Sunset slowed to a halt, shielding her eyes against the sudden brightness. After the dimness of the Vault, the sunshine was blinding. As her eyes adjusted, she saw they were near the top of a large, rocky hill. Her friends were all catching their breath nearby.

Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked up as Sunset approached. "Are they following us?"

Sunset shook her head, breathing hard. That had scared her more than she cared to admit. "No… they closed the Vault door behind us."

"That's a relief," Fluttershy panted.

Twilight sighed as she slumped to the floor. "Well that just happened."

Rainbow angrily kicked at a pebble. "I can't believe the Overseer ordered those goons to shoot at us!"

"I'm just glad Gomez stepped in." Sunset shivered, shocked at how close she had come to getting shot.

Fluttershy looked anxiously back at the tunnel, "Um, you don't think they hurt him… do you?"

Pinkie smiled brightly. "Of course they wouldn't, silly. After all, he's a member of the security team, too." Her smile faded as she looked around uncertainly. "Right?"

"We can only hope. With the Vault sealed there really isn't much we can do about it." Rarity groaned and perched herself on a nearby rock. "What an absolute nightmare today has been."

"Ain't that the truth," Applejack grumbled. "Ah suppose Ah could try and force the door open myself if we wanted to check on him, but wouldn' that kinda defeat the point of leavin'?"

Sunset nodded. "It would just make everything worse, and probably get one of us shot."

"Not to mention it would probably break the door, letting who knows what kind of mutated creatures and radiation into the Vault," Twilight added.

The reminder about the radiation gave Sunset a jolt. "Never mind the Vault, what are the radiation levels like out here?!" She whipped her arm up to check her Pip-Boy, only to realize she'd left it in their quarters.

Twilight grimaced as she checked her own Pip-Boy. "Higher than they should be. The background radiation isn't high enough to be dangerous in the short term but… we probably shouldn't spend too much time out here unprotected."

"Do you think our magic will help protect us against the radiation?" Fluttershy asked.

"I don't know… maybe?" Twilight shrugged, "Do we want to take the risk?"

Sunset sighed heavily, "No. No we do not."

"Oh, this is just awful! This wretched wasteland is going to wreak havoc on my skin!" Rarity whined.

Applejack rolled her eyes at the fashionista. "Somehow Ah think radiation is gonna cause bigger problems than just 'bad skin'."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, still fiddling with her Pip-Boy. "Personally, I'd be more concerned about the many forms of cancer. Of course, there's also the risk of radiation poisoning, radiation burns, a compromised immune system-"

"Alright we get it," Rainbow huffed, "If the Wasteland sucks so much, how about we get moving.l?"

"But where do we go?" Fluttershy asked. "What are we going to do?"

"We need to try and find James, and preferably Adam too," Sunset said shortly. "Gomez mentioned a settlement called Megaton. I guess we could start looking there."

Rarity sighed and got up, dusting herself off. "That's all very well and good, darling, but first we'll have to find Megaton itself."

"Isn't that it right there?" Pinkie piped up, skipping away down the hill.

The girls followed her a short way down the hill and onto a rocky outcrop. A battered little sign at the end announced it was, somewhat ironically in Sunset's opinion, a 'scenic overlook'.

The Capital Wasteland stretched away below them, dotted with boulders, blasted trees and rusty pylons. Towering over the landscape to their right, the girls could see the shattered remains of an overpass, while down the hill to their left were the charred remnants of an old town. The burnt-out shells of old-fashioned houses lined the streets leading to a larger concrete structure, still partially intact. More ruins lined the horizon as far as the eye could see. Sunset thought she could even make out the broken husk of an old monument in the distance.

Skipping to the very edge of the outcrop, Pinkie grinned and pointed ahead. In the near distance, past a broken water tower, rose huge walls made out of rusted scrap metal. They extended for quite a distance, surrounding what was clearly a settlement of some kind.

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she took it all in. "Huh, I guess that must be Megaton."

