When Trixie and I stormed into the hangar, we boarded the Celestia and moved down to the infirmary. Almost everypony was standing in the hallway in front of the room. Rarity, Luna, and Hawk were in the lounge since the hallway was too narrow. All of them had a look of concern on their faces, all but Hawk. Her facial expression was a mix of pain, grief, and dread. Nevertheless, there were no tears in her eyes.

As we made our way to them, AJ was the first to notice. She came over to me and threw her hooves around my neck. Armor came over next. "I see you made it back. Where’s the radio?” he asked in a monotone. I could see from his face that he was near collapsing himself. Shooting Star was one of his oldest comrades, and I could still see Star’s blood on Armor’s back.

“Busted. How is Star?” I asked while I hugged AJ. If even she was so distraught, it could mean nothing good.

“That projectile punched through his sternum into his lungs and took some bone fragments with it. That was the last thing I heard before Twilight, Fluttershy, and Cadance kicked us out of the room.” I winced at the thought, though that was not the biggest problem, but one of many.

“Do we have a prognosis?” Armor shook his head, and I looked at AJ, who still clung to me.

“I need to talk to Luna. Something else came up and we have to investigate it. We could be in terrible danger. I would not be—" Armor put his hoof on my shoulder. Here I thought he needed a shoulder to lean on. He wasn't just physically stronger than me. “AJ, stay here and keep an eye on things for me, okay?” She nodded and released me. Without further hesitation, I walked past Hawk, who was staring at the floor, directly to Luna.

“We have to talk,” she said before I could say anything. She walked past me down the hallway to the kitchen. “While you were out scouting, we sensed a strong magical energy. Twilight Sparkle felt it too and suspects the Nightmare is responsible.” I just nodded.

“We have a more urgent problem. The humans have a weapon that emits a deadly radiation. Several of those weapons have been used, and we could already be exposed to the radiation. I don't know the exact chemical composition, but I know that it causes tumours that inevitably lead to death.” Luna’s horn lit up, and she closed her eyes for a few seconds. “The composition of the air is a bit different from Albion. It appears to be... polluted. If this radiation is in the air, we cannot distinguish it from the remaining pollution,” she said as the light around her horn vanished. “Maybe Twilight Sparkle knows more. She was prepared much better for this mission than I.” I agreed, and Luna got back to the others. I poured myself a glass of water that I desperately needed.

When I got out of the airship, I found the five soldiers who were putting up a makeshift camp in the opposite side of the hangar. Behind a barricade, they set up their tents and rolled out their sleeping bags. When Fish saw me trot over to them, he broke away from his men, and we met in the middle.

“I see you’ve made yourself a little more comfortable.” It was more of a statement than anything else, and I took a quick glance past him.

“I hope you don’t mind if we utilized your protection when the need arises. We should thank you anyway. Without your intervention, it all might have been different.” I thought about telling him that Mac’s actions had not been necessary and without our help they probably wouldn't have made it in the mall. But I let it go – who knew how long they could have held that position against an assault.

“There should be enough space for all of us.” He nodded and looked around the hangar. “How’s your comrade?” I took a glance at the porthole where I thought the infirmary was.

“No idea. But we have magic, right? I think he will...” I swallowed my emotion down. “I came here to talk about the nukes... Are you sure about that?” Fish pulled out a blue plastic tag out of one his pocket and held it out to me. I grasped it in my magic and took a closer look at it. Thanks to my mother, who worked at a hospital, I was familiar with this kind of objects. There was small slit in the tag and in it was a red discoloured foil.

“That thing was in my pocket for the last few months. Nowhere else, plus we saw the flashes in the night.” I gave him back his property and looked at his face. “We will die one way or another. Before we go, we will put those monsters through hell. Our lives should not have been in vain.” This answered a question I was mulling over on our way back to the hangar. Why would you fight if you would die anyway? What for?

“When did they drop the bombs?” Fish began to count on his fingers. It must have been difficult to keep eye on the time when you were constantly in danger.

“Approximately three month ago, so in one or two months the radiation should kill us. How long were you here? Maybe it's not too late for you guys.” I shook my head.

“One month. No matter how little we absorbed, it's enough time to be contaminated.” Fish nodded. “As soon as my friends help Star, we will take a look to see radiation has an effect on us. After all, we are different from humans or any living being on this planet.”

