Fluttershy double-checked her nursing kit as she stepped out into the Citadel's courtyard. The rest of the Rainbooms were already gathered near the entranceway, or at least what was left of it. All of them, save for Applejack and Twilight, were wearing their armor and carrying their packs. The girls nodded in greeting as Fluttershy approached.

"Morning, Fluttershy. Are you ready to go?" Pinkie asked.

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "I think so."

"Are y'all sure about this?" Applejack asked anxiously. "Remember how dangerous things are out there, this ain't gonna be easy."

"We're well aware, darling," Rarity replied grimly. "I was hoping that Fawkes would be able to come with us but, as much as I hate to say it, bringing him along might cause more problems than it solves."

"I tried asking Elder Lyons if he could send Cross or one of the other Knights with you, but with everything that's happened they just don't have anyone to spare," Sunset added. "Especially with their obligations to Rivet City."

Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Not to worry, darling. I'm sure we'll manage. We're certainly not as naïve as we were the first time we crossed the wastes."

Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I wish I could come with you. I don't feel comfortable leaving you three to go all the way back to Arefu on your own."

"We'll be fine, don't worry," Pinkie said confidently. "You are the one who should be careful; going back to Project Exodus could be a really really bad idea."

"Maybe, but I don't think so," Rainbow replied. "I get the feeling there's a lot more going on behind the scenes of the Enclave than we know about. Hopefully I can find out more today."

Sunset ran a hand through her hair. "I'd go with you if I could, but I'm still needed at Rivet City. As soon as the next patrol gets back we'll be heading straight there."

"And that just leaves me and Twilight helpin' to fix all of the damage here." Applejack looked around uncomfortably, then took her hat off and held it over her chest as she addressed Sunset, "Speakin' of what happened, Ah didn't get a chance to thank you for savin' me. Y'know, from the, uh… the big guy."

"Don't mention it," Sunset said with a faint blush. "I'm just glad I was able to swipe a pulse grenade from one of the Enclave soldiers without him noticing."

"Yeah, me too," Applejack replied fervently. "And Ah'm doubly glad you paid attention when the Knights told you what a pulse grenade was and how to use it." She plonked her hat on again and looked around at each of the girls. "Well, Ah guess we're all splittin' up again. Y'all look after yourselves, you hear me? That goes double for you three."

Rarity nodded. "We'll be careful, darling, I promise."

Pinkie nodded and hefted her pickaxe, resting it over her shoulder like a miner on the way to work. "Okay, let's get this show on whatever is left of the road."

"Alright, I'll see you all later." Rainbow gave them one last nod before ponying up and launching herself into the air.

"I suppose that's our cue to leave," Rarity said without any enthusiasm. "Tata for now, darlings."

Fluttershy followed Pinkie and Rarity as they headed out of the Citadel. Dark clouds were gathering overhead, heavy with the threat of a morning downpour, but Rarity had already promised to provide a gemstone umbrella again should it prove necessary.

As they stepped outside the Citadel, Pinkie pointed to a ruined old bridge to the North. "Rainbow says she found a raider camp under there when she was out looking for you, Fluttershy. We should probably avoid it if we don't want any trouble."

Rarity nodded. "I heartily agree. I would suggest heading into the ruins to the east and going through the metro to Galaxy News, but I don't particularly fancy squaring off against hordes of Super Mutants and feral ghouls again." She hummed and looked around thoughtfully. "I think our best bet would be to head into the ruins to the West."

"The ones we crossed on the way to Vault 87?" Fluttershy asked.

"Exactly, only this time instead of crossing them we'll just go far enough to avoid the bridge, then curve back around to the North and follow the river," Rarity replied. "That should take us at least most of the way to Meresti Station."

With their path set, the girls headed into the ruins. Climbing the treacherous mounds of debris would be extremely difficult for ordinary people, but Rarity's magic made things much easier. Fluttershy decided against ponying up and flying herself around; her teeth were itching as it was after the previous day's battle, and she didn't have enough spare blood packs to sate her thirst.

Once the girls were a small way into the ruins they changed course and shifted around to the North, alternating between picking their way through old buildings and using gems as stepping stones across impassable debris. Soon enough, the bridge, and the raider camp, were left behind, and the girls descended once more to the ground.

