“How do you know her name?” Twilight asked quickly.

Mr Burke smiled at her and spoke in a smooth, oily voice. “Oh I know far more than just her name Miss Sparkle, Miss Shy.” His smile widened at the girls’ surprise at being recognized. “To answer your question, the local cultists have been spreading word of your little group as quickly as they possibly can.”

“Local cultists?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“The Church of Atom.” Sunset replied, eyeing Burke warily. “You have a proposition for me?”

Burke nodded. “Indeed Miss Shimmer, one that I believe you and your friends are uniquely suited for. If you are interested I would appreciate you stepping over here so we can discuss our business more… privately.”

Twilight frowned at him. “You expect three young girls to follow a mysterious stranger into a secluded back alley?”

“I would prefer not to be overheard.” Burke chuckled as Sunset raised her eyebrow. “The business I wish to discuss is of a… sensitive… nature. Normally the saloon would be a far more suitable choice for a private conversation. The bustle and noise would make us much more difficult to overhear, but you girls stand out too much. People would pay attention.”

Sunset frowned, thinking hard. She was interested in hearing what Burke had to offer but her instincts were screaming at her not to trust him. On top of that, as much as she cared for them, Fluttershy and Twilight would not have been the first friends she would have chosen to go following an untrustworthy stranger into a dark alleyway. Especially not out here in the Wasteland where most of the people she had spoken to were armed in some way.

Eventually, she decided it was worth the risk. “Alright Mr Burke, we’ll hear your proposal.”

“Excellent. Please, follow me.”

As the girls followed Burke into the alleyway, Fluttershy whispered quietly to Sunset. “Um, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Fluttershy’s right, we’d be safer out in the open where people can see us.” Twilight added.

Sunset nodded, smirking slightly. “I know. If he tries something there won’t be anyone around to help us. Which means if he does try something, no-one will be around to see you use your magic on him. You don’t have to hurt him.” Sunset said quickly at the look on Twilight’s face, “Just pick him up and hold him so he can’t hurt us while we escape.”

Twilight glanced ahead at Burke, then looked back at Sunset and nodded grimly.

As Burke reached the end of the alleyway he glanced around. They were right under the Megaton’s outer wall, at a convergence of several narrow alleyways. Satisfied that no-one was around, he turned back to the three friends. “This will do nicely.”

Sunset folded her arms, not letting her guard down for an instant. “So what exactly is this secret business of yours and why do you think we’d be so suited for it? I mean you don’t even know us.”

Burke tilted his head, regarding the girls keenly. “I understand you girls have been looking for work, yet you have not gone seeking the charity of the Church of Atom despite their clear... infatuation... with you all.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and that. She had considered going to the Church of Atom for help but decided against it. For whatever reason Cromwell and his followers had taken her and her friends to be blessed in some way by the strange deity they worshiped and it didn’t feel right to take advantage of them in that way.

“So what’s your point?”

“My point, Miss Shimmer, is that you seem to prefer doing your own dirty work. A work ethic I can admire. That and your lack of attachment to this decaying excuse for a settlement makes you a group of very valuable individuals indeed.”

The three friends shared a glance. Sunset wasn’t sure where he was going with this and wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to find out. “What do you mean?” she asked slowly.

Burke glanced around again to make sure they were still alone, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I represent certain… interests who view this festering sinkhole as a blight on a burgeoning urban landscape. They have tasked me with recruiting someone who, for example, had been rejected by the local Neanderthals for no greater reason than a simple difference of color. Someone who wouldn’t care, who would in fact be interested in seeing this settlement simply… go away…”

Twilight just blinked in surprise. “Go away? What do you mean?”

“Wait…” Sunset had seen what the man was getting at, and she did not like it one bit. “You want to destroy the town?”

He smiled slightly. “Correct, and in a way that your associates at the Church of Atom would very much appreciate I assure you.” His smile widened further. “The un-detonated atomic bomb, the monument to the great ‘Atom’ they worship with such diligence is still very much alive. All it needs is a little motivation.”

Sunset gaped at him. She couldn’t believe what this lunatic was coming out with. In fact, she realized, she didn’t believe him at all. The girls were clearly from out of town whereas Burke himself was probably a resident. He was probably trying to pull some sort of sick prank on them, or give them some sort of test. No-one would seriously suggest something like that to anyone, let alone complete strangers.

As these thoughts were running through Sunset’s head Burke pulled his coat to the side, revealing a small box tucked into an inside pocket. Sunset spotted something else under his coat that sent a cold shiver down her spine.

Luckily, Burke didn’t notice her consternation. “This is a fusion pulse charge. All I require is someone to rig it to the bomb‘s control panel. Once that is done you will detonate it at a secure location far from here.”

