Sleeping in Rivet City took some getting used to. The night’s chill was one thing, though the girls had managed to procure good blankets and some thick, warm clothing that served well as pajamas, but there was little they could do about the noise.

Being a grounded, deteriorating old aircraft carrier, Rivet City was never truly silent. Loud groans and creaks were commonplace as metal flexed and settled, and it wasn’t that uncommon for the entire ship to shift slightly at the whims of the river’s current. Add in persistent and recurring nightmares and you had a perfect recipe for insomnia.

Fortunately for Sunset the fact that her abdomen was still particularly sore, while not exactly a pleasant sensation, meant that she could take a full dose of strong meds at bed-time and conk out entirely for the night.

The downside to that, of course, was waking her back up in the morning.

“Come on now, sugarcube. Up and at ‘em.”

“Muurrrr.”

“Um, Sunset? You really should get up and have something to eat now.”

Sunset just moaned again and sleepily pulled the blanket over her head, trying to drown out the voices of the evil lunatics that wanted to drag her out of bed so early in the morning.

“Really, darling. We understand that you’re recuperating but you’ve been asleep for over fourteen hours. It’s lunchtime.”

Moaning and grumbling incomprehensibly, Sunset slowly swung her legs around and pushed herself into a sitting position. With a colossal yawn, she blearily looked up at her tormentors.

“And ah thought Rarity was bad in the mornings,” Applejack muttered, shaking her head as she pulled something out of her pocket, “Here you go, ah brought you an apple from the hydroponics lab. It’ll help wake you up.”

Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes, “You think apples help with everything, darling.”

“Actually apples contain quite a lot of sugar, so they really can help you wake up in the mornings,” Twilight supplied.

Sunset ignored them, wordlessly accepting the apple as well as a glass of water from Fluttershy. When she’d finished she handed the core to Twilight so she could take the seeds back to the hydroponics lab, stood, stretched, then hissed as her stitches protested.

“Oh, be careful!” Fluttershy said quickly.

Rarity winced, “Yes, do try not to put yourself back in the clinic.”

“I’ll try not to,” Sunset huffed.

“Good. Well, now that you’re finally up hurry and get dressed so I can sort your hair out.”

“I’ll help you change your bandages,” Fluttershy added.

Rarity pulled her pack out from under a bed and started rummaging around inside. “As soon as you’re presentable we’ll meet Pinkie and Rainbow down at the Galley for lunch then go straight up to the flight deck together.”

“Doesn’t it get expensive eating at that restaurant all the time?” Sunset asked.

Applejack chuckled and shook her head, “Nah, Pinkie eats for free and the rest of us get a heck of a good discount on account of how much business she brings in.”

“Indeed. Even though she’s not at her best Pinkie has still managed to increase their custom five-fold,” Rarity added as she pulled out a hairbrush.

Sunset smiled as she started stripping out of her pajamas, “That’s Pinkie for you.”

As soon as Sunset was dressed, and Rarity had managed to tame the incredible mess that was her hair, the five of them headed off to the marketplace. Now that she was properly awake Sunset eagerly chatted with the others as they walked. It turned out each of the girls had managed to get the afternoon off in anticipation of taking her up on the flight deck and, possibly, over to the bow of the ship.

Sunset could hardly wait. The outside world may be a desolate waste, but that didn’t stop her from wanting some fresh air and sunlight. Even the Vault had been brighter and less cramped than Rivet City. Mostly.

The marketplace was just as busy as it had been the day before. Sunset felt a little more confident as people greeting them this time around and made a point of calling out to the people she recognized, including Seagrave, little Chandra and her mother.

“Over here, girls!”

Sunset glanced up at the shout to see Pinkie waving madly from a table at the Galley with Rainbow.

“Yo, what took you so long?” Rainbow asked as the girls settled into seats.

“We had a little trouble hauling a certain someone out of bed,” Applejack jerked a thumb over at Sunset. “Ah wasn’t sure whether or not ah’d have to use my crowbar to get her out of there.”

