Sunset grunted as she fell and her back smacked into the mat again.

"Not bad, you're improving," Harkness said as he adjusted his grappling gloves.

"Right." Sunset clambered back to her feet and brushed herself off. "Y'know, when I asked you to train me I wasn't expecting to spend so much time on my back."

She blushed as she realized what that sounded like, but thankfully Harkness didn't seem to notice. "I'm not lying when I say that you're improving. You haven't been at this for long, but I've been at this for over a decade. You're doing well."

Sunset nodded and rolled her shoulders to ease some of her tension, trying to avoid staring at Harkness as she did so. The security chief was wearing nothing but a pair of tatty shorts and a pair of fingerless grappling gloves, leaving his surprisingly toned sweat-streaked torso completely bare; a sight that Sunset was having increasing difficulty keeping her eyes off. Sunset herself was wearing a similar outfit, along with a sports bra specially made by Tabitha and a light tank top that exposed her midriff.

The room they were in was a small gym in the tower set aside for training security officers. Harkness had been taking Sunset aside and training her in there for a week, occasionally bringing Applejack, Rarity or Rainbow Dash along, too. He was proving to be a good teacher, and an incredibly skilled fighter. Even Rainbow was impressed by how fast his reflexes were.

An unexpected bonus to this training, other than the eye candy, was the fact that between it, fixing Rivet City's magic, and training with the Brotherhood, Sunset was too exhausted at the end of each day to have any nightmares. She just passed out in bed at night, then woke up in the morning and did it all again.

"Are you ready for another round?" Harkness asked.

Sunset shook her hands out and nodded before assuming her stance; one foot at an angle in front of the other and her hands held up in loose fists to protect her upper body. "Okay."

"Good." Harkness readied himself, too. "Remember, you don't have mass on your side, so try to parry and deflect rather than blocking outright, and if you're aiming to hit a bony area use the base of your palm instead of your fist. It won't hurt your opponent as much, but at least you won't break your knuckles before you hit them somewhere softer."

"Got it." Sunset skipped forward and jabbed at Harkness’ face, snatched her hand back as he tried to block and snapped a quick kick to his groin while he was distracted, forcing him to skip back to dodge it.

"Not bad," Harkness said with a smirk. "Feints and improvisation. You're learning quickly."

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, only to narrowly avoid a punch in the face as Harkness took the opportunity to attack. The two traded measured blows; Sunset carefully redirecting his punches and lashing out in return only to have her own strikes blocked or deflected with the ease of experience. It was the longest Sunset had sparred for without getting planted on her ass.

Seeing what she thought was an opening, Sunset feinted with a quick kick at Harkness' ankle then immediately snapped off a punch to his face. It never even got close. Harkness grabbed her wrist with incredible speed and yanked Sunset off-balance, stepping behind her as he did so and snaking an arm around her neck before she could react. Quick as a flash he had her in a chokehold. "Nice try, but overly ambitious," he said calmly in her ear. Sunset desperately tried to ram her backside into him, achieving absolutely nothing beyond making him chuckle. "Are you trying to fight me or seduce me?"

"Is the second one an option?" Sunset choked out. His joke sparked a crude idea in her mind, and she ground her butt against his crotch as sensuously as she could manage.

"Wh-what the hell are-" Harkness' spluttering became a cry of pain as Sunset used his distraction to stamp her heel on top of his foot, then ram her elbow backwards into his diaphragm. Harkness loosened his grip as he doubled over. Sunset quickly grabbed one of his wrists and ducked out of the way, pulling and twisting his arm until she had him in an armlock.

"Now I just do this-" Sunset kicked the back of his knee and shoved Harkness to the floor, "- and it's game over!" She grinned as she stepped back from him, panting for breath. "You okay?"

Harkness nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm good." He turned his head to raise an eyebrow at her. "That was low."

"Hey, you were the one who said I had to use every advantage I could find." Sunset walked around until she was in front of him and looked down, smirking at the man on his hands and knees before her. "I can see why you like winning. The view from up here is great!"

Harkness hummed and slowly, deliberately, ran his gaze over her body, sending a far from unpleasant shiver down her spine. "I don't know, the view from down here isn't so bad."

Sunset blushed, feeling a new kind of heat building beneath her skin. Caught off-guard by his words, she didn't spot the victorious look in his eyes until it was too late.

With a sudden burst of speed Harkness lunged and wrapped his arms around Sunset's waist, picking her up and dumping her on the mat. Before she could even process what was happening he was on top of her, his powerful hands pinning her wrists to the floor on either side of her head. "You aren't the only one who can win by playing dirty."

Sunset didn't answer. She was suddenly acutely aware of the half-naked man pinning her down, their faces inches apart, with her legs on either side of his hips. Sunset's heartbeat thundered in her ears. She was simultaneously terrified that he might lean his face down closer to hers and desperately hoping that he would.