Twilight cringed away from it, looking at Sunset. “Is… he being serious?”

Sunset just smirked, trying not to give away the cold fear she felt flowing through her. “Nice looking toy, what’s really in there? Confetti?”

“I assure you this is no joke.” Burke said darkly. “Here. See for yourself.” He pulled the box out of his coat, pried open a small panel on the bottom and held it over Sunset’s Pip-Boy. Immediately her Geiger counter started crackling. Sunset yanked her hand back as Burke closed the panel again and smoothly slid the box back into his coat.

“That thing is real.” Twilight said slowly. “You really want the town gone.”

“Finally cottoned on have you?” Burke sneered.

“But what about the people? We can’t just force them out of their homes.” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Not to mention how difficult it would be to get them to leave in the first place." Twilight added. "I suppose you could offer some sort of compensation, but even with that how would we convince them to evacuate?”

Burke raised an eyebrow at the two girls.

Sunset caught his intention and it chilled her to the core. “We don’t.”

Burke snorted. “At least one of you can keep up.”

Sunset felt like there was ice in her veins. This man was talking about slaughtering an entire town as if it were nothing. Just an everyday business transaction. Walk away, flip a switch and subject an entire town to the same fate that had swallowed their civilization two hundred years ago.

They had to get this to the sheriff, but first they had to get away from Mr Burke. Simply walking away wasn’t an option, not knowing what else he had under his coat. For now Sunset decided to simply play along, hoping Twilight and Fluttershy would realize what she was doing.

“Okay, let‘s say we’re interested.” Sunset tried very hard to ignore the shocked looks she got from the other two, “What’s in it for us?”

“Sunset… what are you doing?” Twilight breathed.

Burke gestured vaguely around at their surroundings. “You mean besides ridding the world of this feculent eyesore? How about repaying the brutish inhabitants for the absolute lack of common decency they have shown you so far? And as for the Church of Atom…” He chuckled maliciously, “Those zealots believe you to be some sort of blessed prophets of their ridiculous god. Having you unleash the full might of their holy relic would be a blessing beyond measure in their eyes.”

Sunset leaned forward, giving what she hoped was a seductive smile. “That does sound interesting, but I was hoping for something a little more… tangible.” she purred.

Mr Burke smiled at her. “It seems I underestimated you Miss Shimmer, as did Moriarty. If you didn’t understand the way the wasteland works before, then you are certainly a very fast learner.”

Sunset stepped forward to lay a hand on his chest, keeping the smile plastered on her face even as her skin crawled. “I appreciate the flattery, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, of course.” Burke nervously reached up to straighten his tie, “My employer is a very, very wealthy man. Do this one small thing and you shall never again lack for caps or luxury.”

Twilight grabbed Sunset‘s arm. “Sunset you can’t do this! I know we’ve had trouble since we got here but this isn’t the answer!” she whispered desperately.

“I’m doing what I have to.” Sunset said roughly, turning to look Twilight in the eyes. They stayed that way for a moment, Sunset keeping a fierce look on her face but hoping desperately that Twilight would catch on. Eventually Twilight stepped back, her head drooping. Fluttershy placed an arm on her shoulder and nodded subtly to Sunset.

Well, at least one of them gets it Sunset thought as she turned back to Burke and gave her best attempt at a twisted smirk. “All right Mr Burke, I‘ll do it. You provide the charge, I‘ll provide the crater.” she said quietly, putting as much conviction as she could into her voice.

Burke gave her an oily grin as he pulled the charge out of his pocket and held it out. “Here’s the fusion pulse charge. There is a control panel that is suitably exposed, just pry it open and connect the charge on the inside of the casing. That will be enough to get the bomb primed.”

“Got it.” Sunset said, taking the charge and tucking under her arm.

“When it’s done meet me at the saloon and I shall escort you to Tenpenny Tower. Once we are there you will have the pleasure of wiping this cesspool from existence.”

Sunset nodded “Alright, I‘ll get it done. You head out first, I guess you don’t want people to notice that we've been talking.”

“You assume correctly.” Burke replied silkily. Without another word he strode back down the alley. As soon as he was out of sight Sunset let out a breath. Before she could say anything she felt the pulse charge yanked out from under her arm. Whipping around, she saw the charge floating in front of Twilight, grasped her magic’s purple aura.

“Alright Sunset, what the heck was all of that about!?”

Sunset just blinked. “What?”

Fluttershy spoke up in a very small voice. “Um, I think Sunset did the right-”

“What do you mean what?!” Twilight cried, ignoring Fluttershy’s quiet efforts. She pulled a vague imitation of Sunset’s voice, “You provide the charge, I’ll provide the crater. What WAS that?”