Pinkie giggled and waved down the waitress, “At least now that we’re all here we can get some food.”

“Finally,” Rainbow muttered.

Once the orders were placed, Sunset once again opting for the iguana soup, it wasn’t long before the food was brought over and the girls settled into chatting.

“So how’re things in the egghead section?” Rainbow asked, stirring her own soup idly.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the casual insult, but smiled as she did so, “Today’s been pretty good actually. We’re close to a breakthrough on the portable fusion and with Applejack’s help we’ve managed to increase the yield on a few of the apple bushes.”

“Ah may not be a sciency person but ah know my apples,” Applejack nodded proudly.

“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Twilight’s smile faded slightly, “We probably could have gotten a little more done if Doctor Li hadn’t ponied up again.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that, “Seriously?”

“Do we have any idea what’s causing it yet?” Sunset asked.

“We think we might have an idea actually,” Twilight said slowly, “It seems like it happens whenever Doctor Li is thinking about doing things that can help people. She’s going to speak to the Council today and see if she can get permission to practice ponying up in private, just to make sure.”

“As long as she’s careful with it. We don’t know exactly how rogue magic is going to affect this world, the last thing we want is another… well…” Sunset trailed off awkwardly.

Twilight nodded, getting the implication instantly, “I’ll talk to her. We all told her that magic is dangerous if not used properly, but maybe it would be better if she understood just how dangerous.”

The girls lapsed into an awkward silence at that. Sunset kept her head down and just focused on her food, trying to shake off the guilt of trashing a perfectly happy conversation. Thankfully she wasn’t left to stew for too long, as Rarity cleared her throat to speak.

“On a less, er, depressing note, I heard a bit of good news on the radio earlier. It seems the Brotherhood of Steel have taken in the little lost lamb we found in the tunnels.”

Fluttershy’s face lit up instantly, “Oh, you mean Maddy?”

“That little raider brat?” Rainbow asked.

“She wasn’t a brat, she was a scared and hurt young woman,” Rarity replied tartly. “I’ll admit her language may have been a little… colorful… but the poor dear had been through a terrible ordeal.”

Applejack nodded in agreement, “At least now the Brotherhood will look after her. Maybe they can help her do some good in the world.”

Rainbow snorted, “I guess.”

“How come you hate her so much?” Pinkie asked.

“Aside from the fact that she’s a raider?” Rainbow sighed and fiddled with her spoon, “There’s just something about her that bugs me. Hang on, that reminds me!” She smirked and pulled a letter out of her pocket, “Looks like Sunset’s getting her first one of these.”

Sunset looked up curiously, “First one of what?”

Rainbow tossed the letter over, “Just read it!”

Rarity gave her a disgusted look, “Really, Rainbow? You couldn’t have given it to her in private?”

Sunset cast a wary glance at the others, then set about opening the envelope. Rainbow grinned, Twilight winced and Fluttershy gave her a sympathetic look as she pulled the letter out and unfolded it.

“Uh…”

Rarity laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, “W-what does it say, darling? It’s not too vulgar I hope?”

Sunset gave her a blank stare, “It’s an invitation to a sermon at Saint Monica’s Church tomorrow?”

There was a brief stunned silence, then the whole table erupted with laughter. Sunset just stared at each of them in bewilderment.

“Th-thank goodness!” Rarity gasped between laughs.

Applejack whipped her hat off and used it to fan herself, trying to get herself under control, “Phew! Ah was not expecting that one!”

“Me neither!” Rainbow agreed, still grinning from ear to ear, “I totally thought that was going to be a love letter!”

“Love letter!?” Sunset yelped.

Twilight sighed and nodded, “We’ve all gotten one. Or at least we’ve all had someone try and express their affections in some way.”

“Seriously?”

Fluttershy shivered, “Sadly, yes.”

“At least the young man who asked you out was an absolute sweetheart about it,” Rarity wrinkled her nose with distaste, “Some of the propositions the rest of us have received have been less than pleasant.”