Fluttershy stepped up next to them, her gaze roaming over the landscape. "It's so… desolate," she said quietly.

"Ah can see why they call it the Wasteland," Applejack agreed. She leaned over the edge and scanned the ground below. "There's a road down there, but it heads down into that old town. You reckon we can just climb over those rocks by the water tower? It's more of a straight route."

"I'll go check it out," Rainbow replied, darting off in a multi-colored blur. Barely two seconds later she was back. "Yeah, that's not happening. There's a cliff right there by the water tower, there's no way we can all climb down safely. The terrain off to the right is really rough, too, so I think we should just follow the road into town and try to find a long way around."

"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way Rainbow," Sunset said, glad to have something that at least resembled a plan.

Following Rainbow's lead, the girls backed off the promontory and headed further down the hill, soon coming to the road Applejack had pointed out. The tarmac was cracked and dotted with craters filled with foul green water. There were odd-looking cars scattered around, but none of them looked to be in good enough condition to try and drive. As the group traipsed down the road towards the ruined town, a loud growling sound suddenly drew everyone's attention.

Sunset blushed furiously. "Heh, I guess I'm kinda hungry."

"Haven't you eaten anything yet?" Twilight asked as the others giggled.

Sunset shook her head and shrugged off her pack. "It's a good thing I thought to pack food," she mumbled, pulling out some sandwiches that she'd made the day before and just never gotten around to eating.

"What else did you pack?" Applejack asked, "Ah haven't actually looked in my backpack yet."

"Clean undergarments, socks, toiletries, several bottles of water each, and all of the food we had left in our quarters," Rarity replied, counting off on her fingers. "We also packed all of our spare first aid supplies into Fluttershy's kit."

"That explains why it's heavier than usual," Fluttershy muttered.

"I packed my tool belt too," Sunset added between mouthfuls.

Applejack glanced down at her own tool belt, secure around her waist. "Shoot, Ah forgot about that. Ah'm so used to wearing it Ah forgot to ask the Overseer if Ah could keep it."

"Isn't… isn't it technically stealing? Bringing all of this with us without permission?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Considering the old coot just tried to have us all killed, I wouldn't worry about it." Rainbow called over her shoulder. "Besides, we all brought our Pip-Boys, too."

"I didn't," Sunset grumbled, inwardly cursing herself for forgetting it.

"Oh, did you want it now?" Pinkie asked.

Sunset looked up curiously, then barely reacted in time to catch the Pip-Boy Pinkie tossed at her.

"I picked it up for you when we left our quarters, just in case," Pinkie said in response to Sunset's incredulous look.

"Wow, thanks Pinkie!" Sunset grinned as she slotted the Pip-Boy over her arm.

"Don't mention it!" Pinkie called, trotting over to inspect a ruined house.

The girls looked around nervously as they entered the ruined town. What used to be large affluent-looking houses had been reduced to little more than skeletons of scorched timber. Sunset had heard about the terrible war that had raged in the past, but seeing the evidence of it up close was a sobering experience. She couldn't help but imagine what it must have been like; going about your daily life until, out of nowhere, a bomb was dropped and everything you knew and loved was scoured away by nuclear fire.

Fluttershy suddenly let out a yelp, startling everyone.

"What is it?!" Applejack asked urgently.

Fluttershy pointed through one of the ruined buildings. "Look!"

Weaving through the ruins was some sort of floating orb. The girls noticed a distinctive buzzing sound emanating from it as it wound its way closer. As it rounded a corner, Sunset realised it was a little hovering robot. A speaker took up most of its front and there were several aerials poking out all over it's ball-like body. The robot took no notice of the girls whatsoever as it bobbed right past them, a jaunty little tune crackling out of its speaker as it turned around and headed back into the ruins.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, watching it float back out of sight. "Well, that was random."

"Ah'll say," Applejack agreed.