As she was wrestling with her conflicting feelings, Harkness chuckled and clambered off her, offering a hand to help her up. Sunset huffed and accepted his hand, trying to ignore the infuriating mix of relief and regret that washed through her.

Over the course of the last week, Sunset had found herself flirting with Harkness more and more. It was just a bit of harmless fun for her at first. He was, after all, a lot older than her, and she didn't really have the time or the mental stability for a relationship even if he wasn't, but there were moments during their time together when Sunset was driven up the wall by her own emotions.

The fact that Harkness was completely oblivious to her feelings at least helped keep things from being awkward.

Shaking her head to try and clear it, Sunset followed Harkness off the mats to a table nearby. She caught the towel that he tossed to her and used it to mop the worst of the sweat from her face while Harkness did the same with another. When they were both dry they each grabbed a bottle of water, clinked the tops together, and leaned against the table to drink.

"You're definitely getting better," Harkness said, flexing the toes of his sore foot. "It's only been a week and you're almost as good as most of my security officers."

Sunset smirked. "How many of them have beat you by grinding their ass on you?"

"More than you'd think," Harkness replied. He grinned at the look on her face and gave her a playful push. "Get your mind out of the gutter. My officers are professionals."

Sunset laughed and waved a hand dismissively. "Okay, okay, I'll behave."

"Somehow I don't believe you," Harkness sighed.

Deciding that she should change the subject, Sunset asked, "How are the rest of the Rivets handling the integration of the new magic into the city?"

Harkness chuckled at her use of the name Pinkie had coined for the residents of Rivet City. "Things are going well so far. The food production has gone through the roof thanks to those apple trees, and we've managed to get the teleport room correctly regulated and ready for use. Some people are annoyed that we're still restricting access to the flight deck, but they understand the necessity for now."

Sunset nodded, feeling a little guilty about it. "We're trying to get the lightning under control, but it's not easy. Harvesting the apples is helping to reduce the frequency of the blasts, but we still haven't figured out a way to safely drain enough magic to prevent them entirely."

"Don't worry about it," Harkness replied. "Have you had any progress with the enhanced generators?"

"Not yet, we still don't have a way to test them without risking the radiation causing problems," Sunset explained.

"Fair enough." Harkness took another swig from his bottle and let out a satisfied sigh. "How's your training with the Brotherhood of Steel going?" Sunset just groaned loudly. "That bad?"

Sunset shook her head. "No, it's fine, I guess. I can manage the full assault course, at least." Harkness nodded, glancing sidelong at her. Sunset squirmed under his look, until finally she added, "I managed to pick up a gun without freaking out this morning."

Harkness beamed at her. "That's great! That's amazing progress!"

"I still can't bring myself to actually shoot it," Sunset admitted. "I'm not strong enough."

"You'll get there," Harkness promised, gently clasping her shoulder. "Remember, it's not about being strong or weak, it's about doing what you can. Push yourself, if you can, but don't force yourself. Even just picking up the gun is a huge step forward. I'm proud of you."

Sunset smiled up at him. "Thanks. That means a lot."

Harkness smiled back at her. "It's not going to stop me from introducing your backside to the mat every day, though."

"Hey, I dropped you today," Sunset shot.

"And I dropped you a minute later," Harkness retorted. "And I'll do the same thing again tomorrow."

"Oh? Are you going to climb on top of me and pin me down again?" Sunset asked coyly before she could stop herself.

Harkness smirked, slowly cocking an eyebrow at her. "I didn't hear you complaining."

Sunset's pulse immediately shot through the roof, her heart hammering away as if it wanted to make a break for it. Okay, maybe he's not as oblivious as I thought. Or is he?

Harkness held her gaze for a few seconds, then snorted and finished his water. "Relax, you look like a kid caught with their hand in a candy jar." He stood and stretched before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his head, then snatched up a satchel containing his clothes. "Come on. I think we both need a shower."

"R-right," Sunset replied, too frazzled to even joke about whether the shower was meant to be together or not.

Grabbing her own pack, Sunset hurried to follow Harkness out of the gym. As he was locking the door behind them, he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Oh, I almost forgot to ask: how are Twilight and Fluttershy doing?"

"They're doing alright," Sunset replied, falling into step alongside Harkness as he set off towards the upper deck. The gym had an attached shower, but Harkness preferred using his own whenever he had the chance. "The new treatment we acquired for Twilight has worked wonders. She can actually walk and even move her arms a little now without too much trouble. She hates the physiotherapy the medics are putting her through, though."

"I can imagine." Harkness tactfully avoided asking about what the 'new treatment' was or where it had come from, and Sunset was grateful for it.

"As for Fluttershy, she's adapting well. She's joined the rest of us training on the assault course with the Knights, and she's only needed blood once in the last week, so that's good." Sunset's mood sank as she thought about Fluttershy's other problem. "She's still worried about Adam. We all are, of course, but it's worse for her."

