The group didn’t dare to stop running. Still going at full speed, the Rainbooms and their Knight rescuers passed through broken buildings and open streets in quick succession, moving as far from the Exodus building as they could get. The occasional gang of super mutants got in their way, but these were quickly avoided or dispatched and left in the group’s wake.

Finally, when the mutated Behemoth’s enraged roars could no longer be heard, the Knights and the Rainbooms slowed to a stop in the middle of an old playground. Sunset leaned against a rusty climbing frame and bent over, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

“Do you… think we… lost it?” Pinkie gasped.

“I’d say so,” the Knight-Sergeant replied. “If it was going to catch up to us, it would’ve done so by now.”

The Rainbooms all sighed with relief. Rainbow grinned and strode up to the Knight-Sergeant as though she hadn’t done more than a walk down the street, “Thanks for the help. I guess this makes us even.”

Sunset looked up and raised an eyebrow, “Even? What do you- wait, are you Metzger?”

“That’s me,” Knight-Sergeant Metzger replied.

Applejack sighed and settled herself against the climbing frame alongside Sunset, “Ah gotta say, Ah’m glad you showed up when you did. We were in one heck of a tight spot back there.”

“We noticed,” one of the Knights huffed. “What the hell was that thing anyway? I’ve never seen a Behemoth like that before.”

Sunset hung her head in shame, “I… I think that was our fault.”

“We’ll worry about who’s fault it is later,” Metzger said firmly. “We should get moving, we’re still deep in super mutant territory.” She turned and pointed down a nearby street, “There’s a defensible building a kilometer or so that way, we’ll head there and set up camp until the morning. Save the questions and explanations until we’re less exposed.”

The girls weren’t exactly happy about having to move so soon after their desperate escape, but none of them had any interest in another brawl with magically enhanced super mutants. Just as they were getting ready to go, a thought occurred to Sunset, “Quick question, are all of the weapons you’re carrying laser-based?”

“Pretty much,” Metzger replied.

Sunset frowned curiously, “But… if that’s true, then who shot the super mutant that was attacking me?”

“That would be us, darling,” a voice called out.

The whole group whipped around, instantly on guard, then hesitated, surprised at what they saw. Two women were approaching, one a little older than the Rainbooms, the other in her mid-teens. The elder had luxurious purple hair that would be recognised instantly by anyone who’d ever seen Rarity, while the younger had curly two-tone purple and pink hair that made her a spitting image of Sweetie Belle. Both women had matching alabaster pony ears.

“Please, don’t be alarmed. We aren’t here to cause a scene,” the older one said brightly. “Having said that, I do have some… questions…” She trailed off as her gaze settled on Rarity, who stared back in equally stunned disbelief. “I… er…”

“Are they friends of yours?” Knight-Sergeant Metzger asked. Unfortunately, Sunset didn’t know how to even begin answering that question. Not if they wanted to get moving anytime soon. Seeing her hesitation, Metzger sighed heavily, “Are they enemies?”

“No,” Sunset and the younger woman said in unison.

“Good.” Metzger signalled for her squad to lower their weapons, “Alright you two, you’re coming with us. Questions can wait until later, unless you fancy asking the super mutants, are we clear?”

“We’re clear,” the younger woman said quickly, giving the other a sharp jab in the ribs with her elbow. “Come on, sis,” she hissed loudly.

“R-right,” the older one said, rubbing her ribs. “Lead on, Lady Knight.”

Sunset shivered and scooted a little closer to the fire. The group had managed to make it to the building that Metzger had mentioned without any incident, and the majority of them were now resting in the basement while the Knight-Sergeant and two of the Brotherhood Knights kept watch upstairs. Rubbing her hands to warm them up, she subtly glanced around at the others.

The two newcomers were huddled in a corner by themselves, still ponied up and sneaking surreptitious looks at Rarity. Rarity, for her part, couldn’t help but reciprocate whenever she thought they weren’t looking. Oddly enough, Applejack kept doing so as well. Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy were bunched up on the other side of the fire, chatting quietly. Twilight, perched next to Sunset, was staring silently into the flames. She hadn’t spoken a word since they’d gotten away from that Behemoth.