“You said it, sister,” Pinkie muttered darkly.

Sunset cringed inwardly at the thought of the sort of perverts they’d had to deal with. The Tunnel Snakes had been bad enough. Deciding to change the subject, she was about to ask exactly what the plan was for the day when a voice called out from behind.

“Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin, groaning and clutching at her stitches as they pulled.

Chief Harkness hissed in sympathy as he stepped up to the table, “Ouch, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just hoping I could have a word with you.”

Gently rubbing her sore gut, Sunset forced a smile onto her face, “Sure, what’s up?”

“In private, if you don’t mind.”

Sunset sighed as she stood and followed the security chief. She glanced sidelong at him as he led her towards an empty table right next to the hangar wall, Rainbow’s words from the day before ringing in her head. She had to admit he was somewhat good looking... but she’d known him for all of thirty seconds. In any case, romance was the very last thing on her mind at the moment.

Besides, Rainbow’s right. He’s way too old for me.

“So what’s this about?” Sunset asked as she sat in the seat the chief indicated.

Harkness glanced at the girls at the other table as he slid into a chair opposite her. Satisfied that they were out of earshot, he fixed Sunset with a serious look, “There’s a few things I wanted to talk to you about actually. First things first, what did you do to Sister?”

Sunset blinked in surprise, “Sister? We spoke to him yesterday but we didn’t do anything to him. Why? Is something wrong with him?”

“Nothing’s wrong per se, it’s just that he sought me out this morning. Told me he knew he’d been an ass and was going to work hard at being a better person. He practically begged me not to throw him out of the city.” Harkness eyed her suspiciously, “In my experience, a hard-ass like him doesn’t up and change so fast unless someone’s got something on them, and you girls were spotted leaving his room last night.”

“I, er, I see your point,” Sunset sighed, “I know how this must look, but it’s not what you think. All we did was talk. None of us used our magic on him or threatened him in any way, I swear.”

Harkness leaned back and folded his arms as he mulled over what she said. Finally he smiled faintly, “I’m inclined to believe you. Three-Dog certainly vouches for you, so I suppose I can go on a little faith. I’m hardly going to complain about you making Sister clean up his act either way.”

“That’s good to hear,” Sunset said hopefully, “What else did you want to talk about?”

His smile evaporated instantly, “Zimmer. I understand you’re looking for his missing robot.”

“Yeah, we’ve actually managed to make some progress on that. Is that a problem?” Sunset asked warily.

Harkness waved a hand dismissively, “No, no. I don’t have a problem with you looking for the robot. Hell, I hope you find it. The sooner we get that man and his lackey out of Rivet City the happier I’ll be.”

“What do you mean? Has he done something wrong?”

Harkness frowned and scratched his stubble, “Not that I know of. There’s just something about him that sets me on edge. Be careful around him.”

“We will,” Sunset promised.

“Good. Well, that’s all I wanted to discuss with you,” Harkness stood and rolled his shoulders to settle his armor a little more comfortably. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I prefer to keep on top of things like this. Just in case.”

“I understand,” Sunset said, getting to her feet too. As the chief turned to leave an idea suddenly popped into her head, “One second! Do you know anything about the bow of the ship?”

Harkness glanced at her quizzically, “Not really. I’m sure I tried exploring it once when I was a lot younger, but I can’t really remember it all that much. Apart from the mirelurks. Why?”

Sunset swore silently at the mention of mirelurks, “We were thinking about going over there later to look for clues about Zimmer’s android.”

“I see. Watch your step if you do go over there. No-one has been over there to do maintenance in easily a decade or so.”

“We’ll bear that in mind. Thanks.”

Harkness smiled and nodded once, “Don’t mention it. Take care, Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset watched him until he disappeared into the crowd, then turned to head back over to the other girls.

The six of them were standing at the table waiting for her. They all glanced up as Sunset approached.

“Everything okay there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“It’s fine. He was just checking up on us,” Sunset replied.

