Sunset and the others.”

“No, but this might,” He indicated one of the screens on the console, “Take a look at these readings, maybe you‘ll be able to make some sense out of them.”

Twilight and Starlight hurried over to inspect the data as Micro went back to checking the system.

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “Why am I seeing three magical signatures here?”

“Three different portals,” Twilight replied with a shiver, pointing at the screen, “Look, when the Diviner reached maximum power it actually picked up a connection to another open portal. That must be what caused the magical feedback we experienced!”

Starlight nodded in comprehension, “Right… the Diviner wasn’t built to maintain a connection to two portals at once. So when we closed our portal off it connected to the other one instead?”

“Exactly.”

“So the others really are lost somewhere in Equestria then,” Starlight sighed.

Twilight shook her head, “I wish it was that simple. Look. This third magical signature doesn’t match any known Equestrian magic.”

“What are you trying to say?” Celestia asked, struggling to follow the conversation.

Starlight shook her head as she realized what Twilight was getting at, “She means the other portal must be in another world entirely.”

The teachers blanched at that.

“Can we use the Diviner to open another portal and bring them back?” Luna asked.

Twilight paced as she thought it through, “It’s possible, but it won’t be easy. The Diviner was designed on the assumption that there would be a flow of Equestrian magic between both sides of the connection, from the Geodes on this side and Equestria on the other. Running at maximum power, and without any Equestrian magic on the other side, the Diviner must have just shunted all nearby magic through the portal in an attempt to stabilize the connection.”

“That explains why Sunset and the others were sucked through,” Starlight huffed.

“If you say so,” Luna mumbled.

Twilight carried on obliviously, “That also makes it dangerous to try and open up the connection again. Unless there’s enough Equestrian magic in the other world to stabilize the connection, anyone who has Equestrian magic on this side of the portal will just be sucked through again.”

Celestia gaped at Twilight for a few moments as she caught up, “So… how are we going to get my students back?”

Twilight frowned, still pacing. Finally she stopped and turned to Starlight, “I need you to head back to Equestria. Send a message to Starswirl and tell him to come here as quickly as possible. Also, I know it’s a long shot, but see if Discord would be willing to try and find the world that matches this unknown magical signature.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “Do you really think he’s capable of that?”

Twilight nodded, “I’ve seen him open a hole to another world before, at the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Starlight’s eyes widened in surprise, “Remind me to ask you about that when all of this is over. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“I’ll stay here and try to figure out a way of opening a portal without getting sucked through.”

“Hang on, I’ve think I’ve found something,” Micro cut in.

Celestia stepped forward eagerly, “What is it?”

“Er… well… I don’t think it was Sunset or Twilight who deactivated the safety protocols,” He turned to offer Twilight a querulous look, “Mind if I ask why the Diviner has an internet connection?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the odd question, but answered anyway, “Uh… I think Sunset said it was something to do with a… uh… G… P… S? Why, what have you found?”

Micro turned back to the console, squinting at the lines of code on the screens, “It looks like someone used that connection to hack the system while you were testing it.”

The Principals gasped, but Twilight and Starlight just stared in confusion.

“What, uh… what exactly does that mean?” Starlight asked.

“It means someone accessed the Diviner without authorization. It means someone did this deliberately,” Luna growled.

“Wait a second, you’re saying this was sabotage?” Starlight shot.

Twilight stared at the others incredulously, “But… but who? And why?”

Somewhere on the other side of town, a dark figure stepped off a bus and into the rain. She smirked as she thought back over what she’d overheard back at the school. The plan to overload the Geode Diviner had gone far better than she’d ever imagined. It was only supposed to scare the Rainbooms into keeping it deactivated for a while, giving her a little more time to operate before she’d be forced into the open.

Of course, the fact that it was more effective than intended has brought it’s own little… complications… but we can work around that.

The woman was still smirking as she walked up to a house and let herself in. She shook the rain out of her hair and made to go upstairs, then stopped as a voice called out.

“So, has your little scheme paid off?”

The woman glanced over to the lounge, and the girl scowling in the doorway.

Adagio Dazzle.

The woman sneered as she spotted the filthy little siren’s sisters peeking over from the sofa, “Things went far better than I expected, actually. The Rainbooms are no longer going to be an obstacle.”

“Does this mean we can go back to Equestria now?” one of the sirens called out.

“Quiet, Sonata! What do you mean ‘no longer an obstacle’?” Adagio asked.

“It’s nothing you need to worry yourselves about,” the woman said airily, “However, it seems that Princess Twilight has made the transition to this world again. And she brought a friend.”

“If she’s back then things are only going to get more difficult!” Adagio snarled, “You promised us you’d be able to get us back to Equestria!”

“Silence!” the woman snapped. Taking a breath to calm herself, she forced a smile onto her face, “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten my end of the bargain. The three of you will be back where you belong soon enough. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to see to our other little guest.”

The woman ignored Adagio’s muttering and hurried up the stairs. She had spent a lot of time searching for a way around the Rainbooms. Ex-Principal Cinch had been useless, ranting about cheaters, hypocrites and monsters. Filthy Rich hadn’t been interested in anything unless it brought him more money, and Vignette Valencia had been so self-absorbed it beggared belief.

Finally the woman had given in and hunted down the sirens. She had despised the very thought of working with them, but there weren’t any other options. At least they had proven to be useful so far, giving accurate information on the Rainbooms and the rest of Canterlot High, but their usefulness was swiftly coming to an end.

Disgusting creatures. I shall have to find a way to dispose of them before I go back through the portal, those vile abominations don’t belong in Equestria. Or anywhere, for that matter.

Banishing the thought of purging those foul sea-spawn, the woman drew herself up and knocked on the door of the smallest bedroom. Footsteps sounded within, and a moment later the door was tentatively opened.

The figure inside opened the door wider when she saw the woman waiting outside, “Did… did it work?”

“It most certainly did. There have been a few small complications but nothing that we can’t handle.”

“I’m sorry, I told you hacking isn’t really my forte. I’m more of a hands-on sort of girl.”

The woman gave her a reassuring smile, “Don’t be silly, Miss Shimmer, you did an excellent job. With your help I’m certain we can get the Equestrians back where they belong and take control of that portal, for the greater good.”

Sunset Shimmer nodded, “Good. That sort of power should be kept in the hands of someone responsible.”

And you think that’s you don’t you, you little rat. Well I’m terribly sorry, but it seems those filthy sirens won’t be the only one’s who are disappointed once I’m finished here.

The woman arched an eyebrow as Sunset shivered suddenly, “Is something the matter?”

Sunset shook her head, her face twisted with confusion, “I just had a really bad feeling all of a sudden. Don’t worry about it, I’m just being silly.”

The woman turned to walk away, mostly to hide the malevolent grin that was spreading across her face, “I’m sure you’re right. It’s probably nothing.”

And here concludes the first major arc of Fallout Girls!

Now you've seen the three major plotlines I intend to follow for the duration of this fic. The trials and tribulations of the Rainbooms, the struggles of Tara and Becky with Project Exodus and the conflicts of the Enclave, and the hidden agenda of the mysterious woman who's scheming set off this whole adventure behind the scenes.

Next chapter we'll be back to the Rainbooms, and finally learn the fate of Sunset Shimmer...

Stay tuned!

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