Everyone looked up as heavy footsteps announced the arrival of a Knight from upstairs. The Knight nodded at the group before stepping over to a wall, reaching down to rest their gun against it, then straightening up and holding their arms at their sides. There was a series of mechanical clicks as the back of the armour opened up abruptly, and a redheaded woman efficiently disengaged herself from it.

Knight-Sergeant Metzger swept a hand through her hair before turning to face everyone, “Alright, we aren’t out of the woods yet but we should be safe here for the night. We’ll leave at first light and, as long as we don’t have too much trouble with the super mutants or Enclave reinforcements, it’ll only take a few hours to get back to friendly territory.”

Sunset just nodded, “How did you know where to find us?”

“Doctor Li,” Metzger replied. “She and Adam managed to escape Project Purity and get word to us.”

The Rainbooms instantly perked up at that. “Adam escaped?!” Fluttershy asked eagerly.

Metzger smirked, “The kid can handle himself, I’ll give him that.” The smile quickly disappeared, replaced with a serious expression, “Enough about him, though. Right now I’ve got some more pressing questions, starting with who the hell you two are.”

The two newcomers shared a quick glance, before the older one cleared her throat and straightened her posture, “My name is Tabitha Germaine, and this my little sister, Claire.”

Rarity gasped in surprise, “Wait a moment, you mean to say you’re the Miss Germaine, the proprietress of the Seaborne Boutique?!”

“You know of my Boutique?” Tabitha asked in a delighted tone.

“Know of it? My dear, until this most recent fiasco reared its ugly head, I was working there, aiding Miss Pommel during your absence,” Rarity replied.

“You’re a store owner?” Metzger narrowed her eyes at Tabitha, “If that’s true, that means you’re probably based in either Megaton, Rivet City, or Tenpenny Tower. So why would a well-off store owner from a fortified settlement come all the way out here to the middle of Shitsburg to try and help a group of people she’s never even met?”

Tabitha rolled her eyes, “We have mutual friends, and those friends requested that we assist the Rainbooms in any way that we could. Anything more than that is, quite frankly, none of your business.”

“She’s telling the truth, we do have mutual friends,” Sunset added. She didn’t know why Tabitha didn’t want the Brotherhood knowing about the Railroad, but she wasn’t about to expose them without good reason.

Metzger raised her eyebrow for a second, then snorted, “Fair enough.” Her expression quickly turned serious once more as she addressed the Rainbooms, “Next question. What the hell was that pillar of light we saw earlier? Was it something to do with you lot?”

The Rainbooms shared a concerned look. “Pillar of light?” Sunset prompted uneasily.

Metzger nodded, “Me and Soarin’ were taking the first watch when we saw this huge ray of light shoot right up into the sky, then all of these little wisps and things started splitting off from it and spreading out through the sky and the ruins.”

“That’s what we saw,” Claire chimed in. “We got hit by two of those weird little light-things, they made us look like this.” She pointed to her pony ears for emphasis. “That’s why we followed you instead of going straight home, once we knew you were safe. Or, y’know, safe with the Knights, anyway.”

“You don’t have to worry, it’s not dangerous,” Rarity said quickly, easily guessing their reasons. “Doctor Li found herself in a similar predicament a short while ago.”

“It should go away in a few hours,” Fluttershy added. “It may come back every now and again, but it won’t cause either of you any harm.”

Metzger folded her arms and gave the Rainbooms a dark look, “So it was you girls that made that light.”

The girls winced, but nodded. “We didn’t mean to do it. Not like that, anyhow,” Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

“We were defending ourselves,” Sunset pointed out earnestly. “A robot had been infused with dark magic, I don’t know how, and it was attacking us. We destroyed the robot, but the darkness found another host. We combined our own magic, to purge the dark power, but it ended up going completely out of control.” She sighed and hung her head, “That’s never happened when we’ve done this before.”

