There were many things that Sunset had taken for granted in her old life, both in Equestria and at CHS. One of the biggest things, something so fundamental and invisible that no one ever noticed it until it was gone, was something so rare in the Capital Wasteland that Sunset felt genuine happiness whenever she found it.

Fully functional toilet plumbing. With clean water.

Even in the Citadel or Rivet City, with Project Purity running at full capacity, clean water was rare enough that the toilets mostly reused filthy brown water, or worse; faintly luminous rainwater. Only the Enclave were willing to use precious clean water for flushing toilets even in their most remote facilities, a fact that Sunset found herself oddly grateful for.

With her business done, Sunset stepped out of the cubicle and shuffled over to the sinks, sighing heavily.

The battle was over, the satellite uplink had been secured and the surviving Enclave personnel had been rounded up by the Brotherhood of Steel, both Exodus and loyalist. All that was left for the Rainbooms was a short rest period before they headed back to the Citadel with Liberty Prime.

Unfortunately, now that the battle was done and the adrenaline was gone, Sunset felt herself crashing hard. The only parts of her body that didn't ache were the bits that stung instead; minor cuts, bruises and burns she hadn't even felt happening during the fight itself.

Sunset groaned and looked into the mirror above the sink. She looked like a mess. Blood, mud, ash and oil covered almost every inch of her body, while her hair blended it all together in a sticky matted mess.

"Whoa, you look rough." Sunset blinked and looked around, noticing with some surprise that another Knight was in the room with her, washing her hands. "They're giving out hot food out by Liberty Prime. I'd grab what you can before they send you back to the Citadel."

"Thanks," Sunset mumbled. She turned on the taps, washing her hands before scrubbing as much muck from her face as she could.

The Knight wafted the collar of her suit and wrinkled her nose. "Damn, it's hot inside that power armor. The old T-45s don't have any cooling systems. I swear, if you wrung out my clothes you'd get enough sweat to drown a toddler."

"Delightful," Sunset huffed.

"Yeah. I, uh, I'm kinda off my game here." The Knight coughed and cleared her throat. "I saw you fight back there. You're pretty tough, not to mention resourceful." Sunset just grunted and dried her face off with a towel. The Knight winced and slicked her hair back with a hand. "So, anyway, I was wondering… before we go back to the Citadel, do you want to get some of that food? With me, I mean. Food with me."

"Sure, food sounds good," Sunset replied with a sigh. Eating would probably be a good idea, if only to try and perk herself up. "Where did you say they were giving it out?"

The Knight raised an eyebrow, then frowned with concern. "You really are fucked, aren't you? I thought that wasn't your first battle?"

Sunset shook her head and turned to lean against the sink. "No, but fighting like that… killing… it's not something I can get used to that easily."

"I guess that's fair." The Knight smiled sadly and stepped to the door of the toilets. "I guess I'll have to ask again some other time. Come on, let's get you some food."

Sunset frowned curiously as she followed the woman out of the toilets, then shook her head as she remembered something. "Do you know what happened to that weird magic gun we found?"

The Knight grimaced at the reminder of it. "They stuck it in a containment crate ready to be shipped back to the Citadel. Cross and Metzger are both going to suggest that the Scribes stick it in storage and forget about it." She shivered as she walked over to her empty armor. "The damn thing was still laughing even when we stuck it in the box." The armor hissed as it sealed itself with the Knight inside. "So… food?"

Sunset nodded slowly. "Food."

The area outside the satellite uplink station was bustling with activity. Knights hurried around organizing guard shifts and moving supplies, while the Scribes that had waited in the car tunnel during the battle now cooked, repaired equipment, and tended to the dead and wounded. Liberty Prime stood watch over it all: A silent sentinel tirelessly protecting his smaller brethren.

Fluttershy sat on a rock near the edge of the gathering, nursing a small bowl of soup. She was back in her ordinary human form for now. While initially reluctant to consume any more of her blood packs, especially when there were so many wounded who would need transfusions, the Scribes had insisted that they had plentiful reserves of their own blood packs. And that she would be better served keeping her bloodlust thoroughly locked down than struggling needlessly.

Applejack was sitting with Rarity on an empty supply crate nearby, hunched over while the fashionista rubbed her back. The sedative had mostly worn off now, not that it had been particularly strong in the first place, but the aftereffects of it, the battle, and the panic attack had clearly brought Applejack to the limit of her endurance. Rarity was tending to her as best she could, but Fluttershy doubted that there was much anyone in the wastes could really do to help.