“I hope so, for your sake...” He paused and looked past me. I followed his gaze and saw AJ walking over to us with a basket of apples.

“Howdy y'all! I thought you lot might be hungry,” she said as stood next to us, and Fish gladly took her offer. The apple seemed a little small in his hand, but it didn't bother him at all.

“Did I hear something about food?” Mac came over to us, and when he saw AJ and the basket, he sprinted the last few meters and reached into the basket. He noisily ate with several apples in hand. “Oh man! Those are better than the apples back home,” he uttered between two apples.

“Care to repeat that, sugarcube?” AJ asked while she looked up at the giant with wide eyes. The three of us looked at her, and I even waved my hoof in front of her muzzle, but her sight stayed on Mac.

“Um, Applejack, this is John.” I used his real name so she wouldn't be more confused. "This is my fiancée, Applejack,” I introduced her while gesturing at her. Mac wiped his hand on his vest and stretched it out to AJ.

“A pleasure ma'am…” He swallowed the rest of his apple. “Name's John but mah friends call me Mac.” Since she didn't respond, he felt compelled to tell her a little more. “It's because of my last name, McGilvey.” Two hooves dragged me to the side, so we wouldn't be overheard by the two soldiers.

“Would ya care to tell me why that fella over there looks like mah brother if he were a human?” she whispered into my ear. “And why does he have the same name?” I had to pull myself together to tell her that she overlooked the obvious.

“Think about Changer and my "kinship" to him..." I gave her a hint and smiled at her. You could practically see how it dawned on her.

“Sugarcube, are ya telling me that he is the Big Mac of this world?” I just nodded and shook my head in Mac’s direction.

“Either that or he’s a brony and made the effort to look that way.” This I said loud enough for them to hear us, and she only shrugged her shoulder.

“Okay, that makes it clear then. He is the Big Mac of this world.” And in terms of his size, the name suited him better.

“Should we tell him?” I thought about that for a few seconds.

“I don't think so. It would only bring more unrest into this strange situation.” Plus, who could tell how he would react to a statement like: ‘Hey, I'm your sister from another dimension.’ Having to deal with talking ponies must be hard enough for them.

AJ nodded. “I’ll go back to the ship..."

As we turned around to the Celestia, we saw Twilight trotting over to us. “How is Star?” A tired smile formed on the lips of the unicorn.

“We were able to remove the projectile, but the bone fragments are still in his lung…” She looked at us and started to answer our unspoken questions. “We can't remove them, as they belong to the body. Foreign objects have a different aura, and because of that, it's easier to isolate them. The fragments, on the other hoof, have Star’s aura. To remove them, we would have to teleport large parts of his lung. If he coughs them up overnight, he should be getting better. If not ...” She lowered her head and sniffled.

“Don't fret, Twilight. Y'all done all you could, I'm sure 'bout that.” I nodded approvingly at AJ and, like her, put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Everything will turn out fine, you’ll see." She sniffled again and nodded slightly.

“Princess Luna said we may have a different problem on our hooves and I should take a look at it. But I have to say straight away, I'm quite finished.” I could tell by looking at her sweat-soaked mane.

“Just a quick analysis, Twilight.” She thought about it and nodded.

“I think I can manage that.” She took a deep breath to compose herself.

“What's going on, sugarcube?” AJ asked and nudged me slightly from the side by leaning against me.

“Just a precaution.” I didn't want to agitate my marefriend, but we had to verify the situation as fast as possible.

“Okay, what should I analyse and what are we looking for?” I put a hoof on my chest.

“Start with me and look out for unusual growths in my body. Things that do not belong in a pony.” She leaned her head slightly forward, closed her eyes, and her horn started to glow in the next moment. For a few seconds, I was wrapped in her magic, and it felt like electric shocks pulsed through my limbs. It was over as quickly as it begun.

“I can't find anything out of the ordinary. You are in excellent health, and your nervous system is working well, as is your magic system. You are slightly dehydrated – you should drink a little bit more.” After the rush this morning, I wasn't surprised. But I was relieved about the rest she said.