As they followed the riverbank, the three kept their eyes and ears peeled for danger. Fluttershy could faintly hear gunfire on the far side of the river, deep in the downtown D.C. ruins, but it was far enough away that it wasn't worth worrying about.

After a short and, thankfully, uneventful trek, the three came across a large makeshift house made of corrugated iron. Fluttershy could just make out a single steady heartbeat on the other side of the building. To her surprise, the heartbeat turned out to be that of a wrinkled old woman, sitting and looking aimlessly around; a perfect picture of serene calm.

The old woman blinked in apparent surprise when she saw the girls, then smiled brightly at them. "Well, lookit' this! You mus' be them Rainbooms I've heard so much about on the radio."

"Well, we're some of them, at least," Rarity replied. "I'm Rarity, and these are Pinkie Pie-"

"Hiya!"

"-and Fluttershy." Fluttershy gave a small wave as she was introduced.

"Well ain't that jus' somethin'!" The old woman grinned. "I'm Grandma Sparkle, it's a pleasure meetin' you."

"The pleasure is all ours," Rarity said politely. "It's nice to meet someone out here who isn't trying to kill us. What are you doing out here?"

Grandma Sparkle gestured vaguely to the river. "I'm jus' waitin' for my boys. They're out huntin' 'Lurks; finest meat you can get, and it don't move around in your stomach like mole rat does." She looked curiously at the girls. "So what brings you young ladies all the way out here to Will'im's Wharf?"

"Sorry, Grandma, we're just passing through today, "Pinkie replied. "We're on our way to Arefu."

"Don' let me keep you, then," Grandma Sparkle said with a nod. "It's always best to finish your travels 'fore nightfall, else you might run into somethin' nasty. Go on, now, and look after yourselves out there, y'hear?"

"And you, dear," Rarity replied. Grandma Sparkle smiled and waved at the girls, who returned the gesture until they found an old road to follow and passed out of sight.

The road was in surprisingly good condition, and followed the curve of the river closely, allowing the girls to make good time on it. Some time after they left Grandma Sparkle they found the buildings around them becoming smaller and more spaced out, until finally they left the D.C. ruins behind altogether.

Heading out across the wastes, the road continued on towards a single large building in the distance. It wasn't until they got closer that the girls recognized it.

"Hey, that's the Super Duper Mart!" Pinkie said brightly.

Fluttershy squinted as she checked the building. The large windows on the front of the store were absolutely filthy, but she could just about see people moving around inside. "It looks like it's occupied. What should we do?"

Rarity pointed to the side of the building. "I think we should go around the back. I'd rather not risk running into trouble unless we absolutely have to, and frankly any new people we meet are just as likely to attack us as they are to talk to us."

Fluttershy nodded. "Around the back, then."

Suiting actions to words, the girls took care to stay out of sight as they hurried around to the back of the building, using the abandoned cars in the parking lot as cover.

As soon as they were safely past the store the three followed what was left of the road. When that had finally deteriorated to nothing, they resorted to walking along the riverbank to make sure that they were going the right way. The riverbank was lined with huge rocks and piles of debris, slowing the girls down greatly, but the cover and concealment afforded by the rocks more than made up for the difficulty.

Unfortunately, the girls weren't the only creatures that were drawn to the river. A light breeze brought the first warning; a foul fishy reek that was worryingly familiar. Barely a hundred yards further on Fluttershy's keen hearing picked up a very distinctive clicking sound. "Mirelurks," she whispered, just loudly enough for the others to hear.

Rarity grimaced. "I feared as much. Hopefully that's just the smell of an empty nest."

"It's not. I can hear at least three, maybe four of them," Fluttershy told her.

Rarity looked at her curiously. "You can hear them? How?"

"FEV, remember?" Pinkie put in. "Being a bitey vampire has pimped out all of her senses."

Fluttershy swallowed her embarrassment at Pinkie's words, then noticed with a flinch that Rarity was giving her a calculating look. "I wonder… does this mean that it's easier for you to distinguish between different colors and shades now, too?" Rarity asked.

"Um, I think so, but maybe we should stick to avoiding the mirelurks for now?" Fluttershy said quietly.