"Hey, look!" Sunset called out suddenly, rushing off in front of the others. A stylized metal sculpture of a rocket stood alone past the buildings, large red letters on it spelling out 'Red Rocket'. Under the sculpture was what had drawn Sunset's attention; A dirty old vending machine, its lights flickering intermittently, next to a corrugated iron sign with the word MEGATON and an arrow painted on it in big yellow letters.

"Looks like we're going the right way," Sunset said with relief.

Pinkie skipped over to the vending machine and jabbed at a button, frowning when nothing happened.

"Ah doubt there's anything in there, somehow," Applejack pointed out as Pinkie heaved the front of it open.

"There is!" Pinkie retorted, waving a pair of bottles in the air. Little labels proclaimed them to be 'Nuka-Cola'.

Sunset stopped her as she pulled a bottle-opener out of her pocket. "Pinkie, you can't drink that!"

"Why not?" Pinkie blinked, puzzled.

Sunset slapped a palm to her forehead in exasperation. "They're probably irradiated, Pinkie."

"Let me take a look at that," Twilight said quickly. She grabbed one, eliciting a disappointed groan from Pinkie, and held her Pip-Boy over it.

"Are they safe?" Sunset asked.

"They are irradiated, but not much," Twilight replied, frowning at the bottle. "Frankly, it's not much worse than the background radiation."

"Is it really worth the risk just for some dodgy old soda?" Applejack asked incredulously.

Fluttershy shook her head vehemently. "I wouldn't say so. Not until we know what the rest of the food is like out here."

Twilight sighed, handing the bottle back to Pinkie. "Fluttershy's right. For all we know, all of the food and drink out here could be radioactive to some extent."

"Oh, I wish I'd thought to see if there was any Rad-X or radaway in the clinic." Fluttershy moaned.

"What are those?" Rainbow asked.

"They're medicines developed in this world to cleanse radiation from the body," Fluttershy replied.

Sunset frowned at the bottles. "We'll keep them for now. If people here have a way of clearing radiation from the body, then maybe they have a way of clearing it from food, too?" She shrugged and turned to follow the sign. "Come on, let's go and find Megaton."

"I hope the people there are friendly," Fluttershy said quietly as they started walking again.

Rarity patted her on the shoulder gently. "I do hope so too but, given the reception we faced when we first arrived in this dreadful world, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high."

"They might be less hostile to us than the Vault dwellers," Twilight put in, absently wiping dust from her glasses. "James wasn't really concerned by our coloration, and don't forget, he was originally from the Wasteland. It's possible that the people out here are used to things like that."

"Our skin maybe, but what about our magic?" Applejack reminded her. "We still keepin' that hidden?"

"We should probably avoid using it unless we absolutely have to," Sunset replied. "James may not have been bothered by us, but we don't know how everyone else out here will react. For all we know, things could turn violent."

Pinkie skipped ahead of the others and turned around, smiling back at them. "It can't be that bad. If the Wasteland is so dangerous, it wouldn't make sense for everyone to be mean to each other all the time for no reason. They have to stick together to survive."

Sunset thought about it. "That kinda makes sense but… I don't know."

"Just trust in Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie exclaimed confidently. "I bet the people in Megaton are all really super-duper friendly!"

"Super-duper friendly huh?" Sunset grumbled as she tried to ignore the rifle pointed directly at her face.

Pinkie chuckled nervously next to her.

As she and her friends had approached the gates of Megaton, a man had called down to them from his crow's nest high on the looming walls, demanding that they come no closer unless they wanted to get shot. He had kept his gun trained on them as he shouted something to someone down in the town behind him. Sunset wished he would point that rifle somewhere else, her arms were starting to ache from holding her hands above her head.

"Are we sure that we really want to be here?" Rarity whispered, flinching and holding her arms a little higher as the man took aim at her instead.

"We don't really have any choice," Sunset replied uneasily. "We need to find out if James or Adam came through this way."

"Look on the bright side, at least he hasn't actually shot at us yet," Pinkie chuckled nervously.

"Darn it, Pinkie, if you tempt fate like that one more time Ah swear Ah'll-" Applejack's threat died in her throat as Megaton's gates were heaved open.