"He's still in a coma?" Harkness asked quietly. Sunset nodded solemnly. "That's unfortunate. Don't lose hope, though. You were under for two weeks before you woke up, and now look at you."

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Barely clinging on to whatever is left of my sanity while I train to do something most residents of my birthplace would consider abhorrent beyond measure?"

Harkness frowned at that. "You know what I mean." He was clearly about to say something further, but stopped when he saw that Sunset was smirking. "Ass."

"Yes, you've mentioned my ass already today." Sunset giggled and ducked as Harkness tried to swat her. "Come on, there's nothing wrong with a bit of dark humor!"

Harkness just let out a heavy sigh and gestured down a nearby corridor. "I'm heading off here. What're you going to do now?"

"I'll head back to the hotel for a shower then go and get some food," Sunset replied. "After that, I guess it depends on what the others are doing."

The two arranged a rough time the day after to continue training before saying their goodbyes and splitting up. As she had told Harkness, Sunset headed back to the hotel room she had been given for a thorough scrub before heading down to the marketplace in search of lunch. A steadily increasing flow of people greeted her the closer she got to the hangar; a sure sign that the rampant magic wasn't enough to scare away a tide of visitors now that the city had opened back up.

The marketplace was as busy as it had ever been. The only major difference was the larger concentration of security officers patrolling, making sure that the vendors were obeying the council's restrictions on selling magically infused items.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Sunset grinned as she spotted Applejack sitting alone at her favourite Galley restaurant, reading a battered old book as she ate. "AJ!"

Applejack looked up from her meal just as Sunset sat opposite her. "Oh, heya, Sunset. How'd your trainin' go?"

"I actually managed to take him down this time," Sunset answered proudly. "Admittedly, he got his own back straight afterwards, but I'll take whatever win I can get."

"Ah wish Ah'd seen that." Applejack closed the book and rubbed her eyes. "Ah've just been lookin' through this old electrician's manual, seein' if Ah can get any ideas on how to drain some of the magic from those trees."

"Has it helped?" Sunset asked.

"Nope." Applejack sighed and turned her attention back to her food. "Honestly, the only thing Ah came up with was jammin' a tap in their trunks and seein' if we can't pour the magic into a barrel as if it were sap."

"That's actually a pretty good idea." Sunset flagged down the waitress and ordered a bowl of iguana soup. "If it works, all we've got to do is figure out what to do with the drained magic."

"The council could always trade it to the Brotherhood of Steel," Applejack suggested. "Ah know you don't like it," she said at the look on Sunset's face, "but they're gonna need magic too if they wanna keep up with the Enclave."

Sunset scowled and folded her arms. "I guess, but I really don't think it's going to end well. Speaking of the Enclave, do we have anything news on how the war is going?"

Applejack nodded. "Rainbow dropped in with a report for the water caravans earlier, and she brought some news while she was at it." She took a swig of water before continuing. "Liberty Prime destroyed another Enclave outpost somewhere West of here. Intel said that it was a stagin' post of some sort, but by the time Liberty arrived the troops had already shifted most of their supplies elsewhere."

"That makes it sound like they knew that Liberty Prime was coming," Sunset noted.

"It sure seems that way," Applejack huffed. "Scribe Rothchild reckons the Enclave have some way of communicatin' and coordinatin' with their troops secretly, but no-one has any idea how they're doin' it."

Sunset frowned as she thought. "What about the Exodus team? Don't they know how it's happening?"

Applejack shook her head. "The Brotherhood is still tryin' to get the radio relays set up so Twilight and Tara can talk directly, but until then it ain't easy gettin' messages through to them."

"That sucks." Sunset sighed, but there was little that any of them could do to help at the moment. For now, she was just going to have to leave everything to the Brotherhood.

Andrew watched uneasily as the Vertibird slowly descended towards the courtyard. The occupants were incredibly important, not just to the Enclave itself, but potentially to the fledgling splinter faction he was in the middle of forming. Horrigan had already cleared the surrounding area of any hostiles, but Andrew couldn't help but worry. The rampant magic loose in the wastes meant that nothing was a certainty anymore.

Even when the Vertibird had finally landed and opened its crew compartment, Andrew didn't let his guard down. The aircraft were never more vulnerable than when they were unloading. He glanced around cautiously out of habit, then stiffened as the new visitors appeared at the top of the ramp.

Senator Devall assisted his wife off the Vertibird before turning to Andrew. "Lieutenant Colonel Strong, it's good to see you."

"And you, Senator, Mrs Devall." Andrew gestured towards the Exodus building. "Allow me to show you to your new quarters."

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait," Senator Devall said grimly. "We need to talk, immediately. We have a problem."

The girls have had a week of training now, and we'll be seeing how things have changed for them, but we're also going to be seeing a lot more from the Enclave side of things over the next few chapters.

Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!