She hadn't said anything yet, but Fluttershy was almost certain that the fight with Horrigan had left a lingering trauma in Applejack's mind; a festering splinter that would be nearly impossible to remove even with professional help. Seeing the Enclave soldier lit up by green plasma had probably wrenched the poor girl right back to her near-fatal encounter with that colossal monster.

Listening carefully, Fluttershy could hear Pinkie and Rainbow talking nearby. The two were hiding it well, but they were both wrestling with their own demons even as they ate and joked around with each other. Pinkie's laughter wavered, almost as if she were fighting back tears each time she opened her mouth, and Fluttershy had noticed earlier that she seemed to be looking through people rather than at them. Even Rainbow was shaken. She was still shamelessly bragging about how quickly she had moved and how awesome it had been to back up Liberty Prime, but she didn't actually mention any concrete details about the battle, and she couldn't quite hide the tremor in her hands as she held her bowl.

The sound of approaching footsteps grabbed Fluttershy's attention, and she looked up just in time to see Adam walking towards her. He had left his battered armor to the Scribes and was now wearing just his Vault jumpsuit and Tunnel Snakes jacket.

The scent of the plateful of barbecued squirrel bits Adam was carrying mixed with the acrid smell of power armor lubricant, the sour odor of sweat, and the earthy musk of his skin as he sat on the rock next to Fluttershy. "Hey. You okay?"

"Worn out," Fluttershy replied honestly. "You?"

"Sore. Turns out going on a hike followed by fighting a battle right after you wake up from a coma is a great way to make your muscles hurt," Adam said in a surprisingly cheery tone.

Fluttershy winced sympathetically. "The medics did make sure to move your limbs around regularly while you were unconscious, so your muscles and tendons wouldn't atrophy too much, but I guess it wasn't enough. Do you need painkillers?"

Adam shook his head. "Nah, it's okay, thanks. It hurts, but it's the good kind of hurt, y'know? Like the ache you get after a decent workout." He held his plate up to Fluttershy. "Squirrel bit?"

"Oh, yes please." Munching on the little piece of meat, Fluttershy looked around at the organized chaos going on around them. It took her a moment to realize that something was missing. "Where's Fawkes?"

Adam swallowed his mouthful and gestured vaguely at the station. "Metzger asked him to help keep an eye on the captives. Him and the other Wonderbolts are near enough the only people she trusts to guard them without mistreating them. Some of the other Knights are grumbling about it, but she told them they could direct their complaints to Liberty Prime and see where that got them."

Fluttershy let out a quiet giggle at the thought of someone trying to whine to the robot. She went on to take a spoonful of soup, but paused as she noticed Adam watching her out of the corner of her eye. Seeing that she had noticed, Adam looked away and scratched at his stubble, as if trying to hide his emotions. "So, uh… that was your vampire form, huh?"

A nervous flutter ran through Fluttershy's gut. "Um, yes." She looked down at her bowl, not confident enough to look him in the eye. "I… um… I'm sorry that you had to see me like that."

"I'm not." Fluttershy looked up at Adam hopefully. He was still scratching his cheek, and it took her a moment to realize that he was doing so in an attempt to cover up a faint blush, though she couldn't fathom what was causing it. Adam glanced at her, then quickly looked away again. "You-" His voice came out in a squeak, and he cleared his throat before trying again. "You… well… y-you looked really, uh… y'know… er… good. You looked good."

"Um, okay?" Fluttershy said uncertainly. She couldn't quite believe that she looked anywhere near 'good' in her vampire form, but it wasn't Adam's style to lie about something like that, so she just accepted the compliment with a shy smile and considered herself lucky that her vampiric side didn't send him running for the hills. The fact that his heart rate had increased did confuse Fluttershy a little, though. He certainly didn't smell afraid. In fact, whatever he was feeling, the fresh scent wafting off of him at the moment wasn't something that she recognized off the top of her head.

Before Fluttershy could figure it out, Metzger came stomping over in her armor. "Best finish your food quick, you'll be leaving with Liberty Prime, the captives, and us Wonderbolts in about 15 minutes."

"What about Sunset? Has she eaten yet?" Fluttershy asked.

Metzger nodded. "Yeah, one of the Knights just dragged her out of the shitter to get some food. You should probably give her a stimpak before we head out, though. Poor girl looks like she's about to drop." She reached into a pouch at her hip and pulled out a bright red apple. "Hey, AJ." Applejack looked up slowly. Her expression was a bleak picture of exhaustion and gloom. Metzger handed her the apple. "Eat this, and get Fluttershy to give you a stimpak, too. It'll help, trust me."

"You're beginning to annoy me," Acheson growled.