The man who stepped out to meet them looked like he had wandered straight out of an old western movie. He was dark-skinned and black-haired, wearing a heavy duster and a matching cowboy hat. A sheriff's badge pinned to his chest gleamed in the sunlight. The assault rifle he casually hefted did nothing to reassure Sunset about their current predicament.

The sheriff stopped dead as he saw the group. He muttered something under his breath before shaking his head and striding towards the girls. Sunset was just glad he didn't point his gun directly at any of them. She hoped that that was a good sign.

The sheriff halted again a few yards from Sunset. He gave the girls a good look over before speaking. "Just when I think there's nothing that can surprise me any more, the Wasteland pulls out something new. Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. What's your business in Megaton?"

Sunset wondered whether she was allowed to lower her hands yet. "Hello, sheriff, uh, my name's Sunset Shimmer, and these are my friends. We don't want to cause any trouble, we're just looking for someone."

"Two people, actually," Twilight cut in.

"Is that a fact?" Simms raised an eyebrow. "And who exactly is it you're looking for?"

"A guy named James. He's a doctor, middle-aged with grey hair," Sunset replied quickly. "The other one's a young man named Adam. He's got black hair, and was probably wearing a-"

"Vault 101 jumpsuit?" Simms interrupted. He smirked at the surprised looks on the girls faces. "What, you think I've never seen one of those before? Honestly, I'm surprised you girls aren't wearing them."

"How'd you know we're from the Vault?" Applejack asked.

"Simple really. The fact that you know Adam is proof enough. That kid wouldn't know a raider from a yao guai, and I'm guessing you girls don't either." Simms chuckled darkly. "Besides, the nearest settlement is a few miles from here, and yet you barely have a speck of dirt on you. There's no way you could travel any real distance across the Wastes in those fancy clothes and still be all clean and polished like that."

"Wonderful," Rarity huffed, eliciting another chuckle from the sheriff.

"So... have you seen James or Adam?" Sunset pressed.

Simms nodded curtly. "Sure have, James came through early this morning. I didn't really pay him much attention until Adam came through asking about him."

"Are they still here?" Sunset stepped forward eagerly, ignoring the rifle that swung back to point at her. She was glad to finally have some good news.

Her hopes crashed right back down again as Simms shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Adam went out on some sort of errand for Moriarty. He came back afterwards, but then he left again, hmm... must have been a few hours ago, now. He said he was going after his father."

"Which way did they go? I might be able to catch up!" Rainbow asked eagerly.

The sheriff just laughed at her. "You'd have to be pretty damned fast to catch up, they have a few hours head-start." He shook his head again, still smiling. "I'm sorry, but I don't know which way they went. Your best bet would be to speak to Moriarty, up at the saloon. He should know more."

Sunset glanced up at the man in the crow's nest. "Does this mean you're going to let us in?"

Simms eyed the girls carefully. "One more question first. Are you mutants of some kind, or is that some freaky Vault disease that I don't want to know about?"

"We were born like this," Sunset said with a resigned sigh.

Simms nodded grimly. "Sorry, but I had to ask. Keeping the people of this town safe is my top priority. Alright, you can put your hands down." He called up to the crow's nest. "It's okay, Stockholm, they can pass."

"I thought you would be used to mutants out here?" Twilight said, rubbing her wrists to get the blood flowing again. "I mean, I know the wildlife has been mutated to some extent, so I assume there are some people who have been, too?"

"To an extent. I've never seen anything like you girls, though," Simms said flatly.

"Well there goes that theory," Twilight muttered.

"I hate to say it, but you're going to have to get used to people looking at you funny. Even with the radiation, things don't usually get that colorful out here in the Wastes." Simms turned and gestured for the girls to follow. "Come on, let's get you acquainted with the town."

Another day, another chapter.

This one is a little smaller than most of the others but next week will be bigger and (hopefully) better as the girls get their first real taste of Capitol Wasteland civilization.

As always any comments or criticisms would be much appreciated