“Do you, by any chance, know how ponies react to radiation?” She looked at me in bewilderment. “Um... how do I put it ... nuclear radiation? Does that ring a bell? Uranium?” She just shook her head.

“It's a type of radiation. It mutates your cells and they form deadly tumours,” Fish interjected. “It was released when several weapons containing the element of uranium were used.”

“Element of uranium? Never heard of it.” I waved a hoof at Twilight.

“Chemical elements like iron or lead and so on ... this one emits a dangerous radiation.” She thought about it for a few seconds and then looked straight at me.

“This is what you are afraid of?” I nodded. “Did you even read the book about pony anatomy that I gave you?” I thought back for a moment.

“I glanced through it…” I confessed and flinched under her gaze.

“Well maybe you should read it. Our magic protects us from any kind of external influences that may harm our bodies. It also enormously accelerates our healing. So you’d have to eat this uranium to get harmed by it or there has to be a gigantic amount of it.” I exhaled in relief.

“Could you take a look at Fish? They don't have this kind of protection.” Somewhat annoyed, Twilight approached him. “Do you mind?” she asked monotonously.

“What doesn't kill me...” That was as far as he got before he got wrapped up in Twilight's magic aura. I could see when the electric shocks pulsed through him by looking at his eyelids. She started to mutter to herself a few seconds after being done.

“I don't know much about the human body, but when I compare it to ours, they are relatively similar. If that is the case, then I have to tell you something. There are a number of objects in your lung and brain that are not supposed to be there...” Fish just nodded.

“Thank you, miss…?” She blushed and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, my name is Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia.” She held out a hoof and Fish shook it firmly.

“Captain James Tuna or just Fish. Can your magic remove these tumours?” I think we both knew this would just delay the inevitable.

“They have the same aura as your body, which makes the removal with magic difficult, if not impossible. At least not without damaging the surrounding tissue and that wouldn't be good regarding the brain.” Fish murmured a few curses under his breath and turned away from us with a wave. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, Twilight. These tumours are a consequence of exposure to radiation that was emitted after the use of nuclear weapons. Thank Celestia it seems harmless to us, but for humans... Exposure for a longer period of time is deadly for them.” I heard AJ inhale a frightened breath of air.

“What about the rest of your…?” she asked nervously.

“They still have time. The bombs were dropped approximately three months ago. If we find them, we might still be able to help them.” They both nodded. “We should all rest a little. Go on ahead; I will be with you in a bit.” With that, I turned away from them and followed Fish behind the barricade.

Trixie was exhausted and tired. First the illusion in the alleyway and later in the mall had taken a toll on her. Nevertheless, she found it inappropriate to distance herself from the group at this moment. Shooting Star was injured while on a mission, and Twilight, Cadance, and Fluttershy had done everything they could to save his life. Twilight and Cadance came out of the infirmary a short while ago and told them Star had a chance to make it, but they couldn't say for sure. Fluttershy would keep an eye on him while both princesses would take a much needed break. Cadance and her stallion walked to their cabin, and Twilight was taken aside by Princess Luna. Trixie stayed below deck with the rest of the crew and listened in on what went on from the couch. None of them noticed that she was not sleeping.

“Hawk, darling, he will be alright. We can all see what Star means to you...” Rarity tried to comfort the sobbing half-dragon and attempted to put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

“Exactly! And he means a lot to us too, because he is our friend,” Pinkie said in her usual cheery tone, likely without a clue how serious Star’s situation really was. “We can worry together!”

“I’m not worried about him!” She hissed at them. “He is a soldier and knew the risk, we all do!” The following sobs spoke another language.

“Please Hawk, let us be your shoulder to lean on. Even a blind could see that you are more than just comrades...” Rarity tried again to put a hoof on Hawk’s shoulder, and the gesture was rejected yet again.

“Do you not see?! I can't ... I don't want to!” Trixie briefly opened an eye and saw Night Hawk storm off. Rainbow Dash and Julian seemed to have walked off quietly, and now she was alone with Rarity and Pinkie.

“I don't like to see my friends this sad. Lighty being all pessimistic lately is bad enough. And he stays gloomy although AJ always tries to cheer him up," Pinkie said to her friend.