"Oh, er, yes, of course." Rarity chuckled awkwardly and looked around, covering her embarrassment by searching for an alternate route. After a moment she pointed to the left. A short distance away, near the top of a gentle slope, was what appeared to be an old farmstead; the skeletal remains of a few ancient buildings gathered next to a surprisingly intact grain silo. "Up there. We can go up and over then return to the river without getting anywhere near the mirelurks."

The other two nodded in agreement and started up the hill. Just like the riverbank the slope was dotted with boulders and rubble, which proved to be a blessing as Fluttershy heard yet more trouble ahead. "Wait."

"What is it?" Rarity asked quietly, settling herself behind a large rock. "More mirelurks?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No, it's… footsteps. Heavy, metal… I think it's people in power armor."

"The Brotherhood of Steel?" Pinkie ventured hopefully.

"I can't tell from here," Fluttershy admitted.

Rarity bit her lip nervously. "We should probably stay out of sight, just in case. Come on."

Taking great care to stay out of sight, the girls crept up the hill, taking a circular route to avoid getting too close to the farmstead. Fluttershy strained her ears as she walked. As they got closer she managed to pick up the voices of the people, relaying it in whispers to the others. "They're definitely Enclave. Two soldiers and a handful of other people, I think maybe scientists. It… sounds like they're studying the local wildlife? Right now they're observing the mirelurks. You were right, it is a nest, just not an old one."

"That's not exactly reassuring," Rarity muttered. "Have they heard us?"

"No, thankfully," Fluttershy replied. She paused and cocked her head as she heard something particularly concerning. "Now they're discussing something about… deathclaw auxiliaries? Where have I heard of deathclaws before?"

"It was one of those monsters that injured Twilight," Rarity said with a shiver. "If the Enclave has figured out how to tame those things then that can't be good for anyone. We'll have to send a message to the Brotherhood of Steel and warn them when we get to the Family, but for now let's just get as far away from here as we can without getting spotted."

Neither of the others had to be told twice. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, the girls didn't dare to relax until they had crested the hill and started back down the other side, the farmstead long since out of sight.

"Okay, I think we're clear," Fluttershy said with a sigh.

"Phew! Glad that's out of the way!" Pinkie said brightly. "Back to the river?"

"Actually, we have two options," Rarity replied, checking her Pip-Boy. "If I'm reading this map right, then we can either turn left and head to Megaton for a break, or we can go past that big building over there to the right to get to the river and continue on to Meresti." She gestured to a huge concrete edifice to the East.

Pinkie grimaced. "We probably shouldn't go to Megaton."

"Why not?" Rarity asked curiously.

Pinkie looked warily over her shoulder before answering, "The last time we were there me and Applejack met someone who pretty much worships the Enclave. We didn't know what he was talking about at the time, but with everything that's going on now, I'm not sure that we can trust the place."

"Unbelievable." Rarity sighed and rubbed her temples. "Okay, we'll avoid Megaton." She shook her head and started off down the hill. "Let's just head back to the river and-"

"Look out!" Pinkie suddenly darted forward and yanked Rarity aside. A half-second later the girls heard a loud gunshot and a bullet sparked off a rock behind where Rarity would have been standing.

"Eep!" Fluttershy dove behind a boulder, quickly followed by the other two.

"Shit, that was close!" Pinkie cried, flinching as another bullet cracked against their boulder.

"Language!" Rarity snapped. "Where are they firing from?"

Fluttershy hissed as a third bullet raised a puff of dust near her foot, prompting her to tuck it in a bit more. "It sounds like it's coming from the direction of the building we've got to get past, but I can't hear anyone from this distance."

"It's a guy in one of the windows, he's got some sort of rifle," Pinkie said. She flinched as two more shots landed in quick succession on either side of their boulder. "Or maybe there's more than one guy. Now what do we do?"

Rarity risked a quick glance over the top of the rock, ducking back before anyone could get a shot off at her. "I'll create some gemstone cover, we can use that to get from boulder to boulder and make our way past the building."

"We're going to have to move quickly," Fluttershy said tightly.

"Oh, why do I get the feeling you're about to point out something horrible?" Rarity whined.