“Twilight, you need to calm down.” Fluttershy said firmly, placing a hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

Sunset felt a hollow pain in her chest as she looked at her purple friend. “You… you don’t actually think I was going to destroy the town, do you?”

Twilight shook her head. “Of course I don’t, I just…” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I… I’m sorry. I’ve just never seen you all, you know, ‘bad girl’ before. It freaked me out. But, why did you say all that?”

“Ah‘d kinda like to hear that too.” Applejack drawled as she stepped out from around a corner, Rarity sauntering along behind her.

“Yeah Sunshim, what gives?” Pinkie called down from where she and Rainbow were perched on the roof of the building above.

The three girls jumped at the sudden appearance of the rest of their friends.

“Wait, you were all watching? Why didn’t you say anything!” Twilight snapped.

Rainbow shrugged, “That guy looked shifty so we followed you. Figured he‘d bolt if we all turned up so we decided to stay out of sight.”

“Of course, we were all terribly worried when we heard what he wanted, but it looked like you had it under control.” Rarity piped up, “It was obvious, to me at least, that you were using your feminine wiles to get that… whatever that thing is off that horrid man. We just can’t help wondering, well, why?”

“Yeah, why didn’t you just grab the creep and drag him over to the sheriff?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset sighed heavily, terrified at how close this could have come to ending in disaster. “He has a gun, I saw it when he opened his coat to show me the pulse charge. It’s got a silencer attached. I was worried that if we tried to say no or run away he could kill us and no-one would ever know what had happened.”

There was a brief, appalled silence as the others digested her words.

Applejack let out a slow whistle. “Good gravy girl, that was some mighty quick thinking you did back there.”

“You said it AJ.” Rainbow agreed.

“I, um, I saw it too.” Fluttershy said quietly, “That’s why I didn’t say anything.”

“Well it’s a good thing we didn’t try to force our way into the conversation.” Rarity muttered, “That could well have turned into a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.”

Sunset glanced over at the charge, still clutched in Twilight‘s magic. “Can that thing really do what he said it can?”

Twilight grabbed the box out of her aura, turning it over in her hands. “I think so?”

“We need to get that thing to the sheriff.” Applejack said flatly.

“You’re right, we need to let him know what’s going on as fast as we can.” Sunset nodded, “Do any of you have any idea where he is?”

The others all shook their heads.

“Alright, I guess we‘ll just have to go look for him.” Sunset sighed as Rainbow and Pinkie clambered down from the roof. “Come on girls.”

Finding Simms didn’t turn out to be as hard as Sunset had feared. Almost as soon as they exited the alleyway Pinkie spotted him at the restaurant down by the bomb, chatting to Confessor Cromwell and a young boy they didn’t recognize.

As the girls hurried down to him they agreed on a plan. Sunset would speak to the sheriff while the others distracted Cromwell and his followers. They might be nice people, but Sunset still didn’t feel comfortable letting them know about the fusion pulse charge that was currently nestled within her pack.

The Confessor spotted them first as they approached. “Blessed children! It is a pleasure to see you all again so soon! Honored Rarity, Honored Rainbow Dash, it warms my heart to know that you brought this humble shepherd’s request to your most esteemed sisters.”

The others all turned to stare at Rarity and Rainbow.

“We didn’t take advantage if that’s what you’re all wondering.” Rarity said tartly, though she blushed a little as she said it. “They offered us caps from their donations and we politely but firmly refused.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously. “U-huh, so what was this request about?”

“They just asked if we could bring the rest of you along some time to have a chat with the acolytes and stuff. No biggie.” Rainbow answered.

Twilight grinned at him, “We're all here, why don't we talk now?”

Cromwell glanced at the wide-eyed sheriff, then back at the girls. “Nothing would please me more but please, do not go out of your way for us. Your desire for self-sufficiency is truly inspiring and I would not wish to impose on your time while you are still getting yourselves settled.”

“Actually, that would be perfect.” Sunset said quickly, “I just need a quick word with the sheriff, would you mind keeping my friends company while they wait?”

Simms raised his eyebrows at the obvious excuse, but the Confessor just beamed at her. “Nothing could please me more Honored Sunset Shimmer!”

Sunset tried not to let her relief show as Cromwell eagerly started chatting with the others. She turned to walk away and gestured for the sheriff to follow, glancing up towards the saloon to make sure Burke wasn’t watching. Satisfied, she wandered over to the far side of the bomb, out of sight of the saloon entirely, before she turned to the sheriff. Sunset blinked as she realized the young boy had followed them over too.