The Daybreaker prototype just looked down at him impassively. The armor was still safely secured in its maintenance frame, but over the last few hours every time he had tried to run a diagnostic or check on its programming the machine had done everything it could to make things difficult, if not downright impossible. It seemed that the continued growth of its sapience was also making the Daybreaker… insubordinate.

Before another test could begin, the door to the workshop was slammed open. "Doctor Acheson! We have a pro-"

"What the hell have I told you about interrupting me!" Acheson bellowed as he rounded on the intruders. Major Owens was standing in the doorway looking panicky, while Lieutenant Simpson, Colonel Autumn's former lapdog, was waiting behind him impassively. "If something has gone wrong, fix it! I can't spend all of my time babysitting you and your pathetic lit-"

"The uplink station has fallen!" Major Owens cut in. "The orbital strike failed to destroy Liberty Prime!"

"What?!" Acheson snapped. "How could the orbital strike fail? That satellite was created to devastate whole military compounds! That toy robot should have been squashed like a bug! Fire the satellite again!"

Owens shook his head. "We can't. The uplink station was our main connection to the Bradley-Hercules Satellite: The uplink built into the Base Crawler doesn't have enough power to get a stable signal through."

"Well grab some technicians and boost the signal!" Acheson shouted. "If the Brotherhood of Steel manages to decrypt the satellite's targeting and mapping data they'll be able to pinpoint this airbase, and before you know it we'll have that damned robot knocking on our door!"

"It's too late," Owens said darkly. "The last communication we had with the satellite before the connection was cut showed that the data had already been decrypted and was being downloaded. They'll have everything they need to find us by now."

Acheson roared and activated the T.I.R.E.K suit's magic, grabbing a nearby supply crate with an orange magical glow and swinging his arm to smash it against the wall. "Idiots! Ignorant moronic whelps! I gave you simple instructions: Use the satellite to destroy the robot, and do not let the Brotherhood seize the uplink station! How did you incompetent fools manage to fail on both counts?!"

Owens snarled at him. "We failed, Doctor, because the Rainbooms proved far more dangerous and powerful than we were led to believe! And at least a quarter of the magical equipment our troops were issued malfunctioned, causing heavy casualties to our own forces: Something that I warned you about when you ordered the equipment to be issued before it had been field tested!"

"The equipment worked fine on the firing range, so don't try and pin your failures on me, Major!" Acheson retorted. "Don't forget which of us holds the real power here, boy. I am the one in control of the Enclave now, not you."

"Well, perhaps our oh-so-wondeful leader can divine a way to protect the airbase from the walking superweapon that is going to be making its way here very soon?" Owens asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Acheson growled and turned away, thinking hard. "Can the Base Crawler be moved to another location quickly enough to avoid detection?"

"Not a chance, it doesn't move anywhere near fast enough to outrun a power-armored strike force, even if the armor is obsolete," Owens replied. "Even if it could be moved, we wouldn't be able to cover our tracks, and we wouldn't be able to fit all of the Enclave's civilian population on board in any case."

"Of course." Personally, Acheson couldn't give a damn about fitting the civilian population onboard, but it was a moot point if the Base Crawler wasn't fast enough. "Thankfully, the Brotherhood won't be able to do anything with the satellite themselves, the uplink station doesn't have the capability. All they've done is slow our firing sequence down." He crossed his arms and looked up at the Daybreaker armor. "Do as I said and grab some technicians to boost our uplink signal, and send a message to the Exodus team. Tell them that the Senate has ordered all military units and equipment to be brought back here. Once that's done, I want you to drag every single scrap of military hardware you can find out of storage and make sure it works. If those Brotherhood bastards think they can take on the Enclave, we'll show them exactly how wrong they are."

Elder Lyons fought to keep smug superiority out of his expression. The scouts had returned from the uplink station and, while the exact numbers of dead and wounded was still coming in, the initial reports all confirmed that the assault had been a tremendous success.

The station had been taken with only superficial damage to the superstructure and it's delicate equipment, Liberty Prime had taken some minor damage but was still fully functional, several Exodus supporters had been found and were divulging information already, and the remaining Enclave personnel had been taken into custody without any issues. On top of all of that, Adam, Fawkes, and the Rainbooms had all acquitted themselves well in the battle, and had contributed significantly to the operation's overall success.

Lyons couldn't have asked for a better result. There had been a lot of grumbling in the ranks about bringing in Adam and creating an entirely new branch for the Rainbooms, and accepting Fawkes, a Super Mutant, as a Knight, had caused an uproar among the Order. The results of the battle, however, would go a long way towards silencing any dissent. Hopefully, this meeting would quash whatever was left.

