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// War never changes/Fallout: Canterlot City 
// Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer 
// by ratedoni 
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It was amazing what had been able to survive after the destruction of everything and everyone. This one thing was probably one of the best that had done that which she was more than grateful considering how much time she spends inside her lab and working on everything the vault needed now that the days of clean water, real clean water was in danger.

Sure, the vault could still gather water, but the thing that made it so important to traders around was the fact that they could purify water better than any machine out in the wastelands. This was their secret source of gains and a modicum of power in what survived of society in general.

Sunset knew that they would have problems soon and she was preparing for the insanity that will begin soon. She knew exactly what will happen and like crazy would she be surprised about the decision of the people inside the vault. Sure, things were better now, but she knew that many people, especially the young ones, didn’t really trust in her. Part of the way she thought that was purely paranoia, she was sure of it, but still was a very big part in how she thought and how she acted every single day, it kept her alive so far so why abandon a good thing? No matter that it apparently was slowly destroying her.

Sunset snorted at that thought, as if she was a frail little thing that needed to be careful because she could faint at the slight excitement. Yes, she knew now that she was suffering a degree of PTSD, although knowing and being able to do something about it were two different things. That’s where the Nuka cola came, that magical elixir that helped her sleep every single night. Maybe she was using the beverage as a safety blanket, or maybe it was her drug to pacify her inner demons. Either way it worked.

Letting her nightmares and mental problems aside, Sunset focused on the fact that the vault still needed something to keep them afloat and that thing was a water chip. Knowing her luck and the way this world worked, that meant that she will be send outside in the search of that because there was no way in hell they could talk with a trader about getting one, because either they will get cheated out of it or they find themselves paying 10 times the original prices for the antiquity. No, Sunset’s paranoia was useful in this and even Celestia knew that the redhead was right. They needed to find a replacement right now and their best bet was out there, lost among other vaults that had been left abandoned for years.

There was the small possibility that they would have already been sacked and nothing was there, but the possibility still existed and like hell Sunset was going to leave that get away from her. She knew she had a chance and she was not going to let that escape. Like hell, after all she had been working too much in the vault to let it go to waste. Twilight too, not that she was going to say that aloud. The geeky girl was still really closed off, not that she could blame her, after all Sunset hadn’t been in the right mental place to make friends. She still didn’t know if Twilight saw her as a friend or as a co-worker, or who knows what, still, she was good, Sunset even enjoyed working with her and they still had many plans to make their home a better place to live, so no way that could go to waste.

Stretching her back, Sunset finally looked up from her working station and looked at the marvelous thing that had been presented to her. Since the time she had saved Red Barn, there has been an increase in patrols by the vault, each time bringing something new to the curious hands of Twilight and Sunset, and although the other girl had felt a little queasy when she saw the amount of guns being found by the new guard, she knew that her brother will need them to defend them.

It took the two a little time, but now they were capable of taking a gun and get it in working conditions. Even if they weren’t capable of fixing all the guns they had in storage, at least they now had extra pieces in case they needed something else or a gun simply began malfunctioning. Now, the guards had enough handguns and each one had either rifles or a simple machine gun. Truly powerful weapons, like plasma rifles or sniper ones, well, they still didn’t find those, but thankfully, with their new discoveries they would not have to rely on crude handmade guns like the raiders they had found.

That was the reason why Sunset had been working this late at night, that’s the reason why she was enjoying the one thing that helped her deal with the nightmares. The radio was not blasting, but the smooth voice of Blue Eyes resonated around the empty lab; that and the beautiful orchestra accompanied her this night. She still didn’t know who was behind the radio, but she was glad that something like this survived. The loss of music would be such a terrible lost for humanity, to creation in general. She also wanted to know how that person was capable of getting so many old records, full of swing, orchestra, crooners and many others from centuries gone by, but she loved it.

Looking at her newest repair, Sunset felt, if not happy, at least content, knowing that whatever may happen, no matter if she was thrown alone into the world in search of the chip, she would not be alone. In her hands was one gun that no one had seen or used before, except the gun expert in Applejack’s dad, who immediately recognized the German-made Mauser. It was an antiquity, maybe an heirloom or part of a private collection, but still, not a gun that was seen every day. Thankfully for Sunset, who had no idea how to create a custom made bullet chamber, the gun could use the very common 10mm ammo and would be useful out there.

Sunset looked at the gun and its weird shape, so different from the other guns they had found, a true bizarre one. That’s probably why she had been so attracted to it, maybe because it reminded her of herself, how bizarre and weird she was among human beings. Smiling at the comparison, Sunset extended her arm, aiming at the other wall and pulled the trigger, enjoying the feeling of the hammer.

“Ring-a-ding-ding baby,” she said with a smile, ready for the world and all that it could throw at her.