The girls all let out a collective breath.

“That’s a relief. For a moment we thought you were in some sort of trouble,” Rarity said quietly.

“Not yet,” Sunset quipped. “So… are we going up to the flight deck?”

A little cajoling and a short walk later, the Rainbooms stood together on Rivet City’s flight deck.

The space was huge. Several battered old fighter planes were dotted around, with a bunch of them teetering precariously on the edge of the deck where the bow had snapped off.

The rumble of thunder overhead had each of the girls glancing up nervously. Roiling black clouds obscured the sky as far as the eye could see, lending what was normally the depressing enough view of the city ruins a decidedly sinister air.
Down on the shoreline dark forms could just be made out, shadowy figures rushing to get to the safety of the city before the heavens made good on their threat of rain.

“Well, this is it,” Applejack said soberly. “Come on, the bow is over here.”

Sunset couldn’t help staring at the planes as they passed, stark reminders that Rivet City was originally a weapon of war. She wondered idly if any of them could be fixed. It would make travelling through the wastes a lot safer, but refueling would be a nightmare. That’s if they even had any fuel left that hadn’t degraded entirely over the last two hundred years.

A tap on the shoulder brought Sunset’s attention around.

“Hey, might want to watch where you’re going now. This section’s not exactly safe,” Rainbow suggested.

Sunset nodded and focused on where she was putting her feet. They were getting close to the broken-off area, and the floor was starting to get treacherous where the metal had warped and rusted over the years.

Treading carefully, the girls edged their way around the clustered planes until they were as close as they could safely get to the brink.

“Whoa,” Sunset breathed.

The front of the ship lay before them. Exposed girders and ruptured metal plating showed where time and the elements had conspired to tear the warship in two. Leaning over carefully, Sunset spied several more fighter planes laying partially submerged in the river waters. Several dark, bulky creatures could be seen swimming menacingly around them.

“Mirelurks,” Applejack spat, keeping a hand on her hat so it didn’t fly off in the breeze. “Every now and again they try to burrow into the city through one of the exposed bulkheads. It’s a right pain checking to make sure they haven’t gotten in every day.”

“They must have some sort of nest in the broken section,” Twilight supplied.

“Probably.”

“We can handle mirelurks,” Rainbow said confidently.

Fluttershy glanced down at them anxiously, “I don’t know. The ones we met before attacked us just for passing through their territory. If we stumble across a nest, I can’t imagine how badly they’ll react.”

“Not to mention we don’t know how to get over there in the first place,” Applejack added quietly.

Rainbow stared at her incredulously, “Uh, you do remember that three of us can fly, right?”

“And I can quite easily conjure a bridge for us, darling,” Rarity chimed in.

Applejack still didn’t look convinced, so Sunset stepped in, “I don’t think it’ll really be all that dangerous. Or at least the mirelurks won’t be.”

“How can you be so sure?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset pointed at the exposed decks on the other side, “Look, the corridors are just as narrow and cramped as they are on this side. The mirelurks would only be able to get at us one at a time.”

“One mirelurk is still dangerous,” Pinkie said quietly.

“True, but if we do run into any of them, Rarity can easily block the corridor to stop them coming after us. All we’d have to do then is make our way back up here and go try again another day. If we go in through one of those bulkheads near the top we might even be able to sneak in and out without them ever knowing we’re there.”

“That’s… not a bad plan actually,” Applejack admitted reluctantly. “Alright fine. We can go in.”

“Yes!” Rainbow and Sunset hissed in unison.

“But, we are going to be careful about this,” Applejack said firmly. “Sunset, ah want you to stay at the back of the group with Fluttershy. You don’t take so much as a step without her say-so, you hear me?”

Sunset nodded, “Loud and clear.”

“Good.”

“Oh, one second!” Rainbow cried suddenly before disappearing in a blur.

The girls just blinked in surprise at her sudden absence.