“I don't like it either Pinkie, but unfortunately in this situation, there is no reason to be especially cheerful. I hope we can return to Ponyville soon. This world is just as inhospitable and there are those shades... It sends a shiver down my spine every time I think about it.” Pinkie hummed in approval, and Trixie closed her eyes again. “Don't you have something to say about it, Trixie?” She was a little surprised that Rarity noticed that she was not sleeping.

“Trixie does not interfere in other ponies’ relationships. If Night Hawk does not want any help, she shall not get any,” she answered without moving.

“It's one thing to ask for help and another to need it, darling,” Rarity informed her in a sharp tone.

“Hawk has to admit to herself that she needs our help. This is a lesson Trixie had to learn the hard way herself.” She ended her sentence with certainty and turned on the couch so that she now faced the wall.

“You are sure that there was no plane flying to Munich?” I had tried to get a better picture of what had happened in the last few months. Fish answered my question as best as he could.

“We were separated from our company as the shades overran the stadium. We suspect that they either went to the south by airplane or went back to the stadium. If that's the case, the survivors now belong to that teenage gang. They must have taken the weapons we had to leave behind and now those survivors might be their hostages.” I liked the situation less and less. My family was possibly being held hostage by a bunch of murderous teenagers, who were living out their dream of the Fallout universe

“Is there a way to get into the stadium and verify the situation?” According to Alf, the stadium had a roof, which meant we could forget aerial reconnaissance.

“There is an access to the sewer in the basement,” Mac interjected while he licked his fingers clean. “In the first days, I was on guard duty down there a few times. One or two well-placed shots should crack that door." I briefly went over the possible scenario in my head.

“Too loud,” I finally said. “It would echo through the entire sewer system, and the risk of discovery would be too great. Trixie knows a spell which can open locked doors, or if we have to, we can just melt it. I want to get in there without them noticing us. If they realize that we can get into their base unnoticed, they will have a reason to search for us.” They already knew of my initial plan: Save as many humans as possible.

“You do know that they won't be so lenient with us, right?” Lee remarked while he cleaned his M9. “We should eliminate whatever stands in our way. Better a few more dead than thousands of other victims.” I understood his argument and I knew that he was right.

“Nevertheless, we mustn't rile up another enemy into fixating on us.” They turned their heads to me.

“What do you mean by fixating on us?” Pill stood up and took a few steps in my direction. “As far as our scientists know, those shades seemed to have no intelligence. Why should they be fixated on us?”

“They assaulted our world one thousand years ago, and we fended them off. But one of our princesses was possessed by one of those beings.” I told them how Princess Luna’s soul fused with the being and in so created Nightmare. Every now and then, one of them interrupted me with a question, but all in all I gave them the abridged version.

“And this Nightmare is now in command of the shadows?” Fish asked at the end of my little narration. “And you don't want to fight it until your family is in safe?” I nodded, but I already got a bad feeling. “Bullshit!” He stood up and threw his stool around, tearing down a tent. “Millions of people are dead! And just because there are maybe a handful out there you call your family, you let this genocide continue?”

“Fish is right! We gave up and lost so much and still we fight on! Although we know that we are going to die either way. So why wait? You have a means to go up against those things and this Nightmare wants to get you. So use that to your advantage! Lure it out and kill it!” Lee agreed to the furious roaring and stood up to his full height in front of me.

“We have a plan and it will work. It is not the fastest, but in the long run, it is the most secure.” It was hard to assert myself vocally against five people, without the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“So according to you, we should wait for our inevitable, radiation-induced end in a magical cage? No thanks…” The captain kicked the stool again. This time, it hit the metal wall of the hangar. “I say we go to the stadium and take it back from this gang. And before the shades come for us, we will have outfitted the floodlights with those strange stones, and we will fry them like bacon in a pan. Even that Nightmare creature!”

“That is not that simple. Nightmare is indeed weakened by sunlight but—”

“No buts! I do not understand you. It might be because you come from another world. Here on earth, we take the bull by the horns, when the opportunity presents itself.” He pointed his fingers at me and looked down at me threateningly. Then he sighed. “Why do I discuss this matter with a Private? I will look for Shining Armor and just speak to him…” He strode past me in large steps and quickly disappeared in the direction of the ship.

Author's Notes:

Translated by Yurtus
Edited by JBL