Simms noticed her gaze. “This is my son Harden.” That explains the resemblance, Sunset thought. “Don’t worry, anything you want to say to me you can say in front of him. So what’s this about exactly, problem with the job hunt?”

“No. Well, yes. Sort of. We tried the restaurant like you suggested, but they didn’t have anything.”

“Have you tried Craterside Supply? Moira’s always looking for assistants for her crazy experiments.”

“Sounds interesting, but we actually have a bigger problem at the moment.” Sunset glanced over to make sure Cromwell was still distracted. “While we were looking around, we were approached by someone, a Mr Burke?”

Simms suddenly groaned and shook his head. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to say?”

“Er, to be honest, it’s probably a lot worse than you’re thinking.” Sunset slipped her pack off. “Uh, you might want to stand over here, so Confessor Cromwell can‘t see this.”

The sheriff raised an eyebrow at that. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Sunset sighed and pulled the charge out of her pack, angling her body so Cromwell wouldn’t be able to see it from where he was standing. She wasn’t sure he would recognize it for what it was, but she didn’t want to take the chance. “Burke gave me this fusion pulse charge, he asked me to rig the bomb to explode.”

“Jesus! Gimme that thing!” Simms yelped. He reached his hands out for it but Sunset pulled it out of his reach.

“Careful, we don’t want them to see!”

“Want who to see?” the sheriff snapped.

Sunset just gave him a blank look. “Do you want the Church of Atom to know you have something like this?”

Simms glanced over his shoulder towards Cromwell. “Good point. Alright, come here.”

They shifted so she could pass him the charge while keeping it out of sight of anyone else. He inspected the charge quickly before stuffing it into his coat and turning to his son. The poor boy looked terrified.

“Harden, I want you to go home and stay there until I come for you, and don’t breath a word of this to anyone, you hear me?” Harden nodded rapidly. “Alright, go on now.”

Harden turned and ran as fast as he could to a staircase and disappeared up it. As soon as his son was gone Simms squared his shoulder and jerked his chin towards Cromwell and the others. “Do your friends know about this?”

“Yes. That’s why they agreed to distract Cromwell while I spoke to you.”

“Good call. I don’t think Cromwell would do anything about it himself, but I still wouldn’t take the risk. Come with me.” They walked quickly back over to her friends. “Sorry Confessor, but I’m going to need these girls to come with me for now.”

Cromwell looked around, curious. “Is there a problem sheriff?”

“Don’t worry Cromwell, your new friends aren’t in any trouble, but I do need them to come with me. I’m sorry but it can’t wait.”

“Oh, of course sheriff. Until next time Honored ones.” Cromwell bowed deeply to the girls as they left.

The sheriff strode purposefully through the town, shrugging his assault rifle off his back. The girls hurried to keep up. The people they passed quickly got out of the way, looking curiously after the unusual group but not daring to ask questions.

Sunset fell into step alongside Simms. “What are we going to do?”

Simms glanced over his shoulder at the girls. “I want all of you to come with me to the saloon. Sunset, you’re with me, the rest of you just stay back and watch while I do the talking. You’re about to get an education in Wasteland justice.”

Sunset shivered and slowed down to let Simms go in front. Turning to the girls she spoke in an undertone so he wouldn’t hear. “Alright girls, I think the sheriff can handle this, but just in case I think we should be prepared to use our magic to help out.”

“What if Mr Burke tries to shoot someone?” Twilight asked worriedly.

Rainbow smacked a fist into her palm. “Then we take him out before he can.”

Sunset nodded. “But be careful everyone, we don’t want to take any chances.”

“Darn right we don’t.” Applejack muttered. “It’s going to be awful cramped in there with all of us though. Maybe you should stay back with the rest of us.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Sunset said, sounding more confident than she felt. “I’ll go with the sheriff to confront Burke, the rest of you position yourselves around the saloon to jump in if you have to.”

“That puts you in an awful lot of danger darling.” Rarity warned.

Rainbow shook her head. “Don’t worry, if I see a gun I’ll dash in and grab it off him before he knows what hit him.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Applejack smiled, patting Sunset on the back. “Don’t worry sugarcube, we got your back.”

The girls fell silent as the saloon came into view. Not bothering to slow down, Simms shouldered the door open. The patrons all looked around as he barged his way in. The zombie behind the bar took one look at the group and disappeared into a back room. Moriarty was nowhere to be seen. Burke was sitting alone in a little alcove off to the side.

The other girls spread themselves out around the saloon as Simms stormed over to Burke, Sunset close behind. A look of anger passed across Burke’s face as they approached but he quickly schooled his features into neutrality. The whole saloon fell silent as Simms stomped right up to his table. “You there, Burke! I’m placing you under arrest for endangering the town of Megaton.”