The entirety of the Brotherhood of Steel's leadership, minus those at the uplink station, were gathered in the Great Hall. Scribe Rothchild was sitting at Lyons' right hand, and the Elder spotted Paladins Bergen and Stark sitting amongst the rest of the inner circle. Squires Maxson and Peters were both standing behind the Elder, waiting to attend to him as needed.

Lyons idly pondered the former raider while the others got themselves settled. Rothchild had insisted that Peters be brought into the meeting alongside Maxson, though why was something that he hadn't addressed. Not yet, anyway.

Seeing that the rest of the brass were waiting on him, Lyons put Rothchild's game to the back of his mind and straightened up, calling out in a clear voice, "Ladies, Gentlemen, everyone, as I'm sure you're all aware, the satellite uplink station has been successfully taken. As expected, the Enclave attempted to destroy Liberty Prime with an orbital strike, but thanks to Twilight Sparkle's upgrades and the incredibly heroic efforts of Rainbow Dash, Prime survived with only minimal damage."

"So she actually managed to intercept missiles launched from orbit?" One of the Scribes muttered incredulously. "Forget Knight; we should promote her straight to Paladin."

Lyons nodded. "That is actually part of the reason I have called this meeting." He looked around at each of the attendees in turn. "Many of you expressed concerns over my decision to recruit the Rainbooms-"

"We didn't express concerns that you recruited those girls, we question the point of creating an entirely new branch of the Brotherhood for them when they themselves admit that they intend to leave the world the instant they are able to," Bergen interrupted loudly.

Several of the others reprimanded him for such a blatant breach of protocol, but Lyons held up a hand to silence them. A couple of those present had nodded as Bergen spoke, and the Elder was determined to crush this insubordination once and for all. "The point, Paladin Bergen, was to prepare ourselves for the future. Equestrian magic will almost certainly remain long after the Rainbooms have gone, and there are going to be an increasing number of people who are directly affected by it and become able to pony up through the use of crystals. Some of our personnel may even gain powers such as those wielded by the Rainbooms."

A murmur ran through the room at that, and Scribe Rothchild leaned forward to speak, "The Order of the Staff is about more than just the Rainbooms. It will be an Order for any members of the Brotherhood of Steel, Knight or Scribe, who is capable of drawing magic out of the crystals we mine from Raven Rock. The Rainbooms were recruited into it so that we may learn as much as we possibly can about how to directly utilize magic before they return to their own world. Squire Peters-" he gestured to her, prompting her to straighten up and lift her chin proudly, "-will be one of the first members."

Now Lyons understood why Rothchild had wanted Peters there. Silently thanking his old friend for his foresight, the Elder nodded sagely. "In light of their contributions, I believe our newest recruits have all proven their value and their worthiness beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"The Rainbooms, certainly, and James' son, perhaps," Bergen agreed. "However, even you cannot possibly justify allowing Super Mutant filth to sully our ranks."

"I can't see why not," Stark put in, surprising Lyons. "Sure, I was concerned at first, but the big guy has fought well for us over the last few weeks. The fact that Adam and our new amazon warrior princesses all trust him certainly counts in his favour. I think we should let him stay."

Bergen grimaced. "This is a disgrace. As if things weren't bad enough when the Outcasts left, now you want to allow mutants and Enclave rejects into our ranks. What's next? Ghouls? Trogs? The fucking Chinese remnants? Do any of you even have any shame?" Several of those present gasped at the disrespect he was showing, even some of his supporters looked uncomfortable, but Bergen just shook his head and looked over Lyons' shoulder. "What about you, Maxson? It's your ancestor's legacy that the Elder is shitting all over, what do you think of all of this?"

Dead silence filled the room. Elder Lyons would be well within his rights to exile Bergen on the spot, but something stopped him from talking. Every eye in the room turned to Maxson. Somehow, everyone knew that whatever the boy said would affect the whole Brotherhood of Steel.

Maxson seemed surprised and more than a little nervous at having everyone suddenly staring at him, but that was understandable given his age. He quickly schooled his features into a calm and composed expression, though Lyons did catch him shooting a glance at Peters out of the corner of his eye. "I admit that I had my doubts about Fawkes too, at first, but someone recently pointed out to me that the only difference between him and us is luck."

Bergen scoffed. "Luck? Don't be absu-"

"That's right, luck. You asked for my opinion, so kindly shut the fuck up until I've finished giving it." Lyons blinked in surprise at hearing the boy talk like that, but Maxson didn't notice. "As far as I'm concerned, the only one shitting on my ancestor's legacy here is you. Fawkes is a Super Mutant, but he's also a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel, and he works a damn sight harder than most when it comes to helping the people of the wastes. He has earned some god-damned respect, so it's about time you gave him some."