Fluttershy glanced warily back up the hill, easily picking out the sound of heavy footfalls coming their way. "The Enclave soldiers must have heard the gunshots."

Rarity's eyes widened, then she leapt to her feet and threw out her arms to conjure a wall of gemstones between their boulder and the next one. "Get moving, go!"

The girls belted towards the building and the river beyond, Rarity throwing up more gemstones to shield them from their assailants in the building. Gunfire created rifts and spiderwebs of cracks in the gems, but the shields held. The three were almost halfway to the building when laser fire started fizzing overhead. Rarity conjured a few gemstones behind them as cover, but she needn't have bothered; the Enclave were only firing at whoever was in the building.

"Are they helping us?" Fluttershy asked as the girls ducked behind the next rock.

"Either that or they want us alive for their experiments," Pinkie suggested.

"Thanks so much for that thought," Rarity spat. She conjured another gemstone and waved the others forward. "Go on, I'll be right be-hyah!?" Rarity cried out as the ground suddenly opened up beneath her feet and she sank up to her waist into the dirt. "Ow!"

As Pinkie lent Rarity a hand, Fluttershy snuck a glance around the gemstone at the building. There were at least five raiders in there. Most were targeting the Enclave soldiers, but they were still taking the odd pot shot at the girls, too. "We're nearly there, once we're past the building we can-" She snapped her mouth shut and whipped around to stare in horror at the hole Rarity was stuck in. She could hear a distinctive chittering sound coming from within.

"Rarity, get out of there, there's something down there with you!" Fluttershy grabbed an arm and helped Pinkie drag her out of the hole. Rarity's feet had barely left the hole when a large set of mandibles appeared, snapping at her heels.

Fluttershy gasped as a giant ant, standing at least as tall as her thighs, emerged from the hole. The creature clicked it's mandibles again and launched itself at the girls as more of its kind dragged themselves into the daylight.

The three screamed and ran, all thoughts of cover forgotten. Shots rang out, bullets sparking off rocks and raising puffs of dust from the ground, but luckily none of them hit their target. Fluttershy risked a glance backwards as she ran; most of the raiders were concentrating on shooting the ants now boiling out of the hole in the ground, while the Enclave soldiers were now ignoring the battle and working to release one of their number from another hole that had opened up beneath the weight of his power armor.

The girls kept running until the building, and the bizarre conflict that had brewed around it, were both left far behind. When they reached the river, the girls scrambled behind the biggest rocks they could find before collapsing against it.

Fluttershy's body shook as she tried to catch her breath. She could hear Pinkie's and Rarity's hearts pounding, sending warm blood thundering through their veins, and every gasp of air she sucked down brought with it the stench of fear and exertion, threatening to overwhelm her senses.

"Giant... ants… really?!" Rarity panted. "What next? Giant bats? Monster sloths?"

"At least it can't get any worse," Pinkie muttered.

A loud screech from overhead made the girls cower in the dirt. A colossal shadow swept overhead before disappearing back into the clouds.

The girls all looked up in fear. Rarity turned to glare at Pinkie. "Will you please stop saying things like that?" She sighed and shook her head, then did a double-take and reared back in fearful surprise when she looked at Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, darling, are you alright?!"

Fluttershy hissed and clamped a hand over her nose and mouth. "We need to get to the Family," she mumbled.

---

Becky rubbed her eyes and vainly tried to stifle a yawn. No matter how crazy things got in the Enclave, paperwork was something that just never seemed to go away.

At least things had gotten back into a rhythm now, and everyone was playing their part.

Sienna was checking over Horrigan. Andrew was coordinating guard and scout shifts, while also working to gather more soldiers to the Exodus team's cause. Devall was doing the same thing with the non-military personnel in between helping to clean and improve what few facilities and amenities were available. Patricia had finally organised a tutoring system for the children and teenagers currently housed at Project Exodus. Lyra and Agent Drops were taking inventory of the magical crystals that had just been delivered from Raven Rock. And lastly, Tara, Evans, and Pickering were finally getting a chance to sit down and brainstorm ideas on how they were going to go about fulfilling Project Exodus' primary objective; namely, opening a portal to Equestria.