Burke just leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow. “Under arrest? Why, whatever for sheriff?.” he asked calmly.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Simms snarled. “I know all about your plan to blow up the bomb! Have you lost your goddamned mind!?”

The other patrons started muttering at that but Burke just shook his head, feigning innocence. “I do apologize sheriff, but I simply have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Maybe this will jog your memory.” Simms pulled the fusion pulse charge out of his coat and slammed it on the table in front of Burke. “Try and explain your way out of that one.”

Burke stared at the charge for a moment, his face unreadable. Suddenly he stood smoothly and dusted off his suit. “Very well sheriff, it seems you wish to take the word of a mutated outsider over a man of impeccable conduct.” He glared over his glasses at Sunset. “But no matter, I‘m sure we can resolve this little dispute in time.”

Simms glared at Burke for a moment longer. As the sheriff turned away Sunset let out the breath she had been holding, when something caught her eye. Burke had subtly slipped his hand under his coat and was pointing something at Simms’ back.

Without thinking Sunset lunged forward, shoving Burke with as much force as she could muster. She heard a quiet ‘phut’ and saw Simms stagger as she collided with Burke. They both crashed into the wall, another muffled gunshot ricocheting off the floor. Sunset desperately grabbed for the gun but Burke rammed his elbow up and across her cheek, knocking her back. His fist crashed into her chin and Sunset fell backwards, slamming painfully into a wall and crumpling to the floor.

Before Burke could react there was a blur of color and he was yanked sideways. Rainbow was struggling to pull the gun out of his grip, but he was holding on too tight. Another low phut sounded and Rainbow let go, narrowly avoiding getting shot. Burke shoved her away before she could recover, sending her sprawling over a table.

He straightened up and looked at Sunset, snarling as he pointed his gun directly at her face. “Treacherous bitch.”

Several rapid gunshots rang out, bright flashes lighting the whole saloon. Sunset saw a small spark from the end of Burke’s gun and felt a blaze of heat across her temple as he staggered back against the wall. Crimson patches blossomed all over his suit as he slumped, barely standing. Simms lunged forward and jammed the barrel of his rifle into Burke’s throat, forcing his head back. He had time for one last look of shock before Simms fired. The back of Burke’s head exploded outwards, coating the alcove behind him in sticky gore.

Sunset felt her gorge rising as Burke’s body crumpled to the floor. Forcing it down, she looked around to see if everyone was alright, then immediately regretted it as she saw Rarity being violently sick by the staircase. Fluttershy was standing near the counter, a look of abject terror on her face as she stared at Burke’s corpse. Sunset tried to stand but her legs wouldn’t co-operate. She was shaking violently, and realized vaguely that her head was throbbing.

The other patrons started calling out to each other, making sure no-one else was hurt. It looked like they had all ducked for cover the moment the shooting started. A groan brought Sunset’s head whipping around, the sudden movement sending waves of nausea rolling through her. Rainbow hauled herself painfully to her feet, clutching her shoulder.

Pinkie appeared out of nowhere and crouched next to Sunset. “Are you okay?”

Sunset couldn’t muster the energy to respond as she saw Applejack hurry over to Rainbow. Pinkie offered Sunset a water bottle, which she took gratefully. Chugging down the cool liquid helped her focus. Or at least it reduced the spinning in her head.

“Is everyone okay?” she gasped as Pinkie helped her to her feet.

“We‘re alright.” Pinkie said quietly. Her eyes widened as she spotted something on Sunset‘s face. “Oh no, Fluttershy! FLUTTERSHY GET OVER HERE!!!!”

Fluttershy jolted as if electrocuted. Sunset blinked blearily at her as she scurried over. “What’s wrong Pinkie?”

“You’re bleeding.”

Sunset reached up and touched the side of her head, where she had felt the heat. Her hand came away coated with sticky blood. Looking at the red stain on her hand, her vision started to blur. Sunset back slumped against the wall as pain, guilt and fear rose up, washing over her and sending the room spinning.

She had brought them to this. It had been her idea to build the Diviner that had dragged her and her friends to this rotten world. Her lack of leadership had seen them thrown out of the vault and her subsequent stupidity had nearly led her friends to their deaths out here in the wasteland.

Sunset was almost grateful when the floor rushed to meet her, cool, dark oblivion claiming her in one last burst of pain.

And another chapter rises!

Honestly was a bit nervous about this chapter, Mr Burke is quite a character and I do hope I've done him justice here.

Comments and criticisms greatly appreciated!