Everyone stared in stunned disbelief at Maxson. Bergen had wilted under the boy's harsh rebuke, while those who supported him all looked like they were rapidly rethinking their positions. The only person who didn't look utterly dumbfounded was Peters, who was struggling to keep a smug, triumphant grin off her face. Lyons had a sneaking suspicion as to who exactly had put those thoughts into Maxson's head.

The silence was finally broken as Rothchild cleared his throat. "If no-one has any further questions…?"

"Actually, I have one," Stark put in. "I get that having Rainbow Dash intercept the orbital strike was a fair plan: Seriously, that was awesome. But why didn't we just order Liberty Prime to blow up the satellite dishes on top of the station? I mean, aren't they the actual bits that send the signal up to the satellite? Why not destroy them and prevent the satellite from firing altogether?"

"A fair question. The truth is, we believe that having continued access to the satellite will work in the Brotherhood's favour," Rothchild answered. "If we can successfully acquire the launch codes when we assault the Enclave's main stronghold, we may be able to utilize the remaining orbital missiles ourselves. I shouldn't have to tell you how potent such a resource could prove to be."

"When will we be assaulting the stronghold?" One of the Knights asked.

Lyons scratched his beard as he thought about it. "We will have to perform some swift repairs on Liberty Prime first. In the meantime, we are planning on sending a small team, most likely Adam and the Rainbooms, to acquire an old piece of technology that will hopefully give us an additional means of defence against the Enclave's Vertibirds. All told, I'm hopeful that the final assault will be launched in about two or three days at most. Any other questions?" He glanced around, then nodded with satisfaction when no-one spoke up. "Very well. You're dismissed."

As the gathered leaders filed out of the room, Lyons gestured for Rothchild, Peters and Maxson to wait. When they were alone, and the door to the hall was closed, Lyons turned to Peters. "My apologies, young Squire, I hope you don't mind that we effectively shunted you into the Order of the Staff, back there."

Peters just shrugged. "I don't give a sh- I don't really mind where you put me, so long as I have a safe place to stay."

"That's good to hear. I'm a little concerned that your bad language is rubbing off on certain other Squires, but that conversation can wait for another time. Run along, now. I'm sure that you've got a lot of training to catch up on today." Lyons waited until the girl was gone, then smiled at Maxson. "It appears that I owe you my thanks, young man."

"I was just telling the truth, Elder," Maxson replied.

Lyons noticed that the young lad's eyes were flicking to the door now that Peters had left. The Elder bit back a sigh and indicated that the boy could go. He had barely finished dismissing him when Maxson darted off after Peters.

"I think you should foster that, you know," Rothchild said with a smile.

"Foster what?" Lyons asked in bemusement.

"Peters and Maxson," Rothchild replied. "She's strong-willed, tough, and she's one of the very few people in the Brotherhood who won't try to curry favor with him on account of his ancestry. She'd make a good right hand when he becomes Elder someday. Every Elder needs someone who isn't afraid to stand up to them, and Peters will gladly knock some sense into him."

"Or just knock his teeth out." Lyons sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right, though. She has apparently had some effect on him already."

Rothchild chuckled. "Yes, apparently they had something of an argument shortly after the Enclave's attack here. Ever since then he's been following her around like a duckling after its mother."

Lyons grunted and crossed his arms. "Good grief. I've spent years trying to instil some moral fiber in that boy, yet somehow he grows far more after getting put in his place by a raider girl."

"To be fair, she's confident, brash, and she has tits. That's a powerful combination to use against an impressionable young boy on the cusp of puberty," Rothchild pointed out.

"Hmph, a raider changes her life and eventually becomes the advisor to the Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel. It would be a story for the ages." Lyons sighed again. "If she stays, anyway."

"When are you going to tell her about what Sunset discovered about her aunts?" Rothchild asked.

"Not yet," Lyons replied. "This battle with the Enclave is going to be exceptionally dangerous. I doubt that a Squire will be forced into combat, but I'd rather not risk giving her such a big distraction until we're sure that the war is over. In the meantime, we should probably talk logistics for the Rainbooms' next mission. Magic or no, scavenging in Old Olney is not going to be easy."

Hey everyone, I'd just like to thank you all for your support and patience over the last week, it means a lot. We're back to our regularly scheduled programming, updating every Sunday from now on!

Comments and criticisms are welcome, and thanks for reading!