Unfortunately, all of them being busy meant that Becky was stuck going through logistics to make sure that everyone had enough food, water, and other supplies that they needed to keep this place safe and secure.

As Becky leaned back in her chair and stretched, a gust of wind ruffled her hair.

"You've got some explaining to do." Becky whipped around in shock. Rainbow Dash was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "And it had better be a damned good explanation."

"Jesus, Dash, you scared the shit out of me!" Rainbow scowled, and Becky threw her hands up placatingly. "Okay, okay! I can explain!" She sighed and planted her hands on her knees. "Look, the assault on the Citadel was never anything to do with us. We got word that the Senate wanted to requisition Horrigan for guard duty while they mined crystals from Raven Rock. We didn't even know that they were sending a strike force until a Vertibird dropped Horrigan back off here in a heap."

Rainbow pushed off the wall and placed a hand on the hilt of her sword as she stalked over to Becky. "And how am I supposed to believe you? How can I trust you after this?"

Becky gulped, her mouth suddenly feeling dry as a bone. "You trust Sunset, don't you?"

"I've seen Sunset and Twilight go full evil bitch before," Rainbow countered. "That monster did a lot of damage to the Citadel, and he almost killed Applejack, so I'm going to need a little more than just 'I'm another Sunset'."

"F-fair enough," Becky replied shakily. "Look, I don't have any proof, if that's what you're after. All I can say is that it wasn't anything to do with us. I swear it on my life. Hell, I swear it on Tara's life, Project Exodus had absolutely nothing to do with that attack."

Rainbow stared suspiciously at Becky for several long seconds, then finally relented and removed her hand from her sword. "Fair enough, then tell me who did order the attack so I can go and make them several inches shorter."

Becky let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. “It was an asshole named Acheson. He's a scientist. Him and Major Owens have been acting as if they're the ones in charge of the Enclave. There's Senator Lily, too, but I don't know what her position was on this attack. From what I know of her, this doesn't seem like her style."

"Acheson, Owens, Lily, right." Rainbow nodded and crossed her arms again. "So where can I find those scumbags?"

"Adams Air Force Base, it's a huge pre-war compound," Becky replied. "Only problem is that I don't know where it is. It's somewhere just outside the Capital Wasteland, but I don't know the exact location." She held a hand up as Rainbow opened her mouth. "Before you ask, Tara and Andrew don't know either. After the Enclave was kicked out of the West Coast thirty years ago information on separate facilities was carefully controlled, to prevent the fall of one facility compromising the location of the others."

"Great," Rainbow huffed.

Becky turned back to her table and pulled out a few sheets of paper; a gift she and the others had prepared for when the Rainboom had inevitably turned up,. largely in the hopes that it would make her less likely to go on a rampage. "Here, this is everything we know about Acheson, Owens, their research, and the troops and personnel that are loyal to them." She held the papers out to Rainbow. "These contain every secret that I can possibly share. Get them to the Brotherhood as quickly as you can."

Rainbow took the papers and looked through them curiously. Her eyes widened as she read a particular section. "Hold on, do you guys seriously have mind-controlled Deathclaws?!"

"It's not exactly mind control, but it's close enough," Becky replied with a nod.

"That's not cool." Rainbow stuffed the papers into her pack, then fixed Becky with a stern look. "Also, what's the deal with sealing up the hole in the ceiling? I had to come down the elevator shaft. Did you seriously think it would keep me out?"

Becky chuckled and shook her head. "No, it wasn't because of you. Our satellites picked up a storm heading this way, most likely a radioactive one. Given how dangerous the reaction between radiation and magic tends to be, we figured we had better cover up the hole before the storm dumps a ton of radioactive rain right on top of our magic tornado."

"That's… actually a pretty good idea," Rainbow said with a wince. "What about Horri-"

The sound of someone knocking on the door cut her off. Becky gestured for her to hide behind the desk before calling out, "Come in!"

The door opened and Agent Drops stepped into the room. "Doctor Shoichet? You're needed up in the office, immediately."

"Why? What's going on?" Becky asked.

"Senator Lily," Agent Drops replied. "She's here."

Next Chapter: Chapter 84 - Revelations Estimated time remaining: 26 Hours, 47 Minutes