The Knight-Sergeant hummed, her expression not changing in the slightest, “So, was that light the reason the super mutants changed?”

Sunset felt her heart sink. She’d already suspected that, but had been holding out a faint hope that maybe they were just unusual mutations caused by whatever had created them in the first place. “It probably was,” she admitted, “when magic is used in ways it shouldn’t be, or by people with bad intentions, it’s been known to cause some pretty… extreme mutations.”

“Like Gloriosa Daisy,” Applejack shuddered.

Rainbow nodded, “Or Juniper Montage, or-”

“Or me,” Twilight finished, staring into the fire once more.

Sunset placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “That wasn’t your fault. And don’t forget, dark magic changed me, too.”

“What do you mean, it ‘changed’ you?” Metzger asked.

It was Sunset who answered, glancing quickly at Twilight, “I… I tried to mess around with powerful magic that wasn’t meant for me, before I came to this world. It turned me into a demon, and I don’t mean that as a metaphor.”

Metzger’s eyes widened, “You mean…?”

Sunset nodded grimly, “Wings, claws, fangs, the whole works. My friends,” she gestured around at the rest of the Rainbooms, “managed to turn me back by combining their magic, but, considering what happened when we did that here…”

“It might not be an option this time around,” Metzger finished. She frowned as she digested everything she’d been told. “And now that shit might be all over the fucking wasteland,” she muttered to herself. After a few moments she sighed, unfolded her arms, and squatted down next to the fire. “Elder Lyons is going to have to know about this, he can figure out what to do about it. All of this talk about magic and demons and shit is way above my pay grade.”

“I couldn’t agree more, darling,” Tabitha cut in, “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that magic is actually real. I’d heard the broadcasts, of course, but I just thought that Three-Dog was starting to go a bit loopy from being cooped up in that studio at all times.”

Applejack huffed a laugh, “If you think that’s crazy, Ah got something that’ll really bust your bushel.”

“Like what?” Claire asked eagerly.

Applejack smirked and turned to Rarity, “You wanna field this one?”

Rarity gave her a flat look, “You enjoy putting me on the spot, don’t you?” Applejack just smiled smugly back at her, getting a weary sigh in return. “Oh, very well. I assume you’ve heard that we’re from another world?” Tabitha and Claire both nodded. “Well, it turns out that each world has different… well… versions of the same people. I think you can see where I’m going with this.”

Tabitha just blinked a few times in surprise. Claire’s face creased as she pieced it together, “So… you… and my sister… are…?”

“It certainly appears so.” Rarity adjusted her posture and addressed Twilight and Sunset tartly, “And, I have to say, you both understated just how odd of an experience this is. Severely understated.”

Metzger stared at her in blank shock, her mouth hanging slightly open. Suddenly she threw her hands up in the air, “That’s it, I’m done. No more talking. If I hear any more crazy shit I’m going to lose my fucking mind. Get some rest, all of you. We’re going to make an early start in the morning.” She jerked her chin at Tabitha and Claire, “You’re welcome to come with us to the Citadel, it’ll be safer than travelling on your own.”

“I think we’ll take you up on that,” Tabitha replied weakly.

Metzger nodded, “Good. Now, I’m going to try and get some fucking sleep before any more weird shit happens.

< ALERT >

<RADIATION SPIKE DETECTED: CLASS-UNKNOWN; ANALYZING >

< ANALYZING >

< ANALYZING >

< COMPLETE >

< CONFIRMED - RADIATION: EQUIDAE OMEGA CLASS - VARIATION - >

< TRIANGULATING SOURCE >

< SOURCE LOCATED >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< SCANNING >

< COMPLETE >

< SATURATION INSUFFICIENT >

< COMPILING REPORT >

< COMPLETE >

< SENDING >

< COMPLETE >

< COUNCIL NOTIFIED >

< CONTINUE OBSERVATION >

And so we come to the end of the Rainbooms incarceration with the Enclave!

Next time, quest progression begins...

Comments and criticisms are welcomed and, as always, thanks for reading!