“Where’d she go?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “You don’t think she’s gone to get-”

She was cut off by Rainbow’s rapid reappearance. She was clutching a curious, makeshift blade in one hand, a thick tube running from the pommel to a gas tank strapped across her back.

“Aww yeah, check this thing out!”

Sunset eyed it appreciatively, “Whoa, you actually managed to make one of those?”

Rainbow grinned widely, “Yep! Applejack and Twilight helped me out. Seagrave gave me a hand getting the parts together, sort of like a bonus for getting his deliveries done quickly. Don’t worry! I’m not even going to light it unless I have to,” she added quickly, seeing the looks on some of the other girls’ faces. “It might come in handy if the mirelurks turn out to be scared of fire though.”

“They seem to prefer dark places, so it’s possible,” Twilight supplied.

Applejack gave her a curt nod, “Good thinking. Alright then, we ready to go?”

The others quickly gave their assent. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Rarity held her arms out and conjured a bridge of glittering gemstones leading to an exposed corridor.

Crossing over in single file, the girls made their way over to the broken bow and plunged into the shadows.

Doctor Turner paced anxiously in his office. He was waiting for the President to contact him in regards to his most recent ‘assignment’ and was filled with too much nervous energy just to sit and wait patiently.

His head snapped around as the secure intercom crackled into life.

“Doctor Turner?”

The doctor scrabbled over to his desk and jabbed the button to reply, “Yes, Mister President?”

“Please forgive my tardiness in responding to you. I am afraid I must deny your request to delay or reassign first contact with the Rainbooms. A vertibird and two members of Senator Devall’s security detail have already been allocated for your use, and you are to leave for Rivet City as soon as this conversation is concluded.”

The blood drained from Turner’s face upon hearing that, “B-but Mister President I-”

“I’m sorry, Doctor, but new information has come to light that requires swift action and I do not have the time to assign and debrief a more suitable candidate.”

“New information?”

There was a brief pause as the President appeared to consider how much information to share, “Five minutes ago the Eyebots you set to monitor Rivet City spotted the Rainbooms leaving the main section of the ship to explore the detached section. The recordings confirm that at least two of the Rainbooms do indeed wield the powers the rumors espouse.”

“If that’s the case then surely it would be more prudent to wait. If the leader of the Rainbooms truly is a telepath she could potentially extract extremely sensitive information from my mind! Project Scour, the Vault Experiment, the Chiroptera Horribilis specimens, our Deathcl-”

“I am well aware of the risks, Doctor. However, a report I received from Talon Company indicates that the leader, Miss Sunset Shimmer I believe, suffered quite a serious injury recently. That would most likely be the reason the Rainbooms have remained at Rivet City. It is also possible, and the Eyebot recordings seem to corroborate this, that she is not entirely recovered yet. If so this grants us an opportunity.”

“How so, Mister President?”

“Simple. We shall offer medical treatment. That, coupled with providing sanctuary and an offer to aid them in returning to their own world, will hopefully be enough to earn their favor and distract them from our less… neighborly… endeavors.”

Realizing he was running out of options, Turner tried his last, desperate, hope, “What about Senator Devall? Surely he is more qualified for this sort of thing?”

“True, but Senator Prince is our official wasteland correspondent and frankly I am in no mood to deal with his tantrums should I send another Senator to do his job for him,” the President replied flatly.

“But won’t he complain about me being sent?”

The President chuckled softly, in manner that was in no way reassuring, “You are technically our designated Vault-Tec representative. Given how the Rainbooms’ first arrived on our world, or rather… where they first arrived, I’m sure Senator Prince won’t kick up too much of a fuss. Now, are you done trying to weasel your way out of this?”

Bollocks. “Yes, Mister President,” Turner sighed.

“Good. On a related note, Squad Sigma has successfully secured your beta site and are holding position. Once you have established first contact with the Rainbooms I would like you to escort them there as well, rather than bring them here. I am already making arrangements for Doctors Strong, Shoichet and Bohn to meet you at the site as soon as possible.”

Time